TAG, YOU’RE IT

ReadingThe Iron Flute, a collection of 100 Zen Koans I’m borrowing. Complicated — as a koan should be — great brush art for illustration.

Article about lute player Paula Chateauneuf and improvisation in Renaissance and baroque music.

NY Times link for a switch: “Why Good Writers Can Be Bad Conversationalists.”

Profile of the intriguing Agnès Varda, the “grandmother of French New Wave.” Nigel Andrews’ latest review of her latest film “Les plages d’Agnès,” which is going to the top of my Netflix queue whenever it comes out on DVD.

Somewhat stalled on the creative front…finished the animation for two (yes, two) new + fun Blink Kitty Loves but they need music. Jeremy (Lonely Pond sound guru) is dissolving his band and I was hoping to distract him by convincing him to be the Blink Kitty Love guitar + music guru, but he’s overwhelmed. So I’ve drafted Gayle because the longer the episode the less my musical plunking on the mini midi keyboard suits. And the longer episodes are really working from the story angle. Gayle is thinking about adding in harmonica; I just have to find a way to do that in Garageband. Or buy one — did I mention I used to play the harmonica…it was one of my favorite late night activities before I discovered the internet. I could play “Amazing Grace” + “Red River Valley” from memory.

So, to sum up, I think a bluesy rock sound will work for Blink Kitty Love, but we need to find Gayle some computer time.

Weekend plans: finally watch “No Reservations” which has been sitting on top of my TV for ten days in its red Netflix envelope + get my iPod to transmit video to my TV in something other than black and white. And dig out Fried Green Tomatoes and read a book, darn it.

Good night, all.

A MOVIE AND A PLAY (+ TANGENT STREAM LINK FEST)

Sarah Hemming reviews are a good and bad thing — they give me a view of the edge of what’s happening theatrically and make me maybe want to go see plays (A Disappearing Number) about things like math that I might not be initially inclined to consider, but as these events are usually happening in London, it’s a hard craving to get.

Watched two of the rentals — Prairie Home Companion was elegiac and slow. Actors off stage aren’t always that interesting and combine that with Altman’s loose actor improvisational character building
tendencies and a Guy Noir who hadn’t any zing (and I love Kevin Kline in comedies– as should anyone who has seem “A Fish Called Wanda”) and it just never clicked. So we switched to “Taking Five” which was a hoot, a great fun romp that made very little sense, couldn’t really ever happen and yet was just fun to watch develop (I loved the peacock costume). The Click Five acted very well for a band and excellent performances were turned in by Alona Tal and Daniella Monet. Have had “Just the Girl” in my head for days now; sadly last.fm doesn’t have that one so I’ll have to dig out my Click Five CD (yes, I have a Click Five CD) and “scrobble” it. (NOTE: Ah, there is the YouTube video version, click on previous link) What exactly is the etymology of scrobbling…Googlesearch, here I click. last.fm might have made it up. Here’s a blog post referencing scrobble and the urban dictionary.

And the rest of my sentences are just turning to goop to wash away in the rain outside; maybe I’ll reedit on the morrow. Very tired day; a little unfocused after vacation. So I’m going to go downstairs, do no math, drink my tea, and then bring Gayle upstairs to fall asleep to the fourth episode of “The Middleman” on my iPod. What else is Monday night for.

And yes, I’m back…guess the time. I’ll make a note..winner gets sketch, DVD or something. Watched The Middleman, fun, review to come…alas, I think it was the last unreviewed episode so now I’ll have to get my comic book guys to order me the graphic novels…there’s so few new cool comic books to order anymore; Friends of Lulu (I spent two years on their Board of Directors) New York List was lamenting DC ending the Minx imprint of graphic novels. I liked the art and the ideas; bought a couple; Clubbing had great art but predictable story, never could bring myself to buy the Plain Janes, but I really enjoyed (Click Five note: “Catch Your Wave” that’s actually the peppy pop blender that caught my ear) ReGifters, tale of love, family and hapkido with a Korean American heroine. Very nice story. Had been thinking about trying the New York Four but never saw it in the store to flip through.

last.fm just rolled “just the girl” when I typed in Click Five…the telepathic powers of the internet – hey telepathetic is a cool word…hmmm, poser telepath who can’t get a happy thought anywhere — can’t get a date is too often done — hmmmmm…maybe time to write that sci fi book…or go back to short stories…HAT HAIR in telepathetic, there we go…

I was going to expand on my “Taking Five” review before I got distracted by a tangent stream. Good collection of characters, nicely done by director Andrew Waller, script that didn’t hit any of the predictable roadblocks I expected (now listening to McFly, too peppy, skipping, Busted kind of fun — “She Wants To Be Like Me” I like a sense of humor. I hope it’s a sense of humor.) It’s nice to see a movie where it’s just sort of a fun scenic trip into someone else’s world — not too demanding and very entertaining. Good band movies are like that — “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Help,”; good bad band movies are like that although I can’t think of one at the moment…hmmmm…well, I suppose Help and the first season of the Monkees fits in that category; Purple Rain is a category all to itself; Quadrophenia falls into the good bad category I think — we watched it for mod inspiration (also for mod inspiration Scooter Girl, a comic by Chynna Clugston-Major — we need more Blue Monday) for the second revisit of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and ended up with Rolling Stones records which had to be cut because the Mendelsohn and clarinet fairy line was too strong and we couldn’t switch back and forth without slowing down the pace. For the punk rock “Taming” we’re considering for next summer, Gayle’s excited at the thought of iPod assisted DJing.

And the Shakespeare reference makes this vintage late night lonelypond rambling. Hope you’ve enjoyed your visit.

BEEKER (BEAKER?)

Trying to see if I spelled his name right — found both and came across this lovely clip of Beeker performing “Feelings” with Animal, the rest of the Muppet house band and an increasingly unhappy audience. It’s amazing how expressive those puppets are.

I hope Jason Segal keeps an Alvin and the Chipmunk level of funny, authenticity and respect as he works on the next Muppet movie.

BAD IDEA #7, #8, #9 & #10

#7 (last.fm induced again, Runaway by the Corrs) either turns into a National Run Away from Whatever You’re Supposed to do but don’t want to day(my suggested day(perfected along the shores of Lake Michigan) good but inexpensive lunch of some interesting ethnic food, half price theatre tickets or matinee of an “art film” with time before the start filled in by wandering along the Lakefill/Lakeshore, then popping into an art museum to stare at a favorite painting (any Monet with a river — Thames, Seine — did he only paint rivers that seem like they should rhyme)

or

Have everyone’s radios turned to Radio Irish Music for a week.

#8 Publish American History in graphic novel form

#9 Figure out what would be the best way to do Black Adder style humor with American history — Tina Fey (or anyone else) welcome to this idea free of charge, although if you mess it up, I know nothing

#10 When the Large Hadron Collider recreates the universe, whoever gets to rebuild entertainment, leaves the original Get Smart alone, darn it. And a no remakes unless it adds something rule is instituted by unanimous vote, along with all of Newton’s and Einstein’s traditional ones. And people vote. And sleep. And individuals matter more than their demographic details. And 1984 isn’t right outside your door or inside your computer.

TANGENTIALLY TANGLED MUSIC

I love tangents; stuck song: Del Amitri’s Be My Downfall led to Sinking Cruise Ship Rescue Drama now something in French by La Calle de Angela

HOWLING AT THE WHOLE MOON

the whole of the moon, I love the whole of the moon (waterboys).

FT WEEKEND MUSIC

on Ne Yo kick; watched show on BET; FT Weekend article started it; now on to Clare and the Reasons.

E.C. SCOTT

finally remembered great blues album Gayle brought home one day;last.fming E.C. Scott.

INSOMNIA + FLIPBOOM = DOODLE

FlipBoom, the ToonBoom entry level animation program, is my favorite way to unwind when not sleeping. Unfortunately, there is too much not sleeping. It’s 3:47 a.m. and Flash isn’t the only one whose schedule is confused. At some point, I need to learn how to use the Studio Express program but for now, I plug in my Wacom tablet, doodle for awhile, learn to do something more effectively, unplug the tablet, open the 20 to 30 second movie in Garageband, turn on my keyboard/midi controller and doodle musically. Then I upload to myToons.

I would usually be writing this sort of thing at my Withoutabox blog, but something’s messed up there so I guess I’ll start talking about the movie business here. Enjoy.

CATS + MUSIC

Bjork…Pongo is a Bjork fan…he’s having a tough bout with arthritis and so I had to dig out his favorite CD, Medulla.  We’ve decided it’s some kind of primitive goddess worship.  I have two pastels, titled the primitive goddesses, that he used to lay down in front of, gazing at with the same worshipful look that he directs at the stereo playing Bjork.  We believe in the healing power of music here…whenever Hildy was having a bad day, we’d put on the James Galway Christmas album, even in July…in case of emergency, break out the flute player carols.  Patton seems to like nothing better than the terrified screams of smaller mammals while Flash is a determined Zac Efron Hannah Montana loving Disney pop fan — did you know that cats know when their favorite TV shows are on…she didn’t really like Camp Rock and is waiting for High School Musical’s 3 Disney Channel premiere.