Cannonballin' For A Cause

Those who read Don't Print This and Strange Places already know that Bill Lynch is a really talented writer. You may not know, however, that the guy's willing to freeze his junk off for a good cause.

Watch him do it here.

Bill: If this event occurs again next Winter, count me in! And maybe-- just maybe-- we could get a group of regional bloggers to take the plunge too.

Lord knows, a couple of us could use a bath...

Wild Hogs

I need an adventure.

I've never been interested in hobbies that are often stereotyped as "manly." In fact, I've always had some measure of pride in being quite manly due directly to my comfortable acceptance of being unmanly.

(But then I go and use words like "quite," which makes me sound like a real wuss. Which is worse than being unmanly, of course. Much, much worse.)

I need an adventure.

It might be a mid-life thang, but I'm not convinced. The feeling isn't something that a red corvette, career change or trophy wife would fix. My need for adventure isn't based in feeling unfulfilled, or in a need to prove myself. I think mostly it's rooted simply in a desire to feel like I'm living in the moment, facing down danger and truly experiencing life. I don't need that feeling every day. Really. Maybe even once a decade would work.

But I do need an adventure.

I realized my need while watching Wild Hogs. The movie-- starring a bunch of actors who are better than this movie, to be honest--follows the adventure of a quartet of weekend bikers who become Easy Rider posers. Tired of the routine and safety that comes with their cushy desk jobs, driving kids to school in a mini-van, sitting through weekly gymnastics practices, getting geeked up over the return of the TV show Lost or counting down the weekdays until Friday's scheduled trip to Comic World, they decide to go on an adventure.

Waitaminute...that wasn't the plot of the movie. That was the plot of my life. I apologize for the confusion, but see what I mean?

I need an adventure. I'm just not sure what the adventure is gonna be.

Brooklyn Rules

Mrs. Film Geek has the serious hots for mobsters.

I don't think it's the bad hair of the portly body type of the Anthony Soprano stereotype she likes (if that was the case she'd not find me attractive, what with my great hair and Adonis-like body). Rather, I'm pretty sure it's the brotherhood, secret handshakes and the loyalty among thieves that she digs.

Her love for all-things-gangster, though, sometimes plays a role in my movie viewing options. She loves searching the Netflix site for "gangster" and "mob" and having flicks like Brooklyn Rules mailed to our home.


The upside: Brooklyn Rules was written by Sopranos bigshot scribe Terence Winter, and co-stars always-great-as-a-bad-guy Alec Baldwin as the leader of the local branch of the city's mob family.

The downside: Freddie Prinze, Jr. is the lead, and the story is less about gangsters as it is about three lifelong friends trying to figure out their paths in life.

Prinze is okay as the smart one, who struggles to keep his hands clean even while his instinct isn't always very noble. Jerry Ferrara is mostly unbelievable as Bobby, the baby-faced innocent who never seems to have his plans work out for him. The standout performance is Scott Caan, the son of James Caan, who plays the role of Carmine. Carmine recognizes that, unlike his two friends, his career options are pretty narrow. He's attracted to the bling of the gangster lifestyle, and gets in hip-deep before even realizing it.

His actions, of course, affect his two best friends.

Brooklyn Rules is an average film, with a predictable plot and outcome. Although it's not very original, the story is at least interesting and well written.

It's just not very sexy.

Remembering Heath Ledger

I don't pretend to know what sort of human being Heath Ledger was. I know he was a young man before his death earlier this week, and seemed to be relishing his new role as a father. Ledger seemed rather shy and introspective, at least during the few public interviews I saw him give.

But damn, that boy could act.

I thought he was just another pretty face in The Patriot. Then, as if giving the finger to me for pigeonholing him too quickly, Ledger blew me away in Monster's Ball. Ledger's "Sonny" served as the moral compass for the film, and the reason for the personal evolution that occurs in Hank, the character played by Billy Bob Thornton. Ledger's work in Ball was significant enough to make lots of folks take notice, but not a career builder in and of itself.

That came with Ennis Del Mar, Ledger's character from Brokeback Mountain. The character was tough and rough, and very masculine. He also happened to be gay, and in love with another man. Ledger's approach to creating Del Mar helped that character come across as genuine and truthful, and as having a great sense of integrity. I agree with fellow movie-lover Ian Casselberry that Brokeback Mountain is one of the most important films of the last decade.

The importance of that movie became evident this week when bloggers and news sources reported the infamous "God Hates Fags" church, the Westboro Baptist Church, from Kansas, would be protesting outside Ledger's stateside memorial services. “You cannot live in defiance of God,” a spokesperson for the church said. “He got on that big screen with a big, fat message: God is a liar and it’s OK to be gay.”

I doubt seriously that Ledger would appreciate being known for one single role from his career. I do know, though, that the Westboro Baptist Church folk have it all wrong. Ledger's role in Brokeback wasn't important because it slapped a god they happen to worship in the face.

The movie, and Ledger's role in it, was important because of other reasons:

Somewhere in America, after seeing that movie, a kid who previously felt ashamed of his sexual tendencies stopped thinking about suicide. After seeing that movie, at least one set of parents stopped hating their son. Someone who occasionally went out on weekends to bully and beat homosexuals stopped after seeing that movie. And someone who professed to despise the homosexual lifestyle watched Ledger's performance in Brokeback and felt compassion, and made a personal move toward acceptance.

Even if only an inch.

That's Ledger's legacy, at least in my eyes. The "God Hates Fags" people are right about one thing: Ledger did make some powerful statements to his audience. And because of the statements that came from his artistry, the lives of a few people-- and our society as a whole-- are better off.

Tip Jar

Evil Twin's Wife's blog, The Glamorous Life Of A Hausfrau, is a terrific read, even though I don't know what the hell a Hausfrau is. (I was never very good at Espanol.)

I mean, I got me some guesses. But I'm a-guessing those are wrong.

Recently, Evil Twin's Wife (if you have noticed, I have a bit of an obsession over never using abbreviations, and always capitalizing all words in a title. I know both are wrong, but that's the way I roll, man) placed me on a list of bloggers she enjoys reading. The "A Roar For Powerful Words" list. The gig is accompanied by the obligation to provide three tips on blogging, and bestow the award to five other bloggers.

Now, you and I both realize that I know very damn little about blogging. And provide tips on the topic? I still use a Model-T crank to start up the Internet, folks. Blogging is like magic to me, still. So, with that disclaimer, here I go:

Tip #1: Work blue when you want to.

I rarely work blue, but goddamn it I'll fuckin' do it when I please. My junior high principal, George Bailey, once commented during an assembly that profanity simply exposed the speaker's poor vocabulary.

I recall thinking he was a goddamned pretentious snob who couldn't find his ass if he had to. But, that was me thinking with an 8th grader's vocabulary. Now, I'd say he wasn't diverse in his thinking.

It's your blog, curse if you want to.

Tip #2: Write for you.

I know bloggers who write for an audience. Unless I'm getting paid for it, that's just not for me. Enough said.

Tip #3: Don't ever let blogging interfere with your family time.

Sure, blogging can interfere with work and school all you want, those things aren't that important. But let it interfere with your family once, and it's a major mistake.

I've done it. I know.


ETW, Hoyt and Buzzardbilly have handed this award out to many of the West Virginia bloggers that I know well, already tagging them for this award. So, five folks I've not seen tagged who deserve some recognition are:

All Click, No Point: All Click has a terrific sense of humour, and a lively British wit. He's also become a good friend over the past year or so. His blog is always entertaining.

Blog! The Musical: No doubt Spike will make fun of me for adding him to this list. But his podcast blog is highly entertaining, very smart and something everyone should check out as often as possible. The bloke posts too infrequently, but I think that's because it takes him so long to actually come up with material. [ahem]

Fried Rice Thoughts: Ian Casselberry's blog was one of the first I read when I started trying to figure out how to do this hobby. He probably doesn't realize how much I learned from his stuff. He's a terrific writer, and his blog is a must read for me.

J And C And Me: One of the most honest, genuine and funny blogs in the state.

The Charlestonian: Charles--if that is his real name--reminds me of that guy at a party who stands in the corner watching all the other party goers, who then remembers everything he saw and comments about it in detail the next day. He seems familiar to me, because I'm usually in the opposite corner, watching the same folks. Charles writes in a way that always entertains me. I just wish (a) he's post more often, and (b) he'd add me to his list of links.

UPDATE: When I realized I wanted this posted on Wednesday but accidentally posted it on Tuesday, I just had to change it. (The obsession thing, again.) That was after Charles commented. So, I pasted his comment in the Comments section myself. Sorry, Charles.

Heath Ledger

MSNBC is reporting 28-year-old actor Heath Ledger was found dead today in his apartment. More comment later when details are available.

UPDATE: Reports are that Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment, and may have died as a result of either an accidental overdose or suicide. Apparently, he was found with what is believed to be sleeping pills scattered around his body.

I recall Ledger from his role in The Patriot, but it was his role in Monster's Ball that made me take notice of his artistry. His work as Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain deserved an Academy Award.

He was a real artist.

UPDATE II: Reports are scaling back on the idea of suicide. The sleeping pills are now described to have been "on a nightstand beside his bed," and there is talk of Ledger having pneumonia. This very well could have been the result of a tragic accident.

How I Wanna Be When I Get Young

Just ran across this terrific West Virginia blog, Jeff's Skateboard Page. This guy lives the life I wanna live, but am too much of a sissy to do.

Like his--and my--buddy Jackie, these guys got some skatin' in their blood. Poppin' Ollies, turning a railstand into a primo and nosegrinding: these are the kind of guys I pretend to be when I'm driving my mini-van through downtown.

Check out Jeff's Skateboard Page. And pretend along with me.

Cloverfield

Knowing Cloverfield was going to play to a packed theater (at least during the opening weekend, I say with a sly wink) I bought my ticket a little early, and grabbed a seat as close to the middle as I could. Several times during the commercials for local business and before the movie ended, I measured up the audience.

I seemed to fit right in.

J.J. Abrams, the producer/director/writer du jour, seems to have a fairly specific and heavily devoted audience. Geeks sat on the edge of their seats during the commercial for the upcoming new season of Lost, shushing audience members who were talking, in case Abrams provided any new clues about Jack, Sawyer and Kate. (He didn't.) Socially insecure teens watched with their coats and toboggans on, as if taking off the protective clothing would create more discomfort than leaving them on and being hot. And socially awkward adults anticipated a film filled with common Abrams themes: a healthy suspicion of the government; a story-within-the-story plot line, where what's happening on-screen is in reaction to the bigger (but not always evident) picture; and the knowledge that what you are seeing on screen isn't always what it seems.

I'll let you decide the group(s) with which I associate myself. (Here's a hint: it's more than one.) But sadly, not every group got what it was expecting.

The Losties were given no clues about how Jack and his fellow castaways will fare this season on the show.

The insecure teens struggled through the 74 minute film in a packed theater that was several degrees too warm.

And geeky adults watched a movie that was far less entertaining than they expected and hoped.

The first 15 minutes of Cloverfield sets up the relationships of the characters, particularly the relationship between lead Rob (Michael Stahl-David) and his former-best-friend-turned-lover. Told through scenes from a camcorder, the film moves from sweet and funny home movies to scenes that document the destruction of New York City.

By what? The audience isn't sure, and Abrams never tells us. Because it's irrelevant to the movie. Just like Lost is less about what caused the accident that lead to the castaways being on the island and more about how they experience that trauma, Cloverfield isn't about the monster that's destroying the city. It's about the human reaction to that destruction.

The flick coulda used a bit more fear factor.The monster--nearly irrelevant enough to be tagged a MacGuffin--is as much a mystery at the movie's conclusion as it was at the start.

The visual aspect of the story telling is interesting. Without "The Blaire Witch Project" pioneering the hand-held camera perspective, Cloverfield would be ingenious. Several years after Witch, the technique isn't that remarkable. There is a tremendous amount of information given to the audience in short segments via the camcorder perspective, but it still delivers less than desired.

Overall, I was disappointed with Cloverfield. And the majority of the audience seemed to be, too. I sorta expect dollars to drop off quickly.

Bobby Fischer (1943-2008)

Checkmate.

Film Scenes That Matter: Reservoir Dogs

Next to the building where I work is a cafeteria, which has a really great salad bar and a hot buffet. It's not great food, but it's healthy and convenient. Mostly I go there when I'm not eating at my desk, or when I have no lunch companions.

Like [ahem] most days.

I walked into the place after 1pm, hoping the lunch crowed was gone. It was. I found a table and seated myself, then hit the salad bar and poured myself a glass of tea from the pitcher beside the bar. After finishing the salad I grabbed a clean plate, picked up some food from the buffet and re-filled my glass of tea.

Reading the newspaper while I ate was relaxing.

At 1:30pm the hostess came to my table and asked if it was OK if I paid now, since she was going off duty and needed to reconcile her drawer. "Sure," I said, and handed her my debit card. I turned back to the newspaper when she said:

"Would you like to leave a tip on the card?"

What the hell?!?

Suddenly, my head was filled with this scene, from Reservoir Dogs:

"Yeah', I said. ' $3.00."