More half-baked ideas

Didja ever want to have a recorder in your head? like, one that took every snapshot and recorded every bit of dialogue that ran though your brain but that you weren't able to record for whatever reason? For me it's usually laziness. I'll say to myself, "I'll write about that later." And then I never do. 

At least they're here now and not floating around in my head, where my somewhat cavalier cerebral filing system might mis-label them. They probably won't make sense to you, but if in time they make any more sense to me I'll flesh them out. No blog is ever really done, right?

Facebook updates are the new blogs.

I'm spending far too much time thinking of clever facebook status updates. Is this my legacy? 

Unfair.

Driving is difficult this time of year. Low sun makes for long shadows.

Why do I always spell "shadows" with an "e"?

Carry a notebook, you schmuck.

Making sense of it all?

So I was in Toronto this past weekend, and among the billboards was one for the perenially number three network, Global. The tagline? "Making sense of it all."

Where do they get off?

Now, being a certified student of the media and a former news guy (however briefly), I know it's the job of the fourth estate to "make sense of it all" for the rest us poor schleps who don't enjoy their access, perspective, and so on.  

And still.

I've been reading a lot lately about the shit that's going down (and it is going down) in more than one pub from a lot of different perspectives. And from what i've seen, no one has a fucking clue how to make sense of it all. 

I think the truth is that no one - news hack or not - has any idea how to make sense of it all. From where I sit, we're just making it all up as we go along. But I think we'd all be better off if we all just droped the charade.

This is a low

Bummer. Walthamstow has closed.

famous five thingee

WTF?

i had a notion to write about the above this morning, thinking "famous five thingee" would be enough to remind me what i wanted to write about.

funny how work gets in the way.

if any one has any ideas, feel free to suggest them....

Your brain on "Shuffle songs"

Nope.
Nope.
Nope.
Nope.
Hm.........
Nope.
......Nope.
Hm.........
Nope.

Things you think about when you're being held in priority sequence...

We are in the era of fiddling. Behold:

• FM Transmitters that kinda work, sorta. Apart from cel phones, the biggest sham ever perpetrated on the ipod-buying public. Want some static with that song? Just enough to annoy the fuck out of you while you're trying to stay awake on the 401? There's plenty of models to choose from.
• iPod synching. Just try to squeeze one more song on there. Go ahead. I dare you.
• Any technology-related tech support. No one is looking forward to helping me get the best out of my router. (Hello, Linksys...helloooooo). If my call was so valuable, why is this my third fucking try? Why should I even NEED to know my fucking router IP address?
• How did my keyboard switch to french? WTF?

Teak oil really stinks. But it works wonders.

I like peaches.

Now even the tech sup....port....mu.....si....c....n.nnn..nneeeeeds tech...supp.....ort...

The Pizza Pizza guys always get my address wrong. Why is my order outsourced to India when the place that bakes the friggin thing down the street?

I'm not putting in the time to make this worthwhile. At least I don't think so. what do you think? Helloooo...Linksys...

Words I like

Possibly inspired by my one-day writing course.

• askew
  
• astride
  
• infandous
  
• lugubrious
  

more to come, probably...but don't hold your breath.

Never use a longer word...

The latest evil trend in marketing lingo: "complimentary" instead of "free."
Hors d'oeuvres are complimentary. So are magazine subscriptions. Events are not.

Armchair Visconti: What I DID like about The Dark Knight

• Heath Ledger's performance. Everything the Joker could and should be. It's like he's in a better movie running alongside this one and he shows up every now and again to show people how it's done.
• The first 20 minutes. Lean and mean, their success is betrayed by what comes next.
• Russian Ballerinas. 'nuff said.
• Bruce Wayne's Armani suits.
• Lamborghinis.
• Lucius.
• The batmobile saying "Goodbye" just before it blows up.
• Trucks flipping over.
• Operation Skyhook.
• Disappearning pencils.

Armchair Visconti: What i didn't like about The Dark Knight

First, a disclaimer: These only matter if you're concerned about a separate but related discussion about whether TDK should be considered a Good Comic Book Film, or a Good Film. To my mind, Lord of the Rings (pick any one) belongs in the latter. TDK belongs in the former. A snooty distinction, but it's what I do to amuse myself.

All plot, no story. As if Christopher Nolan said to himself, "If i put this many scenes about duality and darkness together, it will add up to a cool movie," rather than "What does an exploration of these themes look like and how would they play out among these characters?" Memo #1 to Mr. Nolan: You are not the next Hitchcock, sorry to say. UPDATE - come to think of it, I'd venture to say Christopher Nolan doesn't really understand characters. Or storytelling. What he does understand is plot mechanics. Consider Momento, or The Prestige. His movies are elaborate and intriciate constructions. They look great, have great casts, but they have no soul.

Clumsy fight scenes. Memo #2 to Mr. Nolan: Go watch the russian bath fight scene in Eastern Promises. Repeat as necessary.

Clumsy action sequences. This I found particularly odd, since the big chase scene in batman begins had at least as many vehicles moving around. Memo #3 to Mr. Nolan: Go watch any / all of the following to see how to stage action setpices:

• The French Connection
• Ronin
• Ben Hur
• Face/Off
• Terminator 2, Aliens or any James Cameron movie that has large metal things smashing into each other.
  

Aaron Eckhart's performance. Pains me as it does to write this, seeing as i saw the guy in London while he was still shooting, but I didn't believe his performance as the do-gooder. So, cool makeup aside, I didn't buy his transformation. Sorry dude, you were better in Thank You for Smoking and, if it makes you feel any better, you were the best thing about Erin Brockovich.