Check Mate

the man who brought us the haunting image of a medieval knight playing chess with Death in order to prolong his life has passed. the great swedish filmmaker, ingmar bergman, died today at the age of 89. i sent one friend an email early today and she told me, with some level of embarrassment, that she thought bergman had already passed.

those of us who knew and loved his work - knew better. i remember watching 'saraband' just a year or so ago (thank you, netflix, for carrying such small, foreign films) and welcomed the intimate conversations and relationships i came to expect from a bergman film.

i was first introduced to bergman back when i first began exploring woody allen. those who know me know i adore allen. and those who know allen know how much he admires bergman. the first bergman film i watched was perhaps his best known - 'the seventh seal.' being terribly afraid of death myself the film quickly captured my young and broadening college mind. the film even inspired my short play that was produced last year - 8:22. a man is deciding how to kill himself when Death arrives early - his watch running fast. when he explains that he is Death and the other character asks, "as in the grim reaper?" Death replies: "as in dancing my happy ass off in bergman's 'the seventh seal.' yes, bergman has influenced me too.

i love his morose subject matter interspersed with sudden and unexpected moments of humor. i admire his use of dialogue and characters as the tools of plot advancement, not silly plot points taken straight from writing 101.

and then there are the images. the knight and Death playing chess. the recently departed dancing off into the sunset. the oppressive red images of 'cries and whispers' (bergman said he always believed the soul was various shades of membrane red - and the movie was about the characters' souls).

allen paid homage to bergman's images and themes in the underrated 'interiors' and even borrowed the plot of 'wild strawberries' for his little seen 'deconstructing harry.'

bergman inspired much of modern cinema and he inspired me. i couldn't simply let his passing go by without notice. i hope he found the answers he had been searching for throughout his career. i hope his films continue to help me develop my own answers as i create new projects, fully aware that many artists before me continue to influence my work ahead of me.

e.

Schoolin' Obama (and the others)

did you guys see the CNN/youtube debate last night? there was some serious schoolin' goin' on by my hillary. she is just so much more polished and knowledgeable than the other candidates.

don't get me wrong... i adore my democratic field. i read 'the audacity of hope' and i really like obama. and i love that he's getting people excited. i've been a longtime fan of biden.... and back in 2004 i was telling my friend about richardson. "we need a governor," i said. "there's this great guy that's the governor of new mexico that i like a lot."

but i'm crazy-silly about hillary. my hand to the god i don't believe in - she makes me cry i get so excited about her.

so i've been reading all the post debate analysis and the general consensus is that hillary won. (except roger simon of politico who's "accurate to three decimal places" scoring system puts edwards ahead of hillary just slightly.)

the minute-by-minute analysis by cnn had this to say about what i found to be the standout answer of the evening:

Obama promises to meet Castro, Chavez, Kim and other dictators in his first year in office.

Clinton refuses to promise, and takes the opportunity to school him:

"It is not that you promise a meeting at that high a level until you know what the intentions are ... I do not want to be used for propaganda purposes," she says. "We’re not just going to have our president meet with Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez ... until we know what the way forward would be."

and on the question of whether anyone has a problem with 24 years (if hillary is elected) of bush/clinton/bush/clinton? hillary's response:

"I think it is a problem that Bush was elected in 2000. I actually thought somebody else was elected in that election. Of course I am running on my own merits, but I’m very proud of my husband’s record as President of the United States."

love her....

now, i thought edwards' youtube video was the best. you can watch it hair, i mean here, if you missed it: http://johnedwards.com/watch/hair/

brilliant, really.

i greatly admire biden's honesty. he is speaking the truth - as much as the far left is craving red meat and immediate withdrawal. biden knows his shit and ain't afriad of no smackdown. hell, he called a gun-toting nut out on national television! of course, we all know biden's hoping for a secretary of state post under a clinton presidency. i'm all for it!

gravel.....bless him..... he's just too much fun. but what a kook! great for a laugh, but we gotta get him out of future debates. (does that sound bad...?)

i could probably go on and on..... but i think i'll stop here. i mean, i'm supposed to be working, ya know.

peace.

e.

Conundrum

while i do love the idea that bush's upcoming colonoscopy will give him just the tiniest bit o' insight into how he's made the rest of us feel over the past seven years as he's fucked us in our collective asses..... i have to ask: is anyone else terrified of the thought that power will be temporarily ceded to dick "prince of darkness' cheney?

i mean....how many people do you think dick can execute in the time it takes to conduct a colon exam?

and now that he'll be in charge of the executive branch....can he no longer claim he is NOT part of the executive branch? can congress finally get their documents?

or will they be too busy cock-blocking all of dick's other plans to rape us of our civil liberties while W is under?

i just don't know.... bush taking it up the ass? cheney in charge of the united states?

it's a tough call.....

e.