The Dark Knight

i went to see this movie last night with some friends. it was an experience.

first let me say, i usually LOVE going to the theater. despite the skyrocketing ticket prices and nausea-inducing concessions, nothing else allows me to submerge into a movie like going to the theater. videos at home don’t have the same power. i think it’s something about being buffetted by sound and in the pitch darkness confronted with larger than life imagery. whatever it is, it works better than drugs. and sometimes when i really need to NOT THINK, there is nothing better than the movies for it.

this theater experience was not that. firstly, there was serious street-concert jam-band action happening outside the metroplex. to which i can only sound an enthusiastic boo, which would of course, need to last 13 1/2 minutes.

once we went indoors we seated ourselves in relative comfort (due to our early arrival, the theater did end up with a full complement of viewers, even on a wednesday night) but i was then unable to unseat myself due to the almost comically sticky floor. wearing flipflops, this is especially unsettling; i do not want to lose my shoe and end up barefoot in this mess.

there were no less than 8 previews. mostly for poop like,

• The Mummy: Brendan Frasier is Balding so let’s go to China where no one is tall enough to see the top of his head
• The Day The Earth Stood Still: What was a classic sci-fi gem now treated to a Reeve-ing (Keanu)
• Something I can’t remember the awful name of but it involved lying: a faux Syriana style film starring Leonardo DiCaprio (who i hate) and Russell Crowe (who i hate more) both looking fat and hairy.
• New Bond Movie: THIS LOOKS AWESOME! (not just cause Daniel Craig is hot as hell, but it doesnt hurt)
• The Spirit: this also looks good. dark, sexy, stylized, very comic-y and SinCity-esque
• Watchmen: looks spooky and graphic intense. might be ok.

whatever the case, even if i LOVED every one of these films, that is still too many fucking previews. seriously.

then there was the film itself. which was CHOCK FULL of action. perhaps a little too chock full. this seemed like 2 films in one. there were several potins at which i thought: huh, that was a pretty good movie! oh, wait… it’s not over? and asking Mr Pencil (who was there too) this feeling was not mine alone.

there were 2 or possibly even 3 sequences which seemed to be the “penultimate scene” which then simply led to more stuff happening. what’s more, when the climax finally DID happen, it was pretty, well, anti-climactic.

this was still a really good movie, and well worth seeing. lots of excitement, interesting effects (i was sad to see the tumbler didn’t make it) and a pretty sound plot line, though i felt it would have served the movie better to have been made into 2 films each about a seperate villian, rather than smooshing them into one.

finally i feel i must comment on the remarkable performance of Heath Ledger. i have always had a good deal of respect for his talents, but this was something else. obviously watching this film with the understanding that it was his final work, and the haunting and tragic details of his passing lent me a particular lens through which to view his portrayal of the Joker. It was a nuanced and thoughtful rendering of a villian who is often simply made ludicrous. this Joker is primarily interested in chaos and attempting to turn his fellow Gothamites into unwilling subjects of violent social experements. he never explains himself to anyone’s satisfaction (which satisfied me completely) and he is not glamorous or flamboyant so much as shocking and awful in aspect and mein. the tics, twitches, cadence of speech, and the knowledge that this hideous creature hides a truly beautful man underneath made the performance that much more riveting and provocative. the unwillingness of the director to suffer pop-psychology fables about why the Joker wears his scars supremely wrought.

on the whole i think this was an excellent action film, well-made and worth watching, if i would have preferred two movies with all the plot points covered, rather than the extra long one we got.

 

the rain before it falls

By Jonathan Coe

this book is one of the loveliest i have come across in a good long while. i mean this not only in the sense that it contains a moving sweet and poignant story, but in the physical manifestation of of its book-ness. i went on about this at length last week when i first picked it up, at random, in the library. so, my sometimes spastic decision making process for book selection, in this case, bore fruit.

i was intoxicated by the premise of this novel. being vaguely obsessed, as i am, with the seeing of things. i have proper vision in only one eye, and so stories about how we see the world other than with our eyes are always resonate for me. in this case the bulk of this story is conveyed through the lens of hearing a memoir recorded to audio tape. this is done because the intended listener would not be able to read a written account, for she is blind. more, the format of this recollection is guided by the teller of the tale describing her life through a series of photographs.

the way this weaves left me breathless. photographs hold a special fascination for me, though i am incapable of taking a decent one… it is an art form for which i have the highest respect. my friend lyza has created some of the most breathtaking images i have ever seen in my life and it is in many ways, the only medium through which i am truly able to see things in their fullest reality, frozen in a discrete moment. i believe there is something inherently magical about photography and its ability to capture a singular moment in time and translate it into an enduring thing.

and this is at the core of this book. capturing a moment, holding it just so, and then attempting to translate the image into words that are also images for someone who has no eyesight,, but can still be made to see; to be transported to a place in and of time in picture and word, by image paired with sound.

the story itself was engaging enough, and well written, but i’ll admit to being so swept away by the very notion of this way of storytelling that i’m not sure it would have mattered. i’ll need to read other works by this author to really decide how i feel about his writing.

recommended

 

Tuesday Thingers: Recommendations

Tuesday Thingers

Today’s topic: Recommendations. Do you use LT’s recommendations feature? Have you found any good books by using it? Do you use the anti-recommendations, or the “special sauce” recommendations? How do you find out about books you want to read?

i will say, i wanted this to be a feature i would get a lot of use out of. i liked the idea that i could access this list at the library and pick up things i might not otherwise know about. i alternate between knowing exactly what i’m looking for when selecting books, or being totally paralizyed by indecision and overwhelm.

but despite this, i’ve not yet gotten anything on the list of recommendations. i think i tried to find some that looked interesting based on the critera they listed for mentioning it; “Why this is recommended” but the ones i was primarily intrigued by weren’t available at my library at the time.

also, lately i’ve been toying with various book-selection methods that are almost a psychological experement of sorts. i’m interested in what makes me want to read a particular book. so far i’ve tried:

• jacket/cover art- i don’t read any of the reviews or synopsis, just let the title and the cover art speak for the book.
• taking out random books and reading the first chapter.
• going to the shelf where my favorite books are and turning 180 degrees and taking something from the shelf opposite
• selecting subjects at which i am terrible and trying to find a humanizing book about it.

my results have been hit or miss, but to some extent i find the time spelunking in the library as much a worthwhile pursuit as the payoff of an excellent read. and i have found a few gems this way…

 

i was horrified by my television this morning

whilie i admit, this is not a totally uncommon occurrence, this sent me into a particularly heated frenzy of loathing and terror.

if someone could see inside my darkest nightmares, this is what they might see:

Flesh-eating fish give pedicures

remember when i mentioned my fear of fish

well. it turns out IT IS HEREBY VINDICATED AND ETERNALLY JUSTIFIED. because, you see, fish DO want to eat you. they just usually cant. but these morons not only LET the fishes feast on their toeses, but they PAY for the privilege. holy mother of god, no. i mean forget masquerading waterboarding as “enhanced interrogation methods” this is torment couched as a beauty treatment*!

i had to change the channel before the segment was over so great was my panic and disgust. yet another sound reason to avoid Good Morning America

*in the interest of full-disclosure, some people claim to like this shit. these people are crazy and should be sterilized so as to keep that brand of crazy out of the gene pool.

 

happy weekend

oh, lordy sometimes you get a good one.

in honor of the impending departure of the aforementioned Leslie, we had a grand campout over the weekend. we arrived midday on saturday to a glorious sunshine day with panoramic views of Mt’s Adams and Hood. keg was tapped, guitars and harmonicas in tune, frisbee aloft. it was excellent.

but as can happen when i start drinking in the middle of the day, come 7pm i was a wee bit toasted. and so, when i climbed into my passenger seat to reach across for my camera, i fell. and hit my face on the seatbelt reciever. fuckow. i managed to give myself a wee bit of a shiner. also bruised the inside of my palm playing so much frisbee.

watched Dune in the wee hours of the morning and annoyed the shit out of everyone reciting every 3rd line out of the film.

lovely Feyd…

met and was subsequently licked by a steer. i guess i’m salty.

yesterday. ended up at the strip club, cause nothing says “It’s the Lord’s day!” like naked bitches and cheap meat! and… after long searching… i found her: my strippl-ganger. two people pointed at her and were like “Hey, she looks just like YOU!” and she did. so i sat up at the rack watched her to pole tricks and touch my boobs. the boys around the rail seemed appreciative. good times.

 

bye bye leslie pie

my good friend leslie, her husband mikael, and their impending offspring are moving far away to the mitten state (ie Michigan) very soon indeed. it came about in a bit of a whirlwind, and i think i’m still adjusting to the idea that they’re really leaving. there are many things about this that make me sad, and many things about having them here that i will miss. such as:

1. passing out blind drunk on their couch. they have had a succession of very comfortable couches and i have ended up crashing on more than one of them.
2. their kittehs, particularly Matey, with whom i have a special one-eyed bond. we are even gimpy IN THE SAME EYE!
3. head-bobbing-show-going type activity.
4. camping! best camping trip i ever went on was with leslie & her parents. going to try to convince them they still want to hang out with me even after their daughter leaves the time zone.
5. mutual appreciation of margaritas (see item #1)
6. convenient close-in hawthorn location!
7. jamming in the studio, pretending to be a rockstar.
8. various other feats of tomfoolery i only seem to find when with them
9. the excellent addition they make to my social circle

they’re buying a nice big house out there in Michigan, so i’m hoping items 1 & 2 can still be had, if only after a cross continental airplane ride.

this weekend we are going out to the gorge for a farewell campout & hootenanny. should be good times, if poignant.

sniff

 

booklust

i have it. bad.

this was reinforced last night when i picked up my latest random acquisition from the library; a book called The Rain Before it Falls by Jonathan Coe. this book is not only enjoyable to read, with a breathtakingly lovely premise and resonant singing prose, but it is a pleasure to touch and feel and hold in my hands. i am a great lover of the tactile merits of books, and this one is a beauty. a hardback from the library, i can’t strip it of its cover like i am wont to do left to my own devices, c’est la vie. it is otherwise delightful. taller and narrower than a typical hardback, the pages are an ever-so-slightly thicker than usual weight of paper finished in an uneven pseudo hand hewn edging that is a true delight to take hold of when the time comes to turn the page; soft and fringe-y. there are no heading numbers on the chapters, and i find this attractive for its spareness. the overall physical presence of this book is as lovely as what is unfolding in its pages, and that is a rare treat indeed.

and i realize this is something i haven’t thought about very much, but that i have definite opinions about. i like the variety of surfaces a hardback can offer; some are smooth and satiny in their paperstock, others have a more clothlike exterior with a nubbly texture that provides a satisfying grip. in terms of bed-friendliness (i must read myself to sleep at night or not get there at all) i prefer a stiff cardstock cover paperback of the type that are becoming more popular. they are larger and more enjoyable to hold than the standard paperback novel (though these cant be beat for one-handed-splayed-fingers reading while doing something else). they are also nicer to look at on the shelf; which i will admit has caused me more than a few times to spend extra money on the edition with the nicer spine and cover. silly, but a powerful motivator for me nonetheless.

listening to NPR the other day they were discussing the merits of various electronic reading devices and that same inner librarian i was mentioning yesterday shuddered at the notion of giving up a paper book to be held in hand. the weight of the text in my fingers, smell of ink and paper, the sound of the page as i turn through from one to the next; all these add in small but crucial ways to the pleasure i take in  discovering a book in full. i suppose one could say i want to know a book. in the biblical sense.

 

ignoring the universal nudge

i’m pretty famous for this. there’s the truth i know and then the truth i choose to attend to because it’s the truth i would prefer. it doesn’t help when the nudging seems to come from multiple directions and isn’t consistent. last week all was nine of cups and shiny. today its ace of swords and potentially sharp.

guess we’ll have to let the day unfold to find out just what we’re in for…

 

Let Geek Chic Reign!

Need specs for all my various personalities: these are the frames they’re comping me. i like to think of this one as “naughty librarian fabulous”

not be be confused with “teachers pet pretty” or “audrey hepburn wannabe”

 

Tuesday Thingers: Book Swapping

Today’s topic: Book-swapping. Do you do it? What site(s) do you use? How did you find out about them? What do you think of them? Do you use LT’s book-swapping column feature for information on what to swap? Do you participate in any of the LT communities that discuss bookswapping, like the Bookmooch group for example?

Oh my god. My inner librarian is quivering in terror at the very prospect. i am a HOARDER of books, and only RARELY a lender of same. and usually only to particularly trusted fellow book lovers. not getting books back upsets me immensely.

on the other hand, i tend to be hard on books myself; i’m a spine breaker, a spiller of food, a taker of books into the bathtub and poolside, a ditcher of cover flaps. so i’m pretty reluctant to borrow books either since it requires me to be more careful than i want to.

i like the idea and see it as a good thing to do, but i feel about it much the way i do about public transportation: i’m in favor of the idea for everyone else, but only resort to it myself in desperation.

🙂