brain food

I woke up yesterday and didn't make any coffee. I meant to, but never got around to it. My day suffered for it too. My Saturday's are reserved for anatomical repairs anyway and coffee isn't a true, necessary part of that equation. Still, my brain felt left out.

Gato

I used to have a female cat, who when dive bombed by birds, would feign disinterest. Except for the twitching of her stub tail and the expectant look on her feline face, would ignore them. A day or two later, unsurprisingly, I would discover an unfortunate dusting of feathers from a deceased Mockingbird. The feathers marking its demise from an over confident, carelessness. I liked my cat, who exists only in my memories now, but the numbers of birds that are killed by house cats is enormous and today, I side with the birds.

on the way, out the door

The movie, Four Lions, reminds me of a ploy I used to use on myself, when, as a child, I would have recurring nightmares.  I began to imagine the frightening boogie men of my dreams as Huey, Dewey, and Louie, or some such. Terrorists, as walking nightmares in real life, made impotent, when imagined as silly goofs.
On the way out the door to work this morning, American Graffiti was on HBO in semi-HD. I recorded it, to watch later. As I struggled with the buttons on the remote to do so, I wondered how Lucas could have devolved into a filmmaker who milked, again and again, his movies for cash and into a weird and grossly covetous person, who substituted the accumulation of wealth, for the making of great movies.

House of Books

My haul from the library tonight:
On DVD I got Legend. A Ridley Scott directed movie with Tom Cruise and Mia Sara. It's been a long while since I've seen this flick. What I remember most about this movie, is the movie itself is almost completely overshadowed by the creature that can only be described as the devil. Frightening enough to inhabit your dream...the scary ones.
The Cats of Mirikitani A documentary about a old Japanese man living on the streets and making art. A highly honored film at various film festivals.
I picked up three books tonight as well. Two of them I picked up on a whim. It's entirely likely I wont even read them.
The Charming Quirks of Others by Alexander McCall Smith An Isabel Dalhousie Novel. I don't even know what that is really. We'll see.
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett Another tome by Follett. It's certainly not great literature but Follett knows how to write characters that live fondly on, in our thoughts.
And finally Ben Mezrich's book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal This the book book the recent movie, The Social Network was based on.
I also went to the grocers, but you wouldn't want to hear about that, lest I bore you =0).

Happy new year.

All new year's eve celebrations are not created equal.  Some, despite best intentions, are just a little bit flea bitten and have an undercurrent of sadness; like the one I was at. Walking through this gathering of people at a bar, which will go nameless and geographically unlocated, I gather up these impressions and examine them afterwards.  I must say, when I say sad, please don't infer that I mean in any way, I hold myself superior to those whose time I shared, if only very briefly. In fact, it's possible, the scent of quiet desperation I was sensing, was in large part, emanating from myself. Reaching this conclusion, my immediate inward response is typical...I must resolve to make changes. Ugh, I'm thinking. Today is the first day of the new year. Today and its counterpoint, tomorrow, are integral to what we hope to achieve, in this, our new year.  I resolve that by new years eve, at the the end of this year, two thousand eleven, it will not bounce along like some dirty and partially deflated balloon, mostly absent of helium's lift. I need to choose one or two things to work on then. Something personal that I can point to at years end and say, I did it. First, let's steer away from the rocks, shall we?

3D

I think, for the right kind of movie, primarily action movies, 3D can be an appropriate choice. Although, it's certain, it’s not absolutely necessary. If the movie is compelling enough, it will draw us into its onscreen world, where the movie begins to take place, not just on screen, but in the viewers mind, as well. This is where the the movie going experience, is at its most compelling. I think it can be argued, to film a movie with equipment that produces the highest quality 3D, makes it easier for the movie maker, to produce a compelling movie. The 3D, tricking the mind into quickly entering a state of open receptivity.  The viewer, walks out of the theatre, believing he’s had an exceptional movie watching experience, but really, he’s just been flummoxed into thinking that, by the potent addition of 3D. A compelling story is preferable, to the whiz bang addition of 3D. Just ask the families, that once would gather around a radio and be enthralled by a story teller’s ability to transmit the listeners to another world.

'arry Potter

I'm not a major fan of the series, so my opinions are not necessarily made as a starry eyed believer. It's been years now since I've read the book, but from what I do remember, the book and the movie were very much alike. This movie, like the book, plays like an extended third act that pulls back some from the action in order to not steal impact from the climactic final movie. I see comments like, Ron and Hermione forever and I don't necessarily agree with that. It seems to me, Rowling, resisting the clamor of her fans and their fan-fiction, to couple romantically Harry and Hermione, did so, by pairing Hermione with Ron. To me, this pairing cuts against the grain and is so obviously a mistake. Ron's a secondary character compared to Harry and Hermione. Even appearing on screen in soft focus, when he shares the screen with the two main protagonist. In the end, it was Rowling's book to write, as she saw fit and it still feels like a false note to me; an unrequited conclusion. 

ps
I post stuff like this on movie sites (and did post this) and I thought, I might as well, up it to my blog. Let me be clear, I post on and not for. There's a difference.