Rant O Matic
No, it’s not me ranting today, but Steve Almond, guest blogging over at Bookslut. He’s managed to articulate concisely everything I’ve been feeling about the Neoconservatives for the last three years. Go ahead. Give it a read. You’ll feel better.
The Tragic Circus
Sometime in the next week or so I’ll be putting up the first chapter of my novel, The Tragic Circus. There’s a link over on the right, beneath the links to other sites. Don’t click on it just yet. There’s nothing there. I’ll let everyone know when it will be up though.
Update: Ok, now you can read it.
An Information Rich Environment
AMC is showing Much More Movies: movies in widescreen with a banners on the bottom, offering insight into the behind the scenes information of the Movie. It’s quite fascinating. I’m watching Planet of the Apes right now, one of my favorite movies. Already I’ve found out some interesting bits. Like I didn’t know that Rod Sterling of the Twighlight Zone, wrote the first version of the screenplay.
Next Saturday they’re doing Saturday Night Fever. I’m not as excited about that one for some reason.
Shadows on the Wall
So last night, I went to see Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
Now my wife and I have discerned four types of movies:
1. The Movies you will never ever watch, not in a million years and will probably go out of your way not to see. This constitutes about 75% of films made these days. I�d give examples but that would take forever.
2. The movies that look like they�d be fun to watch but you�ll wait for them to come out on DVD. They aren�t great cinema, or Oscar contenders. Just an amusing way to spend two hours. Now, in the past, we might have been inclined to go to a matinee, just for the visceral fun of sitting in a theater and watching a fun film; a peculiar sort of fun, to be sure but if you�re as big film geeks as my wife and I, you know what I�m talking about. But with the rising prices of movie tickets, even matinees, it simply costs too much to have that little fun.
For us, this is usually those oh so fun romantic comedies my wife enjoys and for me, the sci-fi fiascos that never quite fulfill their promises. But for $3 bucks to rent, that�s a cheep date.
3. Interesting films that look like they are thoughtful, intimate creations by genuine artists of the medium, possibly foreign. Given the economic investment in going to see a movie these days ($16 minimum, and that�s without popcorn and a soda, which is simply an uncivilized manner to view a film) we might like to see these in the theater but are willing to wait three months for them to come out on DVD. That way, we can rent them for $3 and if we like them enough, buy it for our collection for about $20 or less. Rarely there will be a film by a favorite director of ours that we�ll buy unseen and never regret it. That�s how we saw Frida. Given that we can then see the film as often as we like, anytime we like, this is a bargain. Now, I�d like to be able to support Indie films by seeing them in the theater but somehow the thought of trying to enjoy a nuanced film experience while babies are crying and cell phones are ringing, isn�t that appealing. Besides my living room is far more quiet.
4. Then there are the films that simply have to be seen in the theater. Epic films that must be seen on a giant screen with the sound turned up too loud because you know they will be a joy to see, even if the occasional baby cries or cell phone rings. These days, this is extremely rare, and not just because of the prohibitive cost of spending $20 bucks to see a film we know we then spend another $20+ to buy, but because there simply aren�t that many films that are simply that spectacular, even though every film that comes out, from Dumb and Dumber on up is sold to us as the greatest film ever. This week. Though some films genuinely live up to the hype, like The Lord of the Rings trilogy. But these films are all too rare.
The fact that the majority of films these days fall into category 1 instead of category 3 or 4 is due in no small part to the pervasive monster, advertising. Film companies spend millions a year trying to sell product to teenagers, not to tell stories or express a creative urge.
So where does Once Upon a Time in Mexico fall? Normally, I�d say category 2. While I like El Mariache and Desperado they aren�t the greatest movies of all time. Though I did realize something while sitting there, watching the first scene: Robert Rodriguez has constructed a series of action fairy tales. Like the Arthurian legends or Snow White, The El Mariache trilogy are remixes of the same basic story. The same characters make appearances, and time moves forward and back, reality gives way to fantasy and there are similar reversals, changes and progression in character traits. Sometimes the versions don�t quite jive, factually but that�s not the point. The point is the theme of the story, in this case, the conflict between love and the desire for revenge. And the movie has a life, that’s fir sure, evoking grander things than the mere happenstance of plot. Sure, the action takes presedent at times but that can be said for a lot fo great filmic versions of legends, like Excalibur where the score of Carmina Burana sweeps over the battle scenes like a force of nature. So maybe Once Upon a Time in Mexico is a category 3 film instead. Or maybe, we should enjoy movies for what they make us feel and think instead of trying to analyze the hell out of them, looking for validation in a few hundred feet of silver nitrate and pixels.
A Silent Moment That Will Last Forever
R.I.P, Johnny Cash.
from News 24:
Nashville, Tennessee - Johnny Cash, a towering figure in American music spanning country, rock and folk and known worldwide as “The Man in Black”, died on Friday, his manager said. He was 71.
I saw Johnny Cash play back in, oh I guess it was, 1986 or 87. I was only 9 or 10. Believe it or not, it was in GTMO, Cuba. Back then, the base was operational as just another overseas post, not the concentration camp it is today. My father worked for the DoD and we were down there for three years. This was in the days before the world was completely wired and at the time there was very little entertainment to be had. So The Man in Black came down to sing a few songs to the troops and the civilians. It was probably the first concert I ever went to and if not, it is the first I remember attending, and so is just as good as the first.
Folsom Prison Blues
I hear the train a comin’; it’s rollin’ ’round the bend,
And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when.
I’m stuck at Folsom Prison and time keeps draggin’ on.
But that train keeps rollin’ on down to San Antone.When I was just a baby, my mama told me, “Son,
Always be a good boy; don’t ever play with guns.”
But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
When I hear that whistle blowin’ I hang my head and cry.I bet there’s rich folk eatin’ in a fancy dining car.
They’re prob’ly drinkin’ coffee and smokin’ big cigars,
But I know I had it comin’, I know I can’t be free,
But those people keep a movin’, and that’s what tortures me.Well, if they freed me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine,
I bet I’d move on over a little farther down the line,
Far from Folsom Prison, that’s where I want to stay,
And I’d let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.
I don’t know why but this is my favorite song of his. I’m not a gun fighter. I don’t even own a gun. Heck, I’m pretty much a pacifist. But we’ve all done things we aren’t proud of. Mostly, we try to forget them, pretend they don’t happen. Johnny talked about them. He let us know that it’s OK to be week and fearful and brave and strong and everything else. That’s what it means to be human.
Johnny Cash is dead, but his voice will haunt us for as long as their are people with ears to hear.
A New Wave of Mutilation
My wife just E-mailed this to me and I thought it was important enough to share. Via MTV News:
In April, the legendary Pixies will reunite for the first time in over a decade. The notoriously quarrelsome quartet have buried the hatchet, clearing the way for all four original members to hop onstage together for a world tour, according to a spokesperson for the band.
If all goes as planned, the triumphant return of one of the most influential rock bands of the late ’80s might also be followed by a new studio album, the source said.
That�s right, The Pixies, back together. Could World Peace, a publisher for my novel and a Democrat in the White House be far behind?
So for my Information Use class, I have to keep a blog. I’ve heard of those things but I don’t know if I’m savy enough to pull it off but, hay, college is all about trying new things, right?
So at least once a week I’ll have a post up about my observations on uses of Information. It might be a tad more technical than my usual musings about books and politics and writing and such but not too technical. For that, you’ll have to visit my Blog on the intricacies of theories of Information Structure. A word of advice: don’t stare at the diagrams for too long. You’ll go blind.
The Demise of the Will
So I watched the first 45 minutes of the DC 9/11 flick Sunday. That’s about as much pro Neocon propaganda I could stomach.
And speaking of propaganda, Leni Riefenstahl is dead, at the age of 101. George Bush must be inconsoleable. I hear he wanted her to film his reinaguration spectacular.
The Movie Baghdad DOESN’T Want You to See!
Tonight, for your edification, gratification and general knowledge, Showtime presents: DC 9/11: Time of Crisis. It’s at 8 PM. So all you true blue Americans, turn your dials and tune in. It promisses to be a blast!
What with the omnipresent stress of Grad School and all, Posting for the forseable future might be a bit light. I’ll try to put something fun up at least once a week, with little blathering interludes scattered in at least thrice weekly.
The Black Doll is officially going into the garage for an overhaul. It’s not that I think the story is bad, it just feels incomplete… I have a bunch of ideas to expand it though and will have something up on that soon.
I Also promissed a word or two about Lullaby and currently, whan not reading fascinating chapters on the Orgonization of Information, I’m reading The Amazing Adverntures of Cavalier and Clay and thouroughly enjoying it. So there’s stuff to look forward to.
