Sunday, August 19, 2007

"Where have all the mosquitos gone? Long time passing..."

Hey kids!

Finally a brief respite with the weather. Thank goodness! It's warmish and drizzly...almost perfect. I really can't wait until fall. I look forward to the cool, crisp air. Perfect weather for me is that cusp where you may or may not need a jacket or even a little cooler. This has been a pretty ding dangity hot summer. I hope that Al Gore throws his hat in the ring and the government could actually try to do something to fast-track efforts to confront global warming. Global warming makes me sweat and thusly makes me stink. So it would be beneficial for everybody to stop global warming. Nobody likes a stinky guy!

I went out to dinner tonight with a friend. My friend sort of recognized our server as she sort of recognized my friend. They ended up making the connection. Mutual acquaintances apparently. Our service started out great but then it got pretty busy and they were short-staffed. Our server also had to take a phone call. Our server apologized for the flighty service, but apparently the phone call she received was a girl saying that she was sleeping with her live-in boyfriend. Ouch! Our server handled it very well considering where she was and what she was doing. She held it together pretty well. I don't know this boyfriend but all I can say is...ASSHOLE!

I have seen a few good films lately...
There was an outstanding HBO documentary called White Light/Black Rain about the survivors of Nagasaki and Hiroshimi. It was riveting! Many survivors were interviewed and their artwork was shown. Surviving members of the atomic bomb team and the Enola Gay crew were interviewed as well. It was very touching, brutal, gut-wrenching, poetic, and even beautiful. HBO is really producing some amazing stuff. I highly recommend it.

I also watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It's been a long time since I've seen this Humphrey Bogart classic. What a wonderful film! A classic story of greed and paranoia.
"Badges!? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!!"

Rabbit-Proof Fence is an amazing film that I recently watched. It's an Aussie film based on the true story of three half-Aboriginal girls that were taken away from their family and placed in a compound over a thousand miles away with other "half-caste" Aborigines. The Aborigines Act 1905 instigated this atrocity at the Moore River Native Settlement. The film follows their escape and attempt to walk home. It's a very touching, beautiful film. Amazing photography/cinematography! The three Aboriginal girls playing the roles had no prior acting experience and they did an AMAZING job! What a wonderful film! Have a box of Kleenex on hand for this one.

I also watched Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog. What a fascinating, but bizarre film. Bizarre because the person who actuall shot the footage, Timothy Treadwell, was such a nutjob! A crazy guy named Timothy Treadwell used to spend part of every year living among the grizzlies in Alaska and documented nearly every minute of it until he and his girlfriend were mauled by a grizzly. Werner Herzog pieced together bits of Mr. Treadwell's footage to put this documentary together. His lunacy is clearly evident, but it's also evident that he really did love the bears. His actions were certainly questionable, but it's undeniable that some of his footage is simply breathtaking and amazing. A cool extra is the "making of" the soundtrack bit. THE Richard Thompson, Jim O'Rourke (yeah, that NYC-scene former 5th member of Sonic Youth clown...he is good though), and others improvise a soundtrack to the documentary. Very cool! Another must watch!

I'll finally be using some vacation time soon. It's about time. My brain is about to melt.

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. My brain is mush. Not that I've made a proper post in a while (including this one). I'm too un-motivated to be motivated right now. Posting about politics right now may take too much out of me. I won't even comment on Karl Rove right now...it would just take too much energy. Maybe my upcoming vacation time will zap my lethargic phase.

RIP- Merv Griffin, you were one cool cat! I wish I could write one game show ditty and make $80 million in royalties...among all of your other amazing projects. In the "I did not know that department"- I did not know that Merv Griffin sang "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" and took it to number one in 1950.

RIP- Former Factory Records guru Tony Wilson died on August 10th in Manchester after a battle with kidney cancer. The movie 24 Hour Pary People was inspired by him. The music world would not have been the same without him after nurturing bands like Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, A Certain Ratio, and The Durutti Column. I can't wait until Control gets released in the US. It better come to Detroit!

LOVING the new season of No Reservations and Bizarre Foods!

Hoping to see Superbad while it's still in theaters...

My 20 Favorite Things About Summer
1) Coke Slurpees/Icees
2) Iced Coffee
3) Scantily clad women
4) Air Conditioning

...my list ends at 4. I hate summer! However, knock on wood, where are the frickin' mosquitos this summer? Did global warming kill them too? I'm not complaining. I'm sure this rain today will change things...

Random poll- What are you looking forward to the most about fall?

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Many movies in the moist, muggy summer.

Hey kids,

How the heck are ya'? This has been a helluva summer, hasn't it? This global warming shit sucks balls!

This weekend is Dearborn Homecoming. It's a painful zit on the upper lip of life. I can't wait for this weekend to be over. I guess it's actually a good thing that I'm working Saturday and Sunday. My next day off (between both jobs) is a week from Sunday. I did have this Wednesday off. That felt a little odd and the fact that I made lasagna on one of the hottest days of the year is just a little daft of me.

Last week I went to see The Simpsons Movie. I've been a die-hard Simpsons fan for 18 years now. Can't get enough of it. The movie, although good, was...a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong...I enjoyed it. I'd say that it was like a 90 minute episode...with the current writers. It lacked the bite and genius that the show offered 10 years ago for example. The show is still one of the best things on TV, but it's not as good as it used to be. Personally I think the show really hit its stride in season 3 and kept it going for a while. I was entertained by the movie and I'm glad I saw it, but I guess I was just expecting more. I'm pretty critical though. There were certainly some great gags/jokes, but there just wasn't enough cohesiveness. Although all of the characters may have physically appeared in the movie, there wasn't enough dialogue among them. Luckily Ralphie did have one memorable line. Ralphie lines are always my favorite. I think they should make a Ralphie movie. What do you think? What's your opinion of The Simpsons Movie?

I've watched a fair amount of Netflix movies lately. Here's a rundown...

Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest- Harmless drivel, mildly entertaining

Breaker Morant- Outstanding Aussie film about 3 Aussie soldiers on trial during South Africa's Boer War. Highly recommended!

Letters from Iwo Jima- Excellent!

Punk: Attitude- Great documentary on the punk scene! Very well done!

Blood Diamond- Not bad. Leonardo DeCaprio annoys me, but he didn't stink it up too bad. His South African accent was actually pretty good. Djimon Hounsou id a great job!

Zodiac- Pretty good. Very interesting. Follows the crimes and investigation of the Zodiac murderer.

Rockets Redglare- A documentary of the enigmatic, strange, Village scene mainstay. How could such an unusual, lazy guy be friends with Julian Schnabel, Sid Vicious, Willem Dafoe, Jean Michael Basquiat, Jim Jarmusch, Jim Lurie, Gus Van Sant, Steve Buscemi, Matt Dillon, and others? How could he star in so many films of some of the most respected directors out there? Who knows? Very interesting. I've been curious about Rockets Redglare since I saw him in Basquiat and wondered who the hell is this guy and why the hell is in this this movie? Definitely a must see if you have any idea who he is?

Thumbsucker- Very good and quirky movie with Vincent D'Onofrio AND Vince Vaughn. The amazing Tilda Swinton is in this too as well as a whacked out Keanu Reeves. Highly recommended if you're in a weird mood.

Mystic River- Very good! Never expect a bad performance from Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, or Kevin Bacon. Pretty dark.

Mean Streets- I haven't seen this in a very long time. What a classic! Scorsese's first! Featuring young and supremely talented Harvey Keitel and Robert DeNiro.

Right now I've got Eraserhead. I haven't seen this strange, cult classic in very long time. Jack Nance- RIP

That's all for now...

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason