credits: rcXXrc @ youtube

I’ve been in the computer since 10 in the morning yesterday, until now that it’s almost 1AM. And I swear, this is my last post before I go to sleep. Well, yeah, I should be sleeping now, but I would never let ideas about this great performance just pass by me.

So since it’s already 1 in the morning, please don’t expect anything good on this article. It’s just the video. Nevertheless, I just want to tell what I want. So here it goes…

Shindong caught me off guard with this. And much to my shame, I admit that this is the first time that I got to watch this. I knew Jokwon and Sungmin was here, but Shindong? Oh my. He really got me laughing off my feet.

He’s such a happy guy. Not to mention the fact that straight, long hair would bring out that beauty in him. Had I not known him, I would surely take him for a girl. Plus the way he moves, it doesn’t seem like the Shindong I used to know. Haha.

Then Sungminnie. WOAH. That’s all I could say when I was watching him. Indeed, he did a great job portraying a lady. Though I’ve seen this side of him already as he impersonated Lee Hyori (if I’m not mistaken) and of course, with the EPIC GEE PERFORMANCES, but the way he did this Wonder Boys thing is really unforgettable.

And of course, Jo Kwon. I always knew this talent of his. He’s doing the same with Bracademy before he got inflicted with Swine Flu (Oh, hope he’s okay now). He’s cute. Really cute. And talented, too.

And much to my surprise, Taemin and SEUNGRI! Woah. I mean, Taemin could do that in my mind, but SEUNGRI? hahaha! Never knew this side of Big Bang’s magnae… However, he did a great job. And he was beautiful.

But seriously, it’s fun to see artists from different companies performing together as one. It’s just a proof that for the ARTISTS, again, FOR THE ARTISTS, the fans would still be the priority. Anything for the fans, anything for the people – never mind the profits (you get what I’m saying?)

I wish I could see more of this Wonder Boys. I wonder whose songs are they gonna perform next?

Fernando Meirelles es un excelente director que primero nos trajo Cidade de Deus en 2002, con una magńifica estética y una historia increíble. Antes había dirigido y producido varios proyectos para televisión y otros largometrajes pero lo vinimos a reconocer hasta su quinta peli. Después confirmó de qué está hecho y realizó una conmovedora Constant Gardener en 2005 y que le valió varias nominaciones y un Oscar para su actriz principal, Rachel Weisz.

Tres años después, y luego de hacer de nuevo televisión, nos deleita con Blindness una peli basada en el libro de José Saramago, Ensayo sobre la ceguera.

Debo confesar que hasta hace muy poco me leí algo de Saramago, ya unos habían desertado su novela que me pareció cautivante, llena de vértigo, morbo y una extraordinaria narración. Desarrollarla en cine era todo un reto.

Pocos, en serio, pocos proyectos resultan verdaderamente gratificantes cuando pasan del libro al celuloide. Se me vienen a la cabeza tan sólo cinco de los que he leído; Curtis Hanson con Wonder Boys de 2000 basado en la novela de Michael Chabon, David Fincher con Fight Club de 1999 basado en la novela de Chuck Palahniuk, Stephen Daldry con The Hours de 2002 basado en la novela Michael Cunninghan, Mary Harron con American Psyco basado en la novela de Bret Easton Ellis y Tommy Lee Wallace con It basado en la novela de Stephen King (que es una tenebrosa producción para televisión).

El gran problema con un libro es que uno como lector se imagina todo muy específicamente, los espacios son muy luminosos o muy oscuros y los personajes son muy bajitos o muy gorditos pero nunca son los que le ponen a uno enfrente de la pantalla que incluso hablan muy diferente de lo que uno alguna vez se imaginó.

Teniendo esto en la cabeza Saramago nunca le puso nombre propio a ninguno de sus personajes, eran simplemente seres humanos con profesiones o características especiales. Después de sufrir su decadencia, es lo único que les queda: Su humanidad. Y el reto entonces se extiende a Mark Ruffalo que hace del doctor, a Julianne Moore que hace de la esposa del doctor, Alice Braga que hace de la mujer de gafas oscuras, Danny Glover que hace del tuerto del radio o Gael García Bernal que hace del rey del pabellón 3; el reto es que todos ellos no son sólo seres humanos son artistas reconocidos que deben desprenderse de su fama y hacerse humildes, mundanos, instintivos, animales, desconocidos.

Creo que es un producto acertado, fue muy fiel a la obra en su planteamiento, en su nudo y en su desenlace. Si uno cierra los ojos se alcanza a imaginar las líneas originales de Saramago. Me encantó la calidad del reparto que encarnó una población cosmopolita donde desde el primer ciego un japonés de fuertes y arraigadas costumbres se vuelven gratas sorpresas. Hubo instantes en la novela que me encantaron por su morbosidad, me llevaron al límite de mis instintos y quería disfrutarlos gráficamente en la peli. La putrefacción de los corredores, las telas que dejaban entrever los acaecidos pechos de las mujeres e incluso su violación por parte de los integrantes del pabellón 3 fueron momentos verdaderamente geniales. Eso sumado a descripciones de mendicidad, en la ciudad, los cortos donde se muestran los accidentes, los perros devorando cadáveres y todo el concepto de inframundo en el que se volvió esa nación hacen de la peli una desgarradora parábola.

Sin embargo, las imágenes de la ceguera blanca, la música, los pequeños detalles e incluso las mujeres bañando sus senos al aire libre con agua lluvia son tan bonitas que uno al final como espectador vive constantemente contrastes que evaluan la moralidad del ser humano yendo y viniendo entre horrores y belleza.

I’ve been reading this new book by Michael Chabon. Nonfiction: a collection of essays. Entitled “Manhood for Amateurs.” With an every growing pile of fiction that I want to read, I’m pretty selective about nonfiction books. But I’ll read anything by MC.

His novel “The Mysteries of Pittsburg” is still perhaps my favorite early-twenties coming of age novel; I’ve read it three times, and probably will again. For pur entertainment sake, “Wonder Boys” is superb. And what can one say about “The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay” other than it’s an absolute masterpiece, a Pulitzier Prize-winning novel about comic books. How cool is that? And, his short story, “Son of the Wolfman” is so good that reading it is inspiring and makes me want to give up writing simultaneously.

There was an article in the NY Times over the weekend that dubbed this collection “Daddy Lit,” a companion genre to go with “Mommy Lit,” but it is much more than that. What I like about it is that it is a collection. And even though I’m sure much care was put into the ordering of the essays and is intended to be read from beginning to end, just like short story collection, there’s nothing keeping you from jumping around. Plus, short, well-written essays, like short stories, when done well, can really pack a punch. And these essays do- WOMP! BLAM! ZOWEEE!

The second essay in the book, Williams and I, Chabon ruminates on how little a man has to do to be told by a complete stranger that he is a good father. Where as a woman has to do what?

“….perform an emergency tracheotomy with a Bic pen on her eldest child while simultaneously nursing her infant and buying two weeks worth of healthy but appealing break-time snacks for the entire cast of The Lion King.”

Of course, ultimately the essay addresses the fact that he, Chabon, like a lot of GenX dads these days, does do much more than haul his kid along on a trip the grocery store. Unlike men of his father’s generation, he’s more than a distant, slightly mysterious and perhaps at times menacing bread-winner.

Heck, in my family, I am not the main bread winner. In fact, my wife makes at last twice what I do. My job was selected because it is less demanding and more flexible; I can always be available for my daughter if need be. That way C doesn’t have to worry about skipping an important meeting or rushing an important report in the event that, say, Addy has to be picked up from school sick or something like that. I rarely have meeting, and they are never really that important. Also, because it is a city  job basically, it provided good health insurance. And, it is not very taxing so I have brain wattage left over at the end of the day to write.

It doesn’t and never has bothered me that my wife makes more than me. I’m among that 89% of people (men and women) who say that it’s all right for women to not only work but make more money than the man in a marriage. For us, such a circumstance was probably inevitable. C thrives in a corporate setting, whereas I was stymied by it and would prefer not to work in the world if at all possible.

What does bug me, though, is that women still aren’t paid as well as a man for doing the same work. That not only deprives my wife of her due, but my family of income, earned income. And that’s just bullshit on a stick!

Sometimes it’s confusing being a GenX Dad/Man. We’re the transition generation, the first to have to operate under new and very different rules than our fathers’. But it’s cool too, because to a certain dergree we get to make up the rules as we go. We get to be pioneers in a way. We can decided, to a greater or lesser degree, what being a man/Dad means. It can be as traditional or as progressive as we want. No doubt in most cases it ends up being some mixture of the two.

Anyhoo…so far these essays seem like they will serve as good jumping off points to talk about different issues of manhood.

It seems that a lot of people I know have been having a bumpy time lately. Cadillac would say it’s the planets. He has a lot of faith in the planets. In any case, moody skies are a good excuse to curl up with a hot cup of tea and yes – a comfort film. I’ve had different comfort films at different times, but there are a few I just can’t stop watching. One of my favourites is Wonder Boys, a quirky academic dramedy directed by Curtis Hanson. Originally a novel by Michael Chabon, the best thing about this film is its wordy, quotable script.

Wonder Boys is a many-limbed story, with bit-parts and sub-plots galore. Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is a novelist who teaches creative writing while trying to complete his second novel, a family saga that has somehow written itself into a sprawling, unwieldy mess. It’s Wordfest, the university’s annual writing festival, and his ever-hopeful editor Crabtree (Robert Downey Jnr) has come to attend the festivities and check up on the book. Of course, the weekend takes one wrong turn after another, as any semblance of order unravels in the wake of the film’s irrepressible characters. There is Grady’s precocious but emo student James Leer (Tobey Maguire), his mistress and Vice Chancellor of the University (Frances McDormand), the doe-eyed Hannah (Katie Holmes), who rents a room in Grady’s house and has ‘published two stories in the Paris Review’, and a host of minor characters including Q (Rip Torn) a famous bestselling author who begins his lecture at Wordfest with the announcement: ‘I…am a writer.’ Yes, yes, yes. For much of the time Grady gets about in a fuzzy pink dressing gown that’s so visceral I can smell its soapy, sweaty scent. There’s a lot of rain, a university with sandstone buildings, creative writing classes, typewriters, a transvestite with a cowhide tuba case, an earthy, damp glasshouse and a pair of red cowboy boots.

Wonder Boys the film still feels a bit like a novel, but it works. The minor characters support the main players by engaging them in surprising conversations and escapades. It’s thick with funny, insightful dialogue, and a wry stream of narration provided by Grady. He describes his own inner space with a mixture of warmth and irony and that belies his fear that he may well have lost his talent. On the one hand the film is about talent, success, ageing, and becoming comfortable with oneself, but what makes Wonder Boys so enjoyable is that it’s also about telling stories. Each character tells the others their story of themselves, and the others respond by editing and re-writing this story. The master of this is James Leer, who compulsively creates new lives for himself, detailing events as though he is both a character and his own author. Like Grady, he narrates his actions. As he is hauled drunk out of a Wordfest lecture, he describes the scene. ‘They were going to the men’s room’ he reports, as Crabtree and a pudgy faced boy heave him through the foyer, ‘but, would they make it in time?’ As each new tale is revealed to be out of sync with the seeable reality, James emerges as a commentator on the way we all ease the awkwardness of our lives by transforming them into tales, both tall and true.

Photo by Jenny Downing

Dearest Stella,

It’s Saturday night, and I’m at the new local bar by myself. This is the cool neighborhood haunt I’ve been waiting for. Technically, as you know, I don’t drink these days, except when I need a review of the lesson, bad things happen when I drink, which is more often than an intelligent person should need. If I did still drink, though, I would be drinking tequila, which is what the bar specializes in.

Becoming a bartender after giving up-ish alcohol might strike some as either curious or obvious. On the one hand, as a bartender I can keep my finger on the party pulse while not having to actually endure extended conversations with drunk people, conversations which, I’ve soberly observed, are—who knew?—agonizingly boring.

Michael Chabon has this great passage in Wonder Boys (I love love love that book!):

I drank for years, and then I stopped drinking and discovered the sad truth about parties. A sober man at a party is lonely as a journalist, implacable as a coroner, bitter as an angel looking down from heaven.

As a bartender, I don’t have to cut off my entire relationship with the substances and atmospheres I once loved. I don’t need to consume liquor to appreciate light reflected off bottles in afternoon sun, the weight of heavy glass against a palm, the satisfying sound of crushed ice against a tin bottom.

My relationship to alcohol has gone from a kind a nihilistic cannibalism (the pleasure of ingesting, of becoming the thing) to an aesthetic and kinesthetic one (the pleasure of making, looking, and feeling).

My old lover tequila used to cast a soft, sensual hue over the world, like a cheesy 1970s photo. I feel everything then; all my sensory apparatuses at attention. The problem is what happens after, when I dip into the Netherlands of Flatness.

The deal that seems to have been made, or dealt, to me is this: I can have either the exquisitely delicious and simultaneously painful sensory acuteness that drinking brings or the less intense (thus also less painful) sensory lushness of the everyday. I can’t have both. Worse still, a couple of years ago my body decided that if I was going to continue drinking, I could actually have neither. It would be sadness then flatness. No fun all around; hence tequila and my little break-up.

I love the film My Blueberry Nights because in it, Wong Kar-Wai creates a world, much like mine, in which bodies interact with material objects in a way that seems beautiful, harmonious. Scenes are saturated with glorious color. We see the way light might enrich a particular shade of red, for example, or conversely, the way a vibrant red can infuse light from a street lamp and render it a pulsing, living thing. A cafe window frames a conversation between strangers. Human bodies plus architecture plus material world make art.

Tonight, I drink a jam jar of ice cold water topped with a fat, juicy lemon. I have a conversation with a charming stranger, eat a delicious mushroom empanada, listen to Manu Chao, and watch hot bartender chicks with tats (Oh! to be able to dress as yourself while bartending!).

I watch light play off crushed ice as the bartender scoops it into three glasses. I watch, too, as she accidentally spills a margarita onto the ice below and quickly shovels it out so as to not ruin the batch. Getting new ice would set her back for time and the bar is packed.

I feel at peace as I sit here, albeit it is a tentative and delicate version. Not a being settled, because lord knows, I will not settle at my current job at Hotel Bar, nor anywhere most likely—this I understand about myself. But it is a peace akin to that feeling after exercising where the body hums, all its parts in tune. It’s the kind of fleeting stillness born of movement, a punctuating breath, like a comma, already suggesting the next thing.

It is a pleasure to be on this side of the bar tonight, to be the observer, and, of course, the writer again. My new part-time schedule has me feeling human once more; I’m able to tend to my daydreaming self, that part of me so necessary not only for writing, but for living.

After an era of turning inward, this moment out in the world feels powerful and reassuring. Working has changed who I am even on the days I don’t work. Time feels different, more precious, and so I am less wasteful with it when I’ve got it. Rest feels more productive because it is not haunted by guilt.

Through my new adventures, the outline of my whole self stretches to meet its new potential. There is more becoming to do.

love,
Stephanie

My Blueberry Nights

at the time that ‘Genie guys’ performed,i really want to post this topic in order to know which of them really did a good performance (although i knew that they were all good and i love these videos!T_T)but i just wanted to know your opinion about this..this is just a survey!fans don’t take this seriously but please do participate in this pollC:

the reason why i have so many polls (my blog site is full of polls already!lol) is that i really wanted to know the likes and dislikes of the readers and fans of Kpop artist..we all know that we live in different places and not only Korean people are addicted to them but people all over the world..the only similarity we have is that we all love Kpop and that we want to be updated with their performances and give them our love and support no matter what!

anyways,these guys came from different groups and performed girl group songs..it depends on you what will be your basis on choosing which of these groups will you give your vote!you can based it on their performance or the guys involved in the performance or the song they performed..just think it carefully and cast your vote when you’re decided already… CAST YOUR VOTE NOW!c:

Wonder Boys

Genie Guys

Boys Generation

Michael Chabon’s luminous 1988 coming-of-age novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, is one of the auspicious literary debuts of the last dozen or so years. Written in an assured and full-throated lyrical voice, the book began life as an MFA thesis and was published to critical acclaim and bestsellerdom when Chabon was only 24 years old. He then spent the next five years assiduously working on an epic second novel titled Fountain City. After completing some 1,500 pages, he came to the realization that the book was going nowhere at all, and he regretfully abandoned it. As devastating as the loss of five years’ work must have been for Chabon, we can be thankful that the experience led him to write—in a mere matter of months—the enchanting book that became his “official” second novel, Wonder Boys, published in 1995.

Perhaps it’s no small coincidence that Grady Tripp, the narrator and protagonist of Wonder Boys, is a novelist with an out-of-control unfinished manuscript of 2,611 pages. Tripp, however, is a full decade and generation older than Chabon (who was 31 when Wonder Boys was published) and still has one foot in the 1960s and one hand on an ever-present “fatty” of marijuana. He teaches fiction writing at a Pittsburgh college. Seven years ago, Grady Tripp wrote a successful novel that won a PEN award. Since that time, his life and art have somehow managed to spiral beyond his perceived control. Tripp describes his appearance glimpsed in a barroom mirror: “an overweight, hobbled, bespectacled, aging, lank-haired, stoop-shouldered Sasquatch, his furry eye sockets dim, his gait unsteady…”

The narrative that Tripp relates for us is a series of steadily mounting crises that force him for the first time in years to challenge the dissipation that has overtaken his mind and body. On the eve of a college-sponsored writers and publishers weekend known as WordFest, Tripp’s wife walks out on him, and he learns that his mistress, Sara Gaskell—who also happens to be the chancellor of the college—is pregnant with his child. Adding comic insult to injury, Tripp finds himself partnered in crime with one of his students, a macabre and suicidal young man named James Leer, who has shot and killed the chancellor’s dog and stolen her husband’s prized Marilyn Monroe collectible, a jacket worn by the starlet on her wedding day to Joe DiMaggio.

Marilyn Monroe’s jacket ends up in Leer’s knapsack, and the dog’s corpse ends up in Tripp’s automobile trunk, along with a tuba belonging to a transvestite who has arrived in town with Tripp’s eccentric friend and editor, Terry Crabtree. Still later, Tripp will accidentally drive over a nine-foot boa constrictor belonging to his in-laws. The boa’s carcass, too, will be added to the trunk. In a climactic moment, Tripp will deploy the dead boa like Indiana Jones’s bullwhip and disarm a pistol-packing gangster.

The foregoing inelegant synopsis highlights the fact that Michael Chabon is not afraid of rude and outsized slapstick comedy. What the synopsis doesn’t convey is Chabon’s poetic voice, his literary gift that transforms Wonder Boys into an intoxicating love affair with the English language. Here, for example, is Tripp’s description of the greenhouse behind Sara Gaskell’s home:

I smelled potting soil and freesias, basil and rainwater, rotten wood, rubber hoses, moss, and a faint chlorine tang like an indoor pool. A thousand plants stretched out into all four arms of the greenhouse, spread across low benches, in orderly rows, sporting all manner of fronds, tendrils, and bracts, from cacti and miniature roses in pots to boxes full of tiny seedlings to a big round gardenia in a Mexican urn. The back part of the greenhouse was hung with fluorescent lights that cast their wide spectra over planters filled with zinnia, alyssum, phlox, and over a box of sweet pea vines that Sara had trained to climb through the empty mullions of a salvaged French door.  In the central atrium, in a terra-cotta pot the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, stood a six-foot date palm, and beside it a worn purple davenport crowned with a bunch of carved grapes.

This hothouse teeming with vegetation thrives in the midst of a Pittsburgh winter. Similarly, a prospective newborn life blossoms in the warmth of Sara Gaskell’s womb. Chabon doesn’t overplay this thematic metaphor, yet as Grady Tripp extravagantly renders for us the sights and smells of Sara’s greenhouse, we can sense the salvation that Sara represents for him. At the same time, we are made aware that language is itself a rejuvenating force for Grady Tripp in his journey toward rebirth as a novelist.

Chabon is the most reverent of irreverent comic writers. Even casual readers should recognize the biblical allusions to the sensuous “Song of Solomon” in the greenhouse description. On a more overt note, Chabon’s novel includes a long set-piece—nearly 30 pages—that depicts a lovingly detailed Passover Seder dinner at the home of Grady Tripp’s Jewish in-laws. Nevermind that Tripp is a lapsed Protestant, or that his marriage is in the process of going to hell, the ancient traditions are for the moment observed and a semblance of spiritual grace seems to touch these precarious lives, including the lost soul of young James Leer.

Wonder Boys is eloquent on the subject of writers losing their way, of the creative process turning sour and self-destructive. Tripp has come to think of writing as  the “midnight disease,” a kind of ghostly insomnia that afflicts authors too long immersed in the solitude necessary for their work. Several characters in Chabon’s novel share a fascination with a mythical author named August Van Zorn, a writer of pulp horror stories who eventually put a bullet through his head when the market for his lurid stories began to dry up. (Chabon has gone as far as to pen a sly and creepy horror story under Van Zorn’s name, which is included in Chabon’s 1999 short story collection, Werewolves in Their Youth.) Then there is a young writer like James Leer, who is so determined to court darkness that he can find it anywhere, even in the films of Frank Capra, whose name Leer has carved into the flesh of his hand with a needle. Leer will discover a measure of redemption in a book contract and a homosexual fling, both proffered by Tripp’s lascivious editor, Terry Crabtree.

If Wonder Boys lacks the lean precision of Philip Roth’s The Ghost Writer, or the intellectual pedigree of Saul Bellow’s Humbolt’s Gift, it is certainly the equal of John Irving’s antic and brilliant The World According to Garp. Like Garp, Chabon’s novel risks both silliness and sentimentality, and succeeds as a manic celebration of the American literary spirit.

February, 2000

I have been reading a lot lately. I had previously been on a bout of not being able to get myself through anything and instead found myself doing various other things on my train rides (Peggle on the iPhone, etc.).

I started with “throw away titles” as I like to call them because even though I enjoy them for what they are, they are my versions of trashy novels. They were Mass Effect: Ascension and Darth Bane: Path of Destruction. As I said before, by no means, do I dislike these novels but I would never put their “value” in range with something like The Great Gatsby.

I then picked up Wonder Boys which was the start of my more “serious” reading. Having previously read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Wonder Boys was exceedingly easy to breeze through having been an earlier piece of work in Micheal Chabon’s career.

Up next was Boomsday, an excellent novel, written by the author of Thank You For Smoking, Christopher Buckley. I had never previously read anything by him and I am pleased to say that I loved the book. It is truly a book for the blogging generation.

To top it all off I picked up a copy of The New Yorker and I have been enjoying that for the past few days.

The next book up that I plan on reading is Empire by Orson Scott Card. I want to read this because there is an upcoming Xbox Live Arcade game called Shadow Complex and its story is loosely based on this particular novel. This is my first excuse to read something by Mr. Scott Card.

No próximo domingo, 09 de agosto, haverá um especial com os grupos femininos nos palcos do especial de verão do programa da SBS ‘Inkigayo’.

Os grupos femininos SNSD, 2NE1, Brown Eyed Girls, KARA e 4Minute estarão juntos no mesmo palco. Haverá também um especial intitulado ‘Fofoca das garotas’.

Além disso, neste mesmo episódio do ‘Inkigayo’, que comemora o 500° episódio do programa, haverá uma apresentação especial pelos ‘Wonder Boys’.

Esta formação dos ‘Wonder Boys’ contará com os membros do 2PM WooYoung e TaecYeon, os membros do SHINee Onew e Key, e um outro membro especial que será revelado somente na apresentação.

Os ‘Wonder Boys’ irão apresentar ‘Tell Me Your Wish’ do grupo SNSD, mostrando toda sua habilidade com a coreografia das ‘pernas alongadas’.

Por: S2inGayo

Go get a cold one from Mo. You'll feel better.

Sometimes a man has to stand on his own, and that was the case with me at State Street Saloon on Friday night.

Sure, Mo was around to serve me a warm smile and ice cold PBR tall. But Mr. X wasn’t in town, The Captain was away and Fredo had some other friends who needed entertaining.I ran into Coz on the street and he agreed to have a beer with me, but he isn’t much of a Beer Drinker. He’s more of a secondary character in our narrative.

Our Man In Concord happened to notice I gave him a shout out on a Street Tweet earlier in the night, expecting he was in the Capitol City. But lo and behold, the man texted me that he was a block away holding court in Market Square having a cigar. Phew. Thank God.

Before I get on with it, I should say there’s been good stuff happening at State Street lately. Last night, they were playing some decent Jay-Z, a real twist for the place. And the crowds have been a mix of the blue and semi-white collar folk, which is always a big plus for me. I was thrown a bit with the place about a week ago when a couple of muscleheads  started dancing together and singing along to a Righteous Brothers tune. But hey, the moment kind of got me, too.

Another scattered side-bit: Before OMIC got in touch with me, I had stopped by the Gas Light deck to see what was going on. There was a decent band there and an OK crowd for a Friday but it was about closing time for them so I just took in a couple of songs from outside the gate, a practice I noticed that’s been growing on people lately. Then I tried to get into the Dolphin Striker. It was way too jammed with people to get near Ray, so I scotched it. And honestly, I was just hoping KTG was around. She wasn’t. So, I bolted to Statey and ran into Coz on the way.

So do you remember that scene in Wonder Boys when Grady Tripp decides he has to go rescue James from the basement apartment of his parent’s home? Probably not. But that pretty much summed up how I was feeling last night. I was just hanging around and needed some rescuing.

Just to fill you on what’s going on with OMIC, he’s on the brink of becoming a kept man again. I am very happy for him, but I am a little worried I may never see him again once his Special Lady gets back to town.

Maybe I’m just suffering an abandonment issue as of late, but listen Special Lady, I need OMIC here once in a while. I’m doing some empire building here in Portsmouth as I march into the fall. (He’ll explain.) So, I need him around for some spiritual guidance. Not to mention, my Life Coach wasn’t even in town this weekend. Sheesh.

So as I was enjoying a cigar with OMIC and his tribe, I did spot that Girl Who Carries Penguin Classics walking out of Ri Ra with a friend. The Captain wanted to do a fly by on her and her friend at the Dolphin Striker when we saw her there last week, but I told him to stand down. Even though she has given me a look here and there, she might just be a window shopper (someone who likes to look, but never buys). Plus, I don’t know if our book collections would exactly be a match.

We rounded out our night trying to get into D Street, but we couldn’t get in so we shouldered our way into a very crowded Press Room where OMIC took care of securing last call. Then he helped me escape before a certain bit of personal business got ugly. Like I said, thank God that guy is around.

– The Beer Drinker

Dear Stella,

This morning I met my agent in person for the first time. We talked easily over Chamomile mint tea (mine) and ice tea with lemon (hers). I like her. My gut tells me she’s one of the good ones.

Of course, as with most things in life, I have completely unrealistic expectations and imaginings about what the writer-agent relationship should be. I derived my understanding of this relationship from The Wonder Boys, in which both writer and agent need each other desperately to survive. And then, of course, there is the mischief and mayhem that ensue from too much alcohol, too many drugs, a stolen Marilyn Monroe coat, a dead dog in the trunk of a car (my least favorite part and certainly not one of my requirements for an agent), a lovely transvestite, and a trail of scorned women.

None of this happened in my meeting with my agent. Instead, she said my novel is ready to go out.

!

Today, I believe all things are possible. And on a totally unrelated note, The National Health Service of Britain is encouraging students to have a healthy sex life in a campaign whose slogan is, “An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away.”

This is good news! No more squandering precious hours on another round of revisions. I have my health to attend to!

By Gregg Kilday – Hollywood Reporter

   For the first time in the history of the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Awards, a previous recipient — Kirk Douglas, the 19th achievement award winner — was on hand to see the honor passed on to his son, Michael Douglas, the 37th recipient.
   Somewhat inevitably, one of the themes of the evening — held on Soundstage 15 on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City — was how gracefully 37 had carved out his own career in the iconic shadow of 19.
   “I’m too young to have a son getting a lifetime achievement award,” Kirk, 92, cracked as he rose to lead off the evening of testimonials. Pretending to still be smarting from the fact that his son hadn’t cast him in the Oscar-winning “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” — which the younger Douglas produced after his father failed to get a film version off the ground — the elder Douglas concluded with mock outrage and heartfelt sentiment: “I’m so proud of my son Michael. I don’t tell him that very often.”

   Later in the evening, Kiefer Sutherland testified that he felt an immediate kinship with Michael since they both faced the challenge of honoring their fathers while charting their own paths in the family business.
   And when Douglas rose to accept the award, he attributed his success to “great genes,” paying tribute to his father and mother, Diana Douglas, who continue to work today “with the same passion for acting as when they began over 70 years ago.”
   But if there was any doubt that Michael Douglas had established himself as an actor, producer and humanitarian, that quickly disappeared in the course of the crisply edited evening of performances, film clips and remembrances from friends and colleagues.
   The setting — Judy Garland once danced down the yellow brick road on the same soundstage — called for some showbiz razzmatazz. So Michael Douglas made his entrance with the help of a stunt double, who came crashing through a fake ceiling a la a stunt the actor performed in “The Game.”
   His wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, kicked off the evening, quite literally, with a high-stepping routine to the tune of “One” from “A Chorus Line,” with lyrics rewritten to pay tribute to her husband.
Bob Dylan also made a surprise appearance to sing “Things Have Changed,” the Oscar-winning song he penned for Douglas’ film “Wonder Boys.”
   A trio of Douglas’ female co-stars — Kathleen Turner, Sharon Stone and Annette Bening — spoke of his interest in roles that explored the tensions between men and women. Offering concurring opinions in taped appearances were “The China Syndrome’s” Jane Fonda and “Fatal Attraction’s” Glenn Close, who got one of the big laughs of the evening when the camera pulled back to reveal a bunny she claimed to be readying for dinner.
   Karl Malden, with whom Douglas appeared on “The Streets of San Francisco” and whom he acknowledged as his real mentor in the business, appeared on tape, saying: “I wish Michael could have been my son. I’m so proud of him.”

   Other co-stars on hand included Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maguire, Martin Sheen and Benicio Del Toro, while Warren Beatty, last year’s recipient, joked that he hoped Douglas “will be as impressed by himself as I was by myself.”
   In a taped message, Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations, lauded Douglas’ efforts on behalf of nuclear disarmament, among other issues, as a U.N. messenger of peace. And one of the tribute’s most emotional moments occurred when Steve Swankey, a former child soldier from Sierra Leone whose education Douglas had sponsored, rose to offer his thanks. Visibly moved, Douglas left the dais to embrace the young man.
   The evening built to two of the high points in Douglas’ career: “Wall Street,” for which he won the best actor Oscar, and “Cuckoo’s Nest,” for which, as a producer, he took home a best picture trophy.

Referring to his indelible portrait of corporate raider Gordon Gekko, Sony president and CEO Howard Stringer said to Douglas, “You may be partly to blame for the global economic recession.” And “Wall Street” director Oliver Stone, who is about to reteam with Douglas on a sequel, said of the actor’s affinity for tackling hot-button issues, “Mr. Douglas has a knack for catching the wind.”
   Finally, “Cuckoo” star Jack Nicholson rose to present the AFI trophy to his longtime friend, “Mickey D.”
   “What’s so incredibly fulfilling is to hear these things and not be dead,” Douglas responded.
   The evening also included the presentation of the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal to producer Steve Golin, a 1981 graduate of the AFI Conservatory.
   The dinner will be broadcast July 19 by TV Land Prime under a new four-year deal with the AFI.

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From the moment I first saw Robert Downey Jr. play Cybill Shepherd’s reincarnated husband in Chances Are, I’ve considered him one of my favorite actors. Early in his film career, he charmed us with his handsome face, his winning smile, and his witty humor. In more recent years, he’s played a variety of roles, many – but not all – of them more serious than the romantic comedy leads that first brought him fame. After watching The Soloist last month, I was reminded of not only what a great actor RDJ is, but how much I love him! So in the spirit of fandom, I’m counting down my Top Ten Favorite Robert Downey Jr. Movies. I’ve even tried to rank them!

• 10. Soapdish (1991) – I haven’t seen this movie in years, but from what I remember, and from the impressive cast roster (RDJ was joined by Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Whoopi Goldberg, Teri Hatcher, etc.), I am certain that it was entertaining and amusing. I’ve always found real soap operas very comical (mainly because they are so bad), so I am a fan of a movie that uncovers humor behind the scenes of a soap. Robert Downey is in the center of the action as producer of the fictional soap The Sun Also Sets. Much hilarity ensues. I need to watch this one again!

• 9. Heart and Souls (1993) – Someone must have been trying to capitalize off the popularity of Chances Are by making another “life after death” fantasy movie. In Chances Are, Robert Downey was the one who died and returned to earth in another body. In Heart and Souls, he plays a regular guy (Thomas) who has four guardian angels, who have been “attached” to him since the night they died in a bus crash while he was being born. The plot revolves around Thomas helping his angels take care of unfinished business before they can move on to the afterlife, and during that process he learns a thing or two about himself. This isn’t Oscar material, but it is a feel good story with likable characters and a few great songs (most notably “Walk Like a Man”). Another plus is that the story takes place in San Francisco, one of my favorite movie settings. Downey and Elisabeth Shue have good chemistry as the romantic leads as well.

• 8. Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) – Robert Downey looks good in black and white! Actually, he looks good in just about anything. He has a timeless appeal, whether he’s playing a Renaissance character in Restoration, a silent movie icon in Chaplin, or a McCarthy-era journalist in this movie. The George Clooney directed Good Night, and Good Luck was surprisingly good, and had a timely message about the role and responsibilities of the news media. Robert Downey portrayed real life CBS journalist Joe Wershba, and the most significant aspect of his character was his secret marriage to co-worker Shirley (secret because of CBS’ policy at the time that no co-workers should be romantically involved). Downey and Patricia Clarkson brought these characters to life, and this subplot humanized an otherwise issue-oriented film.

• 7. Wonder Boys (2000) – This is one of those offbeat, at times bizarre movies that is difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t seen it. It deals with writer’s block, the theft of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, a transvestite named Antonia, and everything in between. As a story about the difficulties and adventures that come with being a writer, it’s enjoyable. As a tale of lost souls who are searching for companionship, validation, and a sense of belonging, it’s fascinating. Robert Downey, Jr. plays Grady Tripp’s (Michael Douglas) editor, Terry Crabtree. They have worked together for years and so understand each other. Terry is one of the more unconventional characters that Downey has played. Terry brings Antonia, a transvestite he met on the plane, as his companion for a weekend visit to take a look at Grady’s unfinished book. Before long, though, he dismisses Antonia when he becomes infatuated with James Leer (Tobey Maguire), one of Grady’s creative writing students. Katie Holmes also stars, as James’ friend Hannah, who is interested in Grady. But Grady is too busy juggling ex-wives and and a current lover – who is pregnant, and married to his boss – to reciprocate. What follows is a series of misadventures that lead these characters toward their own forms of resolution. A year after this movie was released, Downey’s problems with the law and substance abuse started to subside, as he successfully completed a drug rehab program, and his career had a resurgence (after a slump during his late ’90s personal problems). Wonder Boys, then, marked the beginning of Downey’s rise to critical acclaim that has continued throughout this decade (we’ll pretend like The Shaggy Dog never happened).

• 6. Iron Man (2008) – What a fun surprise this movie was! In addition to being a fantastically entertaining action movie with impressive special effects, it proved that Robert Downey can play any role he sets his mind to. I was more than a little skeptical when I heard he was playing the lead in an action hero movie. My thoughts included, “Don’t those roles usually go to younger, buffer actors? Isn’t he like 40? That’s just weird!” But, it so wasn’t! He was his usual charming self as Tony Stark, billionaire genius and inventor. And in the tradition of comic heroes, we saw how he evolved from a self-centered playboy to an iron-clad beast saving the world. And I needed not be skeptical about Downey’s age or physique. He looked awfully good in his tux and his Iron Man suit.   Click here to read my full review of Iron Man.

• 5. Zodiac (2007) – This movie about the 15+ year investigation into the real life Zodiac killer is part horror, part mystery, part drama, but they all add up to one solid, excellent movie. The murder scenes are some of the most disturbing ones I’ve seen, but as long as you can make it through those, you are in for a gripping account of this criminal investigation, and the toll it took on those involved. Robert Downey, Jr. plays Paul Avery, a crime reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, who becomes wrapped up in the mystery of the Zodiac killer. This unidentified killer starts sending clues to the newspaper through letters with encrypted codes. This draws the attention of political cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who becomes obsessed with deciphering the codes. Both men eventually connect with Detective Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo), who has been assigned to the case, and this trio struggles over several years to unravel the mystery of the Zodiac killer. I love all three of these actors, so this movie was a joy for me to watch. They all did an excellent job with their roles, but especially Robert Downey. We see Avery go from a spirited, ambitious journalist to a downtrodden, substance abusing recluse over the course of the investigation. So, no, this isn’t a feel good movie. But as a factual account of the Zodiac investigation, it is intriguing, and as a study of the cost of obsession and professional ambition, it rings true and has me engaged from beginning to end. Another winner for Robert Downey!

• 4. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) – I watched this movie for the first time when it came on TBS last summer. Why didn’t I watch it sooner?! It was simply a delightful breath of fresh air! It is billed as a comedy mystery thriller, and I would stress the comedy part of that equation. Most private detective movies are very dark, with only the most deadpan of humor thrown in the mix. I loved how this movie didn’t take itself seriously – at all – and Robert Downey was largely to thank for its fun, quirky tone. He plays Harry Lockhart, a small time thief who stumbles upon an acting audition while trying to evade the cops, at which point he begins posing as an actor who shadows a private eye (Val Kilmer) to prepare for a new role. The ensuing chain of events reunites him with a childhood friend, and involves him in a murder mystery. What makes this movie so entertaining is Harry’s voice over narration, through which he points out the humor or irony of various parts of the story, interjects random sidebars, and occasionally backtracks. Here’s one example of his sarcastic narration: “Don’t worry, I saw Lord of the Rings. I’m not going to end this 17 times.” I love it when Robert Downey plays witty, irreverent characters!

• 3. The Soloist (2009) – Of all the character types that Downey has played, I think I like him best as a journalist. He plays tenacious reporter very well, no matter the decade. (1950s in Good Night and Good Luck, 1970s-80s in Zodiac, and 2000s in The Soloist.) And his character in The Soloist, L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez, is very likable. He has a strained relationship with his son and wife (Catherine Keener), from whom he is separated. When he isn’t in the office or tracking down his next story, he lives a life of solitude in an apartment where he has never unpacked his moving boxes, and where his only solace is writing his column and listening to old records. Enter Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a homeless, schizophrenic musical prodigy, who Lopez encounters on the street and proceeds to develop an unlikely friendship with during the course of collecting information for his column. The more I think about this movie, the more I like it. Like I said before, Downey’s character is very likable, flaws and all. He is a lonely, troubled, but good-hearted man who you root for during the movie just as much as you do for Foxx’s character. I love movies that introduce us to lonely or isolated characters, and show what happens when they let down their guard long enough to let someone else in. Other movies in this category include The Visitor and The Station Agent. Go see The Soloist! It is well worth two hours of your life.

• 2. Chances Are (1989) – This is an odd little movie, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. Robert Downey plays Alex Finch, a college aged guy who is living in his car when he meets Miranda, who happened to be his daughter in a previous life. Not realizing that, he becomes interested in her, but before long she introduces him to her mother, Corinne, who coincidentally was his wife in a previous life. When they meet, something clicks in his head, and he starts to remember his previous life. The rest of the movie finds humor in young Alex acting like a father figure to Miranda, Corinne trying to figure out if Alex is really her Louie or if he’s just crazy, and family friend Philip trying to finally successfully romance Corinne. The Cher/Peter Cetera duet “After All” is perfect at the end of the movie, and ignoring the potential incest topic, the story wraps up nicely. Robert Downey is at his most charming and funny in this movie. Click here to read my thoughts in a previous post about Chances Are and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which I watched during the same weekend last summer.

• 1. Only You (1994) – Drumroll please……. and the winner is Only You! So why does a silly ’90s romantic comedy earn the #1 spot on my list of favorite Robert Downey, Jr. movies? Well, first of all, it really is a good movie – entertaining, funny, sweet, beautiful… Secondly, I have a nostalgic attachment to this movie. I watched this movie several times when I was in high school. I had the soundtrack. I had a celebrity crush on two of the actors (RDJ, of course, and Billy Zane). A few years later, I spent a summer semester in Rome, Italy, which inspired me to watch the movie again, since many of its scenes take place in Rome and other locations in Italy. This is probably my favorite romantic comedy of all time. All the actors are great for their parts: Bonnie Hunt, Fisher Stevens, Marisa Tomei, and most importantly, Robert Downey, Jr. He plays Peter, a charming man who knows a lot about shoes but doesn’t always tell the whole truth about everything else. I enjoyed the fantastical adventures that Peter, Faith, and Kate experience in bella Italy. Click here to read more of my thoughts on Only You.

So there you have it. My top ten favorite Robert Downey, Jr. movies. It looks like he has some more good ones coming up, including Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man 2. I’ll just pretend like Tropic Thunder never happened, since it’s about the only black spot on the last decade of his career. And, actually, Downey’s character was the best thing about that movie! It’s funny to me that he was nominated for an Oscar for that role, but I suppose he did play it well. Kudos to Robert Downey, Jr., for always doing an outstanding job with any role he is given, for always being thoroughly entertaining, and for overcoming his personal struggles to continue his successful and memorable acting career.