text:
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: Write a hit play that helps you get into television. Stay in television if you can. But if you must keep writing plays, write with far more ambition than your audience typically has. Write characters who are at least as smart as you are. Never have a character make a dumb decision (i.e., one that you wouldn't make) just to further your plot. Don't write passive central characters. That about covers it.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Lee Blessing
A brief chat with playwright Lee Blessing. I once had the pleasure of auditioning for a staged reading of a new Blessing play (which I don't know has ever been produced); upon hearing Blessing at a group discussion I appreciated his political engagement, generosity with his time, and lack of pretension about his work. (Adam Szymkowicz)
The social contract
It's obvious that ebooks change the tactile experience of reading, but tying reading to a device does something even more insidious by reducing the way books can be a social unifier. Amen. (NYT/Orange Crate Art)
And finally, two related problems. I already have a personal library. But most of the books I've ever read have come from lending libraries. Barnes & Noble has released an e-reader that allows short-term borrowing of some books. The entire impulse behind Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iBooks assumes that you cannot read a book unless you own it first — and only you can read it unless you want to pass on your device.
That goes against the social value of reading, the collective knowledge and collaborative discourse that comes from access to shared libraries. That is not a good thing for readers, authors, publishers or our culture.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Fast & Slow
David Denby describes the editing of The Prince of Persia: (New Yorker)
The existence of the hyperkinetic mess that is a Jerry Bruckheimer production is exactly the reason why we need the warm and conversational literary adaptations of James Ivory in the world, no matter what some ill-informed bloggers may think. (Cinematical)
The movement in this film is aided by parkour. The physical and spiritual beauty of parkour, which began on the outskirts of Paris in the nineties, is the sight of daredevil teens spontaneously negotiating walls, fences, abutments, and open spaces as they race through an urban environment. Parkour is extended acrobatic movement on the fly, and, as something to watch, it gains enormously from continuity. The parkour genius David Belle was on hand to give instruction, and Gyllenhaal, a good athlete, jumps over a wall, runs along a parapet, swings on a rope to another level, jumps down a kind of hollow, landing twenty feet below, and so on. The problem is that the movement has been broken into fragments and reassembled. The thrill of a single man mastering space is gone; here the continuity is provided by the glib editing of thrashing limbs, in which you never see any given action clearly. There are some kinds of happy authenticity that can't be faked, no matter how vast a fortune you spend.
The existence of the hyperkinetic mess that is a Jerry Bruckheimer production is exactly the reason why we need the warm and conversational literary adaptations of James Ivory in the world, no matter what some ill-informed bloggers may think. (Cinematical)
The People Cry Out....
Following on my review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo yesterday comes word of Swedish demand to see NP as Lisbeth Salander in the American remake to be directed by David Fincher. (Filmshaft)
Earlier today, I was sent an e-mail from the Swedish branch of Lovefilm.com who told me an official online poll conducted by them states Natalie Portman to be the most popular choice with Edward Norton to play Mikael Blomkvist. They're great casting choices, so I agree with Sweden on this matter.
The Swedes have spoken, folks. But will David Fincher listen? The role is one of the most hotly pursued in Hollywood. Everybody from Carey Mulligan to Kristen Stewart have expressed an interest. It's a pretty tough role to crack and Noomi Rapace was brilliant in the Swedish language version released earlier this year.
In the Country of M.I.A. (updated)
Here's that long piece from the NYT about M.I.A., the Sri Lankan rapper whom author Lynn Hirschberg clearly considers politically naive, shallow, and maybe a little stupid. I'm not going to argue that M.I.A. has a clearly worked out position on ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka; if she does it doesn't come through here. Yet I'm much more charmed by M.I.A.'s sincere if weird gesture of having photos for her new album shot by a working-class Sri Lankan photographer while wearing enough Givenchy jewelry that a bodyguard had to be present than I am by most of what Lady Gaga has ever done. Hirschberg slams M.I.A. for her violent "Born Free" video but lets Gaga and Beyonce of the hook for their homicidal "Telephone" mini-movie. In comparison to Gaga's masters-thesis self-presentation M.I.A. seems a sort of cultural sponge, aiming for the pop omniscience of Madonna while keeping one foot (a confused foot perhaps) in the struggles of her country.
UPDATE - Since reading the article and posting yesterday it has come to my attention that M.I.A. tweeted Lynn Hirschberg's phone number in a fit of displeasure. I don't approve. My opinion of the article itself as a hit piece is unchanged; Hirschberg even portrays M.I.A.'s choice of husband and childbirth method as a betrayal of her professed political sympathies.
UPDATE - Since reading the article and posting yesterday it has come to my attention that M.I.A. tweeted Lynn Hirschberg's phone number in a fit of displeasure. I don't approve. My opinion of the article itself as a hit piece is unchanged; Hirschberg even portrays M.I.A.'s choice of husband and childbirth method as a betrayal of her professed political sympathies.
Sunday Music: The New Pornographers - "Crash Years"
Together is one of my top 2 or 3 albums of the year so far and I still want to do a longer post on it. The New Pornographers always sound to me like a bunch of exceptionally clever kids let loose with musical instruments for an afternoon, and this album may be the best distillation yet of their warm and cryptic sound.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
How will this ever be remade in America? The Girl with Dragon Tattoo, directed by Niels Arden Oplev, is the first film based on the popular trilogy of crime novels by the late Swedish journalist Steig Larsson. David Fincher will direct the American version. The story is a grab bag of old Nazis, mysterious private islands, conspiracies, and a couple of scenes of brutal violence against women that will surely be toned down somewhere along the line; it's hard to imagine any of the Oscar-caliber actresses rumored to be in the running for the role of Lisbeth Salander signing up to play a character so defined by men's brutality towards women.
Lisbeth is played here by Noomi Rapace, whose looks recall Gina Gershon and whose performance is believably awkward. Lisbeth is a socially awkward, bisexual hacker with no friends and Rapace doesn't concede an inch. Even after 2.5 hours Lisbeth is appropriately non-verbal for someone who spends most of her time staring at a computer screen. Computers play a key supporting role; Lisbeth is sucked into the life of Mikael (Michael Nyqvist), a disgraced journalist hired by the kindly tycoon Henrik (Sven-Bertil Taube, who looks like an elderly Jimmy Stewart) to solve the 40-year old case of Henrik's vanished niece Harriet. There are mountains of evidence to sift through and computers make the job manageable and dramatically compelling. I particularly liked the way a series of old photos displayed on a Mac comes to life as a slideshow of Harriet's movements on the day she vanished. The movie plays better than it has any right to, given how much time is spent flipping through old documents.
The literally translated title of the film and novel should actually be Men Who Hate Women, and as the plot unfolds a sense emerges of a culture where women are regarded as disposable accessories for those powerful enough to avoid accountability. There's a subplot early on involving Lisbeth getting revenge on a parole officer (referred to as a "guardian") who has savagely raped her in a scene that will send some to the theater lobby. It's difficult to watch (as is Lisbeth's revenge), but necessary I think in justifying Lisbeth's behavior later in the film and establishing something about the world in which the film takes place. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is at its core a well-done procedural with good leads (Nyqvist is nicely dogged as the journalist Mikael) and an outsider's heart. I fear the American version will only play up the louder aspects and miss this movie's soul.
The Book I Read: When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison by Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus's short book (less than 200 pages) on the music of Van Morrison is both a celebration and a reminder of the subjective pleasures of writing about music. Marcus claims to have listened to Morrison's 1968 album Astral Weeks more than any other in his collection and When That Rough God Goes Riding is in large part about how one experiences Morrison's singular masterpiece. But how to describe the warm interplay of Morrison's voice and Richard Davis's bass or the emotional arc of the epic "Madame George"? The idea of the "yarragh" unifies Marcus's search for the sublime underneath Morrison's songs. What is the yarragh?
William Butler Yeats, a conflicted soul and superb poet, once wrote about the �yarragh.� For Yeats, the yarragh was a cry of the heart, a haunting and haunted sound that could be found in Celtic (and particularly Irish) song and poetry. It was sorrow and lamentation for what had been lost, and for centuries of foreign oppression. It was anger and self-righteousness, a loud and belligerent cry that insisted on the inherent dignity and worth of a people. In short, it was soul, but soul with a particularly nationalistic fervor.
Got that? The rooting of Morrison's music is a particular cultural tradition provides a starting point for talking about the unquantifiable feelings that Astral Weeks induces. Morrison himself seems to suggest that his songs are after something in the air. Marcus quotes a 1978 interview:
"The only time I actually work with words is when I'm writing a song. After it's written, I release the words; and every time I'm singing, I'm singing syllables. I'm singing signs and phrases."
Marcus unpacks Astral Weeks admirably but the yarragh also provides too easy a yardstick for dismissing some of Morrison's lesser albums. Over fifteen years of work gets dismissed in one chapter while the use of Morrison's songs in the films Breakfast on Pluto and Georgia receives too much attention. Live performances not available to the general listener (the bibliography is full of bootlegs) are cited too often, sometimes as counterexamples. Marcus zips all over Morrison's career, closing with an analysis of a track off Morrison's last album called "Behind the Ritual." The song celebrates the themes of Astral Weeks even if it isn't as musically memorable, and it's a fitting place for us to part company with this still-searching genius. Greil Marcus wisely doesn't try to pin Morrison's work to his biography, in fact he disdains the idea; When That Rough God Goes Riding peeks behind the curtain but wisely doesn't try to solve the mystery of Van Morrison.
Do the Shuffle #66
Songs/Minutes (approx.): 10/42
Miscellaneous Question: Why does the television show Royal Pains exist? Just asking.
The New Cinephila
Jonathan Rosenbaum argues that not only do DVD's make developing a deep appreciation of film easier but in some cases they're preferable to watching old or unsubtitled 35mm prints. Almost none of the films Rosenbaum mentions are what I'd call easily accessible to the average viewer, but the larger point about DVD's expanding the reach of a film is well taken. How many DVD's of films that never came to your multiplex are available at your local big box stores? (Cineaste)
Surely the varieties of contemporary film viewing are already wide enough to encompass both kinds within the experiences of most cinephiles. Even those film lovers I know who live in remote rural outposts and depend mainly on digital viewing typically venture into cities periodically in order to view some films in more optimal form. I would argue, in fact, that what qualifies as "optimal" viewing can vary enormously from film to film and from one set of conditions to another. Although obviously all of us should see Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible in new 35mm prints, I'm not at all certain that all of us should forego the rich edifications of Yuri Tsivian and Joan Neuberger's audiovisual essays about the film on Criterion's DVD in exchange for that privilege. So we need to step away from absolutist positions about the future and make use of the best possible choices available to us in the present.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Do the Shuffle #65
Songs/Minutes (approx.) -11/40
Miscellaneous Fact: I wasn't going to post this shuffle, but the second half hit a nice flow; it's a sequence of songs I might have picked if I was hosting a late night radio show. Yes, even the Paramore song - how did that get in there?
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sex and the City 2
I'm not going to spend much time considering the cultural relevance or impact of the horrible Sex and the City 2 because I think that even many of those who liked the first installment (I didn't) will find this outing a bore. If SATC2 will be remembered for anything it's as an example of how badly it's possible for the writers and producers of a multi-miliion dollar motion picture to misunderstand both ordinary human behavior and things outside of their immediate experience. The first SATC at least provided a button for the relationship of Carrie and Mr. Big; the film ended with Samantha's 50th birthday party and seemed to be a yielding of the stage to a younger generation of fashion-dazzled young Manhattan women.
Not so fast; this time there's a crisis in the marriage of Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie to Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Two years in it seems that Carrie is unhappy because she and the Mister aren't going out enough. Quiet dinners (takeout of course) and old movies aren't enough for our girl, who fears boredom like a virus and hasn't realized that marriage means accountability to another person. A deadline for Vogue prompts the first of many ridiculous plot twists, the idea of Carrie and Mr. Big taking two days off from their marriage each week. In a movie that is genuinely offensive longtime fans of the series should most disgusted by the fact that the films present the ladies as able to conceive of life only as a series of superficial pleasures.
The second half of the film involves a trip to Abu Dhabi for reasons that don't matter. We're told Abu Dhabi is the fun and swinging "New Middle East," but when Samantha (Kim Cattrall) offends Muslim standards of propriety the movie essentially becomes a cartoon full of swarthy men and women who secretly yearn for couture. SATC 2 is the opposite of one of those unmanned space probes that broadcast welcome message and old songs; Carrie and her friends, it seems, are a mirror that the rest of the world's women long to see themselves reflected in. I haven't even mentioned Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) or Charlotte (Kristin Davis, always my favorite) because now I don't like them anymore either. Let SATC 2 be your farewell to Carrie and the girls, four emblems of their time who hung around too long.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Looking that way
Everybody's excited about Janelle Monae these days; I love this post about Monae's role in a wave of forward-looking African-American women. (Crunk Feminist Collective/Parabasis)
With ArchAndroid, I've been transported and transformed.
What you and your wonder twin have done this year for music is like what Octavia did for Afro-futurism before she transitioned.
Prophets heralding a new world era where black women, clothes on or stripped bare are changing the game.
Having a wonder twin and twin myself, I really love that way of naming your relationship to Erykah Badu. Where as she sometimes gives an audience a thread to hold onto in the way of a sample or familiar phrase while gently pulling us by the heart and third eye to the future, you ask that we tip on it, take a risk and jump; sink or swim, fall or fly. Well luckily I am properly prepared, newly reminded that I'm 20 feet tall and I can jump up in the air and stay there.
Byrne v. Crist
David Byrne sues Florida Gov. and Senate candidate Charlie Crist over Crist's use of the song "Road to Nowhere" in an ad. Here's why this is wrong, from Byrne's blog:
Now, there is such a thing as fair use. Typically the type of free use that doesn't require a permission might be a student quoting a passage in a book to make a point in a graduate paper, or someone using part (not all) of "Road to Nowhere" to identify, say, the marching groove in that song as a metaphor for the inexorable forward momentum of time, or some such notion. These uses are typically exempt from licensing, permission and fees. In this case, however, the use was not to comment on or explain something about "Road to Nowhere," '80s music in general, Talking Heads or Cajun accordion riffs — it was used solely to further Governor Crist's advertising strategy in his Senate primary campaign… a campaign that has nothing to do with me or my music.
Just Wright
I was unprepared for how much I enjoyed the understated sports romance Just Wright, in which producer/star Queen Latifah gets a rare chance to be more than just a personality on screen. In the role of Leslie Wright, a single physical therapist and avid New Jersey Nets fan (the movie's biggest element of fantasy is putting the Nets in the NBA Finals), Latifah displays a previously unseen facility for romantic longing. She also gets to play that rarest of all roles in American movies, that of a single woman genuinely fulfilled by her career. Leslie would love to meet men as easily as her friend Morgan (Paula Patton) of course, but there's a new house and plenty in her life that keeps her busy. (Is Just Wright the first movie in which a character takes advantage of the depressed housing market?)
Leslie's life is changed by a chance encounter with Nets point guard Scott McKnight (Common). McKnight may be the most unbelievably sensitive pro athlete ever put on screen, he's a closet pianist and can confidently discuss the works of Joni Mitchell and Charles Mingus. Common seems like strange casting for this role, but he finds all sorts of unexpected notes of vulnerability that make his relationship with Leslie more than just a story about a working girl striking it rich. Speaking of rich, Paula Patton's Morgan is an unapologetic gold digger; it's to Patton's credit that despite her aspirations to the lifestyle of NBA wife we don't hate her for (almost) the entire movie. Just Wright is a movie about adults making adult choices; it's really no surprise you probably haven't seen it.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Last Lost
(Generic spoiler warning!)
I take no pleasure in saying negative things about last night's Lost finale, since like so many others I've made the adventures of Jack, Locke, and the rest part of my life for the last six years. (Five years really, I didn't watch the first season until the DVD was released.) Even with 2 1/2 hours to work with I had my doubts as to whether Lost could accomplish all it had to do - resolve the island story, deal with the "sideways" timeline, and answers, dammit, answers - with enough of a feeling of inevitability to rank it with The Shield, the greatest series finale of my TV-watching life.
What's the verdict? Not too bad really; in bringing the "Man In Black" island story to what felt like its inevitable conclusion Lost pulled off the required thrills with characteristic nimbleness. Jack's ascension to guardianship of the island has brought a welcome swagger to Matthew Fox's acting and I loved his confrontation with Locke ("You're kind of the obvious choice....") and the final showdown on the crumbling island. Jack's decision to sacrifice himself for the island and the others wasn't a shock but it felt exactly right, though I actually saw Kate taking over rather than Hurley. As for the Man In Black, Terry O'Quinn continued to alternate between offhandedness and sociopathic behavior with chilling quickness. I only felt the tension slack in one scene; when the group arrives at the bamboo forest and Jack, MIB, and Desmond split off from the group the three seem weirdly comfortable cooperating in the cave given the circumstances. (Also, the bamboo forest felt like it was about 10 yards long.) On the level of pure pulp storytelling, Lost went out with flourishes that recalled the energy and newness of the pilot.
My reservations about the finale are extensions of my issues with certain long form choices made about this season. I began to think Lost might be out of gas about the time everyone agreed to detonate the nuclear bomb. Even by the standards of the show that choice seemed a reach. With regards to last night I thought we saw certain limitations of the Man In Black character. If the central villain is going to be supernatural then the writers would do well to grounded him with some kind of internal logic. To be blunt, when and why did he become mortal? More importantly, why does the smoke monster need a plane to get off the island? Those are just plot points; I'm not one who needs every sign and symbol explained but the reason that the conflict between Jacob and MIB felt so deeply boring was not only did we not know what was at stake it didn't feel like there was a serious attempt to explain it to us. Of course, it now seems that Lost was a show about "community." Jack had his friends and MIB (for a time) his followers. For the result of their battles to come down to the fact that Jack's community was willing to help him while Locke wound up on his own was dramatically underwhelming.
Last night's most significant flaw, and where the show falls down a notch in my view, was in the handling of the "sideways" timeline. If I had to sum up the finale in a sentence I'd call it a transparent attempt to end the island story with all the attendant consequences while at the same time giving the characters everything they want. In the sideways world Jack and the others (after being "awakened") have all the memories and lessons of the island in mind while being rewarded by the presence of friends and lovers thought long dead. The fact that it all happened because they went through the island together must be especially galling to Walt, Mr. Eko, and Ana Lucia. The "real" Locke gets his legs back and is surrounded by his mates; there is nothing I take greater offense to as a fan than the fact that Locke didn't live to see view of the island proven right. Like so many others he became an accessory to jack learning things and becoming the person he was supposed to be. A last season in which Jack was the MIB and Locke the leader of the islanders would have been a much juicier payoff of the faith-action conflict. Lost always anticipated and staged the deaths of its characters well; it's disappointing to see the show at the end pay no heed to the finality of death.
I count myself a serious Lost fan. I was never as engaged as others in theories and the show's interactive aspects but was content to go along for the ride. I will miss Locke, Jack, Kate, and the rest. Yet ending the show with all aboard Oceanic 815 in the afterlife (How many years did Kate and Sawyer live after the plane landed?) cheapens the lives, the stories, and what it all means. If only it all didn't have to "mean something."
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Early Sunday Music: Janelle Monae - "Tightrope"
Just got this CD today. Thanks, Parabasis!
Treme trepidation
I eagerly watched the first three episodes of Treme but haven't gotten around to watching any more. It seems I'm not the only one having doubts about the show and feeling bad about those doubts. My hesitation has a specific root; I can't stand Davis, the character played by Steve Zahn, who feels like David Simon's attempt to cram in everything about being a New Orleans lifer that he couldn't figure out how to dramatize. (The scene in which Davis explains why he blasts his gay neighbors with loud rap music was a low point.) I checked out just as a plot line about Davis running for city council was getting started. Davis would be a fine drinking companion for those cranky newsmen in Season 5 of The Wire.
What have I liked about Treme? The work of Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters especially; the scene in which Peters's Mardi Gras Indians are interrupted by a "Katrina Tour" while serenading a dead friend is David Simon at his best. I hope John Goodman's video blogging and Rob Brown's objections to New Orleans jazz have become compelling in my absence.
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Swell Season @ The Orange Peel 05.20.10
Last night I had the pleasure of attending my first concert at the Orange Peel Social Aid & Pleasure Club in Asheville, NC. I can't attest to what the "Social Aid" is supposed to be other than attending a great show with friends, but The Swell Season more than did their part in providing the pleasure. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova played songs from their last album Strict Joy as well as familiar tunes from the Once soundtrack to a delighted audience. The two switched off on acoustic guitar and piano and were backed by a 4 piece band. Irglova's lead vocals opened the show but Hansard sang the bulk of the songs; I don't mean to diminish Irglova or the fragile beauty of her songs but it was Hansard the crowd came to see.
The singer couldn't have been a more engaging presence, warmly praising the city and recounting his day in between singing in his trademark head-about-to-explode style. Hansard onstage wants to expand the boundaries of what's possible with each song; to turn both old favorites and new tunes like "Low Rising" and "Feeling The Pull" into moments of joy, communion, and even healing. You'd think he'd get tired or phone one in after awhile, but the fact that he didn't is why this review sounds like a gush. His solo cover of Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks" was a highlight of the evening and maybe the greatest live musical moment I've ever seen. Hansard honors the original and at once makes the song his own. The video above is not from last night but you'll get the idea.
Thinking about maturity in the films of Noah Baumbach would be useful in thinking about Greenberg, Baumbach's latest and in my opinion best film. In both Kicking and Screaming and The Squid and the Whale Baumbach's lead characters seem overly mature for their age and situation but no happier for it. Grover (Josh Hamilton) is stuck in a post-college holding pattern and can't seem to articulate a feeling or a desire for most of Kicking while Jesse Eisenberg's Walt Berkman apes his novelist father's selfish behavior but is too bereft over his parent's divorce to realize doing that isn't winning him any fans in Squid. On Baumbach's other films, I'll confess that I've seen but forgotten Mr. Jealousy and sort of wish I could forget Margot at the Wedding.
So we come to Greenberg, the story of a few weeks in the life of Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller). Greenberg is a fortyish carpenter from New York come to L.A. without a driver's license to housesit for his more successful brother (Chris Messina) and ease his way back into the world after a stay in a mental hospital for vaguely explained reasons. Greenberg's self-proclaimed plan is to "do nothing" for a time, a goal that looks especially thin when he attends a party at the home of a successful friend (Mark Duplass) with whom he'd once almost gotten a record deal before Greenberg's last-minute scuttling of the contract. At the same party Greenberg meets an ex-girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh, who gets a story credit with husband Baumbach) who can barely mask her horror at his lack of purpose. If Greenberg belonged to its title character alone the film would quickly grow tiresome; Greenberg's chief hobby is writing elaborate complaint letters and he's prone to bitterly sarcastic outbursts at those closest to him.
The other major character in Greenberg is Florence (Greta Gerwig), the 25-year old assistant to Greenberg's brother who becomes a (verbal) punching bag and potential lover to Roger soon after they meet. Florence is enjoying her fourth year of post-college malaise; she probably would have been friends with the Kicking and Screaming gang in school but couldn't have kept up with their irony-laced drinking games. I don't know whether Gerwig's unactory style is the product of hard work or just comes naturally (though I loved her drunken dance to "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"), but it's just right for Florence. Although Florence is justifiably hurt by Greenberg's outbursts she's also attracted to his aimlessness, and Gerwig underplays that conflict beautifully. Stiller's performance here is pared to the bone, completely free of mannerism. There are acting moments in Greenberg better than anything Stiller has ever done; a drug-fueled rant at a party full of 19-year olds is hilariously angry and scared and a confessional baring of the soul to another ex-bandmate (Rhys Ifans) reveals Greenberg's deeper issues.
Here we are back to maturity. There's a strong misanthropic streak running through Baumbach's films at least since Mr. Jealousy; anger cloaked in humor and buried resentment give his characters a more specific version of indie movie malaise. (Whatever the male version of the Manic Pixie is, Baumbach's characters are its angry older cousin) Greenberg is the first Baumbach hero looking to push past the shell of irony and disappointment to a deeper connection. One of the charms of Stiller's performance is the way he uncovers Greenberg's surprise at wanting to reconnect with his old life, particularly the characters played by Ifans and Leigh. A lesser director would have given Greenberg his reboot and I'm not suggesting that the character is deserving or even likable; yet there's a poignant pre-middle age need to connect here that I haven't seen in Baumbach's other films. Yes, Greenberg tweaks the expectations we've formed from too many bad romantic comedies, but I don't think that's all the film is. The winter L.A. sun has done something to Noah Baumbach's corrosive spirit, and Greenberg is the beginning of the next phase of his career.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Too Many Poets problem
Are there too many poets? Or too many MFA-anoited poets anyway. The "things are never as good as they used to be" argument never gets very far with me, since any art form that doesn't change to some degree with the times will die. I wonder though if the business model of producing poets doesn't wind up flattening out the end product. I don't pretend to have answers to these questions, but it's always fun to hear different generations go at it. (Nothing to Say...)
Has the ubiquity of MFA programs done something to diminish the quality of writing being done today? I can imagine it could. Some situations and times are not conducive to the artistic sensibility. But poets of lasting value are always rare for any time period. Are there really fewer than before? Are we "allowing" too many voices into the choir? There is a critique that I often hear and kind of agree with, that there are simply too many books being published. It makes it impossible to find the hay in the needle-stack. But as soon as I think to myself, well, what would I propose, I back away from my criticism, because it would mean denying participation by someone, and who knows what might be lost then? (Probably nothing much, but still, the possibility is enough to keep me from getting all reactionary.) Beyond that, what has the MFA done to harm anyone? Mostly, from what I've seen, it's just people sitting around talking about each other's poems. I suppose that could be damaging to a young poet if the people were saying really dumb things, but mostly I've seen that the things said in workshops are rather benign, and were often constructive, especially when talking about how to read poetry as opposed to how to write poetry.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Do the Shuffle #64
Songs/Minutes (approx.) - 9/43
Miscellaneous Fact: Have you heard "Our Song"? I've heard it a few times of course but really focused on it today; such a great hymn to America in the early 21st century and probably worthy of Dylan.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
2 out of 3
There's a great point lurking at the heart of this post about some recent albums. For the record, I'm also very high on The Drive-By Truckers The Big To-Do and The New Pornographers Together but am still working on the new Hold Steady album. But anyway:
I couldn't have said it better myself. No matter what's happening in the outer sphere of corporate media entities it would all be moot if someone wasn't creating the next great band/novel/film/play/etc. in their garage right now.
We hear a lot about the death of music, but it's really about the death of the current business model for the music industry.
I couldn't have said it better myself. No matter what's happening in the outer sphere of corporate media entities it would all be moot if someone wasn't creating the next great band/novel/film/play/etc. in their garage right now.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Not Ridley Scott's Next Movie
Robin Hood was once a script called Nottingham in which the Sheriff was the main character and used "period forensics" to catch Robin. This slightly whiny post reveals the problem: directors. (Sex In A Submarine/Cinematical)
They needed a director that Russell Crowe likes - he's the star, gotta make him happy - so they hired Ridley Scott. That sounds great, doesn't it? You write a script, everybody loves it, you sell it for a bunch of money in a bidding war, and now Russell Crowe is going to star and Ridley Scott is going to direct. I'll tell you - I would be dancing on clouds if that happened to me. So excited I could not sleep for months.
Except if everyone loves the script, the director is ranked #2... and that can not be! Film is a director's medium, right? The director must be the most important person on the film! Hey, I'm just guessing about Ridley Scott's motivations, I don't really know. What I do know is that he wanted massive rewrites done to the screenplay that everybody loved.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Dept. of Contradictions
Yep, Facebook needs to do something about privacy. A good first step might be for Mark Zuckerberg to talk to us. This post nicely gets at some of the contradictions surrounding Facebook's relationship with privacy and our double standards about it. (Venture Beat)
Another long-time Facebook employee Yishan Wong, who recently left, wrote that the company spends an immense amount of time focusing on how users want to control information on Quora: "My observation of Facebook as a company (its people, including its executives) is that it cares a lot about privacy. It spends a lot of time thinking about it, it spends a lot of time thinking about how to protect its users' privacy, and then (ironically) it is continually surprised at how the vast majority of its users don't end up really caring at all to make use of various privacy-protection mechanisms built into the products.
He added, "Mark Zuckerberg probably cares about privacy, but he probably also understands it in a far deeper way than most people do, because he has to work with it in a real and practical sense, and so if he "doesn't believe in it," it's in the way that someone doesn't "believe in" a primitive and unexamined view of something when he has had to personally develop a fuller and deeper understanding of it."
The problem is that privacy is not generally understood to be a reciprocal right, according to Wong. People love to invade other people's privacy, but are upset when the same is done to them. Hence, every time Facebook has become more open and public, its usage has gone up because people suddenly get more access to each other's information.
Sunday Music: The White Stripes - "We're Going To Be Friends"
..from Sydney, Australia. The recently released tour documentary Under Great White Northern Lights includes this song but only as the background to a montage.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Robin Hood
This probably isn't the Robin Hood you were expecting. Ridley Scott's loud, clanging take on the story of England's most famous outlaw might as well be a superhero movie for all the time it spends on origins and Robin's development of a sense of right and wrong. There's no idyll in Sherwood Forest here; Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) and his love and comrade-in-arms Marian (Cate Blanchett) don't arrive in the forest until literally the last scene of the movie. Before that there are two hours plus of court politics and motivation as Scott takes Robin from a skilled but inconsequential archer in the army of Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) to the leader of the English citizenry's quest for individual liberty.
Scott's Robin Hood owes something visually to Braveheart, the weather is unrelentingly cloudy and the production design favors dank and realistic over the soundstage look. The action is sharp and close-in; there are no slo-mo montages set to Lisa Gerrard songs and that choice feels right. The climactic battle scene on a beach is a tactile flurry of sand, water, and blood. I wish the dramatic scenes had been as nimbly put together as the action material. When callow King John (Oscar Isaac) assumes the throne there is much discussion of taxes and loyalties. The King's mother Eleanor (Eileen Atkins) and the loyal Marshal (William Hurt) don't have much to do other than stand around and fret while the traitorous Sir Godfrey (Mark Strong, better used in other roles) makes an alliance with the French King.
What does all this have to do with Robin? Not very much at first, since his main goal is get safely home from the Crusades. A chance encounter with a dying knight leads to Nottingham and assuming the identity of Robin Loxley with the assistance of Marian and Loxley's father (a spry Max Von Sydow, whom I would have happily have seen more of). What slows the movie down is Scott's determination to have Robin not be only an action hero but the founder of modern democratic ideals as well. A garbled backstory involving Robin's father leads to a long scene of speeches that stops the movie's momentum. All this seriousness of purpose doesn't allow Crowe much room to breathe, it's a dour and interior performance. Blanchett nicely suggests reserves of long-buried emotion but is also on the sidelines for too long. Robin Hood has talent and style to burn but is dragged down by its need to make its hero relevant. Ridley Scott and his team could have used a little more of that outlaw spirit.
For Rent: Surveillance
If Jennifer Lynch's Surveillance had been released around 1993 its deadpan violence, narrative feints, and "shocking" twist would have generated a minor outcry. In 2010 this tale of thrill killers and a couple of FBI agents (Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond) with unconventional interrogation methods feels like something assembled out of spare parts. The agents are charged with interviewing the survivors of a brutal highway attack, and as they recount their stories we get to see what really happened. Almost everyone has something to hide; a shaken young woman (Pell James) had just come from robbing a dead drug dealer's stash and the cop (Kent Harper) whose partner was killed is actually a sociopath who shoots out drivers' tires and then busts them for speeding. The only innocent is Stephanie (Ryan Simpkins), the child whose parents and brother were victims of the spree killers.
Stephanie is the bearer of the film's "meaning." She carries around a small portable TV on which we hear news reports about the hunt for the killers. The TV screen is actually the last shot of the movie in the slightly preferable alternate ending on the DVD. Everyone in Surveillance who commits violent acts perceives their behavior only through the way others perceive them. This kind of self-awareness feels dated, and I think there's a reason serial killers movies are out of vogue right now. The theme of killers' obsession with their image dates back to at least Bonnie & Clyde, but when anyone can be famous on the web then the need to be feared and understood via violence loses its dramatic power. Lynch has an unconventional eye for casting (French Stewart, Cheri Oteri, Michael Ironside) and by all rights Surveillance should be the end of using early Violent Femmes music in movies. Yet Surveillance is the type of movie where you'll guess the ending twenty minutes in, dismiss it as too obvious, and then unhappily be proven right.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Ellison's Folly?
Ralph Ellison as one of the great examples of writer's block in American letters? Not quite, saya a new book by one of those charged with going through his papers and assembling his unfinished second novel. (C.H.E)
Three Days Before the Shooting ... , the version that Callahan and Bradley assembled from the second-novel notes and drafts in the Ellison archive, runs to almost a thousand pages. It's a big book in every sense, full of democracy and demagoguery, race and religion, fathers (real and surrogate) and sons.
The archival evidence suggests that the computer gave Ellison more latitude for experimentation. "You can see Ellison at play in the computer files," Bradley says. "You can see him riffing on the word itself and having a lot of fun with his creation. At the same time, you can sense that the computer may have become an enabler of certain of Ellison's literary foibles, the biggest one being his near-mania for revision."
Do the Shuffle #63
Songs/Minutes (approx.) - 12/40
Miscellaneous Fact: I don't usually do these two days ina row, but this list was different enough from yesterday I thought it was worth posting.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
City Island
A low-key, winning movie that I think might actually have played a little better with a no-name cast. Andy Garcia is appealingly beleaguered as Vince, a corrections officer from a sealed-off fishing community in the Bronx with secret dreams of being an actor. The movie hinges on whether or Vince can be honest with himself about his own ambitions and honest with his family about the existence of a son (Steven Strait) from a long-ago relationship. The acting class Vince sneaks off to leaves plenty of room for misunderstandings since Vince's wife (Julianna Margulies) doesn't know a thing about her husband's ambitions. It's fun seeing Vince blunder his way into a part in a Scorsese movie by being himself and there's an appealing non-romantic relationship with Emily Mortimer as a fellow acting student. I wish writer/director Raymond De Felitta hadn't felt the need to fill the movie with loud ethnic arguments and indie-style quirkiness for Vince's kids. Vince, Jr.'s (Ezra Miller) fetish for overweight women in particular could have been rethought. Alan Arkin has one good scene as an acting teacher unimpressed with Brando-style emoting but is barely around for the rest of the movie. Both Garcia and Margulies get a bit too broad at moments - my attention was on capital A acting more than it should have been - but their built-in appeal carries us through to a climax of multiple revelations. City Island tries too hard at times but its family is very un-movieish and I liked this story of how Vince finding the courage to be who he was all along.
Geeking out about "Across The Sea"
Here are a couple of takes on last night's Lost worth reading, one from the LA Times and another from the Antenna blog that I'm slowly becoming a fan of. I'd agree with Todd that last night's episode can't really be judged until we know the rest of the story, but I think the efforts of "Across The Sea" to give the show a mythic sweep only partially paid off. How did Allison Janney's character get there? More importantly, the one "revelation" I haven't seen discussed anywhere involves the "Smoke Monster." I think I had assumed that the Titus Welliver character ("Man In Black") had somehow acquired the ability to change shape and become the Monster. After all, his brother Jacob seems to have no problem time traveling and doing other mystical things.
"Across The Sea" reverses expectations; the Monster is released when Jacob throws his brother's body down the Cave of Light and the Monster then takes on MIB's form. That is to say, the Monster and the MIB are not the same entity. This leads to a whole other series of questions and gets to the heart of what I think is the major flaw of this season. Jack, Kate, and the gang have slowly been sapped of their agency; they're caught in a battle between two opposing forces and what's at stake just hasn't been dramatized well enough. It's possible that I'll reverse my view after the series finale of course, but for now I'm sticking with Season 6 as just a playing out of the string.
"Across The Sea" reverses expectations; the Monster is released when Jacob throws his brother's body down the Cave of Light and the Monster then takes on MIB's form. That is to say, the Monster and the MIB are not the same entity. This leads to a whole other series of questions and gets to the heart of what I think is the major flaw of this season. Jack, Kate, and the gang have slowly been sapped of their agency; they're caught in a battle between two opposing forces and what's at stake just hasn't been dramatized well enough. It's possible that I'll reverse my view after the series finale of course, but for now I'm sticking with Season 6 as just a playing out of the string.
Do the Shuffle #62
Total Songs/Minutes (approx.): 12/42
Miscellaneous Fact: Still can't get my head around Allison Janney on Lost.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
I wonder if they pledged frats
I love this tidbit about Bret Easton Ellis and Jonathan Lethem at Bennington; it's part of a longer interview that will be best enjoyed if you're familiar with Ellis's work. His next novel, Imperial Bedrooms, is a kind of sequel to Less Than Zero. (Vice)
Oh, really?
We were in the same class at Bennington.
I didn't know that. What was he like in school?
Nice. He was a nice guy. I had no idea that he wanted to be a writer. He wasn't in any of the main workshops. Like Donna Tartt would be in there, and Jill Eisenstadt. You know, the people who really wanted to write were the people who always managed to get into the major workshop that term. And Jonathan never got into any of them. And then I got a galley in the mail a long time after we graduated, and it was for a novel by Jonathan Lethem about talking animals or something. And I was like, "What the hell is this?"
Sunday, May 09, 2010
NP casting news
NP is rumored to be among many interested in the role of Lisbeth,the hacker at the center of David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Carey Mulligan has been reported to be campaigning for the role, and Noomi Rapace is getting good reviews for her performance in the Swedish version.
An insider has claimed that Fincher "is not sure if he wants to go with an actress of any note or go with an unknown". The source added: "David's process is very specific and private. He's looking for authenticity and a degree of fierceness and believability capable of delivering the intensity that the part on the page calls for."
Movie set faux pas: hitting on Natalie Portman and finding out it's actually Keira Knightley. (Daily Mail)
Do the Shuffle #61
A special drive-to-work edition:
Poi Dog Pondering - Ta Bouche est Tabu (live) Wilco - Jesus, Etc. (live) Alec Ounsworth - Obscene Queen Bee #2 Red House Painters - Japanese To English Spinanes - Sunday
Total Songs/Minutes. (approx.): 5/22
Miscellaneous Fact: A pretty good set for 5.30 am on a Sunday....
Total Songs/Minutes. (approx.): 5/22
Miscellaneous Fact: A pretty good set for 5.30 am on a Sunday....
Sunday Music: Youssou N'Dour - "Cheikh Ibra Fall"
A song from the Egypt album mentioned in the previous post. I can't find the English lyrics online but the song is a tribute to a key figure in Senegalese Islam.
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love
The Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, arguably the most famous living African musician, is known in this country primarily for the guest appearances he makes on other artists' albums. N'Dour is the foreign voice on Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" and his biggest international hit to date is "7 Seconds," a duet with Neneh Cherry. In his home country and continent N'Dour is a beloved figure both for his music and his activism; the first thing we see in Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi's Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love is N'Dour asking his countrymen in song to ignore religious, tribal, and geographical boundaries for the purpose of strengthening Africa. The film is loaded with N'Dour's music, but any Westerner approaching the songs without a working knowledge of the African political and religious figures mentioned in the lyrics is missing at least half the music's import.
If I Bring What I Love was only a biography of N'Dour it would be interesting enough. N'Dour's parents were of two different castes, giving him roots in both traditional griot culture and a more modern outlook. As a teenager there was an aborted attempt to leave Senegal and start a musical career before he found success with The Star Band and then on his own. Fortunately Vasarhelyi's camera captures N'Dour at a time when combining his music with his Sufi Muslim beliefs led to unexpected results. The Egypt album (released in 2004 after being delayed due to 9/11), recorded with Egyptian musicians working with N'Dour's regular band, was an attempt to honor Senegalese religious figures in popular song. Though the film follows N'Dour on a successful European tour (the Egyptian musicians refuse to play a show in Ireland until the club cuts off the alcohol) in Senegal the Egypt album was greeted with confusion and disdain. The criticism against N'Dour for (perceived) insults against Islam is presented almost entirely in a montage of newspaper headlines. If I Bring What I Love has a weakness it is the failure to give N'Dour's detractors a voice; the most prominent religious figure we meet is Moustapha Mbaye, the "official" griot singer of the Prophet Muhammad. Mbaye seems to have no issue with N'Dour's music and even records a duet with him when Egypt is rereleased in Senegal.
The title I Bring What I Love refers to N'Dour's desire to combine the two biggest forces in his life, music and religion, into something new that will reach a mass audience. N'Dour remains gently perplexed throughout by the way Egypt is received in Senegal; it isn't until the album wins a Grammy that things begin to turn around. Vasarhelyi doesn't overstate N'Dour's impact on Senegal's religious culture, but for a Western audience the singer and the film are a powerful commercial for our failure to understand the breadth and variety of the Muslim religion. There isn't the slightest suggestion that N'Dour's personal safety is at risk despite the criticism, and there's no sense of the government using religious law to control behavior. Women in N'Dour's family and on his staff are respected and counted on. In short, the practice of Sufi Islam as depicted here is far removed from the stereotypes our minds leap to when we watch CNN or episodes of 24. I doubt that one documentary about one singer can serve to bridge gaps that have inspired wars, but the deeply optimistic I Bring What I Love is needed both for its subject's bravery and the glimpse into a different side of an foreign culture.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 happily avoids the bigger/heavier/louder pattern that megabudget sequels fall into; see the second Transformers or the Spider-Man follow-ups for examples. With Jon Favreau again in the director's chair the movie zips along, gleefully aware of its own inconsequence, and there is a sense of play throughout that's mirrored in the fun that Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark has with his flying suit and other toys.
The first Iron Man was lightly engaged with real-world politics; Tony built the first Iron Man suit while being held prisoner in the Middle East and learned to his chagrin that American-made weapons sometimes fall into the hands of those fighting America. This time out Favreau and writer Justin Theroux pull back for a broader view. Six months after revealing his identity at the end of the first installment Tony is under siege from the feds (who want the suit to become part of America's arsenal) and rival magnate Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). Oh, and that glowing thing in the middle of Tony's chest? There's a downside. Hammer's goal is basic: If the secrets behind the suit are revealed he can make billions copying Stark's work and selling Iron Man suits to the Pentagon. Rockwell has fun giving Hammer fussiness and vanity 180 degrees removed from Stark's sensuality, and when Hammer frees renegade Russian scientist Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) from prison Stark may be on the defensive for the first time. Rourke is one of the movie's biggest assets and perhaps its most wasted opportunity. After Vanko's bold assault on Stark during a Grand Prix race early on Rourke has little to do except tinker with things in Hammer's lab and stare at computer screens. I don't know if I completely bought the accent, but who cares? Rourke visibly relishes his character's crazy hair and body's worth of tattoos; he doesn't overplay to compensate for his relatively few lines but controls all his scenes through sheer willpower. Rourke's charisma is more than enough to make Vanko's hatred of Stark feel personal and specific.
Once Vanko and Hammer start building knockoffs of the Iron Man suit there isn't much doubt where things are headed, but the cast is fun enough to make the ride enjoyable. Gwyneth Paltrow's role as Stark's secretary Pepper Potts has been beefed up, and she and Downey have an easy chemistry. Scarlett Johansson, as an assistant with an agenda, isn't asked to do much except look hot during the climactic mayhem but she's a pleasant enough addition to the Marvel Universe. John Slattery is ideal as Stark's late father Howard; Slattery looks like he could have a couple of Sterling Cooper junior execs for lunch. Only Don Cheadle (stepping in for Terrence Howard) as Stark's friend/sidekick Rhodey (aka "War Machine") seems lost; the overqualified Cheadle isn't used to the mixture of intensity and silliness movies like this require, and Favreau doesn't have time to develop the character. I'll leave it to those more invested than I to discuss the relationship of Iron Man 2 to Marvel's "Avengers" mythology; Samuel L. Jackson clocks in for a few scenes as hero facilitator Nick Fury, but Jackson's scenes are all exposition.
I didn't expect much from Iron Man 2 but got plenty of something I didn't expect: good fun. In a way it's too bad that Favreau and Downey fire the first shot in Summer 2010, since most of what's to come can't be nearly this entertaining or less full of itself.
Into Great Silence
A new book about John Cage's 4'33" fails to consider that it's the reactions to it that say the most about its importance. (New Statesman)
In refusing to speculate about the reasons for the heated reception of 4'33" outside the concert hall, Gann takes it for granted that what matters most about a piece of music is how it is made, and not how it is performed or received. The result is that he strips 4'33" of many of the qualities that made it daring. With Gann so intent on turning the piece into a hallowed icon of seriousness, one turns with relief to those outraged BBC listeners. For if 4'33" has any importance at all, theirs are the kinds of reactions that register it.
The Big Reveal
These celebrity comings-out don't just happen you know; there's a whole plan in place. Meet the man who steered the ship for newly out singer Chely Wright and a host of other gay celebrities. (Speakeasy)
Wright first met Bragman, who stands six-foot four and has something of a Midwestern manner with a Hollywood sense of humor, last summer over Greek salads at the Brooklyn Diner in mid-town Manhattan. A team of documentary filmmakers who are making a movie about Wright's coming-out journey recommended that she seek out Bragman's help in advance of the release of her album, confessional memoir—and the inevitable media blitz.
Chely Wright, foreground, with publicist Howard Bragman. "Quite frankly, I was scared and I was coming from the conservative community of Nashville and I needed someone who would hold my hand through it all," recalls Wright. "These filmmakers said to me, 'You should go see this guy Howard—he's the best at bringing celebrities out of the closet and he does it with compassion.' So I didn't waste another minute. I wanted a publicist who wouldn't be freaked out by the situation—I wanted someone who could show me the way."
Thursday, May 06, 2010
DFW c. 1996
A "lost" profile of David Foster Wallace from 1996, which all too clearly foreshadows things to come (good and bad). (Craig Fehrman/Kottke)
Before long, Wallace had dropped out of his philosphy Ph.D. program at Harvard and stopped trying to publish fiction. Living in a series of crummy apartments around Boston, he began to degenerate. "I was haunted by the idea that I was a sham and a whore and a fraud."
He doesn't want Infinite Jest to be seen as autobiography, which it's not. On the other hand, if Wallace hadn't been hospitalized in 1988 and put on a suicide watch, he might not have written so accurately about Kate, a character in Infinite Jest who keeps trying to die: "It's like something horrible is about to happen," she explains to her doctor, "there's the feeling that there's something you have to do right away to stop it but you don't know what it is you have to do, and then it's happening, too, the whole horrible time, it's about to happen and also it's hapening all at the same time."
Do the Shuffle #60
Total Songs/Minutes (approx.) - 11/41
Miscellaneous Fact: Found a more aerobically challenging walking path, so a few minutes of music gets traded in for better exercise.
Phish 3D
Phish 3D was an experiment of sorts for me, my first visit to a new theater in my area that offers a special focus on IMAX and 3D features. I've long resisted
3D, not only because I don't want to pay for jury-rigged movies shot in 2D and then converted later but because I just don't want to wear glasses and dodge imaginary flying objects while I'm watching. There were few such moments in Phish 3D of course, though it did take me a couple of minutes to realize the balloons flying around in front of the band weren't being tossed around by people in the theater.
There's an undeniable richness to the 3D images; Oh man, Trey Anastasio's guitar is right there! What of the music? I'm a low-key Phish fan, never having seen them live but regularly listening to their live releases. The set list is full of older tunes; "Tweezer," "AC/DC Bag," an acoustic "Wilson", and a joyous "Suzy Greenberg" among others. I was surprised how my attention didn't wander during the jams, but if you don't know the band's music there's absolutely no reason to see Phish 3D. The highlight is an excerpt from the Halloween show; the band's tradition is to cover an entire classic album and the four cuts we get from Exile On Main Street allow the band to step out of their familiar roles. Anastasio looks pleased not to be the center of attention during "Happy" (sung by drummer Jon Fishman) and the horn section and backup singers (including Sharon Jones) steal the show during "Shine A Light." Did 3D add something to the Phish experience? I suppose so, but I'll buy another Phish CD before forking over extra cash for another pair of glasses.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Trip worth taking
A review of a new book recounting a road trip with David Foster Wallace; I think this one is next on my list. (Washington Monthly)
It has become a commonplace in the literary community to call Wallace a genius. This seems to occur in part because he won a MacArthur "genius" grant, which many writers covet, and in part because he wrote about math, which many writers fear. Mostly, though, the plaudit stuck because Wallace was smart and articulate and had the enviable quality of finding everything interesting. But in truth, his appeal lies more in his honesty than his intellect; it is less that his observations were profound than that others lacked the self-scrutiny or courage to voice them. Throughout the road trip, Wallace spoke with disarming candor about difficult issues: a suicide scare in college, an almost crippling fear of how others perceived him, difficulty finding love. No contemporary writer discussed despair and loneliness with such frankness.
Dept. of Right The First Time
Actress Rita Tushingham on making Dr. Zhivago, Steven Soderbergh, and not fixing it in the editing room. (Some Came Running)
And I don't like it when I hear people say, 'Oh, we can fix it in the editing.' I don't think that ought to be said. I know sometimes you're running against a clock. But the craft is…you should be able to do it. People could do it years ago, so why can't you do it now? And that was something Lean never said, and if there was anyone who actually knew how to fix things in the editing, it was he; editing was where he started. And he would have a very good idea of what he wanted, and he would shoot to get it. Whereas, working with Richard [Lester], you almost felt that he more or less edited as he went along."
Oh, the leather...
Christina Aguilera defends "Not Myself Tonight" video. (MTV News)
But does it need defending? Two things going on here: We don't really know how much of this video was Aguilera's conception, but since she has managed to avoid being Britney-like tabloid fodder I'm inclined to take her full-throated claiming of her own sexuality at face value. I'm of the opinion that Aguilera is demonstrably more talented than her peers, but as this blogger points out the A-list pop divas are often drawing on the same group of songwriters. Does someone in Aguilera's camp feel she has to do stuff like this to stay in the Lady Gaga/Rihanna conversation? If so, too bad. Aguilera's voice may not inspire pseudo-academic web dissertations but it deserves to put her ahead of the competition.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Spike speak
Spike Jonze thinks most of the uproar over Where The Wild Things Are was about parents' expectations, but whatever the truth Jonze's career seems to be heading away from studio features.
If this suggests that such left-of-centre directors are now losing their power in a system which favours film made by committee rather than uncompromising artists, it doesn't bother Jonze, who has already returned to his roots. Recently making commercials for a Japanese phone company, featuring Brad Pitt and sumo wrestler, he has also started making shorts again. There was a ten-minute skit with Kanye West and, most recently, I'm Here – a quite brilliant 29-minute tale about two robots who fall in love that's somewhat reminiscent of his bizarre video for Daft Punk's song "Da Funk", in which an anthropomorphic dog trolls around New York City.
Word has it his next project – collaborating with the band Arcade Fire on a piece about friends growing apart – will also be a short.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Thank You Mr. Ebert
"Don't train for a career, train for a life."
What the internet is creating is a class of literate, gifted amateur writers, in an old tradition. Like Trollope, who was a British Post official all his working life, they write for love and because they must. Like Rohinton Mistry, a banking executive, or Wallace Stevens, an insurance executive, or Edmund Wilson, who spent his most productive years sitting in his big stone house in upstate New York and writing about what he damned well pleased. Samuel Pepys, who wrote the greatest diary in the language, was a high officials in the British Admiralty. Many people can write well and yearn to, but they are not content, like Pepys, for their work to go unread. A blog on the internet gives them a place to publish. Maybe they don't get a lot of visits, but it's out there. As a young women in San Francisco, Pauline Kael wrote the notes for screenings of great films, and did a little free-lancing. If she'd had a blog, no telling what she might have written during those years.
The Personal is (A)political?
Lisa Cholodenko's new film The Kids Are All Right is about a lesbian couple raising kids. If the previous sentence doesn't shock you, then this film is right up your alley. Cholodenko's partner is Wendy Melvoin, one half of former Prince collaborators Wendy and Lisa. (NYT)
It is a mark of Ms. Cholodenko's generosity that her characters don't always act as one might expect, let alone as identity politics dictate. She's aware that it is "politically incorrect," as she put it, to show a lesbian character caught up in a torrid heterosexual affair. But, she said, "I see sexuality probably in a more fluid way than many gay and lesbian people." (Another case in point: The film's amusing variation on the birds-and-the-bees talk, in which Nic and Jules must explain to their teenage son why his lesbian mothers have a secret stash of gay-male pornography.)
An audience member in Berlin took Ms. Cholodenko to task for being "not radical at all but really square," she said, since the movie depicts an alternative family even as it affirms the importance of family. But Ms. Cholodenko has a hard time looking at the film in polemical terms. "It's about what's organic for the characters and where my heart is," she said.
Sunday Music: St. Vincent, Beck & Liars
Record Club: INXS "Need You Tonight" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.
Doesn't this make you want to dig out your copy of Kick? I'm not exactly sure who Liars are, but this is St. Vincent's show. This video is part of Beck's Record Club series in which he and collaborators cover classic albums. (Muzzle of Bees)
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Dept. of Career Paths
What is David Gordon Green up to? There's word of an animated MTV series to come; while a comparison with the more commercial efforts of Steven Soderbergh is interesting, I agree with the point that one always feels Soderbergh is making his film. I'd love to see Green get a chance to become the Kelly Reichardt of the American South; if he has to knock out a pot comedy in odd years so be it. (IFC)
The difference is tonal: Soderbergh is instinctively a chilly, cerebral filmmaker who's unconcerned with what audiences want (the "Ocean's" movies are pleasing because that's part of the concept), while Green -- even at his artiest -- is instinctively a populist (the lushness of "George Washington" and "All The Real Girls" is there to dilute the sting of the more painful material).
The problem may turn out to be that Green is a little too committed to playing within the genre rules as much as possible. It's hard to imagine Soderbergh paying such scrupulous homage to the likes of "Tango & Cash" (one of Green's favorite movies) without trying to tinker with the formula. But there (and on "Eastbound and Down," where Green flawlessly imitated Jody Hill's style while he was out of town), Green demonstrated his willingness to purge everything interesting about his work if necessary.
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text: Target : Bring Organic visitor to client's site within a month Success : 120% That was one of our biggest challenges to rank in a month with one of the most high competitive niche, and it happened ! Around 100 people coming to the site per day from Google itself. Now we are confident to rank any niche, within a month, however competitive it is

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text:
U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson ruled that the bill's requirement for every American to acquire health insurance, which is known as the individual mandate, "exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power." The Obama administration has argued the individual mandate is constitutional under interstate commerce rules, but the judge rejected that argument.Now what? Now we move on. I have no beef with generically making sure all Americans have access to health care. My beef was the whole "mandate" issue. Just like social security, the government telling me how they are going to manage my money and my life is wrong. Write your congressman now and tell him/her to pile on the pressure and let the Constitution be your guide.
Technorati Tags: Obamacare, health care reform, constitution


text:
The cover illustration features a mummy coming out of the tomb steaming.
Dead...Or Alive!
After last year's scary adventure, Gabe's a little nervous about being back in Egypt. Back near the ancient pyramids. Back where he saw all those creepy mummies. Then he learns about an Egyptian superstition. A secret chant that is supposed to bring mummies to life. Gabe's uncle says it's just a hoax. But now it sounds like something's moving in the mummy's tomb. No way a couple of dumb words can wake the dead. Can they?
The writing in this section is based off of someone else's work.
Gabe Sabry is flying back to Egypt to attend the grand public opening of the pyramid that Uncle Ben was excavating in the last book. Uncle Ben and his daughter Sari pick Gabe up from the airport and they drive straight to the pyramids in Giza. Uncle Ben tells Gabe that instead of a hotel in Cairo, they will be staying in the Pyramid Hilton, his name for the tents lining the exterior of the pyramid.
Uncle Ben announces that he and his team are very close to breaking the seal on a tomb inside the pyramid. As Uncle Ben walks the children to the pyramid's entrance, a mummy staggers out and attacks the three. Except it is not really a mummy at all, but a guy dressed as a mummy making a commercial for "Sticky Bird Bandages."
Uncle Ben gives Gabe a necklace with a pendant made of amber. Inside the amber is a scarab, which Uncle Ben explains were sacred insects to their ancestors. Sari thinks it is a dumb present, but Gabe wears it with pride. Sari tells Gabe that the scarab beetle somehow came out of the amber and is crawling on him. Gabe feels a pinch on his leg and remembering that Uncle Ben warned him that a scarab bite meant instant death, he falls to the ground howling in horror. Except that the scarab never left his pendant and the pinch came from Sari, who knelt down and pinched his leg. Gabe is upset, but Sari feels she should not apologize.
Over breakfast the next morning, Uncle Ben tells Gabe about the tomb they are opening. Ben believes it belonged to King Tut's cousin, Prince Khor-Ru, and could be filled with millions of dollars' worth of valuable jewels. Or it could be empty, a trick tomb to fool grave-robbers, Ben casually warns. After breakfast, Sari tells Gabe that she is worried about her father. He is really set a lot of his hopes on the discoveries inside the tomb making him famous and she is afraid that he will be really depressed, if there is nothing inside the tomb.
Uncle Ben hurries over to the children and drags them into the pyramid, as his workers are ready to break the seal. He gives the children yellow hard hats with lights to wear. The three don't make it very far inside the pyramid, before they are stopped by a beautiful woman dressed in a white pantsuit. The woman introduces herself as Nila Rahmad. Nila is a reporter for the Cairo Sun and she wants permission to accompany Uncle Ben as he opens the tomb. Ben consents, as she claims to have run this idea past Ben's partner, Dr. Fielding. Nila asks Sari and Gabe, if this is their first time to be in a pyramid and Gabe says it is.
Nila admires Gabe's pendant and shows him her matching necklace-- only hers doesn't have a scarab inside. Ben tells Nila a bunch of stuff about the pyramid in a clumsy attempt to impress her. Gabe complains that it is cold inside the pyramid and he should have brought a sweatshirt.
Almost immediately, Gabe gets lost and does not know how or why. Gabe stops wandering the tunnels of the pyramid and leans against a wall. He then leans through the wall as he tumbles into yet another secret hidden chamber. Inside this chamber are thousands of white spiders. The spiders swarm over Gabe, as a rope ladder finds its way down into the room.
Uncle Ben and Nila hoist Gabe back up and Gabe takes out his mummy hand to make sure it survived his fall. Gabe is shocked when Nila asks him if it is The Summoner. It figures that the one character who would remember anything about the previous book wasn't even in it. As the other characters turn around to make their way back on course, Gabe looks down at the mummy hand and sees the fingers twitching.
Two days later, Ben's workers finally prepare to break the seal to the tomb. Ben gathers up the two children and Nila and they head down the pyramid. Ben prepares to chisel away the soft gold seal, when he hears a booming voice: "PLEASE- LET ME REST IN PEACE!" They all turn around and see a lanky man. The man crying out is Dr. Omar Fielding, Ben's partner. Dr. Fielding tries one last time to reason with Ben, to not break the seal. Dr. Fielding reminds Ben that the hieroglyphs on the door warn that anyone who repeats the ancient chant written on the door five times will return the mummified prince to life. Dr. Fielding refuses to be privy to incurring the mummy's wrath and flees the pyramid. Ben chisels away the seal and pushes open the door. Unfortunately, the inside of the tomb is completely bare.
Undeterred, Ben makes the entire crew enter the bare tomb and begin work on removing the gold seal off of another door found in the room. After working all day, the workers remove this seal, and behind the new door they find a large mausoleum filled with pots and chests of treasure. The tomb appears to have once been a meeting room, as inside they find a long table, chairs, and a large throne. The attention of everyone in the tomb soon turns to the stone casket resting against a far wall. Ben and three of his workers slowly lower the coffin to the ground and slide off the lid. Inside they find the tar-stained, mummified body of Prince Khor-Ru. Suddenly four men burst into the tomb, waving guns. They announce themselves to be with the Cairo police. Dr. Fielding saunters into the tomb and tells Ben he changed his mind and called the police to come and guard the tomb's treasures. Ben wearily accepts the help of the police, as he has no choice.
That night, Ben, Nila, and the children are eating dinner around a campfire in the desert. Nila has her arm wrapped around Ben and wants him to tell her the six words that will bring the mummy to life. Ben finally gives in and reveals them to be "Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari." Ben scurries away to do some work in the communications tent and Nila heads back to her office in Cairo. Back in their tent, Gabe comes up with a plan to scare Sari, to get her back for all her pranks. He recites the correct chant five times and Sari is visibly disturbed.
A gruff figure accosts the children in their tent but it turns out only to be Dr. Fielding. He tells the two youths that he must find Ben and the two children decide to follow him for adventure. As they watch from a safe distance, they can't tell whether Dr. Fielding is leading Uncle Ben towards the pyramid or just resting his arm on his shoulder as they walk quickly across the sand. Dr. Fielding appears to push Ben down into the pyramid's entrance and the two children agree that since they do not have flashlights, they will have to wait outside the entrance. Gabe tells Sari that he saw the four policemen leave earlier in the afternoon, meaning that Dr. Fielding and Ben are alone in the pyramid. After waiting about an hour, Dr. Fielding emerges, alone, from the pyramid. The children try to catch his attention, to ask where Sari's father is, but Dr. Fielding just runs away into the night. Gabe tells Sari to stand guard at the entrance in case her father comes out while he runs back to the tents to grab some flashlights. When Gabe returns, Sari signals that Ben did not come out. The two children head into the dark pyramid, alone.
Sari can't remember the exact route that leads to the prince's tomb, but Gabe spots work boot prints in the sand and the two follow the tracks into the empty tomb. They see no sign of Ben, until Gabe notices that the lid to the mummy's casket was now closed. It was open when they had left earlier in the day. The two slide the lid off and find Uncle Ben tied and gagged inside. Dr. Fielding had left him to suffocate sealed inside the casket. Gabe and Sari realize at the same time that if Ben's in the mummy's coffin, then where's the mummy? Right at the entrance to the room, and he is heading right towards the children!
Gabe tries to yell for his uncle to save them, but he's passed out inside the case. The two children maneuver their way past the mummy and into the empty room. They run right into Nila. They plead with her to help them, but she gets angry at the children and tells them that they've ruined everything. Nila produces Gabe's mummy hand, which she stole from him, and uses it to call the mummy closer. She reveals that the mummy is her brother and she is over 4,000 years old. Now, thanks to Gabe's Summoner, she and her brother can reign over Egypt again.
She calls on her brother to kill the children, but the mummy walks right by them and instead starts choking his sister. "Leave me in peace," the mummy groans as he assaults Nila. Gabe tries to break up the mummy murder and accidentally pulls off Nila's amulet. It crashes to the ground shattering into a thousand shards. She howls out and tells Gabe that the pendant was how she stayed alive all these years. At night she would revert into a scarab and climb inside the amber. Nila shrinks down into the scarab beetle and scurries away into the dark pyramid.
Dr. Fielding bursts in, surrounded by police. Turns out Dr. Fielding was not forcing Ben into the pyramid earlier, he had just seen Nila trespass inside and wanted help in stopping her. Then when he ran to get the cops, he was so frantic that he did not bother to stop and reassure Sari. Well, that's the end of that caper, gang.
Back inside their tent, Gabe is bragging about his accomplishments to get back at Sari. Sari jokingly warns that Nila, the scarab beetle, could still be after him and he should look out she says "Watch she will be waiting for you under your covers." Gabe climbs into bed and utters in horror "Ouch."
Reprints and rereleases
|Release date
2003 - 2007 reprint series
|June 2006
|December 2010
- The 2006 reprint's cover art is a mirrored version of the original.
- The Classic Goosebumps reprint was released as a tie-in to the eighteenth Goosebumps HorrorLand book, Slappy New Year!.
International releases
- In Portugal, this is the twenty-seventh book in the original Goosebumps series.
TV series
Return of the Mummy was adapted into an episode of the Goosebumps TV series. It is the ninth episode of season one.
|Release date
|Narrated by
|Published by
|December 2015
|2 hours, 38 minutes
|Kirby Heyborne
|Scholastic Inc.
- This is the only Mummy sequel to date in the series, and the first sequel to have an original title, previous sequels had all had the same title as their predecessor with the Roman numeral II added.
- This is Gabe, Sari and Ben Hassad's last appearances to date.
- This book contradicts The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb several times:
- Gabe says to the reader that he visited the pyramids during the previous summer. The prequel says that Gabe visited the pyramids during Christmas vacation.
- During the celebration scene, Gabe tells the reader that Sari loves being taller than him even though he is older. In The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, Gabe says that Sari was two months older than him.
References in other Goosebumps media
- Both Prince Khor-ru and Nila Rahmad appear as background monsters in the Goosebumps film.
- The book is referenced in "Goosebumps: The Game". A portrait of Prince Khor-Ru appears in the living room of Dead House. Also, a sarcophagus appears in a moving van.


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London Teenager Pranks His African Dad On Camera
Everybody loves a good prank! This London teenager Emman did a great job pranking his Dad by telling him he had got a girl pregnant. His Dad's reaction was hilarious.
The video is a must see!
It's not hard to imagine a father that wouldn't flip out on hearing his 16 year old son had got a girl pregnant, a 14 year old that!
Emman's Dad unsurprisingly shared this sentiment and even feared his son might end up in prison or even worse end up working in McDonalds.
It was his dad that really was the star of the show, due to the incredibly funny one liners and his epic timing. The fact he threatened to kick Emman out, send him on a plane to Nigeria and even went into the kitchen to get a broom to beat him with makes him a legend.
Here is our list of our favourite Emman's Dad Quotes:
"Yesss" – Bad news is imminent.
You know what I need to tell you? No GCSE, no A-Level, you will end up in McDonnalls (McDonalds). You will end up in McDonalds, thats what I meant and I really meant what I'm saying. Pregnant!! How old is she!?" – You have to tell people how it is!
"14, Jesus, is Lord!! 14!! You know you can be prosecuted for that!!" – Scare tactics are key.
"You are going to Nigeria 1st class tomorrow, I will get the first class ticket taking you to Nigeria" – Money ain't thing.
"I'm coming, I'm coming" – A real boss doesn't explain his actions.
"Who do you say is pregnant? I will hit you with this one (shakes broom vigorously)!" – Say something!
"You're a joka!" – Nobody wanted see Emman get beats.
We were in absolute stitches throughout this video! Props to Emman for the creativity and of course his Dad for the reaction!
Follow Emmanuel Kellam on twitter via @emansblogs


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I do hope that the Dak'Art 2008 Festival makes a huge song and dance over Iba N'Diaye this year.
Personally, I wanted to write about the importance of this artist, now in his 80th year. Iba N'Diaye is a National hero in Senegal and a vital part of contemporary African art internationally.
I would like to present those interested in contemporary Africa art with the works of this wonderful artist, Iba N'Diaye - the theme of this work is Jazz and Blues....
Here is his biography for all to read.
Iba N'Diaye (b.1928)
Iba N'Diaye was born in 1928 in Saint Louis, Senegal, which, like all port towns, is a place where many races and cultures meet. At the age of fifteen, when he was a student at the Lycée Faidherbe, he painted film posters for the town's two cinemas. This early familiarity with cinematographic images would eventually influence his painting techniques.
By 1949 he was living in Paris, where he studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and frequented the city's jazz clubs. But it is the sculptor Zadkine to whom he owes his discovery of traditional African sculpture. Soon he began to travel around Europe, visiting art museums with his pencil and sketchbook in hand.
However, he did not forget his native country, and it was Senegal's independence that led him to return home in 1959. He enthusiastically accepted an invitation to participate in the creation of the Ecole des Arts du Senegal, where his first personal exhibition was held in 1962, and where he remained as a teacher until 1966.
With the goal of asserting a "black identity", the organizers of the Contemporary Art Exhibition at the first "Festival des Arts Negres" (Dakar, 1966) favored the Primitivist movement, which Iba N'Diaye had tried in vain to oppose. Once again, he realized that it was preferable for him to leave his native country. It was in Paris, at his studio in the "Atelier de la Ruche", as well as at his country home in the Dordogne in southwestern France, that Iba N'Diaye began his series of 10 oil paintings on the theme of "Tabaski" (the ritual sacrifice of a lamb). These paintings were exhibited in France in 1970 at the Sarlat Festival, and again in 1974 at the Maison de la Culture in Amiens.
In 1981, Iba N'Diaye showed his work in New York for the first time. The catalogue accompanying this exhibition, which concentrated on the theme of jazz, contains a preface written by Lowery Sims, then curator of the Modern Art Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 1987, the Museum für Völkerkunde in Munich organized the first major retrospective of Iba N'Diaye's works in Europe. This exhibit then traveled to the Africa Museum of Berg en Dal in Holland in 1989, and to the Tampere Museum of Modern Art in Finland in 1990.
Iba N'Diaye's temporary move to a studio in the Montmartre area of Paris, and his travels back and forth between the Dordogne region in southwestern France and the 15th arrondissement of Paris, could have distanced him from his native Africa, but instead led to a resurgence of memories of his childhood and adolescence.
In 1996, the Museum Paleis Lange Voorhout in The Hague hosted "Iba N'Diaye: Painter between Continents", an exhibition organized by Franz Kaiser, head curator at the Gemmentemuseum, also in The Hague. This show presented significant works illustrating N'Diaye's Thematic Series, which developed over the forty-year career of an artist who is a model of tenacity.
In January, 2000, Iba N'Diaye began the new millennium with an exhibition in Saint Louis, his birthplace, which he had left fifty years earlier. This show illustrated his objective: to succeed in constructing a personal and authentic style of painting that bridges the continents and draws on the rich reservoir of global culture.
"To paint, for me, was to discover what others did before learning, and to understand the language of the profession I was entering." - Iba N'Diaye, 2002.
by Franz Kaiser and Okwui Enwezor
- For full details contact the Publisher below -
A new book on Iba Ndiaye entitled Primitive? Says Who? - Iba Ndiaye, Painter Between Continents was brought out in January 2002 by renown french publisher, Adam Biro. This well illustrated monograph -- in French and English -- focuses on Iba`s new work, from 2000-2001. The books` authors are Okwui Enwezor, Curator of The Short Century and Director of Documenta XI, and Franz-W Kaiser, Director of Exhibitions at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague.
The book`s dust jacket sums up the it`s orientation:
Contemporary art is in fashion, particularly if it comes from faraway lands like Africa. But who decides what is art? Who controls the quality of artists? According to which criteria? It is clear that, almost a half-century after decolonization, in order to be recognized, Africans must in one way or another produce art that is primitive, meaning naïve, picturesque, lacking in technique, colorful, tribal, exotic.
The European inventions of primitivism and the noble savage are difficult to overcome. Iba Ndiaye sees himself as neither noble nor savage. He sees himself simply as a painter. One can only be a painter through one`s relationship with the history of painting -- by borrowing, rejecting and innovating in order to build a personal style. Ndiaye knows this, and he rejects the dubious ideology of the clean slate. Like any true artist, he sees painting for what it is: the means of finding his own personal identity, which lies between Africa, where he was born, and Europe, where he lives.
- soft-cover
- 22 x 28 cm
- 40 images, 30 in colour
- 64 pages
- On Sale : January 2002
- price : 18 €.
Adam Biro publishers
28 rue de Sévigné, 75004 Paris
Contact :
Aleksandra Sokolov
Fax : 01 44 59 87 17
Mobile : 06 08 32 10 39


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(Ping! Zine) – Go Daddy's commercials for the 2011 Super Bowl are far from being approved, in fact, they haven't even been filmed yet, but CEO and Founder Bob Parsons declared Go Daddy will advertise in the big game for a seventh consecutive year. Go Daddy has purchased two 30-second spots in the Super Bowl and a single 30-second pre-game commercial on FOX – all to be produced by Go Daddy Productions.
Parsons also said, like every other year, the ads will be GoDaddy-esque – meaning edgy, fun and slightly inappropriate – but this year will be different because Go Daddy Girls Danica Patrick and newcomer Jillian Michaels will both be featured.
"Jillian has the power … Danica has the speed! Together, our dynamic duo of Go Daddy Girls add up to sheer Super Bowl magic," Parsons said. "Hopefully the FOX network won't keep commercial creativity on such a short leash this time around. For 2011, Go Daddy is going to be as edgy as ever – in fact, our goal is to 'out Go Daddy' ourselves!"
Go Daddy, the world's top Web hosting provider and domain name registrar, has leveraged the Super Bowl to its advantage over the last six years by using edgy 30-second commercials to attract millions of Internet visitors to www.GoDaddy.com. This year, an estimated 100 million people are expected to watch the Super Bowl.
"It doesn't get much bigger than being in a Super Bowl commercial," Jillian said with a big smile. "I think shooting a spot with Danica Patrick is going to be a blast. Go Daddy certainly knows how to create buzz around Super Bowl time – I'm looking forward to being a part of this new Go Daddy campaign!"
Danica has been featured in four Go Daddy Super Bowl campaigns to date. She starred in Go Daddy's "Baseball" commercial, ranked as the Most-Watched Super Bowl Ad in 2009, according to TiVo.
When it comes to Go Daddy's plan to use both her and Jillian in this year's Super Bowl commercial, Danica had two words: "Girl Power!"
"Go Daddy takes some heat for their edgy commercials, but if you watch the ads I'm in, they're actually all about Girl Power," Danica said. "Adding Jillian to the campaign creates a whole new range of possibilities."
Go Daddy's Super Bowl legend began six years ago when FOX yanked Go Daddy's ad before its second airing during the 2005 Super Bowl. That censorship triggered a post-game controversy which some believe puts Go Daddy under extra scrutiny with television executives each year.
"I agree with Bob," Danica asserted. "Censors really need to lighten up! Aren't Super Bowl commercials supposed to be about having a little fun?!"
The Super Bowl broadcast is set for Feb. 6 on FOX, the television network on which Go Daddy's original controversy ignited.
To see Go Daddy's Super Bowl commercials and photos, visit www.GoDaddy.com/SuperBowl.


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I was in a hurry to wrap a gift for my niece. We just came home from vacation and had leave for the party in an hour. (I was going to wrap the gift before vacation but I didn't make it that far down on the to-do list.) I remembered that I bought a straw bag for her a few weeks before with the intention making cute flip-flops to go in it. The flop flops never worked out to my satisfaction so with a few weeks left of the summer I realized that I might as well give her the bag. I bought it at target for $2.50. It might have even been half-off. I quickly attached a flower with my hot glue gun. The gift fit perfectly and it made a pretty presentation.
Linked to:


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In lieu of the formal lounge area, numerous cutting edge homes are using the kitchen space and including a consume in peculiarity whether it be an island, bar or full feasting region to suit a spot for individual eating or family dinners. For even the littlest of kitchens, there is a consume in arrangement. Notwithstanding supper time, these kitchens encourage different exercises, for example, telecommuting on the PC, the children doing homework, and essentially hanging out with family and companions. We've accumulated around twelve staggering consume in kitchen outlines that we think will unquestionably move some kitchen plan thoughts you could call your own.
An open arrangement advanced home peculiarities a full-estimate kitchen with bar island that opens to the living space.
A stretched out bar considers four to feast agreeably while as yet taking into consideration a full island for work space.


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I love seeing them engage in their creative process and having so much fun.
This year is our third summer camp program. My heart is full of gratitude that I get to work with these great kids to nurture their creativity. Once again my daughter, Katie, is the camp helper and I love having her at the studio by working side by side.
The camp schedule keeps me busy and I have been recharging by tending to by gardens at home. I have found time to work on my art here and there, but I am looking forward to having some days to devote entirely to my creativity.


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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Playing Zuma Games online
In the last post, I talked about downloading your Zuma games, however over the last few days, i have a change of heard and found out that playing zuma games online is more hassle free and less to worry about, you can play online by clicking here Zuma Games and here Zuma Deluxe.
Downloading zuma games
Here is where I download my zuma games,http://pksoftbook.blogspot.com/2012/01/zuma-deluxe-pc-game.html
Monday, March 25, 2013
Zuma Deluxe Game – how simple flash games can be so addicting
It's a piece of history, simple flash games with very addictive gameplays are here to stay.
Playing games online or on your phone has been a habit for some people. Bored and unoccupied, anybody would just love to try to play their no brainer simple games if they can. Zuma Deluxe is a grand example of an addictive game that has been famous and is still making waves with its free updates. The game itself is just simple, the levels and the designs are the same in general but one can never be tired or feel bored with the repetitiveness because it is a thrill to play.
A little background on the gameplay Zuma Deluxe Online is in the genre of puzzles and is considered one of the best games in the action puzzle game category. The story line is you are the stone idol, a frog in this case of the ancient Zuma. You are then tasked to unearth and discover ancient temples and will be doing a lot of exploring within the game. You have to set up and make groups of colored balls to a group of three or more, making them explode and avoiding them to ever reach the skull in the middle. This is known as the Golden Skull, which you must protect throughout the game. Together with pulsing sounds and great graphics, one can be engulfed to the world of Zuma Deluxe.
A little history for Zuma Deluxe game
PopTart created the flash game Zuma Deluxe. It was first idealized to be funny, but in the end, it became such a hit because of its addictive qualities. To be able to draw addiction, the team provides lots of secrets and levels unlocking ancient civilizations. Clearing the balls that are on queue and on their way to the skull may seem so basic at first, but trust me; it can be frustrating at times.
Zuma Deluxe has since improved since it was first created. It is now available on many platforms. This flash game is being liked, shared and talked about by many generations of young and old gamers and enthusiasts. I doubt that not anybody around today may still have heard about Zuma Deluxe or its variants. If you are one of them, I suggest you take time to try and do research and know where to play the game as this is gaming history in the making.
Rachelle Savvas is an entrepreneur but a very dedicated gamer at heart. During long train rides, she immerses herself with simple flash games to kill time. During coffee breaks with no one to talk to, she also does her thing with simple flash games, may it be in her laptop or her mobile phone. She writes and blogs about games all the time.
Friday, March 22, 2013
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This week's selection of hardcover picture books all have watercolor or gouache illustrations. Gouache, for those who don't know, is a kind of paint similar to watercolor. It comes in little tubes and when you mix the paint with water to a pudding consistency, it can be applied to paper in areas that dry matte and flat. If you mix additional water in, the gouache will look exactly the same as watercolor. Gouache is often used for concept art for animations. Mary Blair, who did development artwork for Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, used gouache in her paintings for the Disney movies. Some of these paintings have been collected into books: Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland by Scieszka and Walt Disney's Peter Pan by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson. Now that we've had a media lesson, on to some picture books.
Beaver is Lost by Elisha Cooper
This story is told entirely in watercolor illustrations, a bit like David Wiesner's Tuesday, though Cooper's illustrations are much looser and more fluid than the intricacies of Wiesner's.
A little beaver floats away from his family on a log. He ends up at the dock of a lumber company where he is chased by a dog, he goes through a swimming pool, around a zoo, through a pond, through the streets, and finally swims home after his adventure. The looseness of the paintings give the book an almost dream-like quality. A few of my coworkers looked through the book, commenting on beaver's adventure as they went; I am sure children will do the same, reading the illustrations as they go. Those familiar with the skyline of Chicago will be able to pick out the specific location of each scene.
Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia by Jeanette Winter
This picture book is based on a true story and features vibrant gouache illustrations.
Luis' house is so full of books there is barely room for him! So he loads the books on two burros and sets out to bring the books to people in other villages. On the way he meets a bandit. Having no silver, Luis gives the bandit a book and continues on. In the village he reads a book and passes around books to all the children before continuing home. This simple book celebrates the act of sharing books and reading. Winter's illustrations are bright and colorful and the texture of the watercolor paper she used comes through to make them almost appear as fabric collages. This book is great for even the youngest book lover.
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle illustrated by Jill McElmurry
This story is told entirely in rhyme with watercolor and gouache illustrations. A little blue truck drives down the road, beeping at the different animals it passes. When a yellow dump truck barrels by and gets stuck in the mud, everyone goes to help out, from the blue truck to a frog. Children will help out by chiming in on the sound effects, a job made easier as each onomatopoeic word is written in large type and color-coded. Additionally, this book delivers a message of helping people, even if they might not do the same for you at first (do unto others).
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Watercolor & Gouache
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