Friday, February 27, 2009
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
I've seen this before, and not so sure the stats are all verifiable. But it's still an interesting presentation. Check it out. (And thanks to my oldest friend Bob Helmar for turning me on to it again.)
OBSCURE QUOTE FOR THE DAY
"Our guilt has its uses. It justifies much in the lives of others."
—Max Frisch from MONTAUK (traslated by Geoffrey Skelton)
—Max Frisch from MONTAUK (traslated by Geoffrey Skelton)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
TINA DARRAGH
One of the great gifts of the internet is to be able to link so many connections that it's almost like an instant replica of the thought processes that occur at least in my mind pretty much constantly.
Like this morning I checked poet Ron Silliman's blog where today's post was one of his regular lists of links to all (or at least a lot of) things related to poetry on the web, and there was a link to some recent (or at least I hadn't seen it yet) work by Tina Darragh, one of my favorite writers as well as an old friend (she cites me in her authors note as being one of her college teachers as well, which is where we met, but I always felt like she was a friend and creative original from our first encounter).
So now I can pass that link to her work on to anyone reading this and you can discover a very interesting and unique writer, and in this particular case (or place in internet space) a few works of hers that prove her originality instantly. And everything of hers on this site is worth reading. And I'll bet you learn some things you didn't know (and useful things too, especially in arguments, even with yourself) and in a way that's not only pleasant but challenging, as well as satisfying.
Like this morning I checked poet Ron Silliman's blog where today's post was one of his regular lists of links to all (or at least a lot of) things related to poetry on the web, and there was a link to some recent (or at least I hadn't seen it yet) work by Tina Darragh, one of my favorite writers as well as an old friend (she cites me in her authors note as being one of her college teachers as well, which is where we met, but I always felt like she was a friend and creative original from our first encounter).
So now I can pass that link to her work on to anyone reading this and you can discover a very interesting and unique writer, and in this particular case (or place in internet space) a few works of hers that prove her originality instantly. And everything of hers on this site is worth reading. And I'll bet you learn some things you didn't know (and useful things too, especially in arguments, even with yourself) and in a way that's not only pleasant but challenging, as well as satisfying.
MOVIE & TV EXPERIENCE
I write about stuff on this blog that I have some experience with. I started it thinking it might be interesting to some of my friends—and anyone else who wanted to listen in—if I shared some of my opinions and observations (of which I have many, obviously) about things I know something about.
When I don’t know so much, I include a link to someone with more expertise. But I do have experience in politics—radical and more conventional, local and national, including running for office—and music (studied it, played a few instruments, made part of my living at it when I was young), theater (wrote plays, directed them, acted in them, house managed them, etc.), poetry (published in hundreds of magazines, many anthologies, dozens of books, won awards, read all over the U.S. and Europe), and other kinds of writing (including published fiction, nonfiction, plays, reviews (for The Washington Post, The Village Voice, etc.) articles, interviews, etc.[plus worked as publisher, editor, teacher, etc. of all kinds of writing]), and acting in films (and writing them or parts of them [many of which have yet to be made so aren't included here]) and on TV, and the rest of the topics I cover on this blog.
So in response to some folks asking what the experience is that I base some of my comments on I came up with a list that may seem self-serving, or self-important, but at this stage of the game definitely isn't. I just thought it might be interesting since the Oscars and last years movies were the focus of several recent posts—and even though it’s just a TV show to me too since I’m far from Hollywood or whatever careers I had there (or were connected to the idea of Hollywood I had as a kid), still, when I watch the the Golden Globes or the Oscars I’m not just watching celebs and movie producers etc. but people I’ve worked with or for, or hung out with or more.
So when the garbage men woke me up at 4AM, to help me fall back asleep last night, I made as much of an alphabet list as I could of movies or TV shows I either acted on or contributed some (or a lot of) writing to. There’s actually a bunch more (including many I’m deliberately omitting that I worked on one way or another but never got paid or credit for and many short films I acted in, I only included three of them here because they got some exposure and/or meant something, at least to me), but I can’t remember them all (like the name of a TV show Ice-T had for a while on which I had a small role, but it was such a bad experience I asked for my credits to be removed).
A?
BODY DOUBLE, BERRENGERS, BASIC INSTINCT, BAYWATCH, BROOKLYN SOUTH, BIG APPLE
CAGNEY & LACEY, CAUGHT IN THE ACT, COOL WORLD (Ralph Bakshi’s)
DRACULA’S LAST RITES (originally just LAST RITES), DRUGSTORE COWBOY, DIAGNOSIS MURDER, THE DISCOVERY OF HEAVEN, DEADWOOD, DO NOT DISTURB
ED
FATHER DOWLING MYSTERIES, FOGBOUND
GREENPOINT TAVERN
HOLLYWOOD MAGIC (video of my stage version of some of my poetry, with characters etc. released in England but never here), HARDCASTLE & MCCORMICK, HUMAN CONDITION (award winning short)
IT/LL BE BETTER TOMORROW (a documentary on Hubert Selby Jr. in which I appear very briefly)
JAG
K?
L. A. LAW, THE LAUREATE (short film), LAW & ORDER
MY MOTHER’S SECRET LIFE, THE MILKMAN (short film)
NESTING, THE (originally PHOBIA), NYPD BLUE, NOT AGAIN
O?
PUMP UP THE VOLUME
Q?
RAMONA!, THE RAPTURE (played the president, but it got cut out except for one image at the end as “Man on TV”)
SOMETHING SHORT OF PARADISE, STAR TIME, SOMEBODY IS WAITING
TEXAS (a shortlived NYC based soap opera c. 1980 if I remember correctly), THE TECHNICAL WRITER
U?
V?
WHITEY! (the first AFI funded feature film c. 1968-‘69), WHITE FANG
X?
Y?
Z?
When I don’t know so much, I include a link to someone with more expertise. But I do have experience in politics—radical and more conventional, local and national, including running for office—and music (studied it, played a few instruments, made part of my living at it when I was young), theater (wrote plays, directed them, acted in them, house managed them, etc.), poetry (published in hundreds of magazines, many anthologies, dozens of books, won awards, read all over the U.S. and Europe), and other kinds of writing (including published fiction, nonfiction, plays, reviews (for The Washington Post, The Village Voice, etc.) articles, interviews, etc.[plus worked as publisher, editor, teacher, etc. of all kinds of writing]), and acting in films (and writing them or parts of them [many of which have yet to be made so aren't included here]) and on TV, and the rest of the topics I cover on this blog.
So in response to some folks asking what the experience is that I base some of my comments on I came up with a list that may seem self-serving, or self-important, but at this stage of the game definitely isn't. I just thought it might be interesting since the Oscars and last years movies were the focus of several recent posts—and even though it’s just a TV show to me too since I’m far from Hollywood or whatever careers I had there (or were connected to the idea of Hollywood I had as a kid), still, when I watch the the Golden Globes or the Oscars I’m not just watching celebs and movie producers etc. but people I’ve worked with or for, or hung out with or more.
So when the garbage men woke me up at 4AM, to help me fall back asleep last night, I made as much of an alphabet list as I could of movies or TV shows I either acted on or contributed some (or a lot of) writing to. There’s actually a bunch more (including many I’m deliberately omitting that I worked on one way or another but never got paid or credit for and many short films I acted in, I only included three of them here because they got some exposure and/or meant something, at least to me), but I can’t remember them all (like the name of a TV show Ice-T had for a while on which I had a small role, but it was such a bad experience I asked for my credits to be removed).
A?
BODY DOUBLE, BERRENGERS, BASIC INSTINCT, BAYWATCH, BROOKLYN SOUTH, BIG APPLE
CAGNEY & LACEY, CAUGHT IN THE ACT, COOL WORLD (Ralph Bakshi’s)
DRACULA’S LAST RITES (originally just LAST RITES), DRUGSTORE COWBOY, DIAGNOSIS MURDER, THE DISCOVERY OF HEAVEN, DEADWOOD, DO NOT DISTURB
ED
FATHER DOWLING MYSTERIES, FOGBOUND
GREENPOINT TAVERN
HOLLYWOOD MAGIC (video of my stage version of some of my poetry, with characters etc. released in England but never here), HARDCASTLE & MCCORMICK, HUMAN CONDITION (award winning short)
IT/LL BE BETTER TOMORROW (a documentary on Hubert Selby Jr. in which I appear very briefly)
JAG
K?
L. A. LAW, THE LAUREATE (short film), LAW & ORDER
MY MOTHER’S SECRET LIFE, THE MILKMAN (short film)
NESTING, THE (originally PHOBIA), NYPD BLUE, NOT AGAIN
O?
PUMP UP THE VOLUME
Q?
RAMONA!, THE RAPTURE (played the president, but it got cut out except for one image at the end as “Man on TV”)
SOMETHING SHORT OF PARADISE, STAR TIME, SOMEBODY IS WAITING
TEXAS (a shortlived NYC based soap opera c. 1980 if I remember correctly), THE TECHNICAL WRITER
U?
V?
WHITEY! (the first AFI funded feature film c. 1968-‘69), WHITE FANG
X?
Y?
Z?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
OBAMA’S FIRST SPEECH TO CONGRESS
How refreshing to have such an erudite and honest assessment of the true state of the union, even if it wasn’t called that since Obama has only been president of the union for a little over a month.
I’ve been watching these addresses since I was a kid, and I don’t remember any other one where almost all the applause and standing ovations were bipartisan. There was only once when the Republicans pretty much unanimously sat out an ovation and two other times by my count when a majority of them did.
That’s because Obama put his plans and vision in terms that both parties could accept, even if they have different methods for accomplishing them. But once again he’s proven that he can rise above the usual politics of Washington.
In the rebuttal from Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, he was only speaking to and for the wealthy, because he talked about Obama raising taxes even after Obama made clear that his stimulus package and his budget do not raise taxes on over 95% of us (in fact we get a tax cut, one of the things rightwing Republicans always clamor for, but can’t seem to get behind now, maybe because Obama’s cuts are for working people, not corporations and the wealthy).
Obama made it clear again and again that only if you make over a quarter million dollars a year will you see any increase in taxes, and then only to what they were before Junior’s last bone to the rich.
I have plenty of friends who make more than that, some a whole lot more. The Republicans among them don’t want any tax hike. The Democrats are split between those who don’t want a hike but know it’s necessary to cut the deficit and pay for two wars (that Junior and the Republicans began) and get the economy moving again (that tanked under Junior and the Republicans after creating the largest deficit in our history) so are willing to accept it, and those who actually want a hike because they know they are not paying their fair share.
I only made that much once in my life and ended up paying a lot of it back in taxes because I was single and didn’t own a home. Some rich people I knew tried to make me feel foolish for not finding a good accountant to get me out of paying all the taxes I did.
But I thought about the decades of driving on interstate highways, or the over four years I spent in the service with other guys who didn’t come from money, willing to sacrifice our lives for our country and the benefits I received afterwards, like going to college on the G. I. Bill, something I wouldn’t have been able to do without it, and so much more that the federal government has provided for me over my lifetime, and concluded that all the money I paid in taxes that time I was rich for a short period, was just me paying my dues for all the benefits this country has given me.
So when Jindal said Obama and the Democrats were going to raise our taxes, he obviously was talking about the less than five percent of our fellow citizens who make over 250,000 a year, and was dismissing the rest of us.
But he had already made that clear when he took what his fellow Republicans are calling a courageous stand against the stimulus bill by saying he will refuse money from it that will extend unemployment benefits for workers in his state. But he’ll take everything else. Which means he’ll be taking a little over 3.7 billion dollars from the stimulus package instead of the 3.8 the government marked for Louisiana. How brave.
And as for the media bias and the influence of Obama on the market, I woke up this morning to NPR news, supposedly “liberal” public radio, which offered one phrase from Obama’s speech about emerging stronger from these trying times and then countered with a much longer section of Jindal’s speech about how Democrats in Washington are raising our taxes and after him other rightwing Republican objections to Obama’s plans were cited!
Out of a three minute segment I’d say Obama got thirty seconds and the Republicans got two and a half minutes. And that’s the way it’s been since he took office. Once the hoopla of the inauguration was over, the media has been bending over backward to give every rightwing Republican extra time to criticize Obama’s policies and then blame him for the falling stock market.
What I want to know is how come nobody is blaming the rightwing Republicans for the falling stock market which began it’s descent under them as a result of their deregulation policies and since then has fallen every time they get negative about Obama’s economic recovery plans (when they voted against the original bank bailout, one of the steepest declines yet occurred that day, and since they voted against the stimulus package and have spent every day since dissing it).
I notice that yesterday when Obama’s budget was leaked and Bernake had some positive predictions before Congress the market rose, but I also notice that none of the rightwing Republicans were given much play in the news yesterday because they hadn’t come up with their talking points against Obama’s speech yet, since it hadn’t been fully leaked.
Obama won the election, Obama’s stimulus package passed and is law. Many Republican governors backed it and accept it, and most Republican mayors do too, because they are dealing with real world on the ground problems. The rightwing ideologues in Congress can afford to act only as obstacles to Obama’s policies because they gerrymandered districts when they were in power so that they could be insured of a “conservative” Republican voter base for their reelection. Maybe it’s time to find a fairer way to map the boundaries of Congressional districts, so that the majority of the people can have a government that fully represents them, which according to all polls shows that they reject the Republicans in Congress and back Obama and the Democrats three to one or more.
I’ve been watching these addresses since I was a kid, and I don’t remember any other one where almost all the applause and standing ovations were bipartisan. There was only once when the Republicans pretty much unanimously sat out an ovation and two other times by my count when a majority of them did.
That’s because Obama put his plans and vision in terms that both parties could accept, even if they have different methods for accomplishing them. But once again he’s proven that he can rise above the usual politics of Washington.
In the rebuttal from Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, he was only speaking to and for the wealthy, because he talked about Obama raising taxes even after Obama made clear that his stimulus package and his budget do not raise taxes on over 95% of us (in fact we get a tax cut, one of the things rightwing Republicans always clamor for, but can’t seem to get behind now, maybe because Obama’s cuts are for working people, not corporations and the wealthy).
Obama made it clear again and again that only if you make over a quarter million dollars a year will you see any increase in taxes, and then only to what they were before Junior’s last bone to the rich.
I have plenty of friends who make more than that, some a whole lot more. The Republicans among them don’t want any tax hike. The Democrats are split between those who don’t want a hike but know it’s necessary to cut the deficit and pay for two wars (that Junior and the Republicans began) and get the economy moving again (that tanked under Junior and the Republicans after creating the largest deficit in our history) so are willing to accept it, and those who actually want a hike because they know they are not paying their fair share.
I only made that much once in my life and ended up paying a lot of it back in taxes because I was single and didn’t own a home. Some rich people I knew tried to make me feel foolish for not finding a good accountant to get me out of paying all the taxes I did.
But I thought about the decades of driving on interstate highways, or the over four years I spent in the service with other guys who didn’t come from money, willing to sacrifice our lives for our country and the benefits I received afterwards, like going to college on the G. I. Bill, something I wouldn’t have been able to do without it, and so much more that the federal government has provided for me over my lifetime, and concluded that all the money I paid in taxes that time I was rich for a short period, was just me paying my dues for all the benefits this country has given me.
So when Jindal said Obama and the Democrats were going to raise our taxes, he obviously was talking about the less than five percent of our fellow citizens who make over 250,000 a year, and was dismissing the rest of us.
But he had already made that clear when he took what his fellow Republicans are calling a courageous stand against the stimulus bill by saying he will refuse money from it that will extend unemployment benefits for workers in his state. But he’ll take everything else. Which means he’ll be taking a little over 3.7 billion dollars from the stimulus package instead of the 3.8 the government marked for Louisiana. How brave.
And as for the media bias and the influence of Obama on the market, I woke up this morning to NPR news, supposedly “liberal” public radio, which offered one phrase from Obama’s speech about emerging stronger from these trying times and then countered with a much longer section of Jindal’s speech about how Democrats in Washington are raising our taxes and after him other rightwing Republican objections to Obama’s plans were cited!
Out of a three minute segment I’d say Obama got thirty seconds and the Republicans got two and a half minutes. And that’s the way it’s been since he took office. Once the hoopla of the inauguration was over, the media has been bending over backward to give every rightwing Republican extra time to criticize Obama’s policies and then blame him for the falling stock market.
What I want to know is how come nobody is blaming the rightwing Republicans for the falling stock market which began it’s descent under them as a result of their deregulation policies and since then has fallen every time they get negative about Obama’s economic recovery plans (when they voted against the original bank bailout, one of the steepest declines yet occurred that day, and since they voted against the stimulus package and have spent every day since dissing it).
I notice that yesterday when Obama’s budget was leaked and Bernake had some positive predictions before Congress the market rose, but I also notice that none of the rightwing Republicans were given much play in the news yesterday because they hadn’t come up with their talking points against Obama’s speech yet, since it hadn’t been fully leaked.
Obama won the election, Obama’s stimulus package passed and is law. Many Republican governors backed it and accept it, and most Republican mayors do too, because they are dealing with real world on the ground problems. The rightwing ideologues in Congress can afford to act only as obstacles to Obama’s policies because they gerrymandered districts when they were in power so that they could be insured of a “conservative” Republican voter base for their reelection. Maybe it’s time to find a fairer way to map the boundaries of Congressional districts, so that the majority of the people can have a government that fully represents them, which according to all polls shows that they reject the Republicans in Congress and back Obama and the Democrats three to one or more.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
SECOND ANNUAL LALLY’S ALLEY MOVIE AWARDS (2009)
“BEST” MOVIE (i.e. “best” means what I dug most): SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
“BEST” DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle (SLUMDOG)
“BEST” LEAD MALE ACTOR: Phillip Seymor Hoffman for DOUBT
“BEST” FEMALE LEAD ACTOR: Sally Hawkins for HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
“BEST” MALE SUPPORTING ACTOR(S): All the child actors who played the two boys in the earlier stages of their lives in SLUMDOG
“BEST” FEMALE SUPPORTING ACTRESS(ES): Hiam Abbass for THE VISITOR and Misty Upham for FROZEN RIVER
“BEST” ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY(S): Courtney Hunt for FROZEN RIVER and Thomas McCarthy for THE VISITOR
“BEST” ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Simon Beufoy for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
“BEST” ENSEMBLE CAST: THE VISITOR
BIGGEST MOVIE SURPRISE OF 2008: Sally Hawkins’ amazing performance in HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF 2008: Too many depressing movies this year and not enough really great movies.
“BEST” DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle (SLUMDOG)
“BEST” LEAD MALE ACTOR: Phillip Seymor Hoffman for DOUBT
“BEST” FEMALE LEAD ACTOR: Sally Hawkins for HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
“BEST” MALE SUPPORTING ACTOR(S): All the child actors who played the two boys in the earlier stages of their lives in SLUMDOG
“BEST” FEMALE SUPPORTING ACTRESS(ES): Hiam Abbass for THE VISITOR and Misty Upham for FROZEN RIVER
“BEST” ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY(S): Courtney Hunt for FROZEN RIVER and Thomas McCarthy for THE VISITOR
“BEST” ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Simon Beufoy for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
“BEST” ENSEMBLE CAST: THE VISITOR
BIGGEST MOVIE SURPRISE OF 2008: Sally Hawkins’ amazing performance in HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF 2008: Too many depressing movies this year and not enough really great movies.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
