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This is Martin McDonagh's 2nd movie following the great "In Bruges." It also stars Colin Farrell along with Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell as a group of dognappers.  Needless to say, hilarity ensues. 

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The only thing missing from the Dark Knight Trilogy (no spoilers)

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The Undefeated

Going to an MLS game is still something to get use to. The play is nowhere near the quality if European clubs, but it's the best I'll do until I can afford to go abroad. The main reason I went to this most recent game was to see one of my former favorite players, Thierry Henry. Henry made his hay for me while with Arsenal. He was one of the best goal scorers in the world, let alone the Premiership. He led Arsenal to an unbeaten season in 2003-2004, led them to a Champions League final in 2006, before finishing out his European career with Barcelona, where he racked up 2 La Liga titles and a Champions League crown.

He came to the MLS in 2010 with the NY Red Bulls. I knew he would the reason for my 1st MLS game. And while he wasn't my first, I wasn't going to miss his only trip here this season. It was then that I finally got to see, in person, Thierry Henry. He looks the same as he did with Barcelona, bald and a beard, and while I knew he wouldn't be as quick as he once was, I was still expecting greatness from him. It was here that I was disappointed. I know there is more to soccer than just how an individual does, it is a team game after all, but his body language said it all to me. It's one thing to play a poor pass or to have a miscommunication with your teammate in soccer, but to then sulk as if he did his part, his teammate messed up. I can understand this happening once or twice, but after every missed pass, he threw up his hands as if to say "what more do you want?" He never threatened the goal.

Some 1000 miles north in Chicago that same evening, Black Sabbath reunited for Lollapalooza sans the original drummer. While this was a 1st show for Sabbath, it's now common practice for old bands to be reuniting and touring. I never wanted to see these shows, mostly out of loyalty to the the deceased members of the bands, but also out of fear that they wouldn't live up to what they once were. When Sting reunited with the Police, he couldn't hit the high note anymore. It's not Pink Floyd's the Wall, it's Roger Water's the Wall. When I go to a concert, I hope for at least 1 of 2 things: showmanship and songs I love. If neither of those are guaranteed, then I skip it. Now if someone's too old to perform the same, or the music is the same, why risk the time and cash and just save the recorded memories I have of the music and the bands.

This is what I wish I had done for Henry. His highlights are unquestionable, neither WAS his talent. But that's the problem; the past tense. Father Time is undefeated, and it was silly of me to question that.

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When Prince was King

I saw this video, which was properly broken down by Grantland's Rembert Browne, and was just amazed for the following reasons:

If I ever win a televised award I want to go up with my own Santa Claus/Viking bodyguard.

It's nice to have proof that I'm not the only one who loves Prince more than Michael Jackson.

For people to understand how cool Prince is, look at this video. Everyone questioned his clothing and appearance, but he still pulled it off.

Madonna would have gotten the business then and now.

After a little research, Jackson's Thriller won best pop record the year before, how can you be nominated 2 years in a row?

Lionel Richie won the most video awards and best male performer, were people scared to vote for Prince as a male?

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My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair

Ozymandias by Percy Shelley

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My Grandparent's Ozymandias

My grandmother is fine. This is the first thing I'd have to answer when I explained why I was cleaning out her apartment.  She could not live there by herself so she had to move to a nursing home. This is the punishment we will all have to suffer for not dying young…or at least younger. There are some disturbing things I have realized while cleaning her apartment out. 

One of the weirder aspects is that my grandmother has little control of what actually happens with her possessions. She can choose her clothing and photo's for her new residence (I can't bring myself to call it a nursing home), but everything else is up to my father and my uncle. Hell, even I have more say over what happens to her stuff than she does. If I were to actually want anything, that'd be the difference between it being thrown away or staying in the family. My grandmother thinks some people are getting this and others are getting that, but the truth is we don't know what to do with most of it, and haven't had the heart to tell her, or at least I haven't. She thinks that my mother is dying for her Wedgewood china, but guess what, she isn't, and nobody else if fighting her for them.

Speaking of china, I barely understood why anyone had china, silver, or crystal glasses, and now I'm finding the idea even stupider. Everyone gets a set once they get married (another strike against marriage in my book) and then sets are passed down from generation to generation.  Maybe this made some sense when people didn't have stainless steel and eight children, but now it looks silly. My parents have enough silver, crystal, and china that they only use once a year…if even that. Now they are going to inherit sets not only from my grandmother, but my mother's side hasn't started divvying theirs up yet. Can we all agree that this stuff is outdated and in the past and stop perpetuating this cycle?

Another cycle that needs to stop, collecting anything. Baseball cards, stamps, coins, all of it is rubbish.  If something is worth something right then and there, sell it.  Take the quick cash, because while you may think that the binders of stamps could provide for your future, guess what, it's not worth the effort to find their value.  But I'll give stamps some credit, at least they're lightweight.  Do you have any idea how many rolls of pennies we've found?  Do you know how heavy all those rolls of pennies are?  Do you know that a roll of pennies is worth literally 50 pennies? Not everything gets more valuable as time goes on. He had a Duke Snider autograph, which would be valuable if people still liked baseball and Brooklyn Dodgers fans weren't all decrepit and old. I'd bet most people my age don't even know who he was, nor would they pay for his autograph.

The last items that I found that were life altering (at least to me) were all the cassette tapes that they had. These weren't special in anyway to either of them, nor were they of any note to my father, but I had these conclusions.

First, they had multiple Al Jolson cassettes which confirms my theory that all old people, including my grandparents, are racists. Some are more racist than others, and some were at a level that would be considered acceptable in those days, but that really doesn't make it any better.  They also had this plate that was painted with an African American family and they were all characters.  The mother looked like Aunt Jemima for crying out loud.

Second was that record companies like RCA would put out cassettes containing what they called their greatest hits.  It just seemed weird that these companies would not mention the artists or the songs even.  I guess some of the smaller labels do that kind of thing for anniversaries, but I definitely doubt that those companies, the ones still around anyway, would continue to release a bunch of random songs like that. 

Why cassettes? They were alive for vinyl and cassettes (as well as CDs, but I get them not having CDs), but why did they only have cassettes? Or perhaps the better question is why did the nostalgia kick in for us to have vinyl, but nobody is going around to vintage stores for cassette tapes? Both are annoying in that you can't pick tracks, but at least one is portable. Whatever, I give up on that one.

The last is going to turn me into the opposite of a hoarder. All of those cassettes that they had, were just thrown away. While, I can't think of anything else to do with them, especially the Al Jolson tapes, it made me realize that people will do the same with my CD collection. It will eventually just be thrown away. Not only that, they'll have the same idea I had while going over the cassettes, "Why did he have these?"  They won't care how awesome or varied my music collection is, they'll just toss it into a garbage bag and move on. It'll all have been for nought.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not Ozymandias or something. I know neither I nor my possessions will last forever (especially considering a nursing home would be my reward), but surely my music wouldn't just be junk to the future. It is why from now on, I will try to only buy my music digitally from now on.  This is just my first step in attempting to become the opposite of a hoarder. If anything isn't useful in the foreseeable future, it's garbage to me (granted the state of garbage is another issue that the US is going to be troubled with very soon if it isn't already). I can't stop pursuing music, but at least I can store it all on 1 hard drive that can be erased and used for whatever someone wants. 

All of this has even inspired me to clean my room.

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The Carriage Turned Into a Pumpkin at Midnight in Paris

First some quick thoughts about Midnight in Paris before I get to anything else:

Woody, come back to New York. You may have peaked with the opening of Manhattan, but you'll never duplicate it anywhere else. Please, we need you.

Whom would a wannabe rapper meet in Niggaz in Paris at Midnight? I know 2Pac and Biggie would be there, but who else?  Eazy-E? Jam Master Jay? ODB? Dr. Dre (oh wait he's still alive but not making music)?  And whom does he fall in love with?  Does he go way back and befriend old jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong or am I completely over thinking this?

Owen Wilson was a better stand in for Woody Allen than Larry David in "Whatever Works," but he didn't have the comedic timing that Woody did.

It was nice to see Woody do a movie that didn't have as much to do about "true love" as he usually does. They were bordering on repetitive at this point.

The point of Midnight in Paris, was that no matter what time you exist there will always be a time that seemed better.  Owen Wilson wanted to go back to the 1920's, but Marion Cotillard wanted to go back to the 1890's (or at least not be in the 1920's).  He realizes that the when doesn't matter, and I'm glad he comes to that conclusion. I realize my view is different from a 70-years-old Allen, but what nostalgia I had for a time went away back in high school (and even then I didn't have that much of an urge to hear "classic rock" live if it meant being draft eligible).  It's a waste of time to wish your time was more like another.  It's something you can't change, and it just shows you aren't happy where you are. Again, I get that for Allen.  He wants to be younger in a time when he isn't an afterthought of American cinema, and he was surrounded by at least peers, not Michael Bay and Gore Verbinski. But for me, my time is now. I've adapted to the internet, enjoy the arts of today more than of yesteryear (especially with literature).  WIlson's character realizes that the present isn't so bad if nobody likes their present, but he and Allen miss that it's the future that always looms overhead.  Allen may not think of the future as much, and Wilson's character only does in breaking off his engagement with Rachel McAdams, but there is always a future for all of us.  Mine may be longer and brighter than Allen's, but we both have a future and must look towards it, not before it.

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Playoff baseball is great. There's drama and excitement. Plus great pitching. Chicks may dig the long ball, but give me knee buckling curve and I feel me stomach drop towards the ground too. This year, though, there is a problem. It's not that the Astros didn't make the playoffs, I knew that had no chance of happening this year or he next couple of seasons. The problem, or my problem rather, is that though the Astros aren't playing, but some of their players are.

This happened last year as well, but this year watching Oswalt, Pence, and Lidge face off against Lance Berkman in the 1st round just feels wrong. Watching Oswalt and Berkman face each other is particularly gut wrenching. This series has basically become a series on how good the Astros used to be. I got a text from a friend back in July asking what had happened to the Astros? I tried explaining the bad drafts, an the lowering of payroll despite not having a backup plan. She just couldn't believe that they had gone from a divisional foe to a doormat so quickly. The fall wasn't quick it was slow and painful. Now as I sit and watch as teams play for something I can only dream about, all I can do is sit here and hope for next season, or most likely 3 seasons after that. Until then, here is the Astros' top pitching prospect's curveball.

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Well, its the Jewish New Year tonight. There will be no champagne or someone to kiss other than my aunt.  There will probably be some whiskey, though that may be more because its a Wednesday than anything else.  I've never known how to feel about the High Holidays.  My feelings on being Jewish are much more concrete though harder to explain (I've tried).  Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the days when everyone was Jewish.  People that didn't show up ever for services were sure to show up for these occasions.  Rosh Hashanah was the day when we decide to become better people (or at least try).  This begins the 10 days of Awe where we Jews prepare for the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.  On this day, we must ask for forgiveness not only from God, but from all those we have wronged over the past year.  You must also forgive those that have wronged you. 

These are all noble reasons to observe Yom Kippur, though the fact that you must fast for 24 hours gets more talking points when the Chosen get hungry (a point more valid in our family when it was common knowledge not to piss off any of us when we were hungry).  But to me (even in my more faithful days) these never seemed like what they should.  Sure I got to miss school, but this New Years sucked compared to the real New Years (even though that usually kinda sucked before alcohol was added to the equation).   And I never felt I wronged anyone.  I mean as a child that didn't talk too much, whom could I really have pissed off?  So that left fake apologizing to my siblings in front of my parents to show that I had learned something, and then forgot it a day later, and God.  This was the most serious thing to me when I was older but still believed.  I did sincerely apologize to God for what I had done wrong, though I now realize that most of what I had done wrong, or at least failed to do better, was just my anxieties toward life.  Sorry I fucked up on this.  Sorry I couldn't be a more well adjusted person.  I didn't expect any of these things to change, I just hoped for forgiveness.  That was what Yom Kippur was to me.  A Jew's yearly confessional, where our sins were cleansed and instead of Hail Mary's we had Kol Nidre's. 

This never erased my anxieties since I didn't know if God forgave me.  There was no sign one way or the other.  Now as I've grown more cynical, I wonder why didn't he ask us for atonement for all the bad things that could've happened over the past year, but back then, I just wanted to feel alright.  Whether this was the intention of Yom Kippur, feeling better or being better, I'm not sure.  I'd rather have the former and accept the latter.  There was a time when I did feel better, but that was outside of the services.  My mom and I went out to an office and talked.  I don't remember much about the conversation (though I'm now dying to ask my mom for more information about it) or even why we left.  I'm sure it was because I was in a shitty mood, but I was always in a shitty mood when I was 12 (or was it 11).  This was probably where my religious beliefs started to fade (also the whole is there a God thing?).  All it took was to feel better while directly not being Jewish, and I was on a slippery slope toward non-Judaisim.  So I guess this was what I've gotten out of this High Holiday, some serious questions for my mom, and reaffirming that I won't be in services this year.  So much for starting the New Year off right.

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modemusique:

Franz Schubert | Piano Trio In E Flat Op. 100  |   Barry Lyndon O.S.T.

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King of TV

Louis CK has probably been the best comedian the around the past couple of years.  I never saw him live, but his last 2 specials were ridiculous.  I'm not talking about Dane Cook special where he just  sells them, or if the audience is in the right mood; I'm talking about fucking hilarity.  As funny as Louis CK is showing that a redhead can be, an important issue I worry about, it's his show "Louie" that makes him special.

One of the funniest shows in my lifetime was "Seinfeld"  and even still going on is "Curb Your Enthusiasm."  Both are hilarious in their relation to real life and their jokes and plot arcs that come together at the end.  But, both pale in comparison to what "Louie" offers. "Louie" has parts of CK's stand up in it which is always funny, as well as generally well thought out plot lines, but "Louie" isn't afraid to hit dramatic notes.  Whether it's last season's episode "God" or this season where he has visions of being a subway hero and clueing up a subway seat, "Louie" has a balance of drama and comedy.

I'd be lying if this balance were even.  I don't know what the balance is between serious moments and funny moments, but Louie actually gets what it means to be alive.  David and Seinfeld can point out foibles of socialization better than anyone, but CK realizes what it is to be human.  CK deals with religion, with having an unrequited love interest, the insecurity of life and dealing with both dating as a 40 year old while having children.  I watch "Louie" not only for a laugh like a traditional comedy, but because I can see greatness.  I see a man that doesn't concern himself with what is funny and what isn't, but understands what would be at least interesting.  "Louie"  doesn't try to differentiate between the two.  CK just seems to shoot whatever is on his mind, and it is alway worthwhile.  I can't say he's funnier than either David or Seinfeld, but I want him behind the camera more than the other two.  I know what to expect from Seinfeld and David, but CK is always a welcome surprise. 

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Otis Redding - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

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The moon was like this awesome, romantic, mysterious thing, hanging up there in the sky where you could never reach it, no matter how much you wanted to. But you're right. Once you're actually here, it's just a big, dull rock. I guess I just wanted you to see it through my eyes, the way I used to.

Fry, Futurama.

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Out of Reach

We all have a tendency to over romanticize a time in our lives, or a place, or even a person and a relationship.  Our experiencing them 1st hand cloud our minds as to what really happened, and what was of actual importance.  All I know is that I missed Houston when I first left for college.  Now, I can't stand being here.  In fact, once I had left the H, I couldn't stand being back for more than a week.  I'd usually go crazy dealing with all of my family.  I just know that feeling is coming right around the corner with my sister moving back for a week and my brother back for the summer.  I have to get back to Missouri and all my people up there.  I have too much in my life needing to be figured out without worrying about the loneliness I feel here.  I'm just hoping that wherever I end up, it's what I want it to be.  I don't want to leave the H for Missouri only to find out that Houston is where I should be, or even worse, that where I want to be is forever out of my reach.

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No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.

Oscar Wilde

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Art for My Sake

I usually have a hard time turning off my brain.  I'm usually thinking about something all the time.  This is probably why I have light insomnia, where it takes forever for me to fall asleep.  It's also why I always have some song stuck in my head, right now it's "Neon Bible" by Arcade Fire.  This is probably why I go off on so many tangents both in conversation and when I write.  And it is also a reason I drink.  Tonights drink of choice is Bombshell Blonde.  Of course it only slows down the process of thinking, but it is effective nonetheless.  I now sit around aimlessly looking for something on TV that is new or something I haven't seen in a while, and I'm looking to be stimulated.  I want thought to be created.  I want to be inspired.  I wanted to understand what it is to be human, thanks to some insight that I never could have thought of by myself.  Instead, I couldn't find anything even remotely entertaining let alone thought provoking. 

The best I found was Predator 2.  The 1st Predator I could understand, any Arnold movie from the 80s/early 90s is worthwhile plus Carl Weathers, but there is little value in watching the 2nd.  Either way, neither would have inspired me.  I thought about reading, but I just started a book, and didn't know if I'd achieve enlightenment tonight, so I'm sticking with TV.  I'll probably put in "The Life Aquatic" and still be left in awe of the final scene with the Jaguar Shark and Sigur Ros playing in the background, but I'm a little disappointed with TV tonight.  I realize Saturday isn't the biggest night in television, it's the worst I think or at least the programming would back that thought, but give me something to make me think.  And I'm not talking about the History Channel.  That may be informational, but not enlightening.   

So my question/problem is, where is the enlightening television?  Be it a movie or a TV show, why is it not available right now?  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some mindless TV/movies.  Die Hard and The 5th Element are two of my favorite movies.  If they are on, no matter how much time is left, I will watch them.  Same goes for Predator, Blade Runner, or especially Commando.  But right now I want to gain insight into the human condition, and Arnold killing hundreds of men by himself while making witty remarks doesn't cut it.  I just watched "The Town" and enjoyed it, gotta enjoy anything with My Man Jon Hamm, but at the end, I wasn't moved.  It was a well done action thriller with good acting and a well written script, but in the end, I could just eject the disc, and be left wanting anything. 

I remember watching "The Squid and the Whale" and just being left in awe.  I had to stop and think.  The credits were rolling and I didn't just hit the eject button.  I laid there and thought about what it would have been like to have had parents that were divorced, or what my divorced friends thought of this movie.  There was so much that was revealed to me that I wanted to know more.  that I had to think about what could or would happen next, or what it really meant.  I enjoy that in movies and other works of art.  TV, books, music, actual art, and of course film are all things I look to in order to help me understand the world better.  What I'll never get is why everyone else doesn't do the same.  I was telling my grandmother about a book I was reading, and she immediately realized that it was beyond her.  She just likes to read crime novels, and that is what I don't understand.  She knew that the book I was reading was intimating the truths of life, but she wanted none of it.  She just wanted to be entertained.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Well I want more out of my art.  I want to see and read art that unveils the mysteries of the world to me.  I want more of my art and my life.  And this understanding is the only way to achieve the latter.

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The Lost Generation

We were told not to brag, but that we were special.  We were told to be smart but quickly learned as a child that being too smart meant being ridiculed.  We were told to be the greatest we can be, but that nobody likes a show off.  It was these contradicting lines that set up the 20 something malaise that seems to be hitting everyone.  Nobody knows what career path to follow except a few.  Nobody wants to leave school unless they can no longer afford it.  We are all stuck in that middle ground where people think there is something wrong with us for not following in their own path, nor are we creating our own.  We are stuck in neutral.  Waiting for something to come and lift us up to the path we all envisioned. 

Everyone may have had a different path, but we all envisioned it just the same.  Some how we'd achieve success in a given field and the rest of life would be a cakewalk.  Life would go according to plan with any bump along the road being handled smoothly.  Instead, we encountered life with nothing but dreams and no way to accomplish them.  We were raised by idealists only to enter a realists realm.  The failed ideas of the baby boomers were passed down by the direct descendants only to learn that it didn't work back in the 60's, and it certainly doesn't work now. 

We were told to follow our dreams, and that even if they were unattainable, to make them part of reality.  And when we realized that dream was just a dream we just pressed pause on life.  Waiting and wanting for life to be what we wanted it to be, and just watching as it passes us by.  As more and more of our generation that we didn't even consider, those who are younger than us, seem to know our mistakes even before they make them and appear ready to side step our problems and us along with them.  We warn them, wanting better for them, all the while forgetting that we face the same problems, and ignoring our own advice.  We just want things to work out; how that actually happens is irrelevant.  This was our greatest flaw. 

We all wanted so much.  To be famous, to be rich, to cure cancer, and so on but even as our dreams were lowered to try and face what lied ahead we slowly realized how off we really were.  The hard work or dedication, or just sheer luck of who you know never figured into our equation for a happy life.  We never imagined of heartbreak.  We never thought of anything but a singular dream, and once that was gone we were left with nothing.  We weren't prepared for the soul crushing reality that is this life.  The work some meaningless job to try to make money to bide time until your real life kicks in kind of life.  Everything we didn't want to be, but convinced ourselves that it was just a temporary phase that everyone goes through in order to achieve our dreams.  In the end, I've come to realize that that is our fate.  To be the lost generation, 2 years worth of people just wanting and wishing for their luck or their life to change.  To want to go back in time and change something dramatic with the ridiculous belief that it was what they should have done so that their life would have turned out the way they wanted it to.  Instead all we can do is what we did in the first place, just dream.  Dream of a better tomorrow, or at least a tomorrow that is better for us.  One where our desires just seem to happen, and it all goes according to plan.  And if it ever doesn't, that was because we wanted it to.