El Show: Jamison Webb

I hosted El Show again because Alex is in Europe with Jillian. Jamison was the guest and he brought a couple things to read. One was a piece from his upcoming collection of centaur poetry.

Collaboration

The latest Beanpole original.

I started collaborating in college. My college roommates Bob and Beanpole were a musician and an artist respectively. Bob taught me guitar and we started improvising songs to generate material. Two of my favorite songs were 'The Trees' and 'The Green Song.' He'd have an idea, I'd have an idea and we build from there. It was really inspiring to throw ideas off of each other and create something together. Not you wrote the music, I wrote the lyrics. But we wrote it together. My collaborations with the Beanpole are a little less even because I can't draw. We still discuss ideas, inspire each other, and create.

I love improv because this same process is implicit within the doing of improv. It's a constant collaboration, a constant state of inspiration. You get immediate feedback from your partner as well as the audience. And when you achieve greatness, it's shared.

Day 15

Graffiti 14

I first got interested in graffiti after I read 'Fortress of Solitude' by Jonathan Lethem. I was in college at the time and started to notice tags and stuff around ISU. When I was back this weekend I was looking for something. I found this. It was comforting in an odd way, people are still there doing it.

That at least hasn't changed.

Blossoms

A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown,
Who ponders this tremendous scene—
This whole experiment of green,
As if it were his own!
- Emily Dickinson

'Cedar Rapids' A Review

Cedar Rapids is a sweet, off-beat comedy with an R rating. Ed Helms stars as Tim Lippe a naive, man-child, insurance agent sent to the regional conference to secure the coveted Two Diamonds award. The movie is essentially in two acts: Lippe at home and Lippe in the big city.

The first half of the movie takes place in Brownsville, WI, Lippe's home town. We follow him on a typical day and find out he loves insurance, has little life experience, and is having an affair with his old 6th grade teacher played by Sigourney Weaver. After that there is a long list of talented supporting actors that really enhance the film. We get a real sense of who Lippe is by how he interacts with people in his small town. After the lead salesman dies in a questionable manner Lippe is told he must give a presentation for the regional insurance conference in Cedar Rapids. Needless to say he's out of his element.

The second half of the movie is pretty formulaic but the richness of the characters makes the typical 'fish out of water' story fresh. Lippe's never flown on an airplane or ever gone to a big city. Helms's comes off so convincing treating the most mundane things(e.g. the hotel lobby) with so much wonder it's as if we are seeing these things for the first time. Once the convention begins the movie really starts cooking. There are sweet, raunchy, awkward, touching, funny scenes that follow. One of the most engaging things about the movie is it's ability to switch from dick jokes to heart-felt effortlessly. The other star of the film is John C. Reily. His performance is multi-layered and hilarious. Lippe is warned about Zeigler(Reily) and so we in turn are skeptical about him. Zeigler is vulgar but sweet and quickly wins Lippe and us over. He also meets Joan(Heche) and Ronald(Whitlock) and the four become fast friends. The chemistry between the four has a great sense of friendship and fun that really translates. One of the greatest moments is where Lippe is at local party and is saved by the other three.

The story is predictable but the actors and the characters they play revitalize the tired plot line. Ed Helms does an amazing job taking us on his journey which is punctuated by fun stupid adventures and burgeoning friendships.

See it.

New Bike

Critical Mass passed outside my window before El Show Friday and it propelled me to finally get a bike. I forgot how freeing it is to cruise around the city. I went for a long bike ride and put my new old bike through the paces. It's an old school Schwinn 10 speed. All the old tricks started to come back. Flying down a bike lane, weaving in and out of traffic, keeping an eye out for doors, scowling at inattentive drives. It's so much more gratifying than driving and so much less stressful. After riding my bike for a while I think I'll only use my car to get groceries.

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." ~H.G. Wells

Graffiti 13

A warning from a Good Samaritan graffiti artist.