Sarah Bernhardt

Sarah Bernhardt fascinates me for many reasons: her admission to having to be ridiculous at times, her seriousness about her creative endeavors, her ability to ‘take’ great photos, her love of story-telling, her intrigue with death, and the fact that her son was the great love of her life. 

Today Diane Rehm had a rebroadcast of a great show on Robert Gottlieb’s biography of this woman who is said to be the greatest actress of all time.

Iz excited!

I’ve always been a fan of Chopin, but didn’t hear this piece until I saw it in the Vietnamese movie “The Scent of Green Papaya,” which was played during a thunderstorm and an emotional storm all happening at once. It was quite effective and I’ll never be quite certain whether I love the song just for the song or because of that scene. But hopefully one day I’ll be able to translate how much I love it when I play it.

The biggest obstacle is some long left hand stretches that have to be played swiftly. My grand piano teacher always said to lightly touch the nearest octave note to be able to measure the distance without looking; hopefully that will work in this case.

Here’s a clip from the movie (not the Chopin, but one of the few clips I could find on YouTube), and may I interject here that Anh Hung Tran is an amazing writer/director, creating seamless movies with amazing visuals and soundtracks.

I have to admit that “Clair de Lune” was part of this movie, too, so yeah, maybe I just really want to play this soundtrack.

Glenn Kenny describes The Eastwood Pass:

…certain critics, so thoroughly enamored of Eastwood—not just Eastwood the director, but Eastwood the man, the myth, the legend—are just so thoroughly enamored that they’ll ignore his films’ many, many, many shortcomings. To this accusation I can only personally respond: Okay, you caught me. Red handed, and dead to rights.

I’m a big Clint Eastwood fan, but there are many films that I just can’t make it through.  Hell, my first date was seeing “The Dead Pool.”  But despite that, he still gets a big pass here, as well.

Smashing Magazine showcases “Sweet Chocolate Websites.”

As one would expect, chocolate website often use an appetizing brown dominant color. If you take time to look at the panel of colors associated with it, you will find out that there is a lot of combination working really well. Apart from this component, each site is unique and features an original identity, depending on product presentation and given information.

Despite the grammatical issues with this article, it points out some beautiful design techniques and color combinations.  I love the hoizontal layouts as well (memo to myself, create a horizontally divided WP theme some time.)

See All Eight Arcade Fire Album Covers at Pitchfork.

Maybe the whole thing is a commentary on how similar and interchangeable all these different suburban scenes are? Whatever the case, the album arrives August 2 in the UK/Europe and August 3 in the U.S. via Merge.

Comes out in the U.S. just 2 days after my birthday!!

After watching, I spent a good part of this week thinking about the powerful and incredibly sad movie “The Stoning of Soraya M.”  See the iTunes trailer.

Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are has always been one of my favorite books.  In fact, I even find myself watching the children’s TV show “Little Bear” (based on Sendak’s Little Bear) every now and then, even though my daughter grew out of the show years ago.

The playful (and wild) spirit as well as the art and craftiness of Sendak’s works are what attracts me the most, and while the movie did retain some of that look, feel, and craftiness (which was my favorite part of the movie), it did not have any of the playfulness that Sendak’s book had.  Rather, the wild things were morose, lackadasical, mumbly, and just plain whiny throughout the entire movie.  And that’s where the movie goes very wrong, in the characters’ desperate attempts to shove their sadness and loneliness in your face with every line, they never actually pull you in to their characters, but rather leave you wishing they’d take their overdramatic emotions off of their furry sleeves.

With enough hipster names for ten movies, including Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius), and actors Forest Whitaker, James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara, Max Records (of DCFC video fame), Catherine Keener, and Mark Ruffalo among others, it had the ingredients of a must-see yet doomed to fail movie from the start.  Well I had to see it, especially after seeing that amazing trailer with Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” playing with the wild scenes.  (And where is that Arcade Fire tune now that the movie’s out, I ask you??)

For me, it would have been better to almost make the whole movie more of a music video of sorts, since they pretty much had the look and feel, and had some really beautiful scenes like the crafted village scene which was quite magical. But sadly, the characters and dialogue left very much to be desired.

I haven’t seen all of Tarkovsky’s films yet, but of those I have seen, “My Name is Ivan” is my favorite, and I’d have to say I’ve always been fascinated with this opening scene:

I actually saw “Andrei Rublev” in an old movie theater in the small town of Pryor, Oklahoma in the mid 90′s – I couldn’t believe it was playing in a theater much less there of all places – the whole experience was really magical. Here’s a scene from “Andrei Rublev:”

This clip is from one I haven’t seen yet (The Mirror), but I loved this sequence shot anyway.

Christine & Natasha in Grandpa's Jaguar

1. Natasha, Natasha, Natasha, Natasha, Natasha; my sweetest of sweets daughter.  I’ve been ‘in love’ with people and even music and other media/art, but having a child is the best of all.  You miss them terribly when they’re away, you get scared by their fragility, and at the same time you love them like nothing else and they truly are the most charming people you will ever know.

2. A great family including sisters that I can act totally crazy and bizarre around and they think it’s just as hilarious as I do!

3. A thoughtful husband who shares so many common interests with me.

4. Fond memories of people I’ve lost.

5. The ability to focus on what I can learn from tragedies and not on the negative (I was blessed with quite the self-preserving personality!).

M Ward

6. Incessant, uncontrollable… well, passion, for lack of more accurate word – I am constantly amazed by some new song, book, personality, color combination, weather, and it goes on and on – like M Ward sings, “God, it’s great to be alive / takes the skin right off my hide / to think I’ll have to give it all up someday.”

7. The fact that I’ve found a church that I actually like (it’s sometimes hard to be a Christian when you don’t like any of the Christian churches that you’ve been to and find some serious flaws in the members as well (and I’m still trying to figure out how much of that is my own problem)) – I recently started going to a small Methodist church and I think I finally feel like I’ve found a church that I feel I can grow in.  I love the social history and focus of the church, they’ve played an active role in American civil rights issues and to this day they are very socially active.  The church I’ve been going to houses our Meals on Wheels kitchen and is very focused on helping the poor in our community.  The are also spiritual without taking the whole of the Bible literally.  (This could be a very very long item and it’s already past midnight so I’ll leave it at that for now).

8 That I was born in the age of air conditioning, pain medication, movie shows, and teh internets! (Though this one could be a blessing and a curse…)

9 That I’ve found a home-based business that has been successful thus far, and that I enjoy (making sites).

10 That I have a nice, relaxed job that lets me wear jeans every day, and hang numerous plants, music posters, child drawings, and various art/craftwork around my desk until the grey walls are almost completely hidden.

Fuji's IJ Roll & Spicy Tuna Roll

11 Fuji’s sushi, particularly their spicy tuna rolls.

12 Iced coffee.

13 Anh Hung Tran.

14 Woody Allen.

15 Michel Gondry.

16 T.S. Eliot.

17 e e cummings.

18 Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

19 Glenn Gould.

Glenn Gould

20 Sergei Rachmaninoff.

21 Frederic Chopin (so in love)!

22 Claude Debussy.

23 My beautiful black Baldwin upright.

24 The joy of playing piano.

25 The feeling of the air moving against your chest while playing the accordion.

26 The Jersey shore and endless summers I got to spend there while visiting family.

27 Tulsa, with the friendliest people, cool architecture, magnificent thunderstorms, Cain’s, and its thick green-ness.

28 The time I got with a truly amazing piano teacher, Claire Jones.

29 Good friends I’ve kept over the years and friends to come.

30 Sonic Route 44 diet Coke with lots of lime.

31 Being born in an era of countless amazing bands & musicians!  

Rainy Fall

32 Rain.

33 Snow.

34 The magic in the perfect speed of riding a bike.

35 Recording devices.

36 Looking out the window of a moving car.

37 The mystical Tahlequah, OK.

38 The dreamy Peggy Lee tune ‘Where or When’ and the perfect snowy December morning I was awoken by that song on the radio.

Peggy Lee

39 The moment that I first heard Paul McCartney’s ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ (in high school right after a breakup with a boyfriend who I had mentioned this song to and who didn’t find anything special about it) and thought that it was so underrated and awesome that I would marry the guy who told me he intimated the same feelings toward the song without knowing my feelings about it (which is a small part of why I’m married to who I am today and whomever reads this first will be the first to learn this)!

Christian Bale!

40 Red wine.

41 Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

42 M Ward.

43 Christian Bale.

44 Leonard Cohen.

45 New Order and They Might Be Giants (and numerous others) for being major players in getting me through high school in one piece!  …But don’t forget the songs
That made you cry
And the songs that saved your life
Yes, you’re older now
And you’re a clever swine
But they were the only ones who ever stood by you…

46 Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, Animal Collective, Wolf Parade, The Fiery Furnaces, and Sufjan Stevens for showing up just when I thought there era of good music of my generation was over.

47 Talking Heads for managing to be so hot and intellectual at the same time.

48 NPR for their ‘driveway moments.’

Carlsbad Caverns + Doll's Theater

49 Caves.

50 National & State Parks.

51 Glorious blank paper and a black pen.

52 Magazine collages.

53 Smalti mosaics.

54 The Golden Number.

55 Hello Kitty.

56 Niagara Falls.

57 Growing up with parents who loved to take road trips.

58 Mojitos.

59 Gardening.

60 The Russian language with which I am enamored but haven’t found the time to get past general greetings.  Strastvitya.

From the Japanese folk tale "The Crane Wife"

61 Folk tales & mythology.

62 Shakespeare (I know, yawn, how quaint) – I like Hamlet and Midsummer’s Night Dream a lot, almost as much as the fact the he varied the spelling of his name.

63 Night swimming and that I was fortunate enough to grow up with a pool with lights and an overview of dreamy, spooky woods.

64 My propensity to daydream.

65 Symbols.

LOST

66 LOST.

67 That I got to major in two subjects that dealt heavily in symbols in mirror opposite ways – Mathematics and English Literature.

68 Dreams (“in dreams, emotions are overwhelming” -Science of Sleep).

69 Gael Garcia Bernal.

Gael Garcia Bernal in The Science of Sleep

70 Motorcycle Diaries (I liked the book and the movie) – even though I don’t agree with everything Che Guevara did in his lifetime, I’ve always admired the humanity of this book and his altruistic spirit – this journey really gives some insight into his life before it the politics (and what led him to that), and his love, respect, and care for the people he met.

71 Dark chocolate with orange.

72 Icicles.

73 Coconut lime verbena body spray from Bath & Body Works which gives me a little extra vigor each and every day.

Arctic Wolf

74 Wolves.

75 Language.

76 Silence.

77 Chinese silk shirts and dresses.

78 A cat who has so much personality that she’s more human than cat.

79 Google Adsense

80 Coffee Shops

Mt Fuji woodblock print by Hiroshige

81 The early Christmas present my husband just gave me – a MacBook – yay!

82 Hobby Lobby so my daughter and I can easily find a new craft project to do any time.

83 Hiroshige.

84 Vladimir Horowitz.

85 Hoodies.

86 Banana Republic.

87 Illuminations Candles.

88 Andrei Tarkovsky.

89 Richard Kelly for making Donnie Darko.

Philbrook's 1st Garden Glow 11-29-08

90 College radio.

91 Starry nights.

92 Connections.

93 Noodle bowls.

94 That I discovered the combination of saltine crackers, plain cream cheese, and green olives.

Creepy Cute Crochet: Zombies, Ninjas, Robots, and More!

95 The city.

96 The country.

97 Holidays and the events they inspire, like warm lingering meals, The Nutcracker ballet, and Philbrook’s Garden Glow.

98 iTunes Genius.

99 Creepy Cute Crochet for getting me back into crocheting and sparking some ideas.

100 WordPress for being the most awesome CMS and making this easier than it could have been.

101 You!

(Let me preface this by saying that this blog post is written with a a few glasses of red wine… I feel so chatty but I’ll pare things down!)

I finally got around to watching The Go-Getter (starring the lovely, dryly humorous, and interesting Zooey Deschanel) and while I haven’t had the time between watching the movie (which ended ten minutes ago) and stewing over it (which Wordsworth or Blake think is necessary in which to write something decent – I don’t really care to look up which right now), I still have the audacity to say that I thought it was a very good movie.  Not great.  Not great, mind you – it was no Donnie Darko; nor The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly; nor Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, nor Wuthering Heights (1939 ONLY).  But it was good.  And it featured the music of M. Ward… to be honest, I still can’t tell if a movie becomes great in my mind solely because of the music (hence my admiration for Marie Antionette) or because it’s truly a good movie… I guess I need to continue on my ongoing work of being objective (at what price?).

Between the humble/beautiful cinematography and the music – music by M. Ward! – and the movie’s theme – it was really good.   It touched on familial ties, existentialism (“doesn’t anyone know anyone anymore?!?”), and offered a ‘slice-of-life’ scene of life today.

For me, it was a bit sad, hopeful, and true.  It wasn’t witty or breaking, but just true in its way.

The movie starts with the premise of freedom… which I would really like… only I don’t know how or why (right now).   I mean… I love my family, my church, music, playing piano, like my job, my hobbies, and my online business… but I think I like too many things, I’m stretched a bit thin (or just feeling that way right now) and feel like I need to free up some of my time – give up something… only it’s a difficult choice that I can’t really go into the details of in a personal blog (fie!).

Anyway, stay tuned to see what I drop.  And watch The Go-Getter. 

And Appreciate M. Ward.

And yes, I have decided to add ‘Ramblings’ as a category here!

• Original director Richard Kelly has nothing to do with it (that alone should make Donnie Darko fans run screaming)
• The storyline revolves around little sister Samantha Darko taking a road trip and having flashbacks (that just sounds really lame to me)
• Why… why in the name of the heavens try to make a sequel to one of the finest movies out there??  To make money off of the large cult following?  A fan paying homage?  Who knows, but whether the intentions are good or not, I’ll be steering clear of this movie.