Saturday, 26 April 2008 

Today's Schedule

(10:00am)- Good morning, my friends.  I'm up, I've read the paper today, and drunk my coffee.  I gotta say I'm deeply ashamed about our local paper, The Charlotte Observer.  The NFL Draft starts today.  Everybody and their brother (especially sports columnists!) knows that the Miami Dolphins have already picked and signed their number one overall.  Jake Long, offensive tackle, out of Michigan.

Except the Observer, apparently.  They have Mr. Long down as the #2 pick in their "Mock Draft."  As if that weren't enough, the TV section *leads off* the must-watch listing with "What will Parcells do?" And and a list of likely #1 picks.

HELLO!  #1 is already signed and gone!  Who writes this stuff?  And doesn't double-check it?  Good grief, the Observer's editorial board should be ashamed and make an apology....

In other news....

My sister has asked me to go down to York, and help them setup software that will synchronize two new Garmin nav systems with their existing Garmin.  They need to be able to transfer personalized, favorite addresses for their businesses at will between the three trucks that will use the navs.  Garmins can do that, and I'll be teaching James and Becca how to make regular transfers themselves.

After that, it's back here to the lake house for me.  I've got a huge pile of old bills and stuff from the 90's I need to shred.  And make a dump run with trash and recyclables.  And read then put away six months' worth of comic books which I sorted a couple days ago.  And finish watching Oprah and Mr. Tolle's online seminars (I'm currently on Chapter 7 of 8 complete).  

And then ... I'll finally post my reviews of Michael Clayton and Eastern Promises.

Y'all come back now, y'hear?


Thursday, 10 April 2008 

A new favorite movie ... The Graduate !!

Alert!  This post is LONG - written alongside watching the film. 

(9:00pm)- Holy generational self-absorbed angst, Batman!  I have a new favorite movie.  This one.  I am watching it right now on AMC's DVD_tv - the trivia you get in the bottom letterbox part of the screen is absolutely priceless, educational, and, in keeping with my prior comments on why I like movies, very, very cathartic.

I don't know why.  All I know is this movie was released back in 1967.  I was all of one year old.  Why am I loving it so much?  As if it were made just for us?  Just for Gen X?  It is of my parents' generation, not mine.  I feel exactly like Benjamin Braddock, though.  I've seen this movie before.....why this is happening now I can't explain.  My only thought is that this is post-Stacey self-realization.

Stacey was my girlfriend for a short time a few years ago, and is a major factor in why I have become a realized, enlightened person.  She was great to me, and I took her for granted.  I thought I was being the real, the cool, the relaxed boyfriend and I thought I was very good at it.  When she dumped me, I cried for the only time in years.  A great learning experience, even though it still hurts.

As I say, although The Graduate is of 1967 vintage, it reminds me in every way of my college days and my first time with a lady.  I didn't realize it the first time I saw this movie, but I sure do now: times change but people don't.

More coming ... the commercial's over!

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OK - just watched the hotel room scene from which the movie poster came.  Dustin in the brown jacket and Mrs. Robinson in her stocking, off camera entirely except for her sultry stocking leg.  Didja know that she never gets a first name in the entire picture?  Anyway, the whole scene here is a lesson in post-adolescent angst (phrase from the commentary, not me) because Robinson expresses tired age and false, manipulative self-pity, and Ben just ... caves!  This movie is full of this kind of funny angst.  Ben, Mrs. Robinson, and Elaine don't ever say what they're really feeling - just what they think the other person wants to hear.

I've caved like Ben did.  I guess lots of people have :)

I'm a better man, now, for it.  I have to believe that this moment in time ... right now ... is better than before .... as in, the "eternal now" is all me getting better, learning, and becoming calmer, more mature and less judgmental.  ...Dear sweet merciful Lord - it's hard.  

But this movie is such a classic.  And I love it so much more now than before.  Must be a side-effect of living here with my parents ... maybe?

And yes ... I am still, faithfully, taking my meds ;)

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Another commercial break :)  I like posting reactions to a movie this way ... during the breaks.

So this last part ended with the Sunset Boulevard scene where Ben kisses Elaine after she storms out of the strip club.  Didja knowthe stripper's real name was (I'm not kidding here) Elaine?

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Interesting ... just watched the scene where Ben, wet from the rain (didja know it was dry and sunny that day?  They hooked a rain gizmo to the roof of the car to get it wet), told Elaine who the affair he'd supposedly called off was with her mother.  Under duress from Mrs. Robinson.

Fascinating, and I'm changing my prior opinion.  Mrs. R, Elaine, and Ben do say what they mean - they all just do it fully heedless of the consequences.  And just so, I realize why the film is actually a comedy :)

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So Ben just "coincidentally" got on the bus in SF with Elaine...oblivious to the fact she saw him running alongside the bus :)  Didja know that UC Berkley refused to allow filming on their campus?  The college scenes (except for a quick one stolen at Berkeley without the school's permission) were done at USC.

Ain't the music fantastic?  Didja know that the Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack happened by accident?  Every day before filming, director Mike Nichols listened to a gift from a friend: an S&G LP.  Halfway through the filming, and planning a whole separate soundtrack, he said one day, "You schmuck!  Your listening to the soundtrack right now!"

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Didja know Richard Dreyfuss had a line in this flick?  Just a throw-away line that he got to say cuz he was picked from the extras pool at random.

Didja know "Scarbarough Fair" is an old folk song?  Evidently, "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" is of unknown origin.  It doesn't really fit the rest of the words.  The commentary says it could possibly be a 'contraction' of a saying: "Every rose grows merry with time."  Paul Simon learned the song after skedaddling from the states to England after the first S&G album tanked.  God, that song is just ... beautiful.

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Didja know "Sound of Silence" was written by Paul Simon as a reaction to the stunned, mute grief the nation felt after the JFK assassination ... he says, "those lyrics were pretty powerful from a 21-year-old," or some such.  It was on that first album which tanked.  That caused Simon & Garfunkel to break up.  While Simon was in England, the record's producers re-mixed that song with electric guitar, bass, and drums added.  When it came out on radio after that, it was an instant hit.  So much so thatSimon came back from England, and the rest .... is history ;)

Didja know "Mrs. Robinson" was the only song written expressly for the movie?  Originally it was called "Mrs. Roosevelt."  Paul Simon didn't even finish it (only the chorus was written for the film) until the movie became a huge hit.

Didja know (of course you did, if you're of that generation ;) ...!) that the movie extremely polarized the older & younger generations?  Hipsters and kids adored it.  Reviewers thought Ben extremely boring and self-absorbed (hmmm!  Like most blogs these days?), and even Roger Ebert re-reviewed it in 1997 and said it sucked.  Brian Keith read for the Mr. Robinson part and through down the script after saying the whole thing was crap.  But for all that, so many kids bought tickets it almost became the #3 grossing film of all time (at the time).  But it leveled off at #4.

Didja know that originally the part of Ben was supposed to be played by a six-foot blond surfer-type dude?  The ultimate slacker of the time.  That's how it was written in the book.  Robert Redford really wanted the part, but the producers didn't think he could play a loser part and be believable.  Ya think...?  Dustin Hoffman read for the part so well he got it.  He spent the entire film absolutely certain he'd be fired since he was so wrong for the part.

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"It is a happy ending ... with a little bit of lemon in it."  Those are the closing words to the DVD_tv commentary.  Immortal words from Buck Henry, the screenwriter.  The movie just ended, and I'm exhausted from running back and forth between easy chair and computer.   I probably won't do this again, but it sure was fun!

The first time I saw The Graduate, the climax of the movie, the final scene, with the bus departing and Ben / Elaine visible in separate windows, struck me strongly as a symbol of hopelessness.  A foreshadowing that they were doomed from the start to divorce and loneliness.  That's why they each had their own window.  They even stopped smiling after they sat down in the back!  But evidently I misread Nichols' and Henry's intent.  As written, evidently they *do* live happily ever after ... after all.

Didja know the Jennifer Aniston movie Rumor Has It released in 2005 is intended to be a story about a potential "Braddock love child"?  Evidently Kevin Costner plays an aged version of Ben, and Shirley MacLaine a version of Mrs. Robinson.  Good thing that one's already in my Netflix queue, and comin' up quick. 

Didja know that the original book was semi-autobiographical, written by a guy who despises materialism?  His name is Charles Webb and he gave away his inheritance, three houses, and the rights to the novel.  He married the love of his life like Ben took Elaine at the film's end.  A little less violently, though, I hope ...  His unconventional wife despised the character of Elaine; in real life she shaved her head and legally changed her name to Fred!  LOL!

Truly hippies who were archetypal characters of the 1960's.  The movie was even filmed during the summer of 1967: the Summer of Love.  I love it - I identify with Ben.  Even though I'm probably more self-absorbed than he is.

Ah, well ... maybe one day I'll have my own "Elaine."  Someone to take my mind off of me :) !

 

A busy (but relaxing!) day ...

(3:30pm) - I'm back at the lake house today, doing a lot of laundry, and keeping an eye on the Masters and Tiger Woods' 10 consecutive pars (so far!) to start the tournament.  He ends the first day of the Masters in 4th place, on average, based on his career there.  He's still the favorite.

I did another DVDXpress double-feature, watching Michael Clayton last night and Eastern Promises this morning.  I liked both movies - both suspenseful, well-made, and riveting.  On neither movie did I even ONCE hit the "Display" button on the remote to check the time remaining!  That's actually a good rating system for how much I like a flick; the more I like it, the less concerned I am about how much more time I have to spend on it.  Full reviews coming later.

The weather is spectacular; it's 76° out there, sunny, and the lake is beautiful.  Our little cove next door and to the right from our back deck, though, is clogged with scum, logs, and trash.  Doesn't stop the ducks, though, nor the turtles.  They're both out in force in the cove, the turtles sunning themselves and the ducks paddling around in even the dirtiest water.

I'm lazily doing all the laundry I've let build up - both whites and colors were overflowing.  Like most guys, I wait until I'm out of boxers to do it ... :)

Later tonight I'm going to move the boxes of DVDs and CDs, and the display towers for them and my cassettes, down stairs.  Speaking of which, wherever I put the stuff in the living room, I'm going to need a feather duster.  Cat hair gets everywhere, and (oh yeah...) I need to wash those cheap blankets I'm covering the couches with.  They're really ugly, after all - I *really* ought to just replace 'em with something nicer.  And cat-hair-proof.

Today is a good day.  No stress.  I don't have to work at AIM until Monday, so I've got a long four-day weekend to work for Carolina Lift Stations, and migrate all my stuff down to the apartment there.

Hope you're having a good day also.

Peace!


Saturday, 6 April 2008 

A bit *more* philosophy ...

(1:30pm)- I'm here at my sister's in York today.  It's provided me yet another opportunity to reflect on one of the philosophies of life that has been revealed to me before.  It's the one that says, "every cloud has a silver lining."  Or even better, "every silver lining has it's cloud."

I *like* being here because there's always something happening.  It's kinetic, always fresh, and fun.

I *don't like* being here because there's very little quiet.  It's not very relaxing, and my niece and nephew are very very loud in the mornings!

I *like* being at the lake house in Belmont because it's calm and peaceful, has a great lake view, and I can do whatever I want whenever I want to do it.

I *don't like* the lake house because it can be too quiet.  When my email is caught up, I don't have a DVD to watch, and my cats don't want to play, I get very restless.

I know I'm belaboring an obvious point.  I know this one is boring you to tears :)  But it's rare that life-lessons like this come to me as stark as this.  I give thanks to God, the driving force behind the mechanical and unfathomable machinations of the universe, for these a-ha moments when they happen.

Peace !!

Tuesday, 1 April 2008 

A bit of philosophy ...

(11:30pm) - Amidst all these movie reviews, I'd like to add a bit about why I like movies so much.  I was watching Serendipity tonight - and just finished all the bonus materials - and I realized how great it is to see and hear from so many people who love what they do, are very good at it,  *and* provide escape and entertainment for millions of people.  All at the very same time.  Can you see the magic in that?

In my opinion, that is the golden fleece of living.

I'm personally a mess - I haven't had a steady job in years, and not a single one that lasted more than two ... I wish I could find that magical combination of job, skill, and satisfaction for other people.   This "Aha" moment came soon after I realized, during the "Making Of" part of the Serendipity extra stuff, that John Cusack has been my favorite actor all along.  

I have always felt as dorky and lost as the characters he portrays, but deep down, I have also had this real ... appreciation ... for his skill and success.  The wealth he has is just a side benefit.  It's part of the philosophy, see: if you love your work, are very good at it, and provide happiness to other folks while you do it, then the money is irrelevant.  That's when you really find success... personal and financial.  

I believe it's what all the financial self-help gurus mean.  When you love what you do, whether you are rich or poor doesn't matter.... you are automatically living within your means.

That's what I think anyway :)

Peace!

 

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