Posts Tagged ‘The Fall’

This Wheel’s on Fire

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

Today is all about the damp and the rain. I knew it was going to be this way and was prepared. Ah foresight! Why hadn’t I used that before? I went out a few times before it started to rain so human contact was completed early on.

Bill’s been home all day as well, so while he’s watching the TV and shredding documents and papers, I’ve been on his Mac. Hopefully not too much longer since my computer is now at Rand’s apartment.

Brought it over on Thursday night before heading to McSwells in an Ikea bag they were handing out at the Art & Music Festival last month.

So while keeping out of Bill’s way I watched a movie that Roda recommended a while back. It’s called The Fall and it has nothing to do with Mark E. Smith. It was directed by Tarsem who is most known for directing the R.E.M. video, Losing My Religion.

It’s definitely a beautiful film with lush locations and fantastic images. The story doesn’t hold up to the images. It’s not bad though and worth seeing. I also watched the ‘making of ‘ documentary, which showed the difficulty in directing child actors.

You can see Tarsem climbing the walls trying to get the 6 year old girl to cry or say her lines just the way the director wants them to be said.

Tonight Bill and I are going to watch ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain’ adapted from James Baldwin’s classic novel and starring Paul Winfield and Olivia Cole. I’d only seen a short clip of it on a James Baldwin documentary and I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of it.

It all depends on whether the Yankees game will go on. It’s raining out right now with flashes of lightning. I personally don’t care either way.

I can easily watch the DVD on Bill’s Mac like I had done earlier today. I’ve been in front of the computer screen most of the day anyway.

I do not like the new Facebook layout. It updates by itself, but I preferred doing the updating. And when you hit home the page from a few hours comes up. Then if you hit it again it’s more current. Me no like. Me wish they asked whether or not I wanted it done.

Of course being online most of the day, yesterday and today, I noticed the initial change yesterday. I don’t see anyone else complaining about, nor do I hear the scratching of heads.

Just heard from Annemarie in Ashland, OR where she is having high tea on the porch of a Bed & Breakfast. Just Annemarie and a friend getting out of Arcata to look at Mount Shasta and the surrounding area.

She deserves a break from Rex and Earl I suppose. She did sound a bit disappointed in the fact that I hadn’t done much of anything today, due to the weather.

Now lightning flashes again. No word on whether the Yankees will be playing. I’m sure their fans are out in the rain waiting at the stadium. Even if I was a fan, being nice and cozy and dry here in Hoboken is much more preferable.

I just asked Bill if he would go to the Bronx if he had tickets. The short answer is, yes. He would be in the Bronx wearing a rain poncho.

Of course his initial answer involved a bus. I had to put the brakes on that, fast. I apparently needed to rephrase the question without any bus involvement even though there wasn’t any reference to begin with.

If you had a ticket, would you have taken the subway to the Bronx, in the rain to see the Yankees tonight?

The wheels keep turning.

No Xmas for John Quays

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

Last night, I didn’t get to sleep at all. No, no. Well the hole in the street got bigger and at 11:00 there were two jackhammers going off. Bill, slept right through it, with the windows open five floors above.

I was towards the back, in front of the computer, TV on and I needed to close the windows to hear the TV. We slept with the windows open a little bit. They must have finished working around 11:30. We haven’t put the air conditioner in the window yet, just getting by with fans which is nice. I haven’t had the fear of the window unit falling out and killing someone. It’s something I obsess about.

Before that we watched Nova Science Now, hosted by Neil de Grasse Tyson who you might recognize from his appearances on the Daily Show and The Colbert Report. He’s an amiable chap and reminds me of Bill. He reminds Bill of Bill. Bill mentioned that he could have hosted the show, but I had to remind him that he’s not an Astrophysicist. Something he had forgotten.

I watched the final disc of Michael Palin’s New Europe. He was in Prague and East Germany, winding up in the former East Berlin. One of the people he visited was a holocaust survivor who was in a propaganda film from the early 1930′s about how well the Nazi’s were treating the Jews.

Fooled most of the world as well as the Red Cross. Footage of inmates tending gardens, harvesting food that they couldn’t eat. If someone stole a tomato they would be punished and sent to the camps for extinction.

Then Michael Palin took part in a Laughter Yoga session which was quite the opposite of the Nazi footage. My sister has been involved with Laughter Yoga in Arcata and she’s been enjoying the benefits.

It was interesting to see how a Laughter Yoga session proceeds. It’s laughing and clapping and maybe a little sing song in German. Or if in Arcata, more than likely English.

Then it was the news in a stuffy apartment with jackhammers muted through closed windows on a summer night. The uneasy sleep I had certainly was a contrast from the night before of spooning with Bill. And it set the tone for the day today.

I was just a little bit out of it. Did my job but really could have used an hour or two more of sleep. But it was too late for that. It was Thursday so I saw West Indian Tony and got my egg sandwich, surprisingly Tony didn’t ask about Bill. Just as well I was out the door and headed to work.

It wasn’t humid as it was the past few days and while I still had to change my t shirt when I got to the office, I wasn’t sweating as much. The day didn’t fly by and it didn’t crawl either. Thursday not only means an egg sandwich from West Indian Tony, it also means penne, pesto and chicken for lunch.

I have such a boring appetite. It’s a healthy appetite mainly. Salads everyday except for Thursday. I also try to keep it cheap.

The day finally ended, and I left work, walking across town, taking various snapshots as I enjoyed a Padron 5000. Saw the homeless guy I see almost everyday who calls me ‘soldier’. He started calling me that months ago while I was in a suit and tie, and now it’s every time. He salutes me and I give him some change.

Got on the bus crowded yet air conditioned, cracked open ‘Tweak’ by Nic Sheff and of course, he fell off the wagon and started shooting up meth again as well as just about anything he could get his hands on. Most everyone around him is telling him he’s making a big mistake, but he’s fallen in love with a fellow junkie and that leads to yet another relapse.

Stupid kid. Junkies ruin everything.

and how about that Jesse Jackson? Asshole or what?

Snaps!

A scary looking storm that passed overhead

11:00 PM

Tony Plana (the guy who plays Ugly Betty’s father)

Regurgitating

Mr. Softee (Elaine!!!)

How can these guys wear suits in 80 degree weather?

Now that’s more like it

An arm

A belly

Boogie Chillen

Friday, May 16th, 2008

A dreary Friday. Nothing much going on. Took off from work legitimately and it’s just as well the weather is so dismal. I just watched ‘I Am Legend’ starring Will Smith. It had nothing to do with John Legend, much like Postcards From The Edge was not about notes sent from abroad while traveling with U2, or Legends of The Fall being about the exploits of Mark E. Smith. Anyway, I Am Legend stunk. Yet another movie that I’ve watched at home on DVD where I felt compelled to yell out Boo! Did not like the CG effects, though Manhattan ghost town was impressive.

Last night was another mellow night. Bill was here again in time to watch The Office which was very good and very twisted and very funny. Then it was time for Lost which left Bill and myself hanging, an abrupt ending which should be resolved in two friggin weeks in a two hour season finale. Once again I recommend going to the Entertainment Weekly website for recap info on both Lost and The Office. Still haven’t watched Ugly Betty since I opted to watch The Daily Show/Colbert Report instead. The urge to smoke is still there. Hanging in there.

I truly despise George Bush more than I have ever despised anyone else in my life. I can’t wait for that little monkey turd to be out of the White House. Still I wish him no ill will, knowing that if something happened to the little monkey turd, then an even worse germ would take his place. Just venting a bit. You probably feel the same as I do if you’re reading this.

The California Supreme Court decided in favor of Same Sex marriage which is a good thing, and also a lightning rod for the right wing to gather around and mobilize for the election. The right wing have been waiting for this for quite a while, and unfortunately the left doesn’t appear as organized, plus there are some on the left that are against same sex marriage. Not all liberals are cool with gay people. So it’s a good thing for gay people but could be divisive issue come election day. I think if a gay or lesbian couple want to get married, let them.

I don’t know if Bill and I would tie the knot. I mean, we probably bicker like any other couple, the thing is, I write about it, and you only get one side of the story unless Bill is writing about it somewhere. And don’t forget the third version of the story, if you want that Rashomon feel.

Madonna is playing Madison Square Garden in October and I will continue to ignore her. I am going to see Sunday In the Park With George with brother Frank and Elaine and Meghan and Cory in June. I bought the tickets with a discount online today. Frank and I are Sondheim fans and this is supposed to be a good revival.

We missed Company last year, another Sondheim show, and when Company didn’t win any Tony awards it closed a week later. But with Frank’s stroke, chance are we wouldn’t have been able to go anyhow. So Tonys or not, we have tickets and if it closes, we’ll have refunds.

Got a call out of the blue from my old friend Miriam. She and her husband Joe had a baby girl last year. I last saw Miriam a week or so before she gave birth to Mareah Grace Mazzarella. They’re having a get together on May 25 in Sleepy Hollow so that should be fun. Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend. Unofficial start of the summer. Hoboken parking spots aplenty, at least on weekends.