So little to say and so much time in which to say it.
Wait a minute...
Strike that, reverse it.
I got really excited about the advanced movie today. Got some pics from the gooney golf course (that is its actual name) and it gave me goosebumps. Well not actually, but I can see the movie now whereas before I was just writing about vague recollections of a really shitty golf course and the people who inhabit it. Now, the course is a character, and this course is the kind of course that for example if you were to say somebody has an unattractive face you would say their face has character like steve buscemi or wilem defoe (bless their nasty mugs). This course has got so much character, its hard to contain it all in one script. The rotting standees, the filthy putting green, the bathroom signs that read out of order instead of men/women. I don't think I even need an art director for this thing, this course is fucking perfect the way it is. It's trash of the highest calibre, and better yet its Delaware/Pennsylvania trash but we're going to swing more to the delaware side on this one. And that's what I want this movie to be about: all the dissappointment, bitterness, and anger that come from living in this state. I am not, however, trying to make the case that delaware is number one shit hole in the country, I know there are at least a baker's dozen worst places on the eastern seaboard alone. But I'm not from any of those places, and Delaware I feel, has its own kind of frustration associated with it that is unique to any other state, I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I'm working on it. And again it's a comedy (supposed to be one anyway) and things are exaggerated for comedic effect, its anger but funny anger. The kind of anger where you just thrash about for a few seconds and then immediately run out of gas and forget why you were so pissed. The kind of anger that displays itself at the most inopportune times, and above all things, it's about how sometimes you half to travel half way across the world...to find yourself. No wait, that was the amanda bynes movie, nevermind. But believe me, the script is nowhere near done, I need to do plenty o' drafts before I can start ripping into that beehive. I probably can't make it entirely about delaware, I'll probably have to broaden it to make it more accessible and maybe none of the points I want to make about delaware are valid. What do you guys think? Remember, it has to be funny above all things. FUNNY.
Saw Stay this aftenoon, kinda dissappointed by it. The script was written by David Benioff who wrote 25th hour and troy and a book of short stories that is fucking brilliant. This script however was so traditional and standard and it bummed me out more so than if it had been written by a hack because I know how powerful this guy's voice is and how captivating he can be. All in all it wasn't a terrible flick, it had an excess of ambition in what it wanted to do, something I can't really hold against it. But for me there was no investment, no emotional impact, it was all surface and camera trickery and in the words of D.A. "weird camera angles." At the end of the film when the final twist was revealed, I found myself wishing they had sculpted a better story out of a really neat concept (no spoilers here, this is the anti fan boy blogspot). Anyway, I thought afterwards that Benioff could have knocked this shit out of the park as a short story, if anyone wants to know the twist by the way, just sign on and IM ME. But oh well, i got a really funny movie friday night and a lame one today, what can you do.
That's it for now, i should go to bed because like manuel, I have a train to catch in 7 odd hours. Good night to you all.
"We don't want your forgiveness. We won't make excuses. We're not gonna blame you, even if you are an accessory... But we will not except your natural order. We didn't come for absolution, we didn't ask to be redeemed. But isn't how it is, every goddamn time... Your prayers are always answered, in the order they're received... "
p.s. if anyone can tell me what this here quote is from, I'll make sure you are in pizza face paradise.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Friday, October 21, 2005
nobody broke your heart. you broke your own cause you can't finish what you start.
I wish I had remembered this in time, but the website www.sweetadeline.net posted that this october 21st marks the second anniversary of elliott smith's death. It's a few hours late, but i just wanted to acknowledge it, it still bums me out.
I have nothing really to add, no profound statements to accurately sum up smiths music or the effect blah blah blah...
I'll let my main man Mr. E do that for me...
R.I.P. ELLIOTT:
EELS are very saddened to hear of their friend and neighbor Elliott Smith's death. E and Elliott had talked about doing something musical together but, sadly, never did. E: "Elliott was very encouraging to me about my songs and that meant a lot to me. He was a really sweet guy that wasn't equipped to deal with some of the cards that life dealt him. I'll always remember walking off stage one night after playing "It's A Motherfucker" and Elliott walking up behind me in the dark and patting me on the back. That's how I will remember him."
I have nothing really to add, no profound statements to accurately sum up smiths music or the effect blah blah blah...
I'll let my main man Mr. E do that for me...
R.I.P. ELLIOTT:
EELS are very saddened to hear of their friend and neighbor Elliott Smith's death. E and Elliott had talked about doing something musical together but, sadly, never did. E: "Elliott was very encouraging to me about my songs and that meant a lot to me. He was a really sweet guy that wasn't equipped to deal with some of the cards that life dealt him. I'll always remember walking off stage one night after playing "It's A Motherfucker" and Elliott walking up behind me in the dark and patting me on the back. That's how I will remember him."
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Oh that's right he's dead, and rather pungent.
I finally found some lyrics I felt like sharing with you all...
TEARS TO SHED
What does that wispy little brat have that you don’t have double
She can’t hold a candle to the beauty of your smile
How about a pulse
Overrated by a mile
Overvalued
Overblown
If he only knew the you that we know
And that silly little creature isn’t wearing his ring
And she doesn’t play piano
Or dance
Or sing
No she doesn’t compare
But she still breathes air
Who cares
Unimportant
Overrated
Overblown
If only he could see how special you can be
If he only knew the You that we know
If I touch a burning candle
I can feel no pain
If you cut me with a knife
It’s still the same
And I know her heart is beating
And I know that I am dead
But the pain here that I feel
Try and tell me it’s not real
And it seems that I still have a tear to shed
A sure redeeming feature from that little creature, is that she’s alive
Overrated
Overblown
Everybody knows that’s just a temporary state
Which is cured very quickly when we meet our fate
Who cares
Unimportant
Overrated
Overblown
If only he could see how special you can be
If he only knew the You that we know
If I touch a burning candle I can feel no pain
In the ice or in the sun it’s all the same
Yet I feel my heart is aching
Though it doesn’t beat, it’s breaking
And the pain here that I feel
Try and tell me it’s not real
I know that I am dead
But it seems that I still have some tears to shed
TEARS TO SHED
What does that wispy little brat have that you don’t have double
She can’t hold a candle to the beauty of your smile
How about a pulse
Overrated by a mile
Overvalued
Overblown
If he only knew the you that we know
And that silly little creature isn’t wearing his ring
And she doesn’t play piano
Or dance
Or sing
No she doesn’t compare
But she still breathes air
Who cares
Unimportant
Overrated
Overblown
If only he could see how special you can be
If he only knew the You that we know
If I touch a burning candle
I can feel no pain
If you cut me with a knife
It’s still the same
And I know her heart is beating
And I know that I am dead
But the pain here that I feel
Try and tell me it’s not real
And it seems that I still have a tear to shed
A sure redeeming feature from that little creature, is that she’s alive
Overrated
Overblown
Everybody knows that’s just a temporary state
Which is cured very quickly when we meet our fate
Who cares
Unimportant
Overrated
Overblown
If only he could see how special you can be
If he only knew the You that we know
If I touch a burning candle I can feel no pain
In the ice or in the sun it’s all the same
Yet I feel my heart is aching
Though it doesn’t beat, it’s breaking
And the pain here that I feel
Try and tell me it’s not real
I know that I am dead
But it seems that I still have some tears to shed
Thursday, October 13, 2005
We're the real splitters and no one is fucking with us.
Nothing to coherently tie all of these things together other than they are all awesomely outrageous...
-I've been listening to the jackson browne song "these days" every day for the past couple of weeks. I have become dependent upon it and it's not because I need to listen to it or anything, although it is a very comforting song. I just think it is one of the most perfect songs ever written, lyrically that is, there is not a wrong word or sentiment in the entire song. It has the simultaneous effect of being almost diary entry personal but at the same time universal in a way that all songs strive for but few can achieve. I was listening to mr. browne talk about these days and he said he wrote it when he was 16. What kind of 16 year old writes the line, "don't confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them." Although he did say it was in a different form back then, but still the tone of the song couldn't have been any different. That baffles me, but I will probably continue to listen to it.
-I really need to see Episode III again, I know a unanimous eye roll is bound to happen as you guys read this, but I was watching the documentary about the original trilogy on dvd yesterday and I just go really nostalgic for it even though it happened only a few months ago. Maybe it's not that I want to see it again so much as I want to go back to that wednesday night midnight showing, I wish I could take myself back to a place where I haven't seen it yet and see it again with my friends for the first time. It is coming out on dvd in a few weeks and we will do the entire trilogy in one day I guarantee you that, I'll be sure to do an extensive post concerning that little hootenanny. There are so many moments I need to see on a screen again: anakin screaming in tortorous pain, uncle owen standing on the crest of the hill as the sun sets in the distance, vader's mask slowly lowering down to anakin's face, the look on yoda's face right before he and sidious end their dramatic confrontation via lightning, the list goes on and on. Maybe I just want to see count dooku snacking on some salt 'n vinegar potato chips again...
-Spike Lee's He Got Game is one of the most beautiful films ever made, if ever a film achieved the heights of visual poetry, I would rank this one up there with any of terence malick's films. The last line denzel's character says to ray allen is one of the best send offs and summation for a character of any movie I've ever seen. No matter how many times I've seen it, that moment always gets to me at the end. Plus its about basketball, I really wish I still played, I think I'm going to take advantage of the palladium gym and start shootin' hoops. I say that every year the more I think about it, I just need to get a routine going where I just shoot around every day. I'm not ready to play competitive games or anything, I just want the ball, the net, and the quiet. Then, I'll start kicking ass, it's such a beautiful sport, I really wish I hadn't let it go. (I'm making this sound over dramatic I was not ever a really die hard serious basketball player, but I did enjoy playing it a lot. And I do miss it.)
-This administration has had more indictments, subpeonas, and court hearings than any in recent history (if that's not true somebody correct me). It just seems like as of recently, everybody's getting their asses handed to them. Granted nothings happened yet but if public opinion is as judgmental now as it was of the Clinton years, hopefully this shit will never leave our minds. I just think its baffling that these guys (Frist, Rove, Scooter, and DeLay to name a few) could have all these allegations of wrong doing toppling down around them and there are still people in the press defending them. The best one I heard so far was that everybody knew of Valerie Plame's CIA identity and leaking it was not a crime as it were. Where's Ken Starr when you need him? Oh yeah, that's right he works for them, there is Fitzgerald but unlike Starr he doesn't seem to want to make the investigation about a second rate witch hunt and instead actually pursuing the various injustices and punishing those who committed them. We'll see how this all plays out, but the really bitter and angry side of me wishes I could stuff this down the red state's throats, I hate to cast such a general net of blame but, I had to get it out and maybe now we can find a more rationale explanation as to how these villains got elected twice. Where's Rage Against the Machine when you need them, they would probably have had ten more albums out if they stuck around. Zack come back.
-Also, what's with these stupid ass nicknames: Scooter? Brownie? Is Bush running a goddamn tree house brigade or something? It all fits into the fact that we have a president with the mind of a five year old running our country. That would explain an awful lot, but I think also most normal five year olds would do a better job than him.
That's it for now, I think.
Yeah...
Yeah definitely...
Yeah definitely, see ya.
"i'll take a dog's life
just layin' in the sun
i'll take a dog's life
'cause i don't care for this one"
-I've been listening to the jackson browne song "these days" every day for the past couple of weeks. I have become dependent upon it and it's not because I need to listen to it or anything, although it is a very comforting song. I just think it is one of the most perfect songs ever written, lyrically that is, there is not a wrong word or sentiment in the entire song. It has the simultaneous effect of being almost diary entry personal but at the same time universal in a way that all songs strive for but few can achieve. I was listening to mr. browne talk about these days and he said he wrote it when he was 16. What kind of 16 year old writes the line, "don't confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them." Although he did say it was in a different form back then, but still the tone of the song couldn't have been any different. That baffles me, but I will probably continue to listen to it.
-I really need to see Episode III again, I know a unanimous eye roll is bound to happen as you guys read this, but I was watching the documentary about the original trilogy on dvd yesterday and I just go really nostalgic for it even though it happened only a few months ago. Maybe it's not that I want to see it again so much as I want to go back to that wednesday night midnight showing, I wish I could take myself back to a place where I haven't seen it yet and see it again with my friends for the first time. It is coming out on dvd in a few weeks and we will do the entire trilogy in one day I guarantee you that, I'll be sure to do an extensive post concerning that little hootenanny. There are so many moments I need to see on a screen again: anakin screaming in tortorous pain, uncle owen standing on the crest of the hill as the sun sets in the distance, vader's mask slowly lowering down to anakin's face, the look on yoda's face right before he and sidious end their dramatic confrontation via lightning, the list goes on and on. Maybe I just want to see count dooku snacking on some salt 'n vinegar potato chips again...
-Spike Lee's He Got Game is one of the most beautiful films ever made, if ever a film achieved the heights of visual poetry, I would rank this one up there with any of terence malick's films. The last line denzel's character says to ray allen is one of the best send offs and summation for a character of any movie I've ever seen. No matter how many times I've seen it, that moment always gets to me at the end. Plus its about basketball, I really wish I still played, I think I'm going to take advantage of the palladium gym and start shootin' hoops. I say that every year the more I think about it, I just need to get a routine going where I just shoot around every day. I'm not ready to play competitive games or anything, I just want the ball, the net, and the quiet. Then, I'll start kicking ass, it's such a beautiful sport, I really wish I hadn't let it go. (I'm making this sound over dramatic I was not ever a really die hard serious basketball player, but I did enjoy playing it a lot. And I do miss it.)
-This administration has had more indictments, subpeonas, and court hearings than any in recent history (if that's not true somebody correct me). It just seems like as of recently, everybody's getting their asses handed to them. Granted nothings happened yet but if public opinion is as judgmental now as it was of the Clinton years, hopefully this shit will never leave our minds. I just think its baffling that these guys (Frist, Rove, Scooter, and DeLay to name a few) could have all these allegations of wrong doing toppling down around them and there are still people in the press defending them. The best one I heard so far was that everybody knew of Valerie Plame's CIA identity and leaking it was not a crime as it were. Where's Ken Starr when you need him? Oh yeah, that's right he works for them, there is Fitzgerald but unlike Starr he doesn't seem to want to make the investigation about a second rate witch hunt and instead actually pursuing the various injustices and punishing those who committed them. We'll see how this all plays out, but the really bitter and angry side of me wishes I could stuff this down the red state's throats, I hate to cast such a general net of blame but, I had to get it out and maybe now we can find a more rationale explanation as to how these villains got elected twice. Where's Rage Against the Machine when you need them, they would probably have had ten more albums out if they stuck around. Zack come back.
-Also, what's with these stupid ass nicknames: Scooter? Brownie? Is Bush running a goddamn tree house brigade or something? It all fits into the fact that we have a president with the mind of a five year old running our country. That would explain an awful lot, but I think also most normal five year olds would do a better job than him.
That's it for now, I think.
Yeah...
Yeah definitely...
Yeah definitely, see ya.
"i'll take a dog's life
just layin' in the sun
i'll take a dog's life
'cause i don't care for this one"
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Gabe need help re:tuneskis
Yo Gabe, sorry I'm not calling you but I know how much you love to read this blog. You like reading it almost as much as I like writing it, so the reason I'm posting this is to ask for your help. Please give me detailed instructions as to how you play music on your blog whenever you open it. I know you did it with yours so just let me know, thanks.
-ethan
-ethan
But I want to debate this particle cube thing...
If you've read Nate's blog, and by this point I'm pretty sure you all have. You will know that he and I attended a speaking event hosted by Dr. Robert Thurman (he teaches at Bone's School). My interest was peaked when I read that the Dustin Hoffman character in I Heart Huckabees (or I Love Hucklebee's, as an anonymous film teacher put it) constantly espoused the theory of inifinity made popular by Dr. Thurman. In other words, the Bernard Jaffe character was sort of based on Thurman. The lecture was titled Buddhism the new enemy of the church, a title about which even Thurman was confused, he was just there to talk about buddhism straight up.
There was so much stuff in there last night, to try to distill it all down to a blog entry would be useless (and from a friendly critique given to me by Gezus, far too much reading) Although, not to get sidetracked here but didn't you, gabe, write an entire nba pre-season out look in your blog, those were kinda long right? Practice what you preach is all I'm saying. And...
Whoop that trick.
Anyway, one of the things that really interested me from last night's talk was this idea of the deconstruction of our identity. Thurman framed it as one of the noble truths of the Buddha, but I forget exactly which one it was. The idea being that we as human beings are absolute in our physical identities. I'm me, that's who I am, and you are you and so on. This kind of thinking however, allows us to partake in the notion that if that is indeed true, and we are so absolute in our one-ness, therefore, by definition, we must be the center of the universe. The problem comes when you think about what are the basic goals for human life, one of them is to be happy. And for a lot of people that happiness only comes by making those around you happy, or when the people you love are happy.
Thurman cited a more speciific example of two people in love, for when a relationship is kicking in high gear you and your partner think the other is the center of the universe, the most important person in the world. What happens next is doubt begins to creep in because of our concrete isolated identities, you begin to think well does he/she really love me the same way I love them. Because in order for you to satisfy your "others" sense of self worth and their own self centered universe, you must sacrifice your own and it is from this dogged pursuit of happiness that suffering is born. The Buddhist ideal is founded in the notion that there is no identity, you are you, but connected to everything that lives, breathes, and dies in this plane of existance. You may not be the center of the universe because you are the universe and therefore your happiness does not depend on a select few feeling a similar state of mind.
I feel like a lot of the time, we are motivated into the me oriented thinking involving own little universes and what not. So, it's actually almost soothing and comforting to think that everything and everyone around you all exist within the confines of infinity, which has no confines! It means the possibilites are endless and a wealth of knowledge about all things awaits you like items piled into a bottomless shopping cart on one of those televised shopping sprees nickelodeon used to show.
Sorry to ramble on, I'm sure I dumbed down whatever fascinating insights Dr. Thurman provided. But check out one of his books, re-watch I heart huckabees (I had to last night after the lecture because it made me giddy in remembering how comicallly alive and curious that film was in exploring the very ideas dr. thurman touched upon) I think it's pretty cool that a movie motivated me to pursuit the quest for more knowledge. Hopefully next time I won't need the movie...
Yoda: Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.
Anakin: I won't let these visions come true, Master Yoda.
Yoda: Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.
Anakin: What must I do, Master Yoda?
Yoda: Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.
There was so much stuff in there last night, to try to distill it all down to a blog entry would be useless (and from a friendly critique given to me by Gezus, far too much reading) Although, not to get sidetracked here but didn't you, gabe, write an entire nba pre-season out look in your blog, those were kinda long right? Practice what you preach is all I'm saying. And...
Whoop that trick.
Anyway, one of the things that really interested me from last night's talk was this idea of the deconstruction of our identity. Thurman framed it as one of the noble truths of the Buddha, but I forget exactly which one it was. The idea being that we as human beings are absolute in our physical identities. I'm me, that's who I am, and you are you and so on. This kind of thinking however, allows us to partake in the notion that if that is indeed true, and we are so absolute in our one-ness, therefore, by definition, we must be the center of the universe. The problem comes when you think about what are the basic goals for human life, one of them is to be happy. And for a lot of people that happiness only comes by making those around you happy, or when the people you love are happy.
Thurman cited a more speciific example of two people in love, for when a relationship is kicking in high gear you and your partner think the other is the center of the universe, the most important person in the world. What happens next is doubt begins to creep in because of our concrete isolated identities, you begin to think well does he/she really love me the same way I love them. Because in order for you to satisfy your "others" sense of self worth and their own self centered universe, you must sacrifice your own and it is from this dogged pursuit of happiness that suffering is born. The Buddhist ideal is founded in the notion that there is no identity, you are you, but connected to everything that lives, breathes, and dies in this plane of existance. You may not be the center of the universe because you are the universe and therefore your happiness does not depend on a select few feeling a similar state of mind.
I feel like a lot of the time, we are motivated into the me oriented thinking involving own little universes and what not. So, it's actually almost soothing and comforting to think that everything and everyone around you all exist within the confines of infinity, which has no confines! It means the possibilites are endless and a wealth of knowledge about all things awaits you like items piled into a bottomless shopping cart on one of those televised shopping sprees nickelodeon used to show.
Sorry to ramble on, I'm sure I dumbed down whatever fascinating insights Dr. Thurman provided. But check out one of his books, re-watch I heart huckabees (I had to last night after the lecture because it made me giddy in remembering how comicallly alive and curious that film was in exploring the very ideas dr. thurman touched upon) I think it's pretty cool that a movie motivated me to pursuit the quest for more knowledge. Hopefully next time I won't need the movie...
Yoda: Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.
Anakin: I won't let these visions come true, Master Yoda.
Yoda: Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.
Anakin: What must I do, Master Yoda?
Yoda: Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
To Say Something That Means Nothing to Anyone at All
In response to the recent slanderous attacks on my blog posting board, I would like to address the following issues
I am not nor have I ever been a douchebag.
The film in question that was quoted on the very same post board was in fact Changing Lanes.
Pleasantville is a fine film.
Explosions in the Sky is one of the best bands on the planet, I need to know where they are and when they are at any time of the day or night.
And as for the regularity of the posts, I say this in response...
EASE UP! BACK UP OFF ME! YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME!
Okay, now that that's out of the way, on with the post...
With Nate back in the city I've been able to catch up on some much needed to be seen flicka shows. Let's start from the top.
Capote was first on tuesday night and this was definitely one of the best films of the year. I'm a sucker for artists' inspiration stories finding neverland and shakespeare in love come to mind. With Capote, however, it's a completely different take and unlike any of the recent slew of bio pics I have seen crowding our cinemas. First of all, Phillip Seymour Hoffman owns every single inch of this movie. This is his first legitimate starring role (state and main is the closest I think he's ever come), he's always been a great team player by filling in key roles and never hogging the narrative thrust. With this film he is allowed to hog the spotlight a little bit, but he never does it for the sake of a starring role. He is so much the soul of this film that all the camera really needs to do is train itself on his face and all the crap they teach you in film school just pours out of him. Not to say that the director and writer were lazy in any sense of the word, the direction is paced and executed in such a way that you don't usually expect from a first time director (waiting...anyone?) (okay that's not really fair, I haven't seen waiting... but come on you were all thinking it). And the script offers some fascinating insights into the crime itself and the story of its creation as the "non fiction masterpiece of the century". This really is a film to see in a theatre listening to the moments of silence where the rest of the audience is just as enraptured as you are. At least as enraptured as I hope you are.
Thumbsucker, a delightful little romp about four horny high school buddies trying to score on the night of their high school prom, when inadequacy ensues, you can be sure the laughs will folllow. Bet you didn't see that one coming...
Actually Thumbsucker is pretty damn good as opposed to most movies made about teenagers. The key to this film I think is a reliance on non-answers and empty solutions, you just accept that that's all we got and get on with it. Also what I really liked about this film was the portrayal of the parents, in the performances and the writing. Usually in films like this we are used to the bumbling idiot parents who are so cluelessly dumb about what their kids are going through that they substitute any sort of parental concern for spouting out inane and dated hip hop catch phrases. They are merely cartoon versions of parents and it's a rare teenage film that presents parents with anything resembling human behavior. Thumbsucker is, luckily one of those films. The parents are fucked up but struggling to make things right, they don't understand their kids but they want them to be happy even when they have absolutely no idea how to do it to themselves. They have failed dreams themselves and moments when they thought everything they had accomplished was worthless. Thumbsucker has some really touching moments because of this and surprising in how rewarded we feel by the conclusion that everybody is fucked up. The cast is great, including, because I have to mention this in the face of all the nay-sayers, Keanu Reeves. He once again proves that given the right role he can be a really subtle and funny comedic actor. Anyone remember thomas haden church, a once has been joke who is now a golden boy because of sideways? It just takes the right role.
Paradise Now was last night (again thank you dev) and that was at the new york film festival, it doesn't open until the end of the month. I had some problems with the film mainly because it couldn't decide at the end of the day whether it was an issue oriented message film or a character driven drama about two men making an absolute choice when they haven't gotten it all figured out yet. My main issue was the lack of character with the two leads, they didn't possess any individual humanistic traits besides the need to breathe and eat that made them the least bit compelling. I had a hard time following them around because I wished they were more interesting to watch. I wished we were given compelling human beings rather than mouthpieces for ideological statements. With that in mind, what happens too often with message oriented movies is that they cease to exist as human drama and become simply an excuse to espouse a checklist of facts, ideas, and historical interpretations. This alone did not bother me, I applaud any filmmaker who tries to inject a political stance, as long as they don't sacrifice the drama because of it. That being said, Paradise Now, is worth seeing. It has a final shot that will stick with you long after you leave the theatre and it's a positive step in the right direction for future films like it.
Finally, the last was Good Night, and Good Luck. Really strong film and before I get into it let me just pause a moment to appreciate the talents of George Clooney...
I know, he was a tv actor on a remarkably successfull drama, and yes it took him a while to find roles suited for him (with the exception of from dusk till dawn which fit him like a speedo) But right now, I think he is on a roll, he directed this film, he's got Syriana coming out in november (which looks fucking amazing) and he's got another collaboration with Soderbergh out next year. Personally I think making out of sight back in 1998 was the best thing that could have happened to him, and kudos to soderbergh for taking a chance on him. Something I really admire about Clooney is that he cares, he said a few days ago that he wanted to make more politically oriented films like the paranoid thrillers of the 60's and 70's and that makes me happy to hear a hollywood star wants to make films that challenge popular opinion. That doesn't mean they are all going to be great, but they at least they are not complacent with the popular culture of today. They attempt to be subversive. Films like Good Night, and Good Luck want to engage us and not simply bore us to tears. Clooney wants to make films like this and the fact that he directed Good Night is an indication that he will put himself on the line to do so. He's like a non-psycho version of tom cruise, neither of them are "great" actors but when they are good, they are better than good. And most importantly, they work their asses off on every project they are involved with, and they care about the movies they make. I don't know, I was just thinking about what a steady and positive contribution George Clooney has made over the years and I'm glad he's doing it.
On to good night, and good luck. I know I've been saying this a lot but I really liked this film. Clooney shows a remarkable restraint and amazing improvement over his last film confessions of a dangerous mind, a film I liked but grew tiresome with because it was 8 billion different things at one time. Good night has none of that bullshit, it's a claustrophobic thriller only instead of submarines and gene hackmen it's white guys with glasses smoking cigarettes while duking it out on the air with stone cold killers like joe mccarthy. What I especially liked about the film was the fact that while their was definitely some mythologizing and hero worship going on (I think it's impossible to avoid such pratfalls myself) a lot of it was subdued by the fact that the cast went out of its way to paint these people as recognizably human. They joke, they make sarcastic comments, and they treat their cause not like a cause, but rather something that simply should be done. The CBS studios they inhabit are filmed like a Byzantine maze, always contorting itself into some new shape and direction, finding new areas for the actors to hide or be discovered. It's a dizzying effect, giving one the feeling of constant motion and a real time documentary feel as we watch this story unfold. I don't think I can say enough how masterfully this film is directed, but I'm having a Clooney induced love fest so maybe that's what that's all about. Fascinating film, David Strathairn is great and he is one of those actors like Frank langella (who is also in the film) that seems to float by from film to film and deliver strong work every time out but never really achieve the recognition they deserve. It's great that this month two films, one starring phillip seymour hoffman and this one with strathairn are giving two great performers the chance to be actors and not just character actors.
Okay, I think that's enough, I could go on about squid and the whale, but I've already talked about that. Check out a mid july post to get the skinny on that film, but in short I loved it and I think everybody and their mothers should go see it, together. Or mix and match what do I care. So I hope this blog entry was long enough, I hope you enjoy reading it....suckers.
"Don't say your sorry
Cause sorry means something is wrong"
p.s. I suck as a critic I know, but I've got to be better than Rex Reed right?
I am not nor have I ever been a douchebag.
The film in question that was quoted on the very same post board was in fact Changing Lanes.
Pleasantville is a fine film.
Explosions in the Sky is one of the best bands on the planet, I need to know where they are and when they are at any time of the day or night.
And as for the regularity of the posts, I say this in response...
EASE UP! BACK UP OFF ME! YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME!
Okay, now that that's out of the way, on with the post...
With Nate back in the city I've been able to catch up on some much needed to be seen flicka shows. Let's start from the top.
Capote was first on tuesday night and this was definitely one of the best films of the year. I'm a sucker for artists' inspiration stories finding neverland and shakespeare in love come to mind. With Capote, however, it's a completely different take and unlike any of the recent slew of bio pics I have seen crowding our cinemas. First of all, Phillip Seymour Hoffman owns every single inch of this movie. This is his first legitimate starring role (state and main is the closest I think he's ever come), he's always been a great team player by filling in key roles and never hogging the narrative thrust. With this film he is allowed to hog the spotlight a little bit, but he never does it for the sake of a starring role. He is so much the soul of this film that all the camera really needs to do is train itself on his face and all the crap they teach you in film school just pours out of him. Not to say that the director and writer were lazy in any sense of the word, the direction is paced and executed in such a way that you don't usually expect from a first time director (waiting...anyone?) (okay that's not really fair, I haven't seen waiting... but come on you were all thinking it). And the script offers some fascinating insights into the crime itself and the story of its creation as the "non fiction masterpiece of the century". This really is a film to see in a theatre listening to the moments of silence where the rest of the audience is just as enraptured as you are. At least as enraptured as I hope you are.
Thumbsucker, a delightful little romp about four horny high school buddies trying to score on the night of their high school prom, when inadequacy ensues, you can be sure the laughs will folllow. Bet you didn't see that one coming...
Actually Thumbsucker is pretty damn good as opposed to most movies made about teenagers. The key to this film I think is a reliance on non-answers and empty solutions, you just accept that that's all we got and get on with it. Also what I really liked about this film was the portrayal of the parents, in the performances and the writing. Usually in films like this we are used to the bumbling idiot parents who are so cluelessly dumb about what their kids are going through that they substitute any sort of parental concern for spouting out inane and dated hip hop catch phrases. They are merely cartoon versions of parents and it's a rare teenage film that presents parents with anything resembling human behavior. Thumbsucker is, luckily one of those films. The parents are fucked up but struggling to make things right, they don't understand their kids but they want them to be happy even when they have absolutely no idea how to do it to themselves. They have failed dreams themselves and moments when they thought everything they had accomplished was worthless. Thumbsucker has some really touching moments because of this and surprising in how rewarded we feel by the conclusion that everybody is fucked up. The cast is great, including, because I have to mention this in the face of all the nay-sayers, Keanu Reeves. He once again proves that given the right role he can be a really subtle and funny comedic actor. Anyone remember thomas haden church, a once has been joke who is now a golden boy because of sideways? It just takes the right role.
Paradise Now was last night (again thank you dev) and that was at the new york film festival, it doesn't open until the end of the month. I had some problems with the film mainly because it couldn't decide at the end of the day whether it was an issue oriented message film or a character driven drama about two men making an absolute choice when they haven't gotten it all figured out yet. My main issue was the lack of character with the two leads, they didn't possess any individual humanistic traits besides the need to breathe and eat that made them the least bit compelling. I had a hard time following them around because I wished they were more interesting to watch. I wished we were given compelling human beings rather than mouthpieces for ideological statements. With that in mind, what happens too often with message oriented movies is that they cease to exist as human drama and become simply an excuse to espouse a checklist of facts, ideas, and historical interpretations. This alone did not bother me, I applaud any filmmaker who tries to inject a political stance, as long as they don't sacrifice the drama because of it. That being said, Paradise Now, is worth seeing. It has a final shot that will stick with you long after you leave the theatre and it's a positive step in the right direction for future films like it.
Finally, the last was Good Night, and Good Luck. Really strong film and before I get into it let me just pause a moment to appreciate the talents of George Clooney...
I know, he was a tv actor on a remarkably successfull drama, and yes it took him a while to find roles suited for him (with the exception of from dusk till dawn which fit him like a speedo) But right now, I think he is on a roll, he directed this film, he's got Syriana coming out in november (which looks fucking amazing) and he's got another collaboration with Soderbergh out next year. Personally I think making out of sight back in 1998 was the best thing that could have happened to him, and kudos to soderbergh for taking a chance on him. Something I really admire about Clooney is that he cares, he said a few days ago that he wanted to make more politically oriented films like the paranoid thrillers of the 60's and 70's and that makes me happy to hear a hollywood star wants to make films that challenge popular opinion. That doesn't mean they are all going to be great, but they at least they are not complacent with the popular culture of today. They attempt to be subversive. Films like Good Night, and Good Luck want to engage us and not simply bore us to tears. Clooney wants to make films like this and the fact that he directed Good Night is an indication that he will put himself on the line to do so. He's like a non-psycho version of tom cruise, neither of them are "great" actors but when they are good, they are better than good. And most importantly, they work their asses off on every project they are involved with, and they care about the movies they make. I don't know, I was just thinking about what a steady and positive contribution George Clooney has made over the years and I'm glad he's doing it.
On to good night, and good luck. I know I've been saying this a lot but I really liked this film. Clooney shows a remarkable restraint and amazing improvement over his last film confessions of a dangerous mind, a film I liked but grew tiresome with because it was 8 billion different things at one time. Good night has none of that bullshit, it's a claustrophobic thriller only instead of submarines and gene hackmen it's white guys with glasses smoking cigarettes while duking it out on the air with stone cold killers like joe mccarthy. What I especially liked about the film was the fact that while their was definitely some mythologizing and hero worship going on (I think it's impossible to avoid such pratfalls myself) a lot of it was subdued by the fact that the cast went out of its way to paint these people as recognizably human. They joke, they make sarcastic comments, and they treat their cause not like a cause, but rather something that simply should be done. The CBS studios they inhabit are filmed like a Byzantine maze, always contorting itself into some new shape and direction, finding new areas for the actors to hide or be discovered. It's a dizzying effect, giving one the feeling of constant motion and a real time documentary feel as we watch this story unfold. I don't think I can say enough how masterfully this film is directed, but I'm having a Clooney induced love fest so maybe that's what that's all about. Fascinating film, David Strathairn is great and he is one of those actors like Frank langella (who is also in the film) that seems to float by from film to film and deliver strong work every time out but never really achieve the recognition they deserve. It's great that this month two films, one starring phillip seymour hoffman and this one with strathairn are giving two great performers the chance to be actors and not just character actors.
Okay, I think that's enough, I could go on about squid and the whale, but I've already talked about that. Check out a mid july post to get the skinny on that film, but in short I loved it and I think everybody and their mothers should go see it, together. Or mix and match what do I care. So I hope this blog entry was long enough, I hope you enjoy reading it....suckers.
"Don't say your sorry
Cause sorry means something is wrong"
p.s. I suck as a critic I know, but I've got to be better than Rex Reed right?
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Remember when we were kids, remember what we used to say to each other?
EXT. BENCH. DAY
Sammy and Terry sit on a bench near the bus stop. Terry's
backpack is by his side.
SAMMY
Do you need some cash for the bus?
TERRY
No, I got a few bucks... Aren't you
gonna be late for work?
SAMMY
Oh -- Yeah. That's OK.
(Pause)
Terry, I don't even know where you're
going.
TERRY
Oh, well, I didn't really have a
concrete plan yet. I have to go back
to Worcester and get my stuff...
SAMMY
Oh, are you gonna try to see that
girl?
TERRY
Well... Yeah... You know... Thought
maybe I'd try to show my face... Let
her brother have a crack at me...
SAMMY
What?
TERRY
No...
SAMMY
...I don't want anyone to have a
crack at you.
TERRY
I'm just kidding. I just thought...
Just thought I'd check up on her...
(Pause)
Anyway, after that, I don't really
know. I've been thinking about Alaska
a lot. I still got some friends out
there. I don't really know. Anyway,
I'll write you.
SAMMY
You will?
TERRY
Sure, Sammy. Of course I will. You
know that.
Pause.
SAMMY
What is gonna happen to you?
TERRY
Nothing too bad... But I gotta tell
you, I know things didn't work out
too well this time...
SAMMY
Well, Terry --
TERRY
...but it's always really good to
know that wherever I am, whatever
stupid shit I'm doing, you're back
at my home, rooting for me.
SAMMY
I do root for you.
She starts crying, and looks down.
TERRY
Come on, Sammy. Everything's gonna
be all right... Comparatively... And
I'll be back this way...
SAMMY
I feel like I'm never gonna see you
again...!
TERRY
Of course you will, Sammy. You never
have to worry about that.
SAMMY
Please don't go till you know where
you're going. Please...!
TERRY
I do know where I'm going. I'm going
to Worcester and I'm gonna try to
see that girl. And then depending on
what happens there, I thought I'd
try to see if there's any work for
me out West. And if there is, I'm
gonna head out there for the summer
and try to make some money. And if
there isn't, I'll figure something
else out. Maybe I'll stay around the
East. I don't know... I really liked
it in Alaska. It was really beautiful.
You just -- It made me feel good.
And before things got so messed up I
was doin' pretty well out there.
Seriously. But I couldn't stay here
long, Sammy: I don't want to live
here. But I'm gonna stay in touch.
And I'll be back. 'Cause I want to
see you and I want to see Rudy. I'll
come home for Christmas. How about
that? We'll have Christmas together.
(Pause)
Come on, Sammy. You can trust me...
Still looking down, Sammy shakes her head, tears leaking
down her cheeks.
TERRY
Come on, Sammy... Look at me... Look
at me...
She looks at him.
TERRY
Hey, Sammy... Remember when we were
kids, remember what we always used
to say to each other . . .?
(Pause)
Remember when we were kids?
SAMMY
Of course I do...!
She throws her arms around his neck. He pats her gently.
INT./EXT. BUS. DAY
The DOORS OPEN and Terry comes up the steps and into the
bus. Outside, Sammy watches him pay the driver and move
through the bus toward his seat. The BUS DOORS CLOSE.
EXT. BUS. CONTINUOUS
Sammy waves till the BUS DRIVES all the way down MAIN STREET,
turns a corner and is gone.
INT. BUS. CONTINUOUS
Terry, in his seat, turns forward and watches the view go
by. He smiles a little.
INT. SAMMY'S CAR (MOVING). DAY
The morning sunlight flickers through the windshield into
the car as Sammy drives along toward work. She passes the
TOWN HALL CLOCK and sees that it's 9:20.
She dries her damp cheek with a forearm and rolls down her
window to let the morning breeze blow through.
Squaring her shoulders a little, she drives through town at
a slow and easy pace.
Sammy and Terry sit on a bench near the bus stop. Terry's
backpack is by his side.
SAMMY
Do you need some cash for the bus?
TERRY
No, I got a few bucks... Aren't you
gonna be late for work?
SAMMY
Oh -- Yeah. That's OK.
(Pause)
Terry, I don't even know where you're
going.
TERRY
Oh, well, I didn't really have a
concrete plan yet. I have to go back
to Worcester and get my stuff...
SAMMY
Oh, are you gonna try to see that
girl?
TERRY
Well... Yeah... You know... Thought
maybe I'd try to show my face... Let
her brother have a crack at me...
SAMMY
What?
TERRY
No...
SAMMY
...I don't want anyone to have a
crack at you.
TERRY
I'm just kidding. I just thought...
Just thought I'd check up on her...
(Pause)
Anyway, after that, I don't really
know. I've been thinking about Alaska
a lot. I still got some friends out
there. I don't really know. Anyway,
I'll write you.
SAMMY
You will?
TERRY
Sure, Sammy. Of course I will. You
know that.
Pause.
SAMMY
What is gonna happen to you?
TERRY
Nothing too bad... But I gotta tell
you, I know things didn't work out
too well this time...
SAMMY
Well, Terry --
TERRY
...but it's always really good to
know that wherever I am, whatever
stupid shit I'm doing, you're back
at my home, rooting for me.
SAMMY
I do root for you.
She starts crying, and looks down.
TERRY
Come on, Sammy. Everything's gonna
be all right... Comparatively... And
I'll be back this way...
SAMMY
I feel like I'm never gonna see you
again...!
TERRY
Of course you will, Sammy. You never
have to worry about that.
SAMMY
Please don't go till you know where
you're going. Please...!
TERRY
I do know where I'm going. I'm going
to Worcester and I'm gonna try to
see that girl. And then depending on
what happens there, I thought I'd
try to see if there's any work for
me out West. And if there is, I'm
gonna head out there for the summer
and try to make some money. And if
there isn't, I'll figure something
else out. Maybe I'll stay around the
East. I don't know... I really liked
it in Alaska. It was really beautiful.
You just -- It made me feel good.
And before things got so messed up I
was doin' pretty well out there.
Seriously. But I couldn't stay here
long, Sammy: I don't want to live
here. But I'm gonna stay in touch.
And I'll be back. 'Cause I want to
see you and I want to see Rudy. I'll
come home for Christmas. How about
that? We'll have Christmas together.
(Pause)
Come on, Sammy. You can trust me...
Still looking down, Sammy shakes her head, tears leaking
down her cheeks.
TERRY
Come on, Sammy... Look at me... Look
at me...
She looks at him.
TERRY
Hey, Sammy... Remember when we were
kids, remember what we always used
to say to each other . . .?
(Pause)
Remember when we were kids?
SAMMY
Of course I do...!
She throws her arms around his neck. He pats her gently.
INT./EXT. BUS. DAY
The DOORS OPEN and Terry comes up the steps and into the
bus. Outside, Sammy watches him pay the driver and move
through the bus toward his seat. The BUS DOORS CLOSE.
EXT. BUS. CONTINUOUS
Sammy waves till the BUS DRIVES all the way down MAIN STREET,
turns a corner and is gone.
INT. BUS. CONTINUOUS
Terry, in his seat, turns forward and watches the view go
by. He smiles a little.
INT. SAMMY'S CAR (MOVING). DAY
The morning sunlight flickers through the windshield into
the car as Sammy drives along toward work. She passes the
TOWN HALL CLOCK and sees that it's 9:20.
She dries her damp cheek with a forearm and rolls down her
window to let the morning breeze blow through.
Squaring her shoulders a little, she drives through town at
a slow and easy pace.
The days are just packed...
I read a review of the complete calvin and hobbes collection that is about to be released.
I found this from a calvin and hobbes website, it's a poem from Scientific Progress Goes Boink!
It's not even worth the attempt to put into words the genius of those books. I just wish Watterson would give up his whole anti marketing and licensing stance (although that's probably what I most admire him for) and let me make the movie. Think about it, it could totally be a Robert Rodriguez/Frank Miller/Sin City collaboration. I would just take the dialogue word for word from the text and slap it up on screen. I wish I knew more about animation though, because doing this live action would just be stoopid. But assuming I am an animation wizard, he would be a co-director of course and I would absolutely not tamper with his vision and turn calvin and hobbes into some kind of racing stripes talking animal movie kids movie. It would be an important kids movie, but oh well, maybe someday. The books are still here, and they are just one of those things that will never go away for me, it's funny because they always make me nostalgic for when I read them the first time. Some of the images and words, I can pin point a pretty close approximation as to when and where I read them. Then I read them again, now, and I'm not nostalgic anymore, because I'm right back to those moments. I guess that's how nostalgia works though isn't it? Oh well, I'll take whatever I can get. And these books give a lot, because the more you know, the more you grow...
On window panes, the icy frost
Leaves feathered patterns, crissed & crossed,
But in our house the christmas tree
Is decorated festively
With tiny dots of colored light
That cozy up this winter night.
Christmas songs, familiar, slow,
Play softly on the radio.
Pops and isses from the fire
Whistle with the bells and choir.
My tiger is now fast asleep
On his back and dreaming deep.
When te fire makes him hot,
He turns to warm whatever's not.
Propped against him on the rug,
I give my friend a gentle hug.
Tomorrow's what I'm waiting for,
But I can wait a little more.
I found this from a calvin and hobbes website, it's a poem from Scientific Progress Goes Boink!
It's not even worth the attempt to put into words the genius of those books. I just wish Watterson would give up his whole anti marketing and licensing stance (although that's probably what I most admire him for) and let me make the movie. Think about it, it could totally be a Robert Rodriguez/Frank Miller/Sin City collaboration. I would just take the dialogue word for word from the text and slap it up on screen. I wish I knew more about animation though, because doing this live action would just be stoopid. But assuming I am an animation wizard, he would be a co-director of course and I would absolutely not tamper with his vision and turn calvin and hobbes into some kind of racing stripes talking animal movie kids movie. It would be an important kids movie, but oh well, maybe someday. The books are still here, and they are just one of those things that will never go away for me, it's funny because they always make me nostalgic for when I read them the first time. Some of the images and words, I can pin point a pretty close approximation as to when and where I read them. Then I read them again, now, and I'm not nostalgic anymore, because I'm right back to those moments. I guess that's how nostalgia works though isn't it? Oh well, I'll take whatever I can get. And these books give a lot, because the more you know, the more you grow...
On window panes, the icy frost
Leaves feathered patterns, crissed & crossed,
But in our house the christmas tree
Is decorated festively
With tiny dots of colored light
That cozy up this winter night.
Christmas songs, familiar, slow,
Play softly on the radio.
Pops and isses from the fire
Whistle with the bells and choir.
My tiger is now fast asleep
On his back and dreaming deep.
When te fire makes him hot,
He turns to warm whatever's not.
Propped against him on the rug,
I give my friend a gentle hug.
Tomorrow's what I'm waiting for,
But I can wait a little more.
Friday, September 30, 2005
I done fucked up in the game now...
Sorry, I forgot to give the address for Bennett's response to his own comments:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200509300008
You can also hear Rush Limbaugh defending his pal...
http://mediamatters.org/items/200509300009
Check it out.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200509300008
You can also hear Rush Limbaugh defending his pal...
http://mediamatters.org/items/200509300009
Check it out.
We have a black man in a mercedes driving the speed limit...take him down.
First of all, can somebody tell me what fucking century we are in right now?
And before anybody gets huffy, yes, I'm going to quote this out of context. But you can read the entire transcript and hear the damn thing at www.mediamatters.org, the following was said by Bill Bennett, the former Secretary of Education under Reagan
BENNETT: "Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."
Apparently somebody called his show claiming that the lost revenue from all the aborted fetuses from the past 30 years would be enough to preserve America's Social Security's solvency. And Bennett went on to make the point that such ridiculous extrapolations like that of aborting every black fetus would lower the crime rate, have the right idea but they are too dangerous, immoral, and wrong by design. I like how he covers himself there at the end, we wouldn't want anybody to get the wrong idea.
Maybe I'm looking into this too much, but this is sounding like some colonial slave talk right here. Wasn't one of the arguments for the slave trade the idea that Africans were incapable of living by themselves because of their savage nature? That they would tear themselves limb from limb if it weren't for their white saviors, what the fuck is going on? People still think like this? Is this guy really saying that the crime problem in this country will dwindle if the African-American new born population is discontinued? How long until somebody suggests this to living breathing human bodies? I don't want to get melodramatic and all doom propheting and there's probably no connection to this kind of thinking from idea to practice, but this is really freaking me out nonetheless. He's not advocating this solution, but his words indicate that the reasoning behind it is not completely artificial. And it's not just that he's a racist, that's not what bothers me about this. Yes, it's reprehensible to say that black people are predisposed to crime and violence, don't get me wrong. But this guy's line of thinking is so violently aggressive and hateful. I just don't understand how anybody could react like this in the year 2005. At the same time, I understand also that this guy (hopefully) speaks for a very limited and powerless minority, but then again he was the Secretary of Education for the united states, he's in charge of the education standards for the children of this country. Again, what the fuck?
If a former or current government official went on CNN and said that the world was flat, wouldn't he be discredited and laughed off to obscurity. Hopefully the same will happen to this guy.
The day after he made the initial comments, like Pat Robertson, he was back to discredit his attackers (as he calls them, why do all these right-wing guys think they're martyrs?) But, as it turns out he defended his comments with more falsehoods. You can read his response here, which never really addresses the true nature of his words, merely the context in which his dumbass presented them. I know what I heard, and believe me, it doesn't bring me any pleasure to write about shit like this, hopefully this guy will wise up. I used to think people still hated each other as much now as they did back then, they just knew how to hide it better. I guess they're not hiding it anymore.
I'll let PVT. Train take you home...
"This great evil--where's it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doing this? Who's killing us, robbing us of life and light, mocking us with the sight of what we mighta known? Does our ruin benefit the earth, does it help the grass to grow and the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you too? Have you passed through this night?"
And before anybody gets huffy, yes, I'm going to quote this out of context. But you can read the entire transcript and hear the damn thing at www.mediamatters.org, the following was said by Bill Bennett, the former Secretary of Education under Reagan
BENNETT: "Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."
Apparently somebody called his show claiming that the lost revenue from all the aborted fetuses from the past 30 years would be enough to preserve America's Social Security's solvency. And Bennett went on to make the point that such ridiculous extrapolations like that of aborting every black fetus would lower the crime rate, have the right idea but they are too dangerous, immoral, and wrong by design. I like how he covers himself there at the end, we wouldn't want anybody to get the wrong idea.
Maybe I'm looking into this too much, but this is sounding like some colonial slave talk right here. Wasn't one of the arguments for the slave trade the idea that Africans were incapable of living by themselves because of their savage nature? That they would tear themselves limb from limb if it weren't for their white saviors, what the fuck is going on? People still think like this? Is this guy really saying that the crime problem in this country will dwindle if the African-American new born population is discontinued? How long until somebody suggests this to living breathing human bodies? I don't want to get melodramatic and all doom propheting and there's probably no connection to this kind of thinking from idea to practice, but this is really freaking me out nonetheless. He's not advocating this solution, but his words indicate that the reasoning behind it is not completely artificial. And it's not just that he's a racist, that's not what bothers me about this. Yes, it's reprehensible to say that black people are predisposed to crime and violence, don't get me wrong. But this guy's line of thinking is so violently aggressive and hateful. I just don't understand how anybody could react like this in the year 2005. At the same time, I understand also that this guy (hopefully) speaks for a very limited and powerless minority, but then again he was the Secretary of Education for the united states, he's in charge of the education standards for the children of this country. Again, what the fuck?
If a former or current government official went on CNN and said that the world was flat, wouldn't he be discredited and laughed off to obscurity. Hopefully the same will happen to this guy.
The day after he made the initial comments, like Pat Robertson, he was back to discredit his attackers (as he calls them, why do all these right-wing guys think they're martyrs?) But, as it turns out he defended his comments with more falsehoods. You can read his response here, which never really addresses the true nature of his words, merely the context in which his dumbass presented them. I know what I heard, and believe me, it doesn't bring me any pleasure to write about shit like this, hopefully this guy will wise up. I used to think people still hated each other as much now as they did back then, they just knew how to hide it better. I guess they're not hiding it anymore.
I'll let PVT. Train take you home...
"This great evil--where's it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doing this? Who's killing us, robbing us of life and light, mocking us with the sight of what we mighta known? Does our ruin benefit the earth, does it help the grass to grow and the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you too? Have you passed through this night?"
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
the wind
Shadows are falling and I'm running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for awhile
If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile
When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for while
There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for while
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while
Sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house
Maybe you'll think of me and smile
You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on your blouse
Keep me in your heart for while
Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you
Engine driver's headed north to Pleasant Stream
Keep me in your heart for while
These wheels keep turning but they're running out of steam
Keep me in your heart for while
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while
Keep me in your heart for while
Keep me in your heart for awhile
If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile
When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for while
There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for while
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while
Sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house
Maybe you'll think of me and smile
You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on your blouse
Keep me in your heart for while
Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you
Engine driver's headed north to Pleasant Stream
Keep me in your heart for while
These wheels keep turning but they're running out of steam
Keep me in your heart for while
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while
Keep me in your heart for while
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Oh sirrah! A man writing an opera about a woman? How delightfully absurd!
So, at the opera last night...
I don't think anybody expected this blog to begin like that.
Seriously though, I went to an opera last night at Lincoln Center, Falstaff was a name of it and it was operacized version of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor with some King Henry IV thrown in for good measure. And it's the damndest thing, I really liked it. It's not that I expected not to like it, it's just that I didn't know what to expect. The only opera experience I've had prior to this was La Boheme but that was a Baz Lhurman production so that was really like a big elaborate lazer show really. No, that was really good to but you know how he is, everything's gotta be boom boom boom! Getting back to falstaff though, it was a beautifully designed, lavishly decorated, and seriously well sung performance. The ending was something out of a great screwball comedy, come to think of it shakespeare is sort of the grandaddy of all screwball comedies, and somebody should thank for him for that. Opera has always puzzled me in that it's just so hard to put a human face on that singing, it doesn't sound natural. This is not a criticism of any kind, but being the simple minded person that I am, I still marvel over the fact that these are human voices making these sounds. I just can't comprehend how someone finds and develops that gift, it just seems so extraordinary, I guess a lot of singing is like that though. I remember reading somewhere that Rufus Wainwright gets heaps and loads of musical inspiration from Opera, not just in his singing style and musical taste, but in his lyrics as well. So much of what he has seen in opera, he has translated into his words, hopefully someday he can write an opera that will stop all the world. That will show everybody. But yeah I had a fabuloso time last night, and one more thing before I wrap this up, that Lincoln Center has one grand old theatre, to see a full blown opera up on that stage is something I'm really glad I got to see. Plus I was with ravishingly beautiful company so that didn't hurt. There was one little minor fib on my part, apparently and if somebody wants to break this down too me this, now is the time: I chew my gum too loudly. Right after the first scene in the first act, the woman in front of me asked me if I could stop chewing my gum because she could hear it the entire time. I half expected a chorus line of oompa-loompa's to come cartwheeling in singing about the horrors of chewing and chewing all day long. I guess since I don't chew gum as often as I used to I'd forgotten about proper etiquette, so wherever that woman is I apologize. Remember that kids, gum and opera just don't mix, and I can't be taken anywhere.
That unfortunate business aside...
I want to say one more time and I promise and absolutely swear this will be it. Thank you, dev.
"Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is...and felt how awful goodness is."
(This quote really has nothing to do with the opera, I just saw it on a website and felt like posting it)
Okay, I'm off...
I don't think anybody expected this blog to begin like that.
Seriously though, I went to an opera last night at Lincoln Center, Falstaff was a name of it and it was operacized version of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor with some King Henry IV thrown in for good measure. And it's the damndest thing, I really liked it. It's not that I expected not to like it, it's just that I didn't know what to expect. The only opera experience I've had prior to this was La Boheme but that was a Baz Lhurman production so that was really like a big elaborate lazer show really. No, that was really good to but you know how he is, everything's gotta be boom boom boom! Getting back to falstaff though, it was a beautifully designed, lavishly decorated, and seriously well sung performance. The ending was something out of a great screwball comedy, come to think of it shakespeare is sort of the grandaddy of all screwball comedies, and somebody should thank for him for that. Opera has always puzzled me in that it's just so hard to put a human face on that singing, it doesn't sound natural. This is not a criticism of any kind, but being the simple minded person that I am, I still marvel over the fact that these are human voices making these sounds. I just can't comprehend how someone finds and develops that gift, it just seems so extraordinary, I guess a lot of singing is like that though. I remember reading somewhere that Rufus Wainwright gets heaps and loads of musical inspiration from Opera, not just in his singing style and musical taste, but in his lyrics as well. So much of what he has seen in opera, he has translated into his words, hopefully someday he can write an opera that will stop all the world. That will show everybody. But yeah I had a fabuloso time last night, and one more thing before I wrap this up, that Lincoln Center has one grand old theatre, to see a full blown opera up on that stage is something I'm really glad I got to see. Plus I was with ravishingly beautiful company so that didn't hurt. There was one little minor fib on my part, apparently and if somebody wants to break this down too me this, now is the time: I chew my gum too loudly. Right after the first scene in the first act, the woman in front of me asked me if I could stop chewing my gum because she could hear it the entire time. I half expected a chorus line of oompa-loompa's to come cartwheeling in singing about the horrors of chewing and chewing all day long. I guess since I don't chew gum as often as I used to I'd forgotten about proper etiquette, so wherever that woman is I apologize. Remember that kids, gum and opera just don't mix, and I can't be taken anywhere.
That unfortunate business aside...
I want to say one more time and I promise and absolutely swear this will be it. Thank you, dev.
"Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is...and felt how awful goodness is."
(This quote really has nothing to do with the opera, I just saw it on a website and felt like posting it)
Okay, I'm off...
Monday, September 26, 2005
Take that, Miklos Rozsa!
AFI Recognizes Most Memorable Film Score
The American Film Institute revealed its top 25 Film Scores of the past 100 years on September 23rd at the Hollywood Bowl.
A jury of over 500 film artists, composers, musicians, critics and historians selected John Williams' iconic score from the classic film STAR WARS as the most memorable film score of all time. John Williams is additionally noteworthy as the most represented composer on the list with three scores making the top 25.
1 STAR WARS - John Williams
2 GONE WITH THE WIND - Max Steiner
3 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA - Maurice Jarre
4 PSYCHO - Bernard Herrmann
5 THE GODFATHER - Nino Rota
6 JAWS - John Williams
7 LAURA - David Raksin
8 THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN - Elmer Bernstein
9 CHINATOWN - Jerry Goldsmith
10 HIGH NOON - Dimitri Tiomkin
11 THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD - Erich Wolfgang Korngold
12 VERTIGO - Bernard Herrmann
13 KING KONG - Max Steiner
14 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL - John Williams
15 OUT OF AFRICA - John Barry
16 SUNSET BLVD. - Franz Waxman
17 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Elmer Bernstein
18 PLANET OF THE APES - Jerry Goldsmith
19 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE - Alex North
20 THE PINK PANTHER - Henry Mancini
21 BEN-HUR - Miklos Rozsa
22 ON THE WATERFRONT - Leonard Bernstein
23 THE MISSION - Ennio Morricone
24 ON GOLDEN POND - Dave Grusin
25 HOW THE WEST WAS WON - Alfred Newman
KING KONG AINT GOT SHIT ON ME!!!!
The American Film Institute revealed its top 25 Film Scores of the past 100 years on September 23rd at the Hollywood Bowl.
A jury of over 500 film artists, composers, musicians, critics and historians selected John Williams' iconic score from the classic film STAR WARS as the most memorable film score of all time. John Williams is additionally noteworthy as the most represented composer on the list with three scores making the top 25.
1 STAR WARS - John Williams
2 GONE WITH THE WIND - Max Steiner
3 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA - Maurice Jarre
4 PSYCHO - Bernard Herrmann
5 THE GODFATHER - Nino Rota
6 JAWS - John Williams
7 LAURA - David Raksin
8 THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN - Elmer Bernstein
9 CHINATOWN - Jerry Goldsmith
10 HIGH NOON - Dimitri Tiomkin
11 THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD - Erich Wolfgang Korngold
12 VERTIGO - Bernard Herrmann
13 KING KONG - Max Steiner
14 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL - John Williams
15 OUT OF AFRICA - John Barry
16 SUNSET BLVD. - Franz Waxman
17 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Elmer Bernstein
18 PLANET OF THE APES - Jerry Goldsmith
19 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE - Alex North
20 THE PINK PANTHER - Henry Mancini
21 BEN-HUR - Miklos Rozsa
22 ON THE WATERFRONT - Leonard Bernstein
23 THE MISSION - Ennio Morricone
24 ON GOLDEN POND - Dave Grusin
25 HOW THE WEST WAS WON - Alfred Newman
KING KONG AINT GOT SHIT ON ME!!!!
Sunday, September 25, 2005
YEAH lord of WAR!!!
As you can tell by the title of this here post, I finally got around to seeing Lord of War. I saw it at the Loews on 34th street right near penn station and I only mention this because tickets were only 9.50, that's a horse of a differnt color. So yeah maybe I should do all my thievin up there from now on. Anyway Lord of War was one of my big ticket (i totally sounded like leonard maltin there, who is by the way the most attractive critic on television) fall movies for the specific reason being that it was written directed by andrew niccol. Writer of the truman show and director of the criminally ignored and underrated gattaca, he has a knack for alternative realities and posing questions about humanities relationship to its paritcular environment. At least that's what the film school side of me says, and on top of that he's a fucking sharp writer and director. Lord of War is definitely his most ambitious and most technically assured film to date, there is a knockout opening sequence tracing the construction and eventual usage of a bullet told from that perspective. People have compared the style of this film to David O's Three Kings, I don't really see that. This looks like an andrew niccol film, he seems to have a thing for sleekness whereas Russell is much grittier and used. Anyway as I was saying this film is in some ways a colosssal leap for him in terms of thematic qualities but otherwise it fits right into his normal milleu of obsessions, except, unfortunately for us, this film takes place in our time and claims to have been based on a true story. Not to divulge too much story and bore you with details, it's basically about the rise of a ukrainian gun runner who keeps everything about his life secret from his model wife while dodging and evading a determined interpol agent, all the while juggling his coke head brother who used to be in business with him. This is where the film failed for me, it feels like Niccol had all these angry and cynical things to say but couldn't find the right device for them story wise. The plot feels too ordinary and Niccol is too smart of a writer to not at least know he was exploiting cliches. Don't get me wrong, this is a strong film Cage is great and there is something very angry about this film that makes you laugh at certain points where you're not really sure whether you are supposed to be laughing. Sure parts of it are over done, like Cage's extended drugged out sequence, but at the same time you admire a film that has an excess of ambition rather than one scared of it. I'm not saying that makes bad movies good, but sometimes if a film tries at all you can see the passion and integrity that went into it and you admire it just a little bit more. So yeah, go see it if you have the chance if only to support andrew niccol's career and grant him the opportunity to make more films.
In conclusion to yesterday's thrilling entry, I missed the floating island again, this time at Carl Shurz. I just didn't have enough time to get up there, stupid lack of public urinals. And when I got there the river was bone dry (with tugboats that is) Its too bad because the more I read about it, the more interesting it sounded. This guy was saying that the whole thing was a tribute to the brain behind central park. And that it is a testament to man made nature the same way that central park was just a dump until somebody decided to simply dump more grass and trees on top of it to make the postcard image we see today. It's just interesting to take a small chunk of that almost and drag it around the island, I dont know maybe i just really like tugboats. Come to think of it I dont think I've ever seen one in person, someday, someday.
Tonight's simpsons had the best O.C. parody ever and one of the best lines about divorce ever. I hope I can remember this
" But Lis, if mom and dad get divorced, you can compensate by marrying a much older man. Meanwhile, I'll be one of those 35 year old guys who hangs out at high school basketball games."
In conclusion to yesterday's thrilling entry, I missed the floating island again, this time at Carl Shurz. I just didn't have enough time to get up there, stupid lack of public urinals. And when I got there the river was bone dry (with tugboats that is) Its too bad because the more I read about it, the more interesting it sounded. This guy was saying that the whole thing was a tribute to the brain behind central park. And that it is a testament to man made nature the same way that central park was just a dump until somebody decided to simply dump more grass and trees on top of it to make the postcard image we see today. It's just interesting to take a small chunk of that almost and drag it around the island, I dont know maybe i just really like tugboats. Come to think of it I dont think I've ever seen one in person, someday, someday.
Tonight's simpsons had the best O.C. parody ever and one of the best lines about divorce ever. I hope I can remember this
" But Lis, if mom and dad get divorced, you can compensate by marrying a much older man. Meanwhile, I'll be one of those 35 year old guys who hangs out at high school basketball games."
Saturday, September 24, 2005
I missed the goddamn tugboats
So I went looking for the floating island exhibit, floating all around the island of manhattan. Apparently this guy thought it would be quite quirking if he installed dirt, grass and trees onto a barge and lugged it up, down, crossways, and sideways in the waters of the east river. The point being I went to see it today at the East River Park, which according to the artists' website is located at the East River and E. Houston Street. Easy enough to find right? Well let's just say if this were an Indiana Jones movie and they cut to one of those shots with a map and a thick black line indicating my journey from point A to point B, it probably would have looked like it was written with a spirograph. I went in the most convoluted, roundabout, exactly the wrong way to go to get there and on top of all that I missed the fucking thing. So I'm going tomorrow to Carl Shurz park where somebody shot a frankly lame boy and girl piece there last year to try this again tomorrow about 11:15 ish I think in the AM, if there are any takers well, it's not exactly mai-thais and yahtzee but LET'S DO IT!!!! But the fact remains that I still know nothing about New York City. I could have walked down to water street from where I ended up and not even noticed it. Quite lame
At least it was a nice day today...
Something that has come to my attention however, I know some people who've lost some people recently. And I thought of this quote as all I could think to add. From an oft quoted band on this blog: Eels, the song P.S. You Rock My World. Which has no relation whatsoever to the award winning short of the same name, I can assure the director was not aware that the Eels' P.S. and his P.S. stood for the same thing. That's all, anyway here's the line for those we have lost.
"...and i was thinking 'bout how everyone is dying and maybe it is time to live."
At least it was a nice day today...
Something that has come to my attention however, I know some people who've lost some people recently. And I thought of this quote as all I could think to add. From an oft quoted band on this blog: Eels, the song P.S. You Rock My World. Which has no relation whatsoever to the award winning short of the same name, I can assure the director was not aware that the Eels' P.S. and his P.S. stood for the same thing. That's all, anyway here's the line for those we have lost.
"...and i was thinking 'bout how everyone is dying and maybe it is time to live."
Thursday, September 22, 2005
More quotes part deux...
I'm a fuckin' un-original bastard...
"I was married, I mean I haven't been for five years. My wife died in an accident just south of town. She was picking up my youngest son from baseball practice, on the way home she was at an intersection. And there was this guy he was coming the other way and he was trying to beat a yellow light, but it was raining so he changed his mind and he tried to stop but it was too late. The car went into a skid and he skidded across the intersection and he slammed into my wife's car. She died on the way to the hopsital, and I never got to speak to her again. Yeah, it could have been worse, I mean thank god Pete made it through it. He's okay more or less. You know it's really weird, sometimes when I'm concentrating on something really hard or in the morning, just as I'm waking up, I forget. Just for a second, I forget. You know it's this really strange thing where everything you build your life on, everythink you think you are is just gone. It's just gone."
Where would we be without indie family dramas?
"I was married, I mean I haven't been for five years. My wife died in an accident just south of town. She was picking up my youngest son from baseball practice, on the way home she was at an intersection. And there was this guy he was coming the other way and he was trying to beat a yellow light, but it was raining so he changed his mind and he tried to stop but it was too late. The car went into a skid and he skidded across the intersection and he slammed into my wife's car. She died on the way to the hopsital, and I never got to speak to her again. Yeah, it could have been worse, I mean thank god Pete made it through it. He's okay more or less. You know it's really weird, sometimes when I'm concentrating on something really hard or in the morning, just as I'm waking up, I forget. Just for a second, I forget. You know it's this really strange thing where everything you build your life on, everythink you think you are is just gone. It's just gone."
Where would we be without indie family dramas?
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
In the jingle jangle morning, I'll come following you...
They're buildin' the gallows outside my cell.
I got 25 minutes to go.
And in 25 minutes I'll be in Hell.
I got 24 minutes to go.
Well, they give me some beans for my last meal.
23 minutes to go.
And you know... nobody asked me how I feel.
I got 22 minutes to go.
So, I wrote to the Gov'nor... the whole damned bunch.
Ahhh... 21 minutes to go.
And I call up the Mayor, and he's out to lunch.
I got 20 more minutes to go.
Well, the Sheriff says, "Boy, I wanna watch you die".
19 minutes to go.
I spit in his face... and I kicked him in the eye.
I got 18 minutes to go.
Well...I call out to the Warden to hear my plea.
17 minute to go.
He says, "Call me back in a week or three.
You've got 16 minutes to go."
Well, my lawyer says he's sorry he missed my case.
Mmmm....15 minutes to go.
Yeah, well if you're so sorry, come up and take my place.
I got 14 minutes to go.
Well, now here comes the padre to save my soul
With 13 minutes to go.
And he's talkin' about burnin', but I'm so damned cold.
I got 12 more minutes to go.
Now they're testin' the trap. It chills my spine.
I got 11 minutes to go.
'Cuz the goddamned thing it works just fine.
I got 10 more minutes to go.
I'm waitin' for the pardon... gonna set me free
With 9 more minutes to go.
But this ain't the movies, so to hell with me.
I got 8 more minutes to go.
And now I'm climbin up the ladder with a scaffold peg
With 7 more minutes to go.
I've betta' watch my step or else I'll break my leg.
I got 6 more minutes to go.
Yeah... with my feet on the trap and my head in the noose...
5 more minutes to go.
Well, c'mon somethin' and cut me loose.
I got 4 more minutes to go.
I can see the mountains. I see the sky.
3 more minutes to go.
And it's too damned pretty for a man to die.
i got 2 more minutes to go
I can hear the buzzards... hear the crows.
1 more minute to go.
And now I'm swingin' and here I gooooooooo....
I got 25 minutes to go.
And in 25 minutes I'll be in Hell.
I got 24 minutes to go.
Well, they give me some beans for my last meal.
23 minutes to go.
And you know... nobody asked me how I feel.
I got 22 minutes to go.
So, I wrote to the Gov'nor... the whole damned bunch.
Ahhh... 21 minutes to go.
And I call up the Mayor, and he's out to lunch.
I got 20 more minutes to go.
Well, the Sheriff says, "Boy, I wanna watch you die".
19 minutes to go.
I spit in his face... and I kicked him in the eye.
I got 18 minutes to go.
Well...I call out to the Warden to hear my plea.
17 minute to go.
He says, "Call me back in a week or three.
You've got 16 minutes to go."
Well, my lawyer says he's sorry he missed my case.
Mmmm....15 minutes to go.
Yeah, well if you're so sorry, come up and take my place.
I got 14 minutes to go.
Well, now here comes the padre to save my soul
With 13 minutes to go.
And he's talkin' about burnin', but I'm so damned cold.
I got 12 more minutes to go.
Now they're testin' the trap. It chills my spine.
I got 11 minutes to go.
'Cuz the goddamned thing it works just fine.
I got 10 more minutes to go.
I'm waitin' for the pardon... gonna set me free
With 9 more minutes to go.
But this ain't the movies, so to hell with me.
I got 8 more minutes to go.
And now I'm climbin up the ladder with a scaffold peg
With 7 more minutes to go.
I've betta' watch my step or else I'll break my leg.
I got 6 more minutes to go.
Yeah... with my feet on the trap and my head in the noose...
5 more minutes to go.
Well, c'mon somethin' and cut me loose.
I got 4 more minutes to go.
I can see the mountains. I see the sky.
3 more minutes to go.
And it's too damned pretty for a man to die.
i got 2 more minutes to go
I can hear the buzzards... hear the crows.
1 more minute to go.
And now I'm swingin' and here I gooooooooo....
Monday, September 19, 2005
Sigur Ros makes the most hopeful, inspiring, jaw-dropping, serene, calming, beautiful, devastating, and flat out rockingest music I've ever heard.
I stole the title of this post from the name of a facebook group, except replace sigur ros with bright eyes, so that's the origin of that.
Anyway, to piggy back off of nate's last post, the new sigur ros album Takk... is one of the most gorgeous pieces of music I've ever heard in a long long time. I know I tend to droll at the bit over a lot of things on this blog (Star Wars, Eels, the gathering darkness) but this album makes me weep. And seeing them at the beacon last monday night was like some kind of miracle, the show was awe inspiring, you hear these sounds on a record and you think to yourself, well yeah it's all machine processed and manipulated. Once you see that it's just these four icelandic dudes rockin out, it makes you feel like all the things Robin Williams tells Matt Damon he's missed on that park bench in Good Will Hunting. First off, singer jónsi birgisson's voice sounds like Thom Yorke's DNA reconstituted into the body of a ghostly angelic Icelandic child. I do now know how he does it, but goddamn, whoever encouraged him as a child into music should have endless amounts of riches and doubloons heaped upon them. The standout tracks are the previously written about Glósóli and Sæglópur, but Mílanó, Andvari, and Hoppípolla are just like as one reviewer put it rather ostentatiously, listenting to god cry tears of gold. That's ridiculous I know but the point remains. Hell the whole album is spectacular, these guys seem to get better and better with every new recorded output, this is their best album yet. Takk indeed.
With all this being said, I should recognize a major failing of mine and apologize to Mark Primeaux. I remember in 11th or 12th grade, I forget which, he came into muz (our lunchtime music listening club) and was really jazzed about this band sigur ros and their album Ágætis Byrjun. Me being the damned fool that I was and still am, looked at the cover with its angel fetus plugged into some kind of electrical device and hearing about how the guitar player uses a violin bow instead of a pick. I brushed them off as weirdos and didn't even give them a chance, laughed them off as a wannabe radiohead.
Ah the foul stench of youth how it corrupted ye... Luckily I am much older and much wiser now, so I know better.
Sorry Mark, you were so fucking right.
"Night falling on the city
Sparkling red and gold
Don’t it just look so pretty
This disappearing world"
P.S. The new david gray album is really good too.
Anyway, to piggy back off of nate's last post, the new sigur ros album Takk... is one of the most gorgeous pieces of music I've ever heard in a long long time. I know I tend to droll at the bit over a lot of things on this blog (Star Wars, Eels, the gathering darkness) but this album makes me weep. And seeing them at the beacon last monday night was like some kind of miracle, the show was awe inspiring, you hear these sounds on a record and you think to yourself, well yeah it's all machine processed and manipulated. Once you see that it's just these four icelandic dudes rockin out, it makes you feel like all the things Robin Williams tells Matt Damon he's missed on that park bench in Good Will Hunting. First off, singer jónsi birgisson's voice sounds like Thom Yorke's DNA reconstituted into the body of a ghostly angelic Icelandic child. I do now know how he does it, but goddamn, whoever encouraged him as a child into music should have endless amounts of riches and doubloons heaped upon them. The standout tracks are the previously written about Glósóli and Sæglópur, but Mílanó, Andvari, and Hoppípolla are just like as one reviewer put it rather ostentatiously, listenting to god cry tears of gold. That's ridiculous I know but the point remains. Hell the whole album is spectacular, these guys seem to get better and better with every new recorded output, this is their best album yet. Takk indeed.
With all this being said, I should recognize a major failing of mine and apologize to Mark Primeaux. I remember in 11th or 12th grade, I forget which, he came into muz (our lunchtime music listening club) and was really jazzed about this band sigur ros and their album Ágætis Byrjun. Me being the damned fool that I was and still am, looked at the cover with its angel fetus plugged into some kind of electrical device and hearing about how the guitar player uses a violin bow instead of a pick. I brushed them off as weirdos and didn't even give them a chance, laughed them off as a wannabe radiohead.
Ah the foul stench of youth how it corrupted ye... Luckily I am much older and much wiser now, so I know better.
Sorry Mark, you were so fucking right.
"Night falling on the city
Sparkling red and gold
Don’t it just look so pretty
This disappearing world"
P.S. The new david gray album is really good too.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Come on y'all, eat some of this shit!
There's a really interesting article in the new york times this weekend, it's part of the fall movie preview. A.O. Scott wrote about how movies this fall and movies in general are tending towards fantasy, nostalgia, and in some cases a flat out retreat to adolesence. Movies are not really being made about what it's like to live in america and the world right now, and when they are, they're overwrought pieces of self-serious wildly unrealistic trash like crash, hey that rhymes. He closes his article with something I thought I would never hear a film critic say and I dig it...
"Or maybe not. Several recent movies have sparked interesting conversations - about the war in Iraq, the fight against terrorism, the ethics of human cloning. These were the action blockbusters of the past summer: remakes, sequels and franchise pictures like "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," "Batman Begins," "War of the Worlds" and even "The Island." Last fall the movie that galvanized similar reflection was "The Incredibles." Of course, all these movies deal with contemporary reality on the level of allegory, which provides its own form of distance. But it is interesting that the half-encoded topical meanings found in them seem to be part of the intentions of their makers, rather than the projections of critics and other interpreters. It may be that the role of the blockbuster is to engage with matters that more self-consciously serious movies shy away from. I can't wait until next summer."
That being said, I decided to post a list of the ten films (That's a good number for lists like this) that I am excited to see this fall. Luckily, since I am not a film critic I do not look at the list as symoblizing some sort of sociological trend in filmmaking, I just see a bunch of rad-ass movies, I'm going to shell out 10.75 and up for this fall. Then again, I did see A Sound of Thunder, well there's one off the list.
The following is in no particular order
-Elizabethtown
-Jarhead
-The New World
-Lord of War (although that's tricky since it's coming out next week, but Andrew Niccol kicks ass)
-The Corpse Bride (again, next week, I hope all the good shit doesnt't come out right away and then vanish)
-Good Night, and Good Luck
-Capote
-Brokeback Mountain
-All The King's Men
-Syriana
This was actually more difficult than I expected, everything save for the last two films I have seen trailers for so I have some idea what they're going to be like. With King's and Syriana, what I've read and who is involved has got me chompin at the bit. I realized going through the films this fall that there are a few flicks like Stay (written by David Benioff) Prime (Directed by Ben Younger) and the infamous Get rich or Die Tryin (directed by Jim Sheridan). The names I associated with these films are the reason I want to see them, but for one reason or another their perspective trailers just haven't really done it for me. I really want them to be good, meaningful films but I am not completely assured yet. And none of the event movies this fall are doing anything for me, I could, however, use some more films from David Gordon Green, David O. Russell, and Wes Anderson and why not throw in another eerily beautiful minimalistic gus van sant film while your at it. That being said, I'm sure there's stuff I've forgotten about and hopefully there will be constant surprises in the coming months.
Before I go I have to give a big "whaddup" to a film First Run Features is putting out this fall, it's called One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern, it's about the 72 McGovern campaign if you haven't figured that out. And it features interviews with grown up nerds like Gore Vidal, Warren Beatty, and Gloria Steinem. And it's narrated by Amy Goodman, who kicks ass every day on her radio show democracy now. That being said, it looks interesting, I haven't seen it yet but I will, I like movies.
Sorry, one more thing, The Squid and the Whale is coming out this fall, pretty soon I think, it's fantastic, I didn't put it on the list cause I already seen it. That is to say I saw it. You, however should see it.
Thus, I good you bid evening...
"The man-poet who banged Frances - dark lady of philosophy. The parking lot crusader of truth... who turned his back on his other like a cold-blooded gangsta."
"Or maybe not. Several recent movies have sparked interesting conversations - about the war in Iraq, the fight against terrorism, the ethics of human cloning. These were the action blockbusters of the past summer: remakes, sequels and franchise pictures like "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," "Batman Begins," "War of the Worlds" and even "The Island." Last fall the movie that galvanized similar reflection was "The Incredibles." Of course, all these movies deal with contemporary reality on the level of allegory, which provides its own form of distance. But it is interesting that the half-encoded topical meanings found in them seem to be part of the intentions of their makers, rather than the projections of critics and other interpreters. It may be that the role of the blockbuster is to engage with matters that more self-consciously serious movies shy away from. I can't wait until next summer."
That being said, I decided to post a list of the ten films (That's a good number for lists like this) that I am excited to see this fall. Luckily, since I am not a film critic I do not look at the list as symoblizing some sort of sociological trend in filmmaking, I just see a bunch of rad-ass movies, I'm going to shell out 10.75 and up for this fall. Then again, I did see A Sound of Thunder, well there's one off the list.
The following is in no particular order
-Elizabethtown
-Jarhead
-The New World
-Lord of War (although that's tricky since it's coming out next week, but Andrew Niccol kicks ass)
-The Corpse Bride (again, next week, I hope all the good shit doesnt't come out right away and then vanish)
-Good Night, and Good Luck
-Capote
-Brokeback Mountain
-All The King's Men
-Syriana
This was actually more difficult than I expected, everything save for the last two films I have seen trailers for so I have some idea what they're going to be like. With King's and Syriana, what I've read and who is involved has got me chompin at the bit. I realized going through the films this fall that there are a few flicks like Stay (written by David Benioff) Prime (Directed by Ben Younger) and the infamous Get rich or Die Tryin (directed by Jim Sheridan). The names I associated with these films are the reason I want to see them, but for one reason or another their perspective trailers just haven't really done it for me. I really want them to be good, meaningful films but I am not completely assured yet. And none of the event movies this fall are doing anything for me, I could, however, use some more films from David Gordon Green, David O. Russell, and Wes Anderson and why not throw in another eerily beautiful minimalistic gus van sant film while your at it. That being said, I'm sure there's stuff I've forgotten about and hopefully there will be constant surprises in the coming months.
Before I go I have to give a big "whaddup" to a film First Run Features is putting out this fall, it's called One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern, it's about the 72 McGovern campaign if you haven't figured that out. And it features interviews with grown up nerds like Gore Vidal, Warren Beatty, and Gloria Steinem. And it's narrated by Amy Goodman, who kicks ass every day on her radio show democracy now. That being said, it looks interesting, I haven't seen it yet but I will, I like movies.
Sorry, one more thing, The Squid and the Whale is coming out this fall, pretty soon I think, it's fantastic, I didn't put it on the list cause I already seen it. That is to say I saw it. You, however should see it.
Thus, I good you bid evening...
"The man-poet who banged Frances - dark lady of philosophy. The parking lot crusader of truth... who turned his back on his other like a cold-blooded gangsta."
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Don't mind if I already did...
I fear we have awoken a sleeping giant...
That's right, kounterklockwise is back, comin' out GUNS BLAZING!!!! Head on over to the site and check it out.
www.kounterklockwise.com I still dont know how to put links or any of that other fancy shit. That's as good as I can do. Deal.
On a lighter note, you can also go to http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/ and watch sigur ros's new music video. It will restore your faith in music videos again. Well, probably not but it's absolutely beautiful and the song kicks ass, plus its got weird doll like icelandic kids walking around enjoying each other's company, dancing, holding their evil in check. It's just a great video, I was telling nate that the last time I got the same reaction from one of those things was when I watched the scientist video way back in freshman year. I'm sure there are milliions of other great music videos out there, I just gave up on them a while ago, but this one is a shocker alright.
There's more stuff to report but I'll do that in the coming days with more frequent posts. I just wanted to get you fools to watch that sigur ros video. That is all.
"So? I'm just as important as him.
It's just that, the kind of importance I have ...it doesn't matter if I ... don't do it."
That's right, kounterklockwise is back, comin' out GUNS BLAZING!!!! Head on over to the site and check it out.
www.kounterklockwise.com I still dont know how to put links or any of that other fancy shit. That's as good as I can do. Deal.
On a lighter note, you can also go to http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/ and watch sigur ros's new music video. It will restore your faith in music videos again. Well, probably not but it's absolutely beautiful and the song kicks ass, plus its got weird doll like icelandic kids walking around enjoying each other's company, dancing, holding their evil in check. It's just a great video, I was telling nate that the last time I got the same reaction from one of those things was when I watched the scientist video way back in freshman year. I'm sure there are milliions of other great music videos out there, I just gave up on them a while ago, but this one is a shocker alright.
There's more stuff to report but I'll do that in the coming days with more frequent posts. I just wanted to get you fools to watch that sigur ros video. That is all.
"So? I'm just as important as him.
It's just that, the kind of importance I have ...it doesn't matter if I ... don't do it."
Friday, September 02, 2005
mmmm, that's good satire!
Dear Mr. Bush:
Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.
Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?
Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!
I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?
And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!
On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.
There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.
No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!
You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com
P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.
Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.
Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?
Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!
I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?
And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!
On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.
There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.
No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!
You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com
P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.
In the new thriller "a sound of thunder" edward burns tries to stop time waves that threaten to erase humanity from existence...
Does this movie sound like a shark or what???
Seriously though this weekend is starting to stink out loud. I mean don't get me wrong, Nick Cannon's got a slammin' hot show on MTV, and that song where he thanks his mom for not aborting him during her pregnancy, thus by any logical deduction, of course he should have his own starring vehicle right?!?!. Especially one where he plays a street smart black guy/kid (how old is he?) who teaches a bunch of stiff, preppy, upper-class white students how to properly pronounce the word "booty." Who would have thought nick cannon had the maturity and charisma to develop such an original story outline on his own (he did too, check the story credits). This shit really sticks in my crawl.
I guess this is what I get for seeing Four Brothers.
Underclassmen ain't by itself this weekend either, Transporter 2 which while I badmouth I will probably end up seeing. I mean I saw the first one, and I really have to know what happens otherwise I won't believe in nothing no more. Then there's this sound of thunder a movie which nate has described to me in detail and maybe he can write about it in his blog. It's from the master of action who brought you Timecop, Sudden Death, and all the other piddling crap I wouldn't touch with a ten foot clown pole (even though I saw both of those movies in theatres). The premise is a rip off of that simpsons halloween special where homer goes back in time via his toaster to the land of dinosaurs and fucks up the future by ever so slightly changing the past. I bet this movie doesn't have ben kingsley getting his hand jammed in a toaster. Or does it?
However, if you've read nate's blog recently you are aware that I recently saw the constant gardner which somehow got dumped in the end of august and wilil probably find the same audience the island got, el zilcho. It's a shame too, it really is a fantastic movie, one of the best of this year I feel. It's the guy who directed city of god and the visual style is completely different yet just as compelling, this guy is a master of environments and locations, Africa breathes the same kind of life that the slums of rio de jeniro did in city. And the story unfolds like a really good book, plus the movie cares enough to explore as one character puts it in the film "how africa is constantly fucked over by the west" yet the movie is not a preachy poelmic either. I won't say anymore, check it out and you won't regret it. Well you might I mean I can't predict something like that, I'm not on trial here, leave me alone...
To close I will leave you with roger ebert's thoughts on underclassmen...excuse me underclassman
Did anyone at any time during the talks leading up to this film say, "Gee, guys, doesn't it seem like we've seen this a million times before?" Did anyone think to create an African-American character who was an individual and not a wiseass standup with street smarts? Was there ever an impulse to nudge the movie in the direction of originality and ambition? Or was everybody simply dazed by the fact that they were making a film and were therefore presumably filmmakers?
Seriously though this weekend is starting to stink out loud. I mean don't get me wrong, Nick Cannon's got a slammin' hot show on MTV, and that song where he thanks his mom for not aborting him during her pregnancy, thus by any logical deduction, of course he should have his own starring vehicle right?!?!. Especially one where he plays a street smart black guy/kid (how old is he?) who teaches a bunch of stiff, preppy, upper-class white students how to properly pronounce the word "booty." Who would have thought nick cannon had the maturity and charisma to develop such an original story outline on his own (he did too, check the story credits). This shit really sticks in my crawl.
I guess this is what I get for seeing Four Brothers.
Underclassmen ain't by itself this weekend either, Transporter 2 which while I badmouth I will probably end up seeing. I mean I saw the first one, and I really have to know what happens otherwise I won't believe in nothing no more. Then there's this sound of thunder a movie which nate has described to me in detail and maybe he can write about it in his blog. It's from the master of action who brought you Timecop, Sudden Death, and all the other piddling crap I wouldn't touch with a ten foot clown pole (even though I saw both of those movies in theatres). The premise is a rip off of that simpsons halloween special where homer goes back in time via his toaster to the land of dinosaurs and fucks up the future by ever so slightly changing the past. I bet this movie doesn't have ben kingsley getting his hand jammed in a toaster. Or does it?
However, if you've read nate's blog recently you are aware that I recently saw the constant gardner which somehow got dumped in the end of august and wilil probably find the same audience the island got, el zilcho. It's a shame too, it really is a fantastic movie, one of the best of this year I feel. It's the guy who directed city of god and the visual style is completely different yet just as compelling, this guy is a master of environments and locations, Africa breathes the same kind of life that the slums of rio de jeniro did in city. And the story unfolds like a really good book, plus the movie cares enough to explore as one character puts it in the film "how africa is constantly fucked over by the west" yet the movie is not a preachy poelmic either. I won't say anymore, check it out and you won't regret it. Well you might I mean I can't predict something like that, I'm not on trial here, leave me alone...
To close I will leave you with roger ebert's thoughts on underclassmen...excuse me underclassman
Did anyone at any time during the talks leading up to this film say, "Gee, guys, doesn't it seem like we've seen this a million times before?" Did anyone think to create an African-American character who was an individual and not a wiseass standup with street smarts? Was there ever an impulse to nudge the movie in the direction of originality and ambition? Or was everybody simply dazed by the fact that they were making a film and were therefore presumably filmmakers?
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
I'm gonna stand here with you...
It's okay, it's okay
You don't have to run and hide away
It's okay, it's okay
I love you anyway
It's okay, it's okay
You don't need to run and hide away
It's okay, it's okay
This is my life, this is my chance
This is my hope in an alleyway
This is my choice, this is my voice
There may be no tomorrow, now
This is my plea, this is my need
This is my day to be free
This is my time, this is my way
In a world that's never safe
It's okay, it's okay
You gotta let me run away
It's okay, it's okay
Oh now let me run away
It's okay, it's okay
You're gonna run and hide away
It's okay, it's okay
You don't have to run and hide away
It's okay, it's okay
I love you anyway
It's okay, it's okay
You don't need to run and hide away
It's okay, it's okay
This is my life, this is my chance
This is my hope in an alleyway
This is my choice, this is my voice
There may be no tomorrow, now
This is my plea, this is my need
This is my day to be free
This is my time, this is my way
In a world that's never safe
It's okay, it's okay
You gotta let me run away
It's okay, it's okay
Oh now let me run away
It's okay, it's okay
You're gonna run and hide away
It's okay, it's okay
Sunday, August 28, 2005
I just wanted something good to come out of all this.
It's a good old fashioned hole diggin' and by gar it's been a while...
Did I say hole diggin? Oh, sorry I meant to say blog writing.
In the immortal words of Staind, it's been a while since I've pounded on these here key pads and I don't really have an explanation as to why so I'll just get on with it. I've broken a record for myself that I'm rather proud of, I've read two complete books in three weeks. Now I know that's probably nothing to sneeze at for some of the blue noses out there, but for me who desperately wants to be an avid reader but just seem to be alble to get off his big fat can and do it, I'd say it's a wingtip.
First I read Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis which is a retelling of the cupid and psyche myth which I remember reading in high school for a fairy tales class where a friend and I were scolded one day after class for constantly reading the Journey of Luke Skywalker, an analysis of all the imagery and symbols in the star wars trilogy and pointing out passages we thought were "awesome" I should point out we were both giddy with anticipation for attack of the clones that spring so excuse our childesness (sp?), the teacher sure didn't.
Anyway I enjoyed Faces quite a bit, it was a radical alteration of the original text in that Lewis really got into the minds and hearts of the characters and my favorite moments were the beautifully written and sometimes shattering insights the main character/narrator offered about herself. It was also one of those books that reads so cinematically off the page, I don't know if it would make a good movie, but it sure made for some great visual images in my head. It gets very religious-y at the end and almost to the point where you feel like lewis wants to underline the word over and over again. It wasn't self destructive or anything I just personally had a hard time following it because of my lack of familiarity with the subject, I felt like he was making all these really grand statements and while I could follow somewhat if he were to say act out this part of the book in a one man show format I would probably just be sitting there nodding saying ah-ha, ah-ha that's whatever you were talking about for ya. That aside it's a beautifully written book and if anyone's interested let me know, since I have my own copy and everything.
The second book i read was called Goat and it's a memoir by Brad Land, a newbie. I read that this is going to be David Gordon Green's next movie either before or after Secret Life of Bee's, I'm not sure which. Anyway the subject matter intrigued me, it's about Brad Lands early college expierences at a fraternity in Clemson. But the book begins with him getting carjacked and brutally assualted by two strangers after giving them a ride back from a party. It's quite stunning how Land weaves together one form of destructive violence (crime) and another that is a little more accepted (hazing). But the book is not just a tell all gossipy thing about fraternities and the horrible things that go on inside of them, that would be too easy. It's more about isolation and the feeling of never being able to connect with your environment no matter how often you move or how hard you try. One gets the feeling that the Land character would be alone and miserable no matter where he wound up, hopefully he's gotten better after this book. And since it's a memoir Land does some really interesting things with the first person narration, it reads just like a thought stretched out for two hundred pages, really remarkable stuff. It's almost like we get to enter his mind during and after all of the events described so as to give one the feeling of a happening memory, he describes it in present tense but offers the insight and recollections of time passed. Green's gonna kick this things ass.
That's pretty much it, now I have Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison which the back of the book describes as "Ellison's nightmare journey across the racial divide." Sounds like fun, hope it's good.
"And it's fine that it's been this way with girls for a while now, these random things, because I know I'm too much for anyone, that if I let myself, I'd love them all, I'd think they could fix me. But I know they can't, and it's enough, because every so often when a girl kisses me, touches my hand, my face, I remember that the world has light."
Did I say hole diggin? Oh, sorry I meant to say blog writing.
In the immortal words of Staind, it's been a while since I've pounded on these here key pads and I don't really have an explanation as to why so I'll just get on with it. I've broken a record for myself that I'm rather proud of, I've read two complete books in three weeks. Now I know that's probably nothing to sneeze at for some of the blue noses out there, but for me who desperately wants to be an avid reader but just seem to be alble to get off his big fat can and do it, I'd say it's a wingtip.
First I read Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis which is a retelling of the cupid and psyche myth which I remember reading in high school for a fairy tales class where a friend and I were scolded one day after class for constantly reading the Journey of Luke Skywalker, an analysis of all the imagery and symbols in the star wars trilogy and pointing out passages we thought were "awesome" I should point out we were both giddy with anticipation for attack of the clones that spring so excuse our childesness (sp?), the teacher sure didn't.
Anyway I enjoyed Faces quite a bit, it was a radical alteration of the original text in that Lewis really got into the minds and hearts of the characters and my favorite moments were the beautifully written and sometimes shattering insights the main character/narrator offered about herself. It was also one of those books that reads so cinematically off the page, I don't know if it would make a good movie, but it sure made for some great visual images in my head. It gets very religious-y at the end and almost to the point where you feel like lewis wants to underline the word over and over again. It wasn't self destructive or anything I just personally had a hard time following it because of my lack of familiarity with the subject, I felt like he was making all these really grand statements and while I could follow somewhat if he were to say act out this part of the book in a one man show format I would probably just be sitting there nodding saying ah-ha, ah-ha that's whatever you were talking about for ya. That aside it's a beautifully written book and if anyone's interested let me know, since I have my own copy and everything.
The second book i read was called Goat and it's a memoir by Brad Land, a newbie. I read that this is going to be David Gordon Green's next movie either before or after Secret Life of Bee's, I'm not sure which. Anyway the subject matter intrigued me, it's about Brad Lands early college expierences at a fraternity in Clemson. But the book begins with him getting carjacked and brutally assualted by two strangers after giving them a ride back from a party. It's quite stunning how Land weaves together one form of destructive violence (crime) and another that is a little more accepted (hazing). But the book is not just a tell all gossipy thing about fraternities and the horrible things that go on inside of them, that would be too easy. It's more about isolation and the feeling of never being able to connect with your environment no matter how often you move or how hard you try. One gets the feeling that the Land character would be alone and miserable no matter where he wound up, hopefully he's gotten better after this book. And since it's a memoir Land does some really interesting things with the first person narration, it reads just like a thought stretched out for two hundred pages, really remarkable stuff. It's almost like we get to enter his mind during and after all of the events described so as to give one the feeling of a happening memory, he describes it in present tense but offers the insight and recollections of time passed. Green's gonna kick this things ass.
That's pretty much it, now I have Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison which the back of the book describes as "Ellison's nightmare journey across the racial divide." Sounds like fun, hope it's good.
"And it's fine that it's been this way with girls for a while now, these random things, because I know I'm too much for anyone, that if I let myself, I'd love them all, I'd think they could fix me. But I know they can't, and it's enough, because every so often when a girl kisses me, touches my hand, my face, I remember that the world has light."
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
this doesn't just suck butthead...this really sucks.
Actually this news is quite the opposite...
Beavis And Butt-Head
Paramount Home Entertainment will release Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection vol. 1 on November 8th. While details for this release have been harder to pry loose than you would care to imagine, we can tell you that the three-disc set will include fourteen episodes hand-picked by creator Mike Judge (a few presented in "director cuts"), eleven music videos with commentary featuring the slacker duo, a "Taint of Greatness: The Journey Of Beavis and Butt-Head" featurette and a collection of interviews and appearances with Beavis and Butt-Head. Retail will be $39.99. Look for two more volumes to be released next year.
Only one week after Revenge of the Sith...NICE!!!
Beavis And Butt-Head
Paramount Home Entertainment will release Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection vol. 1 on November 8th. While details for this release have been harder to pry loose than you would care to imagine, we can tell you that the three-disc set will include fourteen episodes hand-picked by creator Mike Judge (a few presented in "director cuts"), eleven music videos with commentary featuring the slacker duo, a "Taint of Greatness: The Journey Of Beavis and Butt-Head" featurette and a collection of interviews and appearances with Beavis and Butt-Head. Retail will be $39.99. Look for two more volumes to be released next year.
Only one week after Revenge of the Sith...NICE!!!
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
i've got reservations about so many things, but not about you.
So the new Sigur Ros record has officially been bumped up to must come out right now status on my anticipation alert level. I heard the first single Saeglopur today and I think the country of Iceland should officialy change it's name to Rockland because of its mythic association to the Ros's. I don't know how they do it, and I probably don't want to know but these guys can make record fuzz sound like a beautiful, melodic instrumental interlude. Everything within a five block radius of this album should be blown out of the water upon it's release. They'll need to put it in a special section, quarantined from everything else so as to insure the other albums' safety, we don't want anybody getting hurt here. In the words of Doyle Gipson:
"I need this album.....FOR MY LIFE!!!"
Went back to the Windy Apple last night for a movie night screening of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot with Mr. David Gordon Green himself presiding. It was an awkward setting, bringing a dude in to talk about a movie that's not his. But a fun filled evening for all I'm sure, a good flick, an awesome director presenting it. What more could you want? It got me thinking about what I would choose if the IFC center asked me to present movie night. I'm sure it would be a hard choice, but since movie people invariably go back to the reliable standard of "movies they grew up on" I would have to say it would probably be a premium selection of the best action movies from the early to mid-90's. That's the shit I grew up on. You got your Passenger 57 and Demolition Man of course, but you'd have to throw in there Timecop, Sudden Death, Speed, True Lies, the Last Boy Scout, Die Hard (1,2,3), what else? oh yeah, The Crow, Judge Dredd, Darkman 2: The Return of Durant, and the list could go on forever I'm sure. I'd have to go with something like that, because I never got to see some of them on a big screen (mainly the Snipes movies believe it or not) and because what's more fun than hearing "So let me get this right? They defrosted you just so you could lasso my piddly ass?!?! DAMN YOU'D BEEN HAD!!!" on THX surround sound, nothing that's what. So keep that in mind IFC if you ever ask me to host movie night, I'm gonna stuff the ballot with thrills, chills, and spills. Oh yeah I'd need Universal Soldier in there as well, damn I forgot about that one. Van Damme and Lundgren are the Astaire/Rogers of our generation. Toodles.
"It's a funny thing about people, how everyone has a song.
And he sings it every morning, but we don't hear it until it's gone."
"I need this album.....FOR MY LIFE!!!"
Went back to the Windy Apple last night for a movie night screening of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot with Mr. David Gordon Green himself presiding. It was an awkward setting, bringing a dude in to talk about a movie that's not his. But a fun filled evening for all I'm sure, a good flick, an awesome director presenting it. What more could you want? It got me thinking about what I would choose if the IFC center asked me to present movie night. I'm sure it would be a hard choice, but since movie people invariably go back to the reliable standard of "movies they grew up on" I would have to say it would probably be a premium selection of the best action movies from the early to mid-90's. That's the shit I grew up on. You got your Passenger 57 and Demolition Man of course, but you'd have to throw in there Timecop, Sudden Death, Speed, True Lies, the Last Boy Scout, Die Hard (1,2,3), what else? oh yeah, The Crow, Judge Dredd, Darkman 2: The Return of Durant, and the list could go on forever I'm sure. I'd have to go with something like that, because I never got to see some of them on a big screen (mainly the Snipes movies believe it or not) and because what's more fun than hearing "So let me get this right? They defrosted you just so you could lasso my piddly ass?!?! DAMN YOU'D BEEN HAD!!!" on THX surround sound, nothing that's what. So keep that in mind IFC if you ever ask me to host movie night, I'm gonna stuff the ballot with thrills, chills, and spills. Oh yeah I'd need Universal Soldier in there as well, damn I forgot about that one. Van Damme and Lundgren are the Astaire/Rogers of our generation. Toodles.
"It's a funny thing about people, how everyone has a song.
And he sings it every morning, but we don't hear it until it's gone."
Friday, August 12, 2005
sift through the static, for a simpler sound.
Around November of 2003, the new york times wrote a playlist article about musicians who were carrying on the tradition of Elliott Smith after his death. The article introduced me to kevin devine and his second LP Make the Clocks Move. I forget what the article said but I distinctly remember the image of the album cover, a messy drawing of a sad-sack red head who looked like he paid a friend to draw all of his shortcomings for him. In other words he wasn't winning no beauty contests or fending off movie starlets with a pointy stick.
Anyway, I got the album later that year and it was one of those musical awakening moments. I liken it to when my friend tim wendell played the pearl jam song rearview mirror for me back in second grade and all of a sudden my musical tastes were born. Obviously these moments never register like that when they actually happen, but thanks to the rose colored tint of nostalgia, they all look that way now. Regardless, make the clocks move was one of those albums that opens a new musical door for you. You feel like you've found your own personal soundtrack. The past couple of years has yielded a lot of those for me, for example Electro Shock Blues by eels, Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron and Wine, The Earth is Not A Cold Dead Place by Explosions in the Sky, 1972 by Josh Rouse, In A Safe Place by the Album Leaf, and just to make sure I keep talking about it in this blog Blinking Lights and Other Revelations by eels. I'm sure there are countless others but not too many so as to make the whole thing meaningless because it happens every couple of Tuesdays.
The point of all this is I've become an adamant follower of Kevin Devine, he is the equivalent of Conor to Nate. But that doesn't mean I'm about to say anything as stupid as Devine is the new dylan. I just mean in the sense that I feel he speaks for me but more than that he speaks for all the things that for one reason or another I am unable to articulate. He's like the Cameron Crowe of songwriting, his lyrics are so normal and everyday yet distinctly and brutally honest, insights that whiz by in your mind on a car ride home that you can't remember for one reason or another until you hear it in a song lyric. It's all the stuff I wish I could say or write but wind up slaving over and eventually crossing out because it's just not good enough. Mr. Devine does it without breaking a sweat (or if he does sweat, at least it yields results). So in short, I dig his music.
I read today on his website that he just signed to a major label, Capitol Records to be exact. Now I'm not very hip to the major label scene musically speaking, I just don't know enough about how the business works other than shit sells. And it seems to me that this should be a cause for panic, another one bites the dust kind of thing. After reading his post (you can too at www.kevindevine.net under the news section) however, I see that he is totally aware of the direction his new life may take. He's not naive enough to think he will completely change the way music is made with his indie mindset and attitude. He's not completely giving up either, he understands the drawbacks to this decision but he also understands the rewards. A lot of great bands are on major labels (Coldplay and Radiohead for example are Devine's newfound labelmates) and as long as he continues to progress as an artist in a way that is natural and organic, than more power to him. He deserves more fans and he deserves to have his album showcased in stores or at least the little white card divider that lets you know they at one point carried his music. So I say congratulations, it's a hell of a toboggon ride. And I can't wait to see where he goes next.
The bricks get laid,
and they get torn up,
and laid again,
but the bricks always get torn up again.
Your friends won't wait,
so don't believe that shit,
when they say they'll wait.
Trust me; your friends will not wait for you.
Then, you'll be stoned in some park,
just nodding your head and pinching your arms,
when a girl walks along.
She's humming your song,
with your t-shirt on.
That's when you're done.
There's a cotton crush
down in the southern states.
But back up here, man, we've got
so much thread and space
to waste, waste, waste.
There's a microphone
picking every word up
and it shuts itself off
when it's sure that's its heard enough.
The quiet can scrape
all the calm from your bones,
but maybe it should.
Maybe we need to be hollowed
to get up and grow,
and stop fucking around;
to kick off our braces and start straightening out.
Let's sift through the static
to find a simpler sound
than the shit that's clouding our heads now.
Anyway, I got the album later that year and it was one of those musical awakening moments. I liken it to when my friend tim wendell played the pearl jam song rearview mirror for me back in second grade and all of a sudden my musical tastes were born. Obviously these moments never register like that when they actually happen, but thanks to the rose colored tint of nostalgia, they all look that way now. Regardless, make the clocks move was one of those albums that opens a new musical door for you. You feel like you've found your own personal soundtrack. The past couple of years has yielded a lot of those for me, for example Electro Shock Blues by eels, Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron and Wine, The Earth is Not A Cold Dead Place by Explosions in the Sky, 1972 by Josh Rouse, In A Safe Place by the Album Leaf, and just to make sure I keep talking about it in this blog Blinking Lights and Other Revelations by eels. I'm sure there are countless others but not too many so as to make the whole thing meaningless because it happens every couple of Tuesdays.
The point of all this is I've become an adamant follower of Kevin Devine, he is the equivalent of Conor to Nate. But that doesn't mean I'm about to say anything as stupid as Devine is the new dylan. I just mean in the sense that I feel he speaks for me but more than that he speaks for all the things that for one reason or another I am unable to articulate. He's like the Cameron Crowe of songwriting, his lyrics are so normal and everyday yet distinctly and brutally honest, insights that whiz by in your mind on a car ride home that you can't remember for one reason or another until you hear it in a song lyric. It's all the stuff I wish I could say or write but wind up slaving over and eventually crossing out because it's just not good enough. Mr. Devine does it without breaking a sweat (or if he does sweat, at least it yields results). So in short, I dig his music.
I read today on his website that he just signed to a major label, Capitol Records to be exact. Now I'm not very hip to the major label scene musically speaking, I just don't know enough about how the business works other than shit sells. And it seems to me that this should be a cause for panic, another one bites the dust kind of thing. After reading his post (you can too at www.kevindevine.net under the news section) however, I see that he is totally aware of the direction his new life may take. He's not naive enough to think he will completely change the way music is made with his indie mindset and attitude. He's not completely giving up either, he understands the drawbacks to this decision but he also understands the rewards. A lot of great bands are on major labels (Coldplay and Radiohead for example are Devine's newfound labelmates) and as long as he continues to progress as an artist in a way that is natural and organic, than more power to him. He deserves more fans and he deserves to have his album showcased in stores or at least the little white card divider that lets you know they at one point carried his music. So I say congratulations, it's a hell of a toboggon ride. And I can't wait to see where he goes next.
The bricks get laid,
and they get torn up,
and laid again,
but the bricks always get torn up again.
Your friends won't wait,
so don't believe that shit,
when they say they'll wait.
Trust me; your friends will not wait for you.
Then, you'll be stoned in some park,
just nodding your head and pinching your arms,
when a girl walks along.
She's humming your song,
with your t-shirt on.
That's when you're done.
There's a cotton crush
down in the southern states.
But back up here, man, we've got
so much thread and space
to waste, waste, waste.
There's a microphone
picking every word up
and it shuts itself off
when it's sure that's its heard enough.
The quiet can scrape
all the calm from your bones,
but maybe it should.
Maybe we need to be hollowed
to get up and grow,
and stop fucking around;
to kick off our braces and start straightening out.
Let's sift through the static
to find a simpler sound
than the shit that's clouding our heads now.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
welcome to the suck.
I think I may have found my most anticipated movie of the fall.
Well, at least one of them.
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/jarhead.html
Check that site out, watch the trailer.
I forget how to do the fancy quick link shit so just copy and paste.
And for the record, Road to Perdition is vastly superior to American Beauty and I wish they'd put that shit in that ads as a demonstration of Sam Mendes' awesome talent.
But Jarhead looks killer.
Well, at least one of them.
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/jarhead.html
Check that site out, watch the trailer.
I forget how to do the fancy quick link shit so just copy and paste.
And for the record, Road to Perdition is vastly superior to American Beauty and I wish they'd put that shit in that ads as a demonstration of Sam Mendes' awesome talent.
But Jarhead looks killer.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
anybody who laughs is a communist.
These past couple posts have been all about sad music and the sad state of things.
I think it's time for an upper.
Here are some quotes that made me break out the crayolas and color myself tickled pink.
I hope they do the same for you.
Don't "easy Ruiz" me, you turned an Easter egg hunt into a butt-fuck-a-thon.
Did you just let SCREECH in the fucking club?
And I hope you know frogs aren't purple, you ever seen a purple frog?
[Chole nods]
Oh yeah? When? When you where asleep?
He spoke to me. You want me to dis him?
'Dis?' 'Dis?' You're in no position to 'dis', or 'give props', or whatever your MTV
Real World sense of fucking decorum tells you to do. You're nothing. You're wallpaper.
You're not here to make fucking friends. Asking a motherfucker where
he lives. And who the fuck told you 'Red Dragon'?.
I know what 'strapped' means, motherfucker. What the fuck you think this shit is? '21 Jump Street?'
And some more...
Judge: Also, in a rare double-whammy decision the court finds polygamy constitutional.
Old Man Waterfall: I can't wait to tell my husband!
Fry: Hey, wait! I'm having one of those things. You know, a headache with pictures.
Leela: An idea?
Fry: Mm, hmmm, hmmm.
Old Man Waterfall: Do your worst, you sea devils. I'll make my stand with Old Freebie. You can crush me but you can't crush my spirit!
Palace of oppression: *crush*
Old Man Waterfall: Argh, my spirit!
Well, that was fun. And here's the grand finale, tally-ho.
"Here's scenario B for you Bob, see how you feel about this one. Now I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but I think I'm starting to get under Ruiz's skin as well, OK? It all started with the whole Red Dragon, or the Welsh guy, whatever, they can play it down all they want but you know 200 grand's a lot of fucking money! It's a fucking lot of money! OK? 200 grand is definitely a lot of fucking money! And now I've got Ruiz calling me fucking Fruit-Pie the fucking magician! Tellin' me that I can't fucking call my main man Max, who fucking sent me out on the fucking operation? And what about the Welsh guy? He's fucking scat all over, they fucking disappear and talk! And you haven't noticed this either but when he's not fucking looking at me or you're fucking doing whatever, I've got fucking Jimmy in the mirror with his shit too. It's fucking coming at me from here, I don't know where it is! It might be coming this way, it might be coming that way, but the fucking shit's coming and I'm not gonna be late for the fucking dance man, I'm not gonna be fucking late for the dance on this one."
I think it's time for an upper.
Here are some quotes that made me break out the crayolas and color myself tickled pink.
I hope they do the same for you.
Don't "easy Ruiz" me, you turned an Easter egg hunt into a butt-fuck-a-thon.
Did you just let SCREECH in the fucking club?
And I hope you know frogs aren't purple, you ever seen a purple frog?
[Chole nods]
Oh yeah? When? When you where asleep?
He spoke to me. You want me to dis him?
'Dis?' 'Dis?' You're in no position to 'dis', or 'give props', or whatever your MTV
Real World sense of fucking decorum tells you to do. You're nothing. You're wallpaper.
You're not here to make fucking friends. Asking a motherfucker where
he lives. And who the fuck told you 'Red Dragon'?.
I know what 'strapped' means, motherfucker. What the fuck you think this shit is? '21 Jump Street?'
And some more...
Judge: Also, in a rare double-whammy decision the court finds polygamy constitutional.
Old Man Waterfall: I can't wait to tell my husband!
Fry: Hey, wait! I'm having one of those things. You know, a headache with pictures.
Leela: An idea?
Fry: Mm, hmmm, hmmm.
Old Man Waterfall: Do your worst, you sea devils. I'll make my stand with Old Freebie. You can crush me but you can't crush my spirit!
Palace of oppression: *crush*
Old Man Waterfall: Argh, my spirit!
Well, that was fun. And here's the grand finale, tally-ho.
"Here's scenario B for you Bob, see how you feel about this one. Now I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but I think I'm starting to get under Ruiz's skin as well, OK? It all started with the whole Red Dragon, or the Welsh guy, whatever, they can play it down all they want but you know 200 grand's a lot of fucking money! It's a fucking lot of money! OK? 200 grand is definitely a lot of fucking money! And now I've got Ruiz calling me fucking Fruit-Pie the fucking magician! Tellin' me that I can't fucking call my main man Max, who fucking sent me out on the fucking operation? And what about the Welsh guy? He's fucking scat all over, they fucking disappear and talk! And you haven't noticed this either but when he's not fucking looking at me or you're fucking doing whatever, I've got fucking Jimmy in the mirror with his shit too. It's fucking coming at me from here, I don't know where it is! It might be coming this way, it might be coming that way, but the fucking shit's coming and I'm not gonna be late for the fucking dance man, I'm not gonna be fucking late for the dance on this one."
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
I'm looking for a dare to be great situation.
It's been raining like this for three days...
Well, it hasn't been literally raining for three days but ever since I got home it's been gray round these parts. Raining off and on, the papes said it should be like this for the rest of the week. Hope it clears up soon, it's a shame to miss Avondale in the summer....
Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about Nate's most recent post and it's kinda been bumming me out. Just because when I think of sad music I don't think of music that I listen to because I want to feel bad about myself or the world. If I wanted that I would just listen to songs about small animals being tortured, or children being kidnapped and murdered. I'm not making light of these things I'm just saying that is stuff I constitute as "sad." Whereas the music I like doesn't really feed into those kinds of emotions, it's more about letting someone in and feeding off of a human connection. It's like the paragraph I had up here a little while ago that some guy wrote about elliott smith and how his greatest talent was his ability to make his words universal, and how he was able to elicit the most sincere sympathy from total strangers because of the connection he forged. That's the reward i take away from sad music, it's the knowledge that you are now connected with someone and in a really small way you can understand a very small part about them. How can any music that encourages compassion and human connection be called suicide music. That just feels like a narrow minded label, I just wish people wouldn't cast judgement so easily. Me, I would never do that, except for those jam bands...oh man how they and all their fans piss me off. Damn hippies.
Yesterday I watched Ghost World, perhaps the only movie ever that makes me wish it was a physical being just so I could give it a hug, pat it on the back, and tell it that everything is going to be okay. What a lonely movie, everybody in it is surrounded by what their lack of connection with humanity. They're forced to wander an earth surrounded by strip-malls, 50's nostalgia cafe's, and their own minor existances. The movie is extremely funny though, don't get me wrong, how could you not love a movie with a line like this...
"Well, I have to admit that things are really starting to look up for me since my life turned to shit."
There may be plenty of reasons, come to think of it. But me, I love any kind of character who is completely willing to admit at the drop of a hat how miserable he/she is and make me laugh because of it.
Okay, I think that's all for now, I'll keep you all updated on my daily activities. Believe me, if they are as breathtaking for me on this end, then it's gotta be like exponentially more exciting for you dear readers. Hope you all have a lovely day.
I've been trying to fit this quote in for a while, I'm not sure if it works now but this entry has been quite scatter brained so why stop now? It's from a Red House Painters song called Cruiser.
"So drive down Beverly Drive
Where my room's lit up all night
I've been so lonely in this bed
It's good to sleep with you instead
It's good to talk all night instead"
Well, it hasn't been literally raining for three days but ever since I got home it's been gray round these parts. Raining off and on, the papes said it should be like this for the rest of the week. Hope it clears up soon, it's a shame to miss Avondale in the summer....
Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about Nate's most recent post and it's kinda been bumming me out. Just because when I think of sad music I don't think of music that I listen to because I want to feel bad about myself or the world. If I wanted that I would just listen to songs about small animals being tortured, or children being kidnapped and murdered. I'm not making light of these things I'm just saying that is stuff I constitute as "sad." Whereas the music I like doesn't really feed into those kinds of emotions, it's more about letting someone in and feeding off of a human connection. It's like the paragraph I had up here a little while ago that some guy wrote about elliott smith and how his greatest talent was his ability to make his words universal, and how he was able to elicit the most sincere sympathy from total strangers because of the connection he forged. That's the reward i take away from sad music, it's the knowledge that you are now connected with someone and in a really small way you can understand a very small part about them. How can any music that encourages compassion and human connection be called suicide music. That just feels like a narrow minded label, I just wish people wouldn't cast judgement so easily. Me, I would never do that, except for those jam bands...oh man how they and all their fans piss me off. Damn hippies.
Yesterday I watched Ghost World, perhaps the only movie ever that makes me wish it was a physical being just so I could give it a hug, pat it on the back, and tell it that everything is going to be okay. What a lonely movie, everybody in it is surrounded by what their lack of connection with humanity. They're forced to wander an earth surrounded by strip-malls, 50's nostalgia cafe's, and their own minor existances. The movie is extremely funny though, don't get me wrong, how could you not love a movie with a line like this...
"Well, I have to admit that things are really starting to look up for me since my life turned to shit."
There may be plenty of reasons, come to think of it. But me, I love any kind of character who is completely willing to admit at the drop of a hat how miserable he/she is and make me laugh because of it.
Okay, I think that's all for now, I'll keep you all updated on my daily activities. Believe me, if they are as breathtaking for me on this end, then it's gotta be like exponentially more exciting for you dear readers. Hope you all have a lovely day.
I've been trying to fit this quote in for a while, I'm not sure if it works now but this entry has been quite scatter brained so why stop now? It's from a Red House Painters song called Cruiser.
"So drive down Beverly Drive
Where my room's lit up all night
I've been so lonely in this bed
It's good to sleep with you instead
It's good to talk all night instead"
Say goodbye to frankie, dad.
"It was as hard for Frankie to smile when the tumor was malignant...
...as it was for my dad to cry after. But they both managed it.
I'm going to switch this off now. It's not the way I want to see Frankie anymore.
Do you still have a picture of me in your head? Well, that's the picture I want to have of Frankie.
The one that you can keep in your head forever. So when you go back to reality...
I'll ask Frankie...to please, please - let me go."
I'll do a proper post after I get cleaned up. Cheerio.
...as it was for my dad to cry after. But they both managed it.
I'm going to switch this off now. It's not the way I want to see Frankie anymore.
Do you still have a picture of me in your head? Well, that's the picture I want to have of Frankie.
The one that you can keep in your head forever. So when you go back to reality...
I'll ask Frankie...to please, please - let me go."
I'll do a proper post after I get cleaned up. Cheerio.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Sticking together is what good waffles do.
A nice slow sunday back in ye olde avondale. It's good to be home, I like this little set up I had this summer, because may was like star wars/relaxing month and then a little bit of june and all of july was new york internship and now august is another relaxation month. Hopefully now I can do all the stuff I wanted to do this summer, it's good to cram it all in sometimes. Right?
RIGHT?!?!?!?
Anyway, I watched three movies today. All the Real Girls this morning, Black and White in the late afternoon and then Waking Life at night. Black and White is weird, it came out about five years ago and when I saw it I thought it was really provocative and insightful and it still is to a certain extent. There's a collection of interesting scenes (all of mike tyson and robert downey jr's stuff) but over all it's way too heavy handed and obvious with what it is trying to "say" about race relations in america. It's not a bad movie but one than can get very annoying at times, on the flipside it's not nearly as bad as crash.
But what I wanted to write about was how depressed I became during All the Real Girls and Waking Life. Now, I'm sure this is going to sound extrememly pompous and self-congratulatory but please bear with me for just a few minutes. This weekend The Dukes of Hazzard made something like 30 million dollars, which means a shit load of people went to see it. And that makes sense, it's pg-13, it's got cars, and it's got a deranged/moronic life size looking barbie struttin' around in her ass pants.
I know, I sound like a crotchety old man, but come on 30 million dollars.
The point of all this was I'm watching All the Real Girls and trying to figure out A) Why this movie is rated R cutting off a huge section of a potential target audience whereas Dukes skates by with a pg-13 and B) Why can't movies like this make 30 million dollars opening weekend. I know it's an age old question everybody asks about a lot of movies and I'm not asking it just because I think all the real girls is better ( i know it is) and not because it's more artsy or more poetic. All the Real Girls is in love with life and the possibilites of life. It makes you want to sit down by a river and watch the day drift away, it makes you want to remember experiences, places you've been in your life, people you miss who are long gone. In short the things that make life great (at least I think they do) And this movie celebrates those things to their very core in the least pretentious way possible because let's face it, if I can enjoy it then anyone can (I speak from experience I needed the ending of the sixth sense and the usual suspects explained to me in fine detail). It's just so depressing that this movie will slip by a lot of people's radars and cynical garbage like Dukes will rise to the top. A movie that exploits its audience rather than enjoy it's company.
I'm sorry to rant like this, I don't think just because I love all the real girls that everybody else should, nor do I think everybody should run out and see it right now. Because honestly, it's probably not for everybody (just like any other movie I suppose) I just wish there was a way for more movies like it and Waking Life to be made for younger audiences and that they didn't rely on cheap fads, lame jokes, and frat boy shit. Or if we could somehow have a balance. That's all.
I hope Nate made it through his work weekend okay, just remember this, the words of Feng Shui...
Pretend you're standing over the ocean. You're a millionaire. Pretend you're running over the ocean. You're jumping across mountains. You're jumping across mountains. Everybody loves you.
RIGHT?!?!?!?
Anyway, I watched three movies today. All the Real Girls this morning, Black and White in the late afternoon and then Waking Life at night. Black and White is weird, it came out about five years ago and when I saw it I thought it was really provocative and insightful and it still is to a certain extent. There's a collection of interesting scenes (all of mike tyson and robert downey jr's stuff) but over all it's way too heavy handed and obvious with what it is trying to "say" about race relations in america. It's not a bad movie but one than can get very annoying at times, on the flipside it's not nearly as bad as crash.
But what I wanted to write about was how depressed I became during All the Real Girls and Waking Life. Now, I'm sure this is going to sound extrememly pompous and self-congratulatory but please bear with me for just a few minutes. This weekend The Dukes of Hazzard made something like 30 million dollars, which means a shit load of people went to see it. And that makes sense, it's pg-13, it's got cars, and it's got a deranged/moronic life size looking barbie struttin' around in her ass pants.
I know, I sound like a crotchety old man, but come on 30 million dollars.
The point of all this was I'm watching All the Real Girls and trying to figure out A) Why this movie is rated R cutting off a huge section of a potential target audience whereas Dukes skates by with a pg-13 and B) Why can't movies like this make 30 million dollars opening weekend. I know it's an age old question everybody asks about a lot of movies and I'm not asking it just because I think all the real girls is better ( i know it is) and not because it's more artsy or more poetic. All the Real Girls is in love with life and the possibilites of life. It makes you want to sit down by a river and watch the day drift away, it makes you want to remember experiences, places you've been in your life, people you miss who are long gone. In short the things that make life great (at least I think they do) And this movie celebrates those things to their very core in the least pretentious way possible because let's face it, if I can enjoy it then anyone can (I speak from experience I needed the ending of the sixth sense and the usual suspects explained to me in fine detail). It's just so depressing that this movie will slip by a lot of people's radars and cynical garbage like Dukes will rise to the top. A movie that exploits its audience rather than enjoy it's company.
I'm sorry to rant like this, I don't think just because I love all the real girls that everybody else should, nor do I think everybody should run out and see it right now. Because honestly, it's probably not for everybody (just like any other movie I suppose) I just wish there was a way for more movies like it and Waking Life to be made for younger audiences and that they didn't rely on cheap fads, lame jokes, and frat boy shit. Or if we could somehow have a balance. That's all.
I hope Nate made it through his work weekend okay, just remember this, the words of Feng Shui...
Pretend you're standing over the ocean. You're a millionaire. Pretend you're running over the ocean. You're jumping across mountains. You're jumping across mountains. Everybody loves you.
Friday, August 05, 2005
there's something about the buildings in chelsea...
Another song today, I was listening to it and it made me...
What's the word I'm searching for here?
Upside down frown, lips curled up and inward, kind of like the shape of a lemon.
Oh well, I give up.
Damn, I can't find those lyrics
Here's another song with the exact same title.
Don't it make you smile?
When the sun don't shine, (it don't shine at all.)
Don't it make you smile?
Don't it make you smile?
Don't it make me smile? Yeah.
When the sun don't shine, it don't shine at all. Yeah.
Don't it make me smile?
I miss you already. I miss you always.
I miss you already, yeah. I miss you all day.
This is how I feel.
I miss you already, yeah. I miss you always.
Three crooked hearts. Swirls all around, yeah.
I miss you all day.
Don't it make you smile?
Three crooked hearts. Swirls all around.
Don't it make you smile?
What's the word I'm searching for here?
Upside down frown, lips curled up and inward, kind of like the shape of a lemon.
Oh well, I give up.
Damn, I can't find those lyrics
Here's another song with the exact same title.
Don't it make you smile?
When the sun don't shine, (it don't shine at all.)
Don't it make you smile?
Don't it make you smile?
Don't it make me smile? Yeah.
When the sun don't shine, it don't shine at all. Yeah.
Don't it make me smile?
I miss you already. I miss you always.
I miss you already, yeah. I miss you all day.
This is how I feel.
I miss you already, yeah. I miss you always.
Three crooked hearts. Swirls all around, yeah.
I miss you all day.
Don't it make you smile?
Three crooked hearts. Swirls all around.
Don't it make you smile?
Thursday, August 04, 2005
What's Got the Whole World Faking?
Big News...
It's not official yet, nothing is absolute.
But it's looking pretty god damn likely.
Going to see Pearl Jam monday october 3rd at wachovia center.
I know, it sucks it's in philly but what am I complaining about? Haven't seen pearl jam in two years. It's about time they came back to give us all a massive ass whooping and show us how it's done like all the all knowing all seeing gods of rock that they are. Hopefully I'll get some good stories about the crowd, lots of weirdos as pearl jam shows.
Rock and or Roll. Later.
You'll be going out with radio, going out with disco, going out like bacchanal.
I'll be going out with telephone, going out alone, to the radar zone.
It's all just inadvertent imitation. And I don't mean mine.
It's all across this nation.
If it's just inadvertent simulation. A pattern in all mankind.
What's got the whole world faking it?
I'll be playing with my magazine, using up my Listerine, like Ovaltine.
And you'll be dipping in your battleship, for the latest tip, for the latest dream.
It's all just inadvertent imitation. And I don't mean mine.
It's all across this nation.
If it's just inadvertent simulation. A pattern in all mankind.
What's got the whole world faking it?
If it's just inadvertent imitation. A pattern in all mankind.
What's got the whole world faking it?
What's got the whole world faking...
What's got the whole world faking it? Yeah.
It's not official yet, nothing is absolute.
But it's looking pretty god damn likely.
Going to see Pearl Jam monday october 3rd at wachovia center.
I know, it sucks it's in philly but what am I complaining about? Haven't seen pearl jam in two years. It's about time they came back to give us all a massive ass whooping and show us how it's done like all the all knowing all seeing gods of rock that they are. Hopefully I'll get some good stories about the crowd, lots of weirdos as pearl jam shows.
Rock and or Roll. Later.
You'll be going out with radio, going out with disco, going out like bacchanal.
I'll be going out with telephone, going out alone, to the radar zone.
It's all just inadvertent imitation. And I don't mean mine.
It's all across this nation.
If it's just inadvertent simulation. A pattern in all mankind.
What's got the whole world faking it?
I'll be playing with my magazine, using up my Listerine, like Ovaltine.
And you'll be dipping in your battleship, for the latest tip, for the latest dream.
It's all just inadvertent imitation. And I don't mean mine.
It's all across this nation.
If it's just inadvertent simulation. A pattern in all mankind.
What's got the whole world faking it?
If it's just inadvertent imitation. A pattern in all mankind.
What's got the whole world faking it?
What's got the whole world faking...
What's got the whole world faking it? Yeah.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Oh no, not this shit again...
I hope I'm not boring anyone. But I was listening to this song today and I had to put it up on the blog, I hope I haven't used this one already.
Blinking lights on the airplane wings
Up above the trees
Blinking down a morse code signal
Especially for me
Ain't no rainbow in the sky
In the middle of the night
But the signal's coming through
One day i will be alright again
Blinking lights on the highway cars
Stopping one by one
Get a look at the accident
Didn't see that one coming
And the doctor in the sky
Gonna bring his chopper down
Gonna bring me out alive
And set me on the ground
Once more again
Blinking lights on the airplane wings
Up above the trees
This song, simple and understated is really hard to shake. Personally, I think Blinking Lights and Other Revelations by Eels is a modern rock masterpiece, one of those albums I hope to tell future generations where I was when I first listened to it, but that's a pretty corny dream, I go too far I guess. If anybody is interested in it, I'll gladly burn it for them, and don't listen to anything you hear about this album being too depressing or downbeat. I think this shit makes me happy to be alive.
E is the mad fat beat killer supreme with the coolest rhymes in the galaxy. Bless him.
Blinking lights on the airplane wings
Up above the trees
Blinking down a morse code signal
Especially for me
Ain't no rainbow in the sky
In the middle of the night
But the signal's coming through
One day i will be alright again
Blinking lights on the highway cars
Stopping one by one
Get a look at the accident
Didn't see that one coming
And the doctor in the sky
Gonna bring his chopper down
Gonna bring me out alive
And set me on the ground
Once more again
Blinking lights on the airplane wings
Up above the trees
This song, simple and understated is really hard to shake. Personally, I think Blinking Lights and Other Revelations by Eels is a modern rock masterpiece, one of those albums I hope to tell future generations where I was when I first listened to it, but that's a pretty corny dream, I go too far I guess. If anybody is interested in it, I'll gladly burn it for them, and don't listen to anything you hear about this album being too depressing or downbeat. I think this shit makes me happy to be alive.
E is the mad fat beat killer supreme with the coolest rhymes in the galaxy. Bless him.
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