Admittedly, this is not my cat, but I have four at home and all of them would do this in a heartbeat.
Years ago a friend of mine told me about a productivity experiment. It is kind of like a “bucket list” except you don’t wait until you find out you’re going to die to write it up and you make one every year for the coming year starting on your birthday. The number of items on the list are equal to your new age. Yes, this means the list will get longer and longer each year, but the complexity and cost of each item on the list is totally up to you. You could decide to add one saying: “#5 – Walk more” or “#15 – Watch less TV” or “#34 – Dream about ponies” (how you control that last one is a mystery).
I’ve done this for a few years now with varying levels of success. My first year I made it through every item on my list, but this past year I fell a little bit off track. Numerous things along the way took charge of where my focus needed to be and it was all good things, but I ended with only 12 out of 35 from my list completed. I could start this year with a completely fresh list, but I decided to look over those unfinished items and decide which of those I wanted to keep shooting or as is or maybe adapt them a little to change them towards my current tastes.
Here’s what I was able to knock off the list last year:
Write new TV spec script (will be submitting this next year)
Catch one show at the Pantages (saw Avenue Q, fantastic show!)
Book one writing assignment (landed one coverage gig, not quite what I was hoping for, but it technically counted since it was a paycheck)
Go on two legit hikes (sore legs after each prove either they were legit or I am still really out of shape)
Get iron/steamer (sounds silly but you’d be amazed how easy it is to forget how handy those are when you don’t have one)
Consolidate wardrobe (it was just time to toss out all those button down shirts I no longer wore and various other pieces that haven’t come out of the darkness in years)
Job front: Move up or move on (this was a strong desire of mine, but ended up being taken care of by my contract ending anyway)
Don’t drink for one year (other than my wedding weekend, which I gave myself a personal furlough, I accomplished this task)
Donate bone marrow (adapted this one slightly to “Register for Be The Match, bone marrow donation registry”, which is something everyone should do)
Increase blog to 300 daily visits on average (a couple strong days helped this average and also counting from a very specific stat engine, but it was the same one I based the number off when I wrote the task, so it evens out)
Finish reading 24 books (I’ll add the list of books at the end, for those voracious readers out there)
Get dining room table (although this one was accomplished, we ended up not liking it as much and will be getting a new one in the new house. Still counts though.)
So that was the finished items off the old list. Here is the new list ready and set to go on 12/12 (that would be my birthday, for any exceedingly generous readers out there):
1) Exercise more (even as vague as this is, I still didn’t get it done last year, so laaaaazzzzzyyyyy)
2) Submit/self-publish first novel (I was hoping to get this done last year as well. I just need one more spit polish on it and I think we are ready to go.)
3) Bring more writers to The End of the Page (any budding, opinionated writers out there want to contribute? Leave a comment below or write me directly through the contact page.)
4) Get new tattoo (I just got the design in from my good buddy Brandon, so this will be happening in the near future)
5) Perfect one dish to cook (started this last year, my dish is Chicken Tikka Masala. I made it once so far, came out really well, but far from perfection, more attempts this year)
6) Go on cruise (happily this might coincide with long awaited honeymoon plans)
7) Establish better writing habit (all writers need one, I am in need even more so because I have so many damn projects)
8 ) Enroll in Yoga class (been wanting to do this for a long time. Going to wait until we are settled in the new house and see what classes are in the area.)
9) Send out more than 56 Thank You notes (I read an article about a guy who sent out one Thank You note to random people who affected his life each day for a full year. I tried to replicate this, but fell far short. So instead of jumping right back to the full 365, I just want to beat my total for last year)
10) Bring more books down from WA (I have a ton of books stored at my Uncle’s in WA and I really want my library to be fully together. Plus, he’s been wanting those gone for a long time too.)
11) Finish graphic novel issue #2 (yet another writing project in stasis that needs to be resurrected. It’s got alien ninjas y’all!!!)
12) Try surfing (for those who know me well, this will likely kill me, rendering the rest of the list sort of moot)
13) Go to Big Sur (everyone who’s ever been there swears it is one of the most beautiful places in the state, if not beyond. Gotta go.)
14) Donate blood (Actually, I will need to get this done before the tattoo is done, since they ban you for a year or two after getting one)
15) Take train trip to Santa Barbara Zoo (my wife has done this before and it just sounds neat)
16) Write one spoken word piece (I used to perform spoken word and there is a part of writer’s brain still clamoring for it)
17) Take another class (took a one-day cake baking class a few months ago, had tons of fun. I never want to stop learning new things.)
18) Get AT&T credit card under $3000 (could’ve done this in the past year, but all the money got pooled together to get home loan)
19) Reach 12 new states on my donation map (I have a world map and an United States map on my wall which I mark with small colored stickers for each place I donated to a local or focused charity. My goal is to reach the entire world someday. Just started this last year and I have 7 states and 5 countries so far. Tons to go.)
20) Try sculpting (no promises this will be anything more than a swirly mound of clay when it’s finished, but I’ve always wanted to try)
21) Begin learning to play my guitar (I’ve had an electric guitar for years, but never learned to play it. Need to look for a class this year to get me going on it.)
22) Go on one road trip (this is not counting the trip to Big Sur)
23) Put together book of paintings (I am also a painter and I want to collate a small book of what I have so far)
24) Try five new vegetables (if the surfing doesn’t kill me, this surely will)
25) Read 24 new books (had fun with this last year, kept me focused on always having a book going. Recommendations anyone?)
26) Conduct two interviews for the blog (done one so far, although I am still transcribing, which is a real time suck by yourself)
27) Find writer’s group – online or in person (should help with getting that writing habit nailed down as well, if you have any suggestions of good groups, please send along!)
28) Re-energize date night tradition (with all the other stuff I try to keep going in my creative life, I need to make sure I focus as well on my home life and married life)
29) Take part in 2012 Obama campaign (even though his first term has been far from perfect, I think he’s done better than most people think and is surely a better choice than the other options)
30) Retry 365 photo experiment (one photo a day for a year, it creates a really cool visual calendar of your past, I just didn’t keep up with it last year. I just got the iPhone 4S, so the improved camera on that will make this much easier.)
31) Get at least one paid writing opportunity (worked last year, hopefully that will work again. Wanna hire me?)
32) Open CafePress-type store for art/writing inspired items (anyone know of a better online store to use than CafePress?)
33) Go on three legit hikes (adding one to the total from last year)
34) Pick archery back up (use to go to the range twice a week, have my own Olympic bow and nice set of arrows, need to pick up the hobby again)
35) Reach bowling score of over 200 (my personal best is 187, not too far to go)
36) Spend more time with friends (like the one about date night, need to remember to focus on the social life as well, hopefully many of these can also be done with my friends, maybe they will want to work on their own lists!)
So there you have it. My next twelve months of goals. If this has inspired you to create your own list or you are already a practitioner of this nifty listing hobby, feel free to share yours here.
For those curious about the 24 books from this year, here they are:
Yes, this 3D trend has gotten a little more than annoying recently, but mainly my rage about it is focused at studios that purposefully add this gimmick only to jack up the ticket price and bring nothing additional to the movie experience when the film wasn’t shot in 3D. I avoid tempting my anger over this issue by mostly seeing everything in 2D when offered (unless I know for a fact it was shot in 3D) and this tip keeps me calm and content during my numerous cinema trips. Yet, when a legend in the industry, like Martin Scorsese, decides to shoot his new film in 3D, that can be enough to tempt me into dropping the few extra dollars. So I went, I watched, and I fell into his fantastical world.
Hugo is the story of a small orphan boy who lives in the train station. His sole obsession is to finish fixing a small robotic person that his father found. Hoping to build himself a new friend, Hugo slowly gains the support of a young girl and together they chase after the breadcrumbs of a mystery that very well may link them together in ways they never dreamed of.
Since I led this review with my feelings on 3D, let me first congratulate Scorcese on achieving a beauty and simplicity for this technology seemingly avoided by most other directors (James Cameron gets a pass on this too, since the 3D in Avatar was insanely well done). Right off the bat, the snow falling in the foreground was amazing and added a rich texture to the scene. That straightforward approach to the use of 3D held on through the rest of the film, not overdoing it with overtly sensationalized moments, but using the technology to enhance the depth and reality of the story on screen. Chalk this up as another point for those directors and studios who choose to use 3D from the outset to enrich the experience instead of after the fact in order to enrich their pockets.
**Spoilers ahead – Hard to avoid when talking about the story on this one. **
Now comes the story, or I should correctly say “stories”, both rich enough to be their own movie. You have the original story of Hugo and his mysterious machine boy, then later comes another adventure about legendary film auteur, George Melies, who was believed to have died in the war, but turns out to be living in an apartment in Paris trying to forget everything about those magical movie-making times. Screenwriter John Logan captured exactly the magic I feel when I sit in that darkened room and am transported away to an unlimited number of worlds. I relished those touching moments where Melies waxed poetically about where dreams came from and how we could all live better lives by helping bring those into reality. I loved both story lines, but found the connection between them a little forced and unfinished.
Another portion of Hugo’s personal story, the one about the machine, which strongly resonated with me was his desire to always fix things. There are few things in this world more pure than a desire just to see everyone and everything working at their utmost intended perfection. We all want to be the best versions of ourselves and most of us would also lend a hand if it meant bringing someone else to their pinnacle as well. It rang a touch similar to Pay It Forward, but not nearly as heavy-handed.
Scorcese and Logan did an amazing job in creating a rich and lavish landscape of characters inside the train station, but I ended up wanting Hugo to interact with them much more. Since he really doesn’t, it makes all those layers feel superfluous and unnecessary.
The End of the Page recommendation: Hugo is a 3D triumph visually and makes up for some less-than-stellar threads of the story.
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago at 10:36 am. Add a comment
I have to see myself on that boat AGAIN! In 3D this time?!
Rating: 6 out of 10
Every director certainly has a style and while some may try to shake things up every now and again, keep people on their toes, others stay the course and deliver time and time again what you have come to expect from them. That’s not always a bad thing, especially when you have serious accolades and awards already under your belt, but it can also set up a certain type of expectation about the quality and depth of each story you bring to the screen, which sometimes can be a lot to overcome. The truth is there is no end to the sophomore curse. Your last fantastic picture is always quickly overshadowed by your current less than stellar outing. Clint Eastwood is the man under the spotlight right now and what he brings to the table is another tale of power, passion and persecution, all inside one continuously conflicted person.
J. Edgar is one theory of the story behind the story, the man behind the machine that created the F.B.I. and reportedly had the skeletons of scores of American citizens, including the presidents he served under. The film follows his rise to power, his curious relationship with his number two man, and his own seemingly unquenchable need to be feared and revered, leaving a legacy that could never be tarnished.
J. Edgar offers a scenario of what might have went on behind closed doors between Hoover and Tolsen, his number two man, and what motivated Hoover to push himself as hard as he did. Much of it is based on circumstance and conjecture though, so it’d be best to view this film as an imaginative or (at best) a mildly educated guess about the truth behind the most feared man in decades.
Eastwood delivers yet again another deep, layered and complex narrative about a troubled protagonist, someone who you are never really sure whether you want to root for. The film is extremely slow paced and at times drags in its repetition, showing Hoover in one situation after another where his power is called into question. Jumping back and forth between his later life and his early years was a nice touch in the beginning, but by the end, it felt disjointed, like you were being dragged back into the past or thrust into the future just at the moment when things were getting good right where you were. I might have thought about just using the older version of Hoover as bookends to the story and play it out more along a traditional timeline, but who knows, that very well could have dragged as well.
The performances are always the most important part of these types of biopics. You need to be able to lose sight of the actor, usually someone incredibly well known, and truly see the person he is trying to represent. Look at Frank Langella as Nixon in Frost/Nixon, Will Smith as Muhammad Ali in Ali, even our man here, Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in The Aviator, these are invested performances that elevate the movie beyond just a mere educational stroll in the cinematic park. Yet, DiCaprio falters this time in capturing his past fervor, not for lack of trying, just due to a lack of foundation underneath the moments. Naomi Watts also struggles to really find footing as the dutiful secretary, Helen Gandy. The true breakout here is Armie Hammer as Tolson, who brings a magical assured quality to his early life and a beautiful gentleness in his senior years. Hammer truly burst onto the scene last year in his dual performance as the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network, but in J. Edgar he shows he can handle much more than just overconfidence. Tolson is really the moral compass of the film and the only avenue for the audience to navigate their way in, but even with such a virtuoso performance from Hammer, it wasn’t enough to pull the whole film together in the end.
Eastwood’s decision to use younger actors in dramatically older roles also may not have worked to the film’s advantage. I understand it allows a connection, both physical and emotional, between the two versions of the character on screen, but sometimes it can also feel jarring. While we have come light years ahead in the technology of makeup, truly transforming these early birds into aged senior citizens, the one thing that remains is the sound and tenor of their voice. There is something so unique and distinct about a voice that has been speaking for seventy or eighty years, something that is nearly impossible for these youthful actors to capture. Once again, Hammer seemed to outshine DiCaprio in this arena as well, but I still feel it might have been more powerful to have actual older actors in those roles.
The End of the Page recommendation:J. Edgar has some punch to it, but fails to reach the heights of Eastwood’s past or the power of Hoover’s legacy.
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago at 12:59 pm. Add a comment
Somebody outside this window has an idea what happened last night. Likely, they have my clothes as well.
Rating: 6 out of 10
When you come across someone like Hunter S. Thompson you do either one of two things: allow yourself to be drawn into his hyper-vivid world of words and violent expression or you can run screaming. When Johnny Depp took on the role of Thompson for the epic drug trip Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Depp not only went willingly inside that world, he became its new champion, vowing to carry on the legend after what everyone knew would be the inevitable death of its creator. While Depp hasn’t tried to transform himself into Thompson outside the silver screen (thank god, I don’t think another human being could ever contain that level of energy) he has attempted at length to let people know who the real man was, the forever beating heart behind the literary lion.
The Rum Diary reports the semi-true story of Paul Kemp (Thompson’s pseudonym for this tale), a struggling novelist looking for his true voice, mostly in the bottom of various bottles of alcohol. He finds himself in Puerto Rico working for the local paper, The San Juan Star, where the publication was already sounding the death knells, but he tries to make the best of it by making friends with locals and criminals alike. Finding himself embroiled in a land grab scheme and madly in love with another man’s fiancee, Kemp fights to keep himself on the right side of his own ethical boundaries. The pressure may have crushed some men, but instead it only crystallizes his purpose in life.
There is a message in the film, but before we get to that, let’s take a look at the package the message is wrapped in. Most people will remember Depp from his first foray into the mind of Thompson and likely come to the theater expecting more of the same drug-fueled insanity. That would be a dreadful mistake. With only one mildly hallucinogenic scene in the entire film, this is largely a straight forward story, with only a mild level of drunkenness in comparison to Fear and Loathing. While there is an inordinate amount of rum imbibed by nearly every person on screen, the core is really two love stories, one between Thompson and his femme fatale, the other between Thompson and his writing. Depp smoothly portrays the deeper and more thought-provoking side of Thompson, but I imagine many audience members left feeling disappointed by the absence of sheer lunacy which they have come to recognize as Thompson’s foremost personality trait. Aaron Eckhart is seamless in his white collar criminal role, pillaging the pristine land of South America for the richest of the rich businessmen, but what is missing is a catharsis or closure to his storyline. By the time he turns, back to the camera and walks away, it lacks any real sense of importance. The other main role goes to Amber Heard (recently seen heading the now defunct TV show, The Playboy Club). She steals Thompson’s heart (both on screen and in real life, she went on to become his wife, one of them) but her on-screen counterpart fails to really bring anything to the table except her looks. There was a wild impetuousness which helped frame the character, but it got old as the film ran on.
Now that we have firmly stomped some some of the reasons for this not being a wild success, let’s look into what is really done well here and where the true heart lies. This is less of a traditional story and more about the formation of a moment in time, the moment where Hunter S. Thompson became the raging, unafraid, unabashed lunatic of the literary world. What you witness on screen is a depiction of the moment when he finds his real purpose, his true voice, and for a fellow writer like myself, this is a awe-inspiring and beautiful thing to see. The character ponders halfway through the film about where he is in his life as a writer, lamenting that he has not learned to write like himself yet. For aspiring writers there are few things more painful and frustrating than that. It is the key to our literary lives and once Thompson found his, he didn’t just walk through the door, proud of his accomplishment, nay, he kicked the door off the hinges with a size thirteen and told everyone else in the room (past, present and future) to get the hell out of his way. There were few like him before and I imagine there will be even fewer after.
The End of the Page recommendation: The Rum Diaries is really there for the true fans of Thompson. Those unaffiliated with the ranks of the Gonzo overlord, please feel free to step out of the way.
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago at 10:07 am. Add a comment
Every day when we wake up, we quickly take stock of our surroundings. Is light pouring through cracks in the bedroom curtains? Where is the end of the bed, so I don’t bang my foot against it in the dark again? How long do I have to snooze before I absolutely must get ready for work? These are the types of questions that plague many people each morning. Yet for others, those unlucky enough to be living under the rule of a corrupted and violent government, the only question each morning is more like, “Will I live to see another day?” History has shown many times before how the oppressed can quickly become the oppressor once power sinks its claws in and Zimbabwe, under the rule of President Robert Mugabe, now stands at the pinnacle, waving a flag boasting leadership and unity on one side, but the other a desperate cry for help. Which one will the world respond to?
The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe is a harrowing travelogue by Peter Godwin, detailing his trip back to his homeland after an election, which should have ousted their despotic leader, but instead unleashed a paranoid and chaotic fury unlike anything seen before. Peter moves in and out of danger, trying to document as clearly as he can the abuses and tragedies inflicted upon the people who dared to challenge the status quo and spoke their mind in this fledgling democracy.
The set up to this barbarism was a recent national election for Zimbabwe in 2008, where Robert Mugabe, the country’s longtime president, lost to Morgan Tsvangirai in bogus political theater gone wrong (or right, depending on which side you were on). Mugabe and all of his generals had the opportunity to walk away with plumped up golden parachutes and immunity from any number of crimes they committed during his reign. Instead, the madman showed his true colors, not the green, yellow, red and black stripes of their flag, but rather the green of greed and the red of rage towards those who voted against him. With the assistance of his generals, already hardened by previous extreme civil wars, and brutal war veterans who saw Mugabe as the savior and bringer of their true freedom, he set about intimidating, torturing and killing anyone who spoke out against his legitimacy as the one true ruler. Untold numbers have already died in the struggle for true democracy there and even more are living with the physical and mental scarring left behind by roving gangs of power-hungry war vets and brainwashed youth who have been taught torture and death dealing as a civil trade.
Godwin does an amazing job detailing out these horrors, while posting them up against the background of the natural beauty and serenity Zimbabwe can hold underneath. The country, itself awash with the blood of wars between the tribes and now overflowing once again with the bodies of its people, still manages to capture a sense of timelessness and purity in their countryside and jungles. Godwin tries to show that side of his home and prove that keeping those people and their traditions alive, outside the despotism of Mugabe, is truly something worth fighting for, possibly dying for.
The examples and scenarios of intimidation and murder unleashed by Mugabe go far beyond the pale of human rights abuses, causing the international community to balk at recognizing him as the true leader. The opposing party (known as the MDC) has refused to give up and endured years of assassinations and trumped up prison stays in conditions rivaling those in medieval times. Today, you will find a GNU (Government of National Unity) set up in Zimbabwe consisting of members of Mugabe’s cabinet and those of the MDC, but Godwin pulls back the sheen of stability to show the fallacy of this tenuous brotherhood of man. Heads of the opposition only agreed to stop the continued bloodshed and in hopes of staving off outright civil war, but with a new election coming around the bend, people are once again worried they will be targeted for their votes. Towns loyal to the MDC fear they will once again be burned, looted, pillaged and their women raped by roving gangs of Mugabe conscripts.
The Fear was the nickname given by the people to the blanket of intimidation laid over the country by Mugabe and the book reads like something from hundreds of years ago when countries were conquered and re-settled by vicious landlords. Yet, when you let it sink in that these horrible actions are being carried out even to this very day, it chills even the most disconnected reader. It is an eye-opening look into a world many of us would never know, or care to know, exists, but once you see it, you will not be able to look away. For those who do read the book and want to help the cause, there are various ways listed out on Godwin’s website.
The End of the Page recommendation: The Fear strikes deep with painfully detailed examples.
The new trailer for The Avengers hit the web today and I must say overall I’m pleased. It captures a nice taste of the dark grit that everyone is shilling for after the success of The Dark Knight, but doesn’t let go of the tongue-in-cheek geek humor from the earlier parts of the Marvel series. Plus, how can you not have a good joke tossed in when Robert Downey Jr. is there?
There was one other nice moment, although completely tossed in at the end as if they forgot it in the original cut, which was finally seeing Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. I’m worried that overall he won’t play a very big part, but we’ll wait and see if that fear plays out.
What do you think of the trailer? Get excited to see the full flick?
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago at 10:53 am. Add a comment
Yeah, I came five days early to the game. So what? I like front row seats.
Rating: 9 out of 10
As we start heading into the commonly known “Oscar season”, I just get more and more excited each weekend. There is always some movie sparking my interest just around the corner, a new film I’ve been reading about for months and trying with all my powers to not let the bar of hope get raised too high. There are always going to be disappointments, even when they are good films, because I was waiting for great, but what keeps me going are those films who look up at the bar and say, “Oh yeah, not a problem.” Welcome to one of those films…
Moneyball is based on the true story of Billy Beane, a one-time possible superstar in the MLB who turned general manager of the Oakland A’s. After missing once again on his chance for the World Series crown, Beane went rogue, adopted a new system and went after players using a statistical model instead of banking on superstars. It threatened everything the game was built on, it threatened the way things were done in sports, and worst of all…it worked.
Aaron Sorkin‘s name on the poster was the first thing to catch my eye. I sat there as the lights went down and wondered if he could keep his winning streak going (his last two, Charlie Wilson’s War and The Social Network being two of my favorite all time movies). So without wanting to, my bar was already set high into the stratosphere, but as the credits rolled, I felt the film had touched the clouds. Maybe it didn’t hit open space, but still miles above most of what we see on a week-to-week basis. You could feel his power in the dialogue; some classic Sorkin work. I could almost feel particular scenes the way they would have been played on stage. The film wasn’t loaded up with as many quick witted tit-for-tat moments as his last two films, instead it flowed with much more subtlety, using a more even keel in order to lead the audience through an entire season of baseball. I don’t want to give all the credit to Sorkin, since the writing credit is split between himself and Steven Zallian (an Oscar winner himself), but I really don’t know how the work balanced out between them. That split might also be some of the reason why Moneyball doesn’t have that normal Sorkin whip-crack pacing.
Yet, no matter how well the words are written, they still have to be delivered by someone with the skill and sincerity to make them land and Brad Pitt did not disappoint. Without knowing too much of the original story beforehand I was a little concerned with seeing Pitt in this role, which I previously only thought of as a general manager of a baseball team. What really saves him and grounds it in believability is the history of Billy Beane being a failed baseball superstar. Pitt brought the subtle sorrow, the underlying regret he always had nipping at his heels, which helps fuel his desire not only to win, but also to see the game fundamentally changed. What I found most impressive was somewhere along the way, I forgot I was watching Brad Pitt. He disappeared into a dip-spitting, hand-nosed gambler just trying his damnedest to pull off the greatest underdog victory in history. Those are rare performances and they should be recognized as such.
Jonah Hill came along for the ride, playing Peter Brand, the young economics genius who helped develop the formula Beane uses to build his new championship-hopeful team. It definitely is the most dramatic role Hill has tackled so far and put him toe-to-toe with a modern-day film legend in Pitt. Hill held his own and refused to settle for sitting in Pitt’s shadow. In terms of the performances, my only disappointment was with one of my favorite living actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman. It has nothing to do with his take on Art Howe, the coach of the team under Beane. It was more to do with him barely being a part of the story. He got a precious few scenes early on in the film and then disappeared completely almost halfway through the movie. I just wish we could have gotten more of him and Pitt dueling, as he did so brilliantly with Tom Hanks in Charlie Wilson’s War.
In the end, Moneyball did reach my bar of hope and expectation, but it didn’t blow if off the chart as his past two films have.
The End of the Page recommendation: Moneyball is a solid crack to right field. For some it will clear the back wall and make some fan in the bleachers very, very happy. For others, I think it will come in as a good film, but not quite the game winner they were hoping for.
Posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago at 8:00 am. Add a comment
Immediately after reading it, I mentally tried to cleanse myself of the stain from knowing someone out there would actually do such a lowdown, despicable thing. Then, immediately after that, I called my uncle, where I have my comics still stored from before moving to California. I asked him to look through my boxes and pull out the still-in-the-bag copy of Superman #75 (The Death of Superman).
My plan was to find an address, send it to him and write a post about it, hoping to draw a little more attention and get maybe some other Super-donations. Well my plan turns out to be fairly easy because thousands of people beat me to it:
Also, in amazingly great news, while waiting for my special comic to arrive, the person who stole Mike’s collection has been caught and the original collection has been returned to him.
Now you might think there is really no reason to send anything now that he has his prized possessions back, but I think there is still a statement to be made. First off, it helps to remind people that there is more good in the world than evil. Secondly, Mike has promised that whatever duplicates he receives he will donate himself to a local charity. So, someone somewhere will undoubtedly be appreciating whatever generosity comes their way.
Here is the address in case you still have an urge to send something along:
Mike Meyer c/o Bill Smith
7041 Kingsbury Blvd.
St. Louis, Mo. 63130
Thanks for reading, as always.
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago at 8:00 am. Add a comment
“Oh look, I’ve got a little piece of dignity under my nail. Must’ve scratched it off someone in a cat fight.”
Rating: 8 out of 10
There are many stories in our sordid and sorry history that deserve reverence and a delicate hand when talked about. They should all be told, absolutely, and hopefully learned from, but we must always remember that how the story is told can influence the listener almost as much as the story itself. It can be a tightrope walk along the line between pride and piety and you want to be careful which side it falls on.
The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi during the central part of the civil rights movement. A young white woman named Skeeter wants to write something real, something special and she finds it in the socialized and institutionalized mistreatment of the African-American hired help. She ventures to gain their trust and their stories in a dangerous effort to give a voice to the silent underbelly of high Southern society.
This film has been #1 at the box office for three weeks and already is a huge success for the studios. It marches along each weekend as the little movie that could. Some will credit that to the original book already being a best-seller, but we’ve seen plenty of best-seller adaptations that fizzle sadly on the big screen. Even a well-told story needs excellent execution in order to swing a whole new audience and The Help is boiling over with just that.
Emma Stone, as the stubborn and righteous Skeeter, delivers her most dramatic turn to date and does not fail to impress. Yet the real power comes from the surrounding cast, packed with outstanding performances ranging from beautifully heart-wrenching to disgustingly evil. Starting with the two maids, shown with touching grace and power by Viola Davis (as Aibileen) and Octavia Spencer (as Minny), these wonderful actresses anchor the film in layers upon layers of honesty and courage. On the complete other side of the spectrum, Bryce Dallas Howard delivers a stunningly devious performance as Hilly Holbrook, the resident alpha Stepford wife, clinging to the old ways and old hatreds, fighting the oncoming social change with each of her pearly white teeth and perfectly french-tipped nails. Her quietly controlled rage reminded me constantly of Glenn Close as Cruella De Vil, such poise built around such poison. Jessica Chastain also did a splendid job as Celia Foote, trying desperately to get acceptance from anyone at all, even if it comes from her maid.
As director, Tate Taylor, tried to softly, but honestly, capture the time and place of 1960s Mississippi. There was tension throughout the movie, keeping the audience wondering when the violence of racism was going to strike, but Taylor always kept it just off screen, tempting the horror without needing to show it up close. He also crafted some wonderfully delicate scenes with the character of Celia, shedding light on yet another part of women’s history kept in the dark for far too long.
However, as I mentioned earlier, it is a delicate dance and this story can be seen from the angle of another “white person ends racism” story, but I feel that would be shortchanging the core of the story. Stone’s character doesn’t free the maids from servitude, she just gives them a voice, an outlet which was up to that point held far out of reach.
One of the few things I found unnecessary was Stone’s boyfriend Stuart (played by Chris Lowell). Stone feels much more natural and relatable as an gawky outcast, never fitting in with all her married high society friends. The need to show her swing back and forth in the world of troubled relationships just felt like a step too far.
The End of the Page recommendation: The Help is filled with touching moments, bound to bring smiles to faces and thoughts to minds.
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago at 7:44 am. Add a comment
Sir, this newspaper looks awfully like a book. What? You mean…Sorry, didn’t realize people still made non e-books.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Every now and again, if you’re lucky, you come across a piece of craftsmanship that lays it all out for you. For architects, it might be walking up to an old gothic cathedral and watching the lines and foundations intersect. For musicians, it might be hearing a song which stirs their hearts, feeling the melodies and meaning intertwine like strands of DNA. For people like me, the writers, it means laying your hands on a book which illustrates so clearly not only the beauty of words, but also how those words can be used to change people. That rush only gets better if those words are pouring forth from a career on a rise to not just stardom, but mythic status. This writer, this moment — this is something to be treasured.
Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead is the latest in a growing list of “must read” books by Neil Strauss. This new tome is a culmination of years of interviews and all those magical moments that fell on the cutting room floor by way of verbal economy, relevance to the time, or the most egregious of reasons, editorial choice by the publisher. These snippets are peephole windows into the real people behind the fame and fortune, showing in possibly the truest form ever that celebrities are indeed normal people too, dealing with the same insecurities and same life choices as we do. That doesn’t mean they are all good people under the glitter, some are just as vain and superficial as we imagine, but at least we can now be sure they aren’t faking that for the creation of their persona.
The cast of characters span the celebrity horizon like a multi-billion dollar rainbow. Everyone is here and no one is spared from the charm and familiarity that Strauss brings into every interview. Snoop Dogg takes him along to get diapers for his kid, Lady Gaga goes to tears by her first question and Jewel snuggles up under the covers like it’s a high school slumber party. This book is filled with astounding moments of clarity from the people who spend most of their days hidden behind a persona, whether it be one of hard-edged aggression (like Marilyn Manson and Slipknot) or unstoppable humor (like Jay Leno or Stephen Colbert). Strauss shows in interview after interview his style of getting the subjects to relax, let down their guard and basically not feel like subjects. From reading these passages you not only learn some amazing factoids about these people, but you can also glean how to interact better with others in your own lives, with a sense of honesty and compassion.
As he did before in The Game and Emergency, Strauss has immersed himself over a period of time into a whole different world and come back with a roadmap to the reality he discovered. His choice of questions and how he allows himself to become part of the moment instead of just someone observing from the outside gives him the access and ability to truly describe and detail where these people are coming from. They are not just subjects or an assignment (although you can tell some he was more personally excited about than others). He gives each interview weight, respect and a sense of purpose often missed by the supermarket tabloid phenomena. You get the distinct impression that each person at one point or another looks over at him and thinks with internal surprise and joy, “Wow, no one has ever asked me that before!” So they get to tell their story in a fresh way and not sound like a broken record on yet another press tour, while we the reader get to see a little more deeply into the lives of these people who inspire, excite and often openly confuse us.
The End of the Page recommendation: Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead is a fantastic read. A true must have for fans of all forms of entertainment and good writing.
Admittedly, this is not my cat, but I have four at home and all of them would do this in a heartbeat.
DandyID
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