Friday, January 14, 2005
Gefeliciteered met Je Verjaardag, Joost!
And here's wishing a very happy birthday to my good friend Joost Van Kranen from Amsterdam, pictured here (right) with his legal husband, Ronald Vendelmans, in my apartment a couple of years ago...
Below's an earlier picture of Joost, from October 1993 when I met him during a four-country swing through Europe. Amsterdam is a really lovely place with a wonderful vibe. Creative, free-living, while its 17th century exteriors are a snapshot in time.
Joost has lived there since school, but grew up an hour away in Utrecht, said to be picturesque. Joost, like me, is a language enthusiast, speaks Spanish, and has dabbled in Portuguese, Turkish, and others...
Happy Friday... Feeling much better, I'm back at work!
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Thursday, January 13, 2005
Fucking Åmål
Åmål is a town, not a person. And Fucking, here, is an adjective, not a gerund... This charming movie about a lesbian's coming of age, after winning awards in its native Sweden, was rebaptised "Show Me Love" for its US release in 1998, an FCC-ready title six full years before we new you need one. : - ) The film concerns the travails of Agnes (pictured left), a smart, low-key teenager whose parents have moved to the small town of Åmål, the armpit of the Swedish universe. At 16, Agnes feels the stirrings of her sexuality, and is suffering a hopeless crush on Elin, a popular and wild girl she knows from high school. Beautifully acted and written, and directed with a deft hand by Lucas Moodysson, this small movie makes an indelible impression with humor, pathos, unpredictable plotting and smart editing, all in less than 90 minutes. Highly recommended.
Just learned that I've seen Moodysson's subsequent film, Together, already, in a NY theater with Brian in 2001. It was also great, about life on an Swedish urban commune in 1975, capturing the whole hippie-70s-mother earth vibe with a sharp eye for character and human interaction. This guy is major major talented.
I was home sick today, I woke up with a bad sore throat, and decided to sleep it off. I will work tomorrow, and rest over the 3-day weekend. Bye, mates....
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Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Free...
Aaron was not selected for jury duty yesterday, and has been released back into the work force, not to be called for another two years (not four, alas - that changed).
I'd like to serve on a jury one day. But today is not that day...
Finished "eXistenZ" last night, what a great mind trip of a movie.. Full report later...
For now, cartoon time...
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Tuesday, January 11, 2005
You've Come A Long Way, Baby...
That was actually a cigarette commercial jingle, back before such TV ads were banned in the mid-70s, for Virginia Slims, which they were pitching to the lungs of liberated ladies... But it applies to the former mayor of Carmel, Mr Clinton Eastwood, junior, and his blossoming from action hero (bridging the western and inner-city-crime eras of that genre) to brilliantly subtle actor/director. All this, to add my accolades to Million Dollar Baby, which I saw Sunday with Christi - this film is yet another high point for the man as both actor and director. Mind you, I am totally uninterested in boxing, and that didn't even matter here. It's a character movie, but the pacing is just right, with deep currents swirling beneath its wry and weathered surface, it's life-sized but packs a wallop... What beauty in the etched, ravaged, but endlessly expressive faces of Eastwood and Morgan Freeman, their talent aging like vintage wine. And Hilary Swank leaves an indelible impression in her second role of a lifetime... this entry's permalink
Monday, January 10, 2005
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Greetings from the Juror Assembly Hall of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Civil Division. That's right, there's now internet access! This is not your grandpa's jury system.. Everyone is very nice, considerate, and upbeat. I feel like a churl for even complaining, although I may suffer a churlish relapse if I'm actually selected for a lengthy trial. Two days of non-selection, including today, and I'm free, free, free for four long years. That's right, until 2009. 
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Sunday, January 09, 2005
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