neon epiphany

Jem and the Holograms is out on DVD.

This is all.

Have been trying to get back into writing creatively by attempting a snippet of fiction every week, a couple of which I’ve posted here already. They’ve been awful, I know — I’m still shaking the rust off. If you’d prefer I not post these excerpts, please let me know and I’ll stop.

I’d forgotten how much I loved writing, but wow is it distracting! Since starting this little creative exercise, I’ve found myself daydreaming about writing by light, and stressing out about not writing, at night. A brand new neurosis — just what I needed! The blogging’s suffered a bit too, because I feel guilty if I’m writing something and neglecting the other. It only figures, after having finally found a posting rhythm again.

Excuse me, I need get back into character.

Things I’ve been missing by not driving to work at 6 in the morning:

• Brilliant indigo-violet sky
• Plenteous parking
• Being able to sing in the hallways without shame

It’s v. calm & peaceful in the a.m., but I still feel like a visitor here. Impossible to deny that it’s a nice change, though.

Confidential to Miranda:

Best ice cream flavor ever still available, at least according to F. G. Meyer. Have a pint in hand, am ready for a lovely evening of gluttony.

• Read “The Plane of Finding”

Another attempt, a bit of fantasy this time. Have found it difficult to find that emotional connection in writing about something so other-worldly, so I’m not sure it really works. Please comment on it, if you have suggestions on how to improve it.

I’ve posted some of the previous scene snippets as well, eventually to be indexed here.

Koch Lorber has finally remastered and reissued The Umbrellas of Cherbourg on DVD, one of my all-time favorites, and it’s beautiful. The colors are more vibrant, the picture is correctly framed, and the sound is correctly pitched — all in all, a vast improvement!

Also available, apparently, is Demy’s second feature, Bay of Angels. Along with Lola and The Young Girls of Rochefort, his early work is finally fleshed out on video.

Still frightfully new when it comes to the French new wave, though, so if anyone has any recommendations, please let me know!

It was 81 degrees and sunny in Seattle today: crisp, warm, brilliant.

Of course I was stuck inside doing my taxes. Blech.

This is so neat! I’m posting this entry from Jet’s new cel phone, which is a Samsung Palm-powered flip phone (SPH-i500). It’s so tiny. but the browser does quite well with most web pages — I was quite surprised when it let me log into Movable Type. I’d better be careful, because this could get addictive.

But wow, is my Grafitti rusty. And no links, cause I can’t figure out how to enter angle brackets!

Words I learned last week:

Lovely! Read more here, including a scientific explanation. That one’s courtesy of MimsyBee.

Apparently a hobby of the great American pianist and polymath Julius Katchen (who died of cancer in 1969, at the age of 42) was the obsessive collecting of netsukes.

Netsuke links:

• International Netsuke Society
• Anatomy of a Netsuke
• Netsuke Exhibitions from the Toledo Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

zannah writes:

I have the same problem, but I think that might be because my favorite grape delivery vehicle is wine. (hic!)

In the web comic Slow Wave, artist Jesse Reklaw takes readers’ submitted dreams and turns them into art. Here’s a recent strip about fish which I love.

Kill Bill: volume 2 was fabby, despite the horrible, offensive trailers we were forced to watch beforehand. I, Robot’s made me wonder if old Isaac was turning in his grave, Hero’s was a mix of spoilers and complete misinformation (for a movie that disappointing to begin with), and… don’t even get me started on Shall We Dance? Sometimes I really hate Miramax.

I have to wonder about their marketing strategy for KB as well, specifically the splitting of the film. On the one hand, I’m glad that Tarantino was given room to breathe, and the movie would certainly have been cut if restricted to a single release. On the other hand, the two parts are so fundamentally different that I’d be afraid that (1) those who really enjoyed the first film for its nonstop adrenaline would be put off by the slower pacing of the second, or (2) those who were turned off by the lack of depth in KB1 might forego seeing volume 2 completely, not realizing that they’d probably have been more satisfied when all was said and done.

As for me, I enjoyed KB1 quite a bit but never felt right about actually liking it. Not anymore, though. Also, wow, David Carradine made for an impressive villain, and Gordon Liu can star in my movie any day (as long as he promises to wear a beard).

Michael Madsen’s looking a little puffy, though.

Came home to find the lawn’s been torn up, which means they’re starting re-sodding a few days early — originally I was neurotic about seeing raw topsoil so I’d arranged for them to begin Saturday, when I would be safely in Manhattan, hopefully to return to a finished job. But surprisingly, seeing the jumble of dirt and chopped up grass cover was strangely peaceful, as if I were seeing something being born. Not close-up and wet&wooly, Wild Kingdom-like, but from one of those Nova time-lapse sequences. You know, the kind with Michael Nyman music playing on the soundtrack.

On Sunday, Assassins on Broadway! I can’t wait. Too bad Victor Garber won’t be in it.

They’re re-releasing Donnie Darko to theaters in a new director’s cut, with 30 minutes of added footage and a reworked soundtrack! And it’s premiering at SIFF!

My cup runneth over. (via signalstation)

Sheesh, people.

Your Insatiable One writes:

flippy writes:

Obviously you’re all sadly ignorant of my great love affair with Victor Garber, former contender for “that Canadian actor whose name you can’t remember” (a prize that must surely now belong solely to Colm Feore). And yes, Broadway! He was in Godspell! Sweeney Todd! Assassins! That horrible recent Disney remake of Annie with Kathy Bates! Plus who knows how many shows for which I don’t own cast albums.

I loved that he was in Titanic. That sad, lonely face of his just before he and a thousand other folks became frosted mini-wheats, that was heartbreaking. I was bothered that they made him such a heel in Legally Blonde, and to a lesser extent, in Tuck Everlasting. And The First Wives Club — yes, you heard right — I sat through The First Wives Club for this man’s sake.

All along, he was my secret weapon: my “Hey! It’s That Guy!” card. He was v. useful in a pinch when the punch ran out. You know, like Stephen Tobolowsky. “And did you know he can sing?”

Really, though, I’m so glad he’s become a household face on Alias. But they could let him bust out the tunes once in awhile, don’t you think?

Victor Garber as Jesus and John Wilkes Booth

Victor Garber links:

• Victor Garber Archive
• Sic Semper Titanic!

The weather’s gone mad — yesterday it was 85 and sunny, and today it’s been around 50, thundering, and hailing. Neither is a commonplace occurence around here in a given year, much less on consecutive days. Fully expecting tomorrow to bring snow, and possibly UFO sightings.

Lawn, on the other hand, is beautiful (and undoubtedly not in any danger of drying out today). Photo to come!

Seattle’s back to normal, perfect weather for new grass! Apparently a tornado touched down for a few minutes in Whatcom County last night, which is crazy crazy. Thought I’d escaped that kind of thing when I ran away from Illinois.