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I like it when something original and new is tried in movies and on television. Which is why I’m so frustrated that I cannot stand the tv show Justified. I want to be able to like it. If you haven’t heard about it, just go read over at Kulturblog all the raves it’s getting–all by men, I should point out. It’s based on an Elmore Leonard short story, he’s a guy who writes a lot of westerns, some that have been made into movies. I guess he’s known for his great dialogue.

When I mentioned this to my son, Elijah, he said, “Whenever people say something has great dialogue, it means there’s a bunch of talk about trivial things. People love Quentin Tarantino for his dialogue, but all he does it put a bunch of trivia in it.” I don’t know if that’s true, I’ve never been interested in seeing a single Quentin Tarantino movie.

My biggest problems with Justified are what everyone else seems to love about it:

1. The dialogue. I have an auditory processing disorder and it’s really hard for me to just listen to people talk for long stretches. And from what I’ve seen, that’s all that this show is. Talking talking talking. Drives me insane.

2. The modern western thing. I don’t think it works at all. I think it could work in a different setting. But US Marshalls? Really? That’s the best they could do? I love that Firefly was like a sci fi western. What I’d like to see is an inner city drama about living in gang territory–that could work as a modern western, to me. Of course the problem would be glorifying that sort of lifestyle. Hmm.

3. The actors. I think the lead guy is lame. And don’t get me started on that stupid cowboy hat.

4. Too late. The stupid cowboy hat. It seems like an affectation to me and is really distracting. It doesn’t look natural to me at all for that actor to be wearing one.

OK, now that I’ve vented about that show, I have to mention Ice Pirates. Ever heard of it? Last Christmas I looked up awesomely bad movies, and it was on a list somewhere. So I picked it up (along with a bunch of cult classics like Freaks and um, I forget what else) because I couldn’t think of a single new movie we’d want to watch. We didn’t watch it until recently.

It’s supposed to be–supposed to be–a comedy, a parody of sci fi action adventure movies, like Star Wars, I guess. It is sooooo not funny. It’s painfully bad. What’s amazing is the sets and costumes are pretty elaborate–someone got some funding for it. But then, the costumes are all kind of random–there’s people in knight’s armor, weird medieval wear, etc. My husband thought maybe they just raided the studio’s clothing storage and used anything they could find.

The other amazing thing is how I want to watch it again. I watched it once with Daniel, then made Elijah sit through it with me just a few nights ago. Now I want to see it again. I don’t even know why. It seems to drag on forever–I fell asleep watching it the first time. But the ending–man, the ending is so awesome.

Did I mention Anjelica Huston is in it? And Robert Urich. And Ron Perlman.

The trailer makes it look way better than it actually is.

The first art I ever encountered that really moved me emotionally (besides books and music) was the art of Andy Goldsworthy. I’ve posted about him before. He works with found objects in nature. His works are often transitory, temporary—he’ll make a sculpture out of rocks that will get washed out to sea. Or a sculpture out of ice, or sticks or branches. He takes pictures of his art and captures it on film.

There’s a documetary about him called Rivers and Tides, I highly recommend it. Usually when I hear people talk about art the way he talks about art, I get very dismissive, it sounds so hippy-dippy to me. But because his art strikes a chord in me, I love to hear him talk about it.

When I started riding my bike around Huntington Beach a lot, I found myself noticing the same graffiti tags and stickers in different areas. I started taking pictures of the tags and posting them on Flickr. Which ended up attracting people who are into graffiti, who I added as contacts. Before I knew it I was learning more and more about graffiti and specific taggers.

I find myself seeking it out now wherever I go. I’ve always thought graffiti was cool but never paid much attention to it. I’ve been thinking about what the appeal is for me. I mean, I’m a 39 year old suburban housewife. Why would I be interested in graffiti? Part of it’s that I never grew up (mid-life crisis?); part of it’s just my obsessive personality. But I also love what graffiti is. I live in a rich area. A rather crappy corner of a rich area, but still a rich area. Graffiti is not tolerated around here–it gets wiped out pretty dang quick. And part of what I love about graffiti is that it isn’t permanent. It’s transitory, like Andy Goldsworthy’s work.

But mostly what I like about it is that it’s a way for people—I usually think of them as kids, although who knows how old most of them are—to have a voice. To put their mark on where they live. I almost view it as ancient pictographs, which might seem crazy. But graffiti is sort of its own language. If you’re in the know, you can understand it.

I have a Flickr contact who takes pictures of graffiti done on train cars. I see one particular writer (or graffiti artist) pop up a lot on pictures train cars. He’s called Colossus of Roads. He draws a simple line picture of a man with a hat, and usually some phrase underneath. Here is a good example:

I stumbled upon a documentary about two guys, graffiti artists, who decided to try to meet Colossus of Roads. In it they talk about graffiti and how a train yard is like a moving art gallery, and the train cars the canvases. I love that. I find myself being moved by graffiti in the same way I’m moved by Andy Goldsworthy’s work.

You can see the intro to the documentary here:

http://www.blip.tv/file/31122/

The rest of the documentary is in bits and pieces on that same website (I think, I’m not sure if it’s completely edited together yet).

Here are some of my own photos of graffiti that I love:

It says “HOPE.”

This is in downtown L.A.

In an empty lot in Garden Grove, CA.

That’s Nathaniel up there holding my Polaroid. The throw-up on the left says BEOR! and the one on the right says SORAL.

These last two are on a wall in Chinatown in downtown L.A.

When I was a teenager, I used to take the bus from the suburbs into downtown Seattle with my brother and our friends. We’d go down there to visit the record stores, but we’d also wander around looking into art gallery windows and stuff. One time a friend of mine, Colin, told me a trick to remember the order of the streets downtown.

In downtown Seattle, the north/south streets are numbered, 1st, 2nd, etc. The streets running east/west are named. The bus I rode went north on 4th St, so it was handy to be able to remember the order of the east/west streets, to know when your stop was coming up.

Here’s the trick:

Jesus Christ Made Seattle Under Protest

Heading north through downtown, there are two streets that start with J, two that start with C, two that start with M, etc.

So the order of the streets are:

Jesus – Jefferson and James
Christ – Cherry and Columbia
Made – Marion and Madison
Seattle – Spring and Seneca
Under – University and Union
Protest – Pike and Pine

See how easy? I want to come up with something similar to be able to remember the street order of the big main streets in the area of Orange County I travel through a lot, but not enough to have the street order memorized. Here are the streets:

Brookhurst
Euclid
Harbor
Fairview
Bristol

So I need an easy-to-remember combination of words that start with B E H F B.

Help me out, here.

Because Everyone Hates Free Baseball?

This made me laugh really hard, even the second time I saw it. Totally goes to show you how stupid movies can be.

Let’s ponder the imponderables.

Why Cheap Trick’s song, “I Want You to Want Me,” is the best song ever.

It can never be explained. But it’s true. Best song ever. 2:00-2:01 – so great.

Why the Japanese are so awesome.

Some things are just beyond our understanding. As if you needed any proof…

Why the Spider is such an amazing fighter.

No, not the spider. The SPIDER. Anderson Silva.

OK, maybe the greater mystery is why I won’t watch graphic violence in movies, but I love the real thing in MMA fighting.

I’ve been majorly craving some good chick flicks lately, but I swear they’re impossible to find. Anyway I made Daniel watch the Secret Life of Bees with me. We both liked it. I loved the book and was happy with the movie. Although they did leave out the part where the bee she caught in the jar (at the beginning) refuses to leave the jar after she opens it back up to let it go.

After the movie I was talking to him about all the metaphors involving bees in the movie. He said that’s the problem with chick flicks—there’s deep meanings everywhere.

Then we went to bed and his favorite movie ever was on TV: The Matrix.

Uh huh.

He started going on about some deep thing about the Oracle or whatever and I said, “That’s the problem with guy flicks…”

BytheLBS did it again. Last year she sent me an awesome birthday package. This year she sent me one just as good. It literally had me squealing and laughing out loud.

She saw my comments over on Gabby/Tawnya’s blog about wanting Calamity Jane on DVD, and she sent me a copy! That was the part that had me squealing. I watched it last night with Daniel. And guess what? He loved it.

She also sent me handmade refridgerator magnets. Hilarious handmade refridgerator magnets. I nearly died laughing.

They’re funnier if you’ve read this blog post and this blog post. Oh, that last magnet is hard to read—it’s a gravestone with my name on it, and the phrase “STOP STARING AT ME!” also engraved on it.

BytheLBS, you rock!

There’s a meme going around where someone tags you with a letter and you have to come up with 10 things you love that start with that letter. Tawnya tagged me with “G.”

Green

I love the color green. It’s tied with blue for my favorite color. I actually love the green color that is almost blue. The above was taken at Crescent Lake in Washington state, one of the most gorgeous spots you can ever visit.

Grass

Who doesn’t love to lay on soft, springy grass? Sometimes I look out at a field of grass and wonder how many blades of grass there are in it. Then I start to wonder how many bugs are hidden in it. Then I get itchy.

Great Salt Lake

No, not the actual lake. I’ve never been there. I’m talking about the Band of Horses song:

Graveyards

So peaceful and lovely.

Guitars

That’s my son Elijah playing at my husband’s work. Hence the snowboards in the background. My favorite guitar player, besides my kiddo? Hm…tough one. Probably Michael Hedges, he was just so amazing.

Glen Hansard of the Frames

He does a mean Justin Timberlake:

Honorable mention to:

Grief, Gary Numan, Gathering, General Public, George Michael, Gillian Welch, Gnarls Barkley

Grease

When Sandy shows up all greasered out? Magic.

Going places

Especially the desert.

Good luck

You know how some people just seem to live charmed lives? I am not one of those people. So I appreciate good luck when it happens.

Garbage

Yes, I could have gone with gadgets, gifts, glowworms, galaxies, gerbils, galoshes, geography, games, gardens, gargoyles, geegaws, or even genealogy, but no. I had to go with garbage.

OK. I don’t like the way it smells. Or looks. But I’m always drawn to taking pictures of it.

What’s a food that starts with “G”? I couldn’t think of any except garbanzo beans, and I don’t like those. Green apples, green beans…but I already used “green.”

Shazbraz tagged me for this one.

Here are the rules:
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six “8″ items

8 Favorite Shows:
1. American Idol I can’t believe how excited I am every week for this to come on. It’s pathetic. I’m a huge Adam Lambert fan.
2. Dancing With The Stars LOVE this show! Was so bummed when Maksim went home (his partner sucked, though). At this point, I’m hoping Tony and the Bachelor chick win it, I think.
3. The Office It’s kind of lost its shine, but it’s still funny. I’m one who loves the awkward episodes as much as the really funny ones.
4. Criminal Minds My favorite bad tv show. Although it’s not as bad as it used to be…which in my book means it’s not as good as it used to be.
5. Dollhouse This show has been fun for us. Trying to guess what’s going to happen next (it’s rather predictable at times) but also trying to figure out who Alpha is and what he’s trying to do…great show.
6. America’s Next Top Model A little show I like to call America’s Next Top DRAMA QUEEN. What’s not to love?
7. Ultimate Fighter Yes, it’s coming back on soon! I think Tyra should go on this show and do a counseling session with all the fighters. How awesome would that be? “Brett, I think everyone needs to tell you how they feel about you peeing in their fruit salad. Then you can respond.”
8. The Colbert Report Did you see when David Byrne was on the other day? I think it’s the first time Colbert has ever broke character and actually asked a question as himself. You can watch it here. (Skip to about half way through.)

These of course are just chosen from among TV shows currently on. All-time faves would be completely different.

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Worked on a website for a wedding magazine.
2. Went grocery shopping.
3. Thought about going picture taking but went grocery shopping instead.
4. Watched this on you tube:

5. Dishes, dishes, dishes.
6. Cooked dinner.
7. Watched American Idol.
8. Watched Jim Gaffigan’s new comedy special with the boys. “Bacon always makes me thirsty…for more bacon!”

8 Things I’m Looking Forward To:
1. My parents visiting. They get here this weekend and will spend the week with us. It’ll be the kids’ spring break.
2. Family reunion (Daniel’s family) this summer.
3. Getting some film back from the lab tonight.
4. Going to Death Valley with my parents.
5. When Low tours again.
6. Fringe starting up again. Yes, the TV show. Yes, I have no life.
7. Taking Flat Liberace to Paris. Hey, it could happen.
8. Seeing Opeth in May. At a little college venue! Can’t wait.

8 Favorite Restaurants:

Who cares about restaurants? I’m gonna do…

8 Favorite Movies:
1. Life is Beautiful A story of incredible love, generosity and courage in the face of unimaginable horror.
2. The Journey of August King A man redeems himself by sacrificing all of his personal belongings, things he had worked years for, to save a young girl. It’s a great story.
3. The Spitfire Grill If you can’t tell, I have a thing for redemption stories, and in this movie, it’s the female character who does the redeeming. It has a couple favorite actors of mine in it, too—Ellen Burstyn and Will Patton.
4. A Walk to Remember Yes, it’s horribly cheesy and predictable and bad. I love, love, love it.
5. Serenity I can watch this movie anytime, anywhere. Only problem is I’m the only one in my family who likes it so no one ever wants to watch it!
6. Searching For Bobby Fisher Based on a true story, this is about a young boy chess prodigy and the pressures he faces. It’s really a sweet story and a great movie.

7. Les Miserables This isn’t a movie I ever intentionally set out to watch. I just will catch it when it’s on TV. And by the end of it I’m always thinking, “This is the greatest story ever told.”
8. Dancer, TX Pop. 81 This is a quiet little indie movie about 4 boys in a small town who graduate high school and their dreams of moving to L.A. My kind of movie.

8 Things On My Wish List:
1. A house. With four bedrooms, two car garage, pool and big yard. Hey, I can dream.
2. No debt. Except for that house, I suppose. But all that other debt, gone.
3. A new dining room set.
4. New bedding.
5. A Great Wall camera. And a Seagull camera. Although really, since this is a wish list, I should be wishing for a Hasselblad, Rollei or Leica.
6. A darkroom!
7. Going places. Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Salton Sea, etc. Desert, desert, desert.
8. Seeing the Waterboys, Calexico, Low and the Frames all play a show together. Like heaven.

8 People I Tag:
1. Don’t
2. like
3. tagging
4. people.
5. Do it
6. if
7. you
8. want.

Anything.

Here’s mine:

Nathan Fillion.

I don’t know what it is about him. He’s just got his own thing going on.

Also, The Rock.

Yes. I’m serious. I’ll watch him in anything.

I actually used to watch him when he was a pro wrestler (because my husband was into it for awhile—it’s like a soap opera for men, totally). But he was so funny—I still crack up just thinking about “the people’s elbow” and “the people’s eyebrow.”

But—come on.

Sigh.

Female-wise? Claire Danes.

Salma Hayek.

I know there’s more but that’s good for now. I don’t like a lot of well-known actors in movies. It distracts me too much from the story. I keep thinking about how it’s Julia Roberts on the screen or whatever. But that doesn’t bother me with these people because I just love to see them on the screen.