What's Alan Watching?: Freaks and Geeks Rewind: 1.5 Tests and Breasts
How do you think it feels to be told you're dumb... when you're eleven years old?"
The first time James Franco delivered that line -- in the middle of a monologue to keep Lindsay from confessing to their cheating scam -- he all but sewed up his role in that TNT James Dean biopic. The second time -- in the middle of an identical monologue designed to sway Mr. Kowchevsky and Mr. Rosso -- he proved that he has better comic chops than he's usually allowed to show in the movies.
Though it has a very funny subplot about the geeks' first exposure to hardcore pornography, this is Franco's episode, our first extended look at how Daniel operates, and the episode that essentially ends any crush or hero worship Lindsay had for him.
...two brilliant, largely wordless sequences: the geeks watching the porno as Sam and Bill get progressively grossed out by it (Neal is, of course, enthralled); and then Coach Fredricks, alarmed by a porno-informed question Sam asks in class, giving Sam a very candid, non-technical private lesson on the birds and the bees (scored to "Love's Theme" by Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra). It's the first hint we get that Fredricks -- introduced in the pilot as, essentially, Biff Tannen 20 years later same actor from Back to the Future -- is a human being, and not that bad a guy.
yeah that was nice, I kind of wanted to know what they were saying (what was shown in the film that so disgusted the boys?!? that coach began talking about by saying "some men - not me"??) but I really liked the silence while watching their rapport ... and no disillusioning joke like coach coming on to him or anything like that.
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Labels: Freaks and Geeks
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
I've come up with a more concrete summer plan for this blog. I'll still be writing about HBO's Sunday shows, and "Rescue Me" and the other usual suspects as they pop up, but rather than try to analyze shows I don't feel much passion for (i.e., "Big Love"), I'm going to revisit some old favorites starting on DVD, starting with "Freaks and Geeks."
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
The Chronicle: 1/16/2004: 'The L Word': Novelty in Normalcy
By EVE KOSOFSKY SEDGWICK - this article used as introduction to book Reading the L Word. pretty good. text saved in prvs post as draft
Jenny Schecter (Mia Kirshner), a young fiction writer newly arrived to join her swim-coach boyfriend, Tim (Eric Mabius), in his West Hollywood bungalow, seems poised in these earliest episodes to offer an invitingly unformed conduit for the lesbian fixations of a variety of viewers -- but maybe in the first place, nonlesbian-identified women. Jenny looks as fetally unformed, and eerily precocious, as that famous 1972 New York Times Magazine photo of Joyce Maynard yes yes just what I first thought! joyce maynard - the long straight brown hair with bangs - small & childlike pose, the one that accompanied the premature memoir "An 18-Year-Old Looks Back on Life," and snagged the attention of J.D. Salinger. Jenny's imminent passion for a local cafe owner, Marina Ferrer (Karina Lombard), statuesque, enigmatic, and all shoulders and cheekbones, forms the centerpiece of the early episodes and of Showtime's publicity prose: "Amid denial and confusion, Jenny starts to question her sexual orientation and her love for Tim. Her attraction to Marina is powerful and ultimately irresistible."
If Jenny appears to be the nonlesbian viewer's early path of initiation into the L world, lesbian viewers seem intended to be drawn in by the female couple living next door, who are (did you guess?) trying to make a baby. In their first scene the blonde thrusts a plastic stick into the hands of the brunette, who observes with wonder, "You're ovulating." "I'm ovulating," echoes the blonde, Tina Kennard (Laurel Holloman), as reverently as if announcing the conception of baby Jesus. Our intimacy with Tina's body -- inseminated, peeing, ultrasounded, vomiting -- continues to be near-total. The only one without glamour among these women, she turns red and sweats during sex, worries about looking fat, and speaks (though she is tall) in a small, timbreless voice. Her very discomfort in her skin seems to offer space for identification to any viewer who would appreciate a sightline among the lesbians.
space for identification and therefore a sightline ~ int, this sentence was reworked in the book: Our intimacy with Tina's body -- inseminated, peeing, ultrasounded, vomiting -- continues to be near-total. She turns red and sweats during sex, seldom toned this down and took out worrying about looking fat seems comfortable in her skin, speaks (though she is tall) in a small, timbreless voice: Among these women the only one without glamour, her obscurely ill-fitting point of view huh her point of view obscurely ill fitting to what? 'obscure' seems accurate ~ but, point of view ill-fitting? seems capacious enough to incorporate any viewer who would appreciate a line of sight among the lesbians. int, fr an editor? changed to 'point of view" capacious enough to incorporate a viewer who appreciates a 'line of sight". anyway the edit does seem better ~ but I read it in the book first, I think I tend to prefer the version I first read ~
In short, if The L Word is as bold and daring as claimed, its novelty does not lie in either a demographic coup or a startling use of the medium. I anticipate that its long-term audience will be not male porn hounds but the range of viewers, predominantly though not only female, who enjoy smart and well-made domestic drama, psychological and relationship-based, low on violence, criminality, and sensation.
A visible world in which lesbians exist, go on existing, exist in forms beyond the solitary and the couple, sustain and develop relations among themselves of difference and commonality -- that seems, in a way, such an obvious and modest representational need that it should not be a novelty when it is met. Nor does The L Word meet it fully. But it's absurdly luxurious being able to explore, for instance, the portrayal of generational dynamics in this group of women, even if only between thirtysomethings and twentysomethings. The inscrutable Marina, mother-to-be Tina and her accomplished girlfriend, Bette Porter, are the grown-ups. Tina and Bette show classic symptoms of depressed libido even as the spectacle of their long-term pair-bonding magnetizes the younger women.
Yet the twentysomethings, single, callow, and seemingly uneducated, do a lot of the work of articulating norms and mores for each other, the older women, and the audience. Alice Pieszecki (Leisha Hailey), for instance, a journalist who reviews discos and flags cut-rate Botox treatments for an L.A. weekly, maintains -- as a kind of community service -- a vast, ever-changing, n-dimensional diagram that shows who exactly has slept with whom, and how many nodes of connection mediate any two points in Sapphic space. Here, she keeps insisting, is the narrative matrix that will sustain any woman in an evolving but unbroken web of erotic relation.
Alice uses fatuously knowing Valley-girl syntax; her body has the easy expressiveness of a 5-year-old's; her dark eyes are deep holes in the surface of her blond, oddly ravaged face. Her friend Shane (Katherine Moennig), a fetching baby butch, is an equally unexpected mix of innocence and experience, with her bachelor insouciance, squalid history of sex work, and resonant low voice of reason and amusement. They remind me of students I've known, barely literate but tender, with a willingness to care for their teachers even as they engage our pedagogic energies.
By EVE KOSOFSKY SEDGWICK - this article used as introduction to book Reading the L Word. pretty good. text saved in prvs post as draft
Jenny Schecter (Mia Kirshner), a young fiction writer newly arrived to join her swim-coach boyfriend, Tim (Eric Mabius), in his West Hollywood bungalow, seems poised in these earliest episodes to offer an invitingly unformed conduit for the lesbian fixations of a variety of viewers -- but maybe in the first place, nonlesbian-identified women. Jenny looks as fetally unformed, and eerily precocious, as that famous 1972 New York Times Magazine photo of Joyce Maynard yes yes just what I first thought! joyce maynard - the long straight brown hair with bangs - small & childlike pose, the one that accompanied the premature memoir "An 18-Year-Old Looks Back on Life," and snagged the attention of J.D. Salinger. Jenny's imminent passion for a local cafe owner, Marina Ferrer (Karina Lombard), statuesque, enigmatic, and all shoulders and cheekbones, forms the centerpiece of the early episodes and of Showtime's publicity prose: "Amid denial and confusion, Jenny starts to question her sexual orientation and her love for Tim. Her attraction to Marina is powerful and ultimately irresistible."
If Jenny appears to be the nonlesbian viewer's early path of initiation into the L world, lesbian viewers seem intended to be drawn in by the female couple living next door, who are (did you guess?) trying to make a baby. In their first scene the blonde thrusts a plastic stick into the hands of the brunette, who observes with wonder, "You're ovulating." "I'm ovulating," echoes the blonde, Tina Kennard (Laurel Holloman), as reverently as if announcing the conception of baby Jesus. Our intimacy with Tina's body -- inseminated, peeing, ultrasounded, vomiting -- continues to be near-total. The only one without glamour among these women, she turns red and sweats during sex, worries about looking fat, and speaks (though she is tall) in a small, timbreless voice. Her very discomfort in her skin seems to offer space for identification to any viewer who would appreciate a sightline among the lesbians.
space for identification and therefore a sightline ~ int, this sentence was reworked in the book: Our intimacy with Tina's body -- inseminated, peeing, ultrasounded, vomiting -- continues to be near-total. She turns red and sweats during sex, seldom toned this down and took out worrying about looking fat seems comfortable in her skin, speaks (though she is tall) in a small, timbreless voice: Among these women the only one without glamour, her obscurely ill-fitting point of view huh her point of view obscurely ill fitting to what? 'obscure' seems accurate ~ but, point of view ill-fitting? seems capacious enough to incorporate any viewer who would appreciate a line of sight among the lesbians. int, fr an editor? changed to 'point of view" capacious enough to incorporate a viewer who appreciates a 'line of sight". anyway the edit does seem better ~ but I read it in the book first, I think I tend to prefer the version I first read ~
In short, if The L Word is as bold and daring as claimed, its novelty does not lie in either a demographic coup or a startling use of the medium. I anticipate that its long-term audience will be not male porn hounds but the range of viewers, predominantly though not only female, who enjoy smart and well-made domestic drama, psychological and relationship-based, low on violence, criminality, and sensation.
A visible world in which lesbians exist, go on existing, exist in forms beyond the solitary and the couple, sustain and develop relations among themselves of difference and commonality -- that seems, in a way, such an obvious and modest representational need that it should not be a novelty when it is met. Nor does The L Word meet it fully. But it's absurdly luxurious being able to explore, for instance, the portrayal of generational dynamics in this group of women, even if only between thirtysomethings and twentysomethings. The inscrutable Marina, mother-to-be Tina and her accomplished girlfriend, Bette Porter, are the grown-ups. Tina and Bette show classic symptoms of depressed libido even as the spectacle of their long-term pair-bonding magnetizes the younger women.
Yet the twentysomethings, single, callow, and seemingly uneducated, do a lot of the work of articulating norms and mores for each other, the older women, and the audience. Alice Pieszecki (Leisha Hailey), for instance, a journalist who reviews discos and flags cut-rate Botox treatments for an L.A. weekly, maintains -- as a kind of community service -- a vast, ever-changing, n-dimensional diagram that shows who exactly has slept with whom, and how many nodes of connection mediate any two points in Sapphic space. Here, she keeps insisting, is the narrative matrix that will sustain any woman in an evolving but unbroken web of erotic relation.
Alice uses fatuously knowing Valley-girl syntax; her body has the easy expressiveness of a 5-year-old's; her dark eyes are deep holes in the surface of her blond, oddly ravaged face. Her friend Shane (Katherine Moennig), a fetching baby butch, is an equally unexpected mix of innocence and experience, with her bachelor insouciance, squalid history of sex work, and resonant low voice of reason and amusement. They remind me of students I've known, barely literate but tender, with a willingness to care for their teachers even as they engage our pedagogic energies.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Kevin Smith raves about ''Lost'' | Lost | DOC JENSEN | TV | Entertainment Weekly | 1
KEVIN SMITH: Let's give props to Lost. How brilliant was this season finale? I mean, it's cruel because they're not coming back until like January, but hats off for taking a foolproof formula and spinning it to make it even better. You're like, ''Oh my God, so now they're all flash-forwards?! How genius is that?'' We all settled into ''Okay, this is what they do, they flashback and we learn a lot about the characters.'' But that whole episode, you're sitting there going, like, ''Wait a second — is that Jack's father's body [in the coffin]? But wasn't the body on the plane? Who was this person in the casket that he's going to see?'' And then the moment where Kate f---ing walks up from the car and you're like, ''Wait — they knew each other before?'' that's the "chilling" moment cataloged by EW that got my attention And then all of a sudden, it becomes f---ing clear, you're like, ''Oh my God, that s---'s insanely brilliant!'' You can only do that in TV, though. You can't do that in a feature. You know what I'm saying? Like, you get a moment like that in a feature like The Sixth Sense, where you're like, ''Holy s---, he's been dead the whole time!?'' But to do two seasons and then suddenly throw a massive curveball is just so dramatically satisfying, you just take your hats off to the writers in a big, bad way.
DOC J: The thing I really loved about the twist the twist is that it's a flash forward not back? and that reveal is that I felt like it really reinvested your interest in the people, as opposed to mythological mystery questions like ''What the hell's the smoke monster?'' ah yes see got me int, whereas hearing of those mysteries never got my attention
SMITH: Absolutely. Suddenly it's like, ''Who gives a f--- about the polar bear, who gives a f--- about the smoke monster, any of that — all the f---ing sci-fi weirdness just took a backseat to, like, ''Holy s---! Why did Jack and Kate stop being friends?''
DOC J: Right.
KS: I can't wait. I'm so f---ing geared up for February. I just can't f---ing wait.
What's Alan Watching?: What do we love? ...what were the best shows (or episodes of shows) you watched on TV in the calendar year 2007?:
-The Lost finale.
-Lost: "Through the Looking Glass" (both parts)
-Lost, Lost, Lost. Best thing on TV in 2007.
-For me, 'Lost' was, hand down, the best thing on television in 2007. Suspenseful and deeply weird it gripped me after I drifted away in Season 2.
The finale of 'Veronica Mars' was quite good, and bittersweet end for a show that never regained its first season glory.
-John from Cincinnati. It's such a shame they canceled it after just one short season.
-Life on Mars-the entire second series-was amazing. Probably the best show I've seen in years.
-The Lost finale.
-Lost: "Through the Looking Glass" (both parts)
-Lost, Lost, Lost. Best thing on TV in 2007.
-For me, 'Lost' was, hand down, the best thing on television in 2007. Suspenseful and deeply weird it gripped me after I drifted away in Season 2.
The finale of 'Veronica Mars' was quite good, and bittersweet end for a show that never regained its first season glory.
-John from Cincinnati. It's such a shame they canceled it after just one short season.
-Life on Mars-the entire second series-was amazing. Probably the best show I've seen in years.
Lost - Season 4 Promo
"Rescuing you people is not... our primary objective."
--I didn't understand the ending of season three and I can't even remember what happened in the last episode. I thought they got rescued, there was a timeskip and then Jack wanted to go back. I didn't understand shit.
-They called for the rescue at the end of last season but weren't rescued yet. The whole time the viewer was given the impression that the rescue wasn't really going to be a rescue.
-Where we're at, everyone is on the island thinking the people on the freighter are coming to rescue them. The scene with Kate and Jack was set a while in the future, it was a flashforward.
-- Thanks. It all makes sense now. I didn't know the thing with Jack and Kate was a flashforward.
-The flashforward scenes of Jack and Kate in the Season 3 finale took place in 2007.
Season 3's regular timeline ended in December 2004. So, Season 4 is just following the main timeline (with more flashforwards, and a few flashbacks). Jack made the call, now we see what happens next.....
-The sad part for me is when hurley says: "i'm gonna be free" and i was thinking in his flash fwd (4.1) where he is in that mental institute without anything but freak stories about an island.
"Rescuing you people is not... our primary objective."
--I didn't understand the ending of season three and I can't even remember what happened in the last episode. I thought they got rescued, there was a timeskip and then Jack wanted to go back. I didn't understand shit.
-They called for the rescue at the end of last season but weren't rescued yet. The whole time the viewer was given the impression that the rescue wasn't really going to be a rescue.
-Where we're at, everyone is on the island thinking the people on the freighter are coming to rescue them. The scene with Kate and Jack was set a while in the future, it was a flashforward.
-- Thanks. It all makes sense now. I didn't know the thing with Jack and Kate was a flashforward.
-The flashforward scenes of Jack and Kate in the Season 3 finale took place in 2007.
Season 3's regular timeline ended in December 2004. So, Season 4 is just following the main timeline (with more flashforwards, and a few flashbacks). Jack made the call, now we see what happens next.....
-The sad part for me is when hurley says: "i'm gonna be free" and i was thinking in his flash fwd (4.1) where he is in that mental institute without anything but freak stories about an island.
Tim Goodman. The Bastard Machine : "Lost" season finale: No one gets out of here alive.: Jack in a full beard, all gone to hell and hooked on pills, discovering he couldn't live life off the island. That's right, off the island. ... In the future, someone is in a casket and nobody shows up for the funeral. Who is it?
-Pandora - your box is open. what's mean, what's mean??
Posted By: hickcity | May 24 2007 at 02:05 PM
-I didn't figure out the flash forward until the very end, when Kate appears. Through the looking glass indeed.***
Given all the strange space-time properties that seem to occur on the island, I would not be shocked if the scenes of future Jack depict one possible alternative future that can still be prevented if Desmond can pass along Charlie's message in time.
Future Jack's state reminded me a bit of Desmond's, when he was reliving the past but with knowledge of his future, post-hatch explosion. Gotta admit, Jack doesn't seem to be the type to be rocking out to "Scentless Apprentice" by Nirvana in rock star shades. He always seemed more like the Jack Johnson type.
The screen capture of the obituary notice seems to say that a J---- -atham of New York was found dead at 4:00 am by a doorman named Ted in a loft at a complex called the Tower, and something about a loud noise and a beam, which makes it sound like a suicide by hanging. Jacob, perhaps?
My guesses regarding where this show are almost always wrong, though. It'll be tough waiting eight months or so until more is revealed.
Great ending to a terrific half-season. RIP Charlie.
Posted By: Tweedy | May 24 2007
In the coffin?? Has to be Ben. Why else would no one show up to the funeral?? Also, why would Jack cry over his obituary? And want to kill himself? Well, because he knew that Ben was his only hope of returning to the island. hrrrm?
This is the justification that will keep us waiting "impatiently" until January.
Posted By: aawomack | May 24 2007 at 06:28 PM
Tweedy- I'll put my money on your Jacob (in the coffin) horse...and sit tight.
Posted By: hickcity | May 24 2007 at 06:50 PM
***this is what got me int, via EW's moments that gave you chills (alongside Six Feet Under montage & Irene Cara as Coco in Fame singing "Out Here on My Own" & ET wait so not specific to the year? no: From Fantasia and Kelly on ''American Idol'' to Locke at the hatch on ''Lost'' to Rachel's kiss with Ross on ''Friends,'' readers on EW.com's PopWatch blog revealed the pop-culture scenes that got under their skin ) - Photo 3 | 19 Moments That Gave You Chills | Photos | EW.com: "When Kate gets out of the car to meet up with Jack in the last episode of Lost, I get absolute chills."
-Pandora - your box is open. what's mean, what's mean??
Posted By: hickcity | May 24 2007 at 02:05 PM
-I didn't figure out the flash forward until the very end, when Kate appears. Through the looking glass indeed.***
Given all the strange space-time properties that seem to occur on the island, I would not be shocked if the scenes of future Jack depict one possible alternative future that can still be prevented if Desmond can pass along Charlie's message in time.
Future Jack's state reminded me a bit of Desmond's, when he was reliving the past but with knowledge of his future, post-hatch explosion. Gotta admit, Jack doesn't seem to be the type to be rocking out to "Scentless Apprentice" by Nirvana in rock star shades. He always seemed more like the Jack Johnson type.
The screen capture of the obituary notice seems to say that a J---- -atham of New York was found dead at 4:00 am by a doorman named Ted in a loft at a complex called the Tower, and something about a loud noise and a beam, which makes it sound like a suicide by hanging. Jacob, perhaps?
My guesses regarding where this show are almost always wrong, though. It'll be tough waiting eight months or so until more is revealed.
Great ending to a terrific half-season. RIP Charlie.
Posted By: Tweedy | May 24 2007
In the coffin?? Has to be Ben. Why else would no one show up to the funeral?? Also, why would Jack cry over his obituary? And want to kill himself? Well, because he knew that Ben was his only hope of returning to the island. hrrrm?
This is the justification that will keep us waiting "impatiently" until January.
Posted By: aawomack | May 24 2007 at 06:28 PM
Tweedy- I'll put my money on your Jacob (in the coffin) horse...and sit tight.
Posted By: hickcity | May 24 2007 at 06:50 PM
***this is what got me int, via EW's moments that gave you chills (alongside Six Feet Under montage & Irene Cara as Coco in Fame singing "Out Here on My Own" & ET wait so not specific to the year? no: From Fantasia and Kelly on ''American Idol'' to Locke at the hatch on ''Lost'' to Rachel's kiss with Ross on ''Friends,'' readers on EW.com's PopWatch blog revealed the pop-culture scenes that got under their skin ) - Photo 3 | 19 Moments That Gave You Chills | Photos | EW.com: "When Kate gets out of the car to meet up with Jack in the last episode of Lost, I get absolute chills."
Saturday, December 15, 2007
MediaBlvd Forums: Kate/Shane Thread #3:
Alice: Shane! I have to tell you something I'm really kinda not supposed to tell you.
Shane: Fight the urge.
Alice: But I can't.
Shane: Try.
Alice: But it's hard.
Shane: I know. But try.
Alice: Shane! I have to tell you something I'm really kinda not supposed to tell you.
Shane: Fight the urge.
Alice: But I can't.
Shane: Try.
Alice: But it's hard.
Shane: I know. But try.
AfterEllen.com - "The L Word" Episode 2.13 "Lacuna" (page 3): Tina finds Bette in the bedroom. Bette is looking at photos of Melvin. Suddenly we get one of those "great moments of history" slideshows, with black-and-white pictures of Melvin in various poses and with his family. It's weird. The only good thing about it is that Tracy Chapman is singing Say Hallelujah in the background. Do you hear that, Betty? That's actual music. Take notes. Now we're suddenly at the memorial service, and there's a gospel choir, but they're not singing what Tracy Chapman is singing (and Tracy Chapman isn't actually there).
DVD Verdict Review - The L Word: The Complete Third Season:
The creative team also does a really nice job with connection and symmetry this season, starting with the pre-credits snippets of 'The Chart' that trace sexual connections from a woman named Marilyn that we don't meet until the final episode through characters we know and love. These segments are far more interesting and well-organized than the random sex scenes that used to precede the credits, and give the writers a chance to explore past moments of the characters' lives. It's great fun to see Bette have sex with a guy when she is just coming out to herself or a scene from the brief relationship between her and Alice. And showing the actual Alice/Dana break-up in 'The Chart' segment months after we find out that it happened, when the two of them have gone through so much together since, is a rare stroke of genius from this writing team. They also establish a lovely visual motif in that scene to represent the several traumatic separations from Dana that Alice endures this season: a long shot of Alice standing at the left side of a long hallway, watching Dana leaving. The first time as they break up, the second time as Dana goes into unexpected surgery, and the third time when Dana has really left her in death.
The creative team also does a really nice job with connection and symmetry this season, starting with the pre-credits snippets of 'The Chart' that trace sexual connections from a woman named Marilyn that we don't meet until the final episode through characters we know and love. These segments are far more interesting and well-organized than the random sex scenes that used to precede the credits, and give the writers a chance to explore past moments of the characters' lives. It's great fun to see Bette have sex with a guy when she is just coming out to herself or a scene from the brief relationship between her and Alice. And showing the actual Alice/Dana break-up in 'The Chart' segment months after we find out that it happened, when the two of them have gone through so much together since, is a rare stroke of genius from this writing team. They also establish a lovely visual motif in that scene to represent the several traumatic separations from Dana that Alice endures this season: a long shot of Alice standing at the left side of a long hallway, watching Dana leaving. The first time as they break up, the second time as Dana goes into unexpected surgery, and the third time when Dana has really left her in death.
DVD Verdict Review - The L Word: The Complete Second Season: The second season picks up from the first, and deals almost exclusively with the fractures and problems created by previous events.
The cast is first-rate, easily the best ensemble on television today. Jennifer Beals looks amazing, and it's hard to believe her Flashdance days are twenty years past. She anchors the group with superb grace and natural charisma as Bette Porter. Pam Grier adds an stellar "Old School Hollywood" aura to the character of Kit, and remains one of the highlights. Nobody plays crazy quite like Mia Kirshner, who is amazing to watch. Her Jenny is the tortured, neurotic soul of the show—often the series seems to be from her point of view. She eats up everyone with her slightly crazed eyes and world-weary smile. Erin Daniels and Leisha Hailey provide most of the comic relief as Dana and Alice. They get wonderful fantasy scenes, such as when Alice dresses up as Julie from The Love Boat to seduce Dana. You smile every time they hit the screen, and it's hard not to root for them to be together. Laurel Holloman was really pregnant this season, and she plays the sexiest mom ever portrayed as she becomes the apex of the show's most interesting love triangle. Katherine Moennig plays Shane as if Joan Jett had become a hairdresser, and could still get any girl she wants. She drips androgynous sex in every scene, but still manages to resonate Shane's utter loneliness too. Sarah Shahi is a sex bomb who commands the screen, and expands The L Word to mean "latin." They all get stunning scenes, and develop a truly first-rate group of characters we come to care deeply about.
Two new characters really intrigued me this season—Helena Peabody (Rachel Shelley, Seeing Other People) and Mark Wayland (Eric Lively, Speak). ah he is Blake Lively's brother, right? and as with her, I liked him pretty quickly. They both blow into the show as villains. You would think they would be the most unsympathetic characters in the cast, but leave it to The L Word to stray against type. By the end of the season we get to see them both belittled and vulnerable. They become likable once their claws are removed, and we almost root for them to be completely redeemed. yes I guess we saw Helena being belittled by her mother and that is supposed to give us some sense of why she is so awful. I still did not like her. but Mark I liked more & more, esp when interacting with Shane. But we'll have to wait for season three to find out if that happens. but Mark won't be back will he? bummer. and Helena seems to be around for the next two seasons ~ (and Carmen just for one more, season 3). and who played Lee, the young-looking artist Bette met and then Helena dated? Lee was striking to me, as if familiar, but I am not sure.
The guest stars found in The L Word: The Complete Second Season are astonishing. Ossie Davis gives his last screen performance as Bette and Kit's dying father. His performance is touching and real. those scenes were excellent.
also cameos by Arianna Huffington, Gloria Steinem, Sandra Bernhard, Camryn Manheim. wow Camryn Manheim was great. I had not esp liked her in The Practice, I guess the character. here she looked great & was fantastic. Kelly Lynch (Threesome) does a knock-out turn as a transsexual named Ivan. yes I liked Ivan a lot.
and I think I like the actress Kelly Lynch, who I also saw as Helen in Normal Adolescent Behavior - starring Amber Tamblyn who is v good. maybe the scenes of most int to me were those with Helen. Tamblyn's char Wendy's younger brother sort of courting Helen, Wendy talking to Helen outside playing basketball. some of those scenes were 'deleted' - as was the one that I think was the best , when Wendy and her brother find Helen asleep outside her house, with the phone in her hand, having been stood up by her husband. they drive her to a clinic (where she gets an abortion - this is not said here, but is said in the basketball scene). Wendy and her brother wait in the car. Wendy says it is strange to see someone alone, as if that is unusual. her brother says, what do you mean? people are alone all the time. no they aren't, says Wendy. look. I'm here and you're here, so we're together right? her brother, sitting in the backseat, thinks about it: I don't think that's the definition of alone
I really like that scene. as it happened, I rented that movie the same day I rented the first disc of the L Word. picked both by browsing around Hollywood Video.
The production values are top notch, and The L Word looks like it has a much bigger budget than it actually does. The series shoots interiors at studios in Canada, but allows for exterior sequences to be filmed on location in Los Angeles. The result is a Southern California feel, even though the bulk of it is actually produced north of the border.The L Word showcases the "City of Angels" every chance it gets. The camera work adds to the drama, and there are beautiful scenes like when Bette cries underwater in a pool with a camera gazing up at her. Sequences such as Jenny's turn at a strip contest are jaw dropping. The clothes are glamorous, and often even the poor student character can be spotted wearing a blouse that retails for over three grand. The production team puts every cent of their budget where it belongs, on the screen. You won't find a better looking show on any other channel anytime soon. yes part of what really appeals to me is how this show looks. I like the sets: the two houses next door to each other (Bette's & Jenny's) and The Planet coffeehouse.
All this may be a bit much to ever catch on outside of the lesbian community. Showtime and The L Word's creators seem to be fine with that status. I've tried to convince people it's one of the best shows on television, but the whole approach to the show alienates them before they can discover the richness and depth. yeah. the title I guess... it had put me off. this is something that puts me off with any proclaimed community ~ unfairly, I suppose, bcs they are proclaiming themselves in order to defy assumptions that oppress them. and I am for that. still, I react to it as if it is making too much ~ as if proclaiming it is a show about lesbians means it is about these women in the aspect of their sexuality only. women who have sex with women. the show itself belies that, the characters do not talk as if they are lesbians first and people second. but from the bit of reaction I've read, it seems this actually angers gay women -
-Showtime: "The L Word" no longer about lesbians, but "people" | AfterEllen.com: In a blatant attempt to woo Emmy voters, Showtime placed a full-page ad in Variety yesterday for The L Word that boldly proclaims: 'no longer 'a show about lesbians,' this series has evolved into a show about people.'
Good thinking, that'll fool 'em! And it won't piss off your lesbian audience at all! (Maybe they were hoping we'd be too busy picking up women in people bars or marching in people pride parades to notice.). well I suppose this may be a complaint against the crassness of the Showtime ad, as if it was not always about people. which is my point ~
back to DVDverdict:
You may have guessed from my staff dossier that I am not a lesbian, and I admit having to run to my lesbian friends to have them explain some of the show to me. like what??? It does deal with universal themes, but sometimes The L Word feels like an impenetrable fortress against anyone with a "Y" chromosome. I am put off, as above, also by proclamations about what it is to be a woman, how a man will never understand. exemplified by Jenny to Mark, telling me to walk naked down the street with F__ Me written on his body, and have sex with anyone who wants to, and sweetly thank them afterward. and then he'll know what it is like to be a woman. which is terrible - would be terrible to feel like that - do most women feel like that?! because I do not, I dislike the statement bcs it presumes that this is how all women feel or that being female is any one thing to everyone.
The L Word: The Complete Second Season plain and simply rocked my world. 17 hours of excellent, daring television.
The cast is first-rate, easily the best ensemble on television today. Jennifer Beals looks amazing, and it's hard to believe her Flashdance days are twenty years past. She anchors the group with superb grace and natural charisma as Bette Porter. Pam Grier adds an stellar "Old School Hollywood" aura to the character of Kit, and remains one of the highlights. Nobody plays crazy quite like Mia Kirshner, who is amazing to watch. Her Jenny is the tortured, neurotic soul of the show—often the series seems to be from her point of view. She eats up everyone with her slightly crazed eyes and world-weary smile. Erin Daniels and Leisha Hailey provide most of the comic relief as Dana and Alice. They get wonderful fantasy scenes, such as when Alice dresses up as Julie from The Love Boat to seduce Dana. You smile every time they hit the screen, and it's hard not to root for them to be together. Laurel Holloman was really pregnant this season, and she plays the sexiest mom ever portrayed as she becomes the apex of the show's most interesting love triangle. Katherine Moennig plays Shane as if Joan Jett had become a hairdresser, and could still get any girl she wants. She drips androgynous sex in every scene, but still manages to resonate Shane's utter loneliness too. Sarah Shahi is a sex bomb who commands the screen, and expands The L Word to mean "latin." They all get stunning scenes, and develop a truly first-rate group of characters we come to care deeply about.
Two new characters really intrigued me this season—Helena Peabody (Rachel Shelley, Seeing Other People) and Mark Wayland (Eric Lively, Speak). ah he is Blake Lively's brother, right? and as with her, I liked him pretty quickly. They both blow into the show as villains. You would think they would be the most unsympathetic characters in the cast, but leave it to The L Word to stray against type. By the end of the season we get to see them both belittled and vulnerable. They become likable once their claws are removed, and we almost root for them to be completely redeemed. yes I guess we saw Helena being belittled by her mother and that is supposed to give us some sense of why she is so awful. I still did not like her. but Mark I liked more & more, esp when interacting with Shane. But we'll have to wait for season three to find out if that happens. but Mark won't be back will he? bummer. and Helena seems to be around for the next two seasons ~ (and Carmen just for one more, season 3). and who played Lee, the young-looking artist Bette met and then Helena dated? Lee was striking to me, as if familiar, but I am not sure.
The guest stars found in The L Word: The Complete Second Season are astonishing. Ossie Davis gives his last screen performance as Bette and Kit's dying father. His performance is touching and real. those scenes were excellent.
also cameos by Arianna Huffington, Gloria Steinem, Sandra Bernhard, Camryn Manheim. wow Camryn Manheim was great. I had not esp liked her in The Practice, I guess the character. here she looked great & was fantastic. Kelly Lynch (Threesome) does a knock-out turn as a transsexual named Ivan. yes I liked Ivan a lot.
and I think I like the actress Kelly Lynch, who I also saw as Helen in Normal Adolescent Behavior - starring Amber Tamblyn who is v good. maybe the scenes of most int to me were those with Helen. Tamblyn's char Wendy's younger brother sort of courting Helen, Wendy talking to Helen outside playing basketball. some of those scenes were 'deleted' - as was the one that I think was the best , when Wendy and her brother find Helen asleep outside her house, with the phone in her hand, having been stood up by her husband. they drive her to a clinic (where she gets an abortion - this is not said here, but is said in the basketball scene). Wendy and her brother wait in the car. Wendy says it is strange to see someone alone, as if that is unusual. her brother says, what do you mean? people are alone all the time. no they aren't, says Wendy. look. I'm here and you're here, so we're together right? her brother, sitting in the backseat, thinks about it: I don't think that's the definition of alone
I really like that scene. as it happened, I rented that movie the same day I rented the first disc of the L Word. picked both by browsing around Hollywood Video.
The production values are top notch, and The L Word looks like it has a much bigger budget than it actually does. The series shoots interiors at studios in Canada, but allows for exterior sequences to be filmed on location in Los Angeles. The result is a Southern California feel, even though the bulk of it is actually produced north of the border.The L Word showcases the "City of Angels" every chance it gets. The camera work adds to the drama, and there are beautiful scenes like when Bette cries underwater in a pool with a camera gazing up at her. Sequences such as Jenny's turn at a strip contest are jaw dropping. The clothes are glamorous, and often even the poor student character can be spotted wearing a blouse that retails for over three grand. The production team puts every cent of their budget where it belongs, on the screen. You won't find a better looking show on any other channel anytime soon. yes part of what really appeals to me is how this show looks. I like the sets: the two houses next door to each other (Bette's & Jenny's) and The Planet coffeehouse.
All this may be a bit much to ever catch on outside of the lesbian community. Showtime and The L Word's creators seem to be fine with that status. I've tried to convince people it's one of the best shows on television, but the whole approach to the show alienates them before they can discover the richness and depth. yeah. the title I guess... it had put me off. this is something that puts me off with any proclaimed community ~ unfairly, I suppose, bcs they are proclaiming themselves in order to defy assumptions that oppress them. and I am for that. still, I react to it as if it is making too much ~ as if proclaiming it is a show about lesbians means it is about these women in the aspect of their sexuality only. women who have sex with women. the show itself belies that, the characters do not talk as if they are lesbians first and people second. but from the bit of reaction I've read, it seems this actually angers gay women -
-Showtime: "The L Word" no longer about lesbians, but "people" | AfterEllen.com: In a blatant attempt to woo Emmy voters, Showtime placed a full-page ad in Variety yesterday for The L Word that boldly proclaims: 'no longer 'a show about lesbians,' this series has evolved into a show about people.'
Good thinking, that'll fool 'em! And it won't piss off your lesbian audience at all! (Maybe they were hoping we'd be too busy picking up women in people bars or marching in people pride parades to notice.). well I suppose this may be a complaint against the crassness of the Showtime ad, as if it was not always about people. which is my point ~
back to DVDverdict:
You may have guessed from my staff dossier that I am not a lesbian, and I admit having to run to my lesbian friends to have them explain some of the show to me. like what??? It does deal with universal themes, but sometimes The L Word feels like an impenetrable fortress against anyone with a "Y" chromosome. I am put off, as above, also by proclamations about what it is to be a woman, how a man will never understand. exemplified by Jenny to Mark, telling me to walk naked down the street with F__ Me written on his body, and have sex with anyone who wants to, and sweetly thank them afterward. and then he'll know what it is like to be a woman. which is terrible - would be terrible to feel like that - do most women feel like that?! because I do not, I dislike the statement bcs it presumes that this is how all women feel or that being female is any one thing to everyone.
The L Word: The Complete Second Season plain and simply rocked my world. 17 hours of excellent, daring television.
Netflix:
L Word season 3 (> disc 1,2 got fr blockbuster) & season 4
Wonderfalls ~ might not like saturated colors ~ youtube clip? style is not my fvr but it's entertaining
Brotherhood
Deadwood ~ maybe not enough color? try to get into.
The Wire season 4 (schools)
-Grey Gardens -documentary re mother & adult daughter living with cats & raccoons in old mansion (mentioned in L Word by Mark the film-maker roommate to Jenny)
ooh: John from Cincinnati
-------------------------------------------
L Word - lost puppy? 2.6 Lagrimas
tina: sorry I was selfish the other nite -?
how long on? mark? gone in season 3
helena, carmen in season 3.
marina back in season 4?
lee ah it's leigh.
L Word season 3 (> disc 1,2 got fr blockbuster) & season 4
Wonderfalls ~ might not like saturated colors ~ youtube clip? style is not my fvr but it's entertaining
Brotherhood
Deadwood ~ maybe not enough color? try to get into.
The Wire season 4 (schools)
-Grey Gardens -documentary re mother & adult daughter living with cats & raccoons in old mansion (mentioned in L Word by Mark the film-maker roommate to Jenny)
ooh: John from Cincinnati
-------------------------------------------
L Word - lost puppy? 2.6 Lagrimas
tina: sorry I was selfish the other nite -?
how long on? mark? gone in season 3
helena, carmen in season 3.
marina back in season 4?
lee ah it's leigh.
Monday, December 3, 2007
1-9: "The Watch" Dirty Sexy Money 2007.11.28 - TWoP Forum p1:
-Wow. So it’s Brian. I loved that he didn’t give Letitia an inch.
-Also loved the scene where Tish told him Dutch was his father. When she asked if it would have made a difference in Brian's feelings towards Dutch, Brian's "yes" floored me.
-Brian was on fire in the scene where he lashes into Tish over the paternity secret. Going at her over the way she treated him so she wouldn't get found out and why he always felt different. And I swear he and Brian Jr. made me cry. I was good until the watch and "keep it on NYC time so we're always in sync." Aww. Damn this show. It's all about Brian!
--I actually bawled my eyes out at the Brian saying goodbye to Jr. part. I loved Brian since the first episode and I'm so glad they managed to soften him up without making him lose any of his prickliness. And Nick may be mature with everyone else but I love that he's just as immature as Brian (in his own way) when the two interact. I absolutely adored the scene with the two of them in church. And of course when Brian Jr.'s voice cracked with tears, I cried too. I love that the watch ended up with him. oh I didn't know that. that's nice.
-Interesting thing between Jeremy and Lisa. I liked their interplay in this episode. You could see Lisa was getting sucked in, and she knew it, by arguably the most charming Darling (Tripp would be his competition). Jeremy is adorable. But I'm not sure if I like where this is going.
Glad they revealed who the son was. Sometimes Occams Razor is the way to go.
-Wow. So it’s Brian. I loved that he didn’t give Letitia an inch.
-Also loved the scene where Tish told him Dutch was his father. When she asked if it would have made a difference in Brian's feelings towards Dutch, Brian's "yes" floored me.
-Brian was on fire in the scene where he lashes into Tish over the paternity secret. Going at her over the way she treated him so she wouldn't get found out and why he always felt different. And I swear he and Brian Jr. made me cry. I was good until the watch and "keep it on NYC time so we're always in sync." Aww. Damn this show. It's all about Brian!
--I actually bawled my eyes out at the Brian saying goodbye to Jr. part. I loved Brian since the first episode and I'm so glad they managed to soften him up without making him lose any of his prickliness. And Nick may be mature with everyone else but I love that he's just as immature as Brian (in his own way) when the two interact. I absolutely adored the scene with the two of them in church. And of course when Brian Jr.'s voice cracked with tears, I cried too. I love that the watch ended up with him. oh I didn't know that. that's nice.
-Interesting thing between Jeremy and Lisa. I liked their interplay in this episode. You could see Lisa was getting sucked in, and she knew it, by arguably the most charming Darling (Tripp would be his competition). Jeremy is adorable. But I'm not sure if I like where this is going.
Glad they revealed who the son was. Sometimes Occams Razor is the way to go.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
4-9: "Games" 2007.11.27 - TWoP Forums: House always needs to have at least one person around him who's opposite. Neither Taub (who's actually got some House-like qualities) nor Kuttner really are. 13, who I suppose will have to be referred to by her real name now, sort of fits. And it DOES kind of fit in that House has a bit of a weakness for attractive women. It places him in a spot where he can't be quite as mean for a few minutes (only to come back twice as mean later on sometimes). I mean, House has been outright NICE to her on occasion, but it didn't come off as that out of character for him. I think it almost works as a kind of picture of how the guy used to be, before he became a bitter a-hole. And we need that, if only because this far into a series about him we can't keep seeing the exact same House every time he's on screen. Maybe its a repeat of what he had with the last woman on his team... but maybe that's the point. House isn't annoyed by a softening presence on his team. He (not so secretly) wants one. We may question the current writing or the actress (who I actually like--even with the partial reveal of her past she's still a cypher, and that can be good), but she DOES fit a KIND of character House needs around him.
-So do you think 13 is going to finally reveal her name next week? so she was choosing not to give her name? .. not next week, though. no new epis til January.
a lot of negativity twd her character. I like her.
-I was convinced that Thirteen, in spite of being a bigger bitch than Amber and the most poorly written character I've seen on TV for some time, was staying because she was played by Olivia Wilde. I was shocked when she was fired because I thought, wow, Shore still has the balls to surprise me.
-So do you think 13 is going to finally reveal her name next week? so she was choosing not to give her name? .. not next week, though. no new epis til January.
a lot of negativity twd her character. I like her.
-I was convinced that Thirteen, in spite of being a bigger bitch than Amber and the most poorly written character I've seen on TV for some time, was staying because she was played by Olivia Wilde. I was shocked when she was fired because I thought, wow, Shore still has the balls to surprise me.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Peregrinations 2007June4: News from Choctaw Ridge:
Another thing my brother and I tried to remember last weekend were the words to the song with the brain-wormy line "Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge." By coincidence, the song came up in a Metafilter post this week along with a link to Billie Gentry's original version. I love the Billie Gentry version with it's unsettling whiney quality and strange narrative but I think I actually prefer Joe Dassin's French version. (I've googled everywhere but I'm afraid I just can't find a link to give you an idea of what it sounds like). In a clever transposition, the young man Billie-Joe becomes a young French woman, Marie-Jeanne Guillaume, who throws herself off the "Pont de la Garonne" but like the original it never actually quite descends into the maudlin. One of the things I like is the way all of the cultural references are translated to a French context too:
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
C'était le quatre juin, le soleil tapait depuis le matin
Je m'occupais de la vigne et mon frère chargeait le foin
And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
Et mon père dit à ma mère en nous passant le plat de gratin :
"La Marie-Jeanne, elle n'était pas très maligne, passe-moi donc le pain".
"I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
Donne-moi encore un peu de vin, c'est bien injuste la vie
- Marie-Jeanne (French lyrics in full)
-Don't you love the way the apple pie in the original becomes wine in the French version? un peu de vin.
-I always just assumed it was a baby. Firstly, the lyric depicts the sort of southern society that doesn't look kindly on out-of-wedlock babies. And the grief of killing a baby would explain both Billy Joe's suicide and the narrator's attitude in telling the song. She turns sullen when she hears the news, her appetite vanishes, and the way she relates the conversation going on around her is sort of veiled by a diaphanous emotional haze.
It also strikes me that if the narrator weren't terribly involved in Billy Joe's suicide, she wouldn't be throwing flowers into the water a year later. The hindsight epilogue in the final verse illustrates the narrator's entire family unit breaking up since Billy Joe's death, symbolic of the family unit destruction in the original main act. yes, good.
-Well, I always thought it was a baby too but that was listening to the French version where it's a woman who jumps off the bridge. It's more difficult to believe that a man would feel that sort of remorse. I've never seen the film and the homosexual hypothesis had never occurred to me. So what were they throwing off the bridge in the film? His pink negligé, leather chaps and some gay porn?
-As though women have the market on remorse! (not that I'd know anything about it). In the movie he threw a ragdoll off the bridge. Symbolic of so many things, those ragdolls.
-I know, I know. Will no-one think of the men? I like this conversation...
Here are some other possibilities:
it was something they had stolen (eg. money from a bank, thereby nipping a Bonnie & Clyde saga in the bud)
it was a ring (they had been secretly engaged but the one who doesn't later jump off the bridge has broken it off)
it was a revolver (I can't think of a scenario for this one but when people throw something off a bridge in a film, it's almost always a revolver) funny.
it was a red herring well. okay I guess I can see how it seems like a question needing an answer, since the flowers are appropriate to mourning, maybe it is not as proper as it was natural to me to think they were throwing flowers when seen up there together. I just pictured it as innocent.
it was drugs (thus explaining why the protagonist is called Marie-Jeanne)
- Anonymous said... Hi Lesley, strangely enough, after our discussion regarding this song I too had been mulling it over in my head. So much so that I decided to conduct a small survey in the pub on Saturday evening just to see what the concensus of opinion was as to the reason for this tragedy. Intrestingly enough only 10% went with the baby theory, 5% went with the homosexual theory and the other 85% thought Billy-Joe McAllister was the player who missed the penalty against England in Euro 96. funny.
-Yes anonymous brother, but that still doesn't explain what they were throwing off the bridge that Sunday does it? (PS. I see there's a Bobbie Gentry duet with Johnny Cash on Youtube - right up your street.)
Another thing my brother and I tried to remember last weekend were the words to the song with the brain-wormy line "Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge." By coincidence, the song came up in a Metafilter post this week along with a link to Billie Gentry's original version. I love the Billie Gentry version with it's unsettling whiney quality and strange narrative but I think I actually prefer Joe Dassin's French version. (I've googled everywhere but I'm afraid I just can't find a link to give you an idea of what it sounds like). In a clever transposition, the young man Billie-Joe becomes a young French woman, Marie-Jeanne Guillaume, who throws herself off the "Pont de la Garonne" but like the original it never actually quite descends into the maudlin. One of the things I like is the way all of the cultural references are translated to a French context too:
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
C'était le quatre juin, le soleil tapait depuis le matin
Je m'occupais de la vigne et mon frère chargeait le foin
And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
Et mon père dit à ma mère en nous passant le plat de gratin :
"La Marie-Jeanne, elle n'était pas très maligne, passe-moi donc le pain".
"I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
Donne-moi encore un peu de vin, c'est bien injuste la vie
- Marie-Jeanne (French lyrics in full)
-Don't you love the way the apple pie in the original becomes wine in the French version? un peu de vin.
-I always just assumed it was a baby. Firstly, the lyric depicts the sort of southern society that doesn't look kindly on out-of-wedlock babies. And the grief of killing a baby would explain both Billy Joe's suicide and the narrator's attitude in telling the song. She turns sullen when she hears the news, her appetite vanishes, and the way she relates the conversation going on around her is sort of veiled by a diaphanous emotional haze.
It also strikes me that if the narrator weren't terribly involved in Billy Joe's suicide, she wouldn't be throwing flowers into the water a year later. The hindsight epilogue in the final verse illustrates the narrator's entire family unit breaking up since Billy Joe's death, symbolic of the family unit destruction in the original main act. yes, good.
-Well, I always thought it was a baby too but that was listening to the French version where it's a woman who jumps off the bridge. It's more difficult to believe that a man would feel that sort of remorse. I've never seen the film and the homosexual hypothesis had never occurred to me. So what were they throwing off the bridge in the film? His pink negligé, leather chaps and some gay porn?
-As though women have the market on remorse! (not that I'd know anything about it). In the movie he threw a ragdoll off the bridge. Symbolic of so many things, those ragdolls.
-I know, I know. Will no-one think of the men? I like this conversation...
Here are some other possibilities:
it was something they had stolen (eg. money from a bank, thereby nipping a Bonnie & Clyde saga in the bud)
it was a ring (they had been secretly engaged but the one who doesn't later jump off the bridge has broken it off)
it was a revolver (I can't think of a scenario for this one but when people throw something off a bridge in a film, it's almost always a revolver) funny.
it was a red herring well. okay I guess I can see how it seems like a question needing an answer, since the flowers are appropriate to mourning, maybe it is not as proper as it was natural to me to think they were throwing flowers when seen up there together. I just pictured it as innocent.
it was drugs (thus explaining why the protagonist is called Marie-Jeanne)
- Anonymous said... Hi Lesley, strangely enough, after our discussion regarding this song I too had been mulling it over in my head. So much so that I decided to conduct a small survey in the pub on Saturday evening just to see what the concensus of opinion was as to the reason for this tragedy. Intrestingly enough only 10% went with the baby theory, 5% went with the homosexual theory and the other 85% thought Billy-Joe McAllister was the player who missed the penalty against England in Euro 96. funny.
-Yes anonymous brother, but that still doesn't explain what they were throwing off the bridge that Sunday does it? (PS. I see there's a Bobbie Gentry duet with Johnny Cash on Youtube - right up your street.)
Ode to Ode | MetaFilter:
Someone once said that "Ode To Billy Joe" sounded ancient the day it came out and that may be some part of its appeal.
yes it does sound ancient. familiar. reminiscent. essential ~ an essential story ~ legendary, mythical. classic.
-I'm old enough to remember when that song hit the radio and people had no idea whether Bobbie Gentry wore miniskirts or not when they heard the song. All they knew was they'd never heard anything like it and they wondered just what the hell did she and Billie Joe throw off that bridge.
The second biggest 'mystery song' of all time was 'Timothy' by the Buoys. Was it a man or a mule?
-It does sound ancient, it sounds as if it's about something very specific and legendary, which makes the fact that there don't seem to be any concrete answers about it that much more frustrating.
I thought the song was a mystery - is a secret from within a mystery from without? - but not of so pointed a question (what did they throw off the bridge?). simple in my sense of it: they were flowing throwers off the bridge together. they were friends, maybe in love. her family has no idea. she is alone with the loss, we do not know what he was to her. that's her secret, our mystery. ~ not so different from how it would be for anyone losing someone. others are outside, talking and passing the blackeyed peas; the person who was in it with you is gone.
-Ms. Gentry was always cryptic about it. Saying that what they trew wasn't the point, that it's the surrounding events that matter, and she may be right. But you cant help but be drawn in by the mystery anyway, I guess.
-If in fact, they are referring to throwing a child off the bridge, it would fit squarely in the tradition of the appalachian "murder ballad" promulgated by the likes of Dock Boggs, or Clarence Ashley who did the best known version of the chilling example of the form "Omie Wise". "OTBJ" is both an excellent example of Bobbie Gentry's talent and ear for tradition , and how deeply those traditions are embedded even in this mass media saturated age, and of how tradition and popular culture can be reconciled.
-I love how the one lengthy interpretation of the song explains that it couldn't be a baby they were throwing off the bridge, because the song says they were throwing it, and it doesn't take two people to throw a baby! I think that if someone saw two people at a bridge together, one of them throwing something, that witness would say they were throwing something off the bridge.
-In 1993, Sinead O'Connor did a fantastic cover of the song, for the Warchild benefit album.
-this thread made me drag out the Sinead cover, and my wife noticed that in the faint background immediately after the "throwing something off the Tallahatchee bridge" line, there's an unmistakable infant cry. Having never heard this interpretation before, my mind had always glossed over the sound. Now, it's completely creepy, raises the hair on my arms. well I can easily imagine that when Sinead covers it, it is a story where they threw their baby in the river.
"up on Choctaw Ridge, picking flowers".. I see Harold, playing guitar up on the grassy hill after Maude is gone.
-And as for "Me and Julio" [So, what did Julio and the protagonist do behind down by the schoolyard?]:
It took becoming an adult to realize that Paul Simon had no idea. As a kid, I figured that all the adults in the world understood perfectly well what the mama saw, and that I'd know someday.
Someone once said that "Ode To Billy Joe" sounded ancient the day it came out and that may be some part of its appeal.
yes it does sound ancient. familiar. reminiscent. essential ~ an essential story ~ legendary, mythical. classic.
-I'm old enough to remember when that song hit the radio and people had no idea whether Bobbie Gentry wore miniskirts or not when they heard the song. All they knew was they'd never heard anything like it and they wondered just what the hell did she and Billie Joe throw off that bridge.
The second biggest 'mystery song' of all time was 'Timothy' by the Buoys. Was it a man or a mule?
-It does sound ancient, it sounds as if it's about something very specific and legendary, which makes the fact that there don't seem to be any concrete answers about it that much more frustrating.
I thought the song was a mystery - is a secret from within a mystery from without? - but not of so pointed a question (what did they throw off the bridge?). simple in my sense of it: they were flowing throwers off the bridge together. they were friends, maybe in love. her family has no idea. she is alone with the loss, we do not know what he was to her. that's her secret, our mystery. ~ not so different from how it would be for anyone losing someone. others are outside, talking and passing the blackeyed peas; the person who was in it with you is gone.
-Ms. Gentry was always cryptic about it. Saying that what they trew wasn't the point, that it's the surrounding events that matter, and she may be right. But you cant help but be drawn in by the mystery anyway, I guess.
-If in fact, they are referring to throwing a child off the bridge, it would fit squarely in the tradition of the appalachian "murder ballad" promulgated by the likes of Dock Boggs, or Clarence Ashley who did the best known version of the chilling example of the form "Omie Wise". "OTBJ" is both an excellent example of Bobbie Gentry's talent and ear for tradition , and how deeply those traditions are embedded even in this mass media saturated age, and of how tradition and popular culture can be reconciled.
-I love how the one lengthy interpretation of the song explains that it couldn't be a baby they were throwing off the bridge, because the song says they were throwing it, and it doesn't take two people to throw a baby! I think that if someone saw two people at a bridge together, one of them throwing something, that witness would say they were throwing something off the bridge.
-In 1993, Sinead O'Connor did a fantastic cover of the song, for the Warchild benefit album.
-this thread made me drag out the Sinead cover, and my wife noticed that in the faint background immediately after the "throwing something off the Tallahatchee bridge" line, there's an unmistakable infant cry. Having never heard this interpretation before, my mind had always glossed over the sound. Now, it's completely creepy, raises the hair on my arms. well I can easily imagine that when Sinead covers it, it is a story where they threw their baby in the river.
"up on Choctaw Ridge, picking flowers".. I see Harold, playing guitar up on the grassy hill after Maude is gone.
-And as for "Me and Julio" [So, what did Julio and the protagonist do behind down by the schoolyard?]:
It took becoming an adult to realize that Paul Simon had no idea. As a kid, I figured that all the adults in the world understood perfectly well what the mama saw, and that I'd know someday.
Ode To Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry - Songfacts:
This tells the story of a guy who kills himself by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge. There really was a Tallahatchie Bridge in Greenwood, Mississippi (was? yes: The Tallahatchie Bridge collapsed in 1972), but Gentry made up the story.
Gentry: "The message of the song revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. nonchalance. The song is a study in unconscious cruelty." [nonchaloir to disregard, from non- + chaloir to be concerned , from Latin calēre to be warm]
Gentry sent a demo to the record company with just her voice and an acoustic guitar. They were so impressed with this rendition of the song that instead of re-recording it, they added strings and orchestration to the original demo, resulting in the version that became a huge hit. neat.
Bobbie Gentry was born Roberta Lee Streeter. She was born July 27, 1944 in Cickasaw County Mississippi. After seeing Ruby Gentry, a 1952 movie with Jennifer Jones and Charlton Heston, she started using Bobbie Gentry as a stage name.
When this became a hit, Rolling Stone magazine reported that it was only a 20 foot drop off the bridge and the water was deep enough so you would not get hurt. Of course, lots of people went to the bridge and jumped, which drove the local police nuts.
A movie of the same name was made based on this song in 1976. Gentry re-recorded this for the soundtrack.
-It was a comment on the calousness of a poor working family in rural Mississippi. The movie is absolutely fiction. Never happened. He even used "Bobbie Lee" as the heroine of the movie, the name Roberta Lee Streeter is called by her close friends and family. Another thing that lead to speculation out of the movie. Bobbie Lee is still alive, turned 61, has a grown son, and enjoys obscurity from the business. And by the way, just because she allowed Reba McIntire to record Fancy does not mean Roberta Lee Streeter doesn't hold the copyright! huh the song Fancy is by Bobbie Gentry huh.
- I'm a young woman who feels that Bobbie Gentry was quite unusual and such a talent of her time. You don't see many singers and performers like her today. There is definitely a quiet charm and sweetness about her. Ariel, Little Rock AR
-Gentry was briefly interviewed by a music magazine after the song came out. She went on record as saying that the 'something' thrown off the bridge was 'symbolic, and not a baby, as most people seem to think'. It never even occurred to me when I heard the song; from the end lyric, I assumed she and Billy Joe had thrown flowers into the water together, in a quiet courtship. me too. I always thought the young preacher was a gossip, and perhaps jealous, since he reports what he saw back to the mother, and perhaps made it -sound- suspicious. I know communities like those. Either people are constantly minding one another's business, or they're too exhausted from overwork to care deeply about anything. Only the narrator is badly shaken about the loss of her friend, while the mother is genuinely puzzled about why she isn't eating. Life goes on, after all, and there's cotton to be chopped.
-One of the great records. I don't care if she threw radioactive waste into the river. Not to make light of the poignant lyrics but that girl could sing her ass off in a style that (forgive the political incorrectness) I never dreamed she was white. The atmosphere of the recording had such a feel of the real rural, poor South in a way that erases the color line anyway.
--I did this song as a monologue for a drama class, it was great because everyone was absolutely hooked and then at the end I finished and everyone just burst into "well what does that mean?" and "huh?!" and "how how how?" I love this song.
-In the opening scene "Reservoir Dogs" Nice Guy Eddie analyzes the song, a song he had heard on KBLY for the first time in years, making him come to his (probably incorrect) deduction that the narrator threw Billy Joe off the bridge.-craig, madison, WI
-A very spooky song, as if William Faulkner wrote an episode of the Waltons. Never has an Ode said so little about the subject, but by laying the title above the song one can sense the enormous loss the narrator has suffered, the first of many losses. A different portrait of southern rural life than one normally gets. It's not the gossipy townsfolk. Instead, the family seems very midwestern in their passively skimming the topic of a local curiosity, and please pass the potatoes. The narrator hearing the banter, and not being able to talk, because you don't talk of private matters with the family. Very spooky in it's dark realism. -craig, madison, WI
-Ive just been to the town of Greenwood, MS which is where the Tallahatchie bridge used to be, and you can really feel what she expressed in her song so well. She sang it exactly how it feels to be there. Shes a great story teller in many of her songs, and often wrote so well about towns of Mississippi.
-I was a little girl when it came out and didn't understand exactly what went on, but I do remember it was haunting. The way Bobby Gentry sang it in a slow, almost husky voice, was the perfect delivery. It takes you back to those dusty, hot summers in the south. As I grew older I came to realize that it was about something forbidden; Bobby Gentry doesn't really say and that's the whole draw of the song. huh. I just thought, something not known. disregarded. (a friendship or love).
Ode to Billie Joe - Wkp: The mysteries surrounding the characters in the story created a cultural sensation. In 1975, Gentry told author Herman Raucher that she hadn't come up with a reason for Billie Joe's suicide when she wrote the song. She has stated in numerous interviews over the years that the focus of the song was not the suicide itself, but rather the matter-of-fact way that the narrator's family was discussing the tragedy over dinner, unaware that Billie Joe had been her boyfriend.
A popular speculation at the release of the song in 1967 was that the narrator and Billie Joe threw their baby (either stillborn or aborted) off the bridge, and Billie Joe then killed himself out of grief and guilt. There was also speculation that Billie Joe was a black man, having a forbidden affair with the white narrator.
The song's popularity proved so enduring that in 1976, nine years after its release, Warner Bros. commissioned author Herman Raucher to adapt it into a novel and screenplay, Ode to Billy Joe (note different spelling). The poster's tagline, which treats the film as being based on actual events and even gives a date of death for Billy (June 3, 1953), led many to believe that the song was based on actual events.
Amazon.com: Ode to Billy Joe (Dell): Books: Herman Raucher
Dell Pub Co; 3rd edition (March 1976)
This tells the story of a guy who kills himself by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge. There really was a Tallahatchie Bridge in Greenwood, Mississippi (was? yes: The Tallahatchie Bridge collapsed in 1972), but Gentry made up the story.
Gentry: "The message of the song revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. nonchalance. The song is a study in unconscious cruelty." [nonchaloir to disregard, from non- + chaloir to be concerned , from Latin calēre to be warm]
Gentry sent a demo to the record company with just her voice and an acoustic guitar. They were so impressed with this rendition of the song that instead of re-recording it, they added strings and orchestration to the original demo, resulting in the version that became a huge hit. neat.
Bobbie Gentry was born Roberta Lee Streeter. She was born July 27, 1944 in Cickasaw County Mississippi. After seeing Ruby Gentry, a 1952 movie with Jennifer Jones and Charlton Heston, she started using Bobbie Gentry as a stage name.
When this became a hit, Rolling Stone magazine reported that it was only a 20 foot drop off the bridge and the water was deep enough so you would not get hurt. Of course, lots of people went to the bridge and jumped, which drove the local police nuts.
A movie of the same name was made based on this song in 1976. Gentry re-recorded this for the soundtrack.
-It was a comment on the calousness of a poor working family in rural Mississippi. The movie is absolutely fiction. Never happened. He even used "Bobbie Lee" as the heroine of the movie, the name Roberta Lee Streeter is called by her close friends and family. Another thing that lead to speculation out of the movie. Bobbie Lee is still alive, turned 61, has a grown son, and enjoys obscurity from the business. And by the way, just because she allowed Reba McIntire to record Fancy does not mean Roberta Lee Streeter doesn't hold the copyright! huh the song Fancy is by Bobbie Gentry huh.
- I'm a young woman who feels that Bobbie Gentry was quite unusual and such a talent of her time. You don't see many singers and performers like her today. There is definitely a quiet charm and sweetness about her. Ariel, Little Rock AR
-Gentry was briefly interviewed by a music magazine after the song came out. She went on record as saying that the 'something' thrown off the bridge was 'symbolic, and not a baby, as most people seem to think'. It never even occurred to me when I heard the song; from the end lyric, I assumed she and Billy Joe had thrown flowers into the water together, in a quiet courtship. me too. I always thought the young preacher was a gossip, and perhaps jealous, since he reports what he saw back to the mother, and perhaps made it -sound- suspicious. I know communities like those. Either people are constantly minding one another's business, or they're too exhausted from overwork to care deeply about anything. Only the narrator is badly shaken about the loss of her friend, while the mother is genuinely puzzled about why she isn't eating. Life goes on, after all, and there's cotton to be chopped.
-One of the great records. I don't care if she threw radioactive waste into the river. Not to make light of the poignant lyrics but that girl could sing her ass off in a style that (forgive the political incorrectness) I never dreamed she was white. The atmosphere of the recording had such a feel of the real rural, poor South in a way that erases the color line anyway.
--I did this song as a monologue for a drama class, it was great because everyone was absolutely hooked and then at the end I finished and everyone just burst into "well what does that mean?" and "huh?!" and "how how how?" I love this song.
-In the opening scene "Reservoir Dogs" Nice Guy Eddie analyzes the song, a song he had heard on KBLY for the first time in years, making him come to his (probably incorrect) deduction that the narrator threw Billy Joe off the bridge.-craig, madison, WI
-A very spooky song, as if William Faulkner wrote an episode of the Waltons. Never has an Ode said so little about the subject, but by laying the title above the song one can sense the enormous loss the narrator has suffered, the first of many losses. A different portrait of southern rural life than one normally gets. It's not the gossipy townsfolk. Instead, the family seems very midwestern in their passively skimming the topic of a local curiosity, and please pass the potatoes. The narrator hearing the banter, and not being able to talk, because you don't talk of private matters with the family. Very spooky in it's dark realism. -craig, madison, WI
-Ive just been to the town of Greenwood, MS which is where the Tallahatchie bridge used to be, and you can really feel what she expressed in her song so well. She sang it exactly how it feels to be there. Shes a great story teller in many of her songs, and often wrote so well about towns of Mississippi.
-I was a little girl when it came out and didn't understand exactly what went on, but I do remember it was haunting. The way Bobby Gentry sang it in a slow, almost husky voice, was the perfect delivery. It takes you back to those dusty, hot summers in the south. As I grew older I came to realize that it was about something forbidden; Bobby Gentry doesn't really say and that's the whole draw of the song. huh. I just thought, something not known. disregarded. (a friendship or love).
Ode to Billie Joe - Wkp: The mysteries surrounding the characters in the story created a cultural sensation. In 1975, Gentry told author Herman Raucher that she hadn't come up with a reason for Billie Joe's suicide when she wrote the song. She has stated in numerous interviews over the years that the focus of the song was not the suicide itself, but rather the matter-of-fact way that the narrator's family was discussing the tragedy over dinner, unaware that Billie Joe had been her boyfriend.
A popular speculation at the release of the song in 1967 was that the narrator and Billie Joe threw their baby (either stillborn or aborted) off the bridge, and Billie Joe then killed himself out of grief and guilt. There was also speculation that Billie Joe was a black man, having a forbidden affair with the white narrator.
The song's popularity proved so enduring that in 1976, nine years after its release, Warner Bros. commissioned author Herman Raucher to adapt it into a novel and screenplay, Ode to Billy Joe (note different spelling). The poster's tagline, which treats the film as being based on actual events and even gives a date of death for Billy (June 3, 1953), led many to believe that the song was based on actual events.
Amazon.com: Ode to Billy Joe (Dell): Books: Herman Raucher
Dell Pub Co; 3rd edition (March 1976)
Ode To Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day; pretty.
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay.
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat,
And Mama hollered out the back door "Y'all remember to wipe your feet!"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge.
Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
_
And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas,
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please.
There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow..."
And Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow. anyhow-
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
_
And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show.
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night? the crux: and wasn't that you
"I'll have another piece of apple pie. You know it don't seem right.
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge
And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
_
And Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite.
That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today.
Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way
He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
And Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo.
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything oh-
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge...
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
YouTube - Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billy Joe
I love this song.
never posted anything about it here or dlcs? reminded in a general way of it by "Your Sister Cried" though specifically rather different songs. what's the same? something terrible has happened. and something essential, typical is happening in its aftermath: family dinner; driving home.
this song is so sad. perfect song. sleepy dusty Delta day...
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day; pretty.
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay.
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat,
And Mama hollered out the back door "Y'all remember to wipe your feet!"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge.
Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
_
And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas,
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please.
There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow..."
And Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow. anyhow-
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
_
And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show.
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night? the crux: and wasn't that you
"I'll have another piece of apple pie. You know it don't seem right.
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge
And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
_
And Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite.
That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today.
Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way
He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
And Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo.
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything oh-
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge...
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
YouTube - Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billy Joe
I love this song.
never posted anything about it here or dlcs? reminded in a general way of it by "Your Sister Cried" though specifically rather different songs. what's the same? something terrible has happened. and something essential, typical is happening in its aftermath: family dinner; driving home.
this song is so sad. perfect song. sleepy dusty Delta day...
az- Customer Reviews: Mercy Now: "The most helpful critical review" must be that three stars (or fewer) considered "critical" - this seems to be part of new design on az.
Larry Harris's review of Mercy Now: Folk singer/songwriter Mary Gauthier is Poet Laureate for White Trash America. With her downbeat singing style and unapologetic odes to drinking, heartbreak and t.v. dinners, she may very well be the most honest, expressive and talented songwriter to hit rock bottom and write about it since Johnny Cash was released from Folson Prison hrm, is this facetious? he wasn't in Folsom Prison, hadn't been in prison at all when he wrote that. The first track opens with this lyric: "It's a cheap hotel. The heat pipes hiss. The bathroom's down the hall. And it smells like piss." It's a song about love: love in Gauthier's world. But in her talented hands, despair has never sounded so romantic. Even though just about every song has a downbeat topic, Gauthier's matter-of-fact delivery leads to humor when you least expect it. "Fish swim. Birds fly. Daddies yell. Mamas cry. Old men sit and think. I drink." Producer Gurf Morlix sets the scene with gentle acoustic guitars, dirge-like drums, and wailing petal steels and fiddles. It's the music of last calls in dingy corner bars all across America. All that's missing is the clink of glasses, the hum of neon and the scattering of billiard balls.
Larry Harris's review of Mercy Now: Folk singer/songwriter Mary Gauthier is Poet Laureate for White Trash America. With her downbeat singing style and unapologetic odes to drinking, heartbreak and t.v. dinners, she may very well be the most honest, expressive and talented songwriter to hit rock bottom and write about it since Johnny Cash was released from Folson Prison hrm, is this facetious? he wasn't in Folsom Prison, hadn't been in prison at all when he wrote that. The first track opens with this lyric: "It's a cheap hotel. The heat pipes hiss. The bathroom's down the hall. And it smells like piss." It's a song about love: love in Gauthier's world. But in her talented hands, despair has never sounded so romantic. Even though just about every song has a downbeat topic, Gauthier's matter-of-fact delivery leads to humor when you least expect it. "Fish swim. Birds fly. Daddies yell. Mamas cry. Old men sit and think. I drink." Producer Gurf Morlix sets the scene with gentle acoustic guitars, dirge-like drums, and wailing petal steels and fiddles. It's the music of last calls in dingy corner bars all across America. All that's missing is the clink of glasses, the hum of neon and the scattering of billiard balls.
Your Sister Cried « Rivers Are Damp: I wanted him to be happy, but I just didn’t see how this marriage would work for a lifetime. A year later, I feel pretty much the same. >When I think about the Ex’s wedding, I think of “Your Sister Cried,” a song written by Fred Eaglesmith (and covered beautifully by Mary Gauthier). I follow along with the song, imagining that I went to the wedding, with the Ex’s sister, both of us knowing that something terribly wrong had happened:
Well, I stared out of the windshield into the rain so light
And I turned on my dims, and somebody flashed me their brights
And I reached over and turned the radio way down low
Your sister cried all the way homeLightning crashed, and the road shone like a mirror
A dog came out of the ditch, then he disappeared
And I remembered a conversation we once had on the phone
Your sister cried all the way homeI’ll never know how you got into such a mess
Why do the bridesmaids all have to wear the same dress?
Everybody said you looked real good
But I think you looked stonedYour sister cried all the way home
Your sister cried all the way home
Your sister cried all the way home
Your sister cried all the way home
Mary Gauthier | Songs: Your Sister Cried huh written by: Fred Eaglesmith.
Well I stared out of the windshield into the rain so light
[*sample*] *And I turned on my dims and somebody flashed me their brights And I reached over and turned the radio way down lo-ow. Your sister cried all the way home*
Lightning crashed and the road shone like a mirror A dog came out of the ditch then he disappeared And I remembered a conversation we once had on the phone Your sister cried all the way home
I’ll never know how you got into such a mess Why do the bridesmaids all have to wear the same dress? Everybody said you looked real good But I think you looked stoned
Your sister cried all the way home Your sister cried all the way home Your sister cried all the way home Your sister cried all the way home.
I love this. it's my - rain, all the way home, reach over, turn the radio way down low. I remember a conversation we once had. and, your sister cried. a-a-all the way home.
az-Falling Stars and Broken Hearts: Music: Fred Eaglesmith: rvw by Lee Armstrong -"Your Sister Cried" is a graceful stately homespun lament.
az- The Songs of Fred Eaglesmith :: A Tribute: Music: Various Artists: rvw by Lee Armstrong -Mary Gauthier (Go-Shay) is one of country's best secrets, too country & too excellent for Nashville; she does such a great job with Fred's 'Your Sister Cried,' giving the song a different twist with a female vocalist.
Well I stared out of the windshield into the rain so light
[*sample*] *And I turned on my dims and somebody flashed me their brights And I reached over and turned the radio way down lo-ow. Your sister cried all the way home*
Lightning crashed and the road shone like a mirror A dog came out of the ditch then he disappeared And I remembered a conversation we once had on the phone Your sister cried all the way home
I’ll never know how you got into such a mess Why do the bridesmaids all have to wear the same dress? Everybody said you looked real good But I think you looked stoned
Your sister cried all the way home Your sister cried all the way home Your sister cried all the way home Your sister cried all the way home.
I love this. it's my - rain, all the way home, reach over, turn the radio way down low. I remember a conversation we once had. and, your sister cried. a-a-all the way home.
az-Falling Stars and Broken Hearts: Music: Fred Eaglesmith: rvw by Lee Armstrong -"Your Sister Cried" is a graceful stately homespun lament.
Your Sister Cried Listen
az- The Songs of Fred Eaglesmith :: A Tribute: Music: Various Artists: rvw by Lee Armstrong -Mary Gauthier (Go-Shay) is one of country's best secrets, too country & too excellent for Nashville; she does such a great job with Fred's 'Your Sister Cried,' giving the song a different twist with a female vocalist.
Mary Gauthier – Mercy Now: The comparison to the late Townes Van Zant is well-earned. . . . . (zandt).
az - Mercy Now - Mary Gauthier: Mercy Now, the fourth album first on a 'major label' by Mary Gauthier (pronounced 'go-shay'). After a series of releases on independent labels, her Lost Highway debut seems destined to expand that audience significantly. The influence of her native Louisiana pervades her Southern Gothic songcraft, which first won an audience in the folk clubs of Boston. Within her mature, weather-beaten artistry, Dylanesque metaphysics go to Mardi Gras on 'Wheel Inside the Wheel'; the naked emotion and eye for detail of 'Your Sister Cried' and 'Empty Spaces' conjure comparisons with Lucinda Williams; and the plainspoken 'I Drink' and 'Drop in a Bucket' have the bittersweet bite of the best of John Prine. The spare arrangements of producer/guitarist Gurf Morlix, punctuated by cello, organ, and harmonica, give the material plenty of room to breathe. Gauthier's vocals are half-spoken, half-sung, and all soul.
[ NOW: Roots cookin', Mar 24 - 30, 2005: "Fish swim, birds fly, lovers leave by and by," she sings in her weathered alto. "Old men sit and think… I drink." Blake Shelton has covered I Drink. Gauthier's label encouraged her to re-record a warm, existentialist version of the tune, which originally appeared on her sophomore breakout, 1999's Drag Queens And Limousines, for Mercy Now. ]
and, ah, I know this one:
I've heard this. (maybe also played on ShapeI'mIn). "Your sister cried / a-a-all the way home."
very familiar. reminiscent of something else even before? something essential: all the way ho-ome.
tht maybe I'd find note of it here on dlww or marked on dlcs but no. huh.
az - Mercy Now - Mary Gauthier: Mercy Now, the fourth album first on a 'major label' by Mary Gauthier (pronounced 'go-shay'). After a series of releases on independent labels, her Lost Highway debut seems destined to expand that audience significantly. The influence of her native Louisiana pervades her Southern Gothic songcraft, which first won an audience in the folk clubs of Boston. Within her mature, weather-beaten artistry, Dylanesque metaphysics go to Mardi Gras on 'Wheel Inside the Wheel'; the naked emotion and eye for detail of 'Your Sister Cried' and 'Empty Spaces' conjure comparisons with Lucinda Williams; and the plainspoken 'I Drink' and 'Drop in a Bucket' have the bittersweet bite of the best of John Prine. The spare arrangements of producer/guitarist Gurf Morlix, punctuated by cello, organ, and harmonica, give the material plenty of room to breathe. Gauthier's vocals are half-spoken, half-sung, and all soul.
I Drink ... Listen
[ NOW: Roots cookin', Mar 24 - 30, 2005: "Fish swim, birds fly, lovers leave by and by," she sings in her weathered alto. "Old men sit and think… I drink." Blake Shelton has covered I Drink. Gauthier's label encouraged her to re-record a warm, existentialist version of the tune, which originally appeared on her sophomore breakout, 1999's Drag Queens And Limousines, for Mercy Now. ]
and, ah, I know this one:
I've heard this. (maybe also played on ShapeI'mIn). "Your sister cried / a-a-all the way home."
very familiar. reminiscent of something else even before? something essential: all the way ho-ome.
tht maybe I'd find note of it here on dlww or marked on dlcs but no. huh.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING by Buck Owens: I got ten toy soldiers for Billy Joe, I got coloring book for Sue, I got a little toy train for Danny boy, and a cowboy suit for Lou. I got a talkin' baby doll for Cindy, I got a pair o'roller skates for Jane. And baby if we ever have any more kids Christmas shoppin's gonna drive me insane.
such an accent on "insane"; I like it. this was the opener for hthwf (now to be called music from the dark end of the street) - mure upbeat than "I drink."
such an accent on "insane"; I like it. this was the opener for hthwf (now to be called music from the dark end of the street) - mure upbeat than "I drink."
song lyrics - I Drink: (Mary Gauthier & Crit Harmon) this morning Jay 'Squirell Dundee' opened his WHPK show Shape I'm In with this (as record by the Mary Gauthier who wrote it) for day after Thanksgiving "celebration"
He'd get home at five-thirty / fix a drink and sit down in his chair / pick a fight with momma / complain about us kids gettin' in his hair.
At night he'd sit alone and smoke / I'd see his frown behind the lighters flame
Now that same frown is in my mirror / I got my daddy's blood inside my veins.
It's not so bad alone here / It don't bother me that every night's the same
I don't need another lover hangin' around / tryin' to make me change.
I know what I am / But I don't give a damn.
Fish swim / Birds fly.
Daddies yell / Mommas cry.
Old men / sit & think.
__ / I drink.
He'd get home at five-thirty / fix a drink and sit down in his chair / pick a fight with momma / complain about us kids gettin' in his hair.
At night he'd sit alone and smoke / I'd see his frown behind the lighters flame
Now that same frown is in my mirror / I got my daddy's blood inside my veins.
Fish swim / Birds fly.
Daddies yell / Mommas cry.
Old men / sit & think.
__ / I drink.
chicken tv dinner / six minutes on defrost, three on high / beer to wash it down, then another / some whiskey on the sideDaddies yell / Mommas cry.
Old men / sit & think.
__ / I drink.
It's not so bad alone here / It don't bother me that every night's the same
I don't need another lover hangin' around / tryin' to make me change.
Fish swim / Birds fly.
Lovers leave / by and by
Old men / sit & think.
__ / I drink.
Lovers leave / by and by
Old men / sit & think.
__ / I drink.
I know what I am / But I don't give a damn.
Fish swim / Birds fly.
Daddies yell / Mommas cry.
Old men / sit & think.
__ / I drink.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
News From Room 123: 2007 October: "Well I’m different from other people around me because I am autism, with the ability to expand my childish nature within me. I have memory problems because I can’t remember everything causing me to let my childish personality to take control of my psyche. I have a high sense of hyperactive energy like the chakra from my alternate side of my mind allowing me to carry some animalistic traits, act in a different way. It’s like I share a personality disorder, like talking to a person that’s inside my mind. ..My family tried their best to get me back to the real world but I still keep separate from this world to my subconscious world. I’m highly intelligent because I knew things from the books and T.V. that allows me to know everything. .. I was different and want to just stay the same as a normal life person."
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Life - TWoP Forums p100 peepsRfun2eat: Also this was pages ago but people were comparing it to the only other show that I have actually told other people about was Veronica Mars. Reading the quote below made me realize just how much the shows are alike:
LIFE isn't really a cop show. It's about finding meaning in your life again after you've been destroyed.
...Of course it could turn out that Dani is his key witness but against her own father. And for as much as she hates her father she can't really hurt him. So that would make Dani = Logan; Charlie = Veronica; Ted = Wallace; The lawyer = Duncan huh ok this all works; The fruit (that we see Charlie eating every episode) = Back-up.
Finding the Zen in a TV detective | BostonNOW:
BN: What drew you to Charlie?
DL: I had no real reference points for this genre. The cop shows I grew up with were different but the ones I remember being most enjoyable were character driven, like Colombo, Kojack, Rockford Files, Magnum ... I found Charlie Crew's ability to deal with his past through deflection and humor, using these devices which I found to be humorous like his Zen ways, trying to apply that to his life and his anger control, to be interesting ... I don't think he's a very good Zen master (laughing) ... I thought it was an interesting point to start out from, having such a dark, bleak backstory, having experienced something that I hope most of us never experience, but approaching life with such optimism and joy, a sense of every moment being lived intensely and fully. I enjoyed the contradiction there, I enjoyed that he had found an antidote to his experience. He could be bitter, he could be vengeful, but he's not, he chooses to be open and enthusiastic.
BN: One of the things that make the show stand out is the pacing.
DL: It was always the intention to make it a character driven piece - it is an ensemble piece but it follows Charlie's story - the idea being that we should enjoy him and want to know what he's doing each week, and to that end they have the crime of the week along with the bigger over arcing crime, which is who set him up. The episode that is on Wednesday ...
BN: It's the one titled Farthingale, right? It's a fantastic episode.
DL:I'm glad to hear that. They wanted to steer away from just a regular procedural ... That's what drew me, I didn't want to be a part of just a regular procedural. This has an emotional life a lot of shows don't have and it also has, apart from this conspiracy thriller theme, it has something "other", something more poetic, and Farthingale, so far out of all the episodes, best presents that. It's very visual and almost dreamlike. The series when at its best has a dreamlike quality. It doesn't need to be naturalistic.
BN: Fans watching the show are getting to know Charlie but also wondering, "who was he before he had this terrible thing happen to him?"
DL: He is changed by an event is his life that enables him to have a rebirth. He comes out a radically different person. I think before he went to prison you can imagine he was just a regular Joe. huh. He went to the police academy, came out and wanted to be a career cop, have his two kids and a dog, own a house in the Valley with his beautiful wife. He was going to have a nice, ordered, and fulfilling life.
This terrible thing happens to him and he goes away to a maximum security prison for what he thinks is going to be for life, gets out after 12 years, and is altered radically by it. He's changed and he's changed for the better. after the end. the afterward. I don't think they should avoid the darkness of his story - I think his life there will always be with him - but the way he chooses to live after is a positive affirmation of his life. He wants to get the best from life, he wants to see the best in people, and in some way that gives him a childlike quality, sometimes a naivety. It's a choice he makes and I think that makes him kind of heroic.
BN: Can you give me a preview about what to expect for the rest of the season?
DL: Well you were just saying we were concentrating a lot on character, and we have been, but there's some very, very big revelations coming up in episodes 10 and 11. Before we get mid-way through the season you'll have some pretty satisfying answers about what happened to Charlie, who's behind it all, how high up the corruption goes, and start to get a sense of what was at stake.
LIFE isn't really a cop show. It's about finding meaning in your life again after you've been destroyed.
...Of course it could turn out that Dani is his key witness but against her own father. And for as much as she hates her father she can't really hurt him. So that would make Dani = Logan; Charlie = Veronica; Ted = Wallace; The lawyer = Duncan huh ok this all works; The fruit (that we see Charlie eating every episode) = Back-up.
Finding the Zen in a TV detective | BostonNOW:
BN: What drew you to Charlie?
DL: I had no real reference points for this genre. The cop shows I grew up with were different but the ones I remember being most enjoyable were character driven, like Colombo, Kojack, Rockford Files, Magnum ... I found Charlie Crew's ability to deal with his past through deflection and humor, using these devices which I found to be humorous like his Zen ways, trying to apply that to his life and his anger control, to be interesting ... I don't think he's a very good Zen master (laughing) ... I thought it was an interesting point to start out from, having such a dark, bleak backstory, having experienced something that I hope most of us never experience, but approaching life with such optimism and joy, a sense of every moment being lived intensely and fully. I enjoyed the contradiction there, I enjoyed that he had found an antidote to his experience. He could be bitter, he could be vengeful, but he's not, he chooses to be open and enthusiastic.
BN: One of the things that make the show stand out is the pacing.
DL: It was always the intention to make it a character driven piece - it is an ensemble piece but it follows Charlie's story - the idea being that we should enjoy him and want to know what he's doing each week, and to that end they have the crime of the week along with the bigger over arcing crime, which is who set him up. The episode that is on Wednesday ...
BN: It's the one titled Farthingale, right? It's a fantastic episode.
DL:I'm glad to hear that. They wanted to steer away from just a regular procedural ... That's what drew me, I didn't want to be a part of just a regular procedural. This has an emotional life a lot of shows don't have and it also has, apart from this conspiracy thriller theme, it has something "other", something more poetic, and Farthingale, so far out of all the episodes, best presents that. It's very visual and almost dreamlike. The series when at its best has a dreamlike quality. It doesn't need to be naturalistic.
BN: Fans watching the show are getting to know Charlie but also wondering, "who was he before he had this terrible thing happen to him?"
DL: He is changed by an event is his life that enables him to have a rebirth. He comes out a radically different person. I think before he went to prison you can imagine he was just a regular Joe. huh. He went to the police academy, came out and wanted to be a career cop, have his two kids and a dog, own a house in the Valley with his beautiful wife. He was going to have a nice, ordered, and fulfilling life.
This terrible thing happens to him and he goes away to a maximum security prison for what he thinks is going to be for life, gets out after 12 years, and is altered radically by it. He's changed and he's changed for the better. after the end. the afterward. I don't think they should avoid the darkness of his story - I think his life there will always be with him - but the way he chooses to live after is a positive affirmation of his life. He wants to get the best from life, he wants to see the best in people, and in some way that gives him a childlike quality, sometimes a naivety. It's a choice he makes and I think that makes him kind of heroic.
BN: Can you give me a preview about what to expect for the rest of the season?
DL: Well you were just saying we were concentrating a lot on character, and we have been, but there's some very, very big revelations coming up in episodes 10 and 11. Before we get mid-way through the season you'll have some pretty satisfying answers about what happened to Charlie, who's behind it all, how high up the corruption goes, and start to get a sense of what was at stake.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
| Overlimit Fee Reversal(Other) | 742668531133...45966 | $-39.00 |
aw, cheers to amazon chase visa. they heard my plea!
I never expect a non-personal business to be amenable.
but they were, they were. I'm moved.
(I thought they had not responded, bcs had not seen an email reply.)
and, ok, if ever need to talk to someone by phone: If you need to speak directly to a Customer Service Representative or have an urgent issue, please call the telephone number on the back of your card. "For 24 hour cardmember service call (888) 247-4080."
Date: 11-07-2007 00:46:43. From: Credit Card Support
Dear ... We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We have credited your account for the $39.00 overlimit
fee. You will see this adjustment on your next billing statement. Please be advised that an overlimit fee is assessed
whenever the account exceeds the assigned credit limit at any time during the billing month. Our records indicate
that the account went over limit before the payment posted to the account. We would like to provide the following
tips to avoid future overlimit fees.
- Monitor your balance. You can obtain your available credit information by calling our toll-free Customer
Service number or by visiting our website.
- Remember that, even if you have made no new purchases, finance charges could be billed to your account and cause
you to exceed your assigned credit line.
- Call us to request a credit line increase. We may be able to raise your limit.
We realize that emergencies do occur, so we evaluate each request for credit individually as it's presented to us.
If you have additional questions or if you would like to request that your account not be permitted to exceed the credit limit in the future, please e-mail us or contact Customer Service at the number listed below. For your convenience, we are available 24 hours a day. Thank you, Russell Pereira
E-mail Customer Service Representative
1-800-436-7927
date Nov 6, 2007 9:13 PM. subject blasted Overlimit Fee
Fee Amount: $39.00. Date Charged: 10/28/2007.
Message: I am confused about whether and how I was actually over my limit.
My current "Outstanding balance" shows as " " but that figure seems to include transactions prior to my automatic payment. Maybe I am confused by how the statement balances do not line up with the payments. Looking at my "Last Statement" I see: "Transaction Total " But, looking at activity since the last statement, I see "Last Statement Balance ". Why do these two not match? Is there a way to set up my the timing of my payment so that these would match? It does look to me like the automatic payments are not represented clearly with respect to the statement periods.
Could I please be excused the Overlimit Fee this time? I appreciate any help you can give me in excusing or reducing this fee, and in explaining the seeming incongruence between apparent statement balances and payments.
As I typed this, I sort of figured it out, maybe.
My payment posts on payment due date, in the amount of the last statement balance. but by then, there are more transactions outstanding.
( and on the web page, the account does not show me each statement, with its eventual payment. but just the ongoing activity.) sth like thatt.
so, it would be better if my payment posted right after the statement period closed~ or posted in the amount of the current balance on the day of payment - is that possible? then could just ignore "statement periods" right? and go by "payment periods"?
About Notebook's new features - labels, bookmarks - Google Labs - Notebook | Google Groups:
I think the integration of Google Notebook and Google Bookmarks makes a lot of sense, unless you had only been using Google Notebook to hand- type notes.
When used to capture snippets from pages, by default it included a link to the page.
Also, bookmarks allowed comments to be associated with them.
So, ultimately, there were two different ways to store URLs and associated notes in Google. By merging the two, there would be a lot less confusion.
-If I create a bookmark, the note ends up in the Unfiled notebook.
-If I create a new note from scratch INTO the Unfiled notebook, it
becomes a bookmark.
-If I drag the note from the Unfiled notebook to a named notebook,
my bookmark disappears.
[But] -If I drag the note back into the Unfiled notebook, the bookmark
remains gone.
My suggested solution would be to allow NOTES within Google Notebook to be STARRED. This would become more consistent with the starring capabilities of Gmail, and would also make sense regarding the use of stars with bookmarks. that's a very solid idea. good.
By doing this, it would allow users to "file" their Bookmarks (as notes) into their own named notebooks... but still keep these as bookmarks, by keeping them starred. Unstarring a note would remove it from bookmarks (but it would still remain as a note.)
(and thus) This would also allow users to rename the Unfiled notebook to Bookmarks or anything of their choosing... or place the notes (bookmarks) in various different notebooks without adversely affecting their bookmarks.
and right: Newly created bookmarks would automatically appear in an "Unfiled" notebook unless (or until) filed away in a particular notebook. I was basically doing this by keeping my top notebook as "current" and then later filing or deleting the notes that had been by default put there.
good input from Google Groups - Bob Oliver Bigellow XLII
Anführungszeichen: Without reality, fantasy would not exist. Über mich: I am that I am.
I think the integration of Google Notebook and Google Bookmarks makes a lot of sense, unless you had only been using Google Notebook to hand- type notes.
When used to capture snippets from pages, by default it included a link to the page.
Also, bookmarks allowed comments to be associated with them.
So, ultimately, there were two different ways to store URLs and associated notes in Google. By merging the two, there would be a lot less confusion.
-If I create a bookmark, the note ends up in the Unfiled notebook.
-If I create a new note from scratch INTO the Unfiled notebook, it
becomes a bookmark.
-If I drag the note from the Unfiled notebook to a named notebook,
my bookmark disappears.
[But] -If I drag the note back into the Unfiled notebook, the bookmark
remains gone.
My suggested solution would be to allow NOTES within Google Notebook to be STARRED. This would become more consistent with the starring capabilities of Gmail, and would also make sense regarding the use of stars with bookmarks. that's a very solid idea. good.
By doing this, it would allow users to "file" their Bookmarks (as notes) into their own named notebooks... but still keep these as bookmarks, by keeping them starred. Unstarring a note would remove it from bookmarks (but it would still remain as a note.)
(and thus) This would also allow users to rename the Unfiled notebook to Bookmarks or anything of their choosing... or place the notes (bookmarks) in various different notebooks without adversely affecting their bookmarks.
and right: Newly created bookmarks would automatically appear in an "Unfiled" notebook unless (or until) filed away in a particular notebook. I was basically doing this by keeping my top notebook as "current" and then later filing or deleting the notes that had been by default put there.
good input from Google Groups - Bob Oliver Bigellow XLII
Anführungszeichen: Without reality, fantasy would not exist. Über mich: I am that I am.
High Fidelity (2000) - Photo gallery
"I've been really trying, baby ... Let's get it on.
There's - nothing wrong with me, loving you."
"I believe when I fall in love with you it will be forever."
aw. I really like Cusack & Iben Hjejle in this, very much.
the scene where she comes to finish getting her stuff and she is sitting at the kitchen table, reading his top five list of dream jobs. #Journalist for Rolling Stone magazine, 1976 to 1979 #Producer, Atlantic Records, 1964 to 1971 #Any kind of musician, besides classical or rap #Film director, any kind except German or silent #Architect -that takes seven years training. -I'm not even sure I want to be an architect.
-So you've got a list here of 5 things you'd do if qualifications and time and history and salary were no object. -Yeah. -and one of them you're not even sure you want? -yes. -wouldn't you rather own your own record store than be an architect? -probably, yes. -there you go then: #5. own my own record store.
and then she leaves.
and the scene after her father's funeral, they are in her car. -I'm too tired. I'm too tired not to be with you. -What, so if you had a bit more energy we'd stay split up, but things being as they are, with you being wiped out and all, you want to get back together? Is that it? -Yeah.
he's "my type." and she's lovely, her voice.
cf
"I've been really trying, baby ... Let's get it on.
There's - nothing wrong with me, loving you."
"I believe when I fall in love with you it will be forever."
aw. I really like Cusack & Iben Hjejle in this, very much.
the scene where she comes to finish getting her stuff and she is sitting at the kitchen table, reading his top five list of dream jobs. #Journalist for Rolling Stone magazine, 1976 to 1979 #Producer, Atlantic Records, 1964 to 1971 #Any kind of musician, besides classical or rap #Film director, any kind except German or silent #Architect -that takes seven years training. -I'm not even sure I want to be an architect.
-So you've got a list here of 5 things you'd do if qualifications and time and history and salary were no object. -Yeah. -and one of them you're not even sure you want? -yes. -wouldn't you rather own your own record store than be an architect? -probably, yes. -there you go then: #5. own my own record store.
and then she leaves.
and the scene after her father's funeral, they are in her car. -I'm too tired. I'm too tired not to be with you. -What, so if you had a bit more energy we'd stay split up, but things being as they are, with you being wiped out and all, you want to get back together? Is that it? -Yeah.
he's "my type." and she's lovely, her voice.
cf
Dharma & Greg Episodes | TVGuide.com: Mother and Daughter Reunion
Abby's plans for the new baby rattle Dharma---until it looks like there may be complications.
this was nice, saw Abby and even Larry being serious.
and well-done scene where Dharma goes into the hospital chapel and finds George (Native American - friend she had? who died). he tells her: maybe people who played with real boats (not a shoe as shoeboat) can't talk to dead Indians.
then, he asks if she is going to stay and what she is going to do. she says, pray? talk to the universe...
he says: you're having a conversation with the divine maker of all things, and you're doing the talking?
Abby's plans for the new baby rattle Dharma---until it looks like there may be complications.
this was nice, saw Abby and even Larry being serious.
and well-done scene where Dharma goes into the hospital chapel and finds George (Native American - friend she had? who died). he tells her: maybe people who played with real boats (not a shoe as shoeboat) can't talk to dead Indians.
then, he asks if she is going to stay and what she is going to do. she says, pray? talk to the universe...
he says: you're having a conversation with the divine maker of all things, and you're doing the talking?
Thursday, November 8, 2007
What will happen to 'Dirty Sexy Money' and other new shows? | The Watcher - Chicago Tribune : Last Friday, three days before the Writers Guild of America went on strike, the ABC drama's creator and executive producer, Craig Wright, sounded pessimistic about the show’s chances in the face of the scribes’ walkout. “I believe the show might end with Episode 10 — that might be the last one aired,” said Wright. He added that he supports the WGA strike, which largely revolves around writers compensation for Internet use of TV shows and films.
Back in July, before the show premiered, Wright talked in an interview about how much of protagonist Nick George’s story was derived from his own experiences.
Wright grew up poor, left home at 14 and ended up writing plays. In pursuit of a more stable income, he attended divinity school in Minnesota and became a minister for a short time. (It’s this aspect of his background that led him to create the “Dirty Sexy Money” character of Rev. Brian Darling.)
Wright said over the summer that he told his “Dirty Sexy Money” writers, “‘If you’re going to write for this show, you need to commit to examining the questions you face as a rising interloper in a world of radical privilege. You need to write your journey.’”
“The average Hollywood writer’s journey is Nick’s journey,” Wright added. “[He’s] someone who starts out moral and gets slowly deeper into a world” where his formerly trusty moral compass becomes unreliable.
“A poet named Kenneth Patchen said, ‘The one who comes to question himself has cared for mankind,’” Wright said. “I definitely think this show is part of how I question myself.”
“Dirty Sexy Money” is “humorous, romantic, there’s intrigue – you never know what kind of beat is coming next,” Wright added. “The really poisonous thing about a lot of network TV is that you know what it is from the moment it starts and it never stops being that.”
His drama is “on one most populist networks yes -ABC, but it’s intelligent and it’s cheeky and it’s unapologetically complicated and that makes me happy,” Wright said.
-There is a lot going on in the show, but it works well, keeps me interested. Oh, and who is Nicks's Darling half sibling. I also love the angry minister brother.
-I do not understand why the networks would be so quick to cancel these new shows in the face of the writers' strike, instead of taking this opportunity to re-run the entire season and snag some new viewers. There are a few new shows that I did not start watching from the beginning and now sort of wish I did. In turn, I have told people about shows I have been watching (like Dirty Sexy Money) and I think some would start watching the show given the opportunity to see the first few episodes from beginning to end
Back in July, before the show premiered, Wright talked in an interview about how much of protagonist Nick George’s story was derived from his own experiences.
Wright grew up poor, left home at 14 and ended up writing plays. In pursuit of a more stable income, he attended divinity school in Minnesota and became a minister for a short time. (It’s this aspect of his background that led him to create the “Dirty Sexy Money” character of Rev. Brian Darling.)
Wright said over the summer that he told his “Dirty Sexy Money” writers, “‘If you’re going to write for this show, you need to commit to examining the questions you face as a rising interloper in a world of radical privilege. You need to write your journey.’”
“The average Hollywood writer’s journey is Nick’s journey,” Wright added. “[He’s] someone who starts out moral and gets slowly deeper into a world” where his formerly trusty moral compass becomes unreliable.
“A poet named Kenneth Patchen said, ‘The one who comes to question himself has cared for mankind,’” Wright said. “I definitely think this show is part of how I question myself.”
“Dirty Sexy Money” is “humorous, romantic, there’s intrigue – you never know what kind of beat is coming next,” Wright added. “The really poisonous thing about a lot of network TV is that you know what it is from the moment it starts and it never stops being that.”
His drama is “on one most populist networks yes -ABC, but it’s intelligent and it’s cheeky and it’s unapologetically complicated and that makes me happy,” Wright said.
-There is a lot going on in the show, but it works well, keeps me interested. Oh, and who is Nicks's Darling half sibling. I also love the angry minister brother.
-I do not understand why the networks would be so quick to cancel these new shows in the face of the writers' strike, instead of taking this opportunity to re-run the entire season and snag some new viewers. There are a few new shows that I did not start watching from the beginning and now sort of wish I did. In turn, I have told people about shows I have been watching (like Dirty Sexy Money) and I think some would start watching the show given the opportunity to see the first few episodes from beginning to end
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
The Watcher - Strike Watch, Day 3: What will happen to 'Dirty Sexy Money' and other new shows?
yes I like DSM esp Nick George who keeps having occasion to demonstrate integrity.
(then last week good drama letting us think he compromises himself for SimonElder, uses influence over Tripp & wrongs him. but, v good, flashdback: Tripp was in on it. lovely.
1-6 Recap "I Love You, Nicky" The Game - That's what Tripp tells Nick, and boy, does he prove it.
and an episode back, where I was most struck by Nick's integrity, not compromising himself:
1-5 Recap Off With Her Head! The Bridge - Well, that's the punishment Juliet would probably prescribe for Natalie, as it turns out Natalie isn't pregnant. The good news is that the twins reconcile, though. Also, Nick chats with Simon Elder.
Jeremy gets drunk & distraught, sings "AllByMyself" in his boxers. awesome. Trip gives Jeremy a stern & contemptuous lecture. Nick stands up to Tripp, tells him he's handling Jeremy all wrong. that's the integrity moment I was esp impressed by. here:
1-5 The Bridge - epis recap (by Couch Baron) p10: Jeremy's red-eyed and sitting in the suit he was wearing before his Near-Nude Revue as Tripp acidly dresses him down in front of Nick, saying that he's had every conceivable advantage given to him and he's wasted it on a two-million dollar "Brooklyn Bridge bacchanal."
Tripp turns to Nick, who clearly doesn't want to be pulled in here, and says that "we" shouldn't just delay the trust -- it should be revoked entirely. I've asked this before, I think, but…can they do that? Nick tries to bring this down a notch, but Jeremy seethes that he doesn't care -- Tripp can take it all as long as he gets out from under his father. "I wish that I could be someone you love, Dad! I wish that, but I can't. I can just be me. I know that's not good enough for you." It looks a bit soapy on the page, but it's affecting in execution, and I love Donald Sutherland for committing to this role entirely and everyone else for rising to the challenge he presents. Jeremy characteristically he's a sweetheart huh, his sister too apologizes to Nick on the way out, and when he's gone, Tripp says he supposes Nick thinks this is all his fault. He sounds mildly dismissive, but Nick refuses to be intimidated, saying he does find it puzzling that Tripp can accuse Jeremy of being irresponsible when he declines to be responsible with him. Tripp tells Nick that the situation is between Jeremy and him, but Nick again won't back down, as he evenly says that part of his job is to provide Tripp with advice.
yes that's the moment I was distinctly impressed by Nick and thought "integrity".
Tripp: This is between me & Jeremy.
Nick: No, it's not, because I am here to say that it's wrong.
yes I like DSM esp Nick George who keeps having occasion to demonstrate integrity.
(then last week good drama letting us think he compromises himself for SimonElder, uses influence over Tripp & wrongs him. but, v good, flashdback: Tripp was in on it. lovely.
1-6 Recap "I Love You, Nicky" The Game - That's what Tripp tells Nick, and boy, does he prove it.
and an episode back, where I was most struck by Nick's integrity, not compromising himself:
1-5 Recap Off With Her Head! The Bridge - Well, that's the punishment Juliet would probably prescribe for Natalie, as it turns out Natalie isn't pregnant. The good news is that the twins reconcile, though. Also, Nick chats with Simon Elder.
Jeremy gets drunk & distraught, sings "AllByMyself" in his boxers. awesome. Trip gives Jeremy a stern & contemptuous lecture. Nick stands up to Tripp, tells him he's handling Jeremy all wrong. that's the integrity moment I was esp impressed by. here:
1-5 The Bridge - epis recap (by Couch Baron) p10: Jeremy's red-eyed and sitting in the suit he was wearing before his Near-Nude Revue as Tripp acidly dresses him down in front of Nick, saying that he's had every conceivable advantage given to him and he's wasted it on a two-million dollar "Brooklyn Bridge bacchanal."
Tripp turns to Nick, who clearly doesn't want to be pulled in here, and says that "we" shouldn't just delay the trust -- it should be revoked entirely. I've asked this before, I think, but…can they do that? Nick tries to bring this down a notch, but Jeremy seethes that he doesn't care -- Tripp can take it all as long as he gets out from under his father. "I wish that I could be someone you love, Dad! I wish that, but I can't. I can just be me. I know that's not good enough for you." It looks a bit soapy on the page, but it's affecting in execution, and I love Donald Sutherland for committing to this role entirely and everyone else for rising to the challenge he presents. Jeremy characteristically he's a sweetheart huh, his sister too apologizes to Nick on the way out, and when he's gone, Tripp says he supposes Nick thinks this is all his fault. He sounds mildly dismissive, but Nick refuses to be intimidated, saying he does find it puzzling that Tripp can accuse Jeremy of being irresponsible when he declines to be responsible with him. Tripp tells Nick that the situation is between Jeremy and him, but Nick again won't back down, as he evenly says that part of his job is to provide Tripp with advice.
yes that's the moment I was distinctly impressed by Nick and thought "integrity".
Tripp: This is between me & Jeremy.
Nick: No, it's not, because I am here to say that it's wrong.
Crooked Timber » » The Challenge of Affluence
Other great academic first paragraphs?
nice, this is working for me much better than the offerings on the metafilter post (pointing to this), the first comment is one I think about and appreciate:
Tractatus 1. The world is everything that is the case.
yay this is good too:
oh, and this, dB:
36. “Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics.” - David L. Goodstein, States of Matter
My vote so far is for #36, which I have read before but had suppressed, along with all other memories of statistical mechanics.
huh, my Grasshopper book:
From Avner Offer’s The Challenge of Affluence
Affluence breeds impatience and impatience undermines well-being. This is the core of my argument. For detail and evidence, go directly to the chapters; for implications, to the conclusion, which also has chapter summaries.that is very good. statement of argument. placed, explicity ('this is the core of my'). imperative. (how to use this book, what it does). first rate.
Other great academic first paragraphs?
nice, this is working for me much better than the offerings on the metafilter post (pointing to this), the first comment is one I think about and appreciate:
Tractatus 1. The world is everything that is the case.
yay this is good too:
David Lewis, Counterfactuals: `If kangaroos had no tails, they would topple over’ seems to me to mean something like this: in any possible state of affairs in which kangaroos have no tails, and which resembles our actual state of affairs as much as kangaroos having no tails permits it to, the kangaroos topple over. I shall give a general analysis of counterfactual conditionals along these lines.
and (seems like dB wld like):
Another Wittgensteinian one, from “Culture and Value:”
We tend to take the speech of Chinese for inarticulate gurgling.
oh, and this, dB:
36. “Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics.” - David L. Goodstein, States of Matter
My vote so far is for #36, which I have read before but had suppressed, along with all other memories of statistical mechanics.
huh, my Grasshopper book:
“It was clear that the Grasshopper would not survive the winter, and his followers had gathered around him for what would no doubt be one of their last meetings. Most of them were reconciled to his approaching death, but a few were still outraged that such a thing could be allowed to happen. Prudence was one of the latter, and she approached the Grasshopper with a final plea. ‘Grasshopper,’ she said, ‘a few of us have agreed to give up a share of our food to tide you over till spring. Then next summer you can work to pay us back.’
“’My dear child,’ responded the Grasshopper, ‘you still don’t understand. The fact is that I will not work to pay you back. I will not work at all. I made that perfectly clear, I thought, when the ant turned me away from his door. My going to him in the first place was, of course, a mistake. It was a weakness to which I shall not give in again.’”
The first two paragraphs of Bernard Suits’s The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia, one of the loveliest philosophy books of the 20th century (and a special treat for Wittgenstein-haters).
and another of my:
“When the world was half a thousand years younger all events had much sharper outlines than now. The distance between sadness and joy, between good and bad fortune, seemed to be much greater than for us; every experience had that degree of directness and absoluteness that joy and sadness still have in the mind of a child. Every event, every deed was defined in given and expressive forms and was in accord with the solemnity of marriage, death – by virtue of the sacraments, basked in the radiance of the divine mystery. But even the lesser events – a journey, labor, a visit – were accompanied by a multitude of blessings, ceremonies, sayings, and conventions.” J. Huizinga, Autumn of the Middle Ages
and
As the night sky, mathematics has two hemispheres: the archimedean hemisphere and the non-archimedean hemisphere. For some reasons okay yes, the latter hemisphere is usually under the horizon of our world, and the study of it is historically always behind the study of the former. Kazuya Kato, Lectures on the approach to Iwasawa theory for Hasse-Weil L functions via BdR
“In 1321, we read in the chronicle of the monastery of St. Stephen of Condom, a great deal of snow fell during the month of February. The lepers were exterminated. There was another great snowfall before the middle of Lent; then came a great rain.”– Carlo Ginzburg, Ecstasies
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