Disqus - Latest Comments for OutOfContext

Re: Blondie’s Children: The Best Domestic Sitcoms

OutOfContext — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 21:15:04 -0000

The main addition I would make would be Green Acres. I look at Oliver as a comedic equivalent to a film-noir protagonist. He finds himself trapped in a world which has it's own internal logic that conspires to frustrate him. Everyone in Hooterville mispronounces the same word in the same way, everyone inexplicably knows the details of his life, etc...
I would also go with Bewitched, but only with Dick York, who is one of Eddie Albert's few peers in exasperation. Another candidate would be the first couple of seasons of Soap. All right, I confess to a love of the absurd.
Also, speaking of radio, I have listened to every extant episode of Jack Benny on the radio and a case could be made for that show being one of the defining programs in the development of the sitcom (especially if you get into the workplace sub-genre). Jack also loved to break the 4th wall; for example, guest star would come to his house and the crowd would applaud at his or her first line and Jack would comment on the number of people in his living room.

Re: Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

OutOfContext — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 10:03:01 -0000

Jason,
This is a big, big topic and brings to mind a couple of things immediately: First, Harold Bloom's The Anxiety of Influence which I read as an undergrad lit brat when the subject kind of obsessed me.
Second, the disappointment of finding that one of my favorite poets, Hart Crane, lifted large sections of one of my favorite poems, Emblems of Conduct, from Samuel Greenberg, a tubercular, undisciplined poet who died at the age of 23, not long before Crane published Emblems. Forgive me for blogwhoring, but in the interest of brevity, here's what I wrote about that a while back.

Re: Executioner’s Songs

OutOfContext — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:40:06 -0000

The execution movie, also for TV, that I recall from my youth starred Alan Alda and all I can really remember is the depiction of a bag dropping into a solution and the hiss of the gas into the chamber as Alda died. I had to go to IMDB to get the title: "Kill Me If You Can". The most chilling execution I have ever read is at the end of the novel "Paths of Glory" by Humphrey Cobb, which was later filmed, of course, by Stanley Kubrick. As far as I know, this was the Canadian Cobb's only book and I can't recommend it highly enough--if you can find it anywhere.

Re: Reality Racism

OutOfContext — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 02:31:26 -0000

If you are interested in the Indian (desi) point of view, you might want to read this post on the fine blog, Sepia Mutiny.

Re: Operator, Can You Help Me Place This Call: Great Telephone Songs

OutOfContext — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 21:14:13 -0000

Call Me. Not lyrically brilliant, but maybe my favorite Blondie. Call Mr. Lee, from Television--catches Verlaine at his playful and cryptic best. And these quotes from one of my bespectacled teenage idols: "I'm not a telephone junkie, I told you that when we were just good friends." and "Sometimes I phone you when I know you're not lonely, but I always disconnect it in time."
Oh, and one more...REM The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite: "Tell her,
Tell her she can kiss my ass, then laugh and say that you were only kidding.
That way shell know that its really, really, really, really me.
Call me when you try to wake her up. call me when you try to wake her."

Re: Operator, Can You Help Me Place This Call: Great Telephone Songs

OutOfContext — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 13:33:16 -0000

All right, I have to pull out the Steely Dan, since no one else will: "Rikki Don't Lose That Number".

Re: Bob Dylan: Spinnin’ Those Cool Records

OutOfContext — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 18:40:48 -0000

Thanks for the Crosley link. Not only did I listen to the Dylan show, which I enjoyed much more than his last couple of albums, but I enjoyed Crosley's blog enough on first read to subscribe to the feed. As for the show, I particularly enjoyed Dylan's email response explaining how to operate a cannon.

Re: Rock’s Greatest Covers: Patti Tops the List

OutOfContext — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 12:03:51 -0000

David Watts-The Jam
When Will I Be Loved--Linda Rondstadt
The Theme From Get Carter--Stereolab
Spooky--Lydia Lunch
Rosalyn--David Bowie
I'm Only Sleeping--Roseanne Cash
My Way--Syd Vicious
Blinded By the Light--Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Re: Rock’s Greatest Covers: Patti Tops the List

OutOfContext — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:10:37 -0000

I can't stand my hasty mispellings on #32--Sid Vicious and Linda Ronstadt. And I'll toss in a couple more Kinks covers: "Stop Your Sobbing" by the Pretenders and "Victoria" by the Fall...

Also I'm partial to Joy Division's cover of "Sister Ray" and Frank Black and the Catholics doing Tom Waits' "Black Rider" (the opening-track version on Black Letter Days). Finally, even more obscurely, P. J. Harvey does a great "Is That All There Is?" on the album she did with John Parish.

Finally, let me second Fred's praise of Josh's list, save for the "Straight Out of Compton" track, which I don't get. Garcia/Grisman's "The Thrill Is Gone" really is a great remake. The Jerry Garcia Band did a nice cover of Marley's "Stop That Train" as well.

Re: Rock’s Greatest Covers: Patti Tops the List

OutOfContext — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 19:07:02 -0000

Sean,(46)I love the bands you mention, and Cornershop especially, but their "Norwegian Wood" doesn't do anything for me. I will be searching out "The Red and The Black" and "Black Steel" on Napster-to-go; I didn't know they existed.

And, keeping with the Indian slant, I will offer this Bhangra cover album of the Sex Pistols for Neddie Jingo's bad cover throwdown. I haven't heard the whole songs, but the samples are enough.

Re: Rock’s Greatest Covers: Patti Tops the List

OutOfContext — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 09:48:07 -0000

Sean,
I am actually real familiar with Tricky's "Black Steel"; it's Public Enemy's that I hadn't heard.

Re: Pink Moon

OutOfContext — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 19:36:01 -0000

I love Nick Drake. I'd never heard of him until this year, as a matter of fact. My wife told me about a Leonard Cohen song she liked and I tracked it down for her on Napster-To-Go. I didn't care for the Cohen song, which is a usual response, but the recommendations led me to two of my new (to me, of course) favorite performers. Big Bill Broonzy and Nick Drake. I loaded all three of Drake's albums onto my iRiver and listened for days.
Two aspects of his life fascinate me and why I'm not sure. He announced the release of his first album to his sister by tossing it on her bed and saying, "There you are" and walking out. Also, towards the end of his life his live performances become unbearable because of the incredible amount of time he spent changing tunings between songs.
The poetry of his work can't be caught in the reading of his lyrics, though, which really only make sense in the context of his performance. But that's a problem with writing about music in general, I guess.

Re: Yelling ‘Fire’ in a Crowded Room

OutOfContext — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 08:47:55 -0000

"And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill"

I wore out a cassette of his '76 eponymous album.

Re: Yelling ‘Fire’ in a Crowded Room

OutOfContext — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 20:13:35 -0000

I took the opportunity to listen to the album again this afternoon and, more impressive than the lyrics, I found the music so melodically satisfying. Perfect is not a metric I use, but damn good is.

I hit Napster-to-Go for all the post Excitable Boy stuff I could get just to see if he ever did anything so good again. A week's worth of listening at least. Thanks Jason for sparking a musical career tour of an old favorite.

Re: Defending Edward Hopper

OutOfContext — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:33:52 -0000

Sure it's all about social prejudice or, I would argue, cultural prejudice. It's a cognoscenti thing. I'm not going to preach about it, I get a pang of it (in reverse, and on a less exalteted leve, I guess) when I hear "Ever Fallen In Love With Someone" or "Pink Moon" on a commercial.
Hopper is a light magician and that's what I look for in the visual arts. I don't need my ticket validated.

Re: The Whiskey Rock Of Kings Of Leon

OutOfContext — Sun, 20 May 2007 17:49:55 -0000

Seems like a lot of music I've been listening to lately has some echoes of Exile era Stones. Frank Black's "Black Letter Days", The Dexateens' "Hardwire Healing" and Drive By Truckers' "A Blessing and A Curse" come to mind.
BTW, I visited Nashville Fri. night to see the White Stripes in a little venue downtown. First time seeing the band and the city and they both left me wanting more. Entertaining opening act, Dan Sartain as well.
Thanks for the mp3s.

Re: RIPing Jerry Falwell

OutOfContext — Mon, 21 May 2007 10:13:49 -0000

Gee, Slappy, I'm sorry I read these comments. Minutes of my life wasted trying to figure out what the hell you were trying to say.
BTW, I believe a study of 'Hogan's Heroes' would be a fascinating window into American culture of the mid-60's. Bob Crane must be an icon of something.
And how did your parents feel about F-Troop?

Re: Philip K. Dick: American Original

OutOfContext — Mon, 21 May 2007 10:32:53 -0000

I loved Valis.
True, there are narrative quirks such as a character named Philip K. Dick, and a familiar-seeming writer named Horselover Fat.
The name Philip means "horselover" and fat is dick in German.
Also, 'King Felix' has arrived--he pitches for the Mariners.
I've read The Divine Invasion as well (what was the name of the kid in that one, again?) but haven't gotten around to The Transmigration. I'm getting ready to read "Radio Free Albemuth". The synopsis on the back says this:
In the late 1960's, a paranoid incompetent has schemed his way into the White House and convulsed America in a vicious war against imaginary internal enemies. hmmm...

Re: Philip K. Dick: American Original

OutOfContext — Tue, 22 May 2007 08:09:57 -0000

Actually, they called the kid 'Manny' for short, right Manny--just a (very) mild joke. I look forward to Transmigration. I'm a great fan of the lectures of Alan Watts, but I've never heard of Pike. Have to look him up.

Re: Paul Is Not Dead

OutOfContext — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 21:31:11 -0000

I was surprised to find this available on eMusic and Napster-to-go with some additional tracks, including a 26 minute monologue that works through each song. I confess, I never would have gotten near it if I had to buy it without preview (take note music industry). I have to say I love this album. I've listened to it 4 times in the last 24 hours. It's simple, melodic and interesting--Dance Tonight,You Tell Me and The End of the End are just plain great. I'm going to write about this one.

Re: Columnated Ruins Domino

OutOfContext — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 21:38:52 -0000

I listened to Sgt. Pepper for the first time in a while on a long night ride a couple of months back and was amazed at how open and sparsely instrumented it is. Pet Sounds is one of my all-time favs but I have to admit, I've never heard smile. Guess I should track it down.
By the way Dennis, its nice to be able to comment on your posts. See, we can be nice. I do appreciate that you answer all your emails, but there's something about comments...

Re: The Vaudevillian

OutOfContext — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:16:44 -0000

I vote for more posts in this vein. Really nicely done. Then again, I love any good story about vaudeville. One of my prized possessions is Gilbert's "American Vaudeville: Its Life and Times"--a 1940 book I picked up at a library sale. A great catalogue-like book written pretty soon after Vaudeville's demixe. Alas, no mention of the Richards Bros.

Re: Paul Is Not Dead

OutOfContext — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:24:04 -0000

This album makes me wonder why my enjoyment of McCartney's music has always greatly exceeded my respect for him. He's really good at what he does. Never game him credit for that before.
I'm also really intrigued by the fact that I could download this DRM-free from emusic for about $3 worth of song credits. I wonder if he's just trying to get his stuff the widest exposure. I don't guess he needs the cash at this point.

Re: Confession of a Schizophrenic Movie Fan

OutOfContext — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:22:55 -0000

The whole concept of 'guilty pleasure', which runs along side this post, becomes less relevant to me as the years pass. Mrs. Context has always refused to accept the idea and has won me over.
I understand the other distinction you make, the unchallanging vs. the challenging and that one is still somewhat important to me.
Part of the beauty of age is the ability to find beauty and meaning in a wider variety of intellectual experience, some not overtly challenging and certainly not sanctioned as art. I can't think of any way that Tarkovsky's Mirror is more satisfying to me than Midnight Run, both movies I really like. I realize the purpose in making those two movies may have been completely different, maybe even at odds, and I am curious to know those things, but in the end, they both hold special spots in the mythological atmosphere of my brain.

I too frequented the TLA in the early eighties during my school days and part of the whole experience was the feeling of specialness combined with the restlessness of youth in seeking out the new and maverick. That feeling has never gone away, I just seem to satisfy it in common and unexpected places nowadays.
...Or maybe as Mrs. Context says, "You're just getting more stupid."

We really are curiously in sync this week. There's a little Dana Andrews connection, too.

Re: Now Playing…The HagClock

OutOfContext — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 08:52:05 -0000

This seems like an ideal place to get a geeky answer to a question I've had for a while; does compression do what it says, compress, or does it eliminate data? If there is information that is somehow skipped over for space sake, does any of it uncompress when burned to cd?

I'm willing to compromise on mp3s down to 192 in my everyday listening. It's most important for me to hear all the instruments distinctly (if that's the artist's intent) so that I can appreciate what is going on in the music. If I really like something, I buy the cd.

I love eMusic and Napster-to-go, even though there is sound compromise to make. The range of my listening can be fully satisfied, as well as my curiousity, relatively inexpensively with those two services. That's an important expedient for me at this point in technological development.

Much of this discussion should become moot when bandwith and storage space become even more expansive.

Re: Confession of a Schizophrenic Movie Fan

OutOfContext — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:10:17 -0000

The trouble is, you start talking like this about the Zatoichi movies and you can easily take all the fun out of them. Actually Dan, I'm more about putting the fun into the more obviously artistic auters like Visconti (I just bought a used copy of the Criterion edition of the Leopard that I'm looking forward to watching)and Bergman, than taking it out of the explicitly entertaining offerings. I like hearing artistic and social criticism of works of art, but I'm usually more interested in the how and whys of the work getting created. In a way, and it's odd to say this on a blog with 'critics' in the title, I would argue against too much interpretation in art, at least when someone tries to couch it in objective terms. In a critic, I value the interaction of the critic with the work, if I find the critic's perspective as engaged as the artist. Come to think of it, it is the critical equivalent of what 'new journalism' did to journalism in the sixties, and I think blogs are a great medium for this work.

Re: Ward Cleaver’s Club: the Great TV Dads

OutOfContext — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 23:28:11 -0000

Here I go:
Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke Show)
Darren Stevens (Dick York-Bewitched)
James Evans (Good Times)
Dan Connor (Roseanne)
J R Ewing (Dallas)
Howard Cunningham (Happy Days)
Rocky Rockford (Rockford Files)
Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)
Burt Campbell (Soap)
Fred Ziffel (Green Acres)

I'm barbecuing for my Dad tomorrow as well. I never thought about it, but it must be a wide practice.

Re: Institutional Cinematic Sensibility, Updated

OutOfContext — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:53:06 -0000

I'm pretty much with Kevin on this one. I have no problem with a film canon (you've got to master the rules to break them right) and it's fun as a discussion starter, but mostly my eyes just glaze over.
I like Hitchcock, but I tend to think he's seriously overintellectualized.
Chuck, I'd be interested in a short list of your favorite women directed pictures. I've been watching a lot of Ida Lupino lately and it has raised her in my estimation. I know a lot of women directed in the silents as well, but I don't recall seeing to many of those.

Re: 100 Plus 10

OutOfContext — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 01:00:28 -0000

Hey whatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s wrong with middlebrow? Most of my favorite entertainment has one brow raised.

Re: I can name that great TV tune in…

OutOfContext — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:18:06 -0000

All the choices so far are favorites. I would add:
Mission Impossible, Green Acres, Batman, Spiderman, Get Smart, Soap, Chico and The Man (the man he ain't so hard to understand), South Park, Taxi, Love American Style, and this turn of the '60's detective show. I could go on for a while.

Re: I can name that great TV tune in…

OutOfContext — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 09:10:32 -0000

Yeah, Batman! Amazed that hasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t come up yetÃ¢â‚¬Â¦. I would direct you to comment four...and this post from The World of Kane.

Re: I can name that great TV tune in…

OutOfContext — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 09:47:50 -0000

blue girl, for some reason I guessed Match Game when I read your tone-less da-na-na-nas, but after listening to it, that can't be right.
I'm hard pressed to think of any other game show themes.

Re: I can name that great TV tune in…

OutOfContext — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:07:17 -0000

Oh, I forgot The Newlywed Game. That was a good one.

Re: The Great American Rock and Roll Band

OutOfContext — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:16:41 -0000

I'm a huge fan of Jerry Garcia, but as a band, I tired of the Dead rather early on. As an idea, they are fascinating and I enjoy reading about them, but I'd rather listen to The Jerry Garcia Band or Garcia/Grisman any day.
As for my choices, I cannot attempt objectivity: Sonic Youth and Television for me. Lower in the pantheon, Velvet Underground, REM, Stooges, Buddy Holly and the Crickets (I say the Crickets count), Talking Heads (ok, this one may push the rock thing), and The Beach Boys.

Re: The Great American Rock and Roll Band

OutOfContext — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:42:51 -0000

Jason, I admit to tweaking you with the Crickets. Unlike a previous commenter, I offer no thanks but a tweak for Brad Paisley--I listened to the album three times and remained absolutely unmoved.

Sonic Youth? Sonic Youth? I love comments like that.
Yes, Sonic Youth. So what?

The great thing about these discussions are watching the criteria get fleshed out. The definition of rock and 'groupness', longevity, popularity, influence or just the assertion that your guys rock better.

I like Tom Petty in the Heartbreakers as well, I consider them a band, their popular and have been around a long while. The jury would be out on influence. I see no reason to argue against them.

Of course, Sonic Youth rocks better.

Re: They’ve Got A Great Beat (And You Can Dance To Most of Them)

OutOfContext — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 09:10:55 -0000

I had to check Media Player to find out if I have any 2007 music since when something was made is one of the last things that interest me in the arts.
Turns out I have a some. Here are my favorites from the list:

Elvis Perkins-While You Were Sleeping, Emile's Vietnam In The Sky
Noisettes-Sister Rosetta
Dexateens-Broken Ground
The Fall-Systematic Abuse
Nick Lowe-Join The Club
Paul McCartney-Dance Tonight, Mr. Bellamy
Robert Pollard-Cats Love A Parade
The White Stripes-Icky Thump, Rag and Bone

A tiny subset of what I listen to.

Jason,'Twelve' is by my means a bad covers album. I almost don't like her anymore after hearing her version of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". Only Bryan Ferry's Dylanesque is a more embarrassing offering this year.

Re: They’ve Got A Great Beat (And You Can Dance To Most of Them)

OutOfContext — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 15:31:40 -0000

Sorry, I was in a rush on my comment. The name of the Dexateens song is "Naked Ground", not "Broken Ground".

I'm with Shamus on the White Stripes album. I just got it Thursday (my wife had to order it from Kung Fu Nation because she wanted a vinyl copy and some buttons and it took forever). I've listened to it five or six times and I think it's pretty strong across the board.
As for the 'keeping up' thing, I think some of it is age. As time spreads out behind and perspective deepens, the new other thing becomes just another thing. Also, access to niche music has exploded on the internet. I don't have to go to Tower Records in NYor 3rd St Jazz in Philly, as I did as a college kid to find traditional Turkish or the latest No Wave. Between Napster-To-Go and eMusic, blogs and podcasts, I can slide anywhere down the Long Tail.

Jason, I'll agree to mediocre on Twelve. I've only heard half of the Ferry album, but, to quote Woody Allen, he's run the material through the de-flavorizing machine (can anyone tell me in what Allen movie he says that about his mother cooking chicken?). I loved Roxy Music's 2003 live dvd and Ferry's "Bride Stripped Bare" solo album way back, but this sounds exceptionally pointless.

Re: Not the Great American Rock and Roll Band

OutOfContext — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 08:32:56 -0000

Hard to believe, but I first heard this version of Chinese Rocks last month on the "No Thanks" Rhino 70's punk collection my wife brought home. From the liner notes:
The history of "Chinese Rocks" reads like the travels of a dirty syringe. When Dee Dee Ramone couldn't get the Ramones to record his starkly truthful song about addiction, he brought it to his drug buddy Hell who added a couple of lines and put it in The Heartbreakers' repertoire. Hell was no longer a Heartbreaker by the time the band released "Chinese Rocks" as the A-side of its English-only 1977 debut single...A couple of years later, Sid Vicious recorded "Chinese Rocks" on Sid Sings, a live album that employed Nolan's post-Heartbreakers band, the Idols...And, tying it all in a neat bow, former Voidoids drummer Marc Bell was in the Ramones when they belatedly recorded (the suddenly singular) "Chinese Rock" on 1980's End Of The Century.

Re: When Reagan Wore Leather

OutOfContext — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:37:17 -0000

Uh oh, this could get ugly.

Re: A Golden Age in Black and White

OutOfContext — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 22:45:45 -0000

The Vermont marble quarry from the 60's collection is fantastic. Something about how the intense light sources are so deep in the background and the puffy, dark figures gives me the feeling that bad things are going on in there.
"The Old Ferguson Place" from the 80's is the other one I really liked. But then again, I'm fascinated by things falling apart.

Re: Confession of a Hater

OutOfContext — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:33:15 -0000

I like about half of the things you hate, but I don't hate your post.
I am in absolute accord on your take on the Grateful Dead and I love that you tried to read The Corrections (never looked at it because I hate books like that) IN LARGE PRINT. The only thing worse would be the audio book of it shouted for the hard of hearing.

Re: Popeye: The Optimus Prime of Early Animation

OutOfContext — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 08:55:56 -0000

I heard that about the backdrops too, Kevin, and it's easy to believe, although hard to understand technically.
The early Popeye's have no peer in my book and I was excited to see they were coming out on DVD. When Popeye stopped muttering, he lost his character.
I agree about the Depression era black and white, but I do remember a couple of early color cartoons (one with a Sinbad theme) that were pretty fantastic as well.
I also enjoyed (as did my kids) Altman's Popeye and it puzzles me why it is usually marked among his worst. It was done very much in the spirit of the early Popeyes.

Re: Bergman: The Last of the Great Ones

OutOfContext — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:33:06 -0000

I saw that Antonioni died as well. When I was younger, Bergman was it for me. As I get older, the Italians, Fellini and Antonioni are who I end up watching more. Still, Wild Strawberries, Winter Light, The Silence, Persona and The Hour of the Wolf are endlessly re-watchable to me.
As for the future, David Lynch lives in the same part of my brain as all the aforementioned artists.

Re: Vacation Reading With Marcel Proust

OutOfContext — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:56:19 -0000

I've never gotten too far with Proust for a couple of reasons. I'm a fan of tight, dense and resonant writing with plenty of spaces for my own imagination and interpretation. I find expository writing sterile (get thee behind me Henry James), in a way. I love language but I don't love language for language's sake. Plus, in this case, you are really at the mercy of the translator if, like me, you have only high school French for reference. Having said this, I just learned that one of my favorite writers, Lydia Davis, has recently translated "A La Recherche..." so I may just have to try again.

Re: The Speechifying of U.E. McGill, Esq.

OutOfContext — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 09:21:44 -0000

Not the livestock, George...

We ain't one-at-a-timin' here. We're mass communicating!...

One of my two favorite comedies (Midnight Run's the other).

Re: Dead Rock Stars: Heaven’s Best Pick-Up Band (Or Hell’s)

OutOfContext — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:33:57 -0000

Ian Curtis is my Jim Morrison...
Don't forget Brian Jones, and Joe Strummer, either.

Re: Inland Empire, or, David Lynch Loses His Marbles

OutOfContext — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 13:23:22 -0000

I've been doing a lot of reading about Lynch, a couple of interview books and his slim little volume, "Catching the Big Fish" and I bought the DVD as soon it came out. Lynch is guided by the belief in a 'unified field' where all things are connected--it's part of the TM philosophy to which he is fully committed. Bunnies and street people, gypsies and actors, it's all a manifestation of the unified field. That's what leads to something like Inland Empire. He's satisfied with the connections he makes between the elements of the picture and believes that the thing works because it has an internal structure in which he is confident. Exasperatingly formless, certainly, and I would never try to win anyone over to this movie. Having said that, I enjoyed Inland Empire. I watched it without struggling to interpret, just as I would listen to music. There's a do-it yourself-kit aspect to his work that Lynch acknowledges unapologetically. It's kind of what he's shooting at.
estiv: "heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s one of those artists who never seems to step back, look at what heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s created..." He just is not interested in pleasing the audience when he's making something. He's pretty self absorbed and goes with his gut. Sounds like the President...maybe George Bush would have been my favorite director--Ed Wood, John Ford and David Lynch rolled up in one...or maybe I've just lost my marbles, too...

Re: Inland Empire, or, David Lynch Loses His Marbles

OutOfContext — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:17:42 -0000

Viscount...I don't believe Lynch sabotaged Twin Peaks. I've read that he feels the switch from Thursdays to Saturdays and the fact that they were forced to reveal Laura Palmer's killer by the network killed the show. He says he hated leaving the world of Twin Peaks, hence the feature he made, Fire Walk With Me.

Dan, you may be right by too much freedom (just like having too much money to make a picture can ruin it). What's going on here is an unrestrained move to personal vision. Lynch is an absolute believer in the director as auteur. There's no question it's self-indulgent and I don't think he would reject that characterization. He thinks the path to the universal is through the self. He's running with it.

You're right about the cinematographic beauty of his previous work, but I like the lo-res, too (of course, I use 110 film for my photography). It's an odd change for him, though, because one of the things he complained about in working with TV was the low and varied quality. The fact that every viewer's tv would have different brightness, tint and contrast really bothered him.

Re: That’s Not Writing, or Typing, It’s Driving - And in Circles

OutOfContext — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:09:49 -0000

I'm going to chime in here about Moby Dick, which is one of my all time favorites, which I find odd because I tend to like short books and stripped down sentences. The best thing, for me, about the book is the long section of whale quotes at the beginning, which is reads kind of like proto-Google search results and sets the theme of obsession (and some may argue monotony).
I have a lovely mint condition exact reprint of the original edition of On The Road. It is in mint condition because I have started it several times, but never found interesting enough to continue.
Burroughs is the only Beat era guy I like and I like him a lot. Some of that probably has to do with his reading voice. Once I heard him read his stuff, I couldn't read it without hearing him.
Finally, I was almost physically repelled by Delillo's Underworld and, while I liked Richard Power's Gain a good deal, I spit out The Echo Maker like sour wine. Usually, though, surprise comes for me when I really like something, not the other way round.

And apparently, Dan's White Whale is a certain Frenchman. To paraphrase Jan Brady, "Marcel, Marcel, Marcel..."

Re: That’s Not Writing, or Typing, It’s Driving - And in Circles

OutOfContext — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:35:30 -0000

TW-
Kobo Abe, Raymond Chandler, Aldous Huxley, John O'Hara, John Dos Passos, Nelson Algren, Humphrey Cobb (Paths of Glory is the only book he wrote and it is great), JG Ballard to name a few off the top of my head.

Re: War Over War Movies

OutOfContext — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:35:50 -0000

Funny you should bring it up but I just caught a few minutes of The Green Berets on TV a few days ago. The scene was a press briefing and the propaganda was thick. I put it on my cue to pick-up at the library because a lot of the pro-war arguments and the disdain for the skeptical reporter were similar to what we hear nowadays.
As for DePalma, I don't get the attraction and I don't watch his movies. He knows movie history and seems doomed to repeat it. Carlito's Way is the only one I've seen and still remember liking.

Re: Lipton a Pimp? What Else Is New?

OutOfContext — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:32:00 -0000

Does anyone remember Sasha Baron Cohen on the Daily Show recounting his Ali G interview with Lipton? After the filming, Lipton showed him topless pictures of an oriental woman, who turned out to be his wife. Old habits die hard.

Re: A Beach Is A Place Where a Man Can Feel

OutOfContext — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:21:38 -0000

One of the best midnight movies from my youth, as much as I can remember. The apex of Sting's career. Great album for the songs, especially '5:15' and 'Cut My Hair'. Not a big fan of 'rock opera', concept albums, or the book of any traditional opera either for that matter. Still if I had to take a 'rock opera' into space with me, I could do a lot worse (Preservation Act 1, anyone?).

Q: Are you a mod or a rocker?
A: I'm a mocker.

--Not from the picture of the same name.

Re: My Favorite Comedy, Explained

OutOfContext — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:27:47 -0000

I was in college when I saw Interiors with a local Philly crowd. The members of the crowd intensified the comedy with their shouts of "Don't open that door", "Don't blow in that woman's mouth" and "Step into the frame, bitch. Who the hell's talking". Comedy truly is tragedy plus the right audience.
Of course, I still I prefer his earlier, more serious movies.

Re: The Late, Great Mitch Hedberg

OutOfContext — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:18:52 -0000

One of my all-time favorites-practically an OOC icon: "I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later."

Re: The Late, Great Mitch Hedberg

OutOfContext — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:38:39 -0000

How about this one about getting cheated buying a slice of pizza: "If the pizza was a pie chart for what people would do if the found a million dollars then I got the 'donate it to charity' slice. Excuse me, I would like to exchange this for the 'keep it'."

Re: It’s Just This Little Chromium Switch Here: Channelling The Firesign Theatre

OutOfContext — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:18:22 -0000

Ten-four, Eleanor.

By the way, my teenage kids were truly disturbed when they watched the Exorcist for the first time with me this Halloween.

Re: The Time of His Time has Come to an End

OutOfContext — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:20:08 -0000

I agree absolutely with your take on Executioner's Song, which had a tremendous impact on me as a young man. I read In Cold Blood about the same time and those two books really helped shape my attitude on art and reality. The triangulation of collective reality, the artist's selection of reality and the reader's perception fictionalized my reality and realized my imagination at an impressionable age. I'm not saying that's necessarily a good thing, but as a relativist, it is the only thing.
Mailer visited my college and I was able to see him in a relatively informal setting. I remember nothing of what was said, but I remember his physical presence: a solid round man, stuffed uncomfortably into a flannel shirt and corduroys and really shabby sneakers. Maybe it's telling that his physicality is all I remember.

Oh and I kind of liked Deer Park...go figure...

Re: The Time of His Time has Come to an End

OutOfContext — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 15:18:10 -0000

Tom, I must confess to not having read The Naked and the Dead, although I have a lovely hardbound copy on my shelf. Also, I wonder if it's coincidence that Capote and Mailer were such celebrities and produced two fantastic (by my reckoning) docu-novels.
As for being "that kind of man", I think you can, and, in fact, it may be easier. Talent is not even necessary anymore.

Re: Westminster Soap Operas: New Labour, Ancient Power

OutOfContext — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:39:28 -0000

I DVR'd The Deal and made the mistake of attempting to watch the beginning when I should have been headed to bed. I watched the whole damn thing, which is amazing as I was so tired and it is so damned low-key, as you suggest. I found that it helped that I knew absolutely nothing about English internal politics, which kept me curious. I don't know how I would have taken it if I knew the story well. It is a good way to get a character sketch of the two leaders; I kind of felt like I had read a really good article when it was over. I found Gordon Brown appealing but towards the end the actors seemed to drift into caricature. A nice movie for a political buff to watch on a grey Sunday afternoon.

Re: My Kid Could Paint That, or What is a Painter?

OutOfContext — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 18:32:41 -0000

I guess I'll have to see this movie since the subject is one I find fascinating,.
"Abstract art essentially becomes decorative, its meanings left up to the subjective appraisal of the viewer"--I tend towards this opinion. Authorship, context and meaning are extremely relative concepts to me. I don't mean that it(some human creation) doesn't exist because I think about it, but it's importance is my own construct.
A couple of other points:
F for Fake, Welles picture about Clifford Irving and Elmyr d'Hory is a great examination of money and art, authorship and reality.
Your 'aura' quote from Benjamin reminds me of an interview I heard with Duchamp in which he asserts that no art should outlive it's creator, in fact, that it is 'dead' within a decade or two of it's creation.
Also, to kind of echo your Eliot point,I was upset to find that Hart Crane, one of my favorites, lifted wholesale from a tubercular young poet, Samuel Greenburg, in his poem, "Emblems of Conduct". What upset me is that Crane made no acknowledgement of his line-lifting, not that he mashed-up the original. Greenberg's work is a mess, while "Emblems" is a fine poem.

Re: My Kid Could Paint That, or What is a Painter?

OutOfContext — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 09:16:20 -0000

I didn't mean to give the idea that interpretation of abstract art is without value, just that attempts at objective judgment doesn't interest me. I am absolutely enriched by the interpretations of (certain) others and it sometimes helps me triangulate my experience. It's a perspective thing.
The Duchamp paraphrase comes from an album of interviews and readings called "The Creative Act" on the Sub-Rosa label. I downloaded it off emusic and recommend it, if you like that kind of thing.

Re: Your Brain on Music

OutOfContext — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:38:19 -0000

A lot of people seem to be critical of looking at things like music from a scientific angle, as though it will ruin the romance of the thing (a fundamentally religious reaction, in a way). I love the subject and find the more I know, the deeper and more fantastic the mystery. Looks like a worthwhile read. Thanks for letting us know about it.

Re: Huh?: The RnR HOF Class of 2008

OutOfContext — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 22:32:35 -0000

Cohen's a guy I don't get. Maybe it's because I was forced to review his god-awful book, Book of Mercy as an undergraduate. He's never showed me a new idea, made me feel something in a novel way or just entertained me in an old-fashioned way, except for one song: Dance Me To The End of Love. That one alone would get him in the OOC Hall of Fame.

Re: Huh?: The RnR HOF Class of 2008

OutOfContext — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 23:17:02 -0000

Well done, Greg. I just liked the way they sound.

(PS. The word "units" in your Japanese point gave me a creepy 80's A&R Man vibe.)

Re: Suzanne Pleshette: Oh, Bob…

OutOfContext — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:11:52 -0000

All I have to say about this is:
O Puberty, where is thy sting.

Re: It’s Just This Little Chromium Switch Here: Channelling The Firesign Theatre

OutOfContext — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:08:10 -0000

J.-
I've only heard it on the Firesign Theater Album, Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers, hence my use of it in reply to this post. Mr. Tirebiter says it to Mrs. Tirebiter after he's spent the morning exfoliating their Victory Garden, if memory serves me.
-OOC

Re: Drive-By Truckers: Coloring Outside the Lines

OutOfContext — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:35:20 -0000

I first got into the Drive By Truckers by way of Mil Blogger The Apppalachian. I haven't gone too deeply into the back catalogue, but "Gravity's Gone" from A Blessing and A Curse is one of my favorite songs from the last couple years:
"So I'll meet you at the bottom if there really is one,
They always told me 'When you hit it, you'll know',
But I've been falling so long it's like gravity's gone and I'm just floating."

That's three-dimensional lyric writing by my book.
I'll have to give the new one a listen.

Re: Fairy Tales: A Narrow Escape*

OutOfContext — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:01:35 -0000

Fairy Tales: A Six Word Novelization:

All things must pass. Let's play.

Re: Dinosaurs and the Bible

OutOfContext — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:47:28 -0000

These are the same people that have built the Creation Museum in Ky, which I visited last year. It is an amazing place, as much for the people who visit as the exhibits. I was behind two middle aged women who were fascinated to find out that since weeds were a product of man's fall, Satan was responsible for the fact that they had so much yard work.
This stuff has a lot of traction because of the way it's being presented and Ken Hamm, from AIG, is really very good at it.