Hither n' Thither
So, um, yes. Here we are. Or there you are. Or rather here I am, grasping for some sort of inspiration, some sort visit from my muse. In his excellent book On Writing Stephen King described his muse as a dude who lived in the cellar. My muse is more like that guy who's always stealing your wallet and going on a bender for several days, i.e. not necessarily reliable.
Aaannnnyway. Netflix continues to be the main spike for my media habit. For non-cable-having-no-TV-watching-except-baseball guy like me, it's an ideal way to catch up on TV shows. I believe I've already mentioned working through Firefly, The Wire (seasons one and two and I can't wait for three) and Deadwood (season one) , but besides these American shows I've also caught up with some British ones, namely Danger UXB and Reilly: Ace of Spies. Both of these aired on PBS during my long-lost youth, but prior to Netflix I've never seen either one in it's entirety. Danger UXB follows the career of Brian Ash, an engineer assigned to dispose of unexploded German bombs during the Blitz. Reilly: Ace of Spies is based on the exploits of British agent Sidney Reilly , who was reputedly the real-life inspiration behind Ian Fleming's James Bond (not, I should add, the Bond of the movies.) I highly recommend both.
I've also been watching Cary Grant movies. A lot of Cary Grant movies, because (and it pains me to admit this) pior to a month or so ago I had never seen a Cary Grant movie. Shocking but true. So now I'm working my way through his films, and I've come to two conclusions...
Conclusion the first: among the many things that have declined in quality since the days of our grandparents is the romance genre of movies. Today if you go looking a for a romance flick you are likely to wind up with some insipid drivel starring Tom Hanks or that insufferable muppet Meg Ryan or both, or some awful pablum featuring the latest teen sensation.
Your grandparents got The Philadelphia Story.
Conclusion the second: Cary Grant was Steve McQueen before Steve McQueen. What I mean is that both men possessed a quality, apart from their acting*, that sets them apart. Call it cool, call it charisma, call it presence, call it duende - it doesn't matter. When Grant or McQueen are on screen it's difficult not to watch them, even if they're not doing anything. They look good doing nothing. I have a feeling I'm not getting my point across, but I know I'm on to something here.
As you were.
*You can be a great actor, like Daniel Day-Lewis, and not have this quality; conversely you can have this quality and not be a great actor, like McQueen himself.
Aaannnnyway. Netflix continues to be the main spike for my media habit. For non-cable-having-no-TV-watching-except-baseball guy like me, it's an ideal way to catch up on TV shows. I believe I've already mentioned working through Firefly, The Wire (seasons one and two and I can't wait for three) and Deadwood (season one) , but besides these American shows I've also caught up with some British ones, namely Danger UXB and Reilly: Ace of Spies. Both of these aired on PBS during my long-lost youth, but prior to Netflix I've never seen either one in it's entirety. Danger UXB follows the career of Brian Ash, an engineer assigned to dispose of unexploded German bombs during the Blitz. Reilly: Ace of Spies is based on the exploits of British agent Sidney Reilly , who was reputedly the real-life inspiration behind Ian Fleming's James Bond (not, I should add, the Bond of the movies.) I highly recommend both.
I've also been watching Cary Grant movies. A lot of Cary Grant movies, because (and it pains me to admit this) pior to a month or so ago I had never seen a Cary Grant movie. Shocking but true. So now I'm working my way through his films, and I've come to two conclusions...
Conclusion the first: among the many things that have declined in quality since the days of our grandparents is the romance genre of movies. Today if you go looking a for a romance flick you are likely to wind up with some insipid drivel starring Tom Hanks or that insufferable muppet Meg Ryan or both, or some awful pablum featuring the latest teen sensation.
Your grandparents got The Philadelphia Story.
Conclusion the second: Cary Grant was Steve McQueen before Steve McQueen. What I mean is that both men possessed a quality, apart from their acting*, that sets them apart. Call it cool, call it charisma, call it presence, call it duende - it doesn't matter. When Grant or McQueen are on screen it's difficult not to watch them, even if they're not doing anything. They look good doing nothing. I have a feeling I'm not getting my point across, but I know I'm on to something here.
From the Files of Incidents-Involving-Baseball-That-Make-People-Think-I'm-A-Crazy-Man
Last night after class I went to grab a bite to eat and catch the eighth and ninth inning of the game. When Tito let Vazquez hit, and we lost, I went into a brief mini-tirade, involving certain words of Anglo-Saxon origin that begin with the earlier letters of the alphabet. So far, just another Tuesday evening in the life.
Except that since the kitchen at the local was closed for renovations, I was not at my customary location (where my occasional outbursts are treated as part of the background) but next door, where the staff and patrons are unfamiliar with my ways. Especially the patrons, and particularly the gaggle of Irish chicks sitting nearby. Well - that wasn't much of a story was it. Man yells profanity, women avoid eye contact. Guess you had to be there, to see the sudden change in their body languages and voices that basiocally signalled we're trying really hard to pretend that we don't think this guy sitting next to us may be a lunatic.
As you were.
*You can be a great actor, like Daniel Day-Lewis, and not have this quality; conversely you can have this quality and not be a great actor, like McQueen himself.
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