Note to theDiscourser....

Okay, I've been giving you a little grief re. renting "Ghostrider". I know this is the height of hypocrisy when I say this, but with shameful admission, I must admit to having rented and watched this movie as well. Sometime late last year. I sooo wanted it to rock...hey, I like Nicolas Cage, and I figured you got your wife agree to watch it given her perverse infatuation with the guy, so I checked it out. And yes, I was disappointed as well, though the Ghostrider was very well done. Nicolas has been hit or miss as of late, and I really wanted to like "NEXT" and "National Treasure" but I just couldn't. I really liked him in "Adaptation" though.

See you this weekend?..

Movie Recommendations:

1. "Eastern Promises": Another David Cronenberg masterpiece. A natural thematic progression from his previous work, "A History of Violence". A study and a near-perfect film example of the Anti-hero genre...much in the way Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter" challenged you to identify and route for the terribly unsavory protagonist "Drifter" (who in the first 15 minutes of the movie kills 3 men and rapes a woman), Cronenberg dares you to care about Viggo Mortenson's Russian mobster character, a member of the Vory Zarkone. This movie pulls no punches and has some all-out bloody violence ala Godfather Part II. Viggo will win best actor for his portrayal.

2. "No Country for Old Men": Coen brothers master-work. Critics are calling it not only the best filmed picture of the year, but quite possibly the best film the last 3-4 years. I predict that this film will all-out sweep the Oscars. Javier Barden, the psychopathic hit-man (known for his role as the quadriplegic in "The Sea Inside", best foreign film 2005, saw it this weekend, fantastic movie, about Euthanasia if you're interested) is absolutely creepy. Every shot is perfect....every shot!

3. "There will be Blood": by Paul Thomas Anderson. This movie will be seen and appreciated for the next 50 years. Okay, scratch that about Viggo, is there ANYTHING Daniel Day Lewis has done that is NOT just absolutely earth-shatteringly awesome!?!?! He's winning best actor. One quote from the movie that I simply can't get out of my head: Daniel Lewis, in a dead-pan manner, after an oil exec attempts to bully him into selling his oil-rich land, "One day, when you are asleep in your bed, I will go into your home and slip your throat...silence"....HOLY SHIT!!

4. "Capote": Bennet Miller director. I know this is a year old but we just saw this film. The story behind one of the important novels written in the last century "In Cold Blood". WOW, every scene is soo finely crafted, soo utterly deliberate! Some movies attempt this and it comes off as somnolent. This movie, as with "Nobody Knows" and "Rashoman" by Akira Kurasawa completly sensitizes you to the tiniest detail.

5. "The Lives of Others" or "Leben der Anderen, Das": Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Best foreign film 2006, just brilliant. The supertechnician in Germany should see this film. A story about the STASI, the East German secret police, set in the mid 80's.

Note to THEDISCOURSER: Would you please, please, please FINALLY rent some of the following: "City of God" (Life altering), "300" (testosterone pumping), "Sin City" (visually mesmerizing), "Momento" (mind f-king), "Amores Perros" (a gigantic achievement), "Crash" (a little too proselytizing but entertaining none-the-less), "Babel" (epic), "Pan's Labyrinth" (touching), "Water" (my goodness, literally millions, yes MILLIONS rioted against the release of this film! It's that good), and "Princess Mononoke" (felt like a kid again), "Equalibrium" (Gun-Kata baby!),and my guilty pleasure, "The Shooter", stop laughing. I actually liked this film. It's mindless and requires very little investment on your part. You can watch it while working on your new IPhone.

Unfortunately, some of these films will require you to sit down and watch in silence and with no distractions lest you miss some subtle detail or lose some of the emotional impact of the moment. Nonetheless, I think you'd like any one of these films. I won't include any films that require a flowchart to follow...I know how much you hate those.

And if you have the time, please rent some Kurosawa. My personal favorites being: Rashoman, Yojimbo, Sanjoro, Seven Samurai, Ran, and Kagemushu. Once you watch one, you will be hooked. You'll want to watch everyone one of his films! And if you're your feeling L5R'ish, rent "Zatoichi" or ANYTHING from the "Lone Wolf and Cub" series, the story of the Shogunate's Imperial Exectutioner. This captures L5R to the frickin "T"...and no, this ain't "Legend of the Flying Guiottine". They are really quite good, especially Zatoichi.

American Idol, my thoughts...

Yes, I actually watch this show. I apologize. It's a juggernaut in terms of ratings. They had more viewers than the Olympics a couple of years back! A sad statement can be made on both sides of that argument. But anywayz, my thoughts.

The first few episodes of this show involve the auditions. The producers typically highlight the horrendous singers more so than the great ones. In a nutshell, these first few episodes are a Study in Mental Illness. Most have very little grasp on reality, bordering if not completely psychotic in their presentation.

The gist is that a mentally healthy person would have a capable observing ego; a dynamic involving honestly judging one's abilities as well as dealing with the emotional ramifications of such judgements. For example: "It's very difficult for me to dribble the ball and shoot it into the basket....therefore, I'm not very good at playing basketball, and that's okay". It's much worse with these poor souls. Not only are they incapable of recognizing how horribly they sing, but (and here's the psychotic piece) they actually BELIEVE they're GOOD!

And when the judges laugh and humiliate these folks, they invariably respond in a highly emotionally regressed manner...they appear psychologically fractured. They strongly believe in and receive esteem and at times a narcissistic grandiosity from the this belief they sing well. When that notion is shattered, they fall to pieces, become tearful, or exhibit rage akin to a childish tantrum. And I actually giggle at the spectacle.

This really needs to be said.

Who gives a SHIT about Iowa and New Hampshire. Who cares what these people think! I suppose the media is soo hard-up on covering anything, they'll make so much ado about nothing! New Hampshire has less delegates the the city of San Francisco! It is 98% white and generally affluent! I don't give a rat's ass about what these people think! I watched a New Hampshire round-table discussion last night on CNN. As the reporter made her way about the room, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. To summarize:

"I won't vote for (fill in the blank) because he/she didn't call me personally."

Are you out of your frigging mind!!

Sorry for all the exclamation points.

I'm sick yet again.

I suppose it was a combination of the bitter bitter cold and the plane ride home. Plane rides do it for me when it comes to flu's and colds. I have a fever, which I can handle,...I find the dizziness a bit fun actually. I also have severe congestion, which I can also handle...a few blasts of nasal spray and I'm all good. What I can't stand though is the damn sore throat. I can't breath or swallow or sleep without it bothering me. I've sprayed the back of my throat with a numbing OTC medication and swallowed some "Tussin" DM, and I'm off to sleep.

Goodnight.

New York, Day 3...

...300 blocks through Hell's Kitchen, Times Square, Diamond, Garment, and Theater District, and lower Central Park in Three Degree weather. I need new gear. It was soo cold that when I spilled coffee on myself at 52nd street, it didn't have time to drip off. It simply froze by 53rd....

...This city is BIG. Real big. Imagine S.F.'s most grand Boulevard: Market Street. Its most impressive portion runs some 20 blocks. New York has HUNDREDS of streets on the same order of magnitude as Market, and some run for over 100 blocks!...

...Checked out the Empire State Bldg. Okay, I have to admit, the view is ridiculous. It really is. I swear, you can plop most of San Francisco in uptown. This place is that huge...

...Stood in 5 lines today, all in freezing windy cold conditions. I really need better gloves and should be wearing a damn Balaclava...

...Got tickets to see David Letterman's Late Show. Apparently, it's been off the air for 2 months, their longest off-air stint; thank the writer's strike. The show was hilarious and totally interesting in terms of the behind the scenes goings-on. And Robin Williams is crazy funny. We missed being on the first floor by ONE SEAT BTW...

...I was interviewed by AP News camera man outside the Ed Sullivan Theater. I gotta check out their website...

...Got in line at the TKTS ticket booth to get discounted last minute Broadway show tickets. Checked out "The Color Purple", with Fantasia. Didn't think I'd enjoy it. Wanted to see Wicked or RENT. I was completely wrong. I was completely blown away...as was the entire audience, most of whom were in tears by the end of the show. These performers are incredible talents...

...Ate at two separate authentic diners, one looked like the Seinfeld diner, I swear. Ate at several other joints. The food has been, at least so far, quite good. The variety is on par with our city's...

And some cool pics:






I really like this town, and we've only scratched the surface. I expect and want to go back again and again.

New York, New York.

So after a three hour drive through a couple hundred miles of New York State countryside interspersed with short stops within quaint villages, townships, and boro's (whatever they are), we've arrived in Manhattan.

My thoughts about New York:

San Francisco is to New York - AS - a Prius is to a Humvee,...actually no, scratch that, an M1A1 Abrams Tank,...actually that's not quite right...more like the USS New Jersey.

San Francisco is to New York - AS - Patty cakes is to bare-knuckle Kumite pit fighting.

San Francisco is to New York - AS - the bully in the elementary school playground is to the gang of Nortenos in the San Quentin level 5 yard.

New York has seriously bitch-slapped this San Francisco native. It is BIG on an entirely new level. We've spent hours walking all over Mid-town and we've barely scratched the surface of just Manhattan let alone the 4 other Burroughs's.

As I've said, there are few cities I would consider moving to, IF I had to...New York, on the other-hand, after just ONE day, and if I had the same job with the same rate of pay, and an equivalent property in the upper east-side, I'd move here in a pinch.