Up In the Air

Although it didn't make my top 10, Up In the Air had an effect on me. The sterile atmosphere of airplanes and airports as well as the plight of the unemployed was both a fitting metaphor and a scary personal reminder of both emotional detachment and the perils of the economic crash. I have been unemployed myself for almost 5 months now, but I am managing to keep it together as are the millions of others in my shoes. The worries expressed by the characters getting fired in Up In the Air have gone through my head. It was a small comfort to see them expressed on film. The emotional component was a little more troubling. Do we need personal connections to feel complete or can we be happy going alone, blazing a trail while being a ghost to others. I guess in the end it is a personal choice.. I'll leave you with two quotes from the movie..

"How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you're carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life... you start with the little things. The shelves, the drawers, the knickknacks, then you start adding larger stuff. Clothes, tabletop appliances, lamps, your TV... the backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. You go bigger. Your couch, your car, your home... I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now I want you to fill it with people. Start with casual acquaintances, friends of friends, folks around the office... and then you move into the people you trust with your most intimate secrets. Your brothers, your sisters, your children, your parents and finally your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend. You get them into that backpack, feel the weight of that bag. Make no mistake your relationships are the heaviest components in your life. All those negotiations and arguments and secrets, the compromises. The slower we move the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living. Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically over a lifetime. Star crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not swans. We are sharks."

"The stars will wheel forth from their daytime hiding places; and one of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over."

Cindy Sherman

Self Love. Self love and confidence is not afraid to make statements in photo. Even if that means ugly. I relate to her. So very much. She's one of my favorite artists. Because she's got the same imagination I do. Unafraid to be ugly. Knowing she's Beautiful making statements with her persona. That's not easy. To take on many faces. Even without make up. I emulate her. She's brilliant. If you don't know her work you should inform yourself.



Sides of myself :

Repo!

Above you will find trailers to two movies. One was a low budget musical that has become a cult hit and the other is a big budget Hollywood film with a list actors. I realize that movies get made with similar plots (we all remember Armageddon and Deep Impact), but two movie that share a plot this outrageous seems a bit of a stretch. I haven't seen Repo Men yet (it comes out in April) so I'm not making judgements as to which film is better.. I'm just genuinely curious if there is tie that these films have that i do not realize. According to IMDB Repo men is based on a novel written in 2009 and Repo the Genetic Opera came out in late 2008.. Does anybody out in internet land know if these films share a common link?

Scandalous Addition to the Shopping List

Looks like we've been watching too much Big Love at my house. I think we'll only be getting two out of the three items on this shopping list.

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P.S. I don't have HBO, so I'm watching it on DVD, and I'm a season behind. Could everyone in the world please agree not to talk about episodes until a year after they've aired?

Sidebar: Am I the only person who still identifies certain actors as "[character name] from Twin Peaks" when I see them onscreen, no matter what or how much they've done since? Grace Zabriskie (Lois on Big Love) is not "Susan's mom on Seinfeld." She's Mrs. [Laura's mom] Palmer.

Also, as long as we're on the subject, Kyle MacLachlan will never be "Charlotte's husband on Sex and the City" or "Orson from Desperate Housewives" to me.

Oh, Agent Cooper.

My First Critique

GOOD

SO NOT GOOD







WHY?

If you don't get why I'm not sure I should be explaining it to you.

42, right?

Die Antwoord means "The Answer." I'm currently kind of infatuated with these guys. This despite the fact that it is my general tendency to not listen to much music recorded by people who are still alive.

Experience their album $O$ here (click "Player").





Dig their earlier iteration as Max Normal TV (aka Maxnormal.tv):

Unlovable

I'll be the first to admit that as a straight 30 something male I might not be the audience for a book like Unlovable, yet I can't help but be moved by the misadventures of Tammy Pierce. I may not understand, but I can accept, that being a teenage girl is rough stuff and Unlovable brings all the trials and tribulations of the American teen into a horrifying yet funny light. Unlovable is a graphic novel translation of a diary found in a rest stop bathroom in 1995. The action described happened in the 80s. As much of a time capsule as it is, this book is universal. No matter what decade we went through our teens in we've all felt like Tammy at some point.. Unlovable. Funny, tragic, hopeful, depressing and everything in between, This is a book that will help us all realize that being a teenager was traumatizing, but not all that bad.