Why, oh why, don't they make music videos like they used to?
Literature's "New Classics" from the past twenty-five years per what I consider a questionable source. I will temper that by saying I do own and/or have read 13 of the books on the list and could be missing out tremendously, but I have no shortage of books to wade through as it is. I'll post some brief reviews of the books I finished reading in the last couple weeks shortly.
Two pieces about the current Precious Snowflake (or * as they are known in some circles) culture: One Two. As a person with serious doubts about ever having children of my own, these certainly do not help persuade me to think otherwise. Spending time with my niece and nephew on the other hand does make me think what if? at least a little.
And an interesting comparison of Lincoln and Darwin and their significance to the world today.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Round up one: This past week I ran through a pile of movies, so here is the GBU* (again an aside, if you find any music by "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", give it a listen, smooth groovy driving progessive psy trance from Serge, Fred, and Dmitri, you can decide who is who).
The Bridesmaid: A chance meeting at his sister's wedding leads the main character into a rapid spiral of obsession and madness, not that the madness was a new thing for him, it just had a torch lit under it and they dive headlong into it. It is a French film so there is plenty of obligatory nudity. Not a terrible film, but also not subject matter that is very uplifting or inspirational. Stay away from crazy people.
Two Family House: A true story of the director's uncle, a mixed race baby born to a married Irish woman (whoops!) in New York in the 50's. The story starts with a hard luck Italian buying a house with plans to convert the downstairs into a local pub. First he has to get rid of the family upstairs: the Irish O'Leary's, a drunk in his 60's and his "child bride" Mary, who is about twenty at the time of the film, very pregnant, and played by Kelly MacDonald (an actress I've really liked ever since her turn in Trainspotting). As there are legal "complications" with evicting the family, some of Buddy's Italian buddies' offer to help with the eviction if you know what I mean. During their attempt to motivate the Irish couple to leave, Mary goes into labor and has the baby, who is obviously not Mr. O'Leary's. Given this turn of events Mr. O'Leary abandons Mary and Buddy proceeds to evict her, but the guilt of doing so makes him second guess his decision. As truth is stranger than fiction, the story unfolds from there as Buddy and Mary provide each other with the impetus to chase their dreams.
Indiana Jones and the ..........: The newest installment of the Indiana Jones saga is certainly an action packed one and quite enjoyable if you look past the many plot holes and borderline absurd situations that come at Uncle Harry in nonstop fashion. I have a fairly low suspension of disbelief threshold and this tested it. I was able to let go and enjoy the ride, but as soon as it was over, I could not avoid dissecting the many problems that hovered just below the surface. My loss and everyone else's gain I suppose.
Irreversible: A French thriller told in reverse chronological order, is extremely stylish and that aspect I thoroughly enjoyed, but it is also graphic/brutal/unforgiving and left my soul aching. The camera work is frenetic and chaotic at the beginning as we see the violent revenge taken by two of the main characters and as we backtrack through the nights events we arrive at the end (or the beginning) to very placid cinematography, but we are still jacked up on adrenaline, knowing what devolved from what should have been a nice evening out. I really can not recommend this for anyone who has a low pain/violence tolerance. I'm still not sure how to process this myself as it is rather disturbing and will not likely leave my psyche soon.
13 Tzameti: This is a fantastic debut film, again a French thriller, again very violent. In the vein of Reservoir Dogs/Usual Suspects. A young man doing a roofing job for an older man who overdoses, decides to take the man's place at a high paying "job" about which he knows nothing. Once he is far enough along that he learns what is involved he cannot get out and the battle for survival is on both psychologically and physically. This is an extremely tense movie and the people that do these things in real life are monsters/deranged in their own way. Crazy and yet hard to look away from. You won't get a happy ending with this one, but it is certainly worth looking for and the director, Gela Babluani, is one to watch for. There was also a disturbing short in the special features called Sunday's Game that was worth a look.
Finally...
Russian Dolls: This is a sequel to "L'Auberge Espagnol" which was a fun film about an internationally varied group of students in Spain (in some ways like MTV's The Real World). This film catches up with the group five years later as they reassemble in Russia for a wedding. I like the visual style, it feels very much like the first film and this is a good thing, the characters are interesting, etc. I got this from Netflix and the disc was completely borked halfway through, so I do not know how it turns out. I was enjoying it and there was a sequence with Audrey Tautou that is absolutely hilarious, but I'll have to track down another copy to find out what happens. Disappointing, but this is really the first time since I started with Netflix that I have not been able to get a disc to play on one of my machines.
Off to watch "The Burmese Harp" now....
The Bridesmaid: A chance meeting at his sister's wedding leads the main character into a rapid spiral of obsession and madness, not that the madness was a new thing for him, it just had a torch lit under it and they dive headlong into it. It is a French film so there is plenty of obligatory nudity. Not a terrible film, but also not subject matter that is very uplifting or inspirational. Stay away from crazy people.
Two Family House: A true story of the director's uncle, a mixed race baby born to a married Irish woman (whoops!) in New York in the 50's. The story starts with a hard luck Italian buying a house with plans to convert the downstairs into a local pub. First he has to get rid of the family upstairs: the Irish O'Leary's, a drunk in his 60's and his "child bride" Mary, who is about twenty at the time of the film, very pregnant, and played by Kelly MacDonald (an actress I've really liked ever since her turn in Trainspotting). As there are legal "complications" with evicting the family, some of Buddy's Italian buddies' offer to help with the eviction if you know what I mean. During their attempt to motivate the Irish couple to leave, Mary goes into labor and has the baby, who is obviously not Mr. O'Leary's. Given this turn of events Mr. O'Leary abandons Mary and Buddy proceeds to evict her, but the guilt of doing so makes him second guess his decision. As truth is stranger than fiction, the story unfolds from there as Buddy and Mary provide each other with the impetus to chase their dreams.
Indiana Jones and the ..........: The newest installment of the Indiana Jones saga is certainly an action packed one and quite enjoyable if you look past the many plot holes and borderline absurd situations that come at Uncle Harry in nonstop fashion. I have a fairly low suspension of disbelief threshold and this tested it. I was able to let go and enjoy the ride, but as soon as it was over, I could not avoid dissecting the many problems that hovered just below the surface. My loss and everyone else's gain I suppose.
Irreversible: A French thriller told in reverse chronological order, is extremely stylish and that aspect I thoroughly enjoyed, but it is also graphic/brutal/unforgiving and left my soul aching. The camera work is frenetic and chaotic at the beginning as we see the violent revenge taken by two of the main characters and as we backtrack through the nights events we arrive at the end (or the beginning) to very placid cinematography, but we are still jacked up on adrenaline, knowing what devolved from what should have been a nice evening out. I really can not recommend this for anyone who has a low pain/violence tolerance. I'm still not sure how to process this myself as it is rather disturbing and will not likely leave my psyche soon.
13 Tzameti: This is a fantastic debut film, again a French thriller, again very violent. In the vein of Reservoir Dogs/Usual Suspects. A young man doing a roofing job for an older man who overdoses, decides to take the man's place at a high paying "job" about which he knows nothing. Once he is far enough along that he learns what is involved he cannot get out and the battle for survival is on both psychologically and physically. This is an extremely tense movie and the people that do these things in real life are monsters/deranged in their own way. Crazy and yet hard to look away from. You won't get a happy ending with this one, but it is certainly worth looking for and the director, Gela Babluani, is one to watch for. There was also a disturbing short in the special features called Sunday's Game that was worth a look.
Finally...
Russian Dolls: This is a sequel to "L'Auberge Espagnol" which was a fun film about an internationally varied group of students in Spain (in some ways like MTV's The Real World). This film catches up with the group five years later as they reassemble in Russia for a wedding. I like the visual style, it feels very much like the first film and this is a good thing, the characters are interesting, etc. I got this from Netflix and the disc was completely borked halfway through, so I do not know how it turns out. I was enjoying it and there was a sequence with Audrey Tautou that is absolutely hilarious, but I'll have to track down another copy to find out what happens. Disappointing, but this is really the first time since I started with Netflix that I have not been able to get a disc to play on one of my machines.
Off to watch "The Burmese Harp" now....
Thursday, June 19, 2008
May Financial Binder is done and gone and I feel good....
Two links to a journalistic social experiment wherein the arts writers and the sports writers for the UK Guardian swap places for a day renders some interesting results. Nearly all of the participants would run circles around many of the "journalists" I read on a daily basis, for their writing ability alone, but beyond that the insights given are actually interesting and I enjoyed reading these.
The Arts as reported on by sports writers
Sports as reported on by art scribes
And another interesting article about Guerrilla Gardening. Not a new term or phenomenon, but one that is getting new exposure and I think that is a good thing. A sampling:
“I grew up singing in a cathedral where every little surface of all the medieval walls was carved in,” Reynolds said. “It looked like a place that was really special to people — lived in and loved.” His gardening is meant to communicate the same affectionate and collaborative investment in London. “I’m not against the state,” he told me. “I’m not an anarchist. I accept society more or less as it is. But there are chinks, there are flaws, there are anomalies in it. There are things that get overlooked, and I think guerrilla gardening can be a solution to that."
I just had a peek at the world map of all the random viewers of this blog (and random is about the only way to quantify those who happen to stumble on it) and the whole world is slightly speckled. I have to recommend SiteMeter for their services on that front. The way the world is interconnected is weird, wild, woolly, and that makes me happy for some reason.
The Arts as reported on by sports writers
Sports as reported on by art scribes
And another interesting article about Guerrilla Gardening. Not a new term or phenomenon, but one that is getting new exposure and I think that is a good thing. A sampling:
“I grew up singing in a cathedral where every little surface of all the medieval walls was carved in,” Reynolds said. “It looked like a place that was really special to people — lived in and loved.” His gardening is meant to communicate the same affectionate and collaborative investment in London. “I’m not against the state,” he told me. “I’m not an anarchist. I accept society more or less as it is. But there are chinks, there are flaws, there are anomalies in it. There are things that get overlooked, and I think guerrilla gardening can be a solution to that."
I just had a peek at the world map of all the random viewers of this blog (and random is about the only way to quantify those who happen to stumble on it) and the whole world is slightly speckled. I have to recommend SiteMeter for their services on that front. The way the world is interconnected is weird, wild, woolly, and that makes me happy for some reason.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Amen! This is something that has always bugged me and I see it on a frequent basis, working tangentially in a service industry. I'll leave it at that.
The garden is already giving up its bounty as we had raspberry's over the weekend and the first ripe tomato. On Sunday we planted a large section of corn with four varieties that will ripen at different times so we will be in corn for about two months straight starting in late July. We also started two onion sets. The blue jays got every last one of the cherries again this year, but I think about six gave up their lives for that pleasure. Hope it was worth it. The pluot and plum trees are COMPLETELY loaded with fruit and we will need to start propping up the branches to save the trees from total destruction from the weight. One hen has been sitting on about 10 eggs and they should start hatching this weekend.
Another living miracle in progress is the blooming of the century plant in the front yard. It was planted there when we were building the house 15 years ago and this year it decided to complete it's life's purpose. The stalk grew like bamboo and is now over twenty five feet high, higher than head level from the second story deck. I will post a couple pictures later. The plants' twin will do the same in two or three years, then all the little seedlings will continue for 'centuries'.
I was talking with someone about how our family has always had gardens and animals, even when living in San Francisco. We had rabbits and chickens and a garden in the Richmond district 2 blocks from Golden Gate Park and 8 blocks from the beach. The neighbors did not take kindly to the rooster at first, but all complaining stopped once we started sharing fresh eggs and vegetables. We also had a full grown redwood tree, with tree house in the backyard and it was a sad day when we had to cut it down. It was one of the conditions placed on the sale of the house by the Chinese family that bought it from my parents. They were very afraid that the tree's spirit was going to be angry that we were moving and we had to remove it to appease them. Back to the conversation about plants: we were talking about the importance of nature in the development of children and how kids in cities often are deprived of that. Working with plants is a relationship, sure they will grow without help from us, but as I learned with my very first garden patch as a 6 year old if I did not take the time to water, fertilize and weed my broccoli (yes I chose broccoli as a six year old, I still love the stuff), it would not be nearly as healthy and fruitful as it could be. It is a lesson I still need to remind myself of frequently. We get out of life only as much as we put in. It is in watering, weeding, and fertilizing our relationships with friends, lovers, and family (OFF TOPIC and obscure- I just have to interject that that if you can find any of FLF's music grab it or at least give it a listen, completely engrossing and beautiful, most of it is on the old school vinyl label LUSH) that they and we can bloom as the best, most whole people we can be.
The garden is already giving up its bounty as we had raspberry's over the weekend and the first ripe tomato. On Sunday we planted a large section of corn with four varieties that will ripen at different times so we will be in corn for about two months straight starting in late July. We also started two onion sets. The blue jays got every last one of the cherries again this year, but I think about six gave up their lives for that pleasure. Hope it was worth it. The pluot and plum trees are COMPLETELY loaded with fruit and we will need to start propping up the branches to save the trees from total destruction from the weight. One hen has been sitting on about 10 eggs and they should start hatching this weekend.
Another living miracle in progress is the blooming of the century plant in the front yard. It was planted there when we were building the house 15 years ago and this year it decided to complete it's life's purpose. The stalk grew like bamboo and is now over twenty five feet high, higher than head level from the second story deck. I will post a couple pictures later. The plants' twin will do the same in two or three years, then all the little seedlings will continue for 'centuries'.
I was talking with someone about how our family has always had gardens and animals, even when living in San Francisco. We had rabbits and chickens and a garden in the Richmond district 2 blocks from Golden Gate Park and 8 blocks from the beach. The neighbors did not take kindly to the rooster at first, but all complaining stopped once we started sharing fresh eggs and vegetables. We also had a full grown redwood tree, with tree house in the backyard and it was a sad day when we had to cut it down. It was one of the conditions placed on the sale of the house by the Chinese family that bought it from my parents. They were very afraid that the tree's spirit was going to be angry that we were moving and we had to remove it to appease them. Back to the conversation about plants: we were talking about the importance of nature in the development of children and how kids in cities often are deprived of that. Working with plants is a relationship, sure they will grow without help from us, but as I learned with my very first garden patch as a 6 year old if I did not take the time to water, fertilize and weed my broccoli (yes I chose broccoli as a six year old, I still love the stuff), it would not be nearly as healthy and fruitful as it could be. It is a lesson I still need to remind myself of frequently. We get out of life only as much as we put in. It is in watering, weeding, and fertilizing our relationships with friends, lovers, and family (OFF TOPIC and obscure- I just have to interject that that if you can find any of FLF's music grab it or at least give it a listen, completely engrossing and beautiful, most of it is on the old school vinyl label LUSH) that they and we can bloom as the best, most whole people we can be.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Long overdue....
The view from our seats at the Giants/Mets game on Wednesday. The Giants lost, but the game was still an enjoyable one, with a home run, triple, a couple stolen bases, some great defensive plays, etc. Very nice seats in an exceptionally beautiful ballpark. Parking was super expensive, but at least I was also able to get the rest of my paperwork dropped off at the Swiss consulate before the game.
I got back from NYC at midnight on Monday and have to say I had a thoroughly wonderful trip. I walked an awful lot, but it was completely worth it and I am surprised how many 'icons' and 'landmarks' are within walking distance in Manhattan. I visited the UN building, the Empire State building, the Ed Sullivan Theatre (they were on hiatus), Hello Deli, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, Rockafellar Center, Gramercy Park, Fifth Avenue, Madison Square Gardens, the WTC site, Times Square, Union Square, the MOMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Gugenheim, etc, etc. I love walking in cities because you can experience so much more that way. You interact with the textures (cobblestone, grass, pavement, glass, etc), the sights (dogs, people, architecture, sculpture, etc), the sounds (birds, sirens, shoes, a multitude of languages, horns, music, etc), the smells (fresh fruit stands, the grass after the thunderstorm, urine, sweat, exhaust, the many restaurants, etc) it a way you don't when you ride around in a car or subway. I was staying in the Lower East Side with my wonderful host Daphne and her dog Zelda. The weather was warm and humid, but I really could not have asked for a better introduction to New York City. I have lived outside of big cities long enough that I really do not want to live in one, but this was certainly a positive trip and I would definitely like to visit NY again. And if you love books, I now know a dangerous place called the Strand Bookstore, where they claim to have 18 miles of books. I was finally able to pull myself out of there with 8 new books, which I'll write about soon. The actual reading of those books is being postponed as I have to first finish "What is the What?" which I borrowed from Daphne. I like it so far. While it is listed as a novel, it parallels several documentaries I have seen about the Darfur situation and the Lost Boys so well it could be nonfiction.
Two shots from the Brooklyn Bridge, one looking at the Statue of Liberty.
The view from the eighth floor where I was staying in Stuyvesant Town in the Lower East Side, plus a loooonnngg shot of the Empire State Building while on foot.
The Hello Deli, where I was able to buy a drink from Mr. Rupert Gee himself, and the Ed Sullivan Theater right around the corner.
Lady Liberty last Sunday. If you have issues with the images, I'll blame it on the fact they were all taken with my cell phone, so I think they are decent given that admission.
Below are pics from the Bay to Breakers several weekends ago. Top row has Ramon and Jens S. Middle row has Jens H. (in orange on the upper right) and me. And third row is another fabulous picture of that sister also known as "The Brother from a Swiss Mother". For some reason Sara has no pictures, presumably because she was sooooo fast that the cameras could not capture her image as she flew by, but it is sad what ever the reason. Maybe the photographers thought she was so cute they kept the pictures themselves. Bad photographers, bad! I also got a copy of the next day's SF Examiner with all our names in it.
I got back from NYC at midnight on Monday and have to say I had a thoroughly wonderful trip. I walked an awful lot, but it was completely worth it and I am surprised how many 'icons' and 'landmarks' are within walking distance in Manhattan. I visited the UN building, the Empire State building, the Ed Sullivan Theatre (they were on hiatus), Hello Deli, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, Rockafellar Center, Gramercy Park, Fifth Avenue, Madison Square Gardens, the WTC site, Times Square, Union Square, the MOMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Gugenheim, etc, etc. I love walking in cities because you can experience so much more that way. You interact with the textures (cobblestone, grass, pavement, glass, etc), the sights (dogs, people, architecture, sculpture, etc), the sounds (birds, sirens, shoes, a multitude of languages, horns, music, etc), the smells (fresh fruit stands, the grass after the thunderstorm, urine, sweat, exhaust, the many restaurants, etc) it a way you don't when you ride around in a car or subway. I was staying in the Lower East Side with my wonderful host Daphne and her dog Zelda. The weather was warm and humid, but I really could not have asked for a better introduction to New York City. I have lived outside of big cities long enough that I really do not want to live in one, but this was certainly a positive trip and I would definitely like to visit NY again. And if you love books, I now know a dangerous place called the Strand Bookstore, where they claim to have 18 miles of books. I was finally able to pull myself out of there with 8 new books, which I'll write about soon. The actual reading of those books is being postponed as I have to first finish "What is the What?" which I borrowed from Daphne. I like it so far. While it is listed as a novel, it parallels several documentaries I have seen about the Darfur situation and the Lost Boys so well it could be nonfiction.
Two shots from the Brooklyn Bridge, one looking at the Statue of Liberty.
The view from the eighth floor where I was staying in Stuyvesant Town in the Lower East Side, plus a loooonnngg shot of the Empire State Building while on foot.
The Hello Deli, where I was able to buy a drink from Mr. Rupert Gee himself, and the Ed Sullivan Theater right around the corner.
Lady Liberty last Sunday. If you have issues with the images, I'll blame it on the fact they were all taken with my cell phone, so I think they are decent given that admission.
Below are pics from the Bay to Breakers several weekends ago. Top row has Ramon and Jens S. Middle row has Jens H. (in orange on the upper right) and me. And third row is another fabulous picture of that sister also known as "The Brother from a Swiss Mother". For some reason Sara has no pictures, presumably because she was sooooo fast that the cameras could not capture her image as she flew by, but it is sad what ever the reason. Maybe the photographers thought she was so cute they kept the pictures themselves. Bad photographers, bad! I also got a copy of the next day's SF Examiner with all our names in it.
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