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The internet has been in and out and in and out at home, which is infuriating and more than annoying, but seriously, what can you do?

Last night we had artichokes and ginger chicken and watched The Talented Mr. Ripley, which I’d never seen and Tom hadn’t seen in about nine years, I guess. (What? Freshman year of high school was that long ago?) Great movie. What a cast. I want to read the book now.

Filed at 1:54 pm under Life, Film
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I am, in fact, alive. I had a blog post written up but yesterday was the day of the Internet Access from Hell and it never made it up. Verizon needs a kick in the pants.

To make a long story short, we bought a lot of furniture this weekend - a lot of it discounted. We assembled it last night and now we are awaiting the (cloudlike pillowtop) mattress delivery on Friday. I will be happy when I can sleep on a bed again. Our couch is a little . . . short (though otherwise surprisingly cushy). It’s great to have at least half the apartment in semi-order, and a DVD player and a TV and a couch. I feel like a grownup, albeit a grownup inhabiting a cute shoebox.

We also saw Little Miss Sunshine, which was brilliant and hilarious and off-kilter and the best movie I’ve seen all year, and Half Nelson, which was brilliantly acted but not as good as I wanted and expected it to be.

Dad update: he is doing outpatient therapy (which means if he’s feeling ok, he may even be able to make the wedding!), and he’s in good spirits when I talk to him but he’s uncomfortable physically and not really able to sleep. Pumping arsenic into your body isn’t the most energy-giving activity in the world.

I was out yesterday, working from home and awaiting the furniture delivery, so when I got in this morning I was thrilled to discover that our Bialetti Cappuccino maker (in silver, not spotted) was delivered, as well as our VillaWare Uno Belgian Waffle Maker (big pockets!). Wooha! As I told Laura, we are highfalutin’ peeps now.

Filed at 12:04 pm under Film, Wedding, Dad Update
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Excellent article - “What On Earth is Christian Film Criticism?“.

Filed at 12:55 pm under Links, Writing, Film
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I want this book.

Filed at 1:47 pm under Film, Books
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Tom and I drove home from Albany this Sunday listening to Grey Ghost Stories, one of Linford Detweiler’s instrumental albums. We were talking about something entirely different when Tom laughed and said, “Stop. Listen.”

He reached over and backed up the CD just a hair, and we listened and heard a lovely feminine chuckle in the middle of one of the melodies. “Karin,” I said, and Tom nodded. (Karin Berquist & Linford Detweiler are the married couple that anchor Over the Rhine.)

I told him that I think someday, when we’ve done some real work, someone’s going to ask us who we took as modern-day role models, and we’re going to name people like Linford & Karin and Alfred & Alma.

Alfred, of course, being Alfred Hitchcock, and Alma being his wife of over 50 years. We saw Psycho a couple of weekends ago and watched the “Making of Psycho” documentary afterwards, and Joseph Stefano, the screenwriter, mentioned that he knew the screenplay was good when Alfred came back and said, “Alma liked it.”

In fact, a biography of Alma on an Alfred Hitchcock site says that “she was his assistant in virtually every production” from when they married onward, and that in a biography, “Hitchcock mentions several times that Alma was his harshest critic, and had a great eye for finding out inconsistencies in the rough cut.” Alma was an editor and a screenwriter. IMDB says, “She was Alfred Hitchcock’s closest collaborator . . . contributed to all of her husband’s films, usually uncredited. She would be shown stories, scripts, storyboards and all elements through the final edit.”

Tom and I, when we heard about Alma in the documentary, turned and grinned knowingly at each other. That’s us. That’s where we hope to be - Tom being the brilliant creative people-person guy, and me being the girl who makes things happen, and both of us finding scripts we like and fiddling with them till they’re perfect. Maybe we’ll write one together.

Rarely have I had real-person role models, but now I do. Alma. (Karin too.)

Filed at 4:20 pm under Daily Goings-On, Film, Love
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I took Friday off, because my brother, Sean (17 years old and very tall, for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of his acquaintance) came to visit for the weekend. So I dropped the wedding invitations off at the printer in the morning, then met him at Penn Station and got us on a train to New Jersey. We spent the rest of the day hanging out with the cast and crew on Tom’s set as they filmed the big fight scene from the movie. Highlight of the day - getting unexpectedly sprayed, along with the whole crew, by some very enthusiastic fake blood during a fake gunshot, and having to keep quiet because the cameras were rolling.

On Saturday, Tom came over mid-morning and we made a huge breakfast (scrambled eggs with olives and fresh mozzarella, maple sausage, biscuits from a can!!!, orange juice, and grapes). We checked out Beacon’s Closet, which is a very hipster “selective” thrift shop a block from my apartment that is awesome and has great clothes and fabulous prices. Hopefully I can offload some of my nicer cast-off clothes onto them in exchange for store credit.

We then trucked up to BAM for Psycho, which was awesome (I think Sean thought so too). I hadn’t seen it before but I adore Hitchcock movies (I wrote a paper on North by Northwest for a class once :D). And that evening we bought pizza and went to Prospect Park and listened to some experimental Northern Mexican video-based electronica (uh, yeah) and left after six songs and went to the Cocoa Bar and oversugared ourselves.

Sean and I actually made it to church early on Sunday (that is truly amazing), then went to lunch with friends at an Afghani restaurant in the East Village, followed by ice cream, followed by watching pigeons in Union Square and buying sandwiches and root beer floats until we had to send him home. And then Tom and I went back to the apartment, ate chips and very good but very hot salsa, and watched the very long documentary about the making of Psycho.

So now my apartment is a complete wreck and I have a million and one things to do this week, but very little to worry about. My one and only concern these days is that more people will be able to make the wedding than we expect, and we’ll run out of room and money simultaneously. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will all work out. :)

Filed at 9:45 am under Life, Film
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Yesterday was not one of my more shining moments, as I got up insanely early to make it to girls’ group and spend the rest of the day alternately chasing the electric company, Kinko’s, various people at work, and wedding-related people in an attempt to regain sanity. So, after work, I decided to be a teensy bit irresponsible and disappear for an hour and a half to see The Devil Wears Prada.

I was astounded at how much better it was than the book. I couldn’t pinpoint it till I read the review in the New Yorker this morning and realized that by removing all of Andy Sach’s internal dialogue, which is very wordy and repetitive and snotty, the story works much better. They completely streamlined the plot and Meryl Streep was brilliant and even if the fashion was bad, I loved about half of it. Particularly the shoes. I heart the shoes.

I could relate, a bit. I’ve never, ever had the proverbial Boss From Hell. Every boss I’ve ever had has been amazing and I’ve loved them and they’ve loved me and all has been peachy. But I have had a handful of high-stress jobs where I was on point all the time and where when things went wrong, it was specifically my fault. And I’ve had that experience of people close to me resenting the job. So I could sympathize with Andy and was even a bit ticked at her friends, because I know what it is to be nailed to a job and to be doing work you don’t want to do and have people think you’re being overdramatic.

It was totally bizarre to be able to pick out where, specifically, they were in every shot. The “Elias-Clark” building is actually on the same block as mine - it’s Time Warner Books, I think - and I pass it constantly. You can catch Radio City Music Hall in a few shots - I’m right on the other side of that at this exact moment. I’m actually not sure how I missed seeing them shoot the movie. Good ol’ midtown.

And as my own “Overheard in NY”, I heard this conversation as I walked out of the theater:

Man: Wow, that was pretty good.
Woman: Yeah, it reminded me of that movie with the White Witch.
Man: Oh, yeah! 101 Dalmations!
Woman: Right!

Filed at 9:34 am under New York City, Film, Facepalm
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Not sure why, exactly, but I was looking over IMDB’s trivia for Four Weddings and a Funeral - which, by the way, is a great movie with a horrible ending. But anyhow, these two bits made me laugh:

The budget for the film was so small that the Scottish wedding wasn’t filmed in Scotland, and the extras had to bring their own suits to the weddings.

(Tom will be glad to know that.)

While making the film, Hugh Grant thought the movie was awful.

Filed at 2:53 pm under Film, Facepalm
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I haven’t had much urge to blog lately. Hmm.

Anyhow, I was able to leave early on Friday due to everyone else leaving early on Friday. So Tom came into the city and worked from his phone while I picked out bridesmaid dresses at David’s Bridal. I finally settled on this one, in Peridot (light green). It looks horrible on that model but when I tried it on, it was lovely.

We went to see Double Indemnity on Friday night, after Thai food in Astoria. ‘Twas good. Film Forum is having a Billy Wilder festival of sorts and so we were trying to hit them.

On Saturday, Tom came over in the late morning and I cooked scrambled eggs for the very first time (I don’t usually eat eggs, but I’m learning) and we had chocolate biscuits and grapes and orange juice while he tied up some loose ends. Then we headed into the city for another premarital counseling session (which was great). Then we met up with Tara Leigh and her friend Doug (who she calls Danger, for no apparent reason ;D) for dinner/coffee/lots of conversation. Twas an excellent evening. Will post pics soon. They are blurry, unfortunately, mostly because we were at this grill & bar place that’s on the end of Pier 46 in Chelsea, right on the water, and you can feel the dock floating. It was a weird sensation.

We went to church on Sunday, and then brunch with a bunch of people (including Angela, who is in town for most of the month, hurrah!). And then to see Some Like It Hot. Odd bit of trivia from IMDB about filming that movie:

Marilyn Monroe required 47 takes to get “It’s me, Sugar” correct, instead saying either “Sugar, it’s me” or “It’s Sugar, me”. After take 30, Billy Wilder had the line written on a blackboard. Another scene required Monroe to rummage through some drawers and say “Where’s the bourbon?” After 40 takes of her saying “Where’s the whiskey?”, ‘Where’s the bottle?”, or “Where’s the bonbon?”, Wilder pasted the correct line in one of the drawers. After Monroe became confused about which drawer contained the line, Wilder had it pasted in every drawer. Fifty-nine takes were required for this scene and when she finally does say it, she has her back to the camera, leading some to wonder if Wilder finally gave up and had it dubbed.

And they wonder why people make blonde jokes.

I spent Monday kicking around the apartment, checking my work email and messages (there were none; everyone apparently took the day off), doing laundry, working on some websites, buying groceries, cleaning the bathroom, etc. I tried to go see The Devil Wears Prada, and even walked all the way down to the theater at 16th St (like 20 blocks), but it was sold out. Pooey. Better luck later.

And yesterday I went to Jersey to hang out with Tom and his family. We ate Chinese food and ice cream and watched fireworks. ‘Twas a thoroughly enjoyable holiday.

Filed at 11:05 am under Daily Goings-On, Film
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An exceptional interview with Dick Staub about Christians and art and media and consumerist marketing of all of the above.

Filed at 8:50 pm under Music, Film, Art
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SPIDEY!

(Worth the wait time.)

Filed at 6:04 pm under Geekitude, Film
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I was just looking at the photos from The Devil Wears Prada. Ok, even if they slaughtered the book (and it looks like they did) . . . I think I’m going to have to go see it . . .

. . . for the clothes. ::blush::

Filed at 2:05 pm under Film
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I’d like to take a moment to sing the praises of my fiance. Well, more accurately, his stuff.

(Just kidding. Sorta.)

But! As I remarked to him the other day, I would marry him for his book collection alone. Which may be an exaggeration . . . but it’s not too far off. Tom moved his book & DVD collection to my apartment when I moved in, because he’s moving home for the summer film shoot this weekend.

And oh, my goodness.

All the books I’ve ever wanted to read and didn’t want to buy. Dozens of books I should read. Classics, amazing literature, books on film, books on theology, books on books. I fancy myself a bookophile, but he’s got it honed to a whole different level.

And films? He’s got two Alfred Hitchcock boxed sets. Need I say more?

Not to mention that he’s got the best taste in music and the CD collection to boot. Angela (appearing at a new and cooler URL now) will concur on this point.

And he’s really cute! But I guess that isn’t regarding his stuff. Still, when you’ve got such an intelligent, well-read boy, who has a meticulously procured collection of amazing books and films full of amazing thoughts that he wants to share with you, it’s just an added bonus.

In case you think me horribly materialistic, I’ll reassure you that it’s what lies behind this impressive collection of culture that is important. He cares. And learns.

I love him. :)

Filed at 1:58 pm under Music, Film, Books, Love
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This is, hands-down, the most funny, snarky, amazing book/movie review I’ve ever read. And who woulda thunk it? It’s in the New Yorker.

(If you happen to adore Dan Brown, his book, or his film, then pardon me. But still read it. We all can afford to laugh occasionally.)

A snippet:

There is also Silas (Paul Bettany), a cowled albino monk whose hobbies include self-flagellation, multiple homicide, and irregular Latin verbs. He works for Opus Dei, the Catholic organization so intensely secretive that its American headquarters are tucked away in a seventeen-story building on Lexington Avenue.

And:

The film is directed by Ron Howard and written by Akiva Goldsman, the master wordsmith who brought us “Batman & Robin.” I assumed that such an achievement would result in Goldsman’s being legally banned from any of the verbal professions, but, no, here he is yet again.

Filed at 10:20 pm under Film, Books, Facepalm
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The Da Vinci Code’s rottentomatoes.com score has gone down to 16% from 20% yesterday.

No way I’m spending money to go see this movie.

Filed at 3:48 pm under Film, Facepalm
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I’m just not so much with the words lately. Sorry about that! Nothing too interesting to say.

Certain peeps in the blogosphere have decided that I look like this girl from the Cingular commercials:

I see it a teeny bit, but I really think she looks like a more heavily-made-up Michelle Trachtenberg.

Sounds like the Da Vinci Code movie bombed at Cannes. I was going to go see it if it was a good movie (and I had high hopes, with Ron Howard and Tom Hanks), but if the critics don’t like it, I’m not spending my $11 on it. Then again, I didn’t read the book either.

I finished reading V for Vendetta last weekend. It’s good, but reading graphic novels is really hard work. I need to see the movie now, even though I heard it wasn’t that good - the author of the book asked to have his name taken out of the credits - just for comparison’s sake.

Because I’m moving, but I haven’t actually moved yet, I have a lot of random things piling up in my teensy little bedroom (8′x10′). On Monday I picked up a microwave from Catherine, who is going home to Austin for the summer, and now that’s in my room along with a toaster oven and a bunch of other random things. I really just need to move.

Filed at 8:45 am under Daily Goings-On, Film, Books
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We watched Run Lola Run last night. And it was good. But halfway through, I realized that it was Blind Chance remixed over a dance beat.

Oh well, still good.

Filed at 8:40 am under Film
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My parents’ house sold yesterday, and they’re moving. Which also means that my grandparents are moving (can you say “musical houses”?).

I too am moving in June, which means I have to think of all the bits-and-pieces I need to acquire: toilet paper, a broom, a TV, etc.

We had lunch with Josh and Catherine yesterday after church - Catherine’s going home to Austin for the summer, and Josh is leaving altogether for Connecticut (closer than Austin, but still).

Everything in life is kicking into uberdrive.

On Saturday, Tom and I (kinda randomly) ended up on the Staten Island Ferry and subsequently in Staten Island. There’s a lovely park there. We walked past two weddings. One of them was particularly amusing; there were about eight groomsmen, all wearing white suits with white bowler hats and teal ties to match the bridesmaids’ dresses. Ew. Teal. No.

Yesterday we saw Mission:Impossible III. No, I haven’t seen any of the other M:Is. But Philip Seymour Hoffman! And Keri Russell! And Jonathan Rhys Meyers! And lots of explosions! We loved it, oh yes.

Filed at 8:35 am under Friends, Daily Goings-On, Film
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Wired News: Soderbergh: Burn, Hollywood, burn

This whole discussion sounds suspiciously like the debates we had in college over the “broken” music industry paradigm - how CD sales were dropping drastically, and how the industry needs to re-invent itself in order to stay alive. And in a lot of ways, it has (thanks to outfits like iTunes and eMusic). The whole topic was a bit of a hot button, as two RPI students were among the four college students that the RIAA sued for creating a search engine that could find MP3s (the case didn’t have a leg to stand on, but the RIAA has more money than random college kids, so they settled out of court). Don’t even get me started on that.

I haven’t looked at the statistics since I wrote a paper my sophomore year rebutting the idea that downloading music was killing the industry. My argument was that music executives were lazy and wanted to be able to make money the same way they always have. But the point of a free market society is that if something new comes along, you adapt, you change, you go with the flow. If people don’t like your product or the way you sell it, you figure out a better way. Because whining and lobbying Congress is not how an agile structure works. And as we learned in college, industries hit an inflection point where they can either adjust and re-invent and mature, or they can drop and fall apart.

So now Hollywood is catching on - not because of illegal downloading, but because Netflix and Blockbuster may be taking over the world and ruining cinema ticket sales. Personally, I think it’s because most of last year’s movies were lousy, but that’s another discussion for another time.

The point is, Hollywood needs to be as agile as the rest of them and re-invent their way of doing business, and I’m glad guys like Steven Soderbergh, at the Tribeca Film Festival, are catching on - whether or not their solutions always work. (Soderbergh’s solution this year was to release Bubble simultaneously on DVD, in theaters, and on cable TV - see the New Yorker’s take on it.)

Anyhow, there’s nothing new under the sun, but I’m glad the entertainment industry is waking up. The dot-coms had to reinvent themselves to stay afloat (enter web 2.0), the music industry is working on it, and thankfully, Hollywood is starting to get the picture.

Filed at 9:45 am under Links, Music, Film, Art
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Tom has been working for almost fourteen hours so far today (catering somewhere upstate), so I’m hanging out here at home and relaxing tonight. I finished reading A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (amazing book, excellent writing, looking forward to the film) and backed up a bunch of old files to clear some space on my hard drive. Now I’m going to go read V for Vendetta.

Tomorrow morning I am meeting Susan Enan on MacDougall Street to chat about her work for an upcoming article, then heading up to MoMA for the Munch exhibit with Colleen and Josh and Tom. And possibly a film tomorrow night; likely Tsotsi or L’Enfant (and leaning toward L’Enfant). Haven’t watched any movies this week, which is rare for us.

My top five bands of all time (an ever-evolving list):
1. Dave Matthews Band (in all its iterations)
2. Nickel Creek
3. Jars of Clay
4. Iron & Wine
5. Over the Rhine

I bought small red latte bowls, four for ten dollars, at Anthropologie last weekend, and they are too cute for words.

My parents will find out soon if they’ve sold their house. Hard to believe, a little nostalgic, but it’s a great move for them. Everyone is shifting and moving around - I’m moving, Tom’s moving, my family’s moving, my grandparents are moving. Friends are moving . . . life moves on.
A year ago today, I had my last class at RPI. What a year it’s been.

Ok, off to be a geek and read V (yes, a graphic novel - I can’t make myself read it on the subway).

Filed at 8:59 pm under Life, Writing, Music, Film, Books
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‘Twas quite the week - new classes, work busy, and lots of Polish films.

Yes - Lincoln Center Film Society is holding a Kieslowski film festival for the next several weeks, so Tom and I have been (quite literally) slamming through them. Krzysztof Kieslowski is best known for the Decalogues (ten short films based on the Ten Commandments and made for Polish television) and the Trois Couleurs (Three Colors) trilogy. We saw six films this weekend - I’m going to just list them in English because it’s easier: Seven Women of Different Ages (a short mostly-wordless film of seven ballet dancers), Short Working Day (dramatizing a political event in Poland and made for TV), Camera Buff (what happens when a man gets wrapped up in his hobby?) Blind Chance (meditation on chance & fate), Blue (in French, the first of the three colors, a meditation on grief, and one of the most stunning films I’ve ever seen), and White (in French and Polish, a dark comedy). Many more to come before the next two weeks are out. Thoughts on them to come in the future.
I’m becoming a film geek, kids.

Because it was raining, we didn’t go to Park Slope. We will.

Filed at 11:01 am under Daily Goings-On, Film
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I saw Sophie Scholl: The Final Days last night at Film Forum. Wow . . . just wow. Go see it. You should.

I’m going home this weekend. Tonight, in fact.� My dear Dad’s birthday is tomorrow, and since there was a period of time when that was not as certain, it’s a cause for celebration beyond the usual this year.� And I’m bringing Tom with me.� :)

Filed at 1:53 pm under Daily Goings-On, Film
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This is fascinating. The band Mute Math, whose founder is formerly of the Christian band Earthsuit, is suing Warner Music Group for putting them on the Word label, which is Warner’s Christian music label. Most interesting quote from the article:

“I had no desire to be the Christian version of a real band.”

I’m always intrigued by these things, after my year working in a Christian bookstore in high school and several years working in church music during college. Doing those things forces you to fight a bit of cynicism the rest of your life in regards to the Christian “industry”.

Two more podcasts for your consideration:
- Desiring God radio (John Piper)
- Terra Nova Podcast (Terra Nova church, Troy, NY)

I forgot to mention that I was completely delighted that Wallace & Gromit won an Oscar.

I’ve been reading the Illustrated Elements of Style, by Strunk & White. Yes, folks, when I am out of work for a day, I lay on the couch and read books about English grammar. I’m just that much of a dork. It’s really good, though, and I think the people who taught me to write used that book, because everything is common sense to me . . . but so many people lack basic grammar skills. (Do not take this blog as a reflection of my mad grammar skillz.) Succint, entertaining, and all too necessary for the populace. I’m surprised they don’t make people take grammar competency exams in order to graduate from college.

I have a busy week this week; big huge writing project deadline, class, meetings, and Chicago on Thursday. It is supposed to be warm out. That always makes things a little easier.

Filed at 9:35 am under Daily Goings-On, Film, Books
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My thoughts after the Oscars, in brief:
- Now I really do need to see Tsotsi. That Film Forum membership is coming in handy.
- Bravo to Philip Seymour Hoffman. I saw Capote on Saturday night and the man deserved it. (Joaquin Phoenix did too, though Walk the Line wasn’t as good of a film, but somebody has to win.)
- Also, the girl seated next to Hoffman was definitely the girl we saw in Starbucks.� So that makes three people who were there last night that I’ve bumped into around here (Jon Stewart included).
- What is up with the best original song? Can anybody say “misogynists”?
- Reese Witherspoon looked stunning.
- Keanu Reeves, if you look closely, appeared to be missing . . . a tooth? We actually stopped and re-wound the DVR to check.
- The nominees for best original score were all really, truly lovely.
- Ben Stiller was genuinely amusing.� Do you think he came up with that idea himself?� Because I couldn’t stop giggling.
- King Kong was a shoo-in for the special effects awards, but congrats all the same.� That was a stunning film.
- Crash completely deserved it.
- And to sum it all up . . . Jon Stewart is the man.� “Martin Scorcese: zero Oscars.� Three 6 Mafia: one.”

Filed at 10:16 am under Film
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High points of this past weekend’s IAM conference here in New York:

Watching the NYC premiere The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania (see my entry here).

Keynote address by Dana Gioia, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts and former poet laureate.

Half-hour excerpt of my friend Danai’s exceptional play, In the Continuum.

Succumbing to a certain someone’s pleading-puppy-dog look and buying the six-volume Complete Works of Hans Rookmaaker (it was 66% off, after all).

A workshop and interview with Betty Spackman, author of A Profound Weakness: Christians and Kitsch.

Being in McSorley’s with twenty people for lunch and watching Nigel Goodwin (speaker, British, aged almost 70) climb on his chair and proclaim to the room, “You are all welcomed! You are all blessed!”

The Rob Mathes band on Friday night - including the bass player from the Letterman show and the drummer from Saturday Night Live.
A very, very late night cream-puffs-and-creme-brulee-and-cocktails evening with about 15 people from all over the world.

Hearing Nancy Pearcey’s keynote and workshop, and staying an hour and a half afterwards to talk about art history and its relationship to worldview development in the modern age.

Afghani food on St. Marks’ with Tom and Colleen and a long discussion on creativity.

Being moved to tears several times Saturday night as I watched musicians and relived my journey from the girl I once was - the one who was an artist, a musician - to the girl I am today, remembering those days when I felt like I was doing work that I should be doing, wondering what happened and why I left the piano and church music, and knowing that I must go back to it.

Filed at 2:57 pm under Friends, Daily Goings-On, Music, Film, Poetry, Theology
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