'Motherless Brooklyn'

'Motherless Brooklyn' by Jonathan Lethem

I enjoyed this alot, yes that's right folks I actually read a whole book through to the end for a change! A book with words only and not a picture book.

If you've read the book 'eatmebailey!', if you haven't take a look...

Tourist London Again - Look Big Ben!

Music question...

What's K.T. Tunstall's album like overall?

They played it before the film started...I heard 'False Alarm' then worked out who it was from 'Suddenly I see'.

Then it was playing in Borders on Charing Cross Road...

Has anybody got it? Or heard the whole thing? Is it any good?

'Shopgirl' (Film No 2 at the Film Festival)

'Shopgirl' directed by Anand Tucker Stsrring Steve Martin, Clare Danes, Jason Schwartzman

I'd read the novella 'Shopgirl' by Steve Martin a few years back so was quite interested to hear they'd made into a movie. This is a strange movie for all the rough and ready technique this film is technically so clean in its lighting, its production design that it becomes other wordly...I guess its meant to be contemporary but it just didn't gel. I'm not sure what to call the film...a drama, a romantic comedy, style over substance?

I didn't fall asleep or anything but then I knew the story and there were funny parts but it didn't really grab me. It came and went, the score was too loud at times, the narration not so necessary...its film, it should be a show me not tell me medium.

Again the director was there with Clare Danes and they spoke about the film, it was interesting to hear what his influences were but I'm not familiar with his work and it seems he will be the one to direct 'His Dark Materials'

'Lonesome Jim'

'Lonesome Jim' Directed by Steve Buscemi and starring Casey Affleck (younger brother of Ben) and Liv Tyler.

There is most definitely a genre of man in late twenties returns home to his parents or parent at odds with himself and the world and how difficult it is to find your path. Young man is unsure of his career path meets slightly kooky girl and a blossoming romance with said girl helps him find renewed confidence to go forward with a new found optimism.

I quite enjoyed this weird slice of Indiana shot on DVD which shows if you want to be critical from a technical standpoint. The performances were engaging...I don't know if its my own melancholia that attracts me to these films or justa universal melancholia that filmmakers of a certain age are going through...post millenial ennui anyone?

Worth seeing though...Steve Buscemi was there afterwards answering questions but I had to leave early to catch the next screening...

Call me naive, call me paranoid, call me bigheaded...

How do you know if your artwork is safe?

I know people post their artwork online but how do you know it won't be ripped off by somebody else?

How do I know my doodle that I post won't be ripped off?

Yes its presumptious that anything I do would be ripped off but what if?

What if you doodled a 'Mickey Mouse' type character and somebody saw it online in a far away country and turned it into a successful TV show with toys and t-shirts and action figures and you never knew?

I've just realised there is one person in Blog land who will know the answers to my questions...

Another question...do you always post what you've typed or have you deleted posts after re-reading them?

Outhinking myself

In my attempts to find my way by looking at other peoples work I defeat myself.

In my attempts at finding my artistic style I think myself out of doing.

I see other peoples work and can say who has influenced their work yet there they are exhibiting or making a living from their copies of somebody elses work.

I must learn to stop trying to come up with original work and just go with it...and if it is like somebdoys else work so be it.

Study and copy the old masters to set yourself on a path...

Can men & women truly be friends?

Can men & women truly be friends?

I always feel a twinge of jealousy when I hear a female friend/aqquaintance is going on a date.

There is part of me that feels insulted and wonders why it's not me and then it passes but nevertheless it happens.

Is it a merely brotherly type reaction or is it more?

Is it me having a fear of losing the affection of that person or secretly wanting to be with that person but not being spurred into action until somebody else has done what I want to do.

Yet you can get on well with somebody mentally but not have a physical attraction.

'In a beautiful world
I wish I was special
You're so ***** special

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin here?
I don't belong here'

'Creep' - Radiohead

Some things are meant to run smoothly

I bought a top with a zip yesterday but it sticks at a certain point.

Which means I'll have to go and complain and ask for an exchange.

If they don't have the same item to exchange I'll keep my top with the zip that sticks.

You just don't expect things like zips to stick though do you?

The world is an imperfect place...

Sometimes I wish...

Sometimes I wish:

1) That I don't have to go to movies by myself as often as I do.
2) That I have somebody to hold hands with.
3) That I could go to sleep at normal times.
4) That I hadn't started this post but to delete it would be wrong.
5) That I didn't have these moments of self-absorbed, morbid, introspective moments.


Sometimes I wonder:

1) If we are all obsessive compulsive shoppers with our DVDs and CDs.
2) If a certain somebody ever thinks of calling me.
3) If everything is going be allright.
4) If I will find my way.
5) If I will ever stop having these thoughts.


Somethings about me:

1) I wear glasses.
2) I like girls in glasses.
3) I worry too much about myself.
4) I think and don't do.
5) I should go to sleep.

'Broken Flowers'

I went to see a London Film Festival film but it was sold out...it never said so on their website!

So instead I went to see 'Broken Flowers' directed by Jim Jarmusch and starrinf Bill Murray. I haven't really made my mind up about this film yet. It was another road trip movie about somebody trying to find himself. The movie was about connections and connecting but I found it hard to connect with it.

It was ok...

Tourist London - my way

'Elizabethtown'

I went to the cinema for a change today and saw Cameron Crowe's film 'Elizabethtown' as part of The London Film Festival. It'll be on general release in two weeks time but I felt like seeeing it so I went.

If you've seen 'Jerry Maguire' then you'll be able to tell this is another film by the dude that made 'Jerry Maguire'. It's definitely got the same sort of vibe about it. The performances aregood and you want to see what happens next. Its a charming story of trying to find who you are and connecting with people.

I wondered why British filmmakers don't make films of this ilk instead we get Mockney gangster films made by people who only go South of the river for the Tate Modern or to East London to get a curry on Brick Lane and whose ideas of gangsters is based on films of American gangsters.

(Why is the South quite often the bad part of the city...South London, South Central Los Angeles, Southside Chicago...South Boston?)

Tick Tock

In 3 weeks I'll become the crocodile in 'Peter Pan'.

Tick tock, tick tock...

Double Acts...

In tandem, double acts, two of a kind, peas in a pod, partners in crime...

Sometimes I wish I had a partner in crime...


Han Solo & Chewbacca

Jay & Silent Bob

Batman & Robin (Robin is just wrong though...but that's another discussion)

Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck

Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid

Laurel & Hardy

Shrek & Donkey

Charlie Brown & Snoopy

Andy Cole & Dwight Yorke (Man Utd Days)

Bonnie & Clyde

Simon & Garfunkel

The Steve & Christopher (Blog)

Chloe & Blondie (Blog)

Stephanie & Red Menace (Blog)



There are more but these are the ones that sprang to mind...please feel free to add to the list.

Thank you.

Transition

From what age are you meant to have mid-life crisis?

Is there a specific age group like being a teenager?

Is your role in life determined or can it change?

How many times can you can afford to keep on looking?

Does ones expectations change every decade?

Points of Reference

I think my ponts of reference are movies.

An event, what somebody says or does makes me think of a movie and a scene. A photograph can trigger this off, a word, a person's outfit, the first thing that comes to mind will be a line from a movie or a scene in a movie. I watch a hell of alot of movies unfortunately more on DVD than at the cinema.

I've noticed other people can come up with songs to fit their emotions or a picture or a scene or an event that they have experienced.

Others will remember a piece of writing or poetry.

What is your point of reference?

Movies I saw at the weekend:

'Ping Pong'
'Ong Bak'

Lifestyle envy

I just watched 'Ae Fond Kiss' which did have its moments and the leads were pretty good.

Despite being born, bred and sort of educated in England, I must admit at times to not quite understanding bits of dialogue that were in English with Scottish accents.

Nevertheless is it a sign of my age or my own personal financial situation that I was bothered by the FICTIONAL lead working seemingly only as a part time DJ yet having no financial worries. Then there was the female leads flat which seemed to be in a leafy street and really rather large for a single woman working as a teacher.

Could it be that my suspension of disbelief was compromised because it looked so close to my experiences of life in London...alright the film was set in Glasgow (where I've never been!) but had it been set in another country far far away would I have not been bothered by the lifestyle of a FICTIONAL character!

Or do you just get more for your money when you rent in Glasgow?

Things I have noticed

Things I have noticed while out and about in London:

1) Everybody has a horizontal striped top of some sort (boys and girls).

2) Army style caps are in fashion in all sorts of colours.

3) Converse Chuck Connors All Stars particulary in white or black are de rigeur.

Are these items in your wardrobe?


I haven't been to the cinema for some time now.

What I've seen on DVD recently...THX1138, Coach Carter, Training Day...

What I've been listening to...Tone Loc, Vivaldi/The Four Seasons...

What I've been reading...chapters of Haunted by Chuck Pahulniuk, short story by Jonathan Lethem, The Sun and The Evening Standard daily, various Blogs...

Daily Entries

I check evrybody eles's Blogs everyday to see what they have to say or what they have seen, heard, thought about or read.

I sometimes feel like I should enter something everyday but while there are many things going around my head, I don't always get to the computer in time nor do I dwell long enough on those thoughts that I can process them into anything worthwile to post.

Other people's blogs seem to have more entertaining mishaps and mis-shapes that have genuinely made me laugh out loud but I think I fail on that front but will endeavour to continue to put my thoughts out there.

I need to come up with a silly post...

Freewheelin? A coat like Dylan

It was pointed out to me that my coat looks likes Dylan's on the cover of 'Freewhelin'.

I've never heard the album.

I didn't get a girl in a green coat atttached to my coat.

Not much of a surprise

You are Schroeder!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

City at Night

Music for every mood

Music is a funny thing, I don't know if its seasonal or the time of the day.

Somedays I can listen to Michael Nyman, Hans Zimmer, the next Snow Patrol, Damien Rice, James Blunt, Keane, the next Miles Davis or Canonball Adderley, or it might be Vivaldi.

Recently it's been 'The History of Hip Hop', Tone Loc only made one album I think which I don't own but his lazy drawl is so distinctive. Tone appears in 'Heat' as Albert's brother in the nightclub scene.

Am i actually making a point here? Probably not...I think I'm just rambling for the sake of entering something on my Blog!

'Do you know the human head weighs eight pounds'

Ray in 'Jerry Maguire'

I''ve done the folowing:

1)Go to the Frida Kahlo Exhibition in its final week at Tate Modern.

5)Watch 'The American Friend' on DVD.

7)Meet by brother in London for a meal and a movie. (well met a friend in London for a meal)

8)Stop sulking about Liverpool's defeat to Chelsea last Sunday.

10)Put more sketches in my sketchbooks.

Old before my time?

Am I in dress rehearsal for old age?

I move economically (slowly) at the moment.
I get back pain.
I get grumpy with cars driving too fast and cyclists running red lights.
I get intimidated by loud teenagers.
I don't like smoky pubs.
I quite enjoy galleries.


Should I be:

Getting invited to parties.
Swanning around town (London)
Hitting on and flirting with as many women as possible in bars and clubs.

In my corner

Things I must do/will try to this week:

1)Go to the Frida Kahlo Exhibition in its final week at Tate Modern.
2)Go to bed earlier.
3)Finish 'Haunted' rather than reading bits every other day.
4)Will try not to buy 'Ken Adam - The Art of Production Design' (will be a necessary purchase for professional reasons though), 'Motherless Brooklyn' and 'Comics and Men' both by Jonathan Lethem (never read his books but they seem intersting) until I have finished reading at least the above.
5)Watch 'The American Friend' on DVD.
6)Go to London Zoo to sketch the animals, did invite somebody to join but they never got back to me.
7)Meet by brother in London for a meal and a movie.
8)Stop sulking about Liverpool's defeat to Chelsea last Sunday.
9)Spend less time on the computer looking for lessons in life.
10)Put more sketches in my sketchbooks.

Unintended book discovery from the weekend:

'AMPHIGOREY' by Edward Gorey (check him out if you don't already know him)

I suspect I shall yield to number 4 on my list sooner than I think.

Constant Treadmill of Consumerism...

I just keep on finding new films to get on DVD before I've watched the ones I've just bought.

I know what books I want to get next before I've read the ones that I've already got.

I'm thinking about the drawing pen I'm going to need before the one in my hand has run out of ink.

I am already wondering how I'll get a new CD whilst I listen to the one that I've just receieved in the post today.

The dates of release for new books, DVDs, CDs, comic books, video games are remembered with greater clarity than people's birthdays.