ART THAT INSPIRES
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Art and Culture

The Wounded Muse
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Art and Culture
The recent article in Vanity Fair magazine about James Frey has my blood boiling. Here's a kid from a wealthy family who got his foot in the door of the publishing industry and thought he could get away with writing a fictionalized memoir. He lied about his so-called exploits. Let me say this again: He lied. And they weren't little lies. They were big ones. He lied about being in jail while his girlfriend committed suicide. He ws not in jail when this happened. He turned his back on someone who needed help.

Me, Myself & I
On Jan. 13th I attended the new Edward Albee play, "Me, Myself & I," a brilliant absurdist comedy by the world's preeminent playwright. The story concerns twin brothers and their attempt to establish their own identities and trying to over come a control-freak mother (played well by Tyne Daly). The highlight of the show is Brian Murray, as a doctor who is more of a comic observer on the bizarre proceedings. Murray is in fine form and perfectly in tune with Albee's sense of the absurd. Echoes of Pirandello and Beckett abound in this existential farce, well acted and directed. And the ending is a hoot. Recommended.

Underwater Photography
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Art and Culture

In The Humdrum
Mood:  not sure
Monotony is the enemy. As Beckett says: "I can't go on. I'll go on."

Art and Culture 2008
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Art and Culture
I'll try not to make this diatribe long. The thing that usually ticks me off at this time of year is the AA nominations. Sure, sometimes they get it right, nominating Javier Bardem and Viggo Mortensen, as well as the Coen Brothers for "No Country For Old Men." NCOM was the BEST film of the year. Well acted and written, it was a dark view of contemporary life (although the film was set in 1980) about a battle of good vs. evil that ws slowly being won by the black hats. Tommy Lee Jones (always brilliant) is the wise old sage sheriff who is more appalled at what has happend to this country than he appears to be intyerested in finding the killer (Bardem).

Focus
Mood:  don't ask
We all have the same amount of time. 24 hours. And yet it is more difficult now to focus on a single project than ever. There are so many things to do, books to read, concerts and plays and operas to attend. Trying to juggle them all is difficult. If I had all day and no job I think I would be able to handle it. Another novel to get working on. Stories and manuscripts to edit. Books to read (specifically Against The Day by Thomas Pynchon and Tree Of Smoke by Denis Johnson). Focus.

Aftermath
Mood:  irritated
After everything is over there is a definite letdown. The new days seem like the old days. As Beckett says: "I can't go on ... I'll go on." And that sums it up. Vain attempts to conjur happiness only brings unhappiness. Don't look for happiness, it will find you -- or not.

Yesterday I watched "Sweeney Todd," Tim Burton's adaptation of the Sondheim musical about the barber (hair stylist?)/murderer. As usual, Johnny Depp is great in the title role (and he can sing also!) and this is the perfect vehicle for Burton. The film is as exhilirating as any musical about a murdering barber can get.

HOLIDAYS
Mood:  a-ok
Everyone has some form of the blues around the holidays -- it's inevitable. I try to combat it by making plans for the new year. In addition to the usual diet and exercie thing (I want to start jogging again), I write down projects I want to work on, places I want to submit my writing to (publishers and agents) and send out a boatload of resumes to agencies looking for graphic designers. I try to see some films (The Golden Compass and Beowulf are on my list this year) and watch the usual holiday films at home. I have an extensive library of films and I always have something new on hand. The holidays come very fast (it seems) every year and just as soon they are gone. It helps to have some goals to aim for after the holiday lag sets in.