I went to see CSS on Tuesday night at a new club venue at the Hard Rock called Wasted Space with Kate and Cam. Unfortunately we started out the night kind of annoyed and cranky. Per the tickets, the show started at 10pm. For us 8-5 workers, 10pm on a Tuesday night is kind of late. Then when 10pm turns out to be the time when the doors open, not the start time, suddenly you see your life flash before your tired eyes. It's going to be a looooong night. What annoyed me about this place is that because it's a "club," even though we had tickets we still had to wait in a line behind a velvet rope like loser jackasses while the bouncers spent all their energy making sure all the people on the "list" got in first. I call bullshit! I have a ticket that I paid for right here in my hand! Let me in so I can get to the bar already dammit! We didn't get in the venue until after 10:30 and then the opening band didn't start until 11:00. Waaah, I'm getting sleepy!
The opening band was Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. Yes, that is their name. It consisted of 4 boys and a girl not one of which appeared to be older than fifteen years of age. I can't even describe their sound – it was kind of bouncy, rock n rolly, rappy, chorusy, keyboardy stuff with lyrics I couldn't really hear because the sound technicians in that place did a bad job. Those kids had some mega energy though which did help to wake me up a bit. They finished their set at 11:30 and then came the excruciating wait during the stage setup change. It was about this time that the mob of skinny gay boys that had been hanging next to us started to get on our nerves. Don't get me wrong, I love a skinny gay boy as much as the next person, but when you get a mob of them together, they can get unruly. These ones were dancing non stop like there was no tomorrow AND as if they were in their own bedrooms with plenty of space for asses and elbows to fly in every direction. While in this chaotic state they failed to appreciate that they were actually in a tiny music venue with crowds of people around them that did not appreciate getting assed and elbowed over and over again. Once CSS finally started around 12:15 they only got worse. By the band's second song I felt slightly violated by the ass rubbings and was bruised by the flying elbows. I started to get vocal and physical, pushing the elbows away and shouting, "Dude! Elbows!" and then the skinny mob would sheepishly smile at me, mouth an apology and continue dancing in the exact same fashion only a few inches further away. Ugh.
CSS were lovely though. They would have been even better if the sound guys had turned up Lovefoxx's mic just a tad bit. Lovefoxx was wearing a bodysuit of a crazy brown and white Aztec-y design, a feathered headdress and a short, blunt, Siouxsie-like black wig. She's awesome and so super cute and all ass and elbows just like the skinny mob of gays only she had an entire stage on which to throw them about. The band played an equal mix of songs from their first album and the new one which made me happy because I prefer the older songs. They ended just after 1 am with the song I had been waiting all night to hear, "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above" and so I was able to sufficiently rock out, ending my night on a high note.
The song ended and we sprinted out of that club faster than you could say Alala and drove our tired asses home.
CSS and a mob - not THE mob just A mob
I went to see CSS on Tuesday night at a new club venue at the Hard Rock called Wasted Space with Kate and Cam. Unfortunately we started out the night kind of annoyed and cranky. Per the tickets, the show started at 10pm. For us 8-5 workers, 10pm on a Tuesday night is kind of late. Then when 10pm turns out to be the time when the doors open, not the start time, suddenly you see your life flash before your tired eyes. It's going to be a looooong night. What annoyed me about this place is that because it's a "club," even though we had tickets we still had to wait in a line behind a velvet rope like loser jackasses while the bouncers spent all their energy making sure all the people on the "list" got in first. I call bullshit! I have a ticket that I paid for right here in my hand! Let me in so I can get to the bar already dammit! We didn't get in the venue until after 10:30 and then the opening band didn't start until 11:00. Waaah, I'm getting sleepy!
The opening band was Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. Yes, that is their name. It consisted of 4 boys and a girl not one of which appeared to be older than fifteen years of age. I can't even describe their sound – it was kind of bouncy, rock n rolly, rappy, chorusy, keyboardy stuff with lyrics I couldn't really hear because the sound technicians in that place did a bad job. Those kids had some mega energy though which did help to wake me up a bit. They finished their set at 11:30 and then came the excruciating wait during the stage setup change. It was about this time that the mob of skinny gay boys that had been hanging next to us started to get on our nerves. Don't get me wrong, I love a skinny gay boy as much as the next person, but when you get a mob of them together, they can get unruly. These ones were dancing non stop like there was no tomorrow AND as if they were in their own bedrooms with plenty of space for asses and elbows to fly in every direction. While in this chaotic state they failed to appreciate that they were actually in a tiny music venue with crowds of people around them that did not appreciate getting assed and elbowed over and over again. Once CSS finally started around 12:15 they only got worse. By the band's second song I felt slightly violated by the ass rubbings and was bruised by the flying elbows. I started to get vocal and physical, pushing the elbows away and shouting, "Dude! Elbows!" and then the skinny mob would sheepishly smile at me, mouth an apology and continue dancing in the exact same fashion only a few inches further away. Ugh.
CSS were lovely though. They would have been even better if the sound guys had turned up Lovefoxx's mic just a tad bit. Lovefoxx was wearing a bodysuit of a crazy brown and white Aztec-y design, a feathered headdress and a short, blunt, Siouxsie-like black wig. She's awesome and so super cute and all ass and elbows just like the skinny mob of gays only she had an entire stage on which to throw them about. The band played an equal mix of songs from their first album and the new one which made me happy because I prefer the older songs. They ended just after 1 am with the song I had been waiting all night to hear, "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above" and so I was able to sufficiently rock out, ending my night on a high note.
The song ended and we sprinted out of that club faster than you could say Alala and drove our tired asses home.
The opening band was Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. Yes, that is their name. It consisted of 4 boys and a girl not one of which appeared to be older than fifteen years of age. I can't even describe their sound – it was kind of bouncy, rock n rolly, rappy, chorusy, keyboardy stuff with lyrics I couldn't really hear because the sound technicians in that place did a bad job. Those kids had some mega energy though which did help to wake me up a bit. They finished their set at 11:30 and then came the excruciating wait during the stage setup change. It was about this time that the mob of skinny gay boys that had been hanging next to us started to get on our nerves. Don't get me wrong, I love a skinny gay boy as much as the next person, but when you get a mob of them together, they can get unruly. These ones were dancing non stop like there was no tomorrow AND as if they were in their own bedrooms with plenty of space for asses and elbows to fly in every direction. While in this chaotic state they failed to appreciate that they were actually in a tiny music venue with crowds of people around them that did not appreciate getting assed and elbowed over and over again. Once CSS finally started around 12:15 they only got worse. By the band's second song I felt slightly violated by the ass rubbings and was bruised by the flying elbows. I started to get vocal and physical, pushing the elbows away and shouting, "Dude! Elbows!" and then the skinny mob would sheepishly smile at me, mouth an apology and continue dancing in the exact same fashion only a few inches further away. Ugh.
CSS were lovely though. They would have been even better if the sound guys had turned up Lovefoxx's mic just a tad bit. Lovefoxx was wearing a bodysuit of a crazy brown and white Aztec-y design, a feathered headdress and a short, blunt, Siouxsie-like black wig. She's awesome and so super cute and all ass and elbows just like the skinny mob of gays only she had an entire stage on which to throw them about. The band played an equal mix of songs from their first album and the new one which made me happy because I prefer the older songs. They ended just after 1 am with the song I had been waiting all night to hear, "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above" and so I was able to sufficiently rock out, ending my night on a high note.
The song ended and we sprinted out of that club faster than you could say Alala and drove our tired asses home.
Neil Gaiman at the Vegas Valley Book Festival
Neil Gaiman was slated as the opening keynote speaker for the Vegas Valley Book Festival this year and this Las Vegan jumped for freaking joy over it! I’ve been reading Neil since discovering his Sandman comics when I was 15 and I have always loved the entire fantasy world he has created with his work for adults and children. I’ve also been reading his online blog for years which is a tricky thing because reading about his travels and life and work and thoughts and processes on a daily basis makes me feel as if I know him, like we are friends, and well. . .I don’t know him and we’re not friends. Could he live up to the expectations I have in my head? Will he be as cool as I think he is or will he be a prick? I’m so very pleased to report that he is the former.
I took the entire day off work on Thursday and at 1pm at the newly renovated, historic Fifth Street School downtown Neil was doing a book signing. It was added last minute so there was hardly any advertising. In fact I only learned about it because he posted a notice about it on his blog two days before. So thanks to the little to no adverts, there was hardly anyone there! Awesome for the 50 or so of us that did make it and awesome for Neil because he was able to spend real time with each person and chat and doodle in their books and all in all be a spectacular guy. You were only allowed to bring one book from home for him to sign and the rest you had to purchase on site from the stupid Barnes & Noble table. These were not his rules, but the venue’s rules and I get it, they need to make money in order to continue putting on this great festival, so ok. Luckily I hadn’t yet purchased Neil’s new YA novel, The Graveyard Book, so I knew I would just buy it there. But what from my own Gaiman collection would I bring? I was torn between my first edition copy of American Gods, my advanced reader’s copy of Stardust, and Absolute Sandman Vol. 1. I eventually decided on the American Gods because the Stardust is paperback and kind of beat up and the Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 is HUGE and weighs about 30 lbs and I didn’t want to lug it around.
I ended up buying more than The Graveyard Book at the signing because when I saw that they had copies of all his work I realized this would be a wonderful Christmas present buying opportunity. So I bought two copies of The Graveyard Book, one for me and one for my 13-year-old niece, Kylie, and then I bought two of his picture books for children: The Dangerous Alphabet and The Wolves in the Walls for my nearly 3-year-old niece, Hailey. Perfect!
I was about the tenth person in line and when I approached Neil at his table and lay my five books down for him he greeted me with a lovely, “Hello, how are you?” and I stifled a giddy, girlish giggle and said "fine" and mentioned that I noticed he had blogged at 1am and I hoped he had gotten some sleep. He responded with a rather long story about flying and time changes and knowing people in Vegas that he has to greet upon arrival and some other things, but I was so dumbfounded that I was having a little chat with Neil Gaiman that it didn’t entirely register. It was also quite charming, but very disconcerting, that the entire time he was talking he was looking me directly in the eye!! He was very deliberately making a connection with me, his goofy, giddy fan, and I must say that I admire him so much for it! Then he went back to signing my books, but not only was he signing his name, he was doodling pictures in them! It was pretty amazing. Next he told me that great chunks of American Gods was written in a hotel room in Las Vegas and then started going on about how hotel rooms then could still be found fairly cheaply and he rarely writes at home, he likes to travel to random places and write and again, I am dumbstruck as Neil freaking Gaiman talks and talks to me! He then finished his doodling in my books, posed for a picture with me, cheerfully said “See you tonight at the talk!” and it was over. Uh-may-zing. Here’s what he said about the signing on his blog, “Just did a lovely signing - only about fifty people altogether, which meant that I got to talk to everyone and draw in their books, admire their tattoos and so forth. Really pleasant.”
There were many more people at the keynote address that night. The theater at the main branch of the Clark County Library only seats 399 people so they were handing out wristbands at 6pm for the 7pm talk. I got there about 4:45pm and was about the 40th person in line. My friend Cameron met me and we got seats right up close Neil came out and was funny and personable and eloquent and charming. He spoke about imagination and writing and how he stole all his great book ideas from his children. He read from chapter seven of The Graveyard Book, he read his poem The Day the Saucers Came and then he surprised us by reading two yet to be published children’s books, Crazy Hair, which was riotously hilarious, and Blueberry Girl which was written for Tori Amos’ (then) unborn daughter at Tori’s request and is touching and sweet. He spoke for over two hours but I can’t possibly relate all that he said because my memory is not that good and his humor wouldn’t come out right in my telling of it. I will try to retell one story because it was Vegas related and terribly funny. Here goes. When he was locked in that Vegas hotel room writing American Gods (which he had already mentioned to me earlier in the day, squeee ) he needed to quote something from Song of Solomon, and to his delight realized that he was in a hotel room and they may have a bible in the bedside drawer as hotel rooms are wont to do. He went to the bedside table and lo and behold there is a bible To his utter horror however he finds that the bible is defective. It’s pages are stuck together and it won’t open. So he does what any hotel patron does when something in their room is defective: he calls housekeeping to ask them to bring him a new one. When he opens the door minutes later to the housekeeping’s knock, he discovers four people standing staring at him, one housekeeper, and three others come to bear witness to the only man in human history to ask hotel staff for a replacement bible in their hotel room What kind of Holy man could this be? The housekeeper handed the bible to him gently, as anyone would hand a bible to a Holy man, and Neil graciously took it as Holyily as he could so as not to disappoint them. He sat down ready with his newly, not defective bible to look up the passage he needed for his novel only to discover, DRAT, that it was a newer version and he needed the King James’ version which the defective bible had been. But he didn’t have the heart to call again to housekeeping.
So that’s the story. I know it doesn’t read as funnily as it was told to the room by Gaiman himself, but I did my best.
And because I am an awful braggart and am still so happy from my Day of Gaiman, I’m including pictures from the day and of his wonderful doodle-icious signatures in my books:
Me and Neil:
Neil signing my books with his own special pen:
My copy of The Graveyard Book:
Kylie's copy for her birthday (which is today) that Neil inscribed for her especially:
The Dangerous Alphabet for Hailey:
The Wolves in the Walls with a special message for Hailey:
And my first edition American Gods:
Now here are some pictures from his talk, no flashes allowed in the theater, but I still got some good ones!
This one (a smile!) is my favorite:
I took the entire day off work on Thursday and at 1pm at the newly renovated, historic Fifth Street School downtown Neil was doing a book signing. It was added last minute so there was hardly any advertising. In fact I only learned about it because he posted a notice about it on his blog two days before. So thanks to the little to no adverts, there was hardly anyone there! Awesome for the 50 or so of us that did make it and awesome for Neil because he was able to spend real time with each person and chat and doodle in their books and all in all be a spectacular guy. You were only allowed to bring one book from home for him to sign and the rest you had to purchase on site from the stupid Barnes & Noble table. These were not his rules, but the venue’s rules and I get it, they need to make money in order to continue putting on this great festival, so ok. Luckily I hadn’t yet purchased Neil’s new YA novel, The Graveyard Book, so I knew I would just buy it there. But what from my own Gaiman collection would I bring? I was torn between my first edition copy of American Gods, my advanced reader’s copy of Stardust, and Absolute Sandman Vol. 1. I eventually decided on the American Gods because the Stardust is paperback and kind of beat up and the Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 is HUGE and weighs about 30 lbs and I didn’t want to lug it around.
I ended up buying more than The Graveyard Book at the signing because when I saw that they had copies of all his work I realized this would be a wonderful Christmas present buying opportunity. So I bought two copies of The Graveyard Book, one for me and one for my 13-year-old niece, Kylie, and then I bought two of his picture books for children: The Dangerous Alphabet and The Wolves in the Walls for my nearly 3-year-old niece, Hailey. Perfect!
I was about the tenth person in line and when I approached Neil at his table and lay my five books down for him he greeted me with a lovely, “Hello, how are you?” and I stifled a giddy, girlish giggle and said "fine" and mentioned that I noticed he had blogged at 1am and I hoped he had gotten some sleep. He responded with a rather long story about flying and time changes and knowing people in Vegas that he has to greet upon arrival and some other things, but I was so dumbfounded that I was having a little chat with Neil Gaiman that it didn’t entirely register. It was also quite charming, but very disconcerting, that the entire time he was talking he was looking me directly in the eye!! He was very deliberately making a connection with me, his goofy, giddy fan, and I must say that I admire him so much for it! Then he went back to signing my books, but not only was he signing his name, he was doodling pictures in them! It was pretty amazing. Next he told me that great chunks of American Gods was written in a hotel room in Las Vegas and then started going on about how hotel rooms then could still be found fairly cheaply and he rarely writes at home, he likes to travel to random places and write and again, I am dumbstruck as Neil freaking Gaiman talks and talks to me! He then finished his doodling in my books, posed for a picture with me, cheerfully said “See you tonight at the talk!” and it was over. Uh-may-zing. Here’s what he said about the signing on his blog, “Just did a lovely signing - only about fifty people altogether, which meant that I got to talk to everyone and draw in their books, admire their tattoos and so forth. Really pleasant.”
There were many more people at the keynote address that night. The theater at the main branch of the Clark County Library only seats 399 people so they were handing out wristbands at 6pm for the 7pm talk. I got there about 4:45pm and was about the 40th person in line. My friend Cameron met me and we got seats right up close Neil came out and was funny and personable and eloquent and charming. He spoke about imagination and writing and how he stole all his great book ideas from his children. He read from chapter seven of The Graveyard Book, he read his poem The Day the Saucers Came and then he surprised us by reading two yet to be published children’s books, Crazy Hair, which was riotously hilarious, and Blueberry Girl which was written for Tori Amos’ (then) unborn daughter at Tori’s request and is touching and sweet. He spoke for over two hours but I can’t possibly relate all that he said because my memory is not that good and his humor wouldn’t come out right in my telling of it. I will try to retell one story because it was Vegas related and terribly funny. Here goes. When he was locked in that Vegas hotel room writing American Gods (which he had already mentioned to me earlier in the day, squeee ) he needed to quote something from Song of Solomon, and to his delight realized that he was in a hotel room and they may have a bible in the bedside drawer as hotel rooms are wont to do. He went to the bedside table and lo and behold there is a bible To his utter horror however he finds that the bible is defective. It’s pages are stuck together and it won’t open. So he does what any hotel patron does when something in their room is defective: he calls housekeeping to ask them to bring him a new one. When he opens the door minutes later to the housekeeping’s knock, he discovers four people standing staring at him, one housekeeper, and three others come to bear witness to the only man in human history to ask hotel staff for a replacement bible in their hotel room What kind of Holy man could this be? The housekeeper handed the bible to him gently, as anyone would hand a bible to a Holy man, and Neil graciously took it as Holyily as he could so as not to disappoint them. He sat down ready with his newly, not defective bible to look up the passage he needed for his novel only to discover, DRAT, that it was a newer version and he needed the King James’ version which the defective bible had been. But he didn’t have the heart to call again to housekeeping.
So that’s the story. I know it doesn’t read as funnily as it was told to the room by Gaiman himself, but I did my best.
And because I am an awful braggart and am still so happy from my Day of Gaiman, I’m including pictures from the day and of his wonderful doodle-icious signatures in my books:
Me and Neil:
Neil signing my books with his own special pen:
My copy of The Graveyard Book:
Kylie's copy for her birthday (which is today) that Neil inscribed for her especially:
The Dangerous Alphabet for Hailey:
The Wolves in the Walls with a special message for Hailey:
And my first edition American Gods:
Now here are some pictures from his talk, no flashes allowed in the theater, but I still got some good ones!
This one (a smile!) is my favorite:
The Stills, We Are Scientists, Kings of Leon - Woot!
I went to this show last weekend with Kate, Shanda, and Chris. First off, I call bullshit that The Stills played first! No offense to you We Are Scientists fans out there, but I prefer The Stills! They only played for half an hour!!! Booo! I despair that The Stills will ever grow a big enough fanbase to headline a show in Vegas. I've seen them twice now and both times, they opened for Kings of Leon. Oh well, what are you gonna do?
The show was sold out so getting a cocktail was difficult. When We Are Scientists started their set I decided now would be a good time to hit the bar. I was wrong. I waited in line for half an hour. Two thirds of their set! So then when I did make it to the bar, I had to buy two cocktails and be a double fisting lush for a while, because there was no way I was ever getting back in that line again.
Right before Kings of Leon came on I made a quick jaunt to the bathroom and had a really fun, surreal trip back. First outside the bathroom, about to get on the elevator to the VIP section, there was The Stills! I praised them and voiced my disappointment in their short set, telling them to come back soon and headline. Tim Fletcher seemed appreciative despite that fact that this drunk redheaded girl is just yelling in their faces, and he thanked me! So then I dash back inside the venue and am picking my way through the crowd, when I bump into this guy, and we do that dancey thing where he tries to go one way around me but that's the same way I try to go, so then we both try to go the other way - you know. I look up at him and realize that it's Jason Sudeikis of Saturday Night Live! He looks at me too and he sees the recognition break over my face so he pre-emptively smiles and says, "Hi!" with this little wave of his hand. I ridiculously laugh "HA! HA!" in his face and then we both finally move on and away from each other. Pretty cool, huh? But then I got to thinking. . .hey, it's Saturday night, and it's about 10:45pm, shouldn't he BE somewhere??? It's Saturday Night Live isn't it??? Well my questions were answered when I got home later that night and Phillip told me that SNL had been a rerun.
Kings of Leon went on soon after that madness and they were rocking. I've seen them live three times now and they are always really tight, and have lots of energy, which infuses the crowd with energy. Plus it was sold out which always helps. Vegas crowds can be hit or miss. Vampire Weekend's audience sucked. This one was awesome. Lots of group sing alongs and noise and smiles. It's been interesting seeing KOL evolve as a band too. The first time I saw them they were all long haired, skinny jeans and t-shirt wearing Southern boys. Now they are super glammy leather jacket wearing rock stars. Only Nathan still sports the long hair. Mmmmm, Followills. They are all pretty hunky.
After the show we met up with some other people at Griffin. Not much went on there except I inadvertently insulted Chris Cook when we were observing the beginning of a menage: two girls on either side of a dude, getting frisky. I was looking at them and before I could stop myself, I said to Chris, "That guy isn't even that good looking, so there's some hope for you in scoring two chicks!" It was a zinger that could have hit anybody, Chris just happened to be next to me! I apologized, but he didn't care. Chris is my friend, he's cool. He was actually a little bit proud of the funny I made.
The show was sold out so getting a cocktail was difficult. When We Are Scientists started their set I decided now would be a good time to hit the bar. I was wrong. I waited in line for half an hour. Two thirds of their set! So then when I did make it to the bar, I had to buy two cocktails and be a double fisting lush for a while, because there was no way I was ever getting back in that line again.
Right before Kings of Leon came on I made a quick jaunt to the bathroom and had a really fun, surreal trip back. First outside the bathroom, about to get on the elevator to the VIP section, there was The Stills! I praised them and voiced my disappointment in their short set, telling them to come back soon and headline. Tim Fletcher seemed appreciative despite that fact that this drunk redheaded girl is just yelling in their faces, and he thanked me! So then I dash back inside the venue and am picking my way through the crowd, when I bump into this guy, and we do that dancey thing where he tries to go one way around me but that's the same way I try to go, so then we both try to go the other way - you know. I look up at him and realize that it's Jason Sudeikis of Saturday Night Live! He looks at me too and he sees the recognition break over my face so he pre-emptively smiles and says, "Hi!" with this little wave of his hand. I ridiculously laugh "HA! HA!" in his face and then we both finally move on and away from each other. Pretty cool, huh? But then I got to thinking. . .hey, it's Saturday night, and it's about 10:45pm, shouldn't he BE somewhere??? It's Saturday Night Live isn't it??? Well my questions were answered when I got home later that night and Phillip told me that SNL had been a rerun.
Kings of Leon went on soon after that madness and they were rocking. I've seen them live three times now and they are always really tight, and have lots of energy, which infuses the crowd with energy. Plus it was sold out which always helps. Vegas crowds can be hit or miss. Vampire Weekend's audience sucked. This one was awesome. Lots of group sing alongs and noise and smiles. It's been interesting seeing KOL evolve as a band too. The first time I saw them they were all long haired, skinny jeans and t-shirt wearing Southern boys. Now they are super glammy leather jacket wearing rock stars. Only Nathan still sports the long hair. Mmmmm, Followills. They are all pretty hunky.
After the show we met up with some other people at Griffin. Not much went on there except I inadvertently insulted Chris Cook when we were observing the beginning of a menage: two girls on either side of a dude, getting frisky. I was looking at them and before I could stop myself, I said to Chris, "That guy isn't even that good looking, so there's some hope for you in scoring two chicks!" It was a zinger that could have hit anybody, Chris just happened to be next to me! I apologized, but he didn't care. Chris is my friend, he's cool. He was actually a little bit proud of the funny I made.
Vampire Weekend on a Monday Night!
Ahhh Vegas, no rules, don't care what people think, we will have shows on a Monday night! So of course this Mon-Fri 8-5er had to take tomorrow off because I am way too old to stay up past midnight and work the next morning. Especially after lots and lots of bourbon.
So went to see Vampire Weekend at the Joint tonight. First off there was an awful lot of kids at this show. And when I say kids I don't mean kids in their early twenties like I normally mean. I mean kids. Like twelve and thirteen year old kids!!! And yet they didn't give out wristbands for the over 21 year old drinkers and they didn't card me! Hmmm??
So the doors opened at 7pm, opening band (White Williams? Never heard of them. . .) went on at 8pm and VW at 9:15 and yet there were a couple dozen of these kids in line at 6:30! Ha! (meanwhile Phillip, Kate, Allison and I went for dinner at Mr. Lucky's at 7:30!) But oh, don't you remember being that young and your parents dropping you off super early for you to get in line, so you can be the first ones in the door and beeline straight for the space right in front of the stage and stake it out for the next THREE HOURS until the band you came for comes on??? I do. Watching these kids made me smile with nostalgia, but still not wish to be back in their shoes. . .
So Vampire Weekend were pretty cool. Lots of energy, cute in their preppy New England, Ivy League looks, danceable, tight. The lead singer guy (sorry I have no idea what his name is) was very endearing with his asides to the audience, very funny actually, but struck me as maybe the slightest bit of an elitist fuck. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, me neither. . .
Bed now. Maybe. Water first.
One thing I definitely can flaunt over those kids - I could get tanked at the show and they CAN'T!!
So went to see Vampire Weekend at the Joint tonight. First off there was an awful lot of kids at this show. And when I say kids I don't mean kids in their early twenties like I normally mean. I mean kids. Like twelve and thirteen year old kids!!! And yet they didn't give out wristbands for the over 21 year old drinkers and they didn't card me! Hmmm??
So the doors opened at 7pm, opening band (White Williams? Never heard of them. . .) went on at 8pm and VW at 9:15 and yet there were a couple dozen of these kids in line at 6:30! Ha! (meanwhile Phillip, Kate, Allison and I went for dinner at Mr. Lucky's at 7:30!) But oh, don't you remember being that young and your parents dropping you off super early for you to get in line, so you can be the first ones in the door and beeline straight for the space right in front of the stage and stake it out for the next THREE HOURS until the band you came for comes on??? I do. Watching these kids made me smile with nostalgia, but still not wish to be back in their shoes. . .
So Vampire Weekend were pretty cool. Lots of energy, cute in their preppy New England, Ivy League looks, danceable, tight. The lead singer guy (sorry I have no idea what his name is) was very endearing with his asides to the audience, very funny actually, but struck me as maybe the slightest bit of an elitist fuck. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, me neither. . .
Bed now. Maybe. Water first.
One thing I definitely can flaunt over those kids - I could get tanked at the show and they CAN'T!!
My magical trip to Dorkapalooza
The last week of August I took 10 days off work for a well needed vacay. For part of that time I took an amazing trip to Washington that I have been meaning to blog about ever since my return. But first, there is back story.
In late 2005 a friend that shall remain nameless (oh what the hell, it was Cameron!) invited me to join that cyber world that is myspace. I resisted at first but then gave in and was immediately hooked. I enjoyed the novelty of being connected in such a fun, social way to family and friends and then was completely floored by the people I was able to reconnect with from my past.
After that initial blush began to wear off I explored a little further and discovered myspace groups. I joined anything that struck my fancy: Neutral Milk Hotel Fans, Twin Peaks Fans, Classic Hollywood Movies Group, and several groups for lovers of reading and literature. It was in one of these literary groups that was unfortunately littered with rather boring thread titles such as, "Who's your favorite author?" and "List your Top 3 Favorite Books OF ALL TIME!" and "The Da Vinci Code is Awesome!" that Jonathan Evison came into my life. Equally frustrated with the dearth of intelligent, thought provoking literary discussion he formed his own group, The Fiction Files, and sent out a call for those wanting more out of their literary discussing lives to join him in his endeavor. Hooray for Jonathan!
The Fiction Files immediately became my number one stop whenever I logged on to myspace. From Jonathan's diligence and leadership The Fiction Files grew into a friendly community of highly intelligent, verbose (I use the term here positively, not negatively), eager, and knowledgeable readers that write, writers that read, and everything in between. The Fiction Files has thread titles like, "All Writing is a Species of Remembering" and "Crisis and Contemplation in Suburbia" and "It's a bird, it's a plane. . .NO, it's a Christ figure!" It's a literary love-in baby - truly! The friendships that have formed through this group have broken through to the 3D world. Books, letters, music, baked goods are exchanged through snail mail and every opportunity for two or three members to be in the same physical location and hang out together in a bar and talk books is capitalized on.
In August 2007 Jonathan threw out a last minute invite to anyone who could swing it to join him in a two day party at his home on Bainbridge Island, WA. The event was christened Dorkapalooza. A small handful of die hard fiction filers made it to the event which featured a book exchange, literary trivia and lots and lots of alcohol consumption. Unfortunately it was not enough warning for me to secure the days off work or the money for travel. But following the small yet successful event, immediate plans were made for a more elaborate Dorkapalooza 2008.
So I left on Monday morning the 25th of August on a Fiction Files Adventure! Having never been to Seattle, I found my way to the correct ferry terminal and called our fearless leader Jonathan to let him know when I would arrive on Bainbridge. I had never spoken to him in person before. He answered the phone with, "Hey Kerry!" and quickly made plans to pick me up from the ferry. So simple, no awkwardness, no pretense. I'll never forget walking to the parking lot of the ferry terminal, seeing Jonathan standing next to his car, instant recognition on both our faces, and both of us raising our arms across the distance in silent greeting. And then came the bear hug. Awesome. And he was just the beginning! The next three days were spent meeting more Fiction Filers, feeling immediately at ease with them and then chatting, laughing, playing games, listening to music, exploring, avoiding the rain of the Northwest, eating great food, and, of course, drinking. Lots and lots of drinking. The social lubrication wasn't a necessity, it was just a perk. A keg was tapped, gone within 24 hours, and replaced by cases of beer. Dorkapalooza indeed.
I cannot express how beautiful an experience it was to finally meet this enclave of brilliant minds and loving personalities in the flesh. I was honored to be a part of it and am honored to be part of this group. I can only hope that we can do it every year and that every year it grows in numbers and in heart!
In tribute to my adventure I compiled a list that I am calling What I Learned at Dorkapalooza 2008:
- The awkwardness you expect to feel upon meeting many someones that you have only "spoken" with online disappears almost immediately and you fall into a perfect ease.
- In the Pacific Northwest you can drink water right out of the tap and it tastes good!
- Dan can perfectly place a sarcastic zinger into every conversation and I LOVE THAT.
- Wild blackberries picked right off the bush are more delicious than store bought blackberries.
- Martyn gives great big hugs when drunk.
- Even the Cliff's Notes won't get some of us through Absalom! Absalom!
- How to pour beer from a keg into a red plastic cup without all the foam (thanks Dan & Alan!).
- Jonathan Evison never stops moving, can sing along beautifully with Johnny Cash, and if his literary career fails he could make one hell of a living at Bingo Calling. But only if his employers let him drink on the job.
- The interior of the Dorkapalooza RV is just as 70s-tastic as the exterior.
- Lara likes it neat and is forever "washing up" and also has this adorable way of saying "Yeah?" after almost everything.
- A keg of beer will not last as long as you think it will last.
- Danny's uncle Johnny loves him to bits for good reason. He's an amazing young man.
- Ben cannot be talked into anything despite JE's claims to the contrary.
- Alan looks like a strange version of Pippi Longstocking while running after a soccer ball wearing the warmest hat ever made.
- Sparky, Dave, and Snapper are the best dogs in the world.
- Patty is an angel and giggles like a little girl.
- If you buy $60 worth of books from William James Bookseller in Port Townsend, WA but only have a small carry on bag for traveling, you will have to go to the post office and mail them home to yourself.
- If things go bump in the night, it's probably just Alan trying to "create an experience" for you.
- Neil knows EVERYTHING and is wonderfully generous.
- Evan is a dish washing machine and also an excellent leaper.
- Hugh is a wine connoisseur and has nice legs.
- Patrick is absolutely lovable and I want to squeeze him.
- Two Laurens are better than one.
- In my old age, I cannot drink myself senseless three nights in a row. I can try but I will fail.
- Justin can make a video camera feel nonintrusive and has awesome soccer moves.
- At the end of the night, water is your best friend.
- Every member of the Fiction Files truly is as wonderful as you knew them to be.
- Shel can drink herself into a stupor, sleep for only three hours and wake up delightful and able to drive herself through a strange land to the airport in the dark.
- Random acts of fellatio can be found on the streets of downtown Port Townsend (this should be added to their tourist information).
- Mo makes a mean lasagna that carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores enjoy and laughs louder than anyone I've ever met.
- Danielle can quote Mystery Science Theater 3000 and once sat on John Waters' lap.
- Giraffe night shirts really are One Size Fits Most.
- Lauren Evison can go running for two hours in the rain and still look fabulous.
- Evan has a fear of stinging insects and isn't afraid to say it.
- Elliot Bay Book Company in downtown Seattle has the most amazing bargain books section EVER.
- It really is a love in, baby!
In late 2005 a friend that shall remain nameless (oh what the hell, it was Cameron!) invited me to join that cyber world that is myspace. I resisted at first but then gave in and was immediately hooked. I enjoyed the novelty of being connected in such a fun, social way to family and friends and then was completely floored by the people I was able to reconnect with from my past.
After that initial blush began to wear off I explored a little further and discovered myspace groups. I joined anything that struck my fancy: Neutral Milk Hotel Fans, Twin Peaks Fans, Classic Hollywood Movies Group, and several groups for lovers of reading and literature. It was in one of these literary groups that was unfortunately littered with rather boring thread titles such as, "Who's your favorite author?" and "List your Top 3 Favorite Books OF ALL TIME!" and "The Da Vinci Code is Awesome!" that Jonathan Evison came into my life. Equally frustrated with the dearth of intelligent, thought provoking literary discussion he formed his own group, The Fiction Files, and sent out a call for those wanting more out of their literary discussing lives to join him in his endeavor. Hooray for Jonathan!
The Fiction Files immediately became my number one stop whenever I logged on to myspace. From Jonathan's diligence and leadership The Fiction Files grew into a friendly community of highly intelligent, verbose (I use the term here positively, not negatively), eager, and knowledgeable readers that write, writers that read, and everything in between. The Fiction Files has thread titles like, "All Writing is a Species of Remembering" and "Crisis and Contemplation in Suburbia" and "It's a bird, it's a plane. . .NO, it's a Christ figure!" It's a literary love-in baby - truly! The friendships that have formed through this group have broken through to the 3D world. Books, letters, music, baked goods are exchanged through snail mail and every opportunity for two or three members to be in the same physical location and hang out together in a bar and talk books is capitalized on.
In August 2007 Jonathan threw out a last minute invite to anyone who could swing it to join him in a two day party at his home on Bainbridge Island, WA. The event was christened Dorkapalooza. A small handful of die hard fiction filers made it to the event which featured a book exchange, literary trivia and lots and lots of alcohol consumption. Unfortunately it was not enough warning for me to secure the days off work or the money for travel. But following the small yet successful event, immediate plans were made for a more elaborate Dorkapalooza 2008.
So I left on Monday morning the 25th of August on a Fiction Files Adventure! Having never been to Seattle, I found my way to the correct ferry terminal and called our fearless leader Jonathan to let him know when I would arrive on Bainbridge. I had never spoken to him in person before. He answered the phone with, "Hey Kerry!" and quickly made plans to pick me up from the ferry. So simple, no awkwardness, no pretense. I'll never forget walking to the parking lot of the ferry terminal, seeing Jonathan standing next to his car, instant recognition on both our faces, and both of us raising our arms across the distance in silent greeting. And then came the bear hug. Awesome. And he was just the beginning! The next three days were spent meeting more Fiction Filers, feeling immediately at ease with them and then chatting, laughing, playing games, listening to music, exploring, avoiding the rain of the Northwest, eating great food, and, of course, drinking. Lots and lots of drinking. The social lubrication wasn't a necessity, it was just a perk. A keg was tapped, gone within 24 hours, and replaced by cases of beer. Dorkapalooza indeed.
I cannot express how beautiful an experience it was to finally meet this enclave of brilliant minds and loving personalities in the flesh. I was honored to be a part of it and am honored to be part of this group. I can only hope that we can do it every year and that every year it grows in numbers and in heart!
In tribute to my adventure I compiled a list that I am calling What I Learned at Dorkapalooza 2008:
- The awkwardness you expect to feel upon meeting many someones that you have only "spoken" with online disappears almost immediately and you fall into a perfect ease.
- In the Pacific Northwest you can drink water right out of the tap and it tastes good!
- Dan can perfectly place a sarcastic zinger into every conversation and I LOVE THAT.
- Wild blackberries picked right off the bush are more delicious than store bought blackberries.
- Martyn gives great big hugs when drunk.
- Even the Cliff's Notes won't get some of us through Absalom! Absalom!
- How to pour beer from a keg into a red plastic cup without all the foam (thanks Dan & Alan!).
- Jonathan Evison never stops moving, can sing along beautifully with Johnny Cash, and if his literary career fails he could make one hell of a living at Bingo Calling. But only if his employers let him drink on the job.
- The interior of the Dorkapalooza RV is just as 70s-tastic as the exterior.
- Lara likes it neat and is forever "washing up" and also has this adorable way of saying "Yeah?" after almost everything.
- A keg of beer will not last as long as you think it will last.
- Danny's uncle Johnny loves him to bits for good reason. He's an amazing young man.
- Ben cannot be talked into anything despite JE's claims to the contrary.
- Alan looks like a strange version of Pippi Longstocking while running after a soccer ball wearing the warmest hat ever made.
- Sparky, Dave, and Snapper are the best dogs in the world.
- Patty is an angel and giggles like a little girl.
- If you buy $60 worth of books from William James Bookseller in Port Townsend, WA but only have a small carry on bag for traveling, you will have to go to the post office and mail them home to yourself.
- If things go bump in the night, it's probably just Alan trying to "create an experience" for you.
- Neil knows EVERYTHING and is wonderfully generous.
- Evan is a dish washing machine and also an excellent leaper.
- Hugh is a wine connoisseur and has nice legs.
- Patrick is absolutely lovable and I want to squeeze him.
- Two Laurens are better than one.
- In my old age, I cannot drink myself senseless three nights in a row. I can try but I will fail.
- Justin can make a video camera feel nonintrusive and has awesome soccer moves.
- At the end of the night, water is your best friend.
- Every member of the Fiction Files truly is as wonderful as you knew them to be.
- Shel can drink herself into a stupor, sleep for only three hours and wake up delightful and able to drive herself through a strange land to the airport in the dark.
- Random acts of fellatio can be found on the streets of downtown Port Townsend (this should be added to their tourist information).
- Mo makes a mean lasagna that carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores enjoy and laughs louder than anyone I've ever met.
- Danielle can quote Mystery Science Theater 3000 and once sat on John Waters' lap.
- Giraffe night shirts really are One Size Fits Most.
- Lauren Evison can go running for two hours in the rain and still look fabulous.
- Evan has a fear of stinging insects and isn't afraid to say it.
- Elliot Bay Book Company in downtown Seattle has the most amazing bargain books section EVER.
- It really is a love in, baby!
A handful of reviews: books, movies, music
Recent Books that I have read:
All About Lulu by Jonathan Evison
Here is the review I posted on Amazon.com, "Everyone can relate to this wonderfully quirky debut novel from Jonathan Evison. The story speaks with honesty, wistfulness, humor, and sadness to anyone who ever felt like an outcast even within their own family, anyone who remembers the thrill of finding that one person who "gets" them, anyone who felt the flush of first love and the crushing blow of that love disappearing, and to anyone who spent years of anguish resisting change only to finally realize that change is the only constant in life. Mr. Evison found a unique and satisfying voice with which to tell a story filled with compelling characters that you genuinely miss once the story ends. The most surprising thing of all (to this reader anyway) was how All About Lulu turned out to be a bit of a mystery with perfect little clues sprinkled along the way leading to one hell of a wham bang, emotional finale. I highly recommend it." And I’m not saying all that just because Jonathan is my friend. Oh and you all should by his book CLICK HERE so he can pay his bills.
Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause by Lawrence Frascella and Al Weisel.
This is an incredible behind the scenes book about the making of the Nicholas Ray directed, James Dean/Natalie Wood starring film. The authors had unprecedented access to Warner Brothers studio archives and interviewed nearly all surviving members of the cast and crew. They put together a truly illuminating, chronological timeline of the film that is part gossipy tabloid journalism, part social commentary on the 50s and part pure Hollywood history. I learned what scenes were improvised and which were scripted. I learned about the love triangle between Nick Ray, Natalie Wood, and Dennis Hopper. I learned about the great lengths Ray went for authenticity, even hiring Frank Mazzola, the leader of L.A. teen gang The Athenians as a cast member. The whole thing was a page turner from start to finish.
Recent films that I have seen:
Iron Man
I freaking loved it! Fun, funny, touching, believable, and Robert Downey Jr. has never been so sexy!
Sex & The City: The Movie
The first time I saw it I loved it, but I think I was just experiencing the afterglow of bonding with my best friend and seeing Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte again! I had really truly missed them! The second time I saw it I realized that it has some major flaws. For one, what has Michael Patrick King reduced the men to??? Seriously, Harry had like five lines and most of them were addressed to his daughter in a sing-song voice! Steve was portrayed as a miserable dog and Smith was relegated to the too busy, super cool TV star which causes Samantha to suffer. Big at least got some actual screen time which just went to show that it was Carrie's movie entirely. Too bad she was as insufferably self absorbed as ever. When she accuses Miranda of "ruining her marriage" I just about lost it!
The Other Boleyn Girl
Oh my, oh my (that is my eyes rolling.) I knew this was going to be soap operatic, but with the cast that it had I didn’t think it could possibly be that bad. I was wrong. It was awful. The dialogue was awful, Natalie Portman was awful, and the pacing was awful. I am surprised I made it through the entire film. Now, I am normally a big Natalie Portman fan but I don’t know what she was trying to go for here. Her portrayal of Anne was so campy it was making me laugh out loud! When the tides turn on her at the end of the film, Natalie's portrayal did nothing to garner any sympathy from me. I was even irritated when her sister Mary tried to help her out. What a disappointment. . .
The Brave One
Um, yeah, that's a big no. I really hated this movie. I'm not even going to go into reasons why.
Semi-Pro
I love me some Will Ferrell and Andre Benjamin is a hottie. This was funny but not up to par with my all time favorite Will movie, Anchorman. The best thing about it was Will Arnett and whoever that other guy was as the sports commentators.
Recent music that I have purchased:
Vampire Weekend, Self Titled
I’m totally in love with this band. I know that they are kind of the flavor of the month, but I'm hooked on their fun, bouncy sound and ivy-league lyrics. Some of it is very derivative of Paul Simon's world beat sound, but it’s catchy and even refreshing in its own way!
Bach: Goldberg Variations by Simone Dinnerstein
I bought this after hearing an interview with this pianist on NPR. She was very interesting and her take on the Goldberg Variations is very pretty and even lilting at times which are not two words that are usually associated with the Goldberg Variations. I know Glenn Gould's versions are known as the ultimate recordings but I kind of like these better. So sue me.
Keely Smith: The Essential Capitol Collection
Why doesn’t Keely's name come up more often when people speak about the greatest big band vocalists of all time? She is tremendous! Her voice is so commanding yet playful, confident yet sometimes filled with an aching vulnerability. I do love her duets with then husband and bandleader Louis Prima, but it is Keely on her own that really hits me hard. And at 76 she's still singing in clubs in LA! She is totally underrated. I’m telling everyone I know (this means you) to listen to her!
All About Lulu by Jonathan Evison
Here is the review I posted on Amazon.com, "Everyone can relate to this wonderfully quirky debut novel from Jonathan Evison. The story speaks with honesty, wistfulness, humor, and sadness to anyone who ever felt like an outcast even within their own family, anyone who remembers the thrill of finding that one person who "gets" them, anyone who felt the flush of first love and the crushing blow of that love disappearing, and to anyone who spent years of anguish resisting change only to finally realize that change is the only constant in life. Mr. Evison found a unique and satisfying voice with which to tell a story filled with compelling characters that you genuinely miss once the story ends. The most surprising thing of all (to this reader anyway) was how All About Lulu turned out to be a bit of a mystery with perfect little clues sprinkled along the way leading to one hell of a wham bang, emotional finale. I highly recommend it." And I’m not saying all that just because Jonathan is my friend. Oh and you all should by his book CLICK HERE so he can pay his bills.
Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause by Lawrence Frascella and Al Weisel.
This is an incredible behind the scenes book about the making of the Nicholas Ray directed, James Dean/Natalie Wood starring film. The authors had unprecedented access to Warner Brothers studio archives and interviewed nearly all surviving members of the cast and crew. They put together a truly illuminating, chronological timeline of the film that is part gossipy tabloid journalism, part social commentary on the 50s and part pure Hollywood history. I learned what scenes were improvised and which were scripted. I learned about the love triangle between Nick Ray, Natalie Wood, and Dennis Hopper. I learned about the great lengths Ray went for authenticity, even hiring Frank Mazzola, the leader of L.A. teen gang The Athenians as a cast member. The whole thing was a page turner from start to finish.
Recent films that I have seen:
Iron Man
I freaking loved it! Fun, funny, touching, believable, and Robert Downey Jr. has never been so sexy!
Sex & The City: The Movie
The first time I saw it I loved it, but I think I was just experiencing the afterglow of bonding with my best friend and seeing Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte again! I had really truly missed them! The second time I saw it I realized that it has some major flaws. For one, what has Michael Patrick King reduced the men to??? Seriously, Harry had like five lines and most of them were addressed to his daughter in a sing-song voice! Steve was portrayed as a miserable dog and Smith was relegated to the too busy, super cool TV star which causes Samantha to suffer. Big at least got some actual screen time which just went to show that it was Carrie's movie entirely. Too bad she was as insufferably self absorbed as ever. When she accuses Miranda of "ruining her marriage" I just about lost it!
The Other Boleyn Girl
Oh my, oh my (that is my eyes rolling.) I knew this was going to be soap operatic, but with the cast that it had I didn’t think it could possibly be that bad. I was wrong. It was awful. The dialogue was awful, Natalie Portman was awful, and the pacing was awful. I am surprised I made it through the entire film. Now, I am normally a big Natalie Portman fan but I don’t know what she was trying to go for here. Her portrayal of Anne was so campy it was making me laugh out loud! When the tides turn on her at the end of the film, Natalie's portrayal did nothing to garner any sympathy from me. I was even irritated when her sister Mary tried to help her out. What a disappointment. . .
The Brave One
Um, yeah, that's a big no. I really hated this movie. I'm not even going to go into reasons why.
Semi-Pro
I love me some Will Ferrell and Andre Benjamin is a hottie. This was funny but not up to par with my all time favorite Will movie, Anchorman. The best thing about it was Will Arnett and whoever that other guy was as the sports commentators.
Recent music that I have purchased:
Vampire Weekend, Self Titled
I’m totally in love with this band. I know that they are kind of the flavor of the month, but I'm hooked on their fun, bouncy sound and ivy-league lyrics. Some of it is very derivative of Paul Simon's world beat sound, but it’s catchy and even refreshing in its own way!
Bach: Goldberg Variations by Simone Dinnerstein
I bought this after hearing an interview with this pianist on NPR. She was very interesting and her take on the Goldberg Variations is very pretty and even lilting at times which are not two words that are usually associated with the Goldberg Variations. I know Glenn Gould's versions are known as the ultimate recordings but I kind of like these better. So sue me.
Keely Smith: The Essential Capitol Collection
Why doesn’t Keely's name come up more often when people speak about the greatest big band vocalists of all time? She is tremendous! Her voice is so commanding yet playful, confident yet sometimes filled with an aching vulnerability. I do love her duets with then husband and bandleader Louis Prima, but it is Keely on her own that really hits me hard. And at 76 she's still singing in clubs in LA! She is totally underrated. I’m telling everyone I know (this means you) to listen to her!
Goodbye Cyd Charisse. . .
All the great ones are leaving us! Cyd Charisse died today at 86. There was no one taller, leggier, or more smoldering than Cyd! She was fabulous!
Watch her dance in this clip from the film Meet Me In Las Vegas:
Watch her dance in this clip from the film Meet Me In Las Vegas:
Not that it matters. . .
because nobody reads this anyway, but I have been woefully neglecting this blog. Which is why there are a rash of posts today. This blog needed some life breathed into it. Although I realize that I have absolutely no focus whatsoever. It's just a ramble here, a rant there, and lots of movie reviews in between.
I'll try to be better.
I'll try to be better.
Blade Runner
I recently watched Blade Runner for the first time. Being that it is such a cultural touchstone, I admit that it's pretty strange that I'd never seen it before. Indeed my announcement that I was finally watching it elicited responses of excitement from more than one friend who claimed it to be one of their top favorite films of all time! Even though I hadn't seen it I felt like I had because it is so iconic. To paraphrase (badly) a few lines from a Noah Baumbach film (as I am wont to do), "Oh, I've seen Blade Runner. Well, I haven't seen Blade Runner, but I know that thing, that is he a replicant or isn't he, tell me the good things about your mother, Darryl Hannah does gymnastics, now I know how bad all other movies are thing. . ." (If you know this quote in its original context then props to you!)
So now, sadly, after seeing the movie I feel a little bit deflated. It's a classic example of having everyone around you build up something so much that once you finally experience it, it can't help but disappoint you. It is a good, hell a great, movie. The production design and visuals are stunning. The themes remain timely and profound. Rutger Hauer is amazingly good – and damn sexy too! Ten times sexier than Harrison Ford. But all in all, I don't think it's a film that I would watch again. The slow pacing killed me and had me glancing at the clock one too many times. Sean Young just irks me - she always has, doesn't matter what movie she is in, I just don't like her. And I know I am going to catch hell for this one, but the score seemed dated to me. That synthy-saxophony Vangelis score overpowered the film sometimes in the worse way because it took me out of the film completely.
I hope this isn't offending those out there that are Blade Runner fanatics. I understand where you are coming from and I don't begrudge the love at all – it truly is an amazing film. Especially when I look at what Ridley Scott and his team were able to achieve in the era before modern CGI, it's incredible. I cop to all of that and more but to put it simply, it's just not my thing. Do you know what I mean? It's just not for me. A Room With a View need not fear being bumped off the top of my list by Blade Runner.
At least now I won't get that irritating, "You've never seen Blade Runner?!?" reaction ever again.
So now, sadly, after seeing the movie I feel a little bit deflated. It's a classic example of having everyone around you build up something so much that once you finally experience it, it can't help but disappoint you. It is a good, hell a great, movie. The production design and visuals are stunning. The themes remain timely and profound. Rutger Hauer is amazingly good – and damn sexy too! Ten times sexier than Harrison Ford. But all in all, I don't think it's a film that I would watch again. The slow pacing killed me and had me glancing at the clock one too many times. Sean Young just irks me - she always has, doesn't matter what movie she is in, I just don't like her. And I know I am going to catch hell for this one, but the score seemed dated to me. That synthy-saxophony Vangelis score overpowered the film sometimes in the worse way because it took me out of the film completely.
I hope this isn't offending those out there that are Blade Runner fanatics. I understand where you are coming from and I don't begrudge the love at all – it truly is an amazing film. Especially when I look at what Ridley Scott and his team were able to achieve in the era before modern CGI, it's incredible. I cop to all of that and more but to put it simply, it's just not my thing. Do you know what I mean? It's just not for me. A Room With a View need not fear being bumped off the top of my list by Blade Runner.
At least now I won't get that irritating, "You've never seen Blade Runner?!?" reaction ever again.
No Molly Ringwald, no!
Recently I came across Pretty in Pink on cable as I flipped through the channels. I left it on as I did little chores around the house and the thing I was struck by immediately was how much of an asshole Andrew McCarthy’s Blane is! How did I not notice this when I was young? Did I just let it slide then because he was cute? When he picks up Andie from the record store for their first date and asks if she wants to go home and change and she already has, he barely mumbles an apology for the insult. Then when she is resistant to attending a party with his friends, he says, "We can go out with your friends if you want. We could go crawl under a rock." ASSHOLE! And then the final scene at the prom, he goes up to her all apologetic for freaking lying to her about having another date and ditching her, but she has put on a brave face and says, "It’s done, it’s over, I’m fine." And what does asshole Blane say? "Well, if that’s true, then I’m glad." It’s the way he says it too that just irks me! Why did I ever like Andrew McCarthy? It’s all about Duckie man. Loyal, funny, sincere Duckie. Screw Blane.
Sometimes I really hate Andrew Davies. . .
This is one of those times. I know the man wrote the wonderful Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle 1995 Pride & Prejudice so could be forgiven for almost everything, but he wrote a new version of my beloved A Room With a View and it's utter shit so now I have to rave against the old coot.
Yes, yes I know what you're thinking, how could I possibly watch it unbiasedly when the Merchant Ivory A Room With a View is one of my favorite movies of all time? Honestly it was damn difficult!
In order to illuminate my problem with the film, I will dissect two of the mystifying choices made by Mr. Davies in his script.
1. He was compelled to set the film after a WWI tragedy and then have the story revealed as flashbacks to "happier" or "more innocent" times. I found this device completely unnecessary and quite a bit distracting. The novel was published in 1908 so this choice just completely baffled me and I assume that Mr. Davies did it in an attempt to put his own little stamp on the story. It didn't do anything for the Lucy Honeychurch character in my opinion. It did not give her or the story more depth, it just created tragic drama where it wasn't needed and was never intended by E.M. Forster.
2. This is the long one, so bear with me please. In the novel the Emersons are not of a lower class than Lucy or Cecil Vyse, they are merely eccentric "free thinkers" which made them frowned upon by Lucy's regular society. In this new version however Mr. Davies chose to write the Emersons as being of a lower class. This class distinction was partly exhibited by Mr. Davies robbing the character of George Emerson of his more gloriously romantic speeches and then partly by the actor playing George Emerson using a lower class sounding "accent" which made him sound ridiculous and slightly stupid. To really understand what I mean, indulge me please, and compare the scenes where George tries to convince Lucy not to marry Cecil:
First read the scene from the novel here:
"You don't mean," he said, absolutely ignoring Miss Bartlett—"you don't mean that you are going to marry that man?"
The line was unexpected.
She shrugged her shoulders, as if his vulgarity wearied her. "You are merely ridiculous, " she said quietly.
Then his words rose gravely over hers: "You cannot live with Vyse. He's only for an acquaintance. He is for society and cultivated talk. He should know no one intimately, least of all a woman."
It was a new light on Cecil's character.
"Have you ever talked to Vyse without feeling tired?"
"I can scarcely discuss—"
"No, but have you ever? He is the sort who are all right so long as they keep to things—books, pictures—but kill when they come to people. That's why I'll speak out through all this muddle even now. It's shocking enough to lose you in any case, but generally a man must deny himself joy, and I would have held back if your Cecil had been a different person. I would never have let myself go. But I saw him first in the National Gallery, when he winced because my father mispronounced the names of great painters. Then he brings us here, and we find it is to play some silly trick on a kind neighbour. That is the man all over—playing tricks on people, on the most sacred form of life that he can find. Next, I meet you together, and find him protecting and teaching you and your mother to be shocked, when it was for YOU to settle whether you were shocked or no. Cecil all over again. He daren't let a woman decide. He's the type who's kept Europe back for a thousand years. Every moment of his life he's forming you, telling you what's charming or amusing or ladylike, telling you what a man thinks womanly; and you, you of all women, listen to his voice instead of to your own. So it was at the Rectory, when I met you both again; so it has been the whole of this afternoon. Therefore—not 'therefore I kissed you,' because the book made me do that, and I wish to goodness I had more self-control. I'm not ashamed. I don't apologize. But it has frightened you, and you may not have noticed that I love you. Or would you have told me to go, and dealt with a tremendous thing so lightly? But therefore—therefore I settled to fight him."
Lucy thought of a very good remark.
"You say Mr. Vyse wants me to listen to him, Mr. Emerson. Pardon me for suggesting that you have caught the habit."
And he took the shoddy reproof and touched it into immortality. He said:
"Yes, I have," and sank down as if suddenly weary. "I'm the same kind of brute at bottom. This desire to govern a woman—it lies very deep, and men and women must fight it together before they shall enter the garden. But I do love you surely in a better way than he does." He thought. "Yes—really in a better way. I want you to have your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms," He stretched them towards her. "Lucy, be quick—there's no time for us to talk now—come to me as you came in the spring, and afterwards I will be gentle and explain. I have cared for you since that man died. I cannot live without you, 'No good,' I thought; 'she is marrying some one else'; but I meet you again when all the world is glorious water and sun. As you came through the wood I saw that nothing else mattered. I called. I wanted to live and have my chance of joy."
"And Mr. Vyse?" said Lucy, who kept commendably calm. "Does he not matter? That I love Cecil and shall be his wife shortly? A detail of no importance, I suppose?"
But he stretched his arms over the table towards her.
"May I ask what you intend to gain by this exhibition?"
He said: "It is our last chance. I shall do all that I can." And as if he had done all else, he turned to Miss Bartlett, who sat like some portent against the skies of the evening. "You wouldn't stop us this second time if you understood, " he said. "I have been into the dark, and I am going back into it, unless you will try to understand."
Her long, narrow head drove backwards and forwards, as though demolishing some invisible obstacle. She did not answer.
Ok, still with me? Here is that scene with the free thinking, romantic, eloquent George from the Merchant Ivory version:
And here is that same scene with the new "lower class" George (the scene I want you to watch starts at about 6:20 in):
Do you see what I mean? Do you see how the way Mr. Davies chose to write his script completely changed the character and robbed George of his eloquence? It was maddening to me as I watched it. Worse, it made me not like George and part of the fun and tension of the story is that you are rooting for Lucy to open her eyes and heart to George!
The only thing I liked about the new version was Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley - tee hee) as Mr. Beebe. He was quite delightful, but then Mr. Beebe is such a delightful character that it's kind of hard to get him wrong.
Ok, that's my rant. If any of you actually read this to the end and watched the videos, thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
Yes, yes I know what you're thinking, how could I possibly watch it unbiasedly when the Merchant Ivory A Room With a View is one of my favorite movies of all time? Honestly it was damn difficult!
In order to illuminate my problem with the film, I will dissect two of the mystifying choices made by Mr. Davies in his script.
1. He was compelled to set the film after a WWI tragedy and then have the story revealed as flashbacks to "happier" or "more innocent" times. I found this device completely unnecessary and quite a bit distracting. The novel was published in 1908 so this choice just completely baffled me and I assume that Mr. Davies did it in an attempt to put his own little stamp on the story. It didn't do anything for the Lucy Honeychurch character in my opinion. It did not give her or the story more depth, it just created tragic drama where it wasn't needed and was never intended by E.M. Forster.
2. This is the long one, so bear with me please. In the novel the Emersons are not of a lower class than Lucy or Cecil Vyse, they are merely eccentric "free thinkers" which made them frowned upon by Lucy's regular society. In this new version however Mr. Davies chose to write the Emersons as being of a lower class. This class distinction was partly exhibited by Mr. Davies robbing the character of George Emerson of his more gloriously romantic speeches and then partly by the actor playing George Emerson using a lower class sounding "accent" which made him sound ridiculous and slightly stupid. To really understand what I mean, indulge me please, and compare the scenes where George tries to convince Lucy not to marry Cecil:
First read the scene from the novel here:
"You don't mean," he said, absolutely ignoring Miss Bartlett—"you don't mean that you are going to marry that man?"
The line was unexpected.
She shrugged her shoulders, as if his vulgarity wearied her. "You are merely ridiculous, " she said quietly.
Then his words rose gravely over hers: "You cannot live with Vyse. He's only for an acquaintance. He is for society and cultivated talk. He should know no one intimately, least of all a woman."
It was a new light on Cecil's character.
"Have you ever talked to Vyse without feeling tired?"
"I can scarcely discuss—"
"No, but have you ever? He is the sort who are all right so long as they keep to things—books, pictures—but kill when they come to people. That's why I'll speak out through all this muddle even now. It's shocking enough to lose you in any case, but generally a man must deny himself joy, and I would have held back if your Cecil had been a different person. I would never have let myself go. But I saw him first in the National Gallery, when he winced because my father mispronounced the names of great painters. Then he brings us here, and we find it is to play some silly trick on a kind neighbour. That is the man all over—playing tricks on people, on the most sacred form of life that he can find. Next, I meet you together, and find him protecting and teaching you and your mother to be shocked, when it was for YOU to settle whether you were shocked or no. Cecil all over again. He daren't let a woman decide. He's the type who's kept Europe back for a thousand years. Every moment of his life he's forming you, telling you what's charming or amusing or ladylike, telling you what a man thinks womanly; and you, you of all women, listen to his voice instead of to your own. So it was at the Rectory, when I met you both again; so it has been the whole of this afternoon. Therefore—not 'therefore I kissed you,' because the book made me do that, and I wish to goodness I had more self-control. I'm not ashamed. I don't apologize. But it has frightened you, and you may not have noticed that I love you. Or would you have told me to go, and dealt with a tremendous thing so lightly? But therefore—therefore I settled to fight him."
Lucy thought of a very good remark.
"You say Mr. Vyse wants me to listen to him, Mr. Emerson. Pardon me for suggesting that you have caught the habit."
And he took the shoddy reproof and touched it into immortality. He said:
"Yes, I have," and sank down as if suddenly weary. "I'm the same kind of brute at bottom. This desire to govern a woman—it lies very deep, and men and women must fight it together before they shall enter the garden. But I do love you surely in a better way than he does." He thought. "Yes—really in a better way. I want you to have your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms," He stretched them towards her. "Lucy, be quick—there's no time for us to talk now—come to me as you came in the spring, and afterwards I will be gentle and explain. I have cared for you since that man died. I cannot live without you, 'No good,' I thought; 'she is marrying some one else'; but I meet you again when all the world is glorious water and sun. As you came through the wood I saw that nothing else mattered. I called. I wanted to live and have my chance of joy."
"And Mr. Vyse?" said Lucy, who kept commendably calm. "Does he not matter? That I love Cecil and shall be his wife shortly? A detail of no importance, I suppose?"
But he stretched his arms over the table towards her.
"May I ask what you intend to gain by this exhibition?"
He said: "It is our last chance. I shall do all that I can." And as if he had done all else, he turned to Miss Bartlett, who sat like some portent against the skies of the evening. "You wouldn't stop us this second time if you understood, " he said. "I have been into the dark, and I am going back into it, unless you will try to understand."
Her long, narrow head drove backwards and forwards, as though demolishing some invisible obstacle. She did not answer.
Ok, still with me? Here is that scene with the free thinking, romantic, eloquent George from the Merchant Ivory version:
And here is that same scene with the new "lower class" George (the scene I want you to watch starts at about 6:20 in):
Do you see what I mean? Do you see how the way Mr. Davies chose to write his script completely changed the character and robbed George of his eloquence? It was maddening to me as I watched it. Worse, it made me not like George and part of the fun and tension of the story is that you are rooting for Lucy to open her eyes and heart to George!
The only thing I liked about the new version was Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley - tee hee) as Mr. Beebe. He was quite delightful, but then Mr. Beebe is such a delightful character that it's kind of hard to get him wrong.
Ok, that's my rant. If any of you actually read this to the end and watched the videos, thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
Rest in Peace Sydney Pollack
Sydney Pollack has died and I'm all broke up about it. I adored Sydney Pollack. There was something about when Sydney acted in a movie or on a television show, no matter how small the part, that made me blissfully happy and would immediately elevate said movie or TV show to something greater then mere mediocrity. As a matter of fact I just found out that he plays Patrick Dempsey's dad in the new film Made of Honor which means I'm going to have to see that cheesefest now! Oh and by the way he was a damn fine director too!
Here's a short list of the things I love about Sydney:
He played Will's dad on Will & Grace. Oh my goodness, he was loveable in this role! It was after seeing his myriad guest appearances here that made me wish that Sydney Pollack was my dad. Or that my dad could at least in part be like Sydney Pollack: kind, warm, accepting, yet open to admitting his flaws. That's what a dad should be! Lucky, lucky Will!
The Way We Were gets me every time! I don't care what anyone says. I love this schmaltzy romance! Robert Redford is so handsome and charming and Barbra Streisand is so goofy and feisty. And of course I love when my pop culture collides and in SATC Season Two when Carrie meets up with Big and says of his bride-to-be Natasha, "Your girl is lovely, Hubble" I screamed with joy!
Out of Africa - the man could direct a romance, let me tell you! Robert Redford again, Meryl Streep as beautiful as she ever was, a hair washing scene to make a girl's toes curl! Oh and it only won seven Academy Awards including two for Pollack!
Not only directed Tootsie but played the agent to perfection!
In Husbands and Wives he even made smarmy somewhat charming. Sydney Pollack plus Woody Allen was a match made in Heaven.
He was the best thing about Eyes Wide Shut. Apparently Harvey Keitel had to drop out so Sydney stepped in and hooray for us because he is awesome.
He directed my beloved Paul Newman to an Oscar nomination. If you want to see a great film about the ethics of journalism, watch Absence of Malice.
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is one crazy, f*cked up film! Have you ever seen this??? It's about a bizarro Depression Era dance marathon where people basically kill themselves by dancing for weeks on end to win $1500. This movie still holds the record for most Oscar nominations (nine) without a Best Picture nomination! In another wonderful pop culture reference there is an awesome, pivotal episode of Gilmore Girls called They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They in which Rory and Lorelei compete in the annual Stars Hollow Dance Marathon.
There is more than this, but all this Pollack reminiscing is making me even sadder so I'm going to stop now. Thanks for the memories Sydney! You will be missed behind and in front of the camera!
Now for your viewing pleasure I am including some great youtube stuff:
Sex & The City episode where the girls talk about the film and then their version of the same scene:
An early scene from They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
A small snippet from They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They?
Sydney in Tootsie:
The Las Vegas Film Society and West Side Story
I went to my first screening as a member of the Las Vegas Film Society on Tuesday. It was really cute, the founder guy of the LVFS had a little table set up at the entrance to the theatres and he gave me an envelope with a welcome letter and a little laminated membership card. Then the founder's wife had to escort us into the theatre past the theatre employee since they don't actually give you tickets, all the while dragging her poor, young son along behind her. Kind of funny.
I met my friend Su for the movie which was quite surreal. Su and I were very close friends during my first few years of high school, then we kind of lost touch as teenagers tend to do, then ran into each other once about 8 years ago at Savers but Su was living in Portland at the time and was just visiting so nothing came of it, then about a month ago she found me here on myspace (it's CRAZY I tell ya!) and she's back in Vegas, but with the hectic holiday season we never could find time to get together, until now for West Side Story!
Su and I immediately started talking talking talking, catching up and up and up and were happy to remember that West Side Story begins with what feels like a 10 minute overture so we were able to keep talk talk talking. There were only about 15 people total in the huge theater, and that's including me and Su and the founder, his wife and son so luckily our talking wasn't really disturbing anyone since there was no one really around us. And we were whispering and the music was very loud. Do you get how I am trying to convince myself that we weren't disturbing anyone? I'm not quite sure that was the case, but I'm hopeful that it was. I know now that a movie was probably not the ideal place for Su and I to meet up at when we haven't spoken to each other for longer than 2 minutes in the past oh, I don't know, nearly 15 YEARS!! We did watch the movie a little too, but come on, it's not like neither of us haven't seen West Side Story plenty of times. Plus it's a classic Shakespeare story - everyone knows it! There were times when our rushed whispers stopped and we were brought back into the movie by some fantastic dance sequences and great songs.
West Side Story is just ripe for the MST3K treatment and we did a lot of that too. We tried to pick out all the members of the "gangs" that were obviously gay, which really wasn't too difficult with those tight pants and twirly dance moves. Richard Beymer who plays Tony really does have the most ginormous set of teeth ever. It's hysterical how in order to get Russian beauty Natalie Wood to look Puerto Rican they darkened her skin in a way that just made her look kind of dirty. And what was up with Natalie Wood's accent in this? Instead of sounding like English was her second language she just sounded like a dimwit. Oh and we forgot how much we both HATE the song "I Feel Pretty."
Oh and then I accidentally ruined My Fair Lady for Su forever by spewing out one of my endless tidbits of trivia that I've filled my brain with since birth. Here's how it went:
Me leaning over to Su, "So you do realize that Natalie Wood's singing voice in this is dubbed by Marni Nixon who also dubbed Audrey Hepburn's singing voice in My Fair Lady."
Su, horrified, "What? That's not Audrey singing in My Fair Lady??????"
Me, a little bewildered, "Um, no, everybody knows that, it's common knowledge."
Su, completely crushed, "Well I didn't know it! Now My Fair Lady is ruined for me forever!!"
I'm sorry Su.
Overall it was a great time. It was really wonderful to see Su and catch up with her and feel like no time has passed at all and like I have magically gotten a friend back! I hope we do it again soon.
Next month: Raging Bull!!
I met my friend Su for the movie which was quite surreal. Su and I were very close friends during my first few years of high school, then we kind of lost touch as teenagers tend to do, then ran into each other once about 8 years ago at Savers but Su was living in Portland at the time and was just visiting so nothing came of it, then about a month ago she found me here on myspace (it's CRAZY I tell ya!) and she's back in Vegas, but with the hectic holiday season we never could find time to get together, until now for West Side Story!
Su and I immediately started talking talking talking, catching up and up and up and were happy to remember that West Side Story begins with what feels like a 10 minute overture so we were able to keep talk talk talking. There were only about 15 people total in the huge theater, and that's including me and Su and the founder, his wife and son so luckily our talking wasn't really disturbing anyone since there was no one really around us. And we were whispering and the music was very loud. Do you get how I am trying to convince myself that we weren't disturbing anyone? I'm not quite sure that was the case, but I'm hopeful that it was. I know now that a movie was probably not the ideal place for Su and I to meet up at when we haven't spoken to each other for longer than 2 minutes in the past oh, I don't know, nearly 15 YEARS!! We did watch the movie a little too, but come on, it's not like neither of us haven't seen West Side Story plenty of times. Plus it's a classic Shakespeare story - everyone knows it! There were times when our rushed whispers stopped and we were brought back into the movie by some fantastic dance sequences and great songs.
West Side Story is just ripe for the MST3K treatment and we did a lot of that too. We tried to pick out all the members of the "gangs" that were obviously gay, which really wasn't too difficult with those tight pants and twirly dance moves. Richard Beymer who plays Tony really does have the most ginormous set of teeth ever. It's hysterical how in order to get Russian beauty Natalie Wood to look Puerto Rican they darkened her skin in a way that just made her look kind of dirty. And what was up with Natalie Wood's accent in this? Instead of sounding like English was her second language she just sounded like a dimwit. Oh and we forgot how much we both HATE the song "I Feel Pretty."
Oh and then I accidentally ruined My Fair Lady for Su forever by spewing out one of my endless tidbits of trivia that I've filled my brain with since birth. Here's how it went:
Me leaning over to Su, "So you do realize that Natalie Wood's singing voice in this is dubbed by Marni Nixon who also dubbed Audrey Hepburn's singing voice in My Fair Lady."
Su, horrified, "What? That's not Audrey singing in My Fair Lady??????"
Me, a little bewildered, "Um, no, everybody knows that, it's common knowledge."
Su, completely crushed, "Well I didn't know it! Now My Fair Lady is ruined for me forever!!"
I'm sorry Su.
Overall it was a great time. It was really wonderful to see Su and catch up with her and feel like no time has passed at all and like I have magically gotten a friend back! I hope we do it again soon.
Next month: Raging Bull!!
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