myxcents

Resolutions

2012-01-02T23:06:00.001-05:00

1. Get a library job.
This may take semi-drastic steps, like leaving the Boston area.

2. Declutter my life and my space.
Self-explanatory. Try to get through and eliminate a lot of the magazine and paper junk that has accumulated in my surroundings.

Hello?

2012-01-01T00:40:00.002-05:00

Anyone still follow this thing I have ignored for 2 years? Well, Happy New Year!! I think one of my resolutions will be to start up this blog again...

Too Wacky Not to Share

2009-12-21T10:49:00.001-05:00

Famous?

2009-11-15T14:48:00.003-05:00

My picture of the Rookery Building in Chicago was used in a Schmap guide!!

Check it out!

Movie Updates

2009-11-08T01:26:00.001-05:00

AMERICAN CASINO
So many numbers and facts! I thought I followed pretty well and it made me want to do something.. but what? 3.5 cats

35 SHOTS OF RUM
This film requires a lot of attention. Not much is said, which means missing a couple words from the subtitles is more critical. I kept hoping for (or perhaps missing) clues about how the characters were related or how they felt about each other. My interpretation of some glances or silence led me to different conclusions than others. 3 cats

THE LEGEND OF LEIGH BOWERY
He was certainly a character. I was not fully focused on the film; I was actually doing my own creative project! I enjoyed seeing his costumes and hearing about his theories from people that he worked with and close friends and family. 4 cats

FRINGE

2008-09-09T23:35:00.003-04:00

I was intrigued enough by the ads on the T and a brief description of the new Fox series "Fringe" to watch the 90-minute pilot. The concept was certainly nothing novel; my roommate was continually reminded of X-Files. The FBI. The paranormal. Near the end, one of the characters even said, "The truth is ..." Well, I won't spoil it. The visual effects looked fun!

It was not, as I expected from the description, a stand-alone, encapsulated episode! A network series that doesn't end with a cliff-hanger to make you tune in next week. At least not so much as I had suspected or hoped. I thought: a weekly episode, each with unique characters, a different plot, possibly even various genres, linked mainly by a common theme. It appears, however, that the characters and situation we were introduced to tonight will return again next week to continue their psuedo-science experimentations.

This NY Times article summarizes it nicely.

Countdown for Movie Fans

2008-09-09T23:29:00.002-04:00

This looks like a cool idea (though my computer can't seem to load it properly)!

O-Oreo

2008-08-11T23:26:00.004-04:00

I have my first REAL pet that's ALL mine! It's a guinea pig and his name is Oreo : )

I got him on Saturday from a friend of someone at the Tufts Vet School. The family has a new baby and the father, a new job, not to mention a few other children and a small dog. They wanted someone who could give it more attention.

So far, he is adorable and a little bit skittish. Though he seems to be relaxing more, as long as I don't try to pick him up. I've had him out a fair amount, in my lap or on the couch next to me, but have not let him wander around yet.

In the picture, you can see part of his "igloo," for hiding, in the foreground. Soon I plan to make a trip to Petco to purchase more toys/entertainment and supplies to improve piggie's quality of life and portability!

Where I've Been Update

2008-03-19T14:49:00.005-04:00

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

2007-07-19T01:21:00.001-04:00

It's Been a While

2007-07-17T16:18:00.000-04:00

Nothing terribly exciting either. Just a couple amusing articles...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6265976.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6268428.stm

Perhaps soon I'll feel I have time to write a real entry.

Artlink

2006-09-12T00:51:00.000-04:00

I could see amusing myself with this for quite a while.

http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

Be sure to click as you go!

Montreal

2006-09-03T01:00:00.000-04:00

Overview of the Festival des Films du Monde a Montreal - I returned the other day from the Montreal Film Festival, so this is a very brief account of the films I saw. I was there essentially for 3 days and saw 10 films. Respectable, I would say!

The List:
MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD
AISLADOS
CHAOS
SHORT FILMS - THE HUMAN BEING
LATE GRADUATES
THE LONG WALK
KONTAKT
JUST SEX AND NOTHING ELSE
UNSPEAKABLE
MEN AT WORK

The definite favorite is THE LONG WALK (NAGAI SANPO) from Japan, a drama about the formation of a friendship between a middle-aged man and an 8-year-old girl. Of a completely different nature, MEN AT WORK (KARGARAN MASHGOOL-E KARAND) is a comedy from Iran. Essentially a group of 4 men try to remove a phallic rock by a variety of methods! UNSPEAKABLE was an interesting documentary about stuttering. CHAOS used three Polish brothers to demonstrate different political attitudes. AISLADOS is a conversation between two friends vacationing in Ibiza. MORE THAN... is a bad story about vampires and a child's over-active imagination. JUST SEX... is a pretty funny story about a woman trying to get pregnant, but without any further committment from the 'father.'

So, there you have it in a nutshell.

I could spend my life travelling

2006-06-30T19:53:00.000-04:00

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

A good start, but I've got a long way to go yet :)

Baldy

2006-04-15T01:32:00.000-04:00

My new (temporary) look...

Nihongo no namae

2006-03-27T10:05:00.000-05:00

My Japanese name is Akuro Ienari.
Take The Original Japanese Name Generator by Shu today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

TORREMOLINOS 73

2006-03-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

I watched Torremolinos 73 last night. It was an entertaining movie, seemed to keep up the pace rather than dragging, but I just didn't enjoy it that much. Though the story is fairly original, it all works out in the end. 3 cats

AFTER INNOCENCE and others

2006-02-17T20:28:00.000-05:00

I saw AFTER INNOCENCE today. I think I was working at the Brattle when the film played at IFFB last April and have been waiting for its release.

This is absolutely a one-sided film, but in my opinion that's what makes a documentary personal. If the filmmaker gives a counter example for everything s/he presents, the result is going to be more like analytical essay than a personal tesimony. I'd rather hear a subjective account any day. (Is it possible to be objective?) That said, I enjoyed the film and as always, learning about something that I wasn't previously aware of; in this case the criminal 'justice' system of the U. S. and exonerated prisoners. It was exciting to see some of the hard fought victories: repealing the death sentence or creating a compensation plan for exonorees, but also sobering to know how much could still be done. And how few people (I was one of 4 in the audience) are aware of this and other problems. 4/5

Also recently saw a few other movies that I didn't understand or care for much: WHISKY, BRIGHT FUTURE and TROPICAL MALADY. I'll just guess something was last in the translation (linguistic or cultural) so I didn't follow the stories very well and didn't find other aspects to redeem the films.

THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA

2006-02-10T12:25:00.000-05:00

So I ended up seeing this on Wednesday night. Though it was only 2 hours long it seemed quite a bit longer. I think it suffers from too many plot twists that don't really add up to anything in the end. Also despite the fact that it is called the "three" burials, we only caught two. 2.5/5

THE EDUKATORS

2006-01-31T20:52:00.000-05:00

THE EDUKATORS gets my Buried Treasure vote! (We'll igonore the fact that it's the only one I've seen thus far.) In contrast to the 3 main characters in this film, I'm a closet revolutionary, so I enjoyed watching Jan, Jule, and Peter doing what I might one day have the courage to do.

The film covers many issues related to revolution and revolutionaries that are now dancing around in my mind. Peaceful ways of frightening people, how effective the revolution is, the motive for revolting and various others that have slipped out of my mind temporarily.

If you really think about it, the story could be a bit contrived in that they conveniently take a hostage who was once an idealistic revolutionary himself. But I still rate it 5/5.

UNDERTOW

2006-01-21T18:37:00.000-05:00

I tend to like movies where the title can have multiple meanings. UNDERTOW is one that can be interpreted on multiple levels. This is the harrowing story of two brothers, their father, and his brother. I don't want to ruin the movie by summarizing the plot, but basically the two brothers end up on the run and have to take care of themselves and each other. The resilience and creativity of children always amazes me. I wasn't like that! (Or was I just not in a situation that tested it?) The story is bleak and there doesn't seem to be much hope, but the movie is about the children and their interactions with people once they leave their father's secluded house. 4/5

TRAVELLERS AND MAGICIANS

2006-01-20T16:13:00.000-05:00

I believe that this is the first film I've seen from Bhutan! It was a beautiful film and I have nothing bad to say about, I just didn't like it that much. The parallel stories, a tall-tale and the actual action that is taking place, are similar, but it didn't really add anything to the film for me. The tale was told in installments that basically matched the plot development in the real movie but did not reveal anymore information. The travellers were obvious; I'm still trying to figure out what role the magicians had. 3.5/5

Movie Updates

2006-01-15T21:05:00.000-05:00

I have seen at least four movies since my last post. I'll do my best to remember them and at least give some idea how I felt about them. I also went to Nicaragua and if you want to see some of the highlights visit my LiveJournal link.

OK, films:

WHALE RIDER - I think this may be a 2003 movie and I've been meaning to see it for quite a while. Well, in Nicaragua I finally got the chance and despite the hype it was not disappointing. It was a beautifully told and acted story about a topic that really interested me. The topic of a film can really make or break it. And despite many years of all women's education, I can't help being curious about gender roles and how they play out in traditional situations. 4.5/5

WALKABOUT - If any of you have seen this movie (apparently from 1971) about two English children stranded in the Australian outback, please explain it to me! I also watched this in Nicaragua with the woman I stayed with and she now has serious concerns about my movie choices;-) There didn't seem to be a plot, the older sister was a horrible actress and what plot they tried to have was perplexing. I guess it's based on a book. Hopefully the book is better! 2/5

BORN INTO BROTHELS - So many people recently have told me how wonderful this documentary is. I enjoyed it, some photos and interviewees in particular, but as a whole I was not impressed. The woman who went to live in India to document the 'Red Light District' in Calcutta didn't seem to even speak the language. How did she blend in with a translator attached to her? In any case, the focus of this documentary is on the children whose mother's are prostitutes. The English woman gives them each a camera and teaches them how to take photos and select the best ones. It is interesting to hear the cildren talk about how they feel when they are taking pictures and also their thoughts on other things. My favorite is one girl who says she often wonders what she could be if she had the opportunity to get an education. As I said some of the photgraphs were nice, but I don't remember any of the children expressing interesting thoughts about why they took certain pictures and what they meant, which is what I was expecting. 3.5/5

IN AMERICA - I just watched this one a couple hours ago and was truly engaged in the story and fairly emotionally involved, which hasn't happened with many movies recently. It was well-acted, an interesting and believable story told through the eyes of the older daughter. I believe she is only 10, but she carries around a camcorder to record things and has surprising insights for her age. We learn about her family's immigration from Ireland, their struggle to make ends meet, and the danger of their apartment building inhabited by 'drug addicts and transvestites.' 4/5

Yay! I think I'm all caught up now!

WATERMARKS

2005-12-28T14:07:00.000-05:00

I watched WATERMARKS last night and really enjoyed it. I'm having trouble remembering other documentaries I saw this year, but this will definitely be up there. I thought the editing between current footage of the Hakoah (Jewish) Sports Club members and archival footage when they were active in the 1930s was well done. The ladies, now in their 80s, really come to life and have unique personalities of their own. The women also talked about the general world situation in that era and as I've said, I love hearing what people think about different things and especially why. This film was satisfying in this way. 5/5

Concert Review

2005-12-10T00:24:00.000-05:00

She Wants Revenge, The Lovemakers

Despite asking many people to attend this concert with me, I ended up going to this concert with just me. The concert was only moderately interesting and that had nothing to do with being there alone. Before the concert I knew one song by each band and both songs were played. That was probably the highlight (and getting a refund for my extra ticket)! The instruments (amps) were so overpowering that I couldn't hear most of the vocals. In that regard it was fortunate that neither band really tried to get the audience involved, I just missed the lyrics which for me are a very important part of the music.

My experience at recent concerts (also including the Magnetic Fields, Green Day, Dresden Dolls and Franz Ferdinand) has given me some thoughts that I would like to share about what makes a good concert.
1) knowing the music beforehand
2) seeing a group that puts on a fun show

I guess there are just those two main ones. I want to add 'going to a punk concert' as a third quality, but the ones that I have gone to also fall into one of the other two categories.

Now for a very brief review of the above mentioned concerts in relation to the 2 qualities. Magnetic Fields I had heard some of their 69 Love Songs, but didn't actually buy the album until after the concert. But they also fall in group 2. They had a great, humorous on-stage dynamic.

Green Day (those of you who know me will realize that there is no way for me to be objective about this). I spent the many months before the concert, from the time I saw them on a late night show in December 2004, listening to as many of their albums as I could request from the library. I wasn't able to get my hands on all of their albums before the show, so there were a few 'surprise' songs, but I knew the music pretty well. In addition, they also put on a good show. Billie Joe could hardly stand still, walking all around the stage and hopping up on amps regularly. He brought out a super-soaker and a king costume among other displays I won't mention and he 'forced' the crowd to get into the show.

Franz Ferdinand was not a particularly interesting stage presence and I didn't know their music very well before attending, so it was minimally entertaining.. very much like the She Wants Revenge, The Lovemakers concert too lud instruments and/or too quiet vocals.

Dresdon Dolls were in town on Halloween. I had heard maybe snippets of "Coin-Operated Boy" before attending the concert, but there stage show was incredible. (Not to mention their 3 or 4 opening bands/acts). They also started off with a cover of "Science Fiction" from Rocky Horror which I know so that got me excited from the start! This duo also had a great stage presence and a sense of humor which made for an entertaining show. Especially with the guy, Brian, wearing a black skirty thing and removing his shirt near the beginning of the set.

So, knowing the music and being able to sing along and sway, etc. is important, but the group also has a strong effect on making a show enjoyable even if I don't know the music well.

Do you all have thoughts/insights about what makes a concert good? Please share... Yay for comments!

TENNIS, ... ANYONE?

2005-12-06T18:39:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what to say about this movie. I feel I should write soon (now) because I will forget it very quickly. I already am. I was tempted to leave like at least one other person.. but I suffered through the whole movie and the Q & A. While they sort of rambled about their point in making the movie, it really told me that the movie didn't really have a point. It was like the director and his buddy decided to make a movie incorporating various real-life experiences that had nothing to do with tennis and then they threw in the tennis theme and made that the "focus" of the movie. I would argue, however, that there was no focus. I laughed a few times in spite of myself, but overall I was impressed (disappointed?) that I stayed awake for the whole thing. (1.5/5)

Twin Peaks Marathon

2005-12-05T11:18:00.000-05:00

Saturday night was spent at the Brattle watching Twin Peaks. First the movie which chronologically precedes the series, but was made after. Then the first season of the series. My friend had invited me to go and I thought she had seen the series before. Anyway, she hadn't and after watching the movie I was wondering what I'd gotten myself into. As with most David Lynch stuff it terrified me.

The series (what I saw) was much better. More comedy than creepy. We got coffee and cherry (or apple) pie.

As for the experience, it was quite something... got to the theater about 9:15pm and didn't leave again until about 8:30am at which time it was snowing! I was not really prepared for that. Got home at about 9:30 wet and cold, shed my layers and jumped into bed to catch up on sleep.

PAYCHECK

2005-12-05T11:05:00.000-05:00

I watched this on DVD a few nights ago. It was much deeper than I was expecting. So Ben Affleck plays a reverse engineer (and kendo master) who gets hired to reverse engineer things, but all the jobs require that his memory is erased on completion of the project. One day he receives an envelope that he had sent a few weeks earlier with 20 items (instead of a paycheck). The project had been a machine to see the future and so he gathered these items, knowing that they would help him when he got out. Anyway so that's the basic plot, but the time lapse and memory lapse were interesting and the opinions about knowing your future versus being able to change it were not new but, again, fun to consider and think about. 3/5

THE KEEPER: THE LEGEND OF OMAR KHAYYAM

2005-12-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

I only read a short blurb before seeing this film, so I didn't really know what to expect. I found the story engaging and the characters realistic, but not very developed. The depth was in the story and subsequent discussion, about knowing and continuing your ethnic/racial heritage.

The director was there in person and the questions and answers made me think more deeply about the film. I still need to think more about it before I "rate" it, but what was neat is how the film/discussion related to issues raised at lectures I've attended: one a few weeks ago and one just today. Particularly about the way religion is revered in society even though some horrible tragedies have occured because of religion or religous differences. There were also issues of identity (beyong just the heritage) that gave me something to think about as I try to really figure out who I am and if that is who I want to be.

SHORT

2005-11-29T19:55:00.000-05:00

I just saw this brief documentary called SHORT by Edan Alterman. It is Israeli and as the title would indicate it is about being short. The director himself is short (5' 4") and he speaks with other short men and a few children/teenagers who are shorter than most people in their grade. I thought it was all very interesting, mostly about the image or stereotype of short men, but not particularly novel. I liked that it made me think about issues/facts that don't come up everyday.

I would have been interested to have him talk to girls maybe short and/or really tall and see what their thoughts are about their height. He did show some footage of girls talking to boys about their height, but I think talking to girls and women about their own hieght could have been revealing. 4/5