TV There are certain programme which you watched for years but in hindsight realised were just no good. For about thirty seconds I was fixated with Harry and the Hendersons, perhaps because it was a conventional family sitcom in which the main hook, the beast, was a incidental annoyance. It Ain't Half Hot Mum ran for years (and is still repeated) even though it was unremittingly weak. And Punky Brewster. TV Guide asks What where we thinking? But why single out Cop Rock? Great series ... listen ...
Architecture One of the distinguishing features of Grand Central Station, the giant incongruous clock has been lost in the refit. It seems like a small thing perhaps, but how many commuters must look over for the time expecting it to be there, only to find an electronic screen advertising watches?
"The quibble isn't with Grand Central per se but rather with an attitude toward preservation that leaves no room for the clock or any other anomaly. That mind-set banishes the possibility that disparate (read: tasteless/inappropriate/accu-mulated) elements can actually enrich the experience of a public place. In a recent conversation, Fred Bland--principal of Beyer Blinder Belle, the architectural firm responsible for Grand Central's resurrection--remarked that all that was really done to the station was to "clean it up." Although far more than that was done to improve the building, Grand Central has been purged of its diversity and rendered pure. It is now uniformly tasteful and consistent--in fact, a triumph of good taste. It is so consistent that even its goodness is inconsequential for the lack of any variation."
The recent refitting work at Lime Street Station in Liverpool was a vast undertaking, yet the character of the building has remained. Although it's not clear how far they may have gone if budget permitted. [metafilter]
"The quibble isn't with Grand Central per se but rather with an attitude toward preservation that leaves no room for the clock or any other anomaly. That mind-set banishes the possibility that disparate (read: tasteless/inappropriate/accu-mulated) elements can actually enrich the experience of a public place. In a recent conversation, Fred Bland--principal of Beyer Blinder Belle, the architectural firm responsible for Grand Central's resurrection--remarked that all that was really done to the station was to "clean it up." Although far more than that was done to improve the building, Grand Central has been purged of its diversity and rendered pure. It is now uniformly tasteful and consistent--in fact, a triumph of good taste. It is so consistent that even its goodness is inconsequential for the lack of any variation."
The recent refitting work at Lime Street Station in Liverpool was a vast undertaking, yet the character of the building has remained. Although it's not clear how far they may have gone if budget permitted. [metafilter]
Titlebar For those of you wondering why Charles Darwin is up there this week, a good article from New Scientist by way of explaination. The reaction of the church as been particularly interesting, stressing that some parts of The Bible, especially that bit at the beginning shouldn't be taken literally ... which personally I've been saying for years (I'm in agreement with the church suddenly-- scary thought). I particularly love that Evolution is still being debated.
Film I’ve never been too much of a fan of family dramas, the patriarch and matriarch, the kids. In the fact the only example of the genre I find tolerable is ‘The Brady Bunch Movie’ and only there because all of the expected characters and emotions are played to knowingly. In ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ we find ourselves in a conventional territory; except here we are in place after the end of the film when the father cuts the turkey at Christmas as his kids look on and his wife looks up at him lovingly. In this film, the central theme seems to be the importance of a guiding father figure – and how the lack of such a shadow can cloud and eventually be the ruination of kids lives. Which is why I don’t like family dramas.
This is not as good as ‘Rushmore’ and it lacks the charm of ‘Bottle Rocket’. In those films we cared for the characters and so what happens to them. Here, there isn’t anyone to hang onto. So although we have a film that has its moments are pure hilarity, there isn’t anything else. We aren’t moved because we’ve been here before. The distinctiveness of the previous films has been replaced by a sort of faux-CoenBrothers.
And yet I’d recommend the film. It is better than anything else you’re likely to see. The sight gags are fantastically inventive, the detailing in the set design and costume stunning. The understatedness works for the most part. Again it’s a Paltrow movie and again we see another neat little performance from her (although we miss her smile – this is a frowning moment for her). Hackman reprises his Lex Luthor persona a lot; Angelica Houston does very little but gives a lot; the Wilson brothers are also good – although Owen looks like he’s just walked off the sat of ‘Shanghai Noon’ which makes him seem slightly incongorous; Ben Stiller seems to think he’s still playing Angry Guy from ‘Friends’; and Danny Glover reminds us why he’s such a great actor, like Houston, making his scenes via his screen presence. [ebert, shuttlecocks]
This is not as good as ‘Rushmore’ and it lacks the charm of ‘Bottle Rocket’. In those films we cared for the characters and so what happens to them. Here, there isn’t anyone to hang onto. So although we have a film that has its moments are pure hilarity, there isn’t anything else. We aren’t moved because we’ve been here before. The distinctiveness of the previous films has been replaced by a sort of faux-CoenBrothers.
And yet I’d recommend the film. It is better than anything else you’re likely to see. The sight gags are fantastically inventive, the detailing in the set design and costume stunning. The understatedness works for the most part. Again it’s a Paltrow movie and again we see another neat little performance from her (although we miss her smile – this is a frowning moment for her). Hackman reprises his Lex Luthor persona a lot; Angelica Houston does very little but gives a lot; the Wilson brothers are also good – although Owen looks like he’s just walked off the sat of ‘Shanghai Noon’ which makes him seem slightly incongorous; Ben Stiller seems to think he’s still playing Angry Guy from ‘Friends’; and Danny Glover reminds us why he’s such a great actor, like Houston, making his scenes via his screen presence. [ebert, shuttlecocks]
People The sad decline of Robin Williams from the funniest man on earth to Patch Adams was one of the more depressing sights of the past decade. Now Time Magazine are looking at the state of his art and finding someone who, while no longer cutting edge perhaps, still has the power to make you insane: "Even now--especially now, minutes before show time--he is looking for fresh material. A friend of the promoter's comes backstage wearing a shaggy black coat, and immediately Williams is all over her, making barking noises, "look, she is wearing a poodle," then becoming a haughty French grande dame giving fashion commentary. The woman is taken aback and then starts laughing. The stagehands are laughing. Williams is loosening up the only way he knows how: by cracking other people up."
TV I'm beginning to wonder if anyone on '24' is going to sleep. The average snooze is five hours -- can the show stand a major character disappearing for that length of time? (although it would be fun to see the odd cut away to someone turning over under duvet). Superlatives have been heaped on this show from everywhere, but I do wonder if there is enough plot to sustain the whole series. I've written before in a review of 'As If' about hyper-narratives, the playing of a events at a excellerated speed. There is enough plot in the first three hours to fill a whole series of a lesser show. What is remarkable from a writing perspective is the integration of exposition. More than most shows we have characters standing around telling each other information they already know (and in some cases we know), but we somehow don't care. It's almost as though we're happy that they are sitting down and explaining the plot.
But what of the cast. Kiefer Sutherland needs few introductions; it's extra-ordinary though that unlike to some film actors 'slumming it' he hasn't toned down the range of his performance, which is of feature film quality. It's interesting however that for now his is the most recognisable face -- unless you're a Star Trek fan and you'll be sitting there shouting it's Kassidy Yates, Kassidy Yates. Hiring largely unknown but talented poeple keeps the costs down, but also makes the show easier to watch. We tend to see film and television actors through all of their previous performances. When there isn't anything there, we are likely to care more (although it should pointed out that Elisha Cuthbert (Jack's daughter) has been knocking around TV for years as a reporter for 'Popular Mechanics for Kids' -- a sort of US 'How?').
So yes, we have another show to be excited about. Whether this is a passing infatuation (like 'Party of Five') or a marriage ('Buffy') we'll see. Just hope it doesn't end in divorce ('Friends').
But what of the cast. Kiefer Sutherland needs few introductions; it's extra-ordinary though that unlike to some film actors 'slumming it' he hasn't toned down the range of his performance, which is of feature film quality. It's interesting however that for now his is the most recognisable face -- unless you're a Star Trek fan and you'll be sitting there shouting it's Kassidy Yates, Kassidy Yates. Hiring largely unknown but talented poeple keeps the costs down, but also makes the show easier to watch. We tend to see film and television actors through all of their previous performances. When there isn't anything there, we are likely to care more (although it should pointed out that Elisha Cuthbert (Jack's daughter) has been knocking around TV for years as a reporter for 'Popular Mechanics for Kids' -- a sort of US 'How?').
So yes, we have another show to be excited about. Whether this is a passing infatuation (like 'Party of Five') or a marriage ('Buffy') we'll see. Just hope it doesn't end in divorce ('Friends').
Smile When her face moved - her skin vibrated in the wind. His eyes followed the edges of her mouth as they rose and carried her lips into a smile. He could see each muscle moving in a well rehearsed ballet, where the silence of captivation was the music which was needed. For a moment, she was his world and all within it ...
Animation As a character Mickey Mouse has always been a bit bland. Ask anyone what they think of him and they'll probably tell you 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' or the ears. Donald Duck was daffy. Mickey had a squeaky voice. But as an icon for a multinational enterntainment comany he's perfect. Which is why on Walt Disney's anniversary renowned painter Eric Robison has been comissioned to paint 100 Mickey's in various poses and styles. The resulting website, the originally titled 100 Mickeys is a very rich experience, and all of the images are featured, a mix of abstract and traditional. The history of a mouse in one easy sitting.
Blog! The mark of a really good weblog is still being consistently good once the initial interest has died down a bit. Supermodels are lonelier than you think, collects together relevant news stories of the beauiful people (well just women really) together for our edification. Must agree with Monday 11th's post about the Julie Delpy GAP advert -- how did they manage to use such an awful picture? She's cross-eyed in it for goodness sake...
Sculpture Anthony Caro specialises in monolithic sculpture -- objects which are meant to be walked through and experienced. Pieces like Babylon (1997–2001) feel like the most alien of places but with a nagging familiarity (rather like my train journey tonight). From the white cox, you're transported to an organic place, a sterile place into somewhere quite natural, smell of paint, to odour of wood. Oddly, he once objected to the idea of visitors walking into sculpture: "You use your eye as a surrogate for the body. If it’s a sculpture for children or a public sculpture, then by all means invite the spectator to interact in a physical way. I hate the “I can run my hand over it” sort of tactility. By and large the idea of sculpture for the blind is nonsense. Distancing yourself, and imagining yourself in, but not going in, has been an important feature of a lot of my work. A sculpture has an invisible barrier around it."
TV The television version of the Radio 4 series 'Dead Ringers' premiered tonight to very few adverts -- a dry run I suppose. The show was largely successful, with a laugh out loud moment at least every couple of minutes although one of the problems with the radio series still remained -- once the suprise of the impression or situation had passed, the actual sketch took a bit to long. Some master strokes though. The David Dickinson impression is spot on, appraing 'The One Ring', nice mix of pop culture icons; Tracy Emin in Watercolour Challenge (the chin...the foul language); George from Rainbow being bungled (suddenly my childhood is destroyed). One particular worry was how these Tom Baker prank calls could possibly be translated to the tv. Needn't have worried. There was John Calshaw wearing what looked for all thw world like Tom's original Doctor Who costume confusing the clerks in a furniture under the bundling misaprehension that the wardrobes on sale were TARDISes. One of my TV moments of the year so far then is a Cyberman at DFS getting battered to the ground by The Doctor, his weapon of choice, a feather pillow ...
Commuter Life The lights were off in the railway carriage tonight, so that the dusk outside wasn't drowned out by the spotlights inside for a change. A carriage full of people sat in hushed silence watching the scenery, so familiar and yet under these conditions so unreal. The dirty windows rendered the landscape, a charcoal effect, buildings and hills becoming dark shapes interrupted by electrical light. I sat in awe at how the world can be different through even the subtlest of changes, and decided that every train should have a dark place for people who want to have these moments of absolute calm away from the loudness of life beyond the rails.
Six Months On I wasn't here on Monday, so I'll leave you tonight with some thoughts about how I feel now ...
Stuart Ian Burns is a twenty-seven year old call centre advisor living in Liverpool, England.
September 11th was the first day off sick I'd had in months, getting over a cold. I'd spent the morning in bed watching the video of 'Bullett' and had moved to the couch for 'Ever After' which I turned off for a bathroom break as the second plane hit the building. I remember swearing loudly and like everyone else who saw it I suppose just kept watching as the footage was played over and over.
I was divorced from what was happening. I wasn't really thinking about the human cost -- all I kept thinking and saying was that the buildings couldn't continue to stand. I suppose the part of me which cared was shut off somehow, like it didn't want to think about the people inside, what was happening in the building. But I clung onto the speculation. 5000 dead. 6000 dead. 7000 dead.
It was only the next day, on my train into work as I sat reading my newspaper, the tableau photography of the site of the disaster that it began to sink in. As the train passed through Warrington Central I began to weep. I began to think of the people, how I would have felt if I'd been them. I worry about the future a lot, how I'll feel when the people I know are no longer there, and these thoughts overwhelmed me. These people I need to talk to sometimes when it hurts. What happens when they are gone. And self-indulgently I suppose I thought about how I had reacted whilst it was happening. Why was I crying now, the next day? For the first time in a long while I felt like an ugly person.
So, even though I wasn't there, I was so far away from what happened I felt the pain. Like everyone I just felt numb, unable to talk about much else. I'd see people I hadn't seen for a while and I'd still feel the need to talk about it even though they hadn't brought it up. Where where you when? What happened? How did you feel? And I knew it brought down the conversation and that it ruined the night (or day) but it felt like it had to be talked about.
Have I changed? I think so. I saw the end of 'Ever After'.
I'm more tollerant with people than before, expecially strangers. But I was always a reasonably calm person before -- I already felt the urge to see beauty in everything. I think the most significant thing is how I am with people in general. I try and make the most of the time I spend with them, and feel bad when I don't spend as many moments as I could. I get annoyed with others who I know should and could be more giving, but their personal survival instinct stops them.
And there is one other thing. Before I never said goodbye to people. I would be acquanted with someone and I knew I might never see them again when they left the country or left my company. And I would always say 'until next time' or 'I'll see you soon...' Now I just say two words, but they are always heartfelt, and I always mean them, even if they seem a bit false sometimes.
Take care.
[previously posted in this thread at Metafilter; here is the article of inspiration]
Stuart Ian Burns is a twenty-seven year old call centre advisor living in Liverpool, England.
September 11th was the first day off sick I'd had in months, getting over a cold. I'd spent the morning in bed watching the video of 'Bullett' and had moved to the couch for 'Ever After' which I turned off for a bathroom break as the second plane hit the building. I remember swearing loudly and like everyone else who saw it I suppose just kept watching as the footage was played over and over.
I was divorced from what was happening. I wasn't really thinking about the human cost -- all I kept thinking and saying was that the buildings couldn't continue to stand. I suppose the part of me which cared was shut off somehow, like it didn't want to think about the people inside, what was happening in the building. But I clung onto the speculation. 5000 dead. 6000 dead. 7000 dead.
It was only the next day, on my train into work as I sat reading my newspaper, the tableau photography of the site of the disaster that it began to sink in. As the train passed through Warrington Central I began to weep. I began to think of the people, how I would have felt if I'd been them. I worry about the future a lot, how I'll feel when the people I know are no longer there, and these thoughts overwhelmed me. These people I need to talk to sometimes when it hurts. What happens when they are gone. And self-indulgently I suppose I thought about how I had reacted whilst it was happening. Why was I crying now, the next day? For the first time in a long while I felt like an ugly person.
So, even though I wasn't there, I was so far away from what happened I felt the pain. Like everyone I just felt numb, unable to talk about much else. I'd see people I hadn't seen for a while and I'd still feel the need to talk about it even though they hadn't brought it up. Where where you when? What happened? How did you feel? And I knew it brought down the conversation and that it ruined the night (or day) but it felt like it had to be talked about.
Have I changed? I think so. I saw the end of 'Ever After'.
I'm more tollerant with people than before, expecially strangers. But I was always a reasonably calm person before -- I already felt the urge to see beauty in everything. I think the most significant thing is how I am with people in general. I try and make the most of the time I spend with them, and feel bad when I don't spend as many moments as I could. I get annoyed with others who I know should and could be more giving, but their personal survival instinct stops them.
And there is one other thing. Before I never said goodbye to people. I would be acquanted with someone and I knew I might never see them again when they left the country or left my company. And I would always say 'until next time' or 'I'll see you soon...' Now I just say two words, but they are always heartfelt, and I always mean them, even if they seem a bit false sometimes.
Take care.
[previously posted in this thread at Metafilter; here is the article of inspiration]
Blog! For fans of cultural diversity we have reborn-by-design, the work of an Israeli girl living in Canada. Mirroring this place, we have a blog which integrates personal insite with links to interests close to her heart. The post about weblog-as-memorial is particularly poigniant.
Commerce You'll notice that I linked to a page at someone who isn't Amazon above. I've actually been buying at a company from Jersey, Play.com -- I ordered 'Coyote Ugly', Sunday night and it arrived this morning. In a package which had to be signed for. Three points here. Yes, Coyote Ugly. It's a great film. Despite the bizarre dog howl on the menu page. The postage charge. There isn't one. Quite how they're planning on staying afloat with this I'm not sure. And with that in mind, the price. Under Rug Swept is £8.99, which is odd for what is essentially quite an un-commercial album (well it isn't Will bloody Young). So I think I'll be going here in future for anything which isn't books -- well until they go into receivership, anyway.
Music I know you've all been waiting for my review of Alanis Morissette's Under Rug Swept. It's been difficult to find the words, which is why I've probably been shying away. Anyone who read my thoughts on Jagged Little Pill will know how much 'Supported Cornered Flatulant Monkey' was a disappointment. Not so 'Rug'. Here we find an album which fuses the lyrical flexibilty and imagery of the first album with a more carefree musical attitude. In fact whilst Natalie Imbruglia seems intent to be going ever further in Alanis' direction, the Canadian is going towards where the Australian began -- although Morissette wouldn't be found 'naked on the floor' (just in pop videos and on her cds). Something which can be listened to in the background quite successfully -- not that it should. As, again, with Pill we have a series of songs which work excellently in isolation. And Morissette's lyrical verbosity is still intact -- I like a challenge when I sing along and here it is -- why have one syllable in a word when six will do? Of course this makes some sound slightly rushed but this can only begat party games ('What the hell is she singing now?' 'Another 21 things I want in a lover' 'Other possible Alanis song titles') So yes, buy. Yes. Quick word about the cover though. Huh? Why does she persist in album covers which hide one of her greatest assets, her eyes? This one looks like something from a bargain bucket PC paint programme. I almost expected the little sticker on the cover to say '100000 clip art picture free!'
Interrupted Why didn't anyone tell me how fiddly moving a website would be? Here I am though, load much quicker and with everything intact. Slightly worried that my 100mb bandwidth quota has already hit the 9.75mb mark in only past few days, but I'm sure a proportion of that is just me noodling about trying to get things to work. It does demonstrate however how much of a loss Geocities must have been making hosting even just weblogs for free. You all know how little I actually talk about site design (which is odd because some webloggers seem to talk about little else), so I'll get out of the way. How easy is it to set up a simple tabe set. No -- not going to work. Not able to talk about computer stuff -- so let's go elsewhere shall we?
See you after the break...
When I was fourteen, I had the almost misfortune to be going to an all boys school, and since I lived out in the sticks in comparison to the rest of my friends, I had to take a half hour journey to school on the same bus everyday. The only other educational establishments to use this company where the all girl schools a bit further down the line. As you can imagine it was a breeding ground for teenage crushes and broken hearts (as well as, I suspect, the odd future marriage).
Being of that age I suppose, I had multiple crushes on the go at the same time. There was the one in the grey blazer with the brown hair. The tall one in the brown blazer. And the blonde in the purple blazer.
Oh the blonde in the purple blazer. My heart sang. I would have given the world to the one in the purple blazer. Who happened to look almost (but not exactly) like someone glimpsed in a Coca-cola commercial. The one which Robin ‘one hit’ Beck made into a number one single. So whenever ‘First Time’ would churn through the local radio play list and the commercial appeared on TV, my heart would flutter and I’d get a pain in the pit of my stomach. Even though the blonde in the purple blazer wasn’t even there.
She was the image of all cheerleaders in all American high school teen movies. Blonde hair tied back in a scrunchy. Blue eyes. Rouge red lips. I’d sit every journey just looking at her. She was like nothing I’d ever seen before. She smoked, but I knew that when we were together I could persuade her to kick the habit. She drank Pepsi, but I knew I could change that too if she knew about the commercial.
The thing played out as you would expect, with shuddering predictability. She asked me why I was on the same bus as her again and wanted to know why I was following her. I told her I loved her (at the age of fourteen this amounted to asking for her hand in marriage). She looked me up and down. ‘Well I despise you,’ she spat back at me (I mean top marks. If you’re going to crush someone’s heart this was the word to go for. Not sure if she knew what it meant or if she’d heard it on ‘Neighbours’ sometime). I gaped. I turned. I walked away, head bowed. And didn’t listen to the song again for six months. That’s the trouble with advertising -- it never takes into account life’s little tragedies . . .
General Sites AdCritic, The Ad Graveyard, The Commercials Archive, The Google List, The Living Room Candidate, Televisioncommercials.com & The Shame Ads
Product Archives David's Volkswagens, Fifty Years of Coke Ads, Michael Jordan's Ads, Star Wars Episode One, Brad Meltzer Commercials
Articles Ferrero Rocher, Long Live Flat Eric., Hi-tech video recorder that's no advertisement for commercials, Shock Tactics, So you’d like to use one of my songs on your advert, Superman ‘walks’ in TV commercial & AltCulture Infommercials
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