This place

is coming like a Ghost Town.

Welcome to the 21st century

Hope all of you who were able to vote in this election did so. The day after the election I felt extra optimistic about the future of the country.

Joe Jackson Song of the Day!

Well it's September. The Seasons are on the verge of change from Summer to Fall. Oddly, this is the time of the year that always strikes me as the perfect time to break out some Joe Jackson records out. Jackson of course is one of the greatest songwriters of my time. For wise advice in love and heartbreak check out this cat's tunes!

And yes, sometimes I find myself listening to his songs when they coincidentally seem to draw a parallel to what I am going through at the time. Man's prophetic.



What the hell is wrong with you tonight?
I can't seem to say or do the right thing
Wanted to be sure you're feeling right
Wanted to be sure we want the same thing

She said, I can't believe it
You can't, possibly mean it
Don't we, all want the same thing
Don't we
Well, who said anything about love?

No, not love she said
Don't you know that it's different for girls?
No, not love she said

I know, a lot of things that you don't
You wanna hear some?
She said, just give me something
Anything
Well give me all you got but not love

-Different for girls 1979

Writer in the sky

Until You Read This
by RM

This is the hardest game you have me playing.
This time I need to know if I can rely on your word.
If you mean the things you say you mean.
If you actually feel it nice again
I feel your attempt to reach out
but see that you don't quite get your arm
over the threshold.
Leaving me to wonder what you are really after.
Sometimes I daydream a pain you want me to feel.
A pain you feel.
Other times I daydream a message in a cloudless sky;
The afterthought of a careful pilot
skywriting words as legible as possible.
In dense white smoke, the vapor reads;
you may never know how much you hurt me.
The wind flushes over and in a matter of minutes these words are
nothing more than gone.

Lee Miller: Muse and Master

Recently I stumbled upon the photography of Lee Miller whose pictures are beautiful, tragic, and iconic. Miller was first known as a model for Vogue then became student, lover, and muse to Man-Ray during the late 1920's and early 1930's. She appeared in many of Man-Ray's most famous photographs of that era. For a time she worked as Man-Ray's assistant so that he could concentrate on his painting. Miller even took on his fashion assignments. Interestingly, many of the pictures accredited to Man-Ray while Lee was his assistant were actually taken by her. During and after her time with Man-Ray she developed her craft as a photographer, opened her own studio in Paris and became active in the Surrealist movement. As World War II intensified, she dedicated herself to photojournalism and became war correspondent/photographer for Vogue and Life Magazine. Her family pleaded for her return to the states while London was bombed but Miller refused and continued to be a presence on the front lines. Her pictures covered war time, devastation, sorrow, pain, poverty, loss, and post-war life. Miller captured the war and produced a dazzling array of images all across war torn London and Europe.

Check out to see a virtual gallery of her photography;
http://www.leemiller.co.uk/virtualexhbframe.aspx

Little Children

Recently I caught the film Little Children, an adaptation of the book of the same name by Tom Perrotta. It is an above average adaptation that translates very well from book to film. The film was nominated for Best Actress by Kate Winslett and Best Supporting Actor by Jackie Earle Haley including Best Adapted Screenplay by Perrotta. It revolves around a community of imperfect characters in a suburban town full of neighborhood hypocrisy and deeply rooted personal issues. It's a drama with a tinge of dark humor centering over characters that are self destructive in their own ways, some more so than others. The story is very much about human behavior and urge. Little Children is filled with fine character performances that keep a well balanced pace throughout the film until the chilling climax.

The most interesting and unsettling performance is by former 70's child star Jackie Earle Haley. The actor's own story is interesting. He is previously best known for his role as a foul mouth, chain smoking, motor-bike riding kid from The Bad News Bears. He also starred in one of my favorite coming of age films, Breaking Away. Up until a few years ago he was delivering pizza. Haley struggled getting acting roles for years until finally moving on. After 13 years, he returned to acting, landing a role in All the Kings Men which led to his critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated role in Little Children. In Little Children, he plays a formerly incarcerated pedophile struggling to ignore the stigma of his unforgivable actions. There are points in the movie in which you feel an odd sympathy for Haley's character because of the hatred strangers give him which is also felt but soon enough you realize completely how serious his internal problems really are. Haley succeeds in making his film counterpart far creepier than in the book. I was pleased with how his character was integral to the plot and how he was used to connect all of the other character's stories together. Very well done.

I highly recommend both the film and the book by Tom Perrotta. I actually met Perotta once when he visited my high school to give a lecture. This was when his only book was a selection of short stories called Bad Haircut before his first well known novel Election, which incidentally was adapted into a widely popular film starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon. Perrotta is one of my favorite contemporary writers and is a master at weaving multiple narratives in his books. The book is excellent. After you are done with it, watch the film!

Bukowski Revisited

Currently reading Love is a Dog From Hell by Charles Bukowski. I discovered Bukowski many years ago and every few years pick up a book or two of his. I still find that he is hit or miss but he certainly brings his ugliness and self destructive reality to the table which at times can be both unsettling and heart wrenching. There is much writing fodder here but plenty of provocative pieces sure to make one willing to go through the degenerated, misguided, and caved-in world of Bukowski--poet for the working class and the desperate.