Sunday, March 04, 2012

Delightful and Not Idiotic


My Saturday night 'date' with JP was a Bhatti, a lovely Indian restaurant (where we ran into - and dined with - Sunil & Fernando!), followed by rental of a terrific forgotten classic, the 1939 film 'Idiot's Delight,' based on the Pulitzer-winning stage play by Robert Sherwood.

It's a comedy-drama with a strong anti-war theme, and takes place briefly in 1919 in Omaha and mostly twenty years later in Europe as World War 2 is breaking out. Clark Gable and Norma Shearer star as two show people who cross paths then and now; and she's luminous - and hilarious - as a woman who's unconventional to the point of preposterous. A very young and dashing Burgess Meredith plays an anti-war activist whose defiance seals his fate. Filmed with the gorgeous winter mountain scenery of an unnamed Alpine country. Oddly, this is the only film in which Gable either sang or dance (Puttin on the Ritz, with a gaggle of wisecracking 'Les Blondes'). Idiot's Delight refers to solitaire - in the stage play, that is what God is thought to be doing while mankind wreaks destruction upon itself...

Watch an excerpt, for want of a trailer:

# posted by Aaron @ 9:36 PM
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Saturday, March 03, 2012

March Forward!


Spring is coming, daylight savings time in one week! But way down south, it's summer that's ending...

To celebrate, I give you one the best moments of the 1970s, Tom Jobim and the wonderful Elis Regina riffing through 'Waters of March (Aguas de Março),' a collage of impressions under the late summer rain, considered by many to be the finest Brazilian song ever written..

If you're over 35, you probably know the instrumental from elevators, shopping malls, and dentist offices...

The wonderful lyrics, in English and Portuguese...
Águas de Março

É pau, é pedra,
é o fim do caminho
É um resto de toco,
é um pouco sozinho

É um caco de vidro,
é a vida, é o sol
É a noite, é a morte,
é um laço, é o anzol

É peroba do campo,
é o nó da madeira
Caingá, candeia,
é o Matita Pereira

É madeira de vento,
tombo da ribanceira
É o mistério profundo,
é o queira ou não queira

É o vento ventando,
é o fim da ladeira
É a viga, é o vão,
festa da cumeeira

É a chuva chovendo,
é conversa ribeira
Das águas de março,
é o fim da canseira

É o pé, é o chão,
é a marcha estradeira
Passarinho na mão,
pedra de atiradeira

É uma ave no céu,
é uma ave no chão
É um regato, é uma fonte,
é um pedaço de pão

É o fundo do poço,
é o fim do caminho
No rosto o desgosto,
é um pouco sozinho

É um estrepe, é um prego,
é uma conta, é um conto
É uma ponta, é um ponto,
é um pingo pingando

É um peixe, é um gesto,
é uma prata brilhando
É a luz da manhã,
é o tijolo chegando

É a lenha, é o dia,
é o fim da picada
É a garrafa de cana,
o estilhaço na estrada

É o projeto da casa,
é o corpo na cama
É o carro enguiçado,
é a lama, é a lama

É um passo, é uma ponte,
é um sapo, é uma rã
É um resto de mato,
na luz da manhã

São as águas de março
fechando o verão
É a promessa de vida
no teu coração

É uma cobra, é um pau,
é João, é José
É um espinho na mão,
é um corte no pé

É um passo, é uma ponte,
é um sapo, é uma rã
É um belo horizonte,
é uma febre terçã

São as águas de março
fechando o verão
É a promessa de vida
no teu coração

Waters of March

A stick, a stone,
It's the end of the road,
It's the rest of a stump,
It's a little alone

It's a sliver of glass,
It is life, it's the sun,
It is night, it is death,
It's a trap, it's a gun

The oak when it blooms,
A fox in the brush,
A knot in the wood,
The song of a thrush

The wood of the wind,
A cliff, a fall,
A scratch, a lump,
It is nothing at all

It's the wind blowing free,
It's the end of the slope,
It's a beam, it's a void,
It's a hunch, it's a hope

And the river bank talks
of the waters of March,
It's the end of the strain,
The joy in your heart

The foot, the ground,
The flesh and the bone,
The beat of the road,
A slingshot's stone

A fish, a flash,
A silvery glow,
A fight, a bet,
The range of a bow

The bed of the well,
The end of the line,
The dismay in the face,
It's a loss, it's a find

A spear, a spike,
A point, a nail,
A drip, a drop,
The end of the tale

A truckload of bricks
in the soft morning light,
The shot of a gun
in the dead of the night

A mile, a must,
A thrust, a bump,
It's a girl, it's a rhyme,
It's a cold, it's the mumps

The plan of the house,
The body in bed,
And the car that got stuck,
It's the mud, it's the mud

Afloat, adrift,
A flight, a wing,
A hawk, a quail,
The promise of spring

And the riverbank talks
of the waters of March,
It's the promise of life
It's the joy in your heart

A stick, a stone,
It's the end of the road
It's the rest of a stump,
It's a little alone

A snake, a stick,
It is John, it is Joe,
It's a thorn in your hand
and a cut in your toe

A point, a grain,
A bee, a bite,
A blink, a buzzard,
A sudden stroke of night

A pin, a needle,
A sting, a pain,
A snail, a riddle,
A wasp, a stain

A pass in the mountains,
A horse and a mule,
In the distance the shelves
rode three shadows of blue

And the riverbank talks
of the waters of March,
It's the promise of life
in your heart, in your heart

A stick, a stone,
The end of the road,
The rest of a stump,
A lonesome road

A sliver of glass,
A life, the sun,
A knife, a death,
The end of the run

And the riverbank talks
of the waters of March,
It's the end of all strain,
It's the joy in your heart.


# posted by Aaron @ 10:10 AM
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Friday, March 02, 2012

Embarrassed For Him


I never knew that the great Orson Welles was reduced to hawking wine on TV commericals. I do remember the jingle: 'we sell no wine before its time... Enjoy these 80 seconds of outtakes...

# posted by Aaron @ 6:21 AM
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Thursday, March 01, 2012

Home Cooked Meals


Tough week, but at least JP's been making me lovely, simple, healthy dinners: chicken, fish, lean pork loin, lots of veggies. What a gem he is! Below, in contrast, is something I ate in a restaurant in March 2010..
DSC04514

# posted by Aaron @ 7:50 AM
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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Leap!


This day won't happen again until 2016 - what will the world look like then?
P1000020

# posted by Aaron @ 8:10 AM
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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Peak


Worked until 10pm last night and today will be rough, though hopefully shorter. Had to deal with an avalanche of earnings (writing up 5 when it can take 1-2 hours to figure out 1) plus 2 major unexpected news items.. It's the Mexican filing deadline day, companies wait until the last minute, creating this 'peak'. Look forward to having something to talk about besides work...Below, the Grand Canyon, for perspective : - )
PC290153

# posted by Aaron @ 8:39 AM
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Monday, February 27, 2012

Something Old, Something New


Well, I'm 95% recovered, and that will have to be enough for the work marathon today, tonight, and tomorrow... We stayed home all weekend, recovering and hiding from the cold. We did rent 'Moneyball,' a most interesting film that I'll comment later.. Now, even my baby sister is 48... Go Meryl Streep! Now 17 nominations and 3 wins, I was 23 when she one her last Best Actress Oscar... This means 'The Iron Lady' will be in theaters long enough for me to get around to seeing it... I actually wanted Viola Davis to win - what a terrific actress; you can see both these fine actresses in the excellent movie adaptation of 'Doubt,' by the way. Below, panoramic view of Mexico City's Modern Basilica (built 1974-1976) and its very tilted Leaning Ancient Basilica (built 1531-1709).
P1000035

Trailer, 'The Iron Lady'...


Trailer, ' Doubt'....

# posted by Aaron @ 7:15 AM
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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Another V.I.B.


That is, Very Important Band. This week we feature The Rapture, a long-running NY-based band that led a post-punk revival in the earliest days of this millenium, but which also added into the mix genres as diverse as disco, classic rock, and acid house.
Our Song of the Week is the dramatic, plantive toe-tapper 'How Deep Is Your Love,' an original song light years away from the Bee Gees ballad whose name it shares.

To date, they've dropped three albums of well-crafted, highly listenable booty-shakers which are increasingly diverse, accomplished, impressive... and, now, even soulful..

In September they resurfaced with their first album in five years, and it's a stunner.. Rapture mastermind Luke Jenner wrote this set while still reeling from a family tragedy, and chose to lace his grooves with more feeling and less party-boy irony..


Here's 'How Deep Is Your Love,' live in Spin's offices...


Clip from their hypnotic, propulsive 2006 title track, 'Pieces of the People We Love...'


Also at Spin, The Rapture's 2006 scorcher 'Get Myself Into To It', with a vocal recalling both the The Police and Yes,


The early punky, but funky sludge of 'Sister Saviour' from 2003...


And finally, their screechy but memorably debut, 'House of Jealous Lovers,' on Letterman in 2003...

# posted by Aaron @ 5:42 PM
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