January | 2008 | johnozed

It’s a freezing cold Monday in January. Juan came over last night, he watched half of The Wire and then we watched the rest of season three of Weeds. Today he goes back to Ewing for his off campus life. Hopefully they have heat down there since it’s presently 25 degrees which is the high for the day. Barometric pressure is out of control, clear blue skies, courtesy of a Siberian wind. I picture Juan living in a ramshackle house, peeling paint, bare light bulbs, cold wind blowing through the slats of the house. I’m sure it’s not like that at all.

Right now I am watching Edge of the City, a film from 1957 starring Sidney Poitier and John Cassavetes, directed by Martin Ritt. Pretty good, edgy, jazz score. Sidney playing the cool uptown cat and John Cassavetes the guy harboring a secret. Of course it being the 50’s, Sidney has to die and Cassavetes has to find some sort of gritty redemption.

Before that was A Patch of Blue, once again with Sidney Poitier, and Shelley Winters and Elizabeth Hartman. I remember that being on Channel 4′ s 4:30 Movie. They always seemed to show A Patch of Blue once a year and this was the first time I saw it and understood it. It may also have made an impression on me when I was growing up, seeing how ugly racism could be and also how some disabled people like Selena the blind girl in A Patch of Blue could be abused and mistreated. And how noble a regular person can be.

Man, that Shelley Winters was horrible. I mean she was good but her character was just horrible. She pulled it off and won a best supporting actress Academy Award. A ‘happy’ ending to the melodrama, but Elizabeth Hartman had a tragic life though. The acting parts dried up, she was manic depressive and jumped off a bridge in the 80’s. Such an affected performance. I am watching Turner Classic Moves more and more these days. Sidney Poitier turned 81 yesterday.

Back to work tomorrow, a four day work week which is something quite easy to get used to, but that ain’t going to happen. I’m sure I would complain about having to work four days after a while. Whittle it down to one day and I’d moan about that too. Then, if I had nothing but days off, I’d complain about not having any work to do. Ok, that might be a stretch. I’m thinking if I was wealthy enough not to work, which should happen, any day now.

On Friday I am going to see my first Samuel Beckett play, Happy Days. From what I gather, it mainly takes place at a hamburger stand in late 1950’s suburban Milwaukee. Oh and the cast are buried up to their waist in act one, up to their neck in act two.

Today is a day off, in honor of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, a great man. I’m sure you would agree.

A very lazy, very cold Sunday. Did most everything I had to do yesterday, chore wise. So that left plenty of time for nothing to do. And since it’s so cold and windy out, it’s best to stay indoors. So I’ve been reading, finished one book, read the papers, the New York Times Online, and Mojo, which I am in the middle of. I watched the Simpsons Movie yesterday afternoon. Definitely not the same as watching it in a theater. It’s almost just another Simpsons episode on TV, only without the commercials, but it’s still a larf.

Last night I watched Factory Girl, starring Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick, Guy Pierce as Andy Warhol and Hayden Christiansen as a Bob Dylan type. Sienna Miller certainly had the part down, as did Guy Pierce who sounded just like Warhol, as well as having the mannerisms fitting to a T. Hayden Christiansen, while vaguely looking like a Bob Dylan, had his vocal inflections down. There were some shots where I wasn’t sure if I was actually looking at a photograph of Andy and Edie or Guy and Sienna. It wasn’t terrible though and worth a look if you’re interested in a representation of what Andy Warhol’s Factory was like.

Juan came back to the States and last night came over to hang out for a spell. He told a few tales of fun and frustration, and actually, during the latter, raised his voice up considerably, that’s how carried away in the moment he was. It was good to see him, all tanned yet dressed like an Eskimo in his great big parka. We watched some episodes of Weeds that I had recorded, and drank some very dry wine, the kind after drinking it you had cottonmouth.

I got it for free from the liquor store on the corner a few weeks ago during the holidays, so I can’t complain. After three episodes I was bleary eyed and needed to sleep, so I said good night to Juan after showing him to the door. Back to reality for him on Tuesday.

I still have Sicko by Michael Moore from Netflix to watch, but right now I’m not that into watching a documentary about the health care system in this country. Maybe tomorrow. Tonight The Wire is on, so that’s something to look forward to. Still have the New Yorker to catch up on, and Mojo, both of which I am in the middle of.

Right now The US vs John Lennon is on. Woodstock was on previously. I’ve seen the John Lennon documentary before, and Woodstock I’ve only seen scattered clips. I couldn’t watch it all in one sitting, but I did catch Sly and the Family Stone as well as Jimi Hendrix, both of which were the best out of all the clips I had seen. Totally electrifying.

Off tomorrow, for the Martin Luther King Federal holiday. A chance to sleep a little bit later again.

Experimented with my camera for a bit this afternoon which will explain most of the pictures below.