"'tis no time to play now" romeo and juliet: iv, v

I just watched the Sanbitter video like 3 times rapid-fire. It's mesmerizing. Oh, and I have studying I'm supposed to be doing, so that makes it more transfixing.

I was walking past this really seedy bar this afternoon just as the Preakness was finishing up. I heard this guy yelling at the top of his lungs "Get up there! Get up there!" and then he cheered so loudly I could hear him down the block. I guess he had a little bit of money on the winning horse. I can only hope for his sake it's enough to upgrade to a different bar; the one he was in advertised in the window that they had no public restrooms.

Oh, also, I just read this headline: "Study: Vitamin overuse could lead to cancer." Nice."A new study from the National Cancer Institute suggests a link between heavy use of multivitamins and increased risk for prostate cancer." Nutrition is getting to be more and more of a lose-lose proposition.

I just watched the Sanbitter video again. The guy's wearing a piano tie. It's awesome. It's awesome in the "it makes no sense" kind of way. If I understood Italian it would probably just be lame, but since Italian is just about as decipherable as Klingon for me, it's just pleasantly nonsensical.

And much better than learning the reason why glycerine is added to rolled fondant. (The reason is to make it more pliable and to prevent it from cracking and tearing when used.)

And with that ..... off I go.

"Sun that warms you here" king richard ii: i, iii

"Cats and dogs living together -- mass hysteria!"

That's kind of how it feels up here in the ol' southeast Northeast. There's no way to put it politely (well, that's not true, a better-read person than I might have a more pleasant way of saying this) -- this weather is fucking strange. S-T-R-A-N-G-E.

Actually I just wanted an excuse to put up that scene from "Ghostbusters," because I think of it often in my own little strange mind, and I was able to kind of make it fit here.

But seriously, there are cherry blossoms in bloom here in RI. In January. I'm just saying. Next thing you know, Georgie W. will be admitting he did something wrong. If that happens, I just want to put it out there that you might find me in church next Sunday, making preparations for the End Times.

Whoa - as I wrote that, the sun burst through the clouds for like 15 seconds then went back in. Cue creepy ghost-movie music.

"ruffians dance and leap" king richard ii: ii, iv

For whatever reason, this scene was in my head ALL DAY LONG.

Was there anything better than David Bowie in this movie? I kind of wished I was as cool as him when I saw this movie as a kid. These days this movie comes to mind whenever I'm having a bad day or someone is pissing me off. In mind, I just say "You have no power over me!" It's actually remarkably effective. I recommend it.

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In other news, if you're a local reader of this blog, which, if you are, I am probably related to you, but if you are, just a note that on Thursday at 6pm, author/friend of mine Amy Guth will be reading from her book Three Fallen Women at Symposium Bookstore on Westminister St. You should check it out because it is sure to be a rockin' good time.

And, PS, Adam, it has as of this moment, NOT been 2 weeks since my last post; it has been a mere 12 days. So, mweh.

"it is my father's music" the winter's tale; iv, iv

So tonight I went down to a local tavern called Bovi's and listened to their regular Monday night act, a jazz band called the John Allmark Orchestra. These guys really know what they're doing. My father knows pretty much everything there is to know about jazz -- he grew up in NYC, going to clubs to hear Miles, Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and all the rest when they were in their prime -- and he seems to think trumpet player John Allmark and his band are the bees knees, at least in terms of local music, but even just generally. Tonight, Allmark took a solo and my dad leaned over to me and said, "He was just born to do this."

The band finished up their set with a version of "West End Blues" by Louis Armstrong; they did it in a somewhat more modern blues style than the recording at the above link ... and anyway, hearing that style of music, for some reason, one of my favorite scenes in a crappy movie popped into my head.

The scene is from Adventures in Babysitting. Chris has followed her asshole boyfriend into a blues bar (this being Chicago and all), and when she's ready to leave she finds herself trapped, confronted with an agressive band, whose leader insists that "nobody leaves this place without singing the blues". AND SO SHE DOES! At first everything she says to try to explain her way out of it is agressively punctuated by the band with the classic blues riff "da-DAH-da-da-dah!" - but have no fear, she gets into it quite quickly - she does after all, have quite a lot to sing the blues about.

THEY JUST DON'T MAKE MOVIES LIKE THIS ANYMORE! I'm sorry, you would never see this happen in a movie today. Not even close. The only teen movie I can think of that even approaches this kind of lighthearted goofiness is maybe "10 Things I Hate About You," with its funny little scene where Heath Ledger sings "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" over the school stadium PA. But that's SO NOT EVEN CLOSE.

Of course, some people would say that it's a good thing that they don't make movies like this anymore.

But not me! I love how absurd they are! I know they're not Good Movies. But they were made with such earnestness that I find them impossible not to love.

I know almost all my posts so far have referenced some dumbass bit of 80s pop culture, and if that irritates any of the 3 readers of this blog, well, too bad. This is the culture that shaped me, for better or worse! And I look on it fondly.

Oh, one other thing I feel I have to mention: there is an enigmatic listing on IMDB when you search for "Adventures in Babysitting" - it has the 1987 movie I referenced earlier, and a TV pilot version that came out shortly after that, but then it says "Adventures in Babysitting (2008)." When you click on it, it says that info is only available to members of IMDBpro. But all I can assume is that Hollywood has yet again shown itself unable to come up with new ideas and is about to remake this movie! Can you even imagine how they will update this movie? It will be horrible!!! Part of what made the movie great was that it came from a time when you could still believe that a group of kids from the suburbs would be awestruck by The City and all the dark dirtiness that lives and thrives there. Nowadays, cities are all Disneyfied anyway; there's nothing to be scared of. Just pop into the nearest Johnny Rockets if you're lost in a city and the waiters will serenade you with "YMCA" until your mom can come pick you up. I don't smell boxoffice sucess with this one, but I saw "Snakes on a Plane" at the 10pm pre-opening show. So what do I know.

"marvellous sweet music!" the tempest: iii, iii

I'm not going to be shy about admitting that I am a child of the 80s. I was born in the late 70s and my predominant childhood memories are all in the 80s. Since I wasn't a teenager in the 80s, my perception of being a teenager in the 80s was shaped by the movies and music and television that was all around me. My babysitters all watched MTV - yes, we were able to be transfixed even though "all they did" was play music videos. By the time the 90s had rolled around, I was already well into the world-weary preteen years, already looking back at what I thought was my wasted childhood and my inability to return to those halcyon days. The 80s were a simpler time, a time when technology still seemed to hold the keys to the future, when we could still say "cool!" when we saw a computer in someone's house, but it was the turning point, too, a time when somehow there was a balance between naive wonder at the world before us as well as a new understanding of the problems of our world, and how we as a generation would have to face them, and use the new tools at our disposal to try and make the world a better place. Even though every generation says this, it was a unique time that shaped my view of the world today.

(Oh, a side note before I continue. To the very sweet, very friendly, very young people that I seem to encounter a lot lately as the new school year gets in full swing: You are adorable. You are fresh-faced and naive, and your determination and upbeat attitude is refreshing to me. My only advice to you in dealing with folks of "my generation" -- who, let's face it, are really only about 8 to 12 years older than you -- is this. If you're going to ask my age, that's fine, I will answer gladly; I'm not one of those women who won't reveal her age. But when I reply gamely "Twenty-nine," try to avoid widening your eyes and saying "Wow!" It tends to be off-putting. And the half-hearted follow up of "you don't look twenty-nine" barely covers things. Just letting you know.)

Well, back to my original point. I'm a child of the 80s, and my perception of life has been shaped by that fact. So, it is with a little trepidation and a fair amount of embarrassment that I admit the following fact about myself: I often think in music montages. That's right, you know those scenes popularized in the teen flicks of the 80s where, to get the point across of some kind of dynamic action taking place over the course of time, the only sound is a catchy song with lyrics that barely tie into the plot and the scenes show the progression of action happening quickly so we can get to the happy denoument. Well. Sometimes - ok, a lot of times, and it happens even more now that I have an iPod - I'll be doing a very normal, everyday thing, such as laundry, and I'll imagine it all going down as a musical montage. As I pull up to the laundromat, the opening riff of Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes" will play in my head, and every mundane action as I do my wash will appear in my head as a cut shot in a montage set to that song. It's .... well, let's face it, it's a little pathetic.

The culprit for this disorder is one of two movies:

The Breakfast Club, "We Are Not Alone" (Karla DeVito). This one was key because it was about teens and high school, and I was very influenced by anything I thought older kids were doing. At first glance, this scene doesn't seem quite so much a montage as it is just a crappy dance scene, but it skyrockets into montage range when they do the cuts of different characters dancing on the railing. Highlights include Judd Nelson dry humping the sculpture, Molly Ringwald showing off her super-cool princess outfit as she dances on the landing, and Emilio Estevez playing air guitar in all his stonewashed-jean glory. These kids didn't have much in common, but crappy pseudo-rock brought them to new levels of understanding.

The Karate Kid, "You're the Best" (Joe Esposito). Possibly the gold standard by which all movie music montages must be judged. It has a lot going for it, from the clenched fist of approval from the Cobra Kai Sensai, to the twitchy-classic-jock-neck-cracking performed by the bleach blond Cobra Kai lackey before he enters the ring with Daniel-san, to Mr. Miyagi's passive onlooking, joined by a chipper Elizabeth Shue. What makes this montage so spectacular is that they show the match officials moving Daniel-san's name placard up and up on the tournament standings chart, to indicate him moving effortlessly through to the championships. Most important, they chose a song that really kicks it into the next level through the use of switching between major and minor keys, really building up the tension and getting you ready for the all-time classic Sweep-the-Leg Moment ("Put him in a body bag, yeah!") that follows shortly after. You can't beat this top-notch montage.

In any case, this problem is one I'm going to have to live with. So, fresh-faced youngsters, if you catch me bopping my head and singing to myself as I carry out an everyday task, just chalk it up to the fact that in my head, I'm living it up in the old days. Just try not to say "Wow."