Looking over this blog I thought it might be a good idea to make some fast way to find particular subjects. Here's my first stab:

FILMS
"Super Size Me" -- 30 days of Big Mac Attack, 20 May
"Metropolis" 2002, week of 8 April
"Monty Python & the Holy Grail" at the Paramount, 9 April
"Hellboy", 11 April
Sarah Jacobson film retrospective, 30 March
"Plaster Caster", or How Do Rock Stars Measure UP? 24 March
"Kitchen Stories" the Norwegian Entry into the 2003 Academy Awards, 25 February
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, 20 February
"The Triplets of Belleville", seen 8 February
Dali-Disney's "Destino" short subject, seen 8 February
Robert McNamara and "The Fog of War", seen 14 February
"Kurosawa" documentary, 13 February
Kurosawa's "Ikiru", 13 February
Kurosawa's "Sanjuro", 13 February
Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress", 13 February

TV
"Cowboy Bebop" series finale, 24 March
"Cowboy Bebop", anime I can live with, 25 February

VIDEO EDITING
"Laser Disc to DVD"

THEATER
Videotaping "The Mouse That Roared", 7 March

PLACES, WALKS & RIDES
Paramount Theater tour, April 14
Ocean Beach, Tulip Garden and Murphey Windmill in S.F., Sat. 27 March
Bike ride east of Lake Merritt in Oakland, Sunday 28 March
Road trip to Pacifica & Half Moon Bay, CA, 21 March
Rockridge in Oakland, CA, 14 March
Trestle Glen and Glen Park walk, 28 February
Moutain Lake Park, S.F. & Fort Baker in Marin, 25 February
Ocean Beach & the Dutch Windmill in S.F., 15 February

FRIENDS & FAMILY
That's My Mama..., 26 May
Christopher Gray visits, week of 29 March

MISCELLANY
Interview with me about my old Atari Cyber Studio Products,23 March
The animated music video "I Love Death, 23 March

Posted by molyneaux at 3:00 AM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:45 PM PDT

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My sister and I were in the dining room, and mom was telling us something as she walked through the room...and into the hall and vanished into the bathroom, stopping speaking mid-thought as the door closed behind her! My sister and I exchanged a look and burst out laughing. When mom emerged, she didn't recall what she was saying and didn't realize she's stopped midsentence!

That's one of my most vivid memories about my mother, from sometime around my early 20s. And while I haven't thought about it for a long time, the memory strikes home now because mom's in a nursing home and will probably never going back to her own home. A few months shy of 80 she's mentally slipped a rail, and what was a memorable comic moment from 20 years ago is what she lives today.

Memory's a funny thing. These days mom frequently doesn't even recognize her granddaughters, and certainly can't remember when she saw me last. Conversation's almost impossible because she forgets what's she's saying midway through a sentence. It's like she's walking into that bathroom every 30 seconds, but without the comical touch of the door closing and the symbolism one can attach to flushing one's thoughts down the loo.

Mom's a few weeks into a nursing home now. I spent 5 days with her at the beginning of the month and found that the one thing we could converse about were old family photos from Italy that I brought to her. So, while she can't remember my brother's name when she sees his picture, she can recall names and trivia about people seen in sepiaed photographs from before she was born. I treasure these little moments because when I talk to her about these things, those are the only remnants of real conversations I can have with her. One day she told me about the hat shop where her mother worked, and how Mrs. Macola, the owner was called "Americana" because she was born in America. It's humbling that she remembers Mrs. Macola's name but probably not mine.

Admittedly, it can be comical when she insists that "if the air comes from the television, then the fire..." or says that she married my father in 1991 instead of 1961. But it's sad for me look into the eyes of this woman I've known my whole life and realize she's halfway out the door.

Or is it halfway into the bathroom?

Posted by molyneaux at 12:50 AM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:46 PM PDT

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Super Size Me (CLICK HERE for the film's official website) is the story of Morgan Spurlock's experiment in fast food consumption. What will happen to his health if he eats nothing but food from McDonalds three meals a day for a month, and if he does only the amount if exercise a typical American does each day? Well, just over halfway through Spurlock is a physical mess, and his doctors are amazed that all their predictions about the results were not only wrong, but failed to predict the consequences by orders of magnitude. One doctor says he's got so much fat in his liver it's practically pâté.

All this would be big-screen reality TV if all we did was watch Spurlock pig out for 30 days, but he smartly interviews a lot of talking heads from various industries, government agencies, and watchdog groups to get their spin on the fast food industry. And while I can quibble with the featherweightness of some of the evidence, the weight (pun intended) of circumstantial evidence is pretty convincing, as I see the results everywhere. Hell, it's pretty evident for me living in the relatively health conscious Bay Area. When I go an hour in any almost direction away from it, I notice that the percentage of swollen equators increases alarmingly.

I could have done without seeing the footage of an actual gastric bypass surgery, but it sure slams home the consequences of what an unhealthy lifestyle can do to you, so in that way it's defensible.

It's telling that the only appetizing thing I saw in the entire film were the vegan dishes Spurlock's chef girlfriend prepared before and after the experiment, and some freshly cooked food in one those rare school cafeterias that hasn't outsourced its meals to big business.

I guess I've been "Californicated" after all...

Posted by molyneaux at 10:42 PM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:48 PM PDT

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I'm really getting behind on this Blog. bad me!


Whatever day it was...
FILM: Metropolis but not by way of Fritz Lang
I rented the 2002 release animé film "Metropolis". The visuals are mesmerizing, but the story was derivative and there were a lot of lapses in logic. Cowboy Bebop aside, I guess I'm still not much of an animé fan.

Friday 9 April
FILM: It IS the rabbit!
Becky left work early and we went to Rockridge and played Scrabble in front of the coffee & tea shop at the Makret Hall there. Boy I love living in a city!

Afterwards we met up with John Kitchener and a friend to go to movie night at the Paramount, which is always a treat. For your $6 you get half an hour of Jim Riggs on the house organ before the show, a newsreel, a cartoon, trailers for coming attractions that aren't coming, Dec-O-Win (where they spin a wheel for prizes based on ticket numbers), and the film!

Jim Riggs included Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" (which appears in a zillion Warner Bros. cartoons, whenever machinery is shown) in his organ set. The newsreel was all about Easter in 1955, and was the cartoon was, appropriately enough, "Easter Yeggs" with Bugs Bunny. The coming attractions included Conan the Barbarian, which got huge laughs seeing our now governor gnashing his teeth and chewing the scenergy. At the end of Dec-O-Win Rigg's played the Python-appropriated "Liberty Bell march", and then the film began; "Monty Python & the Holy Grail". I had not seen it in a theater since I first saw it at a 1981 midnight show in Reno, and it was funny as ever. The only problems were that the sound too loud in a lot of places, and the image seemed a little dim and dark. Still, it was great seeing it with a very enthusiastic audience. It was also oddly appropriate at Easter time as it features the Grail and a bunny (a foul vicious one, tho!).

Sunday 11 April
FILM: Hell is for Boys
I drove to Pleasanton and had a homemade pancake brunch courtesy of Becky. Yummy!

Afterwards, we went to see "Hellboy". It's the kind of film I don't normally attend (as I pretty much boycott big action films), but it was okay for the genre. I liked Ron Perlman's performance. The fish-man "abe sapien" was really well done. John Hurt was there too, nearly unrecognizably under his old man makeup. The climax was, in a word, anticlimactic, but the film had its share of fun moments.

I have to make a small aside here and complain about seeing movies in modern multiplexes. You pay your pricy entry, you pay 3x prices at the concession, and then you're forced to sit through continuous pre-film commercials. This is why I boycott such cinemas in favor of local houses that only show trailers before the show! Thank goodness I have the Grand Lake Theater right up the street!

Let's see, what else...
Oh, I've started archiving my laser discs to DVDs. My new Sony Vaio has what's called a "Giga Pocket Video" system that allows me to plug in regular TV video (cable TV and composite), record it (like a Tivo), and then record it to DVDs. I am anxious to get this process done because when these same films are released on commercial DVD they often alter the extras. For instance, one "Nightmare Before Christmas" documentary was cut nearly in half on the DVD release of the film! That documentary was my first "test" disc. I recently did the first complete disc, the documentary "Theremin: An Electronic Oddysey". It came out pretty well, and the recording process is relatively painless. I started recording Star Wars (not the Special Edition).

Posted by molyneaux at 11:06 PM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:50 PM PDT

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I joined John Kitchener and Becky in taking the Paramount tour. My 3rd time on the tour, their first. Because there was a show going on that afternoon, we didn't get the tour in the normal order, and they didn't take us backstage. Alas! The great thing I heard after the tour is that there's a fundraiser going on next month to raise funds towards reopening the Fox Oakland, two blocks away. (I checked the Fox Oakland website and am excited by this prospect. I may volunteer some time towards this project.)

After brunch with John K., Becky and I then went to help John Sugden finish clearing out his storage unit, this on the promise of a Tommy's run. I vowed I would not help John move again, but apparently I have no will power where margaritas are concerned!

Posted by molyneaux at 4:00 PM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:51 PM PDT

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Hmmm...I've gotten so far behind on this blog. Oy...

I'll start filling in here...

Christopher Gray and his lady Lee Jacobson were back visiting from Rhode Island. I had lunch with them on Monday the 29th at a pub in Berkeley.

On Tuesday the 30th I BARTed to the Mission is S.F. to the Artists' Television access, where a retrospective of Lee's late sister's films. Her sister, Sara, died from cancer back in February. I sat through both programs of her work. The first was a series of her short films, starting with one made in High School and culminating in a cinema vérité* piece in which the filmmaker goes bra shopping with her mother. The second was her $12K feature film "Mary Jane's Not A Virgin Any More". Of the program I liked the cinema vérité pieces the best. The early work was self-conscious in a way. I liked that "Mary Jane" was about teenage sexuality without being exploitive. What I didn't like was the way it was shot. I realize it was made for next to nothing, but the camera work felt really boxed in. The whole film felt weirdly claustrophobic.

I met Christopher and Lee again on Friday, joining them and others for drinks and pizza put on Clement Street. I had to BART into SF and then take a bus to the Avenues because some nutcase was standing on the Bay Bridge, causing and 11 hour traffic jam! I particularly miss Christopher, whom I met my first day living in the Bay Area. It was great to be able to spend some time with him.

*-If you don't know what cinéma vérité means, CLICK HERE!

Posted by molyneaux at 3:57 PM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 11:53 PM PDT

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Sunday. I slept in, and after breakfast decided to forgo my usually weekend walk in favor of a bike ride. My first impulse was to ride around Alameda, and I set out to do that. But I was thwarted because while I can see there is a pedestrian walk through the Webster Tube (which goes under the channel) after circling the tunnel entrance a few times I still cannot see how the Hell you're supposed to get TO it. I checked out the Posey Tube a block away and there the path is obvious, but since the Posey Tube is inbound from Alameda, I didn't feel like I should ride the wrong way down that very narrow sidewalk.

Frustrated with that, I just decided to explore the areas south and east of Lake Merritt. My first destination was the estuary that connects Lake Merritt to the channel (the lake is a saltwater and formerly a tidal slough). This was my first trip to the estuary, and I've lived here almost 7 years! It's effectively cut off from the Lake by the foolishly designed 12th Street, which puts 12 lanes of traffic and a huge median between lake and estuary, with no crosswalks. Very uninviting. Most of the estuary itself is on the grounds on Laney College and is quite nice. I rode the paths there and across a small arched bridge there before departing.

The bulk of my ride was in the hillier areas east of Park Blvd. Oakland's not as hilly as S.F., but it's got it's share, and some fairly steep grades on many streets. I did ok on some of the streets, but I'm clearly not in shape to seriously take on hills. One street was just too tough for me the first time, so I rode back and half block and got a good running start to make it up to the top. Whew! After finishing poking around there, I crossed back to the lake, then rode through the estuary one more time before heading home.



One final detour...I stopped and visited Deb and Shana as they painted the living room of their new place. Finally, after home and a shower, I went out for Thai food with my new friend John Kitchener.

Posted by molyneaux at 9:56 PM PST

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After a couple of cooler gray days the sun was back out again all weekend (night excluded, natch). Saturday started at Café Flore in the Castro in S.F., where I read, had breakfast, and played Scrabble on my Palm pilot. I also did some writing, wrapping up the Act One break for the Starship Exeter script I'm writing. I feel like I'm finally getting some momentum on it and I think the act climax could be pretty exciting if directed properly.

After a short post-breakfast stroll I drove out to Golden Gate Park and left my car near the Dutch Windmill. The tulips in Queen Wilhelmina's garden at the windmill were all in bloom. Most of them were closed when I was there some weeks back.

CLICK HERE for a picture of the tulips!

From there I walked around above and on Ocean Beach, watching the surf and the really amazing kites that people fly there. I particularly enjoyed watching a man make his rainbow tailed kite swirl above the heads of his kids like some airborne Chinese dragon!

CLICK HERE for a picture of a kite at Ocean Beach

I crossed back into the park, looked at the base of the dismantled (south) Murphey Windmill and the adjacent Millwright's Cottage. A bulldozer was running back and forth so I didn't linger. I strolled through the trees back to my car and then drove over to Seacliff where I was to meet Terry and Carol. As I was early I wandered around a few blocks of the neighborhood.

CLICK HERE for a picture of the Murphey Windmill
CLICK HERE for a picture of the Millwright's Cottage

Terry and Carol and we piled into Carol's car for a road trip to Mountain View and Amber, an Indian restaurant so good we're willing to drive almost an hour for it! We stuffed ourselves on appetizers, lentils, butter chicken, a dish of garbanzo beans with mango powder, and fried cheese with peppers. Fabulous stuff, and spicy in the way that makes my scalp sweat but doesn't burn my mouth. Yum yum! We returned to their place, where Terry showed us all 650 pictures he took on his recent trip to Egypt, where he visited Cairo, Luxor and Nubia, rode the Nile, visited Karnac and Giza, etc. Oh, and he spent a few days in Paris on the way back. 650 pictures we saw, but it was never boring. Terry takes nice pictures and tells fun stories. Damn, I'm envious. I wish I'd gone!

I finally made it home at 12:30a.m. Lonnnng day.

Posted by molyneaux at 1:09 AM PST

Updated: Wednesday, 20 May 2009 12:00 AM PDT

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I discussed my affection for the show Cowboy Bepop a few entries back (CLICK HERE for the Bebop Entry). I recently rewatched the theatrical Bebop film, but I have to say I think it lacks something the TV show has. Haven't quite put my finger on what element fell out...

Monday night I rented a DVD of the final 4 episodes of Bebop, because I always miss the two-part series closer. The first of the two parts was good, but it was the second part that had me riveted. So much happened in 23 minutes that I was stunned, especially the resolution given to the characters. This final "session" also had a really sad and beautiful image that I found incredibly striking. It's a super-slow motion shot of a dying person seen falling in profile, behind whom a flock of birds are seen flying. The following shot snaps back to real time as the body hits the ground with a sickening thud. Amazing work!

A funny contrast to this was a strange little documentary I rented called Plaster Caster, about the legendary groupie who has since the late 1960's been making plasters casts of the private parts of some very public figures: musicians. I first became aware of this story back in the 70s upon hearing the KISS song "Plaster Caster", but my youthful naïvete prevented me understanding exactly what the song was about. Anyway, the documentary is only so-so. The camera work wasn't very good and the editing was kind of clumsy. The titular woman is nothing like what you might expect of someone with this kind of extreme hobby. She's nervous and shy and easily flustered, and she treats the entire affair very clinically. In fact, her approach is so deadly un-erotic one wonders that her subjects ever rise to the occasion. Most peculiar.

The tempation here is to comment on how various rock lengends stand up to each other, but I think I'll just leave that well enough alone...

CLICK for the official website of the Plaster Caster movie

Posted by molyneaux at 12:27 AM PST

Updated: Wednesday, 20 May 2009 12:01 AM PDT

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While poking through my weblinks today I rediscovered an piece about the work I did for the Cyber Studio design discs that was published on a website devoted to that software series. I was interviewed for the piece back in 2002 I believe. Funny to think I was doing 3D animation 15 years ago!

CLICK HERE to read the article on the Design Discs!

Speaking of web links, there's a very clever animation called "I Love Death" that Nick pointed out to me recently, set to the music of a band called Lodger. I was really taken by the absolute simplicity of the graphic design and the execution.

CLICK HERE for the "I Love Death" video (requires Shockwave Flash).*

*-This will be a real slow download if you're only on a dialup connection...


CLICK HERE to download PC Flash Player if you don't have it installed

or...

CLICK HERE to find Mac OS versions of the Flash player

Posted by molyneaux at 1:53 AM PST

Updated: Wednesday, 20 May 2009 12:02 AM PDT

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