Not the best of times
It's hitting me this year isn't shaping up real well. I am agonizing presently over a letter I think I need to write to the Clinton camp. See Bill has amped up his attacks on Obama to such a degree it's sick and as Tom Dachele says, cynical. You can read about about it here
when it was discussed on Lehrer Hour. And not liking Bill Clinton is killing me. So I am thinking if i write to them, I can get it out in a better way. I will post here.
Friday, January 25, 2008
A Great Light Has Gone Out
I think Daniel Day Lewis put it well when he said "I didn't know him, but I was wow'd by his work and feel strongly I would have liked him as a man"
Very sad week with the passing of Heath Ledger. I know this is about him and not Ennis Del Mar, but I do have to tell of seeing Brokeback and what Heath did.
I went to see the movie when it first came out, I have been an Ang Lee fan since Ice Storm and just in general. So I went and it was a great movie, yes, but I have seen many great movies. It was 3 hours later when I found myself sobbing in the frozen foods section at Trader Joes when I knew I had experienced something truly special. I was so moved I had to return to see it a few more times in theater. Heath Ledger not only created a character he embodied that character. It went far below the surface. What I found truly astonishing was
he also became a middle aged man, with all the regrets and resignations. Ennis forever lives with me. True it was a great script and short story but we all know that can fall flat with lesser hands. I had looked forwarded to seeing more of Ledger's work. Seeing him age and mature.
Grow from troubled youth to wise elder as many luckier do.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Last day of freedom:
Well last day until School starts tomorrow. And it's raining...but I gotta get out. Watching the cat bat around things on the floor is well...not as great as it was in the old days.
But it was a great break (I did work since last semester but it's different) Highlights: Christmas Day-seeing Charlie Wilson's war then to my pad for Brussel sprouts and champagne. Day after Christmas high tea at Deborah's and then exploring Point Pinole. Day long marathon of Slings and Arrows and Vodka on New Years Day.
Well it's not a funeral but it's a day of mourning none the less.
On a high note, just finished watching "Slings and Arrow's" on DVD. the Canadian show about a troubled Shakespeare Festival (are there any other kinds?) Fav moment was the highly intellectual director yelling "I have feelings' while allowing his actors to remove the restrictive Harlequin costumes they have on. Very funny.
Ok life, I go forth for the millionth time...and all that crap.
Well last day until School starts tomorrow. And it's raining...but I gotta get out. Watching the cat bat around things on the floor is well...not as great as it was in the old days.
But it was a great break (I did work since last semester but it's different) Highlights: Christmas Day-seeing Charlie Wilson's war then to my pad for Brussel sprouts and champagne. Day after Christmas high tea at Deborah's and then exploring Point Pinole. Day long marathon of Slings and Arrows and Vodka on New Years Day.
Well it's not a funeral but it's a day of mourning none the less.
On a high note, just finished watching "Slings and Arrow's" on DVD. the Canadian show about a troubled Shakespeare Festival (are there any other kinds?) Fav moment was the highly intellectual director yelling "I have feelings' while allowing his actors to remove the restrictive Harlequin costumes they have on. Very funny.
Ok life, I go forth for the millionth time...and all that crap.
Change-in all shapes and forms
Danny Hoch's one man show at rep shows it all
I remember learning that Greenwich Village in NY was once this hot bed of creativity. Artists from all over came for the cheap rents and inspiring lifestyle. Word got out, and soon the rich art majors from NYU were moving in, rents went up. And the artists left. And of course we know about Haight Ashbury, which has a brief summer of love before it got drenched. Well in Danny Hoch's one man show "Taking Over" he delves into the gentrification of Brooklyn. Not in a preachy way, but rather showing some very real characters dealing with the changes. Cities do start to fall apart and whether the government should or could repair them, is for another post but in the mean time what tends to happen is they either die or newer groups move in. Inevitable but what is lost? I think what Hock does in his show that is most remarkable is you don't think as much about it as you feel for it. Which is a bigger leap of faith. The hilarious young woman who has just returned from Guatemala where she purchased shirts to sell on the streets cause her parents cut her allowance from 5K a month to 1K after she dropped out of NYU. Or the guy trying to give guidance to his fellow taxi drivers, disgusted but then again thrilled that the college boys are drunk and need rides, what a pay off.
In the end what can we do? Change is what happens. Generations die, cities age. New money replaces old. And maybe all we can take from it all is a good laugh. Danny gave us that.
Danny Hoch's one man show at rep shows it all
I remember learning that Greenwich Village in NY was once this hot bed of creativity. Artists from all over came for the cheap rents and inspiring lifestyle. Word got out, and soon the rich art majors from NYU were moving in, rents went up. And the artists left. And of course we know about Haight Ashbury, which has a brief summer of love before it got drenched. Well in Danny Hoch's one man show "Taking Over" he delves into the gentrification of Brooklyn. Not in a preachy way, but rather showing some very real characters dealing with the changes. Cities do start to fall apart and whether the government should or could repair them, is for another post but in the mean time what tends to happen is they either die or newer groups move in. Inevitable but what is lost? I think what Hock does in his show that is most remarkable is you don't think as much about it as you feel for it. Which is a bigger leap of faith. The hilarious young woman who has just returned from Guatemala where she purchased shirts to sell on the streets cause her parents cut her allowance from 5K a month to 1K after she dropped out of NYU. Or the guy trying to give guidance to his fellow taxi drivers, disgusted but then again thrilled that the college boys are drunk and need rides, what a pay off.
In the end what can we do? Change is what happens. Generations die, cities age. New money replaces old. And maybe all we can take from it all is a good laugh. Danny gave us that.
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