Monday, May 18, 2009
Orgy of Tolerance at On the Boards
What can I say that hasn't already been said before? Yes, women give birth to packets of M&Ms and bags of chips. Yes, there is a scene involving shopping carts that you will want to download off youtube and watch on repeat. There are also moments of extreme tediousness, where you will want to rip out your hair. I'm pretty sure that's the point. I loved it.
On the Boards supposedly videotaped this performance, and it should be online soon.
On the Boards supposedly videotaped this performance, and it should be online soon.
State of Play: A Review
Oh those blogtards! What do they know about real reporting? Why, I bet they couldn't tell a government conspiracy involving a Blackwater-look-alike from a Scarlet Johanassen boob-slip or a rumor involving a closeted TV star. Or could they!?
Rachel McAdams is the yellow-internet "journalist" in this movie, except (shocker!) she actually knows how to report. She accompanies seasoned vet Russel Crowe (scraggly, ailing star of printland) to investigate the death of a sub-committee member in Congress who may or may not have been killed by a gaggle of corrupt politicians hell-bent on murdermoney! As the two get thicker and thicker into the case there are lots of mysterious briefcases, threatening phone calls, and dark window frames which may or may not be hiding sniper shooters (you're going to play that scary music every time someone gets near a window? Whatever. If you need me, i'll be hiding under this chair).
At first, "State of Play's" plot feels like a very standard newspapers vs. police cadets vs. congressmen set-up ('The Wire'...anyone? Anyone?) but the tension generated between blogger and printdude make for some compelling moments (McAdams and Helen Mirren, the editah-in-chief, want to break the story earlier as blog fodder, Crowe, the truthy reporter, doesn't). And Crowe makes quite the improvisational journalist; trading sodas for sources, slipping scary notes to republican blowhards, interrogating an evil bisexual PR man (played by a drunk Jason Bateman) and speaking truth to power like he's trynna blow the next Watergate. Meanwhile, in subplotland, where shit is reallly going down, I've been given a headache by too many plot twists. Basically, Crowe is such a good journalist he almost dies a lot in pursuit of the most balanced story. Oy. So that's what journalism is supposed to look like? Now I feel guilty for not donating to KUOW last year.
Rachel McAdams is the yellow-internet "journalist" in this movie, except (shocker!) she actually knows how to report. She accompanies seasoned vet Russel Crowe (scraggly, ailing star of printland) to investigate the death of a sub-committee member in Congress who may or may not have been killed by a gaggle of corrupt politicians hell-bent on murdermoney! As the two get thicker and thicker into the case there are lots of mysterious briefcases, threatening phone calls, and dark window frames which may or may not be hiding sniper shooters (you're going to play that scary music every time someone gets near a window? Whatever. If you need me, i'll be hiding under this chair).
At first, "State of Play's" plot feels like a very standard newspapers vs. police cadets vs. congressmen set-up ('The Wire'...anyone? Anyone?) but the tension generated between blogger and printdude make for some compelling moments (McAdams and Helen Mirren, the editah-in-chief, want to break the story earlier as blog fodder, Crowe, the truthy reporter, doesn't). And Crowe makes quite the improvisational journalist; trading sodas for sources, slipping scary notes to republican blowhards, interrogating an evil bisexual PR man (played by a drunk Jason Bateman) and speaking truth to power like he's trynna blow the next Watergate. Meanwhile, in subplotland, where shit is reallly going down, I've been given a headache by too many plot twists. Basically, Crowe is such a good journalist he almost dies a lot in pursuit of the most balanced story. Oy. So that's what journalism is supposed to look like? Now I feel guilty for not donating to KUOW last year.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Quote of the Day
Liz: "Listen, Jack. I don't have a lot of personal life experiences. But if I have learned anything from my Sims Family: when a child doesn't see his father enough he starts to jump up and down. And then his mood level will drop. Until he pees himself."
Liz Lemon to Jack Donaghy on '30 Rock'.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Birthright Israel: Free Drunken Sexfest? Propaganda Machine? Earnest Secular(ish) Pilgrimage? (All of the Above?)
My friend Neal Schindler has an article up on Jew-ish.com about Birthright Israel. I am quoted.
This is still how I feel. I wish someone would re-vamp this program and make it more like these programs.
Of course, not all Birthright participants have quite as positive an experience. Steven Blum, who went in the winter of 2008-09, expected a fun trip that would also help him understand what it means to be a Jew, and might include some discussion of Israel/Palestine. What he found was a maze of “propaganda” that didn’t accommodate critical thinking. In his view, participants were told what to feel at major stops along the way, like Masada, where Israeli soldiers talked about their experience defending the contested land.
This is still how I feel. I wish someone would re-vamp this program and make it more like these programs.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Poetry about Gmail
Debates over whether Tao Lin has ruined writing and /or brought writerly self-obsession to a whole new level miss the point. Lin has found a method of communication that, to a broad swath of alienated young folks attached to the computer, feels more authentic than anything else out there.
Brandon Scott Gorrell, a Seattle writer, read Tao Lin online and knew he wanted to write like him. Through the internet, he found the books and ideas to keep his writing going. In Gorrell's pieces the mundanity of life is explored ("I am moving things around in the backpack. I am despairing,") as is the author's relationship with the internet ("green emoticons have appeared on the walls of my room") as is a sort of delusional magical realism ("the backpack is ominous like a male silver-back gorilla charging at me for trying to introduce a baby female silver-back gorilla into his troup").
In a very, very low-key interview over gchat with the author Chris Killien, ("I'm eating a banana, I'm putting on music") Gorrell writes mostly about his weird relationship with blogs ("they make me anxious") and email ("they make me anxious, too") and his excitement about his new book of poetry ("sometimes there would be something about feeling very sarcastic and then the next one would be about feeling very connected to someone").
This is where someone who hates where our young literatis are going with their words would write something snarky about Gorrell. I got nothing. I think he's pretty funny and I wouldn't mind reading more of his work in the future.
Brandon Scott Gorrell, a Seattle writer, read Tao Lin online and knew he wanted to write like him. Through the internet, he found the books and ideas to keep his writing going. In Gorrell's pieces the mundanity of life is explored ("I am moving things around in the backpack. I am despairing,") as is the author's relationship with the internet ("green emoticons have appeared on the walls of my room") as is a sort of delusional magical realism ("the backpack is ominous like a male silver-back gorilla charging at me for trying to introduce a baby female silver-back gorilla into his troup").
In a very, very low-key interview over gchat with the author Chris Killien, ("I'm eating a banana, I'm putting on music") Gorrell writes mostly about his weird relationship with blogs ("they make me anxious") and email ("they make me anxious, too") and his excitement about his new book of poetry ("sometimes there would be something about feeling very sarcastic and then the next one would be about feeling very connected to someone").
This is where someone who hates where our young literatis are going with their words would write something snarky about Gorrell. I got nothing. I think he's pretty funny and I wouldn't mind reading more of his work in the future.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Apropos of Nothing
Daniel
did you see the video mother lover
from snl
11:03pmSteven
nope
amazing?
11:04pmDaniel
i hate andy samberg, but i LOVE him for the 3 minutes of this video
http://www.hulu.com/watch/72434/saturday-night-live-motherlover
watch and respond
11:04pmSteven
is this recent?
11:04pmDaniel
saturday
11:06pmSteven
wait, uh, how did they jump to THAT idea?
hilarious
11:06pmDaniel
cuz their moms are single and lonely
and they are trashy as fuck
11:08pmSteven
well yeah obviously
amazing
11:08pmDaniel
best part is their shirts while they are eating sub snadwiches
and the fact that they are eating sub sandwiches
susan saradon was a pretty awesome cameo too
11:09pmSteven
this is identity politics! you just like this video because it makes you think happy thoughts about your future life eating subs and wearing ridiculous shirts
theres gotta be a word for this kind of artlove
11:09pmDaniel
i do that now!
11:10pmSteven
why dont you just go down to tubs and snag yourself a milf
11:10pmDaniel
ive been trying
i'ma be the syrup, she can be my waffle...
11:11pmSteven
this conversation is going on my blog
HAPPY MOMMA'S DAY
This here's mah momma:
These are the presents I rained down on her pretty head:
One's a book. "Love, Mom: Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Messages from Home," created by Jessica Grose and Doree Shafrir (of Hipster Grifter fame). I love the blog that inspired this book (Postcards from Yo Momma) but some of the entries here leave a little to be desired.
The purple metallic mound is a lavender shower bomb (because sometimes a bath is laborious). Behind the bomb is this other thing called "Crazy Cat Lady:" a haggard-looking lady in a bathrobe with cat magnets attached. It will probably be thrown out soon, but whatever. There's too much on that table anyway (see: spaghetti stain).
And in celebration of today, here's a son playing a mom:
John's whole ouvoir is here.
These are the presents I rained down on her pretty head:
One's a book. "Love, Mom: Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Messages from Home," created by Jessica Grose and Doree Shafrir (of Hipster Grifter fame). I love the blog that inspired this book (Postcards from Yo Momma) but some of the entries here leave a little to be desired.
The purple metallic mound is a lavender shower bomb (because sometimes a bath is laborious). Behind the bomb is this other thing called "Crazy Cat Lady:" a haggard-looking lady in a bathrobe with cat magnets attached. It will probably be thrown out soon, but whatever. There's too much on that table anyway (see: spaghetti stain).
And in celebration of today, here's a son playing a mom:
John's whole ouvoir is here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)