watched being there again directed by hal ashby and starring peter sellers. painful and endearing, reminded me of watching the english version of the office, which has many more cringe inducing moments than its american counterpart. glad to see sellers fought for the role and that it is one that he was most proud of. and ill agree with his assessment that adding humourous outtakes to the credits (as enjoyable as they are) diminishes the ending somewhat. to see sellers out of character breaks the spell he casts over the course of the film. i wonder if that was ashbys decision or the studios. i had a similar reaction the other day while watching redford in the great gatsby. not a great film but not terrible either yet after the climactic moment where gatsby is murdered to end the film rather than lingering on the tragedy of the moment, whoever was in charge of the film decided it needed to end on an upbeat note, so an anonymous brood of flappers on a sailboat outing flit across the screen to the accompaniment of some jazz age fluff. in my mindseye i could hear the studio execs suggesting that the ending was "too depressing" and that they wanted moviegoers to leave the theater whistling a happy tune. no wonder fitzgerald was a failure as a hollywood screenwriter.


couple of other bits from being there. here are two clips that caught my eye among the many that were paraded across the screen as backround noise.



buffy ste. marie on sesame street



bakshi-animated basketball jones voiced by cheech & chong

also the biltmore estate in ashville, nc, the largest privately owned house in america.

the special effects of 2001 aso

(updated) this has to be one of the most exciting menu values in NYC in years!!!
Trestle on Tenth

““two” many wines, July 16 to 25

We will be offering two tastings of wine with each course.

seared sweetbread with chioggia beets and walnut dressing

Mauzac: Maison Vergnes, Blanquette de Limoux Brut, “le Berceau”, Languedoc, France, NV
Fer Servadou: Domaine Laurens, Rosé, Marcillac, France, 2007

crawfish and oyster nage with sweet corn

Romorantin: Domaine François Cazin, Cour-Cheverny, “Cuvée Renaissance”, Loire, France 2002
Chenin Blanc: Pinon, Vouvray, “Tradition”, Loire, France, 2006

fresh coriander studded hanger steak fresh porcini mushrooms

Lagrein: Erbhof Unterganzer, Alto Adige, Italy, 2003, (from Magnum)
Teroldego: Foradori “Rotaliano”, Trentino, Italy, 2005

two mountain cheeses and berries

Petit Arvine: Grosjean, Val d'Aosta, Italy, 2007
Petit Arvine: René Favre & Fils, Chamoson, Valais, Switzerland, 2004

$75 with wine $45 without

Two super meals in SF/Berkeley last week

1) Chez Panisse.....have not been here for a decade and its as good as any meal, fresh, pure, etc

2) A16......like the best of Lupa, Otto, and Esca combined

How Bush Destroyed Federal Firefighting


The Basin Complex Fire has torched one of my favorite backbacking areas in the Ventana Wilderness.

Thank goodness the California National Guard has so much of their equipment and people in Iraq. No more forest fires in Baghdad!

Was having a discussion with the cat about marketable skills, what was she thinking about for her college major, just a general career planning discussion. I told her she should focus on something she likes to do, and then practice at it. So far this is what she has come up with.

frozen grand central

and speaking of raging debates, we are having one as to whether at least one of the geico cavemen are gay or metrosexual? anyone want to share their perspective. its not considered gay to share your feelings on this subject.

"On a rather ironic note, though her primary occupation is costume and wardrobe, her feature film debut was completely naked and on a motorcycle in the cult classic, Vanishing Point"

Which by the way I watched last night and despite the surplus of bad acting (you know I'm not talking about Cleavon Little and Dean Jagger) I very much enjoyed. No, and not because of Gilda Texter's nude motorcycle role, I mean all that objectifying of women in movies, the gratuitous nudity and all, it just makes me sick. If you feel the same way don't watch the clip because there's a bit of her in it.

two bozos die. clowns everywhere shed fake tears in memoriam.

gonzo

roasting plant of orchard st

The court disagreed with Google and the public, and called Google's argument that turning over so much information would be a violation of user privacy "speculative."

the debate rages on...

happy birthday, maid marian. she and sister joan feud on into their 90s.

mcbowery

making major boobage

hal to the chief

Stuff White People Like

meg ryan, youre no norma shearer.

amc to remake the prisoner starring jesus and gandalf.

dont look back

i still cant believe i was hanging out with richard leacock once upon a time and i had no idea who he was. just seemed like an old self possessed documentary filmmaker who happened to be dating my girlfriends cousin. he was making a film about his love of eating eggs at the time for french tv. what the fuck was i supposed to think, that he was in part responsible for some of the most reknown documenaries in history?

then again maybe i was better off not knowing. i might have professed my appreciation for scalawags.

“I happen not to like the things that everybody else loves about it,” he says. While he shot some of the footage of Hendrix setting fire to his Stratocaster, Leacock found it “disgusting,” he said. “I don’t appreciate that kind of bullshit.” And he didn’t care much for Janis Joplin, either. “She was always just full of drugs and alcohol. I remember her coming to look at the film afterwards at our place in New York. She was lying there stone drunk, sucking on a bottle of Southern Comfort.”

murnau at midnight on tcm

ganja queen - hbo monday 9pm

wine library springfield, millburn, summit exit off rt 78