Confessions of a Reasonably Dangerous Mind Let's call this one, punch-drunk blog...I have no idea what you should all expect...I haven't a clue myself. All I can say for sure, is that procrastination is a wonderful thing.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
It's Getting Colder...
When i stepped outside this morning i didn't really think i needed a jacket. But since I'm not too great at planning my days ahead of time, and assuming the weather will basically just adjust to my preferences, I managed to walk about a block before rushing back home to grab a jacket. And now when i came home earlier tonight, i got the great news that our furnace, which i think was just fixed a couple weeks ago, is once again on the fritz. So, it's bloody cold right now. The only good news is that leaving my computer running keeps some sort of warmth trapped in my room...but still, brrr......
- The sky getting so dark so early...it's no fun looking out at 7 PM and the sun is nowhere to be found
- Working (re: procrastinating) on one of those e-mail surveys for close to to an hour and then getting ready to send it...only to find out you pressed the wrong button and the whole thing deleted itself
- Finding out the special edition DVD of "Scarface" is out tomorrow...and being soo tempted...
- Finding out the "Kill Bill" soundtrack is finally coming out after last week's delay...and discovering that there are two "bootleg" trailers on the cd cut exclusively by Tarantino...which sound so amazingly cool...
- Eating left-over turkey for the fourth day in a row...
- I've been to enough family dinners/lunches over the past 3 days to last me a good while...i've never had seen so much just plain brown food in my life...and turkey...more turkey than one can imagine...
- Synagogue is really not that much fun...even if the rabbi tries to crack a joke or two...
- Waking up at 8 on both a Saturday and Sunday morning is really over-rated...
- I've accomplised next to nothing, work-wise, this weekend
- "Alias" kicked sooo much ass, it's almost not funny the ass-kicking quotient that it fulfilled (well, maybe it's a little funny)...but where the hell is Will? And Sark? And what's the deal with Sloan? And a billion other unanswered questions!?
- I need a weekend to recover from my weekend
- And some ice cream..i could really go for some ice cream right now...
- Listening to Ozma's "Battlescars" makes anything better
- SIMON AND GARFUNKLE tix have been purchased (amazing seats!), which is very very amazingly-awesome-insert-own-incredible-adjective-here-cool! (Thank you, Ellie!)
- JOHN MAYTER tix have been purchased (amazing seats as well!), which is also very very cool (though admittedly not near the realm of Misters Simon & Garfunkle)! (Ditto, Ellie!)
- I think my ISP address changed for some bizarre, unexplained reason...
- MSN messenger continues to wreak havoc on my nerves
- I think i've been worrying too much about whether i focused the camera properly or not before that interview yesterday
- Synagogue is not too much fun...especially for the five hours or so today...and tomorrow...ugh...
- Al Franken is a genius...and an hilarious one at that, too...
- School work can stop piling up any time now, please...
- I finally got back my long-borrowed "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" Criterion from my cousin this afternoon..which makes me very happy..
- No, wait...listening to Paul Simon's "Graceland" makes anything better...
THE MATRIX: REVOLUTIONS new theatrical trailer has just hit online, and as amazingly-awesome-cool those tv spots that were posted earlier this week are...this has to be about, uhm, 20 billion times better. No, 30 billion. Uhm, naw, let's leave it at 20. That's just a rough approximation, though...but it's pretty close...sooo good....
A Surprise, Inspiration, and Some Sacramento Frustration
There's a lot i really want to talk about, but i am getting rapidly more and more tired, and i don't know how long i'll make it through this post...but let's give it a shot...
An extremely pleasant surprise yesterday as I recieved the new Dave Matthews solo CD! It's amazing, and the bonus live cd that came with it has Dave doing some older stuff ("Jimi Thing"!) and some great more recent songs ("Grey Street"!) with none other than Tim Reynolds! (I've already maxed out my exclamation-mark usage...but there's still a couple more coming...wait for them...here they are...) Thank you Jacq and Ellie!!!!
Last night's Dennis Lee reading at Oakham was also cause for exclamation marks. And quite inspiring to boot. I was impressed with not only the readings of his children poetry, but his rather adult poetry as well. Which was pretty interesting to contrast with his more well-known work. But i also felt really more inspired for poetry itself than i have in a little bit. Especially when he started talking about Ginsberg and "Howl". Which has sort of inspired me to start thinking of maybe deciding to attempt to start putting up that old modelled version of "Howl" I wrote a couple years ago for school. The only problem is the only copy i have is on my old computer or printed out...and since my old computer's disk drive is not cooperating (probably from all that dust in there), I'm going to have to re-type it on this comp...which may take a while...But hopefully-maybe I'll get around to posting it piece by piece...it's also that it's, uhm, a little weird. Well, a lot weird. Weirder than that talking lizard story. Much more. But hopefully I'll get around to it...
And...now my computer's driving me insane again. Netready at school was messing up today, and now MSN messenger seems to be un-cooperative. It keeps on signing me in and out on its own whim, and i'm losing msgs like i was on icq a little while ago. Argh...argh i say...
But on a lighter note...the return of "The West Wing" was much more entertaining and amazing than i thought it would be, sans Sorkin and all. I must admit, it really blew me away. Next Wednesday can't come quickly enough.
Song Lyrics Discovered! And How Tuesdays Are Now the Bane Of My Existence
Huzzah! Now, it's not that often I'll call for a huzzah in a post, in fact i think that's really the first time i've ever used the word at all, but i finally, after months, well more likely weeks, of frustration found out just what the hell that song is that goes "oh no, she's got a secret now". Apparently it's not Blur, who I originally thought were the culprits behind that damned catchy-beat, but Canada's own Hot Hot Heat, who have already put out one mind-numbingly-addictive song earlier this year called "Bandages". And it's not even called something that would make sense, like say, "Oh No" or "She's Got A Secret Now" or even "Oh No, She's Got A Secret Now". Instead, those tricky Hot Hot Heat songsters (if that's even a word) called it "No, Not Now" for some reason. Ah, well....the mystery is finally solved. And now if the song would finish downloading...damn router...
Annnd....tomorrow is now officially known as "the day Barry should stay away from the record store", since the new Dave Matthews solo cd and the Kill Bill soundtrack both come out(which has as a bonus the two "bootleg" trailers for the film which are supposedly amazingly-incredibly-insert-own-hyperbole-cool that when someone tried to post them on the internet thier server crashed), and the new John Mayer cd from last week is still sitting on the shelves there somewhere just waiting...Must...resist...temptation...especially because it's only a few short weeks until the "Indiana Jones Trilogy DVD Box Set" comes out...argh..
For some reason or another, I found myself watching tv last night around 2 or so, and, expecting to find a scattered infomercial or two and maybe some old Saturday Night Live episode, I found myself with quite a few interesting options. Apparently, Saturday late-night tv is an oasis of sorts for really cool programming. I had my pick of the litter with CBC airing a late-night edition of "The Godfather", and as i settled down to watch that for a bit, a couple channel flicks later i had a smattering of other options. There was "Rocky", the first one (I think), over on Fox. And an X-Files episode somewhere. That SNL repeat, a good old one with Chevy Chase. An episode of "Six Feet Under" on Showcase. And CTV was airing the sorta-under-rated "City Hall" with Pacino (again with Pacino!) and John Cusack. And City had the extremely under-rated "To Die For" with Nicole Kidman on as well. I was torn between channels. But then, as my mind was jumping around deciding which program to watch, I think i just fell asleep right there on the couch. And had a really strange dream about movies...
Soundtrack for the Day...now "Bold-Free"...uhm, except for this title...
Billy Talent - Line and Sinker
Gob - Oh, Ellen
Alkaline Trio - Radio
Goldfinger - Rio (Duran Duran cover)
Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Crazy
Ozma - Utsukushii Shibuya
The Devlins - Waiting
The Ramones - Judy is a Punk
My Morning Jacket - Bermuda Highway
It's Been a Meh/Blah Day...and The Ultimate Krazy with a "K" Movie
Today was just one of those days that i really wished ended before it even began. From the moment I *just* missed the bus until i was greeted by dreary rain on my way to an extremely, almost absurdly, overpacked subway on the way home, it was just an all-around meh/blah day. It wasn't really anything big that happened, just those little annoyances and etc that creep up on you. I dunno...it could've been the bus thing, or how my headphones for my cd player decided to literally fall apart into pieces on the way to school, the sandwich i had for lunch that was absolutely the worst thing i've had in all my lunch-going experiences, the bag of fritos i spilled on the way home on the subway, my computer's refusal to work properly, a bunch of little silly stuff like that i suppose. I guess i'm just glad the day's nearing an end...
But...on a much more positive note, i have indeed witnessed the ultimate krazy with a "k" movie...a little thing out of Japan i like to call "Versus". It is by far the best gangsters vs. zombies movie i've ever seen...uhm, granted it's the only gangsters vs. zombies movie i've seen, but nontheless, it still was quite the amazing, little movie. It's pretty much impossible to describe, except to say that involves the following: samaurai warriors ressurrected as yakuza criminals, zombies with guns, an escaped prisoner who is "the chosen one", an evil forest, a portal into another world, a cop who is the exact Japanese equivalent of Crispin Glover who boasts that he "has 500 times the reflexes of Mike Tyson", a great Matrix parody, a sword fight to end all sword fights, and an epilogue taking place 99 years in a post-apocalyptic war-zone Tokyo. Oh, and i think vampires are involved in there somehow too. Yes, it is indeed the best....movie....ever.
As promised, here they are. I have to say that this year's film fest was incredibly fun and definitely an amazing experience all around and it wouldn't have been the same without Jacq and Ellie!
"This Little Life" - Director: Sarah Gavron. Starring: Kate Ashfield, David Morrissey, and Peter Mullan. UK.
This was the first movie we saw at the fest, and i've read in other reviews that it was the best drama that was shown at the festival. Though i didn't see all that many movies, i definitely agree that is was an amazingly crafted dramatic film, and definitely one of the best dramas i've seen in a long time. At points, many points, it was hard to watch this story of a mother and her child, born pre-mature. But it was the under-lying humanity and tenderness that was dealt with in the situation that made it all the more compelling and heartfelt. What really suprised me is when, during the post-film Q and A period, the director said that they actually used animatronic babies for many of the scenes. Everything looked so life-like and real that at times it felt almost like a documentary with a twist. It was a really amazing, poweful film.
"The Station Agent" - Director: Thomas MacCarthy. Starring: Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson, Bobby Canavale, and Michelle Williams. US.
I thought that "The Station Agent" was one of the best mixes of comedy and drama I've seen in a long time as well. The premise on paper sounds kind of weird for weird's sake (a dwarf loses his boss and only friend and ends up at an abandoned train depot in nowhere-New Jersey, befriending a troubled artist and a talkative, to say the least, hot dog vendor), but it really all came together and had some incredibly hilarious and heartbreaking moments. The train-chasing scene was a definite highlight.
"End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones" - Director: Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields. US.
One of the midnight madness films, this documentary showed just apparently what a shitty situation it was to be in that band. The old footage from thier first apperances at the CBGB were amazing, and at times just laugh-out-loud funny (especially the part where they argue over which songs to play and then Joey drops his microphone just before he starts to sing), and then there were the scenes that showed what the eventual toll of being in that band were. Heroin addiction, group in-fighting, jealousy, multiple drummers (more than i thought, apparently), and really, really, really bad rap albums. It made me really appreciate thier music and at the same time force me to never, ever think of joining a rock and roll band ever. An excellently-compliled film that captured everything from the band's inner frustrations and the mood of the punk-rock scene of the time. Plus, it definitely had the best soundtrack out of all the movies I've seen this year. Actually, one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a long time, come to think of it.
"Shattered Glass" - Driector: Billy Ray. Starring: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Hank Azaria, Chloe Sevigny, Rosario Dawson, and Steve Zahn. US.
I was totally gripped by this film, and from the moment it started until the end credits rolled, I don't think i looked at my watch or strayed anywhere from the screen at all. It also scared the shit out of me. Journalism never looked so terrifying before on film, but with Sarsgaard and Azaria's performances, it also never looked so good. The story of Stepen Glass (Christensen), a reporter for The New Republic who ended up fabricating some 20 stories or so, completely hooked me in. A great dramatic thriller, even though i didn't always believe Christensen, or maybe it was because his character tried for some sympthaty, but just wasn't worthy of it towards the end. The best performances definitely layed in the editors he betrayed, especially Chuck Lane, played by Sarsgaard. Expertly directed, written, and acted, and an excellent cap to the festival.
Even better, but also pretty sad, was that it was one of the last shows to ever be played in the historic Uptown Theatre. It's such a beautfiful, grand, old-scale sort of place that I'm going to be really sad to see it go, for of all things, an apartment complex.
I have no idea what that title means, really. I saw a sign coming home on the subway today for a schnitzel restaurant or a schnitzel product of some sort, and I started thinking weird thoughts about a restaurant kitchen overrun with orders for schnitzel and the ensuing chaos. I have no idea...
This isn't a really good, full update or post... I wanted to do one...but i'm too tired...But i will promise a complete review of all the film fest movies to be posted shortly...well, depends how "shortly" is defined...but, uhm, yes...so far, though, in very very brief, the film fest has been extremely cool and amazingly fun!
And, speaking of the world of filmdom, there's been some extremely cool news on movies that i seemed to have just caught onto today...first, Christian Bale is the new BATMAN! For Christopher Nolan's (Memento! Insomnia!) new Batman movie! Definitely requires a yay! Annnnd....the new Kill Bill trailer is out! Another yay!
Now, there's this little issue of all this work i actually have to do...ugh, not too fun...
It's been pretty busy the last couple days, and extremely fun at the same time...soo much to tell and discuss and remember and everything else...but here are some of the highlights...complete with a lot of well deserved exclamation points...
- Film festival tickets have been purchased!!
- Dave Matthews Concert = amazingly good!
- Neil Young Concert = even more fantastical-amazingly-awesome!! "Down by the River" too!!
- Campus picnic on centre island with Bif Naked, Treble Charger and some guy who apparently threw up ginger ale onstage!! Amazing day!!
- Phoenix last night! (I'm still not quite sure how i managed to stay alive for that one...)
- Another huge shipment of movie posters for the inventory!
- And the first film fest movie tonight too!!
Soo....i was getting pretty anxious/nervous/etc yesterday because of the whole "first-day-of-school" today. I know i shouldn't have, there's really nothing to be worried about, i kept telling myself, i've been through it all before. But for some reason i couldn't keep still, i was just pacing up and down the stairs and constantly looking at the clock in a weird mixture of emotions.
The plan was to go to sleep at 11:30 or so, so i'd have at least enough energy to wake up early and last through the day. Uhm, yes, didn't quite work out that way. Seems my summer sleeping habits, or lack thereof, have become somewhat attatched to me. I watched a "Futurama", or two, around 11, hoping to fall asleep while the dvd played, but soon enough it was 12, the episodes were finished, and i was still awake. I decided to just forget about it and try and actually fall asleep sans background noise of any sort. An hour and half later i was still wide awake. I looked at my watch's blindingly bright indiglo display, telling me it was almost 2. I started to panic. I started counting sheep. But then the sheep started having weird conversations about movies and Seinfeld, so i stopped that. I even tried singing a little to myself...i'm not going to say which song, though, that would be a little *too* embarrassing.
Finally, i think i passed out around 2:30 or so...of course not without waking up every hour and a half or so and glancing at the clock to make sure i hadn't overslept. I finally woke up at 5:30 or so...i couldn't even get back to sleep. But it was nice staring out at the opening sky, i must say i haven't seen that in quite a while. Purple, light and clouds and otherwise.
But as a result of all the restlessness and insomnia...i'm bloody exhausted...
