da blogs da thang

All in all, the year was jam packed with all sorts of activity. It wasn’t a bad year… or a particularly great year… but a reasonably good year.

Old friendships were rekindled… new ones made… some redefined. Hellos, goodbyes and everything inbetween.

I can feel yet another stage coming on for me. I’m not sure where this one will take me… but I am assured that it will be an adventure nevertheless.

My Thanks to all of you who have shared your time with me. Your presence in my life has made me all the richer for it. Looking forward to 06!

Cheers!

Have a Happy & Safe New Year!

… of the year and there still seems a lot more to do. I actually got to go out to a couple of movies this week… and I may just take myself out for another today. It’s actually one of the few times of the year that I have the luxury of time to do this. The last time I actually went out for a movie was sometime last year. Even though the “home theater” is fast becoming the norm, the communal experience in a darkened theater is still quite special. Of course there are still movies being made that really should be seen in all their glory on the big screen. There is also nothing quite like the magic of these flickering images being projected onto a screen. Oh, and the movies that I caught were Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as well as Memoirs of a Geisha featuring 3 of my favorite Asian actresses.

For those of you who dropped by to check out the HNT yesterday… Thanks for stopping by. I’m looking forward to seeing what the New Year brings… though I do have a few ideas. ::sneaky snigger ::

more later…

This continues my review of the year from my last 2 posts. If you are here just for the HNT… slide on down to the end of this post for it.

On Blogging
I explained blogging to someone once as “a virtual daily meeting at the fountain of the town square”… and I still find that to be true. I began blogging in March purely out of curiosity. I figured that it would help me get my writing chops back. In the beginning there was a small pod of friends who were also blogging and we would comment on each other’s blogs. (This included my long lost cousin, lelly, who I haven’t seen in 36 years.) As time has rolled on some have continued posting regularly and some haven’t.

As I continued writing (on my own blog) and reading other blogs (there are a great many I enjoy reading everyday) I began exploring blogging as an Art Form. Afterall, it is a form of expression… so, why not? I have been most satisfied with my HNT and Picture Daze posts. HNT for allowing me to attempt a virtual theatrical form and Picture Daze for helping me chronicle snippets from my life… past and present. (Incidentally, you can find all those posts linked in the sidebar.)

General Observations: 1.) Blogging can be bloody addictive. 2.) Kinda like life… bloggers float in and out of yours. 3.) I have revealed quite a lot of myself through my blog… which I really don’t mind! I think I will continue blogging. For those of you who have visited… THANK YOU and hope you visit again… soon!

On Half-Nekkid Thursdays
I ran across Aughra’s blog while I was surfing and saw my first HNT. I followed the links and discovered a whole slew of bloggers participating. I chatted with SSM about it and decided to throw my hat into the ring. What it did for me was widen my sphere for a potential audience. After posting the first few… I finally realized that this was also an execellent opportunity to REALLY explore blogging as an Art Form.

The Great Emperor Os deserves all the kudos for starting (and maintaining) this delightful insanity. I am enriched by all the wonderful people I have met through HNT. Let’s continue mutually visiting for a long time to come!

My Favorite HNT post
Os has set a theme for today. Coincidentally, I had been planning to do this anyway… so here goes. To tell you the truth… I do like all the ones I have posted. (It’s an old playwright code – if you don’t like it, don’t expect others to love it.) Yes, I’ve had a tendency to post the “epic extavaganza HNT”. If you haven’t noticed already… I love playing around with genres. For instance “old monster movies” with the Franken-HNT, or “cooking show” with Half-Nekkid Chef, or “graphic novel ala Frank Miller” as in Adventures Of Jimmy.

I chose this one mainly because it was the first in the epic style and paid homage to one of my favorite genres… the detective noir. Also, I got the idea at 4 PM and a series of fortuitous events occurred (including my friend, Dragonfly making a surprise visit) that allowed me to take the original spark I had and realize it in complete form within a short span of time. From writing to photoshoot to post (and a little photoshopping in between) … total time under 2 hours. My favorite pieces have always been the ones that were fast and furious. When I am in that “zone” of creating… there is no feeling in the world like it! I also think that the marriage of all the elements (text, music & pictures) work really well. And… it’s bloody silly… hell, it still makes me laugh out loud!

So, without further ado… here it is as it was originally posted Sept. 21, 2005
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I’ll be attempting an “audience participation” HNT this week. (Warned you I’m a theatre person, didn’t I?)

What is HNT? Click on the nifty button on the sidebar to find out.

To enjoy the full effect of this you need to:
1. Click the music on.
2. Read the post out loud in a detective noir style. Guys try your best Humphry Bogart, ladies… try your best sulty Kathleen Turner.

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It was one of those late Summer afternoons when the mating habits of flies on a crusty canine turd seemed like the only game worth laying bets on. The only thing on my pith encased noodle was an HNT post that was due and I didn’t have a doodle of an idea what slimy form this week would take.

I was sippin a vodka mango between puffs of a coffin nail when I eyeballed her slow, swaying, bounce saunter up my driveway. She was built like a guitar waiting to be strummed by a one handed gypsy who worked nights in a piston factory. The curvy shadow at the door knocked twice and let herself in.
“I want in on this HNT thing.” she purred from her smoky lips. The moment I heard that I knew this “demando doll” was more trouble with a capital T and looking for more.

“Not so fast, sweet cheeks. What makes you think I have any idea what you’re talking about?“

She sat down and the surly upturned curve from the corners her ruby pucker suckers told me she knew. She grabbed one of my Javanese shadow puppets and toyed with it like a blind rabbit playing a skunk in heat.

“I’ve seen your “thang” on Osbasso’s list.“

“My thang?“

“On Osbasso’s list. I want in.”

She of course was talking about that Maverick from Montana who ran the slickest skin sensation this side of Harry Connick’s junior. She knew that I knew and that she had me by the curly-q-fries in hot boiling lard but I still wasn’t gonna roll over like a five dollar hooker with a ten dollar habit.

“O.K. suger thighs, what do you have to show for it?“

She whipped off her silky pink blouse like a Siamese schucking mangos on the Mekong.

“How about these?” she teased, working the smoke maker between her fingers like a busty latina rolling the tightest chimichanga in a 99 cent border cantina. “I want to see what you got to show, big boy… and I want it in color!“

I warned her, “It’s long and it’s dark.”

“Go ahead. I like being scared.” she mocked.

I took it off and let it down. I turned to look and her full rubies quivered like a bowl of jello in an old folks home. She thought I was some surburban palooka with a hankering for a champagne colored SUV but found an orangutan in 501′s instead.

All she could say was, “What conditioner do you use?” It was over and she broke.

But her breaking broke me. This old boy scout was about to learn some new knots to tie and some new tents to pup.

When it was over we were done and the score was even. She walked away into the evening leaving this shmoe wanting for more. So, it goes. It’s a crazy business but someone’s got to do it. As she faded off down the driveway I heard her say, “Happy HNT, hair man.“

Special thanks to my friend Dragonfly for joining me this week and making this HNT possible.

EDIT: Looks like I’m hitting 20,000 today. Check the counter (way below) to see if you’re “it” and comment to let me know!

Continuing in this week’s series of reviewing the year I am trying to simply state my observations. My intent is neither to point fingers nor to be smug. Whether these actions were committed by me or others, these lessons I have found valuable in my continuing education of life. We learn through example, through victories and through defeats. The trick is to recognize, acknowledge and hopefully learn. That being said… let’s continue…

Significant events that moved/affected me this past year.

JP2
Pope John Paul II passed away this year. Now here was a man of substance. He was an actor, playwright, resistance fighter and priest. I may not have agreed with everything he said or did… but I respected him for his thought, faith and conviction that we could all be… better. He reached out to teach and inspire… for that I am grateful. The funeral was moving and awe inspiring in the celebration of his life and work. For all intents and purposes I am a lapsed Catholic (at best) but I regarded this man (as I do the Dalai Lama) as a total “Dude”… simply because he never stopped trying.

Observations in life
Several in my generation and age group have stopped living.
It’s a troublesome observation I have made this year. I’m not talking about dying in a physical sense… but more in an emotional and spiritual way. It’s almost as if on their journey through life they have come across a wall and are unwilling to climb it to find out what is on the other side. There is a comfort in their unhappiness and going with what they know instead of facing the challenge and being open to more learning. It’s almost as if these individuals (many of whom are enormously talented) have simply given up. Sure, I too on occasion wallow in self pity… but if I ever give up… please just put a gun to my head and put me out of my misery.

EDIT: I may hit the 20,000 mark on my counter this week!
Last week was my “slug time” of my 2 week vacation… this week the “nose to the grindstone” part begins – work that’s unrelated to my employment. Oy, I say!

The rest of this post goes with the post below. I will list one or two as the week goes along.

Significant events that moved/affected me in the last year.

TSUNAMI
Today marks the one year anniversary of the Tsunami that hit SE Asia. The devastation was on biblical proportions and the human animal was forced to realize and be reminded (again) that we are really not in control of anything… except ourselves. Yet within all of that, there emerged heroic stories celebrating the human condition… that our greatest accomplishments are the ones where we give of ourselves to others.

And now I have also been reminded how forgetful we can be. Even though the devestation affected the region of the world I was born into… I myself was only reminded of the Tsunami while watching the Sea Gypsies segment on “60 Minutes” last night.

Lessons in life

Issues from one aspect of our lives spill over to “infect” and affect all other aspects of our lives.
The adage “Don’t take your work or problems home…” is easier said than done. If there is an unresolved issue it will permeate and color your behavior outside of the “situation”. The solution? Try to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

You cannot expect honesty from anyone unless they are honest with themselves first!
Everyone has their “best intentions” but until a person is prepared to be honest with themselves first, all those “best intentions” will not bear fruit. On several occasions I have seen people get caught up in the moment and promise the world… only to “flake off” seeing “it” through… whatever “it” might be.

It’s the dance of life, isn’t it? This time next week we enter into a New Year… new beginings… new hopes… new opportunities… and new lessons to learn.

I just don’t do resolutions. Instead I do a review at year’s end about what I have learned. It helps remind me how far I have come and if I have applied what I have learned from the year before. Some things I’ve had to relearn… some are brand new… and some have been sharpened even more.

So, that’s what you get to look forward to this week. Impressions, perceptions, lessons learned and perhaps even some of my favorite postings from this blog as well.

And this will end this short series for the season. Check the 4 posts below for other seasonal movies.

BRAZIL

Sure this is not the standard “feel good” movie for the season. (My other choice was “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence“) Think of this one as the “Orwellian Christmas Carol” or “Cratchit Flips Out!“. The movie uses Christmas as a backdrop which is why I picked it. Hey, not all of these HAVE to be feel good.

The first time I watched it a “heated discussion” ensued outside the theater over the ending. My 2 movie companions thought it was depressing and I thought (and still think) otherwise. I suppose my perception that we are only truly free within our minds has a lot to do with my view of this film.

The visuals (even by today’s standards) are stunning. The effects were all achieved in the old pre-cgi days and is a visual feast. Now there are 2 versions of the movie. There is the Terry Gilliam cut and the other (more “optimistic” version… and shorter) cut by the studio under Sid Sheinberg. There is a whole convoluted story over the controversy surrounding the making and release of this movie… but you can read about that elsewhere. (BTW watch Gilliam’s cut if you can… unless you own the Criterion box-set that has both versions.)

The world that Gilliam creates morphs designs from the 1940′s with technology of the late 1970′s. Part of the fun of the movie (if you’ve never watched it before) is figuring out when reality slips into fantasy in the plot. It does have it’s flaws but I still love this movie. All in all a strange pick, I know…. but think about it as the savory dessert to a super syrupy dinner.

Favorite Scene/s: The whole damn movie!

Sexiest Scene: The bedroom scene with Kim Greist. (Is this fantasy or reality?)

Click here for the song that permeates the entire soundtrack of this movie.

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Had another meeting tonight so, couldn’t do the gift thing as per Os’s instructions. To all you bloggers and especially the HNT crowd… Have a bloody great one!

Now for the seasonal movie post for today…

A CHRISTMAS STORY

The first time I watched this movie I was instantly transported back to my own childhood. Strange, considering I grew up in a tropical (equatorial, as my teachers would often insist) climate halfway around the world. So, how could this movie about a kid living in the snowy Mid-West (based on the stories of Jean Shepherd… who also wrote the screenplay and narrates) have anything in common with me? Everything!

That’s part of the magic of this movie. The hopes, fears, expectations and vivid but earnest fantasies of Ralphie cuts across cultures and time. His obsession with the Red Ryder BB gun is similar to mine at aged 7 with an 8mm movie projector that I so desperately wanted for Christmas that year. I lobbied my parents HARD for it… only to receive lukewarm responses (at best) from them. I fantasized about how I would set up movie screenings in my neighborhood… and be hailed a hero for doing so. In one fantasy Julie Andrews (who I had a severe little boy crush on) shows up as I’m screening “The Sound Of Music”. She is so impressed that we drive off in her limo to the local A&W for chocolate shakes and curly-Q-fries. As a result my own celebrity status is so supreme that people point to me and speak in hushed tones wherever I go. All of this would and could happen if I only had that projector! Alas, that Christmas I got my first bicycle (with training wheels) … and forgot all about the projector. Santa brought me the projector following Christmas… problem with the mail, I think. I was over my projector obsession but still delighted to receive it and often screened the 4 reels I got (over and over again) under my bed.

Yes… I love this movie! So much so, I’ve been tempted to buy this on several occasions. Afterall, I did create this when I was younger… and it is a “Major Award”! It’s ELECTRIC SEX, I tell ya!

Favorite Scene/s: Once again there are lots and lots… here are a few: 1.) The whole FRA-GEE-LEH scene never fails to bust me up. 2.) Tongue-on-the-frozen-flagpole scene is so totally true! 3.) The singing Chinese waiters with severe “R” and “L” substitutions.

Sexiest Scene: OK… Raphie’s teacher is kinda hot… especially in that witch costume. Woof!

For more on this series of “seasonal movies”… check my last 3 postings.

And the seasonal movie post for today is… (drumroll)

A Christmas Carol

This particular version (1951) is the one I recommend. I have seen several other versions and it is still this one that I always come back to. I like the version with Patrick Stewart for the design elements… and the fact that for the first time I think they got the Ghost of Christmas Past right – the whole cgi morphing young or old asexual quality. However, it is this one with Alastair Sim that speaks to me. For more detail, read Zonthar’s recent post on this old chestnut.

Now, I do have a bit of history with this story… only because I had to adapt it for the stage several years ago. This was a couple of years after I had played the role of Scrooge in a musical version to Zonthar’s Marley. (We have since reprised our roles several times in “our” version.) In an attempt to get out of playing the part in the musical version (yeah, I’m a theatre person who hates acting) I tried to scare me off the director by suggesting that I play Scrooge as a Jew. Of course I wasn’t serious… I was just trying to get out of the gig… and what better way than to suggest something controvertial for a “family show”. I justified this by explaining that 1.) He is the only kid who doesn’t go back home for Christmas holidays…. hmmm… 2.) Dickens was probably doing a take on Merchant Of Venice…Scrooge is a money lender like Shylock… he even cites Shakespeare in the opening paragraph… both their names begin with the letter “S”…. hmmm… hmmm… 3.) Disraeli, Fagin, yada yada… hmmm… hmmm…hmmm… it didn’t work. I did the show and at final dress blew a touching monolog in the end by calling Marley… Bob. (There was also a curtain call where my shirt-tail stuck out of my fly from a not so perfect “quick change” backstager… the applause that night was thunderous BTW.)

Several years later, after reading over 40 odd scripts I decided to undertake the task of adapting it myself for the stage for my theatre company. (We needed a “money show” that year!) I hated the fact that almost all the versions were staged as a “pretty Victorian” drama. WTF??? (Have these people forgotten that Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, etc???) Upon reading the original story and doing some research (including snippets from Dicken’s journals) I set it in industrial revolution England – not a pretty time. Workhouses, pick-pockets, hookers, and general dankness ruled. And most importantly we tried to get back to the “ghost story” aspect of the piece. Our version even had “handlers” who held a tight reign over Marley’s chains who we jokingly referred to as Christmas Ninjas. Our Marley was more of the “pissed off – Fuck, I’m in Hell” character instead of the “woe is me” gentleman ghost. Zonthar still delights in the fact that people would jump out of their seats and children would burst out in tears at his entrance. BTW his entrance was from under Scrooge’s bed and our Marley scene is still talked about around town. Thereminman composed and recorded a creepy soundtrack of disemboweled Christmas Carols that enhanced the effect that I was going for – it’s a ghost story and NOT the Tiny Tim show, dammit! (check out the 2 samplings of his brilliant soundtrack below…. and to give yourself a good case of the Heebie Jeebies ) SSM played Scrooge in our last production of it. I can go on and on ranting about how this particular story is almost singularly responsible for the commercialism of Christmas today… but enough about our production.

Back to the movie… If you decide to pick this one up… For the love of God watch the Black & White version!!!! Which idiot thought it was a good idea to colorize this thing? Alastair is wonderful in it! The “old school” cheesy special effects work… especially the swirly hurricane of ghosts. And of all the versions… this one is closest to presenting the story… as a ghost story. (Can you tell this whole Ghost Story thing is big with me?)

Favorite Scene/s: Scrooge’s transformation in the end… not so much a redemption in finding religion but more of an awareness that he had been missing out on the joy of life.

Sexiest Scene: Are you kidding?

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