Why a blog?
I originally started this at the Saturday matinee BBS. The idea was to have a page where I and the world could post talk about movies and music and related happenings. It was also an exercise in my favorite programming language, perl. It sucked for two reasons: 1. I gave the world access, havoc ensued. (The joy, and sorrow, of the Net in a nutshell.) 2. It was too limited in scope.
So I'm redoing the idea as a blog. What happens now is created as it comes, and hopefully of interest to someone else. Blogging has become sort of a craze nowadays, but it's not something I want to compete on a global scale. I barely have the ego to find interest in my own life, and I doubt my life would compete with the many lives all over Googleville. And surely events at the time this blogpage is being created (moving into my first home, a new administration in the US) have made me motivated to speak on the record...
Entries will be marked by area of interest: programming; my music; my writing and original film work as it (slowly) happens; my personal life; the world at large.
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05 in movies, books etc
To a prosperous and joyful 2006 for me, all my family and my friends. It's gotta get better, so hang in there and enjoy all!
What's your new years resolution? Here's mine: Lose my enormous belly. Finish a screenplay (at least one). Enjoy at least one exotic vacation - looks like Killington in a couple weeks, although hope is alive for the 150th Mardi Gras. Get a better paying job (a raise today is a a start-thanks Borders!) preferably in entertainment. Get a place and lots of dates. And for my family, I want success for my sister in her career and family, a happy retirement for my mother, and health and peace for my dad.
The class of '05 in films first, of course. A slow year for movies, frankly. These are presented in academic order, graded basically on professor Mario's addled whim. (Not an actual professor like my brilliant sister and cousin, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn the other night....)
Honor Roll
A+ :: Constant Gardener
Syriana
Sin City
A- :: Grizzly Man
Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room
B+ :: Batman Begins
A History of Violence
Howl's Moving Castle
the Aristocrats
B- :: Kung Fu Hustle
C :: Good Night, and Good Luck
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
2046
C- :: Broken Flowers
The Ice Harvest
Ushpizin
and the Dunce Cap:
Be Cool
Honorary shout-out to Revivals at the wonderful Avon Theater in Stamford:
2001: A Space Oddysey
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Videodrome
Masculin/Feminin
Zombie
read these books:
New Rules, by Bill Maher
Freakonomics
Contempt, by Catherine Crier
The Girl Next Door, by Jack Ketchum
Basket Case, by Carl Hiaasen
Deception Point, by Dan Brown (and The DaVinci Code too!)
And last but far from least, my Fave Five CDs and DVDs:
Harlem Sessions
John Coltrane: The Complete Impulse Recordings
The Complete Stax/Volt Singles
John Zorn & Naked City
Laura Nyro: Live at the Fillmore 1970
Looney Tunes Golden Collection (1-2 so far)
American Beauty
Akira Kurosawa Collection (Criterion, mais bien sur)
The Wire Season 1
12/23/05 :: random :: Is it boxing day yet?
Twas the night before the night before Christmas, and here I sit fighting some writers block via some pithy commentary in my blahg...Now I've discussed my feelings about this holiday here. Also, last time I discussed a campaign to fight the soullessness, commercialism and waste of 'holiday' spending and gift-giving. Wow, I figured I was the only one! Evidence is coming in, and not just at my 2 jobs, that people are staying home in droves this year, or at least spending a lot less. My days off denied for nothing! To sit at a desk or cash register for hours, boredom only broken by intense bouts of irritation. And they call it 'customer service'. It's times like this I wish I had just majored in economics at Syracuse and taken the high road. Life would be so easy....I could be a screenwriter/jazz musician/economist, couldn't I? Maybe its not too late to take some weekend classes again...
Things are of course worse in NYC, thanks to the latest union hissy fit that forced hundreds of thousands of commuters to take cabs together-horrors!-and forced Manhattan shoppers and tourists to stay in Jersey and shop/club/slum etc. Am I the only person who remembers the investigation of massive corruption, grafts and kickbacks in MTA administration barely a year ago? Why couldn't they take that money that was greasing palms and use it to fund pensions for NYC bus/subway drivers? Actually, that's what they should do in those corporate crime cases anyway, is distribute it back to the people they obviously stole it from. With the billions of dollars lost this week, could NYC go bankrupt? But remember, I'm not an economist....
Seriously tho, I am amused (as always) by the panic of the blue-collar right as emblemized by Fox News about the WAR ON CHRISTMAS. Oh no, store clerks say Happy Holidays and completely forget the MERRY CHRISTMAS as is required by society?! Forget the 2000th dead soldier in Iraq, this is news! Folks, maybe enough is enough. Maybe we're tired of the same stupid Santa Claus stories and songs dredged out every year, to irritate us as we stand in line for hours to buy a damn calendar.
I am not a religious guy. Although I'm not really an atheist, I am definitely anti-organized religion, anti-church and rational as anyone I know. Yet I respect Christmas as a celebration of family, and of core values (which are not owned by religion or any faith). So this Christmas I do what I do every year-stay home on the couch, do no work, and enjoy the company of my mom and grandma. Maybe I'll call my relatives who aren't coming over too. I emailed everyone already--I hope everyone got their presents and cards, as I work all day Friday and Saturday ensuring hundreds of total strangers get theirs.
What I want for christmas is (a) my own place, and (b) a date. Well, a few dates. Above and beyond that, I think I'll take a cue from Lewis Black and mix me some Nyquil eggnogs. I'm gonna need em. Merry (fill in preferred holiday here, as in)Christmas!
Next week-2005 wrapup entry, and a intro to my Blahg '06!
Hope everyone reading is headed off to meet with family on Thursday (bonus points if you travel to join them, as opposed to being the kind of shmuck who lives with them like present company....j/k mom). Anyway, don't forget about black Friday, as we in customer service/sales positions know it. Remember kids, it's just money. There are some who refer to it as Buy Nothing Day, a day to remember the damage greed and alienation has done to our culture and our generation. Yes, talking about this is heretical in my 2 jobs, but fuck it-it's not like I earn a comission. I also know you can be fired for discussing your job in your personal time in non-positive terms, which is why I have a freelance itinerary ready just in case....So I have to work, and the next month or so is going to be a punishment for not choosing to be a stockbroker or union laborer or other high-gross position. But if I spend money this weekend it'll probably be at a bar. Wouldn't it be cool if some clubs had a Black Friday special-bring your nametag for a free drink or something. I have two, so.....
11/3/05 :: Arts :: The Nest (plus followups)
Hi all, I screwed up by writing this entry so late, but am assuaged due to the fact that no one is reading anyway....Sundays in Bridgeport, support a new arts space called the Nest. It's actually been around for a year, and is all about the kind of atmosphere of skylight and dusty wood floors that evoke Paris in the 20s, or the rural estates Picasso or Grandma Moses needed to create their unique eyes. Plus it's got a theater that accomodates scary rock bands, and the occasional actor; and rooms that can be rented by starving artists to create away from their shared housing. And away it is, on Hancock st in industrial Bridgeport, which could sour it's appeal among suburban gallery drones. Fuck them anyway. Support these people and stop complaining there's nothing to do in Bridgeport that's not bad for your liver. And come see my play there, as soon as I finish it...
A monument in local broadcasting is happening in a few hours: episode 2000 of Radio Nothing! Take that big networks! And congratulations Rod Richardson, for bringing mind expanding sounds to the suburbs all these years. It's another day at the office for these guys-oh wait, they do it for free! That's right....
Followups: I hope everyone enjoyed the Chiller Theater in Secaucus, which I wouldn't know since it was sold out on Saturday. Word to the wise, anyone who's curious or excited about next year: buy tickets early in October or you're not going! -- The Bethel Film Fest was an understated success, as much as a film fest in rural Connecticut can be. I only got to see the Thursday program, which was a little light, although the requisite shorts program offered some laughs. If the opportunity to see "In the Name of the Father" (the local short, not the Daniel Day Lewis epic of yore) presents itself, grab it! And bring a towel, because you'll laugh until you weep.
10/05/05 :: Nerd culture :: Halloween is coming
Ah, October. The holidays are nigh, as evinced by people's front lawns betraying their latent Disneyland fantasies, and candy corn-an underrated treat-and the sudden need for sweaters. But the truth this season speaks to is this: Halloween rules, Christmas sucks. Your co-workers dressing up as the Bride or Austin Powers, vs spending the weekend with your family. Any fucking questions?
And every year is a celebration of this, where else but New Jersey? and tickets are now on sale here. (crowd cheering) New Jersey, are you fucking ready?! (throngs roar, girls freak out) I can't hear youuuuu.....
9/25/05 :: Updates
I didn't go to the Oktoberfest in Nyack, NY; I wasn't up to a long road trip this 'weekend', but hope everyone who is attending had a great time. I did attend the Bike the Beach tour, and despite some retarded mapping had a great ride and workout.
Attending the last Shorts program at New Haven Film Fest was therefore impossible, since I finished too late to clean up and get to New Haven on time. So instead the feature was 'Trudell', a doc about activist/poet/living philosopher John Trudell (co-produced by Angelina Jolie!?), and his wild, sad, often improbable life, loves and views. Stuffed with Native American music, reminiscing by famous friends and peers, and the kind of politics that will (hopefully, one day) give Sean Hannity an aneurysm. Served with a short of course-'Life is a Bridge', about a NYC National Guard sergeant, in the months right after 9/11, who fights with his wife, dreams of being a stand-up comedian, and is despondent to the verge of suicide. The director and actors attended for Q&A following the feature.
They've moved out of the cozy Yale Drama Center into the swanky Criterion Cinemas, afaik no relation to these guys but anyway, another shot of new and unbridled cinematic talent showcasing in New Haven. From tonight's Mixed Bag shorts:
3D animation: 'The Box' and 'Gold & Brown'
a couple mockumentaries: 'Johnny Bagpipe' is a hilarious and heartfelt portrait of a rock 'n roll bagpiper! Also, 'Cornered' is a s.o.v. tale of competition laundry folding, a loving spoof of earnest sports dramas with a keen eye for New England snobbery, a subject close to home....
'Coochie' is also so real you cant believe it's fiction, which means it isn't really. A study of a black female artist who is attracted to another black woman, but can't rationalize her feelings with herself (and gets no help from family or 'best' friends). A little preachy or melodramatic at times, but the real emotions and likable leads will move you when you watch it.
and in the middle: 'Kinetoscope' is a black & white mindfuck about a projectionist of a slasher movie (called "The Killables") who finds himself to be the villain of the onscreen frightfest. A delicious and even scary dream on film. 'Lucky Penny' is a loving tribute to the silent classics, with outstanding stunts/pratfall skills by star/filmmaker/stunt guy Cliff Cronan. In glorious black(brown?) and white of course. And the audience favorite, 'Rejected' is a delirious and surreal-and very vulgar- series of pencil sketch blackout scenes, where even innocent or silly can become horrible in the crush of a crumpled piece of paper. The director has another one in store for Saturday, called 'The Meaning of Life'. Hmmmmmmmm.
The directors of 'The Box' 'Cornered' 'Lucky Penny' and 'Kinetoscope' met the audience afterwards, shared techniques and favorite movies in Q&A, and let the audience in on their unique visions. Come to New Haven this weekend and check some more visions-and I don't mean reveling eli chicks-at the Film Fest.
Also in local events, my hometown of Nyack, NY is hosting another Oktoberfest, which promises huge quantities of German food and entertainment, crafts and other silliness. Got $6 and a ride? Then check out the fun.
9/12/05 :: Essay :: from my Birthday to September 11th
I have an ex-coworker who was born on September 11th. A day spoken of in infamy, became our mutual joke. Well now I know how he feels, because my birthday was September 2nd.
The nine days I describe felt like nine years. I had a decent birthday, despite being genuinely upset (as usual) about being older, which means less sexy and more dependent on the tyranny of suburbia-the horrible realization you've turned into the same asshole you laughed at in college. But I broke free for a little while, visiting this place and this one right down the street, on Houston St in lovely NYC. The avant-jazz fury of John Zorn was early, and the music of Africa was late. Why can't the suburbs be like that?
Of course these good times are soon to be gone, or at least a selfish bourgeois luxury, as a looming energy crisis would be a crushing blow to the already hurting nightlife and culture of suburban America. People in the city may sympathise, but they don't understand how dependant on our cars we have become. I know a few at my job who walk the treacherous roads of Bridgeport or Fairfield to commute and get around, or bicycle, but this is very rare. Particularly when the heavy snow or rain falls, and they are forced to spend an hour or two's wages on a cab or public transportation. The Metro-North prices have gone up as I write (on a Metro-North train :) ), and we are all acting like $2.95 is a deal for gas. Think this wont affect your oil heat this winter?
How ironic that the gas is what did this. Not the government (although they all deserve to be arrested for not protecting the Gulf Coast or aiding them adequately). NASA reports that pollution-related high heat in the Gulf Coast turbocharged Katrina, making her a faster, harsher, more destructive super-hurricane. And she will not be the last, as scientists predicted in the NY Press months ago. Likewise September 11th, which was sponsored by Saudi exile Osama bin laden and soldiered by 11 Saudis. Notice a pattern here?
So when some asshole in an SUV, yapping on her/his celphone, crowds your space in traffic and drives you onto the sidewalk, don't rage at them. Pity them, these poor addicts off to feed their fix. (BTW if you drive an SUV and have less than two kids, you may be an asshole. I have to add that for those I know who own SUVs, because I know it's not your fault.) If you drive a hybrid or gas optimized car or ride a bike, be thankful you are free. Babes love a man who is free. I need to know that on my birthday, in early September.
9/4/05 :: the World :: on Katrina
I don't want this to be a political blog, as everyone and their mother is doing that nowadays. But with the current events this week, of course I must speak up.
All of us have to be horrified, sad and disgusted with what is happening in Haiti-oh shit this is the US of A! How does this happen? Anyway in true political fashion, the politicians and talking heads and other thought machine engineers who are always talking against partisan side-taking, are of course shouting blame and proving themselves to be completely incapable of not being partisan. The liberals blame Bush, the right blames lazy welfare blacks-first of all, did anyone consider Mother Nature as a scapegoat? Well? Her and her always creative ways of putting us arrogant, science-obsessed, thumb-sporting humans in our place. Or if that's not good enough, what about the civil engineers who knew for SEVEN DECADES the levee was in great danger of collapse, particularly at the hands of a severe hurricane? And what did Mayor Nagin do to direct federal money to reenforcing the levee? Don't get me wrong, if you heard his Air America rant there is no questioning his big heart, his love for New Orleans and his pain over what happened. BUT, he and the Governor were responsible for keeping N'Awlinzers safe and they need their balls to the fire until they can account for where this money went. And the director of FEMA needs to be fired for being briefed, essentially, by the media on this and not having a clue of what was going on on his watch.
I have always wanted to see New Orleans, preferably during Mardi Gras but also to see the southern capital of jazz, to experience the unique culture and history of the city. This might never happen now, and it certainly wont be this year. (If you are interested in throwing a Mardi Gras celebration in New England this year, write me here.) An interesting footnote: the French Quarter sustained the lightest damage in the city, which was ignored by fundamentalist preachers intent on yelling that God was punishing the Mardi Gras revelers, the infidel voodoo worshipers, and of course queers.
One last thing: if Virginia McMillan of Bay St Louis (or whatever your last name is these days) is reading this, I hope you are OK and your family and home have not been seriously harmed. I know it's been 15 years, but this week you have been in my thoughts as I know your hometown was destroyed. I am also happy my friends in Florida are relatively safe and sound. My heart is with all my peeps tonight and tomorrow.
Hey! My blogs not dead! First of all.
So. Another year, another Norwalk Oysterfest. Bane of all who hate fried food (and lots of it), cheesy airbrush art and bar-band rock, to whom I say: lighten up, buy a bike, skip the latte the weekend of September 11th and brave the parking/hiking hell of Sono for a real New England good time.
Speaking of fried food, biking and outdoor fun, we've got two Fairfield County bike tours: the Sound Cyclist Harvest Ride '05 is September 18th, followed by the Fairfield Beach Tour the 25th - that's both Sunday 7AM. What is it with triathletics and the crack of dawn anyway? Us night laborers want firm buttocks too! Anyway, suburban trails of 5 miles to 100 miles are offered, and everything in between for all levels of riders. Get info about stuff in your area at active.com, and get a date at their link with Match.com too!
Put down the laptop, turn off the home entertainment system, lose the strawberry flavored snacks and get outside! OK I wish it was a bit less hot now too.... just a few weeks ago was the Bloomin' Metric bike tour, from Sono to Southport in Fairfield County (I'm a rookie so I did the 25 mile tour; harder paths ran for 50 miles and 75k). This weekend has two tours in Danbury and Stamford. The Hat City tour in Danbury and Bethel offers tours running 4, 16, 25 and 50 miles. There's also a tour in Stamford, but the admission 'minimum donation' is $130! as opposed to the HCBT $27.50 (I wasted $5 by registering late! Don't do that when the occasion arises!) These are for everyone who has a bike, even a cheap comfort/all terrain bike :) and a love of outdoor activity.
I currently live in Trumbull which has very mountaineous terrain, and train between St. Joseph's and Trumbull HS which offers almost nonstop uphill action. I also have my father's very, VERY old Campagnolo/Welter road bike, which sadly is not road worthy. The back tire is basically fucked, even after the best efforts of two repair services, and to replace it would be the equivalent of the cost of a new road bike. The tours luckily are accepting of obvious amateurs (just bring a helmet!) as well as seasoned Lance wannabes, so come on out!
Wednesday had 2 entirely different shorts programs, each playing to a packed theatre at the Regal (can it be? a shorts program actually sold out?). There was too much action to really go into here so I'm going to summarize. First up was the Past Life Regression, 5 nonfiction films with a loose theme of aging and maturing. Bob's Place examined the life of a Sudanese barber, running an American style barbershop in Frankfurt Germany. Also in the program was S.P.I.C. or the Storyboard of My Life, five stories of cartoonist Robert Castillo's life told in the most stripped down-animation? Basically him drawing the stories in fast-motion, and they're funny, real and just amazing.
Next was National Insecurity, stories of angst and dread after 9/11. My favorite was Jihad, a comedy in the truest sense of the word: two suicide bombers are on their way to a NYC airport. One learns on the radio that he won Lotto. Carnage and arabs frolicking ensues....In a similar vein was The Wake Up Caller, by Bryan Buckley. A pierced, home-fed, politically correct teen has taken over a switchboard at a hotel at 6 AM, and proceeds to send 'wake-up calls'-dire warnings from the Ralph Nader, Greenpeace and Maximum Rock 'n Roll dogma-to the snoozing wage slaves staying there. To the rescue comes a grizzled Mexican sheriff (cue Morriconesque music and the teen warning him, "Statistics show you'll never make it past sergeant"), his mom and a recruiting agent from a prestigious New England university :) . Will they save him from the FBI snipers, or will he 'sell out' and save his fat ass? Stay tuned!
There were too many excellent programs to view (if anyone saw the 'Side Effects May Vary' program, let me know!), as the host put it, only 94 of 1700 applicants were selected. Will I be there next year? And I don't mean the audience, I think you know the answer to that question....
I was able to attend the events Thursday April 20th, and here's what I saw:
From the Thanks for the Support Shorts Program:
It could Happen To You, by Liz Henry -- a strangely hypnotic pileup of stock footage with a dreamy, otherworldly soundtrack, largely using discordant images of people dancing, war training, surgical footage etc in a Maya Deren sort of way.
Harmony, by Jim Trainor -- my favorite of the bunch, an animated piece (shown with a small projector on the bottom of the screen) about many different species-monkeys, dolphins, etc-and the horrible acts of cruelty each inflicts on its mates, families etc. A dry mans voice intones their crimes-"I killed my sister. I killed my sister, and I looked for her, because I didn't know she was my sister," says the wolf. He repeats them until they become a mantra. And of course, the most sadistic and destructive of them all is man, or specifically the Woman who Ruined Everything with a plague of diseased blood in our food. It's drawn in the most simple earth tones and aboriginal lines, which seems to magnify the horrors it portrays. Bravo!
Lovers Supplant, by Norma Toraya -- a fairy turns into a spiderlike creature who sneaks into the dreams of a woman, sleeping by her husband, and quickly into her body as well.
Twitch, by Leah Meyerhoff -- Live action film about a teenage girl, trying to care for her severly disabled mother, and coping with the advances of a horny and uncaring boyfriend, begins to imagine she's pregnant - or worse. This one is a work in progress? Too many good ideas are only hinted at in the very short film. The filmmaker was present and dedicated the film to her mom, who plays herself(?).
Don't Tell my Mother, by Sarah Moon Howe -- autobiographical documentary about a girl who grows up to be a stripper. She films her experiences, troubled relationships, and a pilgrimage to a Nevada exotic dancing museum, with an 8mm camera that emphasizes the surreal life she has lead.
The next program is a short and feature. A Quiet Moment with Richard, by Matthew Etches, simply trains a camera on a Toronto cabbie on his middle of the night shift, as he babbles about writing a book and about a wild, life-altering peyote trip he embarked on one night....
Finally the feature, called Home by NYPress critic Matt Seitz. It's a simple slice of life about well-to-do Brooklyn 20whatevers who gather in a friends brownstone (a fake brownstone, as one puts it) for a long night of partying. Soul searching, surreal dialogues and tumultuous hookups are bound to follow. How much you like this one will depend on your tolerance of the cooler than thou characters. I like the fact the token socially challenged nerd gets some too....The rowdy reception for the filmmaker indicates this was a labor of much love, and that hi-def is the new Super8.
Next week, we visit the Tribeca Film Festival. As we post the Brookyn Underground Film Fest is still underway. I'd go if I could, so why don't you? Have fun!
12/8 :: Movies :: Year End Top 10 Bullshit
Since everyone and their grandma-Ebert, Boonstra, etc are all doing their favorites and worst's of the year, here are some random favorites and special experiences from '04 (pending the release of The Aquatic Life):
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Going Upriver
Team America
Kill Bill 2
Bubba Hotep
(tie-equal spotty, but brazenly amoral comedies) Saved! -- A Dirty Shame
Dunno how the two most hyped movies of the new millenium, Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 stacked up, am still proudly avoiding those.
Let's not forget the revivals: Les Yeux Sans Visage, Donnie Darko, and The Last Waltz all played Stamford CT, just to name a few! And my 5 favorite DVDs, in tribute to the future of fanhood:
Waking Life
Spartacus Criterion Edition
Looney Tunes Golden Collection
Lewis Black Unleashed
Home Movies Season 1