Season of the Pumpkin

Pumpkins aren't just for Halloween although that's one of their more enjoyable uses. Well, pumpkin pies are tasty, too. One year I actually went to the trouble of saving the carved out pumpkin and making pies with it. Another year I tried to make my own roasted pumpkin seeds. It was an interesting experiment but I highly recommend you buy them instead. Another year I got the little pie pumpkins. It's all the same. Pumpkin is pumpkin and it's all good.

Recycling is important with left over pumpkins. Don't let them sit on your front porch collapsing into gooey masses and attracting flies. Colorado and Ireland are particularly interested in seeing you properly recycle them. Just be sure you remove the seeds before you throw them on the compost heap or you'll have a boat load of vines next summer. The vines are quite attractive, especially as they cover up the rotting compost. However, you'll find yourself opening a pumpkin stand if you're not careful!

Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie. I love it. I could eat it all year round. On my journeys around the world I discovered that there's nothing as American as pumpkin pie, even though here in the US of A the saying is "apple pie." Apple pie is actually not an American preserve. It's a self deception we live with every day. In Lebanon they make some tasty pumpkin items (for St. Barbara's Day if I remember correctly) but only in American do we make the pies. Or maybe it should be "There's nothing as American as sweet potato pie." But that's another story.

Time Waits For Everyone - An Opinion

As I listened to Viggo Mortensen's piano poems, these words came to mind: tentative, exploratory, meditative, dissonant. Like good poems they blend into the time continuum. This music is a comforting backdrop for quiet activities like writing, meditating, laying on your back gazing at the stars, and watching the sun filter through the trees. I am vaguely reminded of Poulenc. There are rhythms that remind me of of Ravel. There is also a thinness (or transparency) in the style of Leon Russell.

These pieces are a quilt of quiet musings. For some reason I got the picture of a lover waiting for his love to wake as he patiently sits in the next room picking out the notes of his affection. I also thought of rain drops sliding down glass or dripping off trees (for example). If you like ambient music, you will like this CD.

overheard at lunch

"You can definitely backspace in life." Young man to young woman while "renegotiating" their relationship. So that's what they call it now. What about rebooting?

I'm free!

Yep. Free as a bird and little more expensive to maintain. I've been RIFfed. I feel great. It's like a whole new world has opened up for me. Starting over ... it'll be just like ...
Current Fads
Listening. Recent Purchases on iTunes; faked white noise that sounds like whooshing
Watching. Bombay Talkie (1970)
Activity. dreaming
Gadget. cell phone
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. The Runes of the Earth - Stephen R. Donaldson; Severence Package - SunTrust; GD USA; MacWorld; AdWeekly (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)

snakely

Shakespeare Wallah

I have played many great dramatic roles in my time.
— Manjula

I've watched at least 256 movies. That's how many I've rated at Blockbuster Online. All along I've been following the actors and actress. I've followed Meryl Streep, Orlando Bloom, Hugh Grant, Hugh Jackson, Renee Zellweger, John Wayne, Jim Carrey, Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, and lately Viggo Mortensen, to name a few.

This year for Mother's Day one of my sons gave me the complete DVD animated collection of "Aeon Flux" (because he a smart guy). I watched everything and discovered Peter Chung, the genius behind Aeon Flux. Peter not only did the art he also created the stories. Over the summer I watched "Venus." It was an interesting story and struck me in much the same way that "Slaves of New York" had. All three movies have a sort of eeriness or wildness about them which led me to focus on story.

Once I started focusing on story I found other movies by the script writer who had written "Venus." They seemed a bit more over the edge than I was comfortable with. So I turned to my most favorite movie of all time, "Slaves of New York", and focused on direction.

The director, James Ivory, was a hit. I've got a list of movies in my Blockbuster Queue that he directed. Shakespeare Wallah is the last one I watched.

James Ivory (and Ismail Merchant) makes movies about unusual people living ordinary lives. "Slaves of New York" is about artists making a living. "Shakespeare Wallah" is about actors making a living. They're both sympathetic and honest tales. Another of his movies, "Five Forty-Eight," has the same quiet, matter-of-fact tone showing ordinary people doing mildly insane things as if they were everyday occurrences.

I'm not really sure how the tone is conveyed. Maybe it's the eye level camera or the straight on angles or the inclusion of everyday details in the frame. There's also something in the low-key delivery of the actors and actresses. As if James were making a documentary.

Actors do bring a lot to a part, especially talented, well-trained and experienced actresses/actors. I can't say who brings how much. Earlier today I was playing around with Director=75% Actress/Actor=25%. Well, there has to be a part for the writer, of course. Actually, I think there has to be a troop, a regular bunch of people who come together to produce similar stories.

It's all about knowing what to watch. I'm still having a hard time at the video rental store. Perhaps after watching a few more Ivory Merchant Productions I'll have an easier time of it. Just pulling out movies that are similar, like "Blade Runner" (my second favorite movie or is it "Defending Your Life" which I have watched more times than any other movie?) and "Memories" doesn't work. And never tell me, "You'll like this. It's much better than X."

I know. It's a stupid problem but it's my problem and I'm going to keep working on it.

i know you're out there somewhere

the secret of your beauty
and the mystery of your soul
i've been searching for in everyone i meet
and the times i've been mistaken
it's impossible to say
and the grass is growing underneath our feet

— The Moody Blues

It's Blog Action Day!

I and nearly 16 thousand others are blogging about the environment today. What can you do? Recycle, reuse or don't use. The weekly trash per person should amount to one small bag (as in carrier bag or those plastic grocery bags). The rest should be recycled some how. I'm not there yet but it is my goal.

As a Graphic Designer I'm especially sensitive to packaging. A lot of which, especially in the cosmetics industry, is waste. Electronics runs a close second.

Current Fads
Listening. Time Waits for Everyone, Viggo Mortensen; birds
Watching. Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2007?); Shakespeare Wallah (1965)
Activity. leading a retreat
Gadget. none
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. The Runes of the Earth - Stephen R. Donaldson; When Things Fall Apart - Pema Chodron; The Schwarzbein Principle II - Diana Schwarzbein; Popular Science; MacWorld; The Washington Post (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)

Hello Cleveland

Amazingly, here's a school (SucessTech) with a plan in place that worked. A city with a responsive police force that actually responded quickly. Yet on CBS they badged the Superintendent of Schools to death about security measures. You can't stop up all the loop holes. And you can't stop someone from finding them.

Another story on TV this morning was about crash test dummies and SUVs. Just another way to protect us from each other because we are imprecise and don't always pay attention.

Let's take all that crash test money and engineering development money and all the money for hiring more security and the money for making better bombs and the money for better jails. Let's take it all and put into something worthwhile, like figuring out what makes a good, attentive, alert, precise, well-adjusted and healthy human being and let's make as many of those as we can. Let's put any money left over after that into helping the rest become better. Let's find out what it takes, whatever it is — whether it's physiology, or psychology or critical development periods or whatever. Let's find out what it takes and let's do it. Oh, and along the way, let's talk to the kids. The kids know.

Spending more money and time on security is like putting us all in jails. And even there we won't be safe.

Here I go again ...

I've renewed my profile and I'm disconnecting from my weekly email trash. I'm going to write another novel next month. Yep. I'm going to write 50,000 in 30 days. I wonder if I'll get to the Swami Bahwami phase again. It didn't happen when I wrote a screenplay but that was only 20,000 words. That was harder than 50,000. Probably by-passed the whole swami thing and went right to happing ending.

I have fewer ideas about what I going to write than last year. Last year I had less time to think about it. That was a good thing. Actually, I have no ideas. Chris has put out a call for 15-second sound bites on what our inspiration is and I can't come up with one. Except for the totally awesome feeling of writing my way through a month. That is very inspiring. And amazing. Try it!

I am Spock!

Yet another silly quiz.

Where in the world is Bob Dylan?

Proving yet again that I am indeed a drifting outsider, I announce my discovery of Bob on AOL Radio*. I didn't discover AOL Radio very long ago either. But it's really great: XM for free! The quality is excellent. It's like the performers are right here in the room with me. Well, as close as my speakers can get them. Did I mention I hooked up my computer to play through my 1995 stereo? (purchased over six weeks on layaway from Circuit City)

Anyway, back to Bob. He has this weekly show that airs beginning at 6 a.m. ET (this morning - I don't have a schedule, don't hold me to it). The show is "Theme Time Radio Hour." Bob as a dee jay. Wow. Not a thing that crossed my mind in 1969. Or 2007 for that matter. But it's cool. Bob read the Ages of Man from William Shakespeare and then said "Willy the Shake said it all. The rest of the show is just footnotes." Then he proceeded to play songs related to the ages of man from all sorts of genres together with his personal and historical notes. I wish I could offer up some details as illustrations but it's a great show. Believe me. It's nearly over (now playing Neil Young singing "Old Man") and I need to get going so I can get to the jobsite on time for a change. ... after I spread a little weed and feed over the yard.

Here's a juicy fact from Bob: the most common birthday is October 5 because of New Year's Eve. So watch out this New Year's Eve (those of you with the potential).

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* If you scroll down the page you can download an application for your computer which is what I use. It's excellent. Or you can listen online. I haven't tried that. It might be good, too. Oh. And you need an AOL account. Mine is free. I think you can just use one of those free email accounts. Or is AOL totally free now? I don't know. Anyway. Check it out. Definitely worth it.