When I was a desk jockey in San Francisco, I frequently changed my desktop image to something happy and tropical because I was, well - unhappy & cold. Now that I'm back in Hawaii, I wanted to put some images out into the internets, in case anyone out there is searching for warm, flowery, happy, tropical, Hawaii wallpaper:
so i'm calling her "eddie" since she stares at me like the jack russell from fraser - as mentioned in the previous post.
today, she picked the cardio machine next to me again. and yes, she proceeded to talk to me.
i purposely moved the mp3 player that was clipped on to my shirt and turned the volume up, hoping that she'd get the hint that my music was too loud for me to hear her. and though she does not look my way the entire time, she did turn to stare at me at least several times. each time, holding her gaze for what felt like 10 seconds or there around.
do you know how long 10 seconds is? or even 8 seconds? count it out - with a mississippi inbetween.
yeah - that's right. LONG.
i could tell she was doing this as a way to try and catch my own eyes should i turn even a millimeter towards her direction in order to 'flag me down' so to speak.
and yes, she did try to talk to me - quite loudly i might add - on a few occassions. i know because inbetween song tracks, i actually heard her. not enough to know exactly what she was talking about, but enough to know that she was talking to me.
what was worse this time was that she started to watch the timer on my machine more and more near the end. i was thinking to myself, "oh. my. god. is she watching it so she can try to talk to me at the end of my workout?"
sure enough, just as i started to wipe down my cardio machine with my towel, she tried to get my attention again.
i didn't really know what to do because by this point, she wasn't just annoying me, but was creeping me out. so i did the only thing i could do - jump off, do the quicket 180 spin on my heels and march off while still plugged into my tunes.
i also showered and dressed quickly in fear of her catching me in the women's locker room. or worse yet, waiting for me at the entrance of the gym!
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The Zatoichi series ran 26 movies (1962-1982) and a television series ran for five years (1974-1979). Twenty years later, Takeshi "Beat" Kitano reinvented Zatoichi with his version of the character. This was easily one of my favorite movie at the time, I saw it at the independent theater twice in 2003 and ordered a region 3 release of the DVD as soon as it was available on import. Incidentally, to show support for the US market, I also bought the US edition of the DVD, which came with a bonus Sonatine movie (which was originally released in the states by Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder productions).
Considering the movie did quite well, critically and (I'm assuming) in sales, I was hoping for a follow-up movie by Kitano, but unfortunately there's no such plan. However, interestingly enough, one of my all-time favorite Japanese director, Takashi Miike* directed a stage adaption of Zatoichi for live performances in 2007.
I'm happy to report that, I saw a very good re-imagined of the familiar character, reinvented as a female protagonist, called Ichi. I wish the producers had kept the brand of "Zatoichi", as people who hear "Ichi" does not always associate the name with the blind swordsman. To be fair, Ichi is the original character's name. The term "zato" means low-ranking blind person (low-ranking in the Todoza guild). Logically, they could've named this movie Gozeichi, because Goze refers to blind musician women of that time period.
Anyway, beside my gripe about the Ichi name as the movie title, I also didn't like the idea that a model (Ayase Haruka) is playing the part of the protagonist. All that was really not worth worrying, because the whole movie is quite entertaining and enjoyable, and there is only once where Haruka is seen 'dolled up' for a music performance (most of the movie, she's covered from head to toe in dirty rags). However, there are at times when the director Fumihiko Sori choose to stay too long on Haruka's beautiful unblemished face. We get it, she's cute.
The story is uncomplicated, Ichi wanders into some town with an inept sword-drawing samurai Toma (the name is close to a slang "tonma" for idiot or fool). The town is in trouble from the Banki gang, and in Zatoichi fashion, Ichi and Toma saves the town. During the course of the film, there are the tried-and-true Zatoichi moments like slashing out the lights and Ichi triumph in complete darkness, the use of sound to throw Ichi off, and, of course, the Cho-Han Bakuchi dice gambling.
What made the film interesting, at least to me, is that the soundtrack is by Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard! So throughout the movie, you do hear that ethereal vocals, similar to her efforts on Ridley Scott's Gladiator. I suspect she only wrote the vocals, the credit I have for composer is Michael Edwards, who previously worked with Gerrad on her solo material. The soundtrack was a bit of a surprise to me, generally these J-movies' music and production team are usually kept inhouse. Although, having said that, the one outro credit song is by Korean J-Pop singer SunMin.
Ichi the movie will be made available in the US market via Bluray and DVD in two days (December 22nd), just in time for last-minute xmas shoppers. Hopefully those Best Buy tonmas will be smart and order some copies for their store (however, if it costs over $25, I'd rather order it online, or not own it at all - hey times are tough!).
* I love all three billion of his movies! Audition, City of Lost Souls, One Missed Call, Ichi the Killer, Fudoh, The Happiness of the Katakuris, Zebraman, Sukiyaki Western: Django, etc.
12/20/2009 02:06:34 ♥ vu (
) ♥funimation.com/ichi
The only good thing about the snow storm is I had no plans to leave the house today. But with my luck, it won't be sufficiently melted by Monday morning and I'll slip and slide to work . . .
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For this Christmas, I did buy myself Swords deluxe edition via my favorite store, amazon. It was a bit pricey for a CD/DVD combo ($23 vs $12 for the standard disc), but I'm worth it.
I actually have had a digital copy of the B-Sides compilation since late October, thanks to pen pal friend Mel, as it was a "bonus" if you had preordered tickets to see Morrissey in live in 2009. And of course, like most fans, we still buy the physical release anyway, so it's a bit of a win-win situation for everyone.
I'll briefly summarize Morrissey's history: he's a bit of a sensitive, indie songwriter with The Smiths. He went solo in "nineteen-eighty-hate" with some classic modern rock hits with "Suedehead" (aka that "I'm So Sorry" song) and "Everyday is like Sunday". He went a bit rockabilly with Your Arsenal (his previous album Kill Uncle was heading to this direction, especially with the B-Sides and singles from this era), and pretty much stayed in this "muscular" rock type music since. As I previously mentioned, I think this has to do with his musical collaboration with Boz Boorer and Alain Whyte.
If you're new to Morrissey, I don't think Swords would be a good starting point for you. I would recommend starting with Bona Drag, a weird mix of b-sides and oddities. Most of the songs on Swords were co-written by Alain Whyte, and there's a nice cohesive feel to each song as they have similiar song writing structure. When you do run into a non-Whyte song, such as "Sweetie-Pie", it just feels out of place. In fact, I think this is possibly one of the worst Morrissey song, right up there with "Michaels Bones".
There is one non-Morrissey-penned song, and it's a live recording of "Drive-In Saturday" (live at Omaha on 11 May 2007). Morrissey's music obsessions tend to be from the 60s and 70s era, so it didn't surprise me to hear him doing a David Bowie cover from the Aladdin Sane time period. But the two are friends, I know that Bowie showed up at a Morrissey show in Los Angeles in the early 90s to do a duet of a T.Rex's song for "Cosmic Dancer", and, of course, Bowie would later record a soul-ish version of Morrissey's "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" in 1993.
Also, it seems in post-2008, Morrissey's songs have been about fatherhood and retirement. Just looking over his titles: "Good Looking Man About Town", "Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice", "Teenage Dad on His Estate", "Children in Pieces", that "constipated look" for Swords, and that controversially album cover for Years of Refusal ... you would think that he's married with kids. Maybe that's not a bad thing, with Morrissey's heath in question, maybe he should take it easy. We all can't be like James Dean, you know.
12/19/2009 03:47:04 ♥ vu () ♥itsmorrisseysworld.com ♥ truetoyou.com ♥ morrissey-solo.com
awhile ago, i ranted about the weird lady that was very persistent in getting my attention even while i was plugged into my tunes and clearly ignoring her.
that wasn't the last time she's tried to get my attention. there's been several occassions where she'll find a cardio machine next to mine and start talking. i can't hear her, but i can see her lips move from my peripheral view. most times, she doesn't talk. but she keeps on turning to look at me, waiting for an in... you know, that moment where i'll turn slightly towards her direction so she can get my attention.
good god. i feel like i have my very own 'eddie' at the gym - you know, that jack russell that keeps on staring at fraser.
and what the hell is up with all this jack russell symbolism in my life? is this some universal way of mocking me???
anyway... today, she caught me in the women's locker room just as i was getting ready to go to my thursday bodypump class. she's so weird. she just comes up and starts talking to me as if we were already in the middle of a conversation.
so the gist of it is - she's noticed that i lost weight and wants to know how i did it.
i size her up and decide to tell her that most of my recent success has been from bodypump. judging by what little i know of her, i had a gutt feeling that she would follow me into this class. and judging by anything i was able to piece together, the class would scare her away.
and so, like a good little stalker, she came to class.
when she got there, she started to say that she has done this class now that she thinks about it. and that it had caused her injuries.
and no, i don't understand why she continued to step up for the class without at least talking to the instuctor first about her past injuries with the class. but she went ahead anyway.
i'll admit, i checked to see her form throughout the class and as i suspected, she did not come close to the correct form in ANY of the exercises that we did. i know the instructor, without wanting to shine the spotlight on her, was trying her very best to speak to the entire class on the proper form in hopes that she would listen. but she did not. and not only was her form off, it was probably the most WAY off form i've ever seen done - in bodypump or anywhere else. she was doing things with that bar that i have never seen before. and anytime she squated or lunged, her knee went WAY past her toes.
all i could think was, "and THAT's why she kept on injuring herself."
as usual, i had to leave before the abs and stretch in order for me to have time to shower, change and go back to work. i didn't stick around but i had a feeling she was looking for me afterwards.
we shall see if she returns next week or not.
WEIRD!
As the pipe clamp blisters began to pop and heal on my hands, I knew I was in a race against myself to find my next gig in woodworking. I had just quit my job after I was put on a mandatory 72-hour work week schedule, which was neither safe nor necessary in the warehouse where I was a full time furniture maker. From my first taste of sawdust, I was hooked. I loved everything about it, especially the aches & pains associated with putting in a hard day of manual labor.
I had moved thousands of miles from my industrial Michigan factory roots, only to go to college and decide the blue collar life is what I wanted. I quit my job, only when it was obvious that it would either kill or permanently injure me...but it was still one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. Besides the fact that I love it, I realize now how wrapped up I was in the identity of being just one thing...In my working life, I have always had to have at least three side hustles going on and I've done everything from nude modeling, to being a maid, a well-paid executive assistant, an extra in movies, a make-up artist, to an apprentice sander in a woodshop.
When I call home to update my family, typically, whatever it is I describe is met with unconditional love & acceptance, even if there is a tinge of it not necessarily being understood. As a woodworker, I was finally able to align myself with an identity - one thing that I loved being and doing...and it was so much easier to explain that!
Predictably, when the job fell apart, I scrambled for any paying gig I could find on craigslist. As it turns out, it was a good time to be involved with film making and I even signed up for acting classes. Being involved in the process is as exciting as it seems like it would be - even the long hours of waiting, while being completely dressed to the nines for a 6:00 a.m. call time, shouldn't be exciting, but it still is.
Around this time I also found work as a fit model, working for a local design house. It's a job that pays very well but the work is inconsistent. Still, I am extremely thankful to have it, even if it is a bit weird for me to use it as an identifier at the dentist's office and have the receptionist squeal and ask me a bunch of questions about the job. That's a rock star moment, I'm not going to lie, but it's completely foreign to me to identify myself as "model" in any capacity...especially when "factory rat" was a closer signifier just weeks ago.
I'm not sure if all the discomfort in lacking a fixed occupation or identity squarely rests on my shoulders, or if I am reacting to other people's confusion when I try to explain, "Well, I'm actually a furniture maker, but I'm out of work, so I'm doing the acting and modeling thing, while looking for another woodworking gig." Who does that? I'm not sure if I even understand myself anymore.
In the long run, it's probably a good thing that I am so versatile & adaptable - I always have something relevent for any type of resume I'm creating for myself (and I have at least 3); but I long for the day when I have a short answer to the question, "So what do you do?"
