Because I said so. Well that would be the shortest approach. And since this blog is my lonely yet sovereign realm, I can say so with the most brazen disregard. I have already exhaustedly gone through the reasons why modern movies look like they were produced by ambitious squids, and want to accent the positive in this post so I will merely briefly summarize the reasons why today's movies make me want to cry like a baby, and not in a good way.
1) Bad acting
2) Bad actressing
3) Bad directing
4) Bad writing
5) Bad editing
6) Either too much hand held camera, or the camera is going through DTs
7) Bad lighting
Good point- expert special effects.
Now that is enough cultish cultivation of negativity, let us glorify the great films of the past.
Some will rip to shreds the old silent films, but I think that they should not be judged by present day standards. Everyone was still learning the art of moviemaking- it was the pioneering period, so a few figurative wagon trains would be burned. But at least this was a noble adventure. Even though the acting could be stagy and the quality of of film abysmal, many lasting great movies were created. Some of the better ones took advantage of the absence of sound. Metropolis for example, created a very unreal but compelling world. A mixture of dream and nightmare. It was at its best being in both silence and black and white. Nosferatu did something similar with a different subject.
There were films though that I think suffered from not having sound. The silent shorts of Laurel and Hardy are really alot better when we can hear their voices, which only add to their lovable hilarious personalities. Those performers with good voices, and voices that the public imagined fit their characters, prospered with the advent of sound. Great Garbo was fortunate to be one of those performers, even with less than perfect English.
All of these stars of this time and into the 50s even, created a a very glamorous impression that is unfortunately lost today. I think it is in part due to over saturation in the media, and part to being children of a more modern age- our personalities are forever different. It seems to me that whether we like it or not, actors or not, we have become more homogenized- like a nest of termites.
Great movies from all periods in the past had great directors, who knew how to use lighting, camera angles and editing. As ancient as Eisenstein is, he is still an amazingly original director. No one is so inventive now, or even bothers to imitate him. There is Hitchcock, Huston, Kubrick, and many more who really knew their art. I think the last crop that were able to make films at this high level were rising in the 70s.
Actual writers were sometimes used to write screenplays. Unfortunately now there are no actual writers, at least not any involved in the film business or selling books in the bookstores. East of Eden was based on a Steinbeck book, 2001 based on Clarke's book.. there were so many. I think one problem today is the writer died out by the early 70s.. now we see lousy, yet technically impressive remake after remake. Next they will be filming Dylan Thomas' poems. They have run out of quality filmable material.
So there it is- all the quality that used to exist in movies has been silently sucked out while we all became slaves to keyboards of different kinds. Go watch a great movie this weekend! Try anything by the director Ozu.
And some dinner music for dinner theater:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F54sIDRWkNM
Horoscope for the terminally dizzy: You have achieved perfection. Not only in yourself and your astute attention to non existent details, but also through a species of cowardice shown through insulting those who have all of those disgusting qualities you have nothing to do with. Don't worry they will never catch you. Worms that have dug that deep are comforted by the roaring blaze at the Earth's core. Of course they are also barbequed to a vapor. Try to bring out the cross-eyed euglena within this month, as you experience a return to your core being. Face issues head on and directly contact those you have trouble with. Invest in ice cream. Control is impossible, but influence causing surrender is possible. But not for you. Lucky days: the 1/4; and the 32nd. Have a nice day.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Various Well-Structured Ramblings
Hello, it has been a long time, hasn't it? Well, of course you haven't looked at this thing at all, so it really hasn't been a long time, or it has been a very long time. I just thought that I would add another post to see if I was still capable of writing. Today's whine will be: What on Earth is the matter with everyone, anyway? It seems like people have lost whatever fragmentary minds they might have once had. I really don't say this to offend, but it seems to me that on one is happy these days. I find that I am happiest myself when I am spending time by myself, with my soul mate, the computer. Of course when you are living in experimental Teflon FEMA housing, with the government continually testing controlled gamma ray bursts on your cranium, you can be a bit a cranky. Looking back in time a little, it seems to that towards the very end of the last millennium, my life reached a kind of breakneck pace that I guess it couldn't continually sustain. Really things were never that great.. I never had much money, but I certainly had more than I have now, and more than I will probably ever see in the future, barring the success of the FOREX gold rush. Maybe this crap that I write really isn't is as good as I think it is. Maybe it is really only suitable for the most erudite inhabitants of the Andromeda Galaxy. Maybe even cretinous euglenii curl their flagella at the merest insinuation of my writings. I have written enough to fill attics and feel that I am talking to some kind of audience, but they never really manifest very clearly.
That was a rather large tangent. At any rate, when 2000 arrived along with the wholly evil Resident Bush,Reagan inaugurated a decade himself) everything began to crumble. I have honestly not had very much fun since then. Maybe I have learned alot, but who cares? Depression? Mania? Hypothalamic Lesions? Water on the Spleen? Crazy ex-girlfriends poisoning my possessions while I am out? Maybe all of the above, but I really don't think that is it. I have had the worst possible luck, in a relentless trivial way, rather than in the " Oh my god, the Komodo Dragon severed my legs" way. Not like I haven't fought. I almost died in 2000, but I lived, maybe through my own dim determination and no thanks to the doctors. Life has been alot harder since. It seems to match something chronic fatigue syndrome, which I am sure I was skeptical of- until I got it. All of the physical problems I have had since then- none of which I had before - hyper-sensitive skin, memory/concentration problems, cold hands and feet, week, slow pulse, seeing afterimages, pain in odd places. Once I had pains in every joint in my body. The only one that has not recurred so far is waking up gasping for air, feeling like I was going to die- that was at the beginning of the whole nightmare.
I was nothing like this before: I worked all hours, slept 4-6 hours a night, ate drank everything ( including caffeine, NO alcohol though, tons of pop both diet and regular, vats of chocolate milk- I set up an altar to the Nestles rabbit at one point)
So here I am about 8 years later with many of the same problems. I am always low energy. It really upsets me when friends and family don't take this seriously. Don't they see what has happened? Don't they remember the juggernaut that I used to be? Old age is another alibi tossed out. Yes the only case of old age that descended in about 1 month, and includes skin sensations, cold feet and hands, weak/slow pulse, terrible sleep, memory and concentration problems and all around fatigue.
So maybe that is why is seems the world has gone crazy. I am the same person but it is so hard for me to achieve my goals now, which are not standard goals I admit. To adopt other goals is to me to become another person- I have no interest in it. I will be myself in a mediocre capacity rather than live someone else's life very well. I am interested in academic subjects ( I'll toss astrology in there-maybe it will make it someday) and artistic subjects. That is it. Death before the coal mine.
And to close- I still think people are nuts. They are way too materialistic for one thing. It is all about the body, and those of us without a body like me are worthless I guess. Bodies are for babies anyway...
Horoscope for wayward minds: an eraser that slipped out of one of the Apollo missions is conjunct their jettisoned toilet bowl cleaner, firmly in the constellation of "I have no idea what I am talking about, so I shouldn't critique you". Red and Green are lucky colors; bet on PI and negative infinity in the lotto. You will meet a tall short familiar stranger who will have some kind of effect on you. Or not.
Here is the movie of the week:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kPQR-OsH0RQ
That was a rather large tangent. At any rate, when 2000 arrived along with the wholly evil Resident Bush,Reagan inaugurated a decade himself) everything began to crumble. I have honestly not had very much fun since then. Maybe I have learned alot, but who cares? Depression? Mania? Hypothalamic Lesions? Water on the Spleen? Crazy ex-girlfriends poisoning my possessions while I am out? Maybe all of the above, but I really don't think that is it. I have had the worst possible luck, in a relentless trivial way, rather than in the " Oh my god, the Komodo Dragon severed my legs" way. Not like I haven't fought. I almost died in 2000, but I lived, maybe through my own dim determination and no thanks to the doctors. Life has been alot harder since. It seems to match something chronic fatigue syndrome, which I am sure I was skeptical of- until I got it. All of the physical problems I have had since then- none of which I had before - hyper-sensitive skin, memory/concentration problems, cold hands and feet, week, slow pulse, seeing afterimages, pain in odd places. Once I had pains in every joint in my body. The only one that has not recurred so far is waking up gasping for air, feeling like I was going to die- that was at the beginning of the whole nightmare.
I was nothing like this before: I worked all hours, slept 4-6 hours a night, ate drank everything ( including caffeine, NO alcohol though, tons of pop both diet and regular, vats of chocolate milk- I set up an altar to the Nestles rabbit at one point)
So here I am about 8 years later with many of the same problems. I am always low energy. It really upsets me when friends and family don't take this seriously. Don't they see what has happened? Don't they remember the juggernaut that I used to be? Old age is another alibi tossed out. Yes the only case of old age that descended in about 1 month, and includes skin sensations, cold feet and hands, weak/slow pulse, terrible sleep, memory and concentration problems and all around fatigue.
So maybe that is why is seems the world has gone crazy. I am the same person but it is so hard for me to achieve my goals now, which are not standard goals I admit. To adopt other goals is to me to become another person- I have no interest in it. I will be myself in a mediocre capacity rather than live someone else's life very well. I am interested in academic subjects ( I'll toss astrology in there-maybe it will make it someday) and artistic subjects. That is it. Death before the coal mine.
And to close- I still think people are nuts. They are way too materialistic for one thing. It is all about the body, and those of us without a body like me are worthless I guess. Bodies are for babies anyway...
Horoscope for wayward minds: an eraser that slipped out of one of the Apollo missions is conjunct their jettisoned toilet bowl cleaner, firmly in the constellation of "I have no idea what I am talking about, so I shouldn't critique you". Red and Green are lucky colors; bet on PI and negative infinity in the lotto. You will meet a tall short familiar stranger who will have some kind of effect on you. Or not.
Here is the movie of the week:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kPQR-OsH0RQ
Friday, July 11, 2008
Astrology has arrived...
For all of you out there who are interested in Astrology, and for those who who have no interest, and especially for those of you who hate the ground It walks on, I have decide to add my Astrology web site, which has managed to endure, from the dawn of Sumer, down through the millenia incarnation after ghastly incarnation, until you see it before your very own disbelieving eyes. Feel free to find out how the future holds you in contempt in it's own personal peculiar way. At the present moment, I am too "indisposed" to update all the horoscopes, but since the sun is now in Cancer, we are all safe within our womby homes, weeping over treasured lint from our childhoods to venture out into the harsh world anyway. I will have them done in couple of days.
This is not a commercial website- in that it has never made a single cent, but unfortunately due to the arcane constraints of modern "society" I am forced to labor for my daily bread. Nothing would please me more than to provide everything for free... but then Big Bother would have to at least render unto me the merest of stipends for maintenance of body mind and soul. So with the loving hand of Pay Pal to help me, I will shortly start proving priceless sage astrological wisdom
for modest remuneration. If I can switch to reorganizing as a non-profit I will let you know.
Now, what is this morass that we call astrology? The opinions run very strong here. I think astrology could be a fulcrum point for the accumulated tandem rage of both the scientific and Christian communities...scientists might like to burn both Christians and astrologers though... and the Christians would like to burn scientists, and astrologers... oh what the heck anyone who is even a member of the wrong religion...then they turn inwardly, exposing heretical sect after sect.
Those of you who have read my opinions on the malevolent non-existence of God might find it surprising to find that I believe in astrology. Well don't worry- I don't. Not yet at least anyway. There is clearly an order to the universe ( however evolving and temporary) and a cyclic quality to everything- galaxies flyin' around galactic centers, solar systems whipping with a carefree recklessness through a galaxy, the planet Urp (tm) ( contains more than RDA vitamins and minerals for healthy adults- may cause swelling, rashes, hyponatremia, vagal schwannomas, transient rabies, bulging eyelids, squeaky kidneys, disillusionment and death) merry-go-rounding around the solar maypole, the seasons teasing us with their flirty comings and goings... so why can there be no guide to the correct times to do things in life? Clearly if I live in Yellowknife and want to take a swim in my polar bear pond in the middle of January, this would be ill-advised. Similarly initiating new stuff when there are 2,340 bodies in Pisces (planets, sub-planets, asteroids, hemorrhoids, chirons, astronaut bones, radioactive rubbish from Andromeda, fossils of hamster spacecraft, etc) is not the wisest idea. We have the four earthly seasons, and then there are the 12 cosmic seasons. ( Someone should do some research on solar system and galactic astrology.. although the 2112 thing is hooked in here)
But, you snort and spew, the four earth seasons are plainly evident. This is where the problem comes in, trying to explain the evolutions of the inner life to one who thinks all things are always possible. Well are you the same person now as when you were 12? Even discounting biological changes, your mind has added information...we are always limited by our thinking
But even if there are changes taking place, how on Pluto do the planet positions have anything to do with all this? The planets show what the prevailing "weather" is like for life. It wasn't arrived at empirically. At least not completely or rigorously. It was arrived at through insight and observation, observation confirming insight. Science does something similar, but the rules of testing in science are such they only apply to mechanistic phenomena. This is one reason why psychological or social science "testing" is always much flimsier than testing Newton's ideas for example. People are really too complex to be evaluated in this way, due to the fact that the mind is so complex, and still so poorly understood. Astrology has rules, but the astrologer must always depend on intuitive insight in the interpretation. This material is coming from the Mind, which scientist also partake of, never giving it any real credit. Call it the mind of God, the mind of the Creator, the "force" of the universe..whatever it is, everyone can connect to it. And finally the big letdown- even if all this is false, I think it is a good thing, because people can experience joy doing it.
And even more finally- some reasons why I suspect astrology to work: 1) when am out in public, once every Pleistocene, I will hear songs on the radio. I think if you did a statistical analysis of the singer's sun sign you would find the singer's sun sign is the same as that of the transiting moon by significantly more than 1/12 of the time. Are the people who select this music all practicing astrologers? Nuhuh. They would be lucky to tell you the sign that the Sun was in.
2) My best friend was born 11/5/61 (loathes astrology btw). He was one of very few friends I have had and the friendship has lasted a very long time. When I went to college I had a hard time making new friends, and felt very sad and alone being removed from my familiar home environment. My roommate in my second year became one of my good friends. We had a lot in common. I really wasn't at all interested in astrology at that time, but I asked him his birthday, maybe subconsciously because he reminded me of my best friend. He told me 11/6/61. We had already been friends for over a year by this time, just to make things clear. I was very surprised. Later, when I became an astrologer, I remembered this event and compared our horoscopes. I had Venus conjunct the sun of both of these people, in my seventh house of partners. There were other good links as well. The rising sings of these two people may have been different; the moons certainly were. But they had very similar horoscopes. Ok, if I made friends only with people my own age in college, that would make the month a 1/12 shot. Not the shortest odds. But close to the same day? The same day would be 365 to one against. Not proof, but enough to keep my mind open on the subject. And the moon is in Scorpio today.. but I guess I cheated there..
May Jupiter Bless You......
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ts-2lg5fpQ4
This is not a commercial website- in that it has never made a single cent, but unfortunately due to the arcane constraints of modern "society" I am forced to labor for my daily bread. Nothing would please me more than to provide everything for free... but then Big Bother would have to at least render unto me the merest of stipends for maintenance of body mind and soul. So with the loving hand of Pay Pal to help me, I will shortly start proving priceless sage astrological wisdom
for modest remuneration. If I can switch to reorganizing as a non-profit I will let you know.
Now, what is this morass that we call astrology? The opinions run very strong here. I think astrology could be a fulcrum point for the accumulated tandem rage of both the scientific and Christian communities...scientists might like to burn both Christians and astrologers though... and the Christians would like to burn scientists, and astrologers... oh what the heck anyone who is even a member of the wrong religion...then they turn inwardly, exposing heretical sect after sect.
Those of you who have read my opinions on the malevolent non-existence of God might find it surprising to find that I believe in astrology. Well don't worry- I don't. Not yet at least anyway. There is clearly an order to the universe ( however evolving and temporary) and a cyclic quality to everything- galaxies flyin' around galactic centers, solar systems whipping with a carefree recklessness through a galaxy, the planet Urp (tm) ( contains more than RDA vitamins and minerals for healthy adults- may cause swelling, rashes, hyponatremia, vagal schwannomas, transient rabies, bulging eyelids, squeaky kidneys, disillusionment and death) merry-go-rounding around the solar maypole, the seasons teasing us with their flirty comings and goings... so why can there be no guide to the correct times to do things in life? Clearly if I live in Yellowknife and want to take a swim in my polar bear pond in the middle of January, this would be ill-advised. Similarly initiating new stuff when there are 2,340 bodies in Pisces (planets, sub-planets, asteroids, hemorrhoids, chirons, astronaut bones, radioactive rubbish from Andromeda, fossils of hamster spacecraft, etc) is not the wisest idea. We have the four earthly seasons, and then there are the 12 cosmic seasons. ( Someone should do some research on solar system and galactic astrology.. although the 2112 thing is hooked in here)
But, you snort and spew, the four earth seasons are plainly evident. This is where the problem comes in, trying to explain the evolutions of the inner life to one who thinks all things are always possible. Well are you the same person now as when you were 12? Even discounting biological changes, your mind has added information...we are always limited by our thinking
But even if there are changes taking place, how on Pluto do the planet positions have anything to do with all this? The planets show what the prevailing "weather" is like for life. It wasn't arrived at empirically. At least not completely or rigorously. It was arrived at through insight and observation, observation confirming insight. Science does something similar, but the rules of testing in science are such they only apply to mechanistic phenomena. This is one reason why psychological or social science "testing" is always much flimsier than testing Newton's ideas for example. People are really too complex to be evaluated in this way, due to the fact that the mind is so complex, and still so poorly understood. Astrology has rules, but the astrologer must always depend on intuitive insight in the interpretation. This material is coming from the Mind, which scientist also partake of, never giving it any real credit. Call it the mind of God, the mind of the Creator, the "force" of the universe..whatever it is, everyone can connect to it. And finally the big letdown- even if all this is false, I think it is a good thing, because people can experience joy doing it.
And even more finally- some reasons why I suspect astrology to work: 1) when am out in public, once every Pleistocene, I will hear songs on the radio. I think if you did a statistical analysis of the singer's sun sign you would find the singer's sun sign is the same as that of the transiting moon by significantly more than 1/12 of the time. Are the people who select this music all practicing astrologers? Nuhuh. They would be lucky to tell you the sign that the Sun was in.
2) My best friend was born 11/5/61 (loathes astrology btw). He was one of very few friends I have had and the friendship has lasted a very long time. When I went to college I had a hard time making new friends, and felt very sad and alone being removed from my familiar home environment. My roommate in my second year became one of my good friends. We had a lot in common. I really wasn't at all interested in astrology at that time, but I asked him his birthday, maybe subconsciously because he reminded me of my best friend. He told me 11/6/61. We had already been friends for over a year by this time, just to make things clear. I was very surprised. Later, when I became an astrologer, I remembered this event and compared our horoscopes. I had Venus conjunct the sun of both of these people, in my seventh house of partners. There were other good links as well. The rising sings of these two people may have been different; the moons certainly were. But they had very similar horoscopes. Ok, if I made friends only with people my own age in college, that would make the month a 1/12 shot. Not the shortest odds. But close to the same day? The same day would be 365 to one against. Not proof, but enough to keep my mind open on the subject. And the moon is in Scorpio today.. but I guess I cheated there..
May Jupiter Bless You......
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ts-2lg5fpQ4
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