Tag: youtube

Hello and Goodbye

While reading the other news, I saw that Miguel Ferrar, one of my favorite character actors, had passed away from throat cancer at the age of 61.

I am being a good citizen by tacitly greeting our new President. I didn’t vote for him and frankly everything about him- his campaign, his troubling personal and professional history, his poorly chosen (or in some cases, not chosen at all) cabinet members, his abrasive personality, underhanded tactics, and the petulant Tweets– terrifies me about the future. But, into the future we must go, so Hello, new Mr. President. Please don’t get us nuked.

So, that’s over with.

While reading the other news, I saw that Miguel Ferrar, one of my favorite character actors, had passed away from throat cancer at the age of 61. So young! And from such a talented person with a razor-sharp comedic timing, even while playing a tough guy. I viewed this supercut of some of his best moments as Agent Albert Rosenfeld, probably one of the best characters ever, on Twin Peaks.

In Allan Moore’s brilliant work The Killing Joke, the Joker posits that all of us, Batman and even the saintly Commissioner Gordon included, are only one bad day away from going completely mad, and that madness might actually be a haven. It is implied that the Joker himself went utterly batshit crazy on his bad day in order to cope with its horrific events, and is the generally accepted canon for the Joker’s backstory (or was, I haven’t kept up with Joker-related things much lately and that may have changed).

I would like to imagine that at some point, Agent Rosenfeld had his bad day. He lost his marbles in a big way on that bad day, but that didn’t stop him. OH NO. He pulled himself together, focused on the shit that really mattered, and now is 100% committed to getting the job done. Sure, he has the social graces of a chainsaw with no safety guard, but he’s got miles and miles of heart. He’s there to fix the broken shit and not to make any friends.

So today, I will honor the memory of this fantastic actor by letting my madness keep me sane, and putting in The Work. I just don’t know what else to do.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Not much content today – it was a busy week, although I am working on a big ‘Hannibal-Inspired Dinners I Have Cooked’ entry. I did a nice roast pork loin last weekend, and this weekend is going to be beef burgundy. So check back in a week for that! I’m going to post them under the subtitle People Eating Together– interpret it how you like.

In the meantime and apropos of the mildly spooky date, please enjoy Concrete Blonde’s ‘Bloodletting,’ aka ‘The Vampire Song.’

I think we can all agree that we ALL need to go down by the river where it’s warm and green, have a drink, walk around, because we got a lot to think about. 

I Got An Acceptance!

I am very excited to announce that a story of mine was accepted to The Creative Truth, a poetry/flash fiction publication. “A History of My Life in Six Glasses” is now available!

You can download the whole Volume as a PDF for free here, or give them money for the print copy here.

thecreativetruth

Actually, it’s been available since August and I am just dumb. I submitted the story in July, received my acceptance then, and was told that publication would take place when the volume had enough pieces, so the publisher would let me know. Apparently the email got buried under my Mom’s Facebook Like notifications, because I never realized it was available. Earlier this week I thought ‘Hey, I ought to check on that,’ and was delighted to find I’d been accepted! YAY!

**** In Other News****

The big news is that the Army Corps of Engineers blocked the lease on the Dakota Access Pipeline. Although that’s great news, it’s also only the tip of the shitty iceberg (shitberg? GROSS) as apparently the DAPL intended to keep on drilling. It doesn’t seem that they are, but everyone, including the company, expects them to. Whether they still do seems to be up in the air.

Here’s some good news about the viewing habits of young people: More people in the 16-35 age bracket are watching Planet Earth 2 than any reality television. That is wonderful – I FUCKING LOVE Planet Earth and am super looking forward to season 2. I rewatched the whole series (it’s on Instant Watch!) — even the dreaded Polar Bear episode. You know, the one I swore I’d NEVER WATCH AGAIN. I had to return to the well, and I did. I’m not sorry. Although I did cry again.

polarbear
[weeping sounds] GODSPEED SWEET DESPERATE BEAR! YOU SLEEP AMONG THE ANGELS NOW!
This isn’t a new story, but I thought it was neat: a former CNN sales executive quit her job to help teach Malawi farmers about tech-sharing, so they can share their information with other people in the region.

And just for fun, here is The Rock singing “You’re Welcome,” from Moana.

I still haven’t seen it, but I’m going tonight (FINALLY) because I need a dose of cheerfulness, fun, and chicken wings at my favorite cinema grill.

Saturday night I have a holiday party, and Sunday I’m going to a wedding. So, full weekend ahead!

Have you got any weekend plans? Have you received any good news lately? Share it! I’d love to hear it!

Post Hurricane Status: Unruffled!

I have a much longer post under construction concerning Hurricane Matthew. Spooky Con was cancelled due to the hurricane, so I have nothing to post about that. I’ll get the longer post-Matthew post up on Wednesday!

In the meantime, please enjoy this music video for ‘Genghis Khan.’ I first heard Miike Snow’s song at the gym, and when I looked up the video I fell madly in love. It’s SO. ADORABLE.

Were you in the hurricane? How did you do?

If You’re Blue…

… And you don’t know

where to go to,

why don’t you go

where fa-shion sits… 

 

I needed something to cheer me up, and this classic is perfect. I wanted to watch Haunted Honeymoon last night but apparently I didn’t own it, or lost it somewhere, I watched Young Frankenstein a few months ago, and don’t own Blazing Saddles either. I AM A FILM ENTHUSIAST FRAUD. But I have seen countless others of his – The Frisco Kid, The Producers, The World’s Greatest Lover, and of course, Willy Wonka.

I’m not going on some tirade about how 2016 is the worst year ever or something. It’s not. As our generation ages, more and more of our icons will pass. Think about how grandparents don’t read gossip magazines about actors and actresses of their generation – there are only a handful left, most of the time. It’s just part of aging.

But it still sucks.

For an indication of Wilder’s intelligence and thoughtfulness toward every role he played, look no further than his notes on the Willy Wonka costume, helpfully displayed on the blog Letters of Note a few years back.

I’ve just received the costume sketches. I’ll tell you everything I think, without censoring, and you take from my opinion what you like.

I assume that the designer took his impressions from the book and didn’t know, naturally, who would be playing Willy. And I think, for a character in general, they’re lovely sketches.

I love the main thing — the velvet jacket — and I mean to show by my sketch the exact same color. But I’ve added two large pockets to take away from the svelt, feminine line. (Also in case of a few props.)

I also think the vest is both appropriate and lovely.

And I love the same white, flowing shirt and the white gloves. Also the lighter colored inner silk lining of the jacket.

What I don’t like is the precise pin pointing in place and time as this costume does.

Read the whole thing – the man was a genius in every way!

Anyway, let’s drag this back out of ennui. I hope your Tuesday is great, and the rest of the week even more so!