Notes From All Over: Past Week Edition

before i begin this entry i'd like to preface it by saying cyclone anaya's has one of the most fabulously delicious and potent margaritas i think i've ever had.

i'm just sayin'.

and now on with the show...

friendly film festival
my very good friend jason and i started a tradition last year where we gather for a weekend and view movies that neither of us have seen. i tentatively called it the "not yet seen film festival" but i'm open to suggestions.

and finding a weekend's worth of films is no small feat considering we have viewed an obscene amount of movies between the two of us and we relish being quite picky and snobby movie buffs at that. (as an indication: i have rated 1,426 movies on netflix... and yes, i've seen them all and then some!)

the first festival last july was magnificent.... chaplin's modern times, the documentary hoop dreams and altman's the long goodbye were all spectacular. we also watched miyazaki's spirited away which was a brilliant string of enchanting images in desperate need of a plot and we discovered the rare hitchcock film that really, truly, kinda sucked (the wrong man).

we tried to keep the same categories this year... foreign, classic, altman.... and this year we began with altman's mccabe & mrs. miller. interesting film... some classic altman (a conversation between two men about one's beard instantly comes to mind). julie christie was nominated for an oscar but it's beatty's drunken, mumbling mccabe that truly makes the film.

the next morning we started with julie christie's oscar-winning turn in darling. we had heard the film hadn't held up to the test of time well but we were both charmed by the movie... christie is stellar... and there's an interesting moment during a sequence in italy where i turned to jason and said, "this is becoming oddly fellini-esque." next thing you know... men and women are dancing around, exchanging clothes and wigs, and pretending to be one another. it was all very fellini.

topsy-turvy is a mike leigh film that jason and i have wanted to see for a very long time. we both adore leigh and somehow this had made it past us for over 9 years. fabulous film... jim broadbent, as always, amazing. the staging of the numbers... the talent of the cast... so glad i found a VHS of it (yes...this treasure it not yet out on dvd).

we ended saturday with the french film caché. the premise is so fascinating... a married couple starts receiving video tapes of their apartment, apparently surveillanced for no apparent reason. haunting pictures accompany the tape and the stress of the situation brings up long-forgotten secrets and tests the marriage. the film was done by the same director of funny games, but where i understand that film fails this film really was captivating. of course, the talents of juliette binoche and daniel auteuil also greatly help.

on sunday we ended our festival with john huston's the treasure of sierra madre. jason has come lately to bogart and is hungry to see him in everything. being an über-classics buff... i've long loved bogey... and his collaborations with huston are some of my favorites. it's a great film... the madness depicted... bogey is amazing. and walter huston seems to channel an acting style of another time. i was really, very impressed with him... thrilled he won the oscar.

and yes... this is the film with the famous line: "badges. we don't got no badges." believe it or not... a fine bit of acting at that very moment.

great weekend... just what i needed. and it was so nice to see jason.

we hope to do this twice a year... next one - july!

postscript
the weekend was a much needed getaway for me... the stress from work was wearing on me and i just needed some time away from houston and everything i have to think about while living my life. (wow - that sounded dramatic.)

the movies were distracting and the conversations with jason were funny and cathartic.

jason can also sleep in over the weekend where i cannot... so i was able to sit out on the back patio each morning and relax and read and enjoy the brisk, morning air.

it was heaven on earth. for about two hours.

1 tank of gas, baby!
by the way... my gas-friendly toyota corolla made it to leander (north of austin) and back on one tank of gas. sure...the gas light went on as i drove to work the next morning... but with today's gas prices... that fuckin' rocked! (i'm suddenly straight.)

also on the drive... i listened to nothing but showtunes. (and i'm gay again...)

i revisited old favorites: damn yankees, kiss of the spider-woman, victor/victoria.

it was like coming home....

speaking of which.

coming home cookies
so i get back home and there's a package outside my door. it has the word "deer" all over it so i'm worried.

but then i also see the word "bakery." WTF? (to use the vernacular of the internet.)

i open it... the fear of deer meat still lingering in the back of my mind.

no. it's a "thank you" cookie package from a claudia in DC.

i have no clue... there's thanks for my support and hard work... four different kinds of very fancy cookies. and a return address in DC.

my first thought was: "these have probably been outside since friday... it's now sunday. can they still be good?"

but then i had to start thinking..."who could these be from?" my frist thought was hillary clinton's campaign. i've donated a lot... i volunteered a good deal. why not hillary?

it was decided it was hillary.... how very sweet of her.

the next morning i googled the address at work. wrong HRC. it was the human rights campaign. yeah... i've volunteered a lot for them lately too.

oh, by the way... my mom said put the cookies in the fridge. they should be fine. so if you want them... i'm on a diet and they're waiting for you.

the transplant didn't take
with a quick apology to my friend sister epiphenita for suddenly realizing this heading is tacky considering...

i replanted my herb garden the other weekend. the parsley was about the only thing to survive from my prior attempt but it was creeping all over the place. so i thought i'd cut it back and move it to one side (the outside) so it could climb out of the bed as it continued its quest for freedom.

it didn't make it. i'm afraid the transplant and repositioning of the roots was not warmly welcomed by the herbal gods.

rest in peace, italian parsley... the basil, rosemary, cilantro and jalapeños salute your sacrifice.

john adams
if you see me on a regular basis you probably know i've been all about the HBO miniseries john adams. paul giamatti and laura linney fucking amaze me....

mind you, i am not a patriotic person. i don't sing the national anthem (fuck...i stumble over the words) and you'll never see a yellow ribbon magnet or american flag plastered somewhere on my car...

but this series got to me.

while in school, we all learn about benjamin franklin, george washington and thomas jefferson... but adams was in it, man. i'd say adams was responsible for the founding of these united states.

he fought for independence from england when others argued against him. but he helped usher the continental congress into fighting for that freedom. he appointed washington to head the army. he assigned jefferson with the task of writing the declaration of independence. he negotiated in europe for monetary assistance during the war... and he was our first ambassador to england once we defeated them and became our own country.

and, yes... he was arrogant and hot-tempered and often blinded by his egotism. but he was also brilliant and inspiring and really helped shape the very ideas that made this country (for better or worse) into what we know as our american democracy.

it was such a fascinating history lesson... and i've always loved history but this was all so new to me. and, of course, the history of presidents plays perfectly into my politically-obsesssed mind....

but if you didn't have a chance to see this series.... when it comes out on dvd, do yourself a favor.

one of the best things i've seen on television... hands down.

ee-gods!
so monday night i decided to attend the next in what is not even a handful of scriptwriters/houston meetings i have visited.

scriptwriters/houston are the individuals who present the 10x10 every year.

as usual...i was, on average, about 102 years younger than most everyone else in the room.

there were two readings... one which hoped to inspire us as the playwright, herself, was "inspired by angels." and one by the president that was so overpopulated with characters for a 25 minute piece the age-addled audience couldn't keep up.

i've never really attended many of these meetings so during the feedback section of the evening i simply remained quiet in the back of the room, not wanting to overstep my bounds, but silently and roundly judging them all.

i don't want to imply that i am endowed with some great amount of talent... but i pray (i pray?) that i'm better than what i witnessed monday evening.

i desperately want to find a writing group again... one that i can bounce ideas off of and gain clarity from their suggestions... and i'd love to assist their writing as best i can... an exchange of ideas...

but i'm just not sure this is the group.

election results
i'd be remiss if i didn't end with last night's election. hillary! 10 points!

a thing of beauty.

i'm still not sure how she can possibly win the election unless they find a way to count florida. and i still think the negative attacks need to stop.

but she has an argument. a legitimate argument.

and that's all i'm gonna say on that matter.

whew... on that note i guess i better spellcheck this bitch and see what the tequila had to say.

the return of grey's anatomy... tomorrow night.

woo-HOO!

e.