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shadowkatYes, I'm sucking at subject headings lately, sorry. Absurdly happy today. Had a lovely little wander down to the promenade which over looks the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline/Statue of Liberty. One side you have the views of the Manhattan skyline, on the other side old brownstowns and gardens, with a myriad of people wandering with dogs, strollers, sitting and chatting. It remains one of my favorite places to visit in the city. Very peaceful. Since it was 67 degrees today, I wandered to this little promenade and sat on a bench, looked out at the view, closed my eyes and soaked in the sun - my percentage of Vitamin D today. Honestly I think if I was out in the sun more, I'd be happier. Wandered back, did the old window shopping - dropping into a shoe store and a comic book store (was looking for mags with pics could draw from), also dropped into assorted artisan stores specializing in hand-made jewelry, dishes and other pretty things...then off to buy food at Met Foods, and more wandering - looking at real estate options, noting I do not have the money to afford these outlandish prices. An one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn goes for $295,000 dollars. A two bedroom? 575,000. Some for 1.2 million. This does not include the maintenance fee or the property taxes. These aren't houses, these are apartments. It's rather frightening. Rents range from $1300-4200. But I figure I have time. And...my federal tax return came today!! YAY!!! You have no idea how worried I was about this. I was so scared the nit-wits that took my lap-top, would also attempt to steal the tax return. But they didn't. YAY!!! What did I do with it? Well...it was just enough to pay for my lap-top. Upside: The lap-top is much better than the last one. And was cheaper. (Thumbs nose at thieves.) And I still get the state one, which is coming. May use it to buy a new tv or go towards Lake Tahoe. My Dad asked me today if I was still planning on going to that...I think so, yes. Be nice to relax and not worry, just sit and look at a bird sanctuary, maybe do a bit of gambling in Reno, maybe do some hiking, and spend time with folks who I share so many interests with. Wales said the other night, "maybe some day you'll find people who like and enjoy same things you do..", my response was: "well, sort of already have - my correspondence club."
At any rate, came home, poured myself glass of wine mixed with Newman's blackberry soda (yes, I'm making my own wine coolers and they are really good - the soda kills the sulfites and no heartburn). Also ate the chocolate gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar free cupcake (which was also, oddly, very good. Hard to believe I know. And there's something to be said for not having sugar - it makes one a little less depressed. I seem to be happier with less of it. Same is true about chocolat, less tense. Have had very little of sugar or chocolat the last three days and seem oddly cheerier. Of course alcohol has sugar in it, so this is not entirely true, is it?![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ann1962 really gifted me with the best gluten-free link I've gotten - it's gluten-free girl's blog, she does a very good job of explaining what gluten-intolerance is and includes gluten-sensitivity, stating it is possible to be sensitive to glutens and not be celiac, something few celiacs acknowledge as a possibility. She also has several entries on gluten-free restaurants and bakeries in New York City. Stating the restaurants in the East and West Village - called Rice, Mogando, Gobo, and Rissoteria, as well as Chickalicious, Danel all have gluten-free menu items. Apparently the gluten-free restaurants are in the east village, west village, upper east and upper west sides. Sigh. Not mid-town and not Brooklyn, damn it. Although the fries at Cafe Lulu may be safe. Being gluten-free has become more and more of a culinary adventure. I keep discovering new foods and food items I never thought of. Also it's bringing me into contact with some interesting people who have some of the same views and values that I have. So there may be an upside to all of this. Plus I'm healthier than I've ever been and the thinnest I've been since well, 1988 or 1989. I've literally lost more than 100 pounds because of this. So while I do miss pizza, waffles, pancakes, and all sorts of other items...I'm enjoying trying new things. This morning I made myself a shittake mushroom, scallion, cheese omelet with fresh strawberries, melon, and blackberries on the side and an orange juice screwdriver. For lunch - a crumble coffee cake from Babycakes - much better than the chocolat crumble cake. Some rice crackers (Kame's are the best) with Brie cheese (Normandy Brie), and thin rice crackers with home-made hummus - found hummus that did not have gluten in it. Rice crackers with hummus is quite good. For dinner, plan on chicken sausage with artichocke and garlic fried with oyster and shittake mushrooms with Rao marinara, over either corn pasta or soy pasta. Prefer the corn, soy is sort of rubbery. Rice isn't bad but takes forever to cook.
Got this week's Entertainment Weekly - which is my pulp mag of choice. It reviewed the Oscars. I did watch a good percentage of the telecast, did not watch all of it. Mostly because, I more or less knew who'd win - I may be the only person on the planet that was not suprised by Crash winning best picture. Also because I find the whole thing a little silly and self-congratulatory. Do you really need someone giving you a reward to tell you the film was good? OTOH - I noticed that Crash, which has been out of the theaters since well May, has returned to the theaters in my area. So winning an Oscar does give a film a second chance at theaters apparently. More people may actually look at it - out of curiousity - to see why a group of people, namely the group that produces, acts in, and makes movies thought it was the best thing out there. So there is a purpose to the whole thing - just as there's a purpose behind all the other award shows and prizes - National Book Award, Pulitizer, Nobel, Stoker, etc... Ask yourself - would you have gone to see, read, or considered listening to a specific piece of art if it didn't win an award? (I don't mean generally, I mean say something you discounted when first looking at it, but changed your mind because well, it won.)
Unlike most people - I sort of liked George Clooney's speech. It was the rare speech where the recipient didn't spend the whole time thanking an endless list of people - who really, let's face it, had zip to do with the performance and most of us have never heard of. Instead he made the very good point that it is impossible to compare these performances. Unless of course everyone is playing the exact same role. You can't compare Clooney's role, which I've heard from folks who actually saw the movie was more of a lead performance not a supporting, with say William Hurt's five minutes on screen in A History of Violence, or Jake Gyllenal's equally lead performance in Brokeback which was a completely different role without the physical demands of Clooney's role. Clooney's role in Syriana required him to put on over 50 pounds, which landed him in the emergency room. It was a once-in-a-lifetime role. Not better or worse than Jake's just different. Scean Penn said something similar when he won a few years ago for Mystic River ( a film I did not like). The bit about Hollywood taking risks was admittedly niave and somewhat self-congratulatory, but it is hard for me to be too critical considering I think that's more or less human nature. Have you listened to any of the director's commentaries on these DVD's? I did like Stewart's joke afterwards. That said, movies and art are a reaction against political injustice. When a society gets a bit too self-righteous, too conservative and starts abridging human rights - film, art, books will start screaming about it. It happened in the 60's, 70's and again now. Art challenges our views, makes us think. Not all art, granted. But the art that stays with you longest, often does. It forces you to see the world in another point of view and possibly question your own.
Unfortunately, I don't believe the Oscars necessarily chooses the best films. The best documentary I saw this year was No More Tears Sister, which was far and away better than that silly penguin thing, which so many people adored and I found oddly dull until I saw the original version that was not released to theaters, which was marginally better. But that's my opinion. Of the two - I think No More Tears said more about the human condition, about what is happening now, and how we should handle vengeance, violence, women's rights, and education. No More Tears was not nominated and I seriously doubt many people even saw it. I certainly wouldn't have if a friend hadn't told me about it. I mention it because it is an example of the type of film Clooney mentioned in his speech, a film that changes the viewer, makes them think.
Another film, I saw this year that made me think, that changed me was oddly Crash, which by no means is enjoyable. You probably won't like it. It is loud and crass and busy. At times - seemingly heavy-handed. When I watched it, I almost stopped it twice and gave up, but something about it gripped me and I continued. Now, months later (saw it in September or Oct), I can't forget it. What it says about violence, racism, human interaction and what motivates people is I think important. It made me realize that I can't judge people by how they act towards me today, not in that moment. Because I don't have all the information - I don't know why they've acted that way and the assumptions I make regarding their actions could be horribly wrong. The film made me realize how hard it is to truly know or understand another human being. And how all of us make assumptions based on our own limited experience and perceptions - sometimes erroneous, sometimes leading us to do horrible things. Sometimes leading us to do wonderful things. Crash is a film that gave me an odd sense of hope and changed how I viewed things. Made me aware of my own racism, my own prejudices.
Brokeback Mountain similarily moved me. But did not change me. It did not tell me anything I didn't know, so much as reaffirm my own views. I found it gut-wrenching as well. Painful. A story about love that can't work due to so many factors. A story about two men who fall in love, about what it is like to be a gay man in a world that rejects people who are not heterosexual, macho, who fit a certain definition. In some ways it dealt with the same issues as Crash, how our prejudices and fears, if we aren't careful can define us and destroy us.
Capote was an interesting film about a narcissitic journalist, who realizes too late the cost of his obsession for realization of the perfect story - in this case one about the horrors of the death penalty. For Capote - he had no story if his characters were not executed, so he did very little to stop it. And as a result is unable to really write any thing else, not quite able to live with the realization that he did nothing. It is a nice compliment to Good Night and Good Luck - which deals with a journalist whose pugalistic investigation of a corrupt politician changes history. Edward R. Murrow's crusade against McCarthy, who worked to abridge and hinder human rights. One criticizes journalism and one glorifies it - both discuss the journalism that was in the past, yet comment on what is happening now. One is journalism that is almost self-congratulatory or narcissitic in character (Capote), while the other is journalism that is about exposing what is happening, rawly showing the truth, the black and whites of journalism.
Then there was Munich - the film I know the least about and haven't seen. (Haven't seen it or Good Night & Good Luck, saw the others.) Munich is Spielberg's compliment to Schindler's List. And in it he questions more or less the same things Syriana does. Both films, I've read are similar in structure. Both have many characters, stretch over a lengthy period of time and there are no heroes, everyone is somewhat gray, morally here. Munich asks if vengeance works - does going after the criminals really solve the problem? Does violence as a response to violence solve anything? Or does it just make things worse? And is justice ever really possible? ( A theme that I thought No More Tears Sister actually explored quite well and with less fanfare. In No More Tears - a story about two women, both activists, who learn the hard way that violence does not solve anything, it just makes things worse.
My friend Wales who saw the awards, was upset that MatchPoint didn't get more awards. She adored it, partly because she identified with it. It was a tale about a man who abandoned one woman for another. I find such tales more or less common-place. I've seen too many.
And MatchPoint felt largely like a retelling of the old Elizabeth Taylor, Montogomery Clift, Shelly Winters film "A Place in the Sun" based on the novel, An American Tragedy. It had decent dialogue. I enjoyed it. But it doesn't haunt me in quite the same way that other films have. I also felt Brokeback was more interesting.
I'm not sure about Wallace and Gromit's win...will wait until I see Howl's Moving Castle. I admit, I'm prejudiced on this one, I miss the 2 D animation that is slowly disappearing from the screen. Also Wallace and Gromit, while funny, felt like an old joke I'd seen before at times. I much preferred the earlier ones. That is admittedly a purely subjective point of view. I knew it would win though, just as I knew the other one's would.
My other favorite moments - before I flipped off the tv and went to bed. Were Robert Altman's speech about movie-making and how he cares little for awards and its all just about play. He's basically just made one long movie that has not been finished yet. Reminds me of the book mark, Wales gave me for my birthday, along with Howl's Moving Castle - "Life Must Be Lived As Play", not bad advice I think.
The other one was when the rap group won for It's Hard to Be A Pimp - I didn't love the song, but I liked it better than the other two and well, it was fun to see the reactions.
Okay signing off...getting sick of my security system telling me it has detected and blocked a malicious network virus that I downloaded a patch for yesterday. Going to make dinner. Watch flicks and maybe write a bit tomorrow.
Hope everyone had a lovely day...
At any rate, came home, poured myself glass of wine mixed with Newman's blackberry soda (yes, I'm making my own wine coolers and they are really good - the soda kills the sulfites and no heartburn). Also ate the chocolate gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar free cupcake (which was also, oddly, very good. Hard to believe I know. And there's something to be said for not having sugar - it makes one a little less depressed. I seem to be happier with less of it. Same is true about chocolat, less tense. Have had very little of sugar or chocolat the last three days and seem oddly cheerier. Of course alcohol has sugar in it, so this is not entirely true, is it?
ann1962 really gifted me with the best gluten-free link I've gotten - it's gluten-free girl's blog, she does a very good job of explaining what gluten-intolerance is and includes gluten-sensitivity, stating it is possible to be sensitive to glutens and not be celiac, something few celiacs acknowledge as a possibility. She also has several entries on gluten-free restaurants and bakeries in New York City. Stating the restaurants in the East and West Village - called Rice, Mogando, Gobo, and Rissoteria, as well as Chickalicious, Danel all have gluten-free menu items. Apparently the gluten-free restaurants are in the east village, west village, upper east and upper west sides. Sigh. Not mid-town and not Brooklyn, damn it. Although the fries at Cafe Lulu may be safe. Being gluten-free has become more and more of a culinary adventure. I keep discovering new foods and food items I never thought of. Also it's bringing me into contact with some interesting people who have some of the same views and values that I have. So there may be an upside to all of this. Plus I'm healthier than I've ever been and the thinnest I've been since well, 1988 or 1989. I've literally lost more than 100 pounds because of this. So while I do miss pizza, waffles, pancakes, and all sorts of other items...I'm enjoying trying new things. This morning I made myself a shittake mushroom, scallion, cheese omelet with fresh strawberries, melon, and blackberries on the side and an orange juice screwdriver. For lunch - a crumble coffee cake from Babycakes - much better than the chocolat crumble cake. Some rice crackers (Kame's are the best) with Brie cheese (Normandy Brie), and thin rice crackers with home-made hummus - found hummus that did not have gluten in it. Rice crackers with hummus is quite good. For dinner, plan on chicken sausage with artichocke and garlic fried with oyster and shittake mushrooms with Rao marinara, over either corn pasta or soy pasta. Prefer the corn, soy is sort of rubbery. Rice isn't bad but takes forever to cook.Got this week's Entertainment Weekly - which is my pulp mag of choice. It reviewed the Oscars. I did watch a good percentage of the telecast, did not watch all of it. Mostly because, I more or less knew who'd win - I may be the only person on the planet that was not suprised by Crash winning best picture. Also because I find the whole thing a little silly and self-congratulatory. Do you really need someone giving you a reward to tell you the film was good? OTOH - I noticed that Crash, which has been out of the theaters since well May, has returned to the theaters in my area. So winning an Oscar does give a film a second chance at theaters apparently. More people may actually look at it - out of curiousity - to see why a group of people, namely the group that produces, acts in, and makes movies thought it was the best thing out there. So there is a purpose to the whole thing - just as there's a purpose behind all the other award shows and prizes - National Book Award, Pulitizer, Nobel, Stoker, etc... Ask yourself - would you have gone to see, read, or considered listening to a specific piece of art if it didn't win an award? (I don't mean generally, I mean say something you discounted when first looking at it, but changed your mind because well, it won.)
Unlike most people - I sort of liked George Clooney's speech. It was the rare speech where the recipient didn't spend the whole time thanking an endless list of people - who really, let's face it, had zip to do with the performance and most of us have never heard of. Instead he made the very good point that it is impossible to compare these performances. Unless of course everyone is playing the exact same role. You can't compare Clooney's role, which I've heard from folks who actually saw the movie was more of a lead performance not a supporting, with say William Hurt's five minutes on screen in A History of Violence, or Jake Gyllenal's equally lead performance in Brokeback which was a completely different role without the physical demands of Clooney's role. Clooney's role in Syriana required him to put on over 50 pounds, which landed him in the emergency room. It was a once-in-a-lifetime role. Not better or worse than Jake's just different. Scean Penn said something similar when he won a few years ago for Mystic River ( a film I did not like). The bit about Hollywood taking risks was admittedly niave and somewhat self-congratulatory, but it is hard for me to be too critical considering I think that's more or less human nature. Have you listened to any of the director's commentaries on these DVD's? I did like Stewart's joke afterwards. That said, movies and art are a reaction against political injustice. When a society gets a bit too self-righteous, too conservative and starts abridging human rights - film, art, books will start screaming about it. It happened in the 60's, 70's and again now. Art challenges our views, makes us think. Not all art, granted. But the art that stays with you longest, often does. It forces you to see the world in another point of view and possibly question your own.
Unfortunately, I don't believe the Oscars necessarily chooses the best films. The best documentary I saw this year was No More Tears Sister, which was far and away better than that silly penguin thing, which so many people adored and I found oddly dull until I saw the original version that was not released to theaters, which was marginally better. But that's my opinion. Of the two - I think No More Tears said more about the human condition, about what is happening now, and how we should handle vengeance, violence, women's rights, and education. No More Tears was not nominated and I seriously doubt many people even saw it. I certainly wouldn't have if a friend hadn't told me about it. I mention it because it is an example of the type of film Clooney mentioned in his speech, a film that changes the viewer, makes them think.
Another film, I saw this year that made me think, that changed me was oddly Crash, which by no means is enjoyable. You probably won't like it. It is loud and crass and busy. At times - seemingly heavy-handed. When I watched it, I almost stopped it twice and gave up, but something about it gripped me and I continued. Now, months later (saw it in September or Oct), I can't forget it. What it says about violence, racism, human interaction and what motivates people is I think important. It made me realize that I can't judge people by how they act towards me today, not in that moment. Because I don't have all the information - I don't know why they've acted that way and the assumptions I make regarding their actions could be horribly wrong. The film made me realize how hard it is to truly know or understand another human being. And how all of us make assumptions based on our own limited experience and perceptions - sometimes erroneous, sometimes leading us to do horrible things. Sometimes leading us to do wonderful things. Crash is a film that gave me an odd sense of hope and changed how I viewed things. Made me aware of my own racism, my own prejudices.
Brokeback Mountain similarily moved me. But did not change me. It did not tell me anything I didn't know, so much as reaffirm my own views. I found it gut-wrenching as well. Painful. A story about love that can't work due to so many factors. A story about two men who fall in love, about what it is like to be a gay man in a world that rejects people who are not heterosexual, macho, who fit a certain definition. In some ways it dealt with the same issues as Crash, how our prejudices and fears, if we aren't careful can define us and destroy us.
Capote was an interesting film about a narcissitic journalist, who realizes too late the cost of his obsession for realization of the perfect story - in this case one about the horrors of the death penalty. For Capote - he had no story if his characters were not executed, so he did very little to stop it. And as a result is unable to really write any thing else, not quite able to live with the realization that he did nothing. It is a nice compliment to Good Night and Good Luck - which deals with a journalist whose pugalistic investigation of a corrupt politician changes history. Edward R. Murrow's crusade against McCarthy, who worked to abridge and hinder human rights. One criticizes journalism and one glorifies it - both discuss the journalism that was in the past, yet comment on what is happening now. One is journalism that is almost self-congratulatory or narcissitic in character (Capote), while the other is journalism that is about exposing what is happening, rawly showing the truth, the black and whites of journalism.
Then there was Munich - the film I know the least about and haven't seen. (Haven't seen it or Good Night & Good Luck, saw the others.) Munich is Spielberg's compliment to Schindler's List. And in it he questions more or less the same things Syriana does. Both films, I've read are similar in structure. Both have many characters, stretch over a lengthy period of time and there are no heroes, everyone is somewhat gray, morally here. Munich asks if vengeance works - does going after the criminals really solve the problem? Does violence as a response to violence solve anything? Or does it just make things worse? And is justice ever really possible? ( A theme that I thought No More Tears Sister actually explored quite well and with less fanfare. In No More Tears - a story about two women, both activists, who learn the hard way that violence does not solve anything, it just makes things worse.
My friend Wales who saw the awards, was upset that MatchPoint didn't get more awards. She adored it, partly because she identified with it. It was a tale about a man who abandoned one woman for another. I find such tales more or less common-place. I've seen too many.
And MatchPoint felt largely like a retelling of the old Elizabeth Taylor, Montogomery Clift, Shelly Winters film "A Place in the Sun" based on the novel, An American Tragedy. It had decent dialogue. I enjoyed it. But it doesn't haunt me in quite the same way that other films have. I also felt Brokeback was more interesting.
I'm not sure about Wallace and Gromit's win...will wait until I see Howl's Moving Castle. I admit, I'm prejudiced on this one, I miss the 2 D animation that is slowly disappearing from the screen. Also Wallace and Gromit, while funny, felt like an old joke I'd seen before at times. I much preferred the earlier ones. That is admittedly a purely subjective point of view. I knew it would win though, just as I knew the other one's would.
My other favorite moments - before I flipped off the tv and went to bed. Were Robert Altman's speech about movie-making and how he cares little for awards and its all just about play. He's basically just made one long movie that has not been finished yet. Reminds me of the book mark, Wales gave me for my birthday, along with Howl's Moving Castle - "Life Must Be Lived As Play", not bad advice I think.
The other one was when the rap group won for It's Hard to Be A Pimp - I didn't love the song, but I liked it better than the other two and well, it was fun to see the reactions.
Okay signing off...getting sick of my security system telling me it has detected and blocked a malicious network virus that I downloaded a patch for yesterday. Going to make dinner. Watch flicks and maybe write a bit tomorrow.
Hope everyone had a lovely day...
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-12 12:31 am (UTC)[subliminal message]Lake Tahoe...Lake Tahoe...Lake Tahoe....[/subliminal message]
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-12 04:25 am (UTC)Really hope you join us all there!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-12 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-12 02:05 pm (UTC)Thanks especially for the NYC weather discussion! I had just been wondering what it was like there yesterday - and your post was a far more informative than the weather.com or the weather channel!! The kids are staying in NJ (Secaucus), but they flew in to LaGuardia Saturday morning. They went straight from the airport to their 10am rehearsals (at the Manhattan Center/Carnegie Hall), but were supposed to get out in time to have dinner on 5th Avenue and see Wicked before they checked into their hotel. It was wonderful to know that the day was so pleasant!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-12 06:56 pm (UTC)Hope their show at Carnegie Hall goes well.
Ah yes, I do enjoy EW. I like the movie/tv/book reviews and Stephen King's column on the back page. Particularly in this issue where I more or less completely agreed with him.
Thanks.