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A method to my meandering
Apr. 22nd, 2004 09:30 amTuesday night was Mike Donahue's 45th birthday party. About a dozen of us showed up at Mike's usual choice for such things... the Acapulco's in Westwood. I have nothing against the place... indeed, I'm sure that's the place that Rebecca and I have eaten at most frequently, a record probably never to be eclipsed.
Anyway, I went for a jaunt around Westwood and the place continues to mutate. Sure, shops used to come and go all the time, but even reliable places like Tower Records are gone. I was trying to think what's still there that was there when I first came to UCLA back in the late Pleistocene. The list is not a long one. Fortunately, Diddy Riese is still there.
Seen some interesting movies recently. I liked The Eye quite a bit, though the story was the old body-parts-with-a-memory cliche. There's a three second shot, where something jumps out at you, that will scare the shit out of you.
May very much feels like a writer/director's first time out, which it is. I really like the first half of the movie, which sets up a character as a complete outsider & misfit. Then it devolves into an uninteresting horror story, where every event is telegraphed, inevitable and boring... except for the last three seconds, which are ridiculous and stupid.
Last night, we watched Dirty Pretty Things. Very good film, with an interesting (if probably unlikely) diverse mix of illegals from different countries all inhabiting the underworld of London: Nigerian, Turkish, Spanish, Russian, etc. Lots of interesting and beautiful accents/voices in the film. And a very unusual story, to say the least.
The thing that's most disturbing is that all three of these films have something to do with body parts. Weird.
Finally, I give you Blender Magazine's list of the 50 worst songs of all time. Basically, it's good for a laugh. Number 1, I find it hard to believe that 96% of the worst songs of ALL TIME were written during my lifetime. Number 2, anyone who puts "Sound of Silence" on the list of worst songs of all time has no credibility. Number 3, most of those songs aren't bad, they're just overplayed and shallow. Number 4, May will be delighted to know that "Your Body Is a Wonderland" clocks in as the 28th worst song of all time.
Anyway, I went for a jaunt around Westwood and the place continues to mutate. Sure, shops used to come and go all the time, but even reliable places like Tower Records are gone. I was trying to think what's still there that was there when I first came to UCLA back in the late Pleistocene. The list is not a long one. Fortunately, Diddy Riese is still there.
Seen some interesting movies recently. I liked The Eye quite a bit, though the story was the old body-parts-with-a-memory cliche. There's a three second shot, where something jumps out at you, that will scare the shit out of you.
May very much feels like a writer/director's first time out, which it is. I really like the first half of the movie, which sets up a character as a complete outsider & misfit. Then it devolves into an uninteresting horror story, where every event is telegraphed, inevitable and boring... except for the last three seconds, which are ridiculous and stupid.
Last night, we watched Dirty Pretty Things. Very good film, with an interesting (if probably unlikely) diverse mix of illegals from different countries all inhabiting the underworld of London: Nigerian, Turkish, Spanish, Russian, etc. Lots of interesting and beautiful accents/voices in the film. And a very unusual story, to say the least.
The thing that's most disturbing is that all three of these films have something to do with body parts. Weird.
Finally, I give you Blender Magazine's list of the 50 worst songs of all time. Basically, it's good for a laugh. Number 1, I find it hard to believe that 96% of the worst songs of ALL TIME were written during my lifetime. Number 2, anyone who puts "Sound of Silence" on the list of worst songs of all time has no credibility. Number 3, most of those songs aren't bad, they're just overplayed and shallow. Number 4, May will be delighted to know that "Your Body Is a Wonderland" clocks in as the 28th worst song of all time.
