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December 24, 2003
Merry Christmas
It's Christmas Eve and I'm in Florida. I could just have easily found myself writing this from Los Angeles, but the good people at Jet Blue were kind enough to help me get a pair of standby seats on a later flight after I managed to miss the one we'd actually gotten tickets for. It could've been a non-issue. I could have answered my cell phone when it woke me Sunday morning at 6, but instead I smacked it until it quieted and went back to sleep.
"Just wanted to see if you guys were still coming over my house today! See you later!" That's what I heard when I got my messages around 1 that afternoon. After a second of confusion, then several of nausea, I found the e-ticket my mom and stepdad had included with our Christmas card. Our flight had left at 8:8:15am.
The best part is the reason that we missed it: we had the wrong day. We were sure that the flight out was on the morning of the 22nd. It wasn't. We'd spent the night before at the wrap party for Micki's movie, and had every intention of sleeping in, waking late, packing... and Christmas shopping. Silly things we are...
So. Long story, well, rather long... we made it. It was a long, stressful trip down, we weren't sure we'd actually be allowed on the plane until we were actually allowed on the plane. We finished our shopping here. It's Christmas Eve and things on the vacation front seem to have worked themselves out. Now, to get home and fix the rest of our lives.
Brad and Amie... you guys got lost in the mix. Your gift in on the way.
December 17, 2003
Tron: The Rock Opera
Chris Hardwick (Shipmates, Singled Out), Lee Farber, Mike Phirman, and Brendon Small (Home Movies) reinvented themselves as rock band / comedy troupe Ansomnia. What is a rock band / comedy troupe's first order of business? Write a rock opera based on Tron. They're doing a small tour and I will be catching them tomorrow in Santa Monica. Incidentally, the show tomorrow will feature Paul Doucette of Matchbox 20 on drums, as Lee Farber will be absent.
Come see Tron: The Rock Opera.
December 15, 2003
This is NOT indie
Napster's back. Or rather, the Napster brand name is back, this time serving as the public, commercial facade of a massive, soul-less, RIAA-approved corporate conglomerate. Nonetheless, they have some pretty hysterical flash animations on their site. Check out 08 Indie.
December 12, 2003
This doesn't really happen
does it?
A fire in a fireworks factory? Does this happen outside of the cartoon world? Brad posted this a while back, but I thought it needed some more attention. The footage is a little less cartoonish when one realizes that there were 18 deaths in the incident. It's still some amazing footage.
If it looks like a herring...
and it smells like a herring...
A high pitched, "raspberry-like" sound observed eminating from certain oceanic depths has befuddled scientists for some time now. Dubbed an FRT (fast repetitive tick), these sounds seemed to be originating from some sort of living creature, but were unlike any that had previously been documented... Until now:
Read the article here at NewScientist.com. Seriously. And don't forget to visit some of the sponsors down the bottom of the left-hand sidebar.
December 11, 2003
Friends and Family savings
All retail outfits have Friends and Family discounts before the holidays. This is where they give coupons or coupon codes to their employees to give out to friends and family. The discounts are usually only valid for a single weekend or maybe a week. These coupons regularly make their way onto the web and into the hands of... whoever. Me, maybe. Anyhoo... Here's a big list of Friends and Family discount codes for the likes of Macy's, Armani Exchange, Bloomingdales, Diesel, and Guess.
Thanks to Andy.
21 Grams
Finally made it out to the movies this past week. I missed the last round of good looking films and I wasn't excited about missing another. Unfortunately, when I finally found myself with some time, I realized there weren't any good looking films out. We must be in between rounds.
It took some hunting, but we finally found a film I'd been excited to see. Then more hunting for the ONLY THEATER in the South Bay that was still showing it. 21 Grams is the only film currently on the screen that I would waste a waking hour on, so I was hoping to god that I liked it. I'd gotten mixed reviews, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. How could a film starring three of my very favorite actors and directed by the man behind Amores Perros (possibly the star of my DVD collection) not be brilliant?
Well, it was. The film was beautiful, jagged, and an entirely active viewing experience. From the silent opening scene to the silent final scene, everything was right where it should have been: the last place you'd expect it. The story is told using that multiple timeline device that many of us have grown tired of, but don't let that deter you. It's a difficult thing to do, tell several parts of the same story at once, and have it work on any level besides "odd for the sake of odd." This film took a rather intricate plot and divided more times than many would have dared, and then dashed from one period to another, from one character's backstory to another, at breaneck speeds and with surgical precision. It was done well. This is good storytelling.
The grainy, bleach-bypass camera work is also done, but appropriate. More and more films have sported this look as of late, but it's an undeniably effective facade for an equally gritty story. The framing is poetic; and the editing speaks to it. This film doesn't look unlike any you've seen, just better than most. The pacing is a bit steadier than some films and I think that could bore some audiences. There aren't so many ups and downs as there may have been. The quick cuts between stories don't allow for much downtime, but on the other hand the action isn't exactly fast and furious. I can see the pacing tripping mainstream viewers up more so than the nonplused storyline.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is best known as the director of Amores Perros, a Spanish language independent that incidentally shares quite a bit with 21 Grams. Both films use similar lighting and process scheme, but the larger budget was evident in 21 Grams. Greatly varied characters with intertwining lives populate both films and make for a similar story-telling technique. Inarritu's strengths are well showcased in 21 Grams. The things that set Amores Perros apart; non-linear plot, deliberate and purposeful editing, emotive and honest performances, are polished and defined in 21 Grams.
While Amores Perros was a huge success in it's own right and garnered quite a bit of commercial success on the festival circuit and in it's native Mexico, major American audiences wouldn't be climbing out of their Lay-Z-Boys if not for a stellar big-name cast. Sean Penn is Sean Penn. He is as great as we want him to be. He doesn't disappoint. His character is surprisingly likeable this time around. Naomi Watts gives an urgent and somewhat tragic performance. She is better than effective, but I found myself less than moved by some of her more emotional scenes. Her flatter scenes were natural and intuitively played and it's hard to deny that she's one of the most genuinely beautiful women on the screen.
The big deal here is Benicio Del Toro. Widely regarded as one of the best actors in film, and still underrated. He's managed to raise my opinion of him once again. Every decision he makes is right on. He becomes wholly his character and forces one to wonder if he could ever entirely leave him behind. In Jack Jordan, Del Toro finds what may be his most involved character. A convict-cum-christian, desperate for a clearer path, Jordan spends his days as a church youth counselor or a trainee caddy. When tragedy finds him, even after his conversion, his faith is shattered and his world is changed. There are so many wrong ways to play this part, it's amazing that Del Toro found the right one.
So there you have it. It was not a feel-good film, or ever a feel-allright film. You will feel badly when you watch this movie. You will have also seen one of the best films I've managed to catch all year.
Don't agree? Argue with this.
December 10, 2003
A toast to those among us
So... you may remember that my friend Juice is staying with me so that we could spend some time together before he's shipped off to the Middle East. You may also remember when I spoke of the difficulties that came along with the news of his departure: the Stop ETS, having to take all of his finals a month early, canceling his semester in Florence for an 18 month battle campaign... Well, he got a phone call yesterday morning. It was his Commanding Officer telling him he's no longer going to war.
Apparently, there were too many NCO's commissioned for this particular relief. Sending additional officers costs additional money. The CO had the opportunity to cut three and Juice was one that he choose to cut. He may even be able to get back into the Florence program. His life has changed as dramatically as can be imagined, and then changed back, within the past month.
So... in the spirit of having the least Iraqi vacation possible before he leaves, Juice and I have been doing LA like LA should be done. He came in on Friday and we visited Micki on the set of The Dying Gaul. Spent some time with the director, cast, and crew in between sex scenes. The locale was a huge $5 million house in Malibu. Amazing place. Looks like all those big, glass, modern things in Architectural Digest. Has an edgeless infinity pool and everything. Campbell Scott and Craig Lucas were both very sweet.
We did some shopping, saw some movies, hit the Beverly Center and the 3rd Street Promenade. Right now he's with our friend on the set of The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. Hopefully he's having a good time.
So.. to sum up:
Juice: not going to Iraq.
Life: all fucked up.
Campbell Scott: nice guy after sex.
Remember me as I was...
...droopy eyed and full of mucus.
I've been sick off and on for the last week. Flu-like symptoms; headache, body aches, coughing, sneezing, fever, irritability, an uncontrollable urge to sleep forever... But I think I'm finally coming out of it. I'm back at work and thrilled about it. Juice is still staying with me, so he's had to deal with my crap. Hope that's been all right for him. But I'm sure it hasn't.
Again... the move, the sickness, the crazy projects at work and the lack of internet access (and a computer desk) at home... Forgive my awful blogging as of late. We get internet access on tuesday, things can only get better!
December 02, 2003
Choose a format, dweeb
I'm still not clear on exactly what The Mint Brothers is, but it seems perfectly obvious that it's totally choice.
December 01, 2003
Oh yeah! I have a blog!
No, I didn't forget about you... I've been busy, baby. I promise, I wish I was with you the whole time. Don't be like that. I'll make it up to you, I swear...
We moved this weekend. I now live in Los Angeles in a beautiful spanich home with no cable or internet. Soon though, and then the blogging will really kicki in. I owe you a gallery of the house and of the move, so that'll be on it's way first.
Next item: we have no furniture. We have no couch, no coffee table, no tv stand or entertainment-whatever for the television we do not own. We have no dining room table and no dining room chairs. We don't own a computer desk, an office chair, some functional storage and a fancy plastic chair mat. Our mattress is on the floor where our bed frame would be, and our clothes are in piles because we have no dresser or bedstands.
And so we go to IKEA, because we're poor and that's what poor people do. We also go to West Elm because we're snotty and metro, but also poor, and that's what snotty, metro people do when they can't afford better. We're hoping that when the weekend rolls around we'll have taken care of some of the furniture, but there's still no couch in our future. Looks like Juice will have to sleep on the floor when he comes to stay with us on Friday.
And so it goes...