Something has to change
Undeniable dilemma
Boredom's not a burden
Anyone should bear
Constant over-stimulation numbs me
but I would not want you
Any other way
‘Cause:
It's not enough
I need more
Nothing seems to satisfy
I said
I don't want it
I just need it
To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive
Finger deep within the borderline
Show me that you love me and that we belong together
Relax, turn around and take my hand
I can help you change
Tired moments into pleasure
Say the word and we'll be
Well upon our way
Blend and balance
Pain and comfort
Deep within you
‘Til you will not want me any other way
But:
It's not enough
I need more
Nothing seems to satisfy
I said
I don't want it
I just need it
To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive
Knuckle deep inside the borderline
This may hurt a little but it's something you'll get used to
Relax, slip away….
Something kinda sad about
The way that things have come to be
Desensitized to everything
What became of subtlety?
How can this mean anything to me
If I really don't feel anything at all?
I'LL KEEP DIGGING
‘TIL I FEEL SOMETHING
Elbow deep inside the borderline
Show me that you love me and that we belong together
Shoulder deep within the borderline
Relax, turn around and take my hand
-Tool
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Dopplegangers
There exists people on this planet, I’d daresay on this selfsame street even, with whom I share literally nothing in common.
It is not at all difficult to imagine a tall, blonde, overweight, unimaginative, uninterested, conservative, religious, dim-witted, gullible, insecure, unhappy, credulous, bullying, patriotic, materialistic, image-conscious, married female who not only procreates but enjoys kids, prefers piss beer to whiskey, cosmopolitans to martinis (or doesn't drink), eats hamburgers and hot dogs with ketchup, can't stand spicy or ethnic foods, loves shopping and crowds and coffee shops, accumulates excessive debt, indulges in pedicures, goes out clubbing and dancing, reads romance novels, listens to pop music, follows football, watches television- especially American comedies, finds fake boobs and excessive make-up attractive, thinks mascots are cute, prefers dogs to cats, hates camping, is racist and homophobic, thinks jazz music is a bunch of racket, finds museums boring, enjoys small talk and fears death.
No, it is not surprising that the exact opposite of me exists, although I have to admit it is a little disturbing that the opposite of me describes about 30% of Americans.
It is not at all difficult to imagine a tall, blonde, overweight, unimaginative, uninterested, conservative, religious, dim-witted, gullible, insecure, unhappy, credulous, bullying, patriotic, materialistic, image-conscious, married female who not only procreates but enjoys kids, prefers piss beer to whiskey, cosmopolitans to martinis (or doesn't drink), eats hamburgers and hot dogs with ketchup, can't stand spicy or ethnic foods, loves shopping and crowds and coffee shops, accumulates excessive debt, indulges in pedicures, goes out clubbing and dancing, reads romance novels, listens to pop music, follows football, watches television- especially American comedies, finds fake boobs and excessive make-up attractive, thinks mascots are cute, prefers dogs to cats, hates camping, is racist and homophobic, thinks jazz music is a bunch of racket, finds museums boring, enjoys small talk and fears death.
No, it is not surprising that the exact opposite of me exists, although I have to admit it is a little disturbing that the opposite of me describes about 30% of Americans.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The Lower Depths
It might seem a pointless exercise to attempt to compare one of the greatest French film directors, Jean Renoir, with of the greatest Japanese film directors, Akira Kurosawa. There are barely a handful of directors in the history of cinema whose names would be worthy to be mentioned alongside these two.
Through some magical twist of fate, both of these geniuses made a movie based upon a play of Russian writer Maxim Gorky, entitled The Lower Depths (1902). Both directors re-wrote the play to adapt it to their respective cultures. It gets better. Renoir’s version stars one of the greatest actors of all time, Jean Gabin, while Kurosawa’s version stars THE greatest actor of all time, Toshiro Mifune. This is EPIC. Ali vs. Frasier. Page vs. Gibson. Montana vs. Marino. Roll film.
Renoir’s The Lower Depths (1936) focuses on Jean Gabin’s character, who is, above all, honest. And a thief. He doesn’t hide the fact that he’s shagging the flophouse landlord’s wife. He also doesn’t hide the fact that he prefers the sister of the landlord’s wife. The single fantastic scene in this movie is when Gabin breaks into the house of a baron who has just gambled away everything he owns and inadvertently interrupts the baron from killing himself. The two become fast friends.
None of the first part of the movie is in Gorky’s play. But then, just when you think this is going to be an intriguing and original movie, the Maxim Gorky play starts. All of a sudden, a bunch of characters are introduced that we don't give a rat’s ass about. We want to watch Gabin teach the baron the ways of a thief. Instead, the baron character withers into the background.
Jean Renoir doesn’t understand being poor. He finds poor people intriguing and tries to romanticize them, but it comes off like some bad Dickens adaptation. Some lady dies and we are left thinking, who cares? Gabin escapes with his preferred girl in the end.
Kurosawa’s The Lower Depths (1957) never leaves the poorhouse. It is about lies. Everybody’s lies. The pain, desperation and stress of being poor, and that it can happen to anyone, is all here. The balance of bickering and comaraderie between a disparate group of close-quartered individuals is perfect. The acting is great all around, and despite the presence of Mifune, there is no main character. Kurosawa is the best there is at handling several actors, all acting independently, onscreen simultaneously. This version of The Lower Depths basically kicks Renoir to the curb. The ending of this movie is beauty beyond sublime, and I’m not giving anything away to say Mifune’s character ends up alone in prison. A definite must-see.
Through some magical twist of fate, both of these geniuses made a movie based upon a play of Russian writer Maxim Gorky, entitled The Lower Depths (1902). Both directors re-wrote the play to adapt it to their respective cultures. It gets better. Renoir’s version stars one of the greatest actors of all time, Jean Gabin, while Kurosawa’s version stars THE greatest actor of all time, Toshiro Mifune. This is EPIC. Ali vs. Frasier. Page vs. Gibson. Montana vs. Marino. Roll film.
Renoir’s The Lower Depths (1936) focuses on Jean Gabin’s character, who is, above all, honest. And a thief. He doesn’t hide the fact that he’s shagging the flophouse landlord’s wife. He also doesn’t hide the fact that he prefers the sister of the landlord’s wife. The single fantastic scene in this movie is when Gabin breaks into the house of a baron who has just gambled away everything he owns and inadvertently interrupts the baron from killing himself. The two become fast friends.
None of the first part of the movie is in Gorky’s play. But then, just when you think this is going to be an intriguing and original movie, the Maxim Gorky play starts. All of a sudden, a bunch of characters are introduced that we don't give a rat’s ass about. We want to watch Gabin teach the baron the ways of a thief. Instead, the baron character withers into the background.
Jean Renoir doesn’t understand being poor. He finds poor people intriguing and tries to romanticize them, but it comes off like some bad Dickens adaptation. Some lady dies and we are left thinking, who cares? Gabin escapes with his preferred girl in the end.
Kurosawa’s The Lower Depths (1957) never leaves the poorhouse. It is about lies. Everybody’s lies. The pain, desperation and stress of being poor, and that it can happen to anyone, is all here. The balance of bickering and comaraderie between a disparate group of close-quartered individuals is perfect. The acting is great all around, and despite the presence of Mifune, there is no main character. Kurosawa is the best there is at handling several actors, all acting independently, onscreen simultaneously. This version of The Lower Depths basically kicks Renoir to the curb. The ending of this movie is beauty beyond sublime, and I’m not giving anything away to say Mifune’s character ends up alone in prison. A definite must-see.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Dancing
Dancing is one of those things I don't AT ALL like to do in public, to the consternation of many. Like yoga, it is specifically designed to humiliate stiff and awkward people like myself. Making an ass of yourself with witnesses just isn't very fun.
It seems the only people that would want to dance are exhibitionists, alpha males and males and females attracted to alpha males. Or perhaps I'm missing the point entirely.
I've gone dancing once or twice and even taken some dance lessons; basically because I can be a sucker for cute girls and will try most things once. But the last time some random girl asked me to dance, at one of those lame-band music festivals, I cooly responded, "I don't dance," before taking a swig from my flask. She quickly left me the hell alone.
Swing dancing is an especially irritating form of exercise. The tango lessons were alright, but I would advise not to take beginner tango lessons with a girl who has been obsessed with dancing her entire life AND has been to Argentina.
I can do a pretty good impression of Pee Wee Herman's dance from Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
It seems the only people that would want to dance are exhibitionists, alpha males and males and females attracted to alpha males. Or perhaps I'm missing the point entirely.
I've gone dancing once or twice and even taken some dance lessons; basically because I can be a sucker for cute girls and will try most things once. But the last time some random girl asked me to dance, at one of those lame-band music festivals, I cooly responded, "I don't dance," before taking a swig from my flask. She quickly left me the hell alone.
Swing dancing is an especially irritating form of exercise. The tango lessons were alright, but I would advise not to take beginner tango lessons with a girl who has been obsessed with dancing her entire life AND has been to Argentina.
I can do a pretty good impression of Pee Wee Herman's dance from Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Haiti
Surely everybody knows that Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world, was recently decimated by an earthquake. Natural disasters have been a thorn in the side of those who believe in an all-loving god for millennia. The question arises: “How can a loving god allow bad things?”
First and foremost, I don’t believe in anything being unequivocally good or bad. Sure, a bunch of people were killed and buildings destroyed in Haiti, but the jaded eye also sees an overpopulation fix and job creator.
The idea of an unequivocally good god is extremely problematic. All of the actions of such a being would have to be for the good of all, at least in the long run. This immediately rules out the Christian god, who has threatened to eternally torture those who don’t submit their wills to him, so you’d have to modify it to: the good of all who submit their wills to Him, if you want to defend that particular god. You’d also have to argue that every act of destruction was absolutely necessary in order to bring about the eventual good of all. Of course, even an all-loving god could do bad things as a result of mistakes or failed tests, as he wouldn’t necessarily be all-knowing. (Testing our resolve, etc. in order to teach us would be included in having to be absolutely necessary.) Similarly, he wouldn't necessarily be all-powerful, so events could be out of an all-loving god's control. Finally, you’d have to argue that the end justified the means.
I often hear, “You can’t know good unless you experience bad.” I don’t think anybody who says this has ever been in a natural disaster. This is akin to saying you don’t know hot water until you’ve experienced cold water or something. It just doesn’t apply to the real world. Nobody in the history of the universe has ever said, “I just didn’t realize how great my life was until being raped really put it in perspective.”
I’ve heard that good things “balance” bad things. Natural disasters have no opposite. I suppose the closest you can get would be a miracle, and thousands of people have never been suddenly healed by some naturally occurring happenstance.
Several of my facebook friends posted ways of donating money to Haiti recovery. To demonstrate the conundrum of justifying beliefs in the face of reality, I think it’s worth pointing out that only ONE of my Christian friends even mentioned it, unless you count the pastor who posted, “God is doing big things!” the next day. Two of my facebook friends were part of fundraisers. The Christian radio station fundraiser in Texas raised a ton of money. The comedy club fundraisers in San Francisco’s gay district were also successful.
On a tangential note, I often hear, “My reality has been shattered” as if that’s a negative. Why do people want to hold on to their delusions?
First and foremost, I don’t believe in anything being unequivocally good or bad. Sure, a bunch of people were killed and buildings destroyed in Haiti, but the jaded eye also sees an overpopulation fix and job creator.
The idea of an unequivocally good god is extremely problematic. All of the actions of such a being would have to be for the good of all, at least in the long run. This immediately rules out the Christian god, who has threatened to eternally torture those who don’t submit their wills to him, so you’d have to modify it to: the good of all who submit their wills to Him, if you want to defend that particular god. You’d also have to argue that every act of destruction was absolutely necessary in order to bring about the eventual good of all. Of course, even an all-loving god could do bad things as a result of mistakes or failed tests, as he wouldn’t necessarily be all-knowing. (Testing our resolve, etc. in order to teach us would be included in having to be absolutely necessary.) Similarly, he wouldn't necessarily be all-powerful, so events could be out of an all-loving god's control. Finally, you’d have to argue that the end justified the means.
I often hear, “You can’t know good unless you experience bad.” I don’t think anybody who says this has ever been in a natural disaster. This is akin to saying you don’t know hot water until you’ve experienced cold water or something. It just doesn’t apply to the real world. Nobody in the history of the universe has ever said, “I just didn’t realize how great my life was until being raped really put it in perspective.”
I’ve heard that good things “balance” bad things. Natural disasters have no opposite. I suppose the closest you can get would be a miracle, and thousands of people have never been suddenly healed by some naturally occurring happenstance.
Several of my facebook friends posted ways of donating money to Haiti recovery. To demonstrate the conundrum of justifying beliefs in the face of reality, I think it’s worth pointing out that only ONE of my Christian friends even mentioned it, unless you count the pastor who posted, “God is doing big things!” the next day. Two of my facebook friends were part of fundraisers. The Christian radio station fundraiser in Texas raised a ton of money. The comedy club fundraisers in San Francisco’s gay district were also successful.
On a tangential note, I often hear, “My reality has been shattered” as if that’s a negative. Why do people want to hold on to their delusions?
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Estate Sale Sundays
A few years back, I decided to start a blog. The idea came to me while driving around on a Saturday while doing what I call garage-sale hopping. This is when you drive around a neighborhood chasing garage sale signs. It is a mostly futile endeavor, but somehow satisfying nonetheless. I thought it might be funny to write about these weekend exploits. But that never happened.
Even better than garage sales are estate sales. I have a morbid curiosity in seeing what people spent their lives collecting. Mostly Christmas decorations, it turns out. On Sundays, most estate sales sell everything half price. Today, like most Sunday mornings, I went to http://www.estatesale-finder.com/ to see what was going on. There turned out to be several estate sales happening very near to each other, so I wrote down addresses, numbered them according to the route I’d take, and set out in my pickup. Five estate sales and three garage sales later I had scored one full but opened vintage bottle of Trader Vic’s Pomegranate Grenadine Syrup with the classic pin-up girl label for $1.75.
Score! I don’t know exactly what year it’s from or if it’ll still be any good, but who cares? This particular grenadine isn't supposed to be any good anyway.
At one estate sale, I witnessed a girl picking up a Boston shaker and saying, "We should get one of these!" The reply? "What is that?" Wow; different strokes....
My route led me past Village Merchants, on SE Division and 34th, so I stopped there, too. I always hope they’ll have these specific chairs I’ve been searching for. Turns out they had two short stemmed cocktail glasses that match a pair I already own for $1.50 apiece.
These are “double” cocktail glasses that hold more than the 6 ounce capacity of a normal cocktail glass. They come in handy if the recipe calls for more than 4 ounces of ingredients plus (melted) ice. I like short-stemmed glasses because they fit in the door of the freezer, so I can serve cocktails in properly chilled glasses. Don’t get those cocktail glasses with balls instead of stems. I bought four and broke all of them within six months.
After rolling my eyes at a garage sale with some old guy trying to sell bulk Costco goods, I couldn’t resist the urge to go to my favorite Goodwill, in southeast on 7th near Division. I almost immediately found yet another Glencairn scotch glass!
These sell for $20 new or 99 cents at Goodwill. I spent probably 30 minutes scouring through the enormous glassware section hoping to find a mate with no luck. I have seven of these now, five of which were purchased from Goodwill. I’ll admit that only the two I purchased new are crystal. I passed on a nice crystal tasting copita that they wanted $1.99 for. I already have four of them that I never use.
One thing you learn when you’ve been to Goodwill as many times as I have is that they don’t know the difference between a whiskey snifter and a candle holder. Sure enough, I found a round-bottom chimney-shaped glass in with the votives that is a mate for one I found at another Goodwill several months ago. It was also 99 cents.
I actually haven’t used this style of glass yet, but I have become rather fond of the round-bottom glasses, both because you can keep your whiskey stirred while on a table and because they freak everyone out. (In case you’re interested, there are currently two round-bottom old-fashioned glasses in with the votives at the Lombard Goodwill by my place.) You’d have to be suicidal to put a candle in a round-bottom glass.
Similarly, Goodwill employees often put decanters in with vases. I found a very nice wine decanter today, but passed on it because I already have one and am holding out for a Riedel.
At the same Goodwill, I also found a never been used, still in the box ice shaver for $4.99. I’ve been wanting one for making mint juleps in the summer, but usually you find kid ones in the shapes of annoying Disney or Peanuts characters, and you can’t remove the blade to clean or sharpen it.
Well, that’s it. I spent 4 hours and $11.72 shopping today and didn’t get anything that wasn’t alcohol related.
Even better than garage sales are estate sales. I have a morbid curiosity in seeing what people spent their lives collecting. Mostly Christmas decorations, it turns out. On Sundays, most estate sales sell everything half price. Today, like most Sunday mornings, I went to http://www.estatesale-finder.com/ to see what was going on. There turned out to be several estate sales happening very near to each other, so I wrote down addresses, numbered them according to the route I’d take, and set out in my pickup. Five estate sales and three garage sales later I had scored one full but opened vintage bottle of Trader Vic’s Pomegranate Grenadine Syrup with the classic pin-up girl label for $1.75.
Score! I don’t know exactly what year it’s from or if it’ll still be any good, but who cares? This particular grenadine isn't supposed to be any good anyway.
At one estate sale, I witnessed a girl picking up a Boston shaker and saying, "We should get one of these!" The reply? "What is that?" Wow; different strokes....
My route led me past Village Merchants, on SE Division and 34th, so I stopped there, too. I always hope they’ll have these specific chairs I’ve been searching for. Turns out they had two short stemmed cocktail glasses that match a pair I already own for $1.50 apiece.
These are “double” cocktail glasses that hold more than the 6 ounce capacity of a normal cocktail glass. They come in handy if the recipe calls for more than 4 ounces of ingredients plus (melted) ice. I like short-stemmed glasses because they fit in the door of the freezer, so I can serve cocktails in properly chilled glasses. Don’t get those cocktail glasses with balls instead of stems. I bought four and broke all of them within six months.
After rolling my eyes at a garage sale with some old guy trying to sell bulk Costco goods, I couldn’t resist the urge to go to my favorite Goodwill, in southeast on 7th near Division. I almost immediately found yet another Glencairn scotch glass!
These sell for $20 new or 99 cents at Goodwill. I spent probably 30 minutes scouring through the enormous glassware section hoping to find a mate with no luck. I have seven of these now, five of which were purchased from Goodwill. I’ll admit that only the two I purchased new are crystal. I passed on a nice crystal tasting copita that they wanted $1.99 for. I already have four of them that I never use.
One thing you learn when you’ve been to Goodwill as many times as I have is that they don’t know the difference between a whiskey snifter and a candle holder. Sure enough, I found a round-bottom chimney-shaped glass in with the votives that is a mate for one I found at another Goodwill several months ago. It was also 99 cents.
I actually haven’t used this style of glass yet, but I have become rather fond of the round-bottom glasses, both because you can keep your whiskey stirred while on a table and because they freak everyone out. (In case you’re interested, there are currently two round-bottom old-fashioned glasses in with the votives at the Lombard Goodwill by my place.) You’d have to be suicidal to put a candle in a round-bottom glass.
Similarly, Goodwill employees often put decanters in with vases. I found a very nice wine decanter today, but passed on it because I already have one and am holding out for a Riedel.
At the same Goodwill, I also found a never been used, still in the box ice shaver for $4.99. I’ve been wanting one for making mint juleps in the summer, but usually you find kid ones in the shapes of annoying Disney or Peanuts characters, and you can’t remove the blade to clean or sharpen it.
Well, that’s it. I spent 4 hours and $11.72 shopping today and didn’t get anything that wasn’t alcohol related.
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