Saturday, December 06, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Scenes from a Depression Past
With all the tragic economic news alongside the "New" New Deal rumblings from the off-and-running office of the President Elect, I've been searching out escapist fare online. From the Great Depression of the 1930's, I found these visually fascinating and surreal productions from the great Busby Berkeley. Looking at them now, I find the contrast between the dated, not-quite-classic 30's musical language and the hard-edged, at times minimalist sets, patterns and choreography really resonant and fun. My faves:
"The Words are in My Heart" and its 56 floating, skating pianos.
"All Is Fair In Love And War" may go on too long, but I like the combination of the chromatic martial melody and dozens of giant white rocking chairs; the flags are fun and spectacular too.
His masterpiece, "Lullabye of Broadway," is a sinister take on broadway pizazz, and features many of his thirties motifs: disembodied singing heads, tiny urban vignettes,, impossible transitions, endless variations on a popular song, and massed geometric dance patterns. That it ultimately takes a tragic turn and becomes a cautionary tale for party girls everywhere makes it all the more nifty.
Watch Part 2 here.
In the forties Berkeley worked in color, and his hard edges bleed in the three-strip technicolor film process. His last great signature pieces, "The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat" (reminds me of hallucinations I experienced when I had surgery at 8 years of age), and "The Polka Dot Polka" get stranger and stranger as they go along. It probably drove him crazy when he couldn't get everyone and everything as precise as he had in the previous decade, and the studio most likely gave him less time and money to work with. Consequently, the human waves aren't quite in sync. However, the "Polka" ends with creepy disembodied heads floating in a disturbing technicolor space, but not before a series of images that almost rival Kubrick's Star Gate sequence in 2001 for their sheer abstract quality.
Strange...and tons of fun.
"The Words are in My Heart" and its 56 floating, skating pianos.
"All Is Fair In Love And War" may go on too long, but I like the combination of the chromatic martial melody and dozens of giant white rocking chairs; the flags are fun and spectacular too.
His masterpiece, "Lullabye of Broadway," is a sinister take on broadway pizazz, and features many of his thirties motifs: disembodied singing heads, tiny urban vignettes,, impossible transitions, endless variations on a popular song, and massed geometric dance patterns. That it ultimately takes a tragic turn and becomes a cautionary tale for party girls everywhere makes it all the more nifty.
Watch Part 2 here.
In the forties Berkeley worked in color, and his hard edges bleed in the three-strip technicolor film process. His last great signature pieces, "The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat" (reminds me of hallucinations I experienced when I had surgery at 8 years of age), and "The Polka Dot Polka" get stranger and stranger as they go along. It probably drove him crazy when he couldn't get everyone and everything as precise as he had in the previous decade, and the studio most likely gave him less time and money to work with. Consequently, the human waves aren't quite in sync. However, the "Polka" ends with creepy disembodied heads floating in a disturbing technicolor space, but not before a series of images that almost rival Kubrick's Star Gate sequence in 2001 for their sheer abstract quality.
Strange...and tons of fun.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Show Me Less, Give Me More
"...smaller-scale visual narratives have been flourishing on the Internet, delivering topical satire, political commentary and slices of real-life absurdity with a nimbleness and speed that makes both conventional film and traditional television seem unwieldy. Movies, meanwhile, are once again responding by growing louder, brighter and more sensational. Imax and variously improved 3-D formats are becoming more popular with the movie studios, even as the widespread use of digital effects gives their products less and less resemblance to traditional cinema."
A. O. Scott, "The Screening of America," NY Times Magazine, 11/21/08
Hollywood's natural inclination to show us an otherworldly environment is to throw a ton of money at computer graphics and show us every digitized pixel in the Center of the Earth. Obscene amounts of money, especially in today's economic environment. But it doesn't have to be that way. Check out these fantastic scenarios, from the days before CGI. I find these flicks far more fascinating than anything on Isla Nublar.
Orphée - film run backwards, hands plunging into mercury - that's all it takes to get you from this world to an afterlife.
Cube - essentially filmed on one set, which gave the director more money for special effects, including a couple of process shots. But the movie would be just as disturbing without all the slicing and dicing. Available complete on Google Video.
Primer - a nifty time-travel film, made for $7,000. Granted, it gets incoherent near the end. But it was made for $7,000. Also available on Google Video.
Fahrenheit 451 - couples Bernard Herrmann's music with the ramrod-straight firemen on an open red fire truck to portray a society in which books are illegal.
Jason and the Argonauts - Herrmann again, bleating low rumbling brass notes to accompany the sight of an impossibly huge statue. And then that statue turns its head...
La Belle et La Bete - the real movie magic happens at 2:25 in this clip.
A. O. Scott, "The Screening of America," NY Times Magazine, 11/21/08
Hollywood's natural inclination to show us an otherworldly environment is to throw a ton of money at computer graphics and show us every digitized pixel in the Center of the Earth. Obscene amounts of money, especially in today's economic environment. But it doesn't have to be that way. Check out these fantastic scenarios, from the days before CGI. I find these flicks far more fascinating than anything on Isla Nublar.
Orphée - film run backwards, hands plunging into mercury - that's all it takes to get you from this world to an afterlife.
Cube - essentially filmed on one set, which gave the director more money for special effects, including a couple of process shots. But the movie would be just as disturbing without all the slicing and dicing. Available complete on Google Video.
Primer - a nifty time-travel film, made for $7,000. Granted, it gets incoherent near the end. But it was made for $7,000. Also available on Google Video.
Fahrenheit 451 - couples Bernard Herrmann's music with the ramrod-straight firemen on an open red fire truck to portray a society in which books are illegal.
Jason and the Argonauts - Herrmann again, bleating low rumbling brass notes to accompany the sight of an impossibly huge statue. And then that statue turns its head...
La Belle et La Bete - the real movie magic happens at 2:25 in this clip.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Revolutions All Around
Seth Godin on what the Government should do with the Big Three Automakers.
Stonewall 2.0 as, allegedly, Christians are "chased out of the Castro District." (The possibility of violence disturbs me, but I do like the whistles en masse.)
Traditional cinema in danger of succumbing to the online world, detailed in A. O. Scott's blandly balanced article in the Sunday New York Times.
Godin again, on the failure of the New York Times (and, subtextually, of all large, monolithic, flexible-as-stone corporations) to fully score in its own game.
Stonewall 2.0 as, allegedly, Christians are "chased out of the Castro District." (The possibility of violence disturbs me, but I do like the whistles en masse.)
Traditional cinema in danger of succumbing to the online world, detailed in A. O. Scott's blandly balanced article in the Sunday New York Times.
Godin again, on the failure of the New York Times (and, subtextually, of all large, monolithic, flexible-as-stone corporations) to fully score in its own game.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Nature of My Mid-Life Crisis
Type 2, with a side order of Type 1.
Based on the categories listed in What Do You Mean There Are Four, or Five, or Six Types of Midlife Crisis? at LifeTwo.com.
Based on the categories listed in What Do You Mean There Are Four, or Five, or Six Types of Midlife Crisis? at LifeTwo.com.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
DC Proposition 8 Rally Peaceful, Weather Not So...
Video by quixotist2, found on YouTube. Click here for more DC Rally videos.
A sudden, violent squall slammed my huge golf umbrella halfway through the DC Rally protesting the California gay marriage ban, blasting wind and horizontal rain against me and hundreds if not a thousand fellow marchers. The storm left the National Mall grounds wet and muddy and many in the crowd drenched, but the unseasonably warm November day kept hypothermia from thinning our ranks.
While my jeans got wet, my fleece pullover kept the rest dry as we walked past the Washington Monument, skirted the Ellipse and ended up at Lafayette Square across the street from the White House. At the same time thousands of other marchers in cities and towns across the country reminded the nation that all is still not well with some basic civil rights. View and read more about it here:
"Across U.S., Big Rallies for Same-Sex Marriage" from The New York Times.
More DC pictures at Join the Impact!
(Picture accompanying this post is detail from a shot taken by a fellow participant and uploaded to the DC photo gallery.)
Join the Impact! Promote love and equality in your city! - the "official" site.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Mormon Rationalization for Proposition 8 - and the Reaction Nationwide
From "Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage" in yesterday's NY Times:
But if a voter indicated human beings created marriage, Script B would roll instead, emphasizing that Proposition 8 was about marriage, not about attacking gay people, and about restoring into law an earlier ban struck down by the State Supreme Court in May.
“It is not our goal in this campaign to attack the homosexual lifestyle or to convince gays and lesbians that their behavior is wrong — the less we refer to homosexuality, the better,” one of the ward training documents said. “We are pro-marriage, not anti-gay.”
ummmmmmm, ok. Why do I feel like I just got off the Tilt-A-Whirl?
While I don't think protests are all that effective, I do believe today's events across the country could be. Here's more information on today's rally in DC, at the epicenter of freedom, which includes links to similar rallies in other time zones.
Even The Governator has shown some support...
And last but not least, here's what I found to be most powerful from Keith Olbermann's commentary earlier this week:
[T]his vote is horrible. Horrible. ... If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? ...
If this country hadn't re-defined marriage, black people still couldn't marry white people. Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal in 1967. 1967.
The parents of the President-Elect of the United States couldn't have married in nearly one third of the states of the country their son grew up to lead. But it's worse than that. If this country had not "re-defined" marriage, some black people still couldn't marry black people. It is one of the most overlooked and cruelest parts of our sad story of slavery.
But if a voter indicated human beings created marriage, Script B would roll instead, emphasizing that Proposition 8 was about marriage, not about attacking gay people, and about restoring into law an earlier ban struck down by the State Supreme Court in May.
“It is not our goal in this campaign to attack the homosexual lifestyle or to convince gays and lesbians that their behavior is wrong — the less we refer to homosexuality, the better,” one of the ward training documents said. “We are pro-marriage, not anti-gay.”
ummmmmmm, ok. Why do I feel like I just got off the Tilt-A-Whirl?
While I don't think protests are all that effective, I do believe today's events across the country could be. Here's more information on today's rally in DC, at the epicenter of freedom, which includes links to similar rallies in other time zones.
Even The Governator has shown some support...
And last but not least, here's what I found to be most powerful from Keith Olbermann's commentary earlier this week:
[T]his vote is horrible. Horrible. ... If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? ...
If this country hadn't re-defined marriage, black people still couldn't marry white people. Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal in 1967. 1967.
The parents of the President-Elect of the United States couldn't have married in nearly one third of the states of the country their son grew up to lead. But it's worse than that. If this country had not "re-defined" marriage, some black people still couldn't marry black people. It is one of the most overlooked and cruelest parts of our sad story of slavery.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Episode IV: A New Hope
Barber Violin Concerto, First Movement: Calm, measured, intelligent discourse. Not without justified anxiety.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
How I Felt Like a Delegate to a Kind of Global Electoral College
Sure, I've had voter apathy in the past. I can't remember the first time I voted, and I know I've stayed home from the polls for some elections. Not this year. I stood in line for about an hour Tuesday morning, starting at 6:55 am, then cast my vote for Obama. A week before, I had asked someone who's far more politically savvy than me "Why vote in DC, when I know that the city's Electoral College votes will go to Obama?" He said, "Because we need to show how much we believe in him by turning out in incredible numbers. It'll look so much better with a high number of votes."
Or something like that. I agreed. And then I read something in BusinessWeek yesterday:
"Polls showed that in countries such as France and Germany, support for the Democratic candidate ranged between 65% and 80% of the population. The sense of engagement was typified by an editorial appearing early this year in Belgian newspaper De Standaard suggesting that given the stakes—on issues ranging from energy to climate change to the mortgage crisis—everybody in the world should be able to cast a vote in the U.S. Presidential election."
Europe Reacts to Obama Victory, Andy Reinhardt, 11/05/08
But not everyone in the world could vote in this election. Which made my vote count even more, considering the nature of today's problems (and the huge role the U.S. has played in causing a good number of them). So, for a brief moment, I felt like a delegate to a kind of global electoral college, which made my responsibility take on new meaning and weight.
Or something like that. I agreed. And then I read something in BusinessWeek yesterday:
"Polls showed that in countries such as France and Germany, support for the Democratic candidate ranged between 65% and 80% of the population. The sense of engagement was typified by an editorial appearing early this year in Belgian newspaper De Standaard suggesting that given the stakes—on issues ranging from energy to climate change to the mortgage crisis—everybody in the world should be able to cast a vote in the U.S. Presidential election."
Europe Reacts to Obama Victory, Andy Reinhardt, 11/05/08
But not everyone in the world could vote in this election. Which made my vote count even more, considering the nature of today's problems (and the huge role the U.S. has played in causing a good number of them). So, for a brief moment, I felt like a delegate to a kind of global electoral college, which made my responsibility take on new meaning and weight.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
The Scene Just Blocks from the White House
My neighborhood erupted at 11:00 last night, about 10 blocks north of the White House. Closer than you think, since I can see the executive mansion just a few steps from my door. As soon as the California polls closed and the networks exploded with their news, people yelled, whooped, cheered, their voices echoing in the alley behind my building. The noise got louder a few minutes later, as residents left their buildings the bars and restaurants in spite of the rain and car horns blared up and down 16th street. That's what I saw in my head, as I didn't move - the TV kept me glued in my living room - the TV and my laptop where I had the NYTimes, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC open in Firefox tabs. What was it - 15 minutes later - that the report came over the wires - McCain had conceded to Obama. I could see on TV that scores of GW students converged on the White House, pumped by the history and eager to let the current resident know that his terrible occupancy is not only over, it's finished with a blast of everything missing over the last eight years - including eloquence, intelligence, and unyielding hope.
Around 1 am I went outside. The rain was a drizzle, the car horns split the air, people on the sidewalks high-fived each other. I called my brother in New Hampshire, and held the phone to 16th street, in sight of the White House, leaving a message that was mostly street noise.
______________________________________________
Check out these stunning pictures at the Boston Globe's site, which I found thanks to kottke.org.
Around 1 am I went outside. The rain was a drizzle, the car horns split the air, people on the sidewalks high-fived each other. I called my brother in New Hampshire, and held the phone to 16th street, in sight of the White House, leaving a message that was mostly street noise.
______________________________________________
Check out these stunning pictures at the Boston Globe's site, which I found thanks to kottke.org.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Sunday, November 02, 2008
I Am Jack's Disappointment
I watched Fight Club (again) last night - and this quote stood out, for me, at this mid-life reassessment time in my life:
"We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."
So, yeah, I understand a bit where Tyler Durden's coming from. Although I don't believe in taking the film literally - I have no desire to fight anyone, much less support anarchy. The flick is some sort of great movie, but not a manifesto for modern living. Although Making soap sounds kind of fun.
For a more conventional view that mirrors the quote above, and my current state, check out this post from Life Two - The Midlife Resource. I've pulled the following quote that helps drive the point home:
"...one of the great challenges of surviving the midlife transition derives from the sense of profound disappointment that comes when you realize that most of the assumptions that you had about 'success' in your early adult years were bogus. We joke about the portrait of life that we were fed from such 1950's and 1960's TV shows like "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best". It's a picture of life that even now we're digesting with 20/20 hindsight in such period dramas as TV's "Mad Men". We were somehow brought up to believe that, when we retired, life would, at least, be quieter. Also, it would be better if we worked hard and saved up wisely for our 'Golden Years.' Many people still go into middle age believing that, even though slowing down will be inevitable, at least we have some peace and quiet to look forward to."
"We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."
So, yeah, I understand a bit where Tyler Durden's coming from. Although I don't believe in taking the film literally - I have no desire to fight anyone, much less support anarchy. The flick is some sort of great movie, but not a manifesto for modern living. Although Making soap sounds kind of fun.
For a more conventional view that mirrors the quote above, and my current state, check out this post from Life Two - The Midlife Resource. I've pulled the following quote that helps drive the point home:
"...one of the great challenges of surviving the midlife transition derives from the sense of profound disappointment that comes when you realize that most of the assumptions that you had about 'success' in your early adult years were bogus. We joke about the portrait of life that we were fed from such 1950's and 1960's TV shows like "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best". It's a picture of life that even now we're digesting with 20/20 hindsight in such period dramas as TV's "Mad Men". We were somehow brought up to believe that, when we retired, life would, at least, be quieter. Also, it would be better if we worked hard and saved up wisely for our 'Golden Years.' Many people still go into middle age believing that, even though slowing down will be inevitable, at least we have some peace and quiet to look forward to."
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Scary Part 2
More YouTube fun, clips of movies and scenes that scared me when I was much younger. In honor of Halloween and the upcoming election.
drip. drip. drip.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
Just relax son, everything's gonna be fine, just fine.
In the early hours of June 1st...
Nobody does it better than S. William Hinzman.
This is not a dream...
drip. drip. drip.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
Just relax son, everything's gonna be fine, just fine.
In the early hours of June 1st...
Nobody does it better than S. William Hinzman.
This is not a dream...
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Scary Part 1
Out of sight prices. Financial collapse. Sarah Palin. Things are pretty scary right now. And right before Halloween. So I went back into my past and found those things that scared me when I was young, when you had to go to the movies for a really good fright. And it didn't matter whether good or evil won, because the movie always ended and the lights came up.
Here are the first six, in no particular order:
Sand isn't supposed to move that way.
Ipod. Upod. Wepod.
Heeeeeeeeeere's Santa!
Wax on. Wax off.
It's not what you see...it's what you don't see.
There's a space - right between the charred corpse and the dead seagull.
Here are the first six, in no particular order:
Sand isn't supposed to move that way.
Ipod. Upod. Wepod.
Heeeeeeeeeere's Santa!
Wax on. Wax off.
It's not what you see...it's what you don't see.
There's a space - right between the charred corpse and the dead seagull.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Facebook is Easy
Real life is harder. Hal Niedzviecki has 700 Facebook friends he tells us in "Facebook in a Crowd" (New York Times Magazine, October 26, 2008). So, when he planned a get together and sent an invitation to all 700, he figured at a few would show up.
Only one other person came to the bar.
"Was I really that big of a loser?" he asks himself.
"Or was it that no one wants to get together in real life anymore? It wasn’t Facebook’s fault; all those digital pals were better than nothing. For chipping away at past friendships and blocking honest new efforts, you really have to blame the entire modern world. People want to hang out with you, I assured myself. They just don’t have the time."
I think we transfer the ease of sitting at home on our computers into an equal simplicity when it comes to real life. And that's just not the case. Technology only revolutionizes some things. Having a blog won't make you a writer "just like that." These things take time. Would Hal have had a better experience if he had done a bit more research, and focused his event around another reason to get together, other than just to meet each other?
"The Internet has allowed an enormous amount of fake networking to take place," said Seth Godin in a forum that you click here to watch online.
Only one other person came to the bar.
"Was I really that big of a loser?" he asks himself.
"Or was it that no one wants to get together in real life anymore? It wasn’t Facebook’s fault; all those digital pals were better than nothing. For chipping away at past friendships and blocking honest new efforts, you really have to blame the entire modern world. People want to hang out with you, I assured myself. They just don’t have the time."
I think we transfer the ease of sitting at home on our computers into an equal simplicity when it comes to real life. And that's just not the case. Technology only revolutionizes some things. Having a blog won't make you a writer "just like that." These things take time. Would Hal have had a better experience if he had done a bit more research, and focused his event around another reason to get together, other than just to meet each other?
"The Internet has allowed an enormous amount of fake networking to take place," said Seth Godin in a forum that you click here to watch online.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
TGIF
Cool Sixties TV Show Theme: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Strings, winds and xylophones shimmer amidst deep-sea radar pings, followed by a fanfare "call to adventure," then ominous low notes from the ocean depths. The strings take up the call to adventure, with a glissando counterpoint from the piano (or is it a harp?) Then we break for a commercial. To close, repeat above, then insert a standard orchestral flourish bringing us back to boring normality - except for a brief mysterious cadence - THEN a classic sixties fanfare to end.
Strings, winds and xylophones shimmer amidst deep-sea radar pings, followed by a fanfare "call to adventure," then ominous low notes from the ocean depths. The strings take up the call to adventure, with a glissando counterpoint from the piano (or is it a harp?) Then we break for a commercial. To close, repeat above, then insert a standard orchestral flourish bringing us back to boring normality - except for a brief mysterious cadence - THEN a classic sixties fanfare to end.
I Have Too Much Stuff
And maybe this will help: Five classic clutter-busting strategies from Unclutterer.
Most of my stuff I never use. Clothes, books, papers, photos, kitchen equipment, vinyl records. I'm saving some of it because it contains my history. There's a set of books signed by authors that I won't give up. And I'm lazy. But lately I've felt this need to declutter and get rid of stuff, to almost "go minimal." Should I go all out and empty my closets, sell what others might want, and trash the rest? Do I toss old yearbooks into the garbage, and follow them with box after box of pictures?
Most of my stuff I never use. Clothes, books, papers, photos, kitchen equipment, vinyl records. I'm saving some of it because it contains my history. There's a set of books signed by authors that I won't give up. And I'm lazy. But lately I've felt this need to declutter and get rid of stuff, to almost "go minimal." Should I go all out and empty my closets, sell what others might want, and trash the rest? Do I toss old yearbooks into the garbage, and follow them with box after box of pictures?
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Malcolm Gladwell May Have Saved My Sanity
Mr. Gladwell's fascinating article about prodigies vs. all the rest of us (Late Bloomers - Why do we equate genius with precocity? in the October 10 New Yorker) made me feel a whole lot better about myself as a writer - or whatever it is I am. I'm certainly NOT a prodigy, and I'm not yet sure if I'm a "late bloomer." My great grandfather was a late bloomer, as noted in a New Yorker "talk story" from 1939. I'm not 75... yet... so perhaps there's hope.
Excerpts from Mr. Gladwell's article that really hit home:
The freshness, exuberance, and energy of youth did little for Cézanne. He was a late bloomer—and for some reason in our accounting of genius and creativity we have forgotten to make sense of the Cézannes of the world.
...late bloomers bloom late because they simply aren’t much good until late in their careers.
On the road to great achievement, the late bloomer will resemble a failure: while the late bloomer is revising and despairing and changing course and slashing canvases to ribbons after months or years, what he or she produces will look like the kind of thing produced by the artist who will never bloom at all.
Prodigies are easy. They advertise their genius from the get-go. Late bloomers are hard. They require forbearance and blind faith.
Whenever we find a late bloomer, we can’t but wonder how many others like him or her we have thwarted because we prematurely judged their talents. But we also have to acccept that there’s nothing we can do about it. How can we ever know which of the failures will end up blooming?
_______________________________________________________________
Odd coincidence: Art News, in a quote I've ransacked my files looking for (and have not yet located), called O.A. Renne the American Cézanne.
Excerpts from Mr. Gladwell's article that really hit home:
The freshness, exuberance, and energy of youth did little for Cézanne. He was a late bloomer—and for some reason in our accounting of genius and creativity we have forgotten to make sense of the Cézannes of the world.
...late bloomers bloom late because they simply aren’t much good until late in their careers.
On the road to great achievement, the late bloomer will resemble a failure: while the late bloomer is revising and despairing and changing course and slashing canvases to ribbons after months or years, what he or she produces will look like the kind of thing produced by the artist who will never bloom at all.
Prodigies are easy. They advertise their genius from the get-go. Late bloomers are hard. They require forbearance and blind faith.
Whenever we find a late bloomer, we can’t but wonder how many others like him or her we have thwarted because we prematurely judged their talents. But we also have to acccept that there’s nothing we can do about it. How can we ever know which of the failures will end up blooming?
_______________________________________________________________
Odd coincidence: Art News, in a quote I've ransacked my files looking for (and have not yet located), called O.A. Renne the American Cézanne.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
There's Nothing Like A Nice, Extended Mid-Life Crisis
"I had to find out where I went wrong. The years I've spent trying to get all the things I was told were important. That I was told to want. Things, not people or meaning, just things."
Rock Hudson, Seconds
I've been lying fallow for close to a year now, and I'm beginning to understand why. The popular term is "mid-life crisis" although I prefer the bland, non-melodramatic sounding "mid-life re-assessment." However, it's not bland to live through. I've been solidly parked in creative paralysis, spurred by the ongoing question "why bother continuing to write, when I still haven't made any money from it?" And there's been part of me, way down deep inside, that has .been reacting to this time in my life quite like the character Arthur Hamilton (played by Rock Hudson) reacts here, in the closing scenes from the ultra-disturbing Seconds. In the film, the 51-year- old Hamilton, a deeply bored businessman, is offered an extreme makeover - not only will he physically change, but "The Company" will set him up with a new life, kind of like the witness-protection program on steroids. Your death is faked, your psyche is probed so your dreams can be fulfilled, and you'll be happy.
Except it doesn't work for our hero. Here, Hamilton (now named "Wilson") has returned to The Company (Yup, that's Grandpa Walton, playing the founder) to get a new identity, after he failed to find self-actualization in Malibu. He's promised a chance to move onto the "next stage." But that promise comes with a horrifying price - and he tries everything in his power to avoid payment.
Rock Hudson, Seconds
I've been lying fallow for close to a year now, and I'm beginning to understand why. The popular term is "mid-life crisis" although I prefer the bland, non-melodramatic sounding "mid-life re-assessment." However, it's not bland to live through. I've been solidly parked in creative paralysis, spurred by the ongoing question "why bother continuing to write, when I still haven't made any money from it?" And there's been part of me, way down deep inside, that has .been reacting to this time in my life quite like the character Arthur Hamilton (played by Rock Hudson) reacts here, in the closing scenes from the ultra-disturbing Seconds. In the film, the 51-year- old Hamilton, a deeply bored businessman, is offered an extreme makeover - not only will he physically change, but "The Company" will set him up with a new life, kind of like the witness-protection program on steroids. Your death is faked, your psyche is probed so your dreams can be fulfilled, and you'll be happy.
Except it doesn't work for our hero. Here, Hamilton (now named "Wilson") has returned to The Company (Yup, that's Grandpa Walton, playing the founder) to get a new identity, after he failed to find self-actualization in Malibu. He's promised a chance to move onto the "next stage." But that promise comes with a horrifying price - and he tries everything in his power to avoid payment.
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