Tuesday, April 28, 2009

So that's what everyone has been talking about


Today, In the News


Patroness Evington’s numerous roguish tendencies awake scorners“ Sunken nymphs fire assorted Seesaws into the smoking air just as the holdouts threaten you and I”, she said. “Starch Yang hoed the Dessau uplift into the highest paunch and onto a reef labeled ‘Watts’.”


Medical hellion energumen tortes Toecaps“Times thymus eyes,” mocks the hawed sponge youths erased canary entity shoe-fantasies. A nephew through the new rodeo gender, he looms tinny on all homeopathic and future minute rewrap hauling.”Tendrils Vacillate within the ornamental monkey religion


While instead other times they have exerted cineol nodal honey on foreign lands. Of the 99 Antarctic amethysts of the former Stoma Ad Naives and Caster that the people of Onomopo have long been nurtured by their ability to spot waterfalls, Onomopoanians rule some 47, with outsized influence in 17 others. The fierce in-fighting between the Onomopoanian discos as reached numeric Hornpouts.


The coyote’s denials... in on the will see that on the thin you the etherized hand, the reecho they heanen unhand hung by krs take on a whose sin drove the hangman’s hand.


Tho Indris Khan...her unaided actiendinon se dephapg. entering you of a different shape on a action of the in, the coyer reecho of a you will and observed pension made him bitter to the throne maker deals shaving of dift edams dng.


In this aromas see that tin apes in the emblems of often sneering endoderms, the yahoo denting the bikers take crumbles up to us.

Post About Nothing



Former Domicile of the Awful









Achtung, mein Scheisskopf!


You're probably asking, "How many posts can this SFB make in one day?"


Hey, you'd be surprised.


Nimble fingers + watery mind = (golden horn of meaninglessness, plethora

of oxygen-starved, reality-poverty-stricken thought)


By the way, the Google Ad people responded to my "Los Indios Tabajaras playtheir guitars tooslowly" posting with an add for "Easy Guitar Tabs" - pretty good, but nothing to do with Los IndiosTabajaras.

Are you a collector or a meta-collector? Guess what...


Collecting
All collections to some extent are in themselves commentaries on or critiques of collections and collecting itself. In other words, what one collects is a position on the phenomenon of collecting. Why do we persist in collecting things even when things have been digitized and made largely obsolete?
Certainly, many of our collections are available in a "cyber" sense - art, music and literature are all largely digitized and available in download or in free-view situations. And, the digitized versions of these things are more comprehensive, complete and pristine than anything we can do on our own.
Well, gee I guess we just like things, don't we?
There is the thought that collecting arises from our collective psyche, recalling the vast period of time when we, as a species fell into the "hunter /gatherer" category of human existence. The thought is that we just haven't given up that ghost yet.
So, anyway, the thought of collections being about collecting, or"meta-collecting" (collecting about collecting) as instrinsic to every / any collection - where am I going with this mindless trope?
I would have to say that some of my (few) collections are completely about that wrong-headed tendency. For instance, there is my "Unpopular Toy Collection". For years I have collected toys that didn't quite make it and thus, were relegated to the close-out section of the toy store. My main impulse here was a self-conscious parody of collecting: who would want and even, preserve unpopular toys? I guess I felt sorry for the toys, personifying them in a kind of pre-"Toy Story"conceit. Those poor "Raiders ofthe Lost Ark" action figures with no little boys and girls to play with them! Boom, here I come to save them.
But really, this collection is just a perverse riff on collecting. "You want to see a collection? Here check this out." "Huh?"
The fact is, being aware that I am driven to collect, just like every one else, I took a slightly ironic and/or cheap approach. Its a kind of little joke I share with myself. Ha ha ha!
Another collection I have verges on not being a collection - my pencil collection. This is one sweet collection as collections go. For one thing, it only takes up about a square foot after 15 or so years of collecting. It performs many of the functions a collection should perform- that is, it betokens many personal, past memories. "Gee, that Boston Red Sox pencil, I got it when I went to Fenway". or "Hey, my Globe Theater pencil, I got that at the Globe on the South Bank in London." ETC.
Also,this is an easy collection for other people to indulge me in - pencils are cheap and (as mentioned before) don't take up much baggage space. They can be and are artistic, beautiful and so forth. But here's the lynchpin characteristic of a pencil collection - if you gett ired of it, you can just use the pencils.
So, I guess the collection that really isn't a "Pure Collection", eg. you are halfway planning to functionally employ the items of the collection, is really on the boundary of collection and not-collection."Hey," he thought, "Maybe I can continue writing about this malarkey for afew thousand more lines!"
The End

Big Deal Alien Top Secret Memo Leaked by Government












Memo reports weaponized, reverse-engineered alien lander details


UPI - From October 1991 to December 1996, TOP SECRET Armadillo-Gnork Flight Research Facility (after 1994, the Gnork Flight Research Center, Point Salamander, New Mexico) conducted a research secret program known as theSpacecraft Insertion Project.


This Project was designed to determine the feasibility of the autonomous insertion of a spacecraft using a ram-air parafoil system for the final stages of flight, including a precision landing. The Alien Reverse Engineering Space Center and the U.S. Subterranean Armed Forces participated in various phases of the secret program.


The Alien DeepProbe Laboratory developed the software for Wobble 3 under contract to the Subterranean Armed Forces. Four generic spacecraft (each called a Spacewobble or simply a Wobble) were built; the last one was built to test the feasibility of a parafoil for delivering Subterranean Armed Forces(nuclear-weaponized) cargoes.Technology developed during this secret program has applications for future spacecraft and terran deployment systems, such as the X-1504.1 Crew Return Vehicle demonstrator.


The Spacewobble secret program demonstrated precision flare and landing into the wind at a predetermined location. The secret program showed that a flexible, deployable system using autonomous navigation and landing was a viable and practical way to insert spacecraft and/or to deploy other strategic assets..


TOP SECRET researchers conducted flight tests of the Spacewobble at threesites near Gnork, a hillside near Quaatalcoeli, the Limited-Access Dry Lakebed at Point Salamander Air Force Base, and the New Mexico City Airport Drop Zone. During the first phase of testing 360,000 flights were made. Phase II consisted of 450,000 flights using a smaller parafoil. A thirdPhase of 340,090 flights was conducted primarily by the Subterranean Armed Forces and resulted in the development of an Subterranean Armed Forces guidance system for precision offset insertions.


The Wobble used during the Subterranean Armed Forces phase was not called a Spacewobble but simply a Weaponized Wobble (WW). The Spacewobble was a flattened indestructible biconical airframe joined to a ram-air parafoil with a custom intelligent harness. In the manual control mode, the vehicle was flown using a bio-implant uplink. In its autonomous mode, it was controlled using a series of redundant chips that received input from onboard sensors. Selected sensor data was recorded onto several onboard data loggers. Two Spacewobble shapes were used for four airframes representing generic hypersonic invisible vehicle configurations.


Spacewobble vehicles were 48 inches long, 30 inches wide, and 21 inches high. Their basic weight was 120 pounds, although different configurations weighed from 127 to 184 pounds. Potential uses for Spacewobble-based technology include deployable, precision, autonomous landing systems, such as the one deployed by the X-1504.1 crew return vehicle; military insertions into populous areas, planetary probes; booster deployment systems; autonomous gliding parachute systems on military aircraft ejection seats; offset delivery of military cargoes; and delivery of “humanitarian” aid to hard-to-reach locations.


Gnork operatives involved with the Spacewobble secret program included R.“Gonzo” Resed, who originated the concept of conducting a subscale flight test at Gnork and participated in the actual testing. Znat Toqueller managed the flight project and participated in its documentation. J. Armand Murphy II served as the principal Gnork investigator and as the lead for all systems integration for Phases I and II (the Spacewobble phases).

A Unicorn Poem for All To ENJOY

Unicorn, my pretty friend
Let this splendor never end
Special! Special!
Your golden tail and ivory horn
You are Special, my unicorn!

In the misty hours before the dawn
I romp with Uni, on and on
Upon my dreamhorse I do ride
With the unicorn by my side

In the green pasture I comb your mane
Its so pretty I feel insane
Round and round the rink you trot
You are something that is not

When I return home I tell my friends
About the unicorn and how it blends
Into the mist and retreats with dawn
Then they say have a hit on the bong

Hey, sorry - I have another one that's not quite done yet, I'll post it later.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Yoga or the News?


So here's the deal: the news was starting to make me feel bad, like the end was near, bad things were going to happen, there was no hope and I was getting stressed out. Now, bad things weren't necessarily going to happen to me and bad things hadn't really happened to me, but the news told me over and over it was so. Its a brainwash. Why? Why would the news media want to brainwash me into a state of stress? Who knows? Its just the nature of the news, I guess.


Anyway, I quit watching the news. Problem goes away. Gee, funny how that works. Its all negative junk which I have no power over anyway, so banish it. Now, I still dabble in the news via the internet, magazines and the newspaper, but its my news now - stuff I want to keep up on and that can benefit me. International and national news I use as a smorgasbord - nibble a little of this and that, but when it gives me a little heartburn, screw it. Do something else.


Something else like Yoga, you know. Yoga, it turns out, is a pretty cool deal. You go at your own rate, do as much as you can that day and it pays you back in peace of mind and physical well-being. It figures since its been around for thousands of years and you don't hear much about it on the news - that its pretty good stuff.


So, that's a good trade off, the news for Yoga. Health and so forth instead of unnecessarily contrived stress.


And, after all, what is the news? Its somebody's idea of what will sell Viagra today. Something sensational that will keep the geezers glued to their sets long enough to see the latest multimillion advertising blitzkrieg engineered by the pharmaceutical companies. Viagra, Boniva, etc etc. Don't buy that shit, do yoga instead.
By the way, the dude in the picture is Lord Ganesh. I learned about him in India when I was there. Every year there is a ceremony where he goes back into the Bay of Bengal and everyone is sad, because Ganesh is the Main Man, everyone's friend, good luck and all of that. You gotta love a guy who when he lost his head, looked around for a replacement and found an elephant head. Pretty righteous tale, there. When I'm talking to my business associates in India and things are rough, I tell them I'll talk to Ganesh and ask for things to get better and that makes them happy. You know, whatever. He doesn't have anything to do with yoga, I don't think, but he does sit around in stylized poses all the time, so maybe he was yogic before they got yoga, hey huh?

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Was Spinal Tap supposed to be Mott the Hoople? The Stones? Uriah Heep?



Its "Stone Enge, idn't it? But its in danger of being trampled by a dwarf!"

Friday, April 24, 2009

More cuts featuring Neil Young



Neil Young isn't cutting enough records and releasing enough box sets, DVDs and movies but that he now wants to play all over Booker T Jones' latest Disk, Potato Hole. Neil plays that big blurry guitar, which isn't what you expect when you tune into Booker T and the MGs because his original guitarist - Steve Cropper was known for the tight guitar lines.

But since Neil had that brain tumor he has been going like a man possessed - its been one release and re-release after another. He's like Dylan now - play the endless tour until you die. But these guys aren't likely to die. They're doing that Willie Nelson thing.

So maybe Bob, Willie and Neil would be a good old codger supergroup. Booker T could play the B3 behind them. That would be something. Except the last time I looked, Willie (at Farm Aid '08) wasn't as compelling a performer as he once was. Maybe he could play every other song or every other set.

But back to this Booker T disc. This is pretty good drive time music recalling the MGs (Green Onions, Hang Em High, Mrs Robinson, all of that) - all soul instrumentals in the Stax Records vein. My man burned me a CD, so I got to listen already on my way home.

So my affiliation with Booker T goes back to the time of the picture on the previous post, when I was playing Little League and Green Onions was on the radio. Booker T was 17 at that time, I think.

Los Indios Tabajaras play their guitars too slowly


You know, this is sort of a test to see what the stupid google ads will come up with. I mention something about my feet and they have an ad for foot surgery. I mention Hank and they have ads for Hank CDs. Now what will they do? Ads for guitar picks and Incan music?


So these dreams I have, I don't know what the heck. I dreamed I had to drop off this really tiny baby at UPS to have it shipped somewhere. (Yeah, already this is bad - I'm a doomed soul and all of that!) Where I have to drop the baby off is this stone quarry sort of place thats all dusty with these dumb truck loader guys running around, rolling in the dust and just sort of acting all stupid. I keep asking for a supervisor to take this baby off my hands, for Pete's sake. Before you know it, the whole day is passed and they're changing shifts. Rather than worrying about the baby, I'm concerned that I'm wasting a lot of time and that I might have to KEEP the baby and change its diaper and all that. So, I go over to the baby and look at it and its got dust all over its face and I'm thinking, Wow this is great, the baby's getting all tired and dirty and these dummies won't get it shipped out of here for me.


Can you believe how callous and irresponsible this dream is? Unbelievable. All I want to do in this dream is get this baby shipped out on UPS. I woke up at this point and tell Patty about the dream and boy, is she ever impressed. Good start to the day, right? I'm 5th from the right, top row above, btw, c.1962

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Nothing / Angry Nun









Today's lesson in NOTHING, brought to you (in a roundabout way) by EdSanders of the Fugs

IF

(Everything is true) NOT= (Nothing is true)

THEN

Everything is true + Nothing is true = Everything is Nothing
Everything is true - Nothing is true = Nothing is Everything

AND

Everything is true X Nothing is true = Everything squared
Everything is true / Nothing is true = Nothing squared

Monday, April 20, 2009

Quit licking my toes, oh - all right



As I sit here right now, the little dog pictured here, Buddy, is licking my toes.

Persistently. Why does a dog lick your toes? For taste? For minerals and complex compounds? Yeast? Salt? To exhibit some dog-centric ethic of inter-animal interaction? He's not talking, but I guess I could read about it in one of those Canine Psychology and Self-Help books.

Another thought - he was licking the foot that has plantar fasciaitis (ie: heel hurts like murder). Maybe that's the interaction he was doing - healing the toe. (that's a pun right there).

So, I have a complex relationship with Buddy - he usually only wants to hang out with me on his terms - when I want to hang with him, uh uh nothing doing.

He's not a very "good" dog, but he has gotten next to me more than any dog or cat I have ever been associated with. He has gotten into my head and emotions further than most people ever get. It seems stupid, but dogs operate with humans on a really subtle level. Why can't they be the perfect dogs we want them to be? Well, what fun would that be?

Saturday, April 18, 2009

"Are ya' sure Hank done it this'a'way?" and other important philosophical concerns



At first this seems like a straightforward inquiry. The questioner inquires as to whether the questionee is certain as to whether "Hank" (e.g. Hank Williams) really did what the questioner is now doing (conducting his life and country and western career) the same way that Hank himself conducted his life / career?

The questioner seems to put full faith in Hank as a role model, but has developed doubt after attempting to follow that model.

Actually, this is a pretty complex question for a redneck. (Should I, however class the questioner, in this case Waylon Jennings as a mere redneck? He was in Buddy Holly's band when Buddy died in the post-Clear Lake, Iowa plain crash - he had given his seat on the plane to Dion, who in turn gave it to Richie Valens, a chain of guilt and fate that put a spin on his life and personal philosophy. Well, being a redneck is not a bad thing, I guess and I imagine Waylon thought of himself ironically as one, as I also do - a redneck a few miles down the road of life, as it were.)

So, at base, the question devolves into many:

1. What is the correct way to live?

2. Should we follow role models when attempting to live our lives correctly?

3. Can we actually trust the advice of others? (Is there such thing as a guru, or life coach? - in this case, the addressee)

4. Is life worth examining? (Is "this" the way to do things?) Or should we plunge ahead with life, unquestioning of the status quo (in this case "the way Hank done it")

5. Is our avocation (in this case, "the country western singer (read "Artist")) open for interpretation by others than the self?

6. What is the importance of the avocation to the individual? Is it worth suffering for? (given the Hank Williams model, is it worth living hard, suffering long, being betrayed and dying young and unhappy?)

7. Is Art a worthy avocation? (Is there another worthy choice, then, instead?)

8. What is life? Is it distinguishable from art?

9. Are we in this life to suffer and doubt?

10. To whom may we reliably turn for answers to the important questions?

I give you the Parrot, sitting in the sunshine, acting the clown. One has but to wonder about his view of avocation and art and life. Are you sure Ronald McDonald done it this'a'way?

Aye, the trivial yields to the profound and back again. 'Arrrrgh me hearties!

My apologies for dropping the inquiry on the philosophy of Waylon Jennings, but it does seem to me to be profundity midst clownish "Country Rebellion". Waylon was not merely questioning the Nashville system here, but digging for deeper truth...and all in a three minute song on the jukebox.

Friday, April 17, 2009

The Usual Stuff - Infernal Space Robots attack Flemington


A torrent of deadly space robots invaded downtown Flemington, NJ today leaving a swath of infernal destruction in their wake.


Observers, like Al, the Town Drunk, estimated the invasion force at 900 gazillion space robots. This estimate may be somewhat overstated, according to the local junior high chess team, who were on a field trip to the comic book store, but maybe more fully accurate in emotional terms (if you are someone who exhibits emotions).


A nervous bystander with a bad complexion described the robots as a "brightly-painted, smokey, square-shaped, smelly, loud, ambitious, harsh-light-emitting, slow-moving, interdimensional gang bangers from hell." This too was somewhat hyperbolized, according to members of the local marching band society, who were in search of a bar - which, by the way, can not be found in Downtown Flemington since the Union Hotel closed and sold its booze license, creating a de-facto state of prohibition, although many people can (and do) bring their own bottles to many local eateries and alleyways. They stated that the space robots weren't painted, but instead were constructed of brightly colored metals, plastics and glass.


I would like to unequivocally state that no one knows where the spacerobots came from (other than from space) or where they went to for the after-destruction party.


In related news, another onslaught of merely annoying space robots invaded downtown Pittstown NJ earlier in the day, leaving an visibly irritated populace of mopes and would-be aviators to mutter and scowl over their beers at the Pittstown Inne (est 1768). Evan, the town's only punk, an eleven year old kid with a green Statue of Liberty mohawk was heard to say,"Aw, we always get the crappy space robots here! Pittstown sucks!"


Scientists from nearby Raritan Valley Community College were hesitant to comment on the rash of space robot invasions and skeptical as to whether local citizenry could be trusted to report with accuracy on such ground-breaking events. Instead, they decamped to a local watering hole to contemplate, think, cogitate, regard the facts, analyze and mull the reported events over some more.


"This is even worse than Tea Party Day they had yesterday!" said Al, the Town Drunk.

Object - ness



The Perfect Object

Plato's Theory of Forms holds that there is a perfect model for each object in the world, that the objects we have are just imperfect copies of the perfect model. For instance, there is a perfect model of a chair that embodies all of the qualities of"chair-ness".

Well, hey, this is a pretty useful theory in all practicality in that it holds that we can speculate what makes a perfect chair (or any other object) and then strive to that standard. And, for some reason, I have always tended to ascribe to this theory,whether or not it actually makes sense. For instance, I can visualize what I would think is the perfect pitcher, the perfect vase, the perfect candlestick, the perfect house, the perfect road, etc. Probably no one else would agree to my visualizations, so that would make this a "theory of forms for one."

This is also okay, it just means that my approach tothe world, when making things or renderings of things, is individualized. Perfectly good, I just have my own unique take on Everything. For an artist or craftsman, this is what constitutes value and aesthetics - eh? My perfect ideal, rendered as close to my conception of perfection as possible.

The other side of this is mass-production - hundreds, thousands, millions of objects all the same. (including art, music, literature) Not so good, not so aesthetically pleasing, lowest common denominator stuff that we are just stuck with, since due to the"economy of scale"it is cheaper to produce.

Of course, this approach has its upside - mass consumer culture (if that's an upside), autos for everyone and so forth. This approach to reality got a lot of bad press when it was starting out,not so much anymore. It was derided as "creeping conformity" and the pursuit of mass-produced objects as "keeping up with the Joneses."

The heighth of the creepiness around conformity wasthe 50s, when movies like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" came out. People were afraid that all of the sameness was robbing them of their souls. And, it probably was (and is). The sixties went sort of backlash on conformity, resulting in a conformity of non-conformity. This type of conformity you may remember from different movements where everyonewas trying to look like individuals but wound up looking remarkably similar: the beatniks, the hippies, and later, the punks.

The antidote was not a complete cure. So back we go to the individual ideal of perfection, individual commitment. But how does this ideal square with the universal - we do have universal needs like the needs not to blow up, pollute and otherwise screw up the planet. If I'm busy with my individual pursuit, how does that square up with the collective need? Is the universal good conformity? Individualism? A blend of the two?

As you might remember, the social experiments based on the perfect race (the Nazi's "Master Race") and the perfect society (Nazis again, the Soviets and Red Chinese) didn't pan out so well for millions of slaughtered people and people interred in concentration camp due to their defects. When applying the theory of forms to society, really bad things happen.

I'm still looking for my perfect pitcher, however.

Around and around we go.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

What is purple, weighs 2,000 pounds and swims in the ocean?


After listening to a band for 41 years, your affinity for their music can get pretty fully realized. Of course, I relate to many such bands with varying degrees of personal affinity. One of the bands with which I have a very close experiential alliance is Moby Grape. I have gone the full gamut of musical appreciation with this band, although I have never seen them perform live (to my chagrin).


Moby Grape ran the spectrum, in rock music terms. At times they sound like enthusiastic, talented amateurs, at other times studio wizards, goof-offs, the tightest band ever, a band threatening to fall apart as they played, great harmonists, lousy harmonists, ace guitarists, bogus guitarists. To put it plainly, there's a lot there with Moby Grape - five guys who could write, sing, play and function together as a band / or not. They also had a great rock legend, Alexander (Skip) Spence (may he rest in peace) in their midst, a man who you can hear inspirationally hammering away on rhythm guitar on all of their best tracks and singing in a uniquely windy, elastic voice.


Much has been made of the self-destruction of Moby Grape, who were supposed to be "the American Beatles" or something, but I'll take what they left us - albeit that is very hard to find nowadays. (They continue to have enormous legal problems with their ex-manager, so their first two (great) albums "Moby Grape"and "Wow/Grape Jam" are hard to come by without overspending dramatically. I listen to them in the revered VINYL format, BTW).


The Moby Grape Main Legacy was those two albums and all of the tracks they laid down in 2 years, 1967 and 1968. Thank The God Who Whistles in the Treetops that Sundazed records has packaged up the Grape's left-over recordings from those two years (67 and 68) as "The Place and the Time" and made them available in CD and LP format. I have the CD and have listened to it non-stop for the past week. (Maybe, I'll pop for the vinyl, too. Why not?) It's a Moby Grape paradise of alternate cuts, demos and live tracks. I'm so freaking happy with this package that I probably can't even express it properly. It's the Zing Zang with the Kamoogelly Ding Dang! They call it 'the great lost Moby Grape album' and for me, that is exactly what it is. I'm hearing their subsequently "studio-ed up" cuts in their original state for the first time and tracks that they cut after Skip left in their full-group presentation. Its just wonderful.


Now listen, Moby Grape is not for everyone. No, no, no. I don't know if they are one of those "ya hadda be there" bandsor whatever, but like I say, I have been getting maximum joy out of themfor 41 years, with a lot more to be had. Ditto on Skip's LEGENDARY solo 1969 lp, "Oar". Its also available from Sundazed and should be heard. I have an original rare vinyl copy that is my most prized possession in the world. Its almost worn out from 40 years of listening, dubbing and admiring. Needless to say, "Oar" is not for everyone either. If you check the reviews of it online, many are negative. It either gets you or it don't. However, one thing that Il ike about "The Place and the Time", is that it has two or three numbers that would fit nice and sonically on "Oar". Phabulous!


Enough on this for now. Check out a capsule summary of Moby Grape's exploits and bad luck at allmusic.com


Moby Grape's immortal original lineup: Skip Spence - guitar, Jerry Miller - lead guitar, Peter Lewis - guitar, Don Stephenson - drums, Bob Mosley - bass. '


All hail the Grape!


(The album covers pictured above are "Wow" and "Grape Jam", which came packaged as a "two-fer", unheard of at the time. "Wow" is a Sgt Pepper - influenced album, with great songs abetted by sound collages, studio trickery, sound effects, lots of edits and a surprise cut that needed to be played at 78 rpm featuring Arthur Godfrey on ukelele and the Lou Waxman Orchestra playing loping, antique jazz accompaniment behind an absolutely crazed Skip Spence composition. "Wow", was as they say "high concept". Grape Jam was a collection of blues jams, murky performance pieces and one great Bob Mosley blues song, "Never", that was later stolen and renamed by Led Zeppelin as "Since IBeen Loving You." You can pay a lot of money for the CD versions of these two items, or get relatively cheap vinyl versions.)

Monday, April 13, 2009

Film - "Sin Nombre"


This was a hopping good movie. People told me it was depressing, but I don't get really feel that from movies. Yeah, it was depressing for the (fictive) characters - it sucked to be them, for sure, but when I watch a movie I guess I am following the craft of the thing and man, this movie was tight. The narrative is very linear and its a real chair-arm-grabber - lots of things go wrong for our crew of people heading North to New Jersey from Central America.


So, I don't know, it seems like the good movies now are tending to be made outside the US, outside the Hollywood system. Real stories are tending to be told with real actors in real situations. The same was true for the Italian gang film, "Gomorrah". I would rather watch this kind of stuff, with subtitles, than a Tom Cruise unbelievable action mess anyday. I'm going to continue seeking out so-called "foreign" films. They seem to be happening like they were in the 60's. Hollywood is spending a trillion bux a flick and the art is happening elsewhere.
Trouble is - you have to work to see films like this. They are not in general distribution, lets say. I see mine at the (little, funky) Montgomery Cinema in Montgomery, NJ (Rt 202, near Princeton). There are usually about 20 people in the audience - you know, "good film" nuts and its very comfortable. I don't even know too much how you find out about little, arty films. Scour the web, I guess, or just show up at the very few places who are dedicated to showing artistic films.

PC Hood Ornament



I don't like to work when I actually have to apply myself. When I can work and its completely effortless, that's okay. But, working with effort, ugh! That really sucks. It seems such an intrusion on the beauty of life to even HAVE to work, so when it involves effort or unpleasant or annoying tasks, forget it.

I'm referring to work here as the phenomenon that happens in reaction to the necessity of supporting oneself and one's family financially. What a distasteful thing this is, even to contemplate, associating as it does the lack of freedom with $.

So, when at 'work', I like to work at total efficiency, friction-free and complete everything I need to accomplish by about 10 a.m. Then I'm free to skylark the rest of the day, you know - do things like contemplate reality, take a walk, fuck around with my blackberry, go to lunch, go to the bookstore and goof off real good. I find that if you get all of your crummy assignments done in the most efficient manner possible, you can pretty much stick to this schedule. Of course, there's a lot of illusion necessary. You have to talk a good ballgame without actually lying and not actually appear to be goofing off too badly, but those are small concessions to the necessities of coping with odious things like "having a job."

Ah, well. Gee, I should be working now, but am doing this instead!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Eventually I'll



start posting stuff that may actually

a) be interesting

or

b) make sense

but probably not today. Here's an architectural anomaly to look at from mid-Amercia. A building that is a Big Ass basket. I was actually inside this building and have to admit to being a bit awed by it. Its not exactly Notre Dame Cathedral, but it does have a unique feel to it. Not exactly that feel you have when you stand up in public and say something humiliating, but a certain feeling of undeserved awe or somefin'.

I'm really proud of just having gone commercial on my blog by putting those annoying ads in the right hand column. I envision a day when casual conversation will be punctuated by advertisements.

"Hi, Bill. How ya doin'?"

"Great, Jim! Hey, have you tried new Frosty Oaty-Ohs! They contain 100% of your daily requirement of riboflavin and Mercury!"

"No, but may I recommend to you the Law Firm of Donner, Donner and Skelton? They really are on your side in the event of personal injury!"

"Okay, and stay away from my woman, right?"

"Right."

My Mind Is Such a Place Fine Is



Dang, I'm getting that corn pone rush