Black Swan

I saw Black Swan a few weeks ago but for some reason haven’t been able to get my thoughts together on this film.  But it’s time to get this done.

Black Swan (2010)

Netflix description:

In [this] psychological thriller, ambitious New York City ballet dancer Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) lands the lead role in "Swan Lake" but soon thinks her dreams of stardom are threatened by a rival ballerina (Mila Kunis). As opening night approaches and the pressure to be perfect builds, Nina's obsession descends into paranoia and delusion.

In talking with my friends that are cinephiles, I discovered that they didn’t love it.

I did like it.  I enjoyed the intensity and how the director really got us into her head, even though it was a scary confused place.  The sexuality in its stunted, subtle, and not-so-subtle forms was almost a character in and of itself.  The filming added to the intensity; the viewer was so close to the main character – literally.  The camera kept us bouncing behind her as she walked, focused on her super slim face as she struggled to achieve perfection yet spontaneity. 

The director, Darren Aronofsky, who is known for Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and The Wrestler, is not a man who goes after cheery, happy-ending stories.  The themes of battling with oneself, violence, and confusion are present in Black Swan as they are in his other films.  So, in that way this movie was similar to previous movies, but I didn’t feel it was so similar as to be a tired, too familiar effort. 

There’s an interview on Fresh Air with Natalie Portman that is  fascinating in its description of her 1-year training for the film and all the things she had to do to get her small body to be ballerina-like.

Winter’s Bone > True Grit

This holiday weekend I saw both of the following movies – True Grit and Winter’s Bone.  The main female character in Winter’s Bone had more “true grit” than anyone in the movie True Grit.

True Grit (2010)

I didn’t get into this film.  I have not seen the original John Wayne movie.

Being a fan of the Coen brothers was a major draw for me.  I love their range as filmmakers.  A list of their films below exemplifies that statement and also shows some of my favorites:

• Raising Arizona (1987)
• Fargo (1996)
• The Big Lebowski (1998)
• Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
• No Country for Old Men (2007)
• Burn After Reading (2008)
• A Serious Man (2009)

My love of their creative range means that my feelings towards this film have little to do with True Grit being a different genre than previous efforts.  After reading through several reviews to find out why this movie has been met with such critical acclaim, it seems I disliked everything that most liked about the film. 

I found the dialogue long-winded and without wit.  I found the main female lead’s flaunting of knowledge to be extreme and prissy as opposed to refreshing, which is uncharacteristic of me because I’m partial to strong, smart female leads in general.  The language and strict use of diction was annoying.  The landscape and cinematography were not very pronounced.   I could go on but I think the point has been made.

Winter’s Bone (2010)

The female lead in this movie, while the opposite of her well-educated, proper True Grit counterpart, has more balls.  But, then, the weight of her burden is real (two young siblings and a mentally ill mother) as opposed to simply the drive of revenge. 

Netflix description:

…Set deep in the Ozarks, resilient teen Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) goes on the trail of her missing, drug-dealing father when his absence jeopardizes the family's safety. Her deadbeat dad has a key court date pending, and Ree is determined that he show up -- despite the objections of the insular Dolly clan.

The description says nothing of the exquisite detail in the film.  The hungry dogs and horse, the wailing cows at auction, the kids having fun on the trampoline amid the impending doom of their lives, the filthy clutter of the cheap, old houses, the simple joy of sitting with family playing a banjo.

There’s not a whole lot of joy in this movie, I’ll admit, and you can feel the harsh cold of the southern Missouri winter that’s mirrored in the faces and actions of Ree’s “family.”  They were all scary – from the hard, lined faces of the women to the scraggly, unkempt men – but Ree’s journey illuminated the world of old “Hatfield and McCoy” rules of family loyalty and the effect of drugs and its money.

What she unflinchingly does in an effort to save her family is remarkable.

NYC stickers

These are some stickers spotted in NYC in October 2010.  They were on the backs of signs, on walls, and the very last one was posted inside a subway station.

Last Night

Last Night (1998)
As mentioned in earlier posts, I am fascinated with the apocalyptic and that’s what drew me to this movie.  It’s been on my list for years, but it only just became available through streaming Netflix in the past few months. 
Netflix description:

What do you do when you have six hours to live? Last Night chronicles a small group of people whose lives intersect as a nameless apocalypse descends on them. A woman (Sandra Oh) tries to locate her husband to fulfill a suicide pact, while a young man (Callum Keith Rennie) has a rendezvous with a former high school teacher.

Unfortunately, they don’t ever give any indication whatsoever about the cause of the apocalypse!  All the viewer knows is that the world will end at midnight.  From context clues I inferred that the sun was exploding or a large meteor was headed towards the earth or something of that sort.
The apocalypse was clearly just a backdrop for a movie that really wanted to focus on the craziness of human relationships, family, sex, and timing. It was a bit too contemplative for an end of the world film.  That said, one shot near the end with two characters holding a gun to each other’s head was well done and slightly impacting.  Otherwise it was only mildly engaging visually.
There was also one line from the preview (and the film) that I found compelling.  The same two characters mentioned above were trying to quickly get to know each other in the last hour of the world.  She tries to speed the process by saying to him, “tell me something to make me love you.”  Now there’s an interesting question.  What would you say?

Love and Other Drugs

Lots of Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway sex as well as lots of naked Anne Hathaway.

Netflix description:

Pharmaceutical representative Jamie Randall (Gyllenhaal) becomes a player in the big game of male-performance-enhancement-drug sales and, along the way, finds unexpected romance with a woman (Hathaway) suffering from Parkinson's disease. Based on the real-life Jamie Reidy's memoir, Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman.

The first third of the movie was enthralling because of the focus on the pharmaceutical industry.  The process of training their salespeople and how certain drugs get on your doctor’s shelf as opposed to others was both fascinating and scary.  Then the love story started.

As previously mentioned, there were more than a few steamy sex scenes, but Gyllenhaal and Hathaway did have good chemistry, which is what made the scenes steamy I guess.   I’m not a fan of Hathaway’s performance in Rachel Getting Married (for which she earned an Oscar nomination), but her performance in this film was better than expected (and it did get her a Golden Globe nomination). 

Overall, the movie was fun and a little more complex than your typical romantic comedy, but the dialogue in general was lacking.  Also, there were just a few too many “look how cute I am” Gyllenhaal shots and big-eyed Hathaway scenes.  I do have to admit that the last few minutes of Gyllenhaal voiceover talking about how one person, even just a chance encounter, can change your life was particularly resonant. 

Oh, it’s interesting to remember that Gyllenhaal and Hathaway were a “couple” in Brokeback Mountain five years ago.

yuppie problems

From web site referenced below:

“Line at wine store taking forever [because] some guy tried to pay with Discover card. Really?”

Some years back (maybe December 2006?) the first and only New Years Eve party this condo has seen was held.  One couple stayed late and we ended up talking about computer issues or something that was causing somewhat serious disruption to one of our lives.

At the time I was reading What is the What by Dave Eggers, which is basically the story of a Sudanese refugee and his amazingly tragic life. With this in mind, I started to chastise all of us for our focus on these little things in our lives that we complain about when in distant (and not too distant) lands there are entire villages being wiped off the planet due to civil unrest, dictatorships, etc. 

I called these little things “yuppie problems.”

The phrase “yuppie problems” is now referenced humorously.  For example, I have a friend who got very worked up because the company from which he orders the bulbs for his garden messed up his order.  As in they sent him Russian garlic instead of some other kind.  I pointed out to him that this was definitely a yuppie problem.

Of course, I asked the Googles about yuppie problems and it seems there are others out there posting on the interwebs about this.

There is an entire web site devoted to this topic (see initial quote at beginning of this post)!  Then there are web sites with individual yuppie problem posts:

• “Yuppie problems: What the hell are we going to do with all this Fennel?”
• “The next time I have a meltdown over something as trivial as reformatting PowerPoint presentation slides, I should remind myself that I don’t save lives for a living.”
• “I am having serious yuppie problems this weekend, including burning a small chunk of hair with a straightening iron and winding up with too many leftovers from my couples’ board game party.”

That’s the story of yuppie problems.

Monster

The Friday before Halloween this year I ran the Scream Scram 5K at Washington Park here in Denver. This is a run that benefits the Boys and Girls Club and a run in which the participants are supposed to be in costume and a surprising amount of people were.  I was one of the exceptions as you can see below in the photo of me and Beaker (an amazing costume and the awe-inspiring assistant to Dr. Bunsen Honeydew).

Anyway, one of the draws of doing the run was the t-shirt.  This is special because typically t-shirts associated with athletic events are mediocre at best.  Not this one.  This one had a unique drawing of a strange being (and its cat) that was oddly alluring:

Turns out that a friend knew about the artist and shared a web site – The Daily Monster. In direct contradiction to the site’s title, the artist doesn’t actually post a daily monster (at least not that I can tell), but there are some pretty fantastic monsters featured:

This hits right at the center of my desire for whimsical art – love it.

Garfield or not

Similar to DJ music, “Garfield Minus Garfield” takes existing art and bends it to make a something entirely fresh.  Just read the site’s purpose:

Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.

This is the original strip of the above sans Garfield strip:

What a brilliant idea.  I read Garfield in fourth grade and don’t remember rolling on the floor laughing or anything.  I was amused by Garfield and Odie. Imagine a fourth grade girl kind of chuckling while flipping through Garfield books.  The top strip is far funnier than with the cat.  Sort of a Fight Club concept – you can think back to all the Garfield strips you ever read and imagine that Garfield was just a figment of Jon’s imagination.

Temporary

“It usually just pops right off,” is what the dental assistant said to me yesterday.  I was in to dentist office to get a crown put on, which usually means you don’t need to get the numbing injection.  Typically they pull off the temporary crown and put on the new/permanent crown.  Not yesterday. It couldn’t be that easy.

For those of you who don’t have crowns yet, you get a temporary because the impression they take of your tooth has to be sent off (somewhere) to be created out of a more permanent material (there are several options and, honestly, I don’t know what mine is made of). In the interim you get a temporary tooth that is put on with a very light adhesive – usually.

Guess what? The dental assistant who put on my temporary crown 2.5 weeks ago put it on with permanent cement.  That meant that the temporary had to be drilled off.  This, of course, meant I had to get the numbing injection!!  Now, you may recall from a previous post that I am a very fearful dentist patient.  The dentist even remarked that, of all her patients, it’s uncanny that this happened to me…Oh the irony.

speaking of irony:

DJ Shadow

Last Sunday I attended the DJ Shadow show at the Ogden Theatre here in Denver, Colorado.  It was a marvelous show. 

DJ Shadow is a legendary DJ and turntablist from California.  I’ve been a fan for over 10 years.  Of course, I love Endtroducing… and Preemptive Strike as well as his contributions to Dr. Octagon, but The Private Press and the most recent album, The Outsiders, didn’t quite grab me in the same way.

Some interesting facts (kindly compiled by wikipedia):

[DJ Shadow] is considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop and first gained notice with the release of his highly acclaimed debut album Endtroducing....., which was constructed entirely from samples. He has an exceptionally large personal record collection, with over 60,000 records.

The fact that Endtroducing…was “constructed entirely from samples” is really amazing.  The video of Midnight in a Perfect World below, though not my favorite song, shows how various songs and samples come together.

Now, I know that some don’t see this kind of music as “real” music since it basically takes music that already exists and mixes it together.  But, to me, it is just the natural evolution of art.  Don’t we already see the constant influence of other TV shows on the current ones, similarly with film and all other forms of art.  To be truly original after so much that has gone before becomes more and more challenging.  DJs just embrace it and create a new type of art. 

Back to the show. While some part of me desperately wanted to hear a mix of Endtroducing…and Preemptive Strike music, I was overwhelmingly pleased with what I did hear.  I heard a splendid mix of everything, including quite a bit yet-to-be-released material.  There were elements of the familiar in style but really fresh in delivery.  It was one of those shows where you can feel the music (the music moves through you!).

The visuals deserve some note.  This “Shadowsphere” was a large presence in the performance.  The Shadowsphere is an orb in which DJ Shadow does his work.  It is all white and images were projected on it as well as the screen behind it. 

This is a shot from the backside:

These are two photos I grabbed off the interwebs of the front side.

At first I thought it was a little cheesy but it was actually well done.

Waxing

So, as a modern woman I have been thinking about bikini waxing. Of course, as a modern woman, I employed the great and mighty Googles in my research work (Note: I definitely refrained from searching images). I found some interesting information.

First, what are the options for a bikini wax? There are basically three options from what I can tell.

• bikini - for the “Modest”…hair is removed that extends outside of the panty line or crease of thigh.
• Brazilian bikini - for the “Wild”…all hair is removed including backside.
• modified bikini - for the “Adventuresome”…a thin strip of hair is left down the middle of the bikini area (a.k.a. a “landing strip”).

If you want to search wikipedia, there are photos that show all three of these options as well as another photo titled “natural” (or something like that) for comparison. I’m not posting those!

Second, in this research I came across some curious new trends.

• Vajazzling:  The bedazzler might come to mind. Well, that’s not too far off.  This is a “vaginal adornment” – for the exterior, that is. Yep, rhinestones are applied in a design to a just-waxed pubic area.  I have no idea why someone would do this nor do I have any thoughts on how one’s partner might react upon encountering a vajazzled hoo-hoo.
• Vattoos: Temporary vaginal tattoos – you know, another way to accessorize the newly bald area…  From what the interweb tells me, vattoos “are generally done post-Brazilian wax (you need a ‘clean canvas’ for the artist). They're applied a few inches above your actual girlie bits, and the airbrush-and-stencil ‘vat’ washes away after a week.”

Third, there were also more serious thoughts on the general trend towards hairlessness. 

• The Psychology Today web site has a “Sexuality Today” blog and on this blog I found a November 2010 post entitled, “Contemporary Sexuality and the Brazilian Wax.” The post asked some interesting questions about why recent generations are disgusted with body hair, which includes the oiled, hairless-chested male models as much as the women with bald vaginas.  Taking the discussion a bit further, the author lamented that the “efforts [of previous generations] to encourage young women to celebrate their bodies come to this - to their having to alter them so their partners won't be disgusted? This can't be progress.”  This hadn’t occurred to me but is a question worth asking.
• A Slate.com article provides some insight as to what it’s like to be one who does the waxing.  Whether or not one has had a wax, one has likely thought how odd it must be to have a job where you look at panty areas all day. 

I’m not going to comment on whether or not I actually walked into the waxing studio and took the next step. I just thought others would be interested in the research.

5.3 days (or 127 hours)

Went to see a movie in the theater today! 

127 Hours (2010)

I quite enjoyed this one.  For a movie that is primarily a one-man show, it was captivating and affecting.  Going into it I knew that Aron Ralston (the real life person portrayed by James Franco) cuts off his arm.  I wouldn’t have thought to call it “surgery” per se but I imagine the theater was challenged to think of what to say exactly (this was the sign on the box office today):

So, where to start…the movie is based on a book written by Ralston about his actual experience being pinned by a huge boulder and having to free himself by amputating his own arm – Between a Rock and a Hard Place.  The director, Danny Boyle (director of Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, and – of course – Slumdog Millionaire), handled the translation from book to movie quite well.  Going in I thought it might have a Touching the Void feel but it didn’t at all.  The first quarter of the film was pre-rock fall and was obviously meant to show what a lively, vivacious life Ralston has and juxtapose that exuberance with a grave situation. I liked the way that bit was filmed – very energetic. 

The rest of the movie was basically Franco stuck with the rock in a canyon in Utah, which brings me to Franco’s performance.  From a Fresh Air interview (or it might have been the Colorado Matters interview), I learned that Ralston was a participant in the filming and he allowed Franco to see the video he took during the situation.  In the movie, Franco talks to the video camera and occasionally screams and yells but there was no voiceover/internal dialogue.  This was not a problem because from his expressions, even silently, Franco conveyed everything.

I covered my ears during the part that showed him cutting off his arm.  I had been tipped off by the Slate Culture Gabfest discussion of the movie (the “Farewell to Arms” edition) that the sounds were almost worse than seeing it.  I didn’t actually watch that much of it either.  The parts I did see were pretty gory.

Anyway, see it!

next blog

Last night I was doing the “next blog” exercise, which means I was in Google blogger just jumping from one blog to the next by hitting “next blog.”  Through this, I came across “Kissssing: a love blog” and I was taken by it.  It’s so simple yet so exuberant with it’s photos of classic couples and quotes.  The photo below was my favorite – it’s from The Royal Tenenbaums, a photo of Margot and Richie.

This recent quote also grabbed my attention: "Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." -- Robert Frost

Interestingly, one of my regularly-patrolled blogs had a love-themed posts today, titled “I was lucky to find you.”  This was the post:

Usually the next blog exercise is fairly fruitless and yields blogs in foreign languages or full of poetry or god-centric.  I guess I got lucky.

Yet more movies

These are three I’ve actually watched in the last 30 days. 

Green Zone (2010)

As a liberal who believes that the US is in Iraq unnecessarily, this movie appealed to me.  It asserts that US officials fabricated a source that told them that there were WMDs in Iraq (gasp!).  It goes on to overtly imply that we are trying to put a stucco cap on a pond of toxic material by pushing a democracy on a country that has a far more complicated past then we recognize.  That said, it was basically an action film – I mean we’ve got Jason Bourne/Matt Damon as the lead.  A lot of military maneuvers and helicopters and gun fights.  Overall I was sort of lukewarm on it.

The Missing (2003)

In this Ron Howard-directed western, Cate Blanchett is a kick ass frontier woman that goes after a band of nasty brutes to get her stolen daughter back – with the help of her faux-Native American estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones). The movie was a bit long and the “Native American” Tommy Lee Jones got a little old, but I never tired of Blanchett.  It was, at times, an emotionally-charged film and I certainly felt it when one or two characters died. It was just a bit too long…

Death at a Funeral (2010)

I don’t know what possessed me.  Must be that everlasting search for a “comedy” that is actually funny. This movie isn’t going on that list.  This quote from the Onion AV Club review sums it up: Death At A Funeral has two primary tones: broad and Tracy Morgan-covered-in-Danny Glover’s-crap super-loud.

Bcycle

I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about the probability of success for the bike share program (Bcycle) that started in Denver this year.  I think they started with 45 or so locations and 500 bikes. I thought they might not have enough bikes and were maybe putting them in locations without enough density. I don’t actually know what level of success the program has achieved but personally I love it!

In July we did the “Tour de Bcycle” which involves renting a bike at one location, going to another Bcycle kiosk, docking that bike, getting another bike, going to the next Bcycle kiosk, and on and on until you’ve hit every Bcycle location in a single day.  It was a great way to spend the day after Independence day and turned into a little bar crawl after 5:00 pm with only a handful of Bcycle locations left.  Here are some photos from that day:

The Tour was my first introduction to Bcycle and an excellent way to get to know the system and become comfortable with it. Since then, I’ve won an annual membership and use it fairly frequently.  Of course, my work and home locations are ideal for its use – I work downtown and live about a mile away in Capitol Hill. 

Speaking of happy hour, last night we made our own little Bcycle bar crawl. We hopped on a Bcycle at 13th/Pearl.  From there we docked and went to the Great Divide Brewing (home of Titan IPA) tap room and enjoyed yummy, fresh-brewed, Colorado craft beer. Next was Tamayo for some mezcal.  We grabbed yet another Bcycle and rode all the way to the Botanic Gardens – free night and has a Bcycle kiosk – to meet friends. We capped the evening at City o City back in the hood.

I was able to wear open-toed shoes and just a sweater because the early November Colorado weather was perfect! The only photos that turned out are one of me and one of Tony Everhart eating a cupcake.  Unfortunately no action bike shots.

movie wrap up part 2

This is a companion post to my previous attempt to close out on the movies I’ve watched but not blogged about.  I’ve been struggling with some of these so my goal is to be brief!

New Jack City (1991)

I watched this late at night on streaming Netflix.  I honestly don’t remember much and, thus, have no opinions. 

I Heart Huckabees (2004)

Fantastic cast: Dustin Huffman, Lily Tomlin, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Wahlberg, Naomi Watts, and Jude Law.  Plot wrapped in existentialism and nihilism with a background of corporate greed and environmental ravaging. This was my second viewing and I liked it a little less than the first time but I still quite enjoyed it.

Greenberg (2010)

I was a little disappointed with Noah Baumbach (director of The Squid and the Whale and co-writer of The Life Aquatic)on this one. The main character, while somewhat humorous with his intense social awkwardness, was just a monster to his “romantic love interest.”  I didn’t hate it but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

A Town Called Panic (2009)

Netflix:

Tag along for the small-town adventures of plastic toys Cowboy, Indian and Horse when they buy 50 million bricks, setting into motion a crazy chain of events at their rambling rural home. Now trekking across distant lands, they end up in another world plunged under water.

Hilarious but bizarre! Only 74 minutes but worth it.

Youth In Revolt (2009)

I have to admit that this was funnier than I thought it was going to be but the expectations were low.  I feel like I’ve seen Michael Cera just a bit too much.  The bad boy alter ego was a refreshing element though. Oh, the marijuana brownie/cookie scene was actually really funny. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it…

blah/not-so-blah life

I have been struggling with posting because there isn’t much happening in the blah life*.  I mean there was that whole election deal but I’m not much of a political blogger.  Sure, I have opinions but they aren’t groundbreaking. 

Life has felt extra blah lately and I think it’s because the weeks previous to this one have been so not blah, if that makes sense.  October was a fabulous month of travel and taking in new things and meeting truly interesting people.  I went to NYC, San Antonio, and Portland, Oregon.  When I was in the office there were tight deadlines and fast-paced action.  Things in life felt…active, lively, engaging!  Here are some photos of me that express these feelings:

 

Since I’ve been back I’ve been itching to meet people and do things and get out!  Luckily for me, my girlfriends have been happy to help with this, but mostly I’ve been going to yoga, reading transit news, and spending endless hours on itunes and youtube in search of new music. 

The point is that I don’t have any interesting blog material. This is especially true because I’m going on a mental diet – I’m cutting out the cute stuff.   I mean I can’t even find the Icanhascheezburger app for my phone.  This cute stuff supplied some good material but some part of my brain was atrophying due to overexposure.

 

*I must admit that the blah life isn’t bad – I’m not in a refugee camp and my town isn’t about to be covered in lava or toxic material that broke loose from a detention pond.  I know I have it good, but everything is relative, right?

Anxiety-fueled run

“You’re a real trooper.”  That’s what my dentist and dental assistant said to me repeatedly during my two-hour appointment today. 

Now, the truth is that I am not a real trooper.  In fact, when getting dental work done I normally get “the gas” – i.e. nitrous oxide. It helps but they rarely turn it up high enough to cut through the anxiety. I go to a dentist that specializes in patients with anxiety related to dentistry.  You’re probably thinking “who doesn’t have some anxiety related to going to the dentist?”  Well, I’ll tell you.  I’ve been to dentists that basically told me that I needed to buck up or leave.  The difference between those dentists and my dentist is that my dentist is empathetic and gentle, which should be the norm but really isn’t.

I went in for two fillings and a crown.  When I was informed today that the gas was in use by other patients and not available for me, I became, let’s say, visibly fearful.  The dental assistant was so comforting and sweet.  She actually started tearing up when I shed some tears of fear.  The lesson for the day for me is that a little kindness can go a long way to making someone feel better. 

After arriving home post-appointment, I quickly changed and went for a great run.  I think my body was charged with pent up anxiety.  Also the temperature was perfect just after sunset in Cheesman Park.

I took some photos of myself and my numbed lip but I’m not going to share them.

Scary Halloween Movies

In the spirit of Halloween, Saturday night was spent at the home of our friends, Emily and Josh, watching two scary movies.

[REC] (2007)

IMDB synopsis:

"REC" turns on a young TV reporter and her cameraman who cover the night shift at the local fire station. Receiving a call from an old lady trapped in her house, they reach her building to hear horrifying screams -- which begin a long nightmare and a uniquely dramatic TV report.

A Spanish zombie movie! The group generally agreed that the movie was not entirely original as the filming style was reminiscent of Cloverfield.  It’s a short film but starts out slow and lags a bit in the middle, but has an intriguing ending.  For a scary Halloween movie or to round out one’s list of zombie films, I’d certainly recommend it.

I just discovered that there is a sequel – REC 2 – but I don’t think I’ll be able to watch it.  Also, [REC] was remade in the US under the title Quarantine (2008).

I’m not including any images because all the ones I found are pretty disturbing.

They Live (1988)

IMDB synopsis:

A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.

This John Carpenter film was an interesting bit of social commentary on consumerism, classism, and corporate culture.  If you go into it expecting camp and bad acting (the protagonist is an ex-wrestler), it’s very watchable.  I had never heard of it but it should be a cult classic.  A Variety review has a good summary:

Conceived on 1950s B-movie sci-fi terms, They Live is a fantastically subversive film, a nifty little confection pitting us vs them, the haves vs the have-nots.

People and movement

Yesterday I deboarded my seventh flight this month.  I’ve been in airports in Denver (of course), San Antonio, Dallas, New York City, and Portland.

I’ve taken in a lot of different people.  Mostly people waiting.  Waiting for flights to board, waiting in line for food, waiting on planes for their life to continue on the ground.  So many large people.  A few interesting looking people – an older woman in black leather Wranglers, a white gauzy button up through which her black bra was on display for instance.  Not too many overtly happy people. 

Not much smiling and warmth happening in airports and on planes.

After so much travel (for me) back-to-back and an amazing week at Rail~Volution, meeting so many fascinating people and doing so many enjoyable things, everything hit me and I felt exhausted.  As a result, on the flight from Portland to Denver, I found myself doing something I haven’t done much lately – I listened to music for a few hours. No writing, no reading, no sleeping - just giving myself over to music.  I listened to Nina Simone, Devotchka, Bebel Gilberto, Iron & Wine, the Willowz, and others. 

Feeling Good by Nina Simone was the impetus.  The song had been rolling through my head for a few days. 

Still mentally sorting things out.

Rail~Volution 2010

I’ve just returned from Portland and four wonderful days of Rail~Volution, a conference that brings transportation professionals together once a year to “Create a national movement to develop livable communities with transit.”  Two thumbs up to the organizers – it was an excellent event.  I learned a lot and met some good people.  The folks from Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and Portland were my favorites (other than the Denver crew that is).

So I’m going to share a few photos from a few jaunts around Portland.

As always, I love the random and sometimes silly stickers and paintings on signs, cars, and walls. Denver seems to be lacking in this area and I know because I’m on the lookout.

This was taped to the greeter stand at Kenny & Zuke’s deli.  I enjoy stick figures and have been pondering the drawing’s origin – a small-breasted (and lop-sided), wild-haired woman throwing the horns with a seemingly complacent dog. It’s amusing.

These three were in various spots:

This is from the back of a Prius, obviously.  I was unusually delighted by it’s lighthearted nature.

There were also some less-random bits of art that I noted – tile work on a wall surrounding a park and a mural:

I ate at some of the food carts near Pioneer Square.  The weather was moist and chilly in the mornings until just after noon and I was drawn to the soup and grilled cheese cart.  The day I visited it was serving a Hungarian mushroom soup and a cheddar, gruyere, and goat cheese grilled cheese. So, so tasty and satisfying.

A few days later, Lacy (a friend and now co-worker) and I got a similar lunch at a food cart on Williams in Northeast Portland.  No food pic, but here’s a photo of the “cart.”

Right across from this cart was a walk-up window for ordering coffee.  It was aptly named a “ped-thru” as opposed to a drive-thru.

On Monday I took a mobile tour by bike of Portland’s green streets and bikeways.  The weather was amazing, the company was great (can’t go wrong with those that want to get on a bike!), and we saw some interesting and innovative stuff.  Near the end we took a break at a park and the tour guides had arranged for coffee and pastries.  The coffee was served by a coffee-by-bike sort of thing – Trailhead Coffee Roasters.  Quite good coffee but I did burn my tongue (user error). 

Walking around Portland in general was such a treat, especially this time of year.  The trees were turning and leaves were falling. We were so impressed by the size of some leaves we got these photos.

We also came across this huge elephant-on-elephant art in one park:

Finally, we rode and ogled at the streetcar:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Portland, I love you.