"as if musical ability comes with some sort of obligation to society..."

Slate sheds a pretty interesting light on one on my favorite albums, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.

I don't get to see Radiohead

Damn. That really sucks. (side note: i hate you tyler, but do love me enough to take a great picture and send it my way). Luckily, i do get to see this gal at the Palladium Ballroom; whom i have missed on several occassions..sometimes by mere seconds and once because of a mass murderer/rapist. nope, i am not lying.

i have been told...

that i look italian with a "native" nose.
um. okay.

a response to this

1.I would love to live in downtown Dallas and not rely on cars; however, we are in the Renaissance phase so not all is well but definitely getting there.
2. people don't' want to rely on cars because Dallas traffic sucks, not because we're GenXers fleeing the suburbs. If anything, i want some freaking trees and fresh air thank you.
3. Affordable would indeed be nice. Ah, the snatch. Money is the man; no matter what they say.
4. I believe Uptown is at the critical mass--that's why it's annoying as hell to park, visit, or relax there on most occasions.
5. Restaurants are open on Sundays; at least the one i work at is.*sigh*
6. You don't think downtown is dog friendly? My God man, i guess you haven't seen all the dog shit i find on my shoes walking to and from work? I kid (a little); however, there are definitely more puppies than children and it seems like the new accessory. I feel inadequate leaving home without a canine by my side and my neiman marcus card. come on.
7. gotta love the scenery. and by that i mean i have never met a more vast assortment of peoples in my life. each brings a smile in their own blessed way.

past my prime?

most proper lyric of the year awarded to one mr. bob dylan...house of blues dallas feb. 21, where lucky me behailed (is that a word even?) the man in white (at least in a white, large brimmed hat this particular evening). and, honestly, he wasn't (past his prime that is). sure, it was the first show of a new tour and the world hasn't heard from him in a bit (or at least i haven't); nonetheless, dylan's voice couldn't have sneered any better or sounded any properly stanger than it did thursday night. in the past, i have seen bob practically wheeled off stage but he had stamina thursday. a two hour set, no breaks. i was a bit impressed. harmonica, check; badass chuck berrys on the bass and (hear: "gee-tar"), yup. this little gal was impressed with the new material and pleased by the addition of "blowing in the wind" and "highway 61 revisited." yea dylan. that's why you hang on my wall. screw what anyone else says. as chan would say, "who could of thought
That you meant so much to me."

Sluurrrppp...

So let's do this: I was tagged by Melissa so here ya go! here are the directions - share five random and/or weird facts about yourself and then share the five top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list, and finally tag five people at the end.

Weird Facts:
1. I am slightly obsessed with surf culture even though you may not get that vibe from me. I got a surfer in the center of my class ring (i put the typical things like the Bible, track shoes, and a basketball in other places) but it was a surfer girl in the center of my class ring. The guy who took seemed at first pissed i mentioned that was what i wanted (thinking it was a joke no doubt) and then laughed so much at me that I got pissed. But yeah, I've always loved the idea of that life, and being in the uncontrollable nature that is all at once the most intimidating and most serene place on the planet. What could be weird about this is i grew up in a small town in Oklahoma and hadn't surfed yet and I am deathly afraid of sharks to the point of a lake reminds me of jaws and I'm out of the water. one day though, i will live by the ocean and do all the things that i feel the ocean can teach me.
2. I know the calorie count of almost everything you put in your mouth and especially i put in my mouth. I just do. it's embedded in my brain like a ticker tape that just keeps going, and going, and going...
3. I hate when people read what I write and yet i want to be a journalist. I just love it because i constantly learn new things and writing is my form of speech--so much so that i once had to send an anonymous letter for a friend (long story) through an email and i could barely do it because the typed New Roman letters looked so much like my "hand writing" i just knew the receiver would know it was me! (it wasn't bad so no worries)
4. I would be perfectly happy living a nomadic lifestyle. the more things i get and don't get the more i realize what makes me happy and that isn't a material thing folks. in short, just let me travel. I'll sleep in the dirt. I've eaten bugs, i know i can hang for a bit no matter where you take me.
5. i love going to the movies by myself and will watch the same film over and over as long as its on the big screen. cinema is a close friend. and i think it likes me too. : )

okay, places to go:
1. Australia--hands down, all over it; the outback, the big city, the swamps. I'm down with the Aussies.
2. paris--because of all the cliched reason people want to see Paris. and i want fret there with me.
3. lake como, italy--okay, it helps that i know george clooney thinks this place is IT. i know he has good taste. and i just cant think of one thing i have seen/heard/imagined about this place that wouldn't make for an immaculate destination point for this little girl; and i'd love to take mi amigos with me please.
4. sri lanka--maybe because it sounds so fantastical to me, maybe because i think of M.I.A., maybe because i just want to see for myself what it is i think about this place...
5. Japan--because i can wear my cowboy boots and be cool as shit and be a part of gwen-mania and see technology and history and culture and i can share tiny space with mucho people and i could leave when i wanted to...

Tag:
herein lies the problem, i am to send to five people when melis is one of my three peeps and she sent this to me and lisa (who is the second of my three peeps) so adam, looks like you have inspiration for your first blog. yea you.

Better put than most

The French writer François Nourissier put it best forty-eight years ago: “Young people mock and rebel; forty-year-olds wax ironic and bear up; old folks talk of death and sensuality.”

Word.

The craziest photo I've seen in a bit...

In an attempt against fate, a German couple drops their child out of the window of their burning apartment building to a policeman waiting below. The child, thankfully, is unharmed, but I believe no one knows of the fate of the parents just yet. Also, eight dead and I believe 5 children burned in building. An amazingly eerie photo captured a truly terrible experience. Gives me shivers to look at that...and makes me thankful for the bad day it turns out I am not having.

Led Zeppelin

They just announced there new world tour after the Plant/Krause tour has finished this spring. Thank God for this band. Hopefully I get to see them twice. If not, I will get much satisfaction from being third row in London during the reunion show at O2 arena. 

It's Officially Oscar Month...and I'm in a movie club, which is way cooler than your book club so...

Here is what i think should go down at the oscars on February 24, 2008 (imagine that in a deep, action movie house film voice)

Actor in a leading role: Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"
--Daniel (we're on a first name basis) is the best in the game. hands down. no one does what he does. An excellent article that seconds this is found here http://www.dallasobserver.com/2008-01-03/film/d-day/ And I just love him.

Actor in a supporting role: Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"
--maybe it was the bad bowl cut that mad him look so mean, or maybe it was just the soulless look behind his usually very beautiful eyes. or maybe it was because Bardem can play a killer so seemingly effortlessly even though he hates guns and driving, whatever it was, it worked for me even though i am still impressed that johnny depp sings rather well. Charlie Rose would agree. http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2007/11/16/1/a-discussion-about-the-film-no-country-for-old-men

Actress in leading role: Ellen Page in "Juno"
--I know she's young and probably not unlike the cool, quick witted Juno so it probably wasn't a huge stretch for her, but little miss ellen page sold me with her role and its hardly forgettable. Second would be a tie between Laura Linney or Cate Blanchett. Cate's my fave but Linney is severly underated.

Actress in a supporting role: Cate Blanchette in "I'm Not There"
--Okay, has anyone ever seen footage of Bob Dylan from the '65-66 era? Well, if you haven't deear ol' Cate's version is uncannily close. Check it out on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyWgzUGOliw

Best Animated Film: Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classic)
--Surf's up is cute, and excellent on blueray i might add, but it was the character of Marjane Satrapi and her journey through adolescence and young adulthood while living a life far from the american one i am so caught up in that truly tuggled at my heart strings. Plus, the animation is pretty much perfection. Punk is not Ded! http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/persepolis/

Achievement in Art Direction: Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
--Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo created a lovely grotesque backdrop for the fantasticly twisted imagination of Tim Burton. http://www.sweeneytoddmovie.com/

Achievement in Cinematography: "There Will Be Blood"
--Good cinematography helps tell a story; as well all know, "There Will Be Blood" had very little dialogue throughout the film and relied heavily on a brilliant soundtrack and the harsh landscape and lighting of the dark and empty world of greed and deceit. Fantastic. http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu/Articles/Culture/2008/01/28/22589/

Achievement in Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
--I must confess, this is one of the few movies I haven't seen; however, the stills are enough to sell me http://www.elizabeththegoldenage.com/site/site.html You too, huh?

Achievement in Directing: "No Country for Old Men"
--Not only are the Coen brothers tremendously talented, but they were adapting and staging from an equally gifted author who has a fan base (hi there) who wouldn't want to see his work raped from recognition. Meticulous and poetic. I could gush about this film and Ethan and Joel all day but instead you can just read the facts about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coen_Brothers

Best Documentary Feature: I can't pick if I have seen less than half of the movies and in this case I haven't seen any. I'm just being fair. I'm hoping it's not Sicko though because I get sick of Michael Moore, even when I'm agreeing with what he has to say. http://www.michaelmoore.com/

Best Documentary Short Subject: Please see above, minus the Michael Moore briefing.

Achievement in Film Editing: "No Country for Old Men"
--This is a difficult one for me, Roderick Jaynes did a great job with considering what should and should not be kept in regards to the fluidity of the film. Anyone who has read the book would probably picture the film as is. http://www.nocountryforoldmen-themovie.com/

Best Foreign Language Film: "The Counterfeiters" (Austria)
--While I haven't seen any of these either, I must say this looks the most interesting --based on the true story of the king of counterfeiters who goes on to help supply Nazi Germany with false currency. http://www.sonyclassics.com/thecounterfeiters/

Achievement in Makeup: "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)
--Norbit shouldn't be nominated for anything. PERIOD. And Pirates did a fairly swell job, but the stills from this film truly capture an era. http://www.edithpiafmovie.com/

Original Score: "Atonement"
--Perfection to say the least. Never have I not been annoyed by here an typewriter. This category would have been a hard one had they included "There Will Be Blood" and Johnny Greenwood's amazingly surreal contribution to music in film. The reason why is found here: http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2008/01/why_jonny_greenwoods_score_was.html
I still think it should be worthy of something. Isn't all art regurgitation anyways? Nonetheless, Dario Marianelli created the perfect soundtrack for "Atonement."

Original Song: I haven't watch Enchanted and I am slightly pissed that they didn't include Eddie Vedder's solo stuff for "Into the Wild." I mean, "Enchanted" gets three picks? Why? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Wild_(soundtrack)

Best Picture: "There Will Be Blood"
--This is the hardest by far, but nothing from this movie has left me; music, characters, landscape--a landmark in film. I've already seen it twice and it only gets better.
http://paramountvantage.com/blood/

Best Animated Short: Yeah, haven't seen any of these so I leave you to figure it out.

Best Live Action Short: Again, I would love to see them but...

Achievement in Sound Editing: "There Will Be Blood"
--Again, sound, rather than dialogue or another factor, was important to this film. No loose strings here.

Achievement in Sound Mixing: "There Will Be Blood"
--you can tell I really dig this movie. wow. no pun intended.

Achievement in Visual Effects: "The Golden Compass"
--I actually have only seen clips but I am hoping for this one to pull through...http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

Adapted Screenplay: "Atonement"
--I have already stated that "No Country fold Old Men" did an excellent job in managing to stay true to McCarthy's original vision as created in his novel by the name. However, McCarthy is a pretty straight and narrow kinda guy. I just don't see how the Coens could have screwed it up. On the other hand, Ian McEwan's a different ol' chap. Reading from the two authors will tell you that; and, I have read that "Atonement" was a book that several wanted to adapt but few thought could be done. Read this: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/08/atonement_so_good_i_adapted_it_twice.html

Original Screenplay:"Juno"
--Lars and the Real Girls is a very distant second, but who can compare with the wit and loveability of the cutest girl on earth who learnes that a "doodle can't be undid?" Way to go Diablo Cody, who is an interresting character herself --http://www.mspmag.com/features/features/79839.asp


Donzo!

everybody's working for the weekend

oh wait...nope...i'm actually working during the weekend too! Brilliant (not bitter at all though folks--honest).

in all seriousness though, i got on here to write about Rambo. yes, mr. stalone. or better yet, john rambo. now, i remember playing in the river behind my house when i was in second grade (which i later learned through common sense and the intelligence of a jr. high neighbor that this was in fact not a "river" but rather a small creek that had quite a bit of sewer in it--friends, i gaurantee i stayed in the clean(er) end) with my dear older brother, who, by chance, had a thing for rambo (i think it was the accessories-i mean, it was a cool headband). This means not only did i play in the "river," I layed against the filthy walls that ran underneath the 3w highway and let my brother bury me in mud, face and all, so i could slowly pull away from the wall and pretend to attack his best friend a' la rambo after he walked past me. if this doesnt make sense then you need to see the original movies. the only one who got zero joy from this little pastime was my mother who i'm fairly certain simply had to burn all of my clothes after such an outing. that being said, you should know that i understand why people like rambo. he's badass. he is a machine that cannot be broken even though he is in fact made of flesh. he epitomizes the two things i learned from living with a brother that men cannot escape fascination with--no, not women, rather withstanding pain and being a badass who can dish it out. okay, i get it. sure.

so here's the thing. last night while watching the (hopefully) last Rambo film, i could appreciate (somewhat) why my husband made me go watch this instead of, say, Cassandra's Dream or some other film actually worthy of being called a film, and i could also sense why people cheer for him.

• Rambo is human. he won't go home because he is a killer and (seems to me) afraid to go face a world where he has to be a little more civil than the jungles surrounding burma.
• Rambo is not human--in the sense that i truly cannot believe there is another person on the planet with a bmi of -2 who weighs 250 lbs. and can literally rip a man's throat out like our dear john did before the terrible actress who played sara was about to be raped (go rambo--i was especially proud of him in this case)
• rambo is a superhero. if humans were peanuts he is comparitely a walnut in size (i know, i know) and yet he still manages to sneak up behind pesky little soldiers, seriously out of thin air, and whack them.
• rambo is sylvestor stalone. no one else could play and he does the character seemlessly well. honestly. it would be easy for a meat head to make him look a mechanical terminator style bloke. so, kudos for that.

now, that's all the good i am going to say about rambo. the people in the theater was so excited when he was blowing enemy camps up and shooting his machine guns that i think they all grew bigger dongs just watching it (i'm sorry, i had to say it) --i think i even saw the arsenio hall helicopter arm pump. i mean, it just freaks me out. i had a guy friend say once that every guy thinks about killing or basically being in that dominant position at some point--it's instilled in them so to speak--and they just know it's not realistic or ethical. really, you think? also, no one cheers when the bad guys were throwing babies into fires, or raping women, or decapitating innocents. i realize rambo is the savior in this case and the moral of the story seemed to be that only violence can end violence--as exemplified with the missionary who had to kill a soldier about to off our dear rambo (which wouldn't have happened, silly guy). i think i just think to much with this film. it's supposed to be about action and guns and blood and glory....not necessarily redemption and peace as i would hope. oh well.

i went, i saw, i will never own on dvd.