Archive for January, 2010
If You’ve Never Written To A Senator….
Elizabeth Warren is telling you that now is the time to do so. She is, as always, clear and concise and right about everything.
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
Elizabeth Warren | ||||
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I love talented nerds.
Here’s something pretty terrific. A one-man band. Violin and voice. And loops. Owen Pallett performing “Lewis Takes Action,” from his new album Heartland.
The High Road
James Mercer — mastermind of The Shins — has a new album forthcoming. It’s a collaboration with Danger Mouse, and they’re calling themselves Broken Bells. The first song is upon us, and it’s terrific. Album due out March 9.
What do these things have in common?
this was an antlered buck of empty nostril
sexy dancing
kevin clifton burn the floor
harryreidasshole
big gay words
sculpted hedges
i love elvis poem
paris from above
italian sculpture
vagina dentata
boozy lunch
mad parents
chris stout is white
fuck ny senate
gay males pen pals jail david zaza
una furtiva lagrima the goonies
why do i like vaginas
They are all search strings that brought visitors to this blog. My favorite is “gay males pen pals jail david zaza” (and no, I don’t have any imprisoned pen pals. I’m desperate, but not that desperate). I’m also particularly proud that someone searching for “harryreidasshole” lands at this blog. Means I’m doing something right. If I ever change the name of this blog it’ll be to “Senators Are Assholes (Except for Feingold).” And finally, to whoever was searching for “why do I like vaginas”, I’m sure if you have to search the web for the answer to that question that you’re pretty much guaranteed to NOT find the answer here at davidzaza.com. Good luck with that….
Perhaps a Donation to Doctors Without Borders?
People gather outside a damaged MSF office in Port-au-Prince to receive help after a 7-magnitude earthquake
hit the capital city on January 12. [Haiti 2010 © MSF]
Medecins Sans Frontieres — known in the States as Doctors Without Borders — is a wonderful organization, and they’d be a great place to donate if you are moved to make a donation to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
It’s love
At least it feel like love. Julian Casablancas w/The Roots on Jimmy Fallon:
Elizabeth Warren for President
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Quickie Movie Reviews
I’ve been indulging in the cinematic arts. I’ve taken in movies old and new in a new year binge that’s been extremely enjoyable. Here are quickie reviews. My ratings scale of 1 – 10:
1-2: Shoot the director
2.5-5: Hated it
5.5-7: Eh
7.5-8: Hey, this is good!
8.5: I loved this!
9-10: Perfect (or near-perfect)
Up In the Air: A positive message without a pat happy ending. The screenplay is well-written, and the cast is spot on. And what do you want to do, not look at George Clooney for two hours? 8.5/10
Me and Orson Welles: This movie was mis-marketed. How did it fly under the radar? Why did it get delayed and then lost in the shuffle? It’s a lovely, quiet, charming film. Zac Efron looks like an old-timey matinee idol and even holds his own in the acting department. Claire Danes is her usual wonderful self — so present and bright. But Christian McKay steals the show with an Oscar-worthy turn as Welles. And c’mon, it’s directed by Richard Linklater, who doesn’t know how to make a bad movie. 8.5/10
Avatar: Tall sexy blue people! Seriously, this is an absorbing movie experience. See it in 3-D and see it at an IMAX if possible. You’re in the freakin’ movie, for god’s sake. Sure, the story is not quite original, many of the characters are flat caricatures, some of the dialogue is ear-splittingly bad, and even some of the art direction falls on its face. No matter, it’s great entertainment of the hugest kind. 8/10
Sherlock Holmes: Ole London meets the Matrix. But it’s not just showy — the dialogue is smart and snappy, and the acting is great old-fashioned movie-acting. Robert Downy Jr. is quick-witted and adds just the right amount of depth to what is essentially a cartoon version of the world of Sherlock Holmes. Plus, I love that the script allows for the dark underbelly of Holmes’s character — the drugs and booze and co-dependence on Watson. Super entertaining. 8/10
Brothers: Three actors I love — Jake, Tobey, and Natalie — all covering new ground for their talents, and all doing quite well with it. Which is impressive given how poorly written the script is. It was kind of moving at times, but not moving enough. I had the sense that this material might make a better stage play than film, but who knows. This screenplay is based on a 2004 Danish film — maybe that one gets it right. But while not downright horrible, this movie is messy and incomplete. 6/10
Elevator to the Gallows: What do you want, to not watch Jeanne Moreau wander the streets of Paris overnight? This is an early (1957) film by Louis Malle, who not only didn’t know how to make a bad movie, he didn’t even know how to not make a great movie. It was my first time seeing it on the big screen, but even if you don’t have that opportunity, rent it immediately and bask in the glow of Malle’s and Moreau’s greatness. 10/10
Bright Star: A totally under-the-radar 2009 film. Probably it’s about English Romantic poet John Keats and the trailer makes it look like a silly chick-flick. It’s very controlled, very English, and very well-paced. And it’s absolutely gorgeous to look at. Highly recommended. 8.5/10
Four Weddings and a Funeral: Crazy that I never saw this 1994 movie before, but I just rented it. Do you all like this thing? I thought it was totally boring. And someone needs to slap Andie MacDowell. So even though young Hugh Grant is a total cutie-pie, this snoozefest only gets 4/10.
The Best of Youth: Wow wow wow. Wonderful, gripping cultural & familial Italian epic. It’s 4 or 5 hours, spread over two DVDs. Beautifully written, it’s like a wonderful novel that involves you in the characters’ lives. You cry when their hearts break, and you miss them when the movie ends. 9/10
The Dead: John Huston’s final film has finally made it to DVD. It’s a film that’s worthy of Joyce’s amazing short story. Quiet and slow-paced, it’s a mood piece that captures both old Dublin and the entire human condition all at once. 10/10
Favorite Picture Project 4: Evan Gaffney
New Yorkers have a lot of things we say — you know, all the clichés and catch-phrases, fughettaboudit, grab-a-slice, bagel-and-a-schmeah, etc. I love and embrace them all, except one, which seems to me to be a little self-satisfied and smug and therefore should be far beneath us, and more appropriate for a prissy little town like San Francisco. The saying is: “Only in New York!” But you know, we do see a few things that the rest of America doesn’t see. And the picture above really wouldn’t be seen very often anywhere outside of Los Angeles or New York. And it’s the kind of thing we see on a daily basis, which is why I love that Evan sent me this picture (he sent it with a one-sentence note: “And I got the part, too!” Heh.)
Viagra is aggressively marketed. Television, radio, and the internet beam the spots to every corner of our land. Which, when you think about it, is really strange. I mean, only a very small percentage of the population needs this product. So with all the focus that ad agencies put on targeted marketing, why are we all inundated with this product’s sales pitch? Because fear of aging is one of the biggest motivating factors in American culture. And of course lying right under that layer of this onion’s skin is fear of death. Anything that can help us put that off — or just help us pretend to — is welcomed into our homes with a kind of panicked glee.
Try this wrinkle cream, use this hair dye, take this pill and watch youth flow back through the arteries that lead to your dick. Fear of aging has been a motivating factor for men and women since Adam and Eve first retired from The Garden, so why stop now. With that in mind here is a pair of short poems by Jack Gilbert, the first from 1962 and the second from 20 years later. We see the simple girding for a distant future death change into a present tense realization of age:
Between Poems
A lady asked me
what poets do
between poems.
Between passions
and visions. I said
that between poems
I provided for death.
She meant as to jobs
and commonly.
Commonly, I provide
against my death,
which comes on.
And give thanks
for the women I have
been privileged to
in extreme.
More Than Friends
I was walking through the harvest fields
tonight and got thinking about age.
Began wondering if my balance was gone.
So there I was out in the starlight
on one foot, swaying, and cheating.
–Jack Gilbert, Monolithos: Poems, 1962 and 1982
This is the fourth in the Favorite Picture Project series. The entire series can be seen here.
Civilized Countries
Portugal makes its bid to join Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and South Africa in recognizing marriage equality. Looking at that list it’s pretty amazing to think South Africa is ahead of the US civil rights. Then again, looking at the list of US states that have marriage rights for all, it’s hard to imagine Iowa is ahead of New York and California. Sigh.
Fuck the New Jesery State Senate
Another step backward. Cowards and bigots. That is all.
La Zaza Vita: Episode 2
Well it’s been years since we made Episode 1 of this series, so I guess we’re on a roll. The first “La Zaza Vita” video was a half-hour cooking show where Marco taught us how to make tarrales. In Episode 2, we see Marco and Marie making homemade pasta. But this time, we’ve shortened our playtime to 5-1/2 minutes to make a real web-style show, rather than mimicking the pacing and tones of the Food Network like we did last time. Technological note: I’m still learning the ins and outs of compressing video to Flash — so bear with me. The quality here is not nearly as good as the raw Flip video I’m using for editing. But I’ll learn more as I go and hopefully the video quality will improve. Nothing, however, can improve upon the delicious meal Mom and Dad made on Boxing Day 2009. Here’s how they did it:
Check back soon for a special archived video: La Zaza Vita Episode 1: Tarrales