NYC

In NYC for a couple days visiting Meaghan and Tim who moved here from Chicago last summer. I got in last night and we had dinner in Brooklyn(where they live) and some ice cream.

Today we went to Manhattan and walked the High Line and hung out in Washington Square Park before going to a play.

With the glut of options we went to A Doll's House Part 2 based almost slowly on Laurie Metcalf and Chris Cooper being in it. It was a great production, a new play which takes place fifteen years after the Ibsen original. The language is contemporary although the setting isn't, which helped to make it its own thing, more inspired by but not tied to the classic. Metcalf was stupendous, I've seen her a couple times at Steppenwolf over the years, she was always good, but this was by far the best. Cooper seemed to be a bit more unsure especially in his first scene but was more comfortable and engaging as the play went on. Even though he was good and not borderline transcendent like Metcalf it was a thrill to see him in the flesh as I've been a huge fan since Adaptation.

Meaghan and Tim have been wonderful hosts and it's been great to spend so much time with them, we hung out regularly in Chicago but its different making all day plans, sleeping on their couch, its been great. Some friends fade away, and that's fine. Some friends become acquaintances with no love lost. Some friendships endure, deepen and mature, regardless of distance. And that is one of life's greatest pleasures.

Airports & Airplanes

I like the ritual.
Arriving to the airport early.
Printing out my boarding pass.
Having one final pre-flight cigarette.
Standing in line at security. Prepared.
Removing my belt and shoes quickly.
Efficiently placing my things in bins.
The thrumming whosh of the body scan.
The inbetween world of the gates.
Indulging in McDonald's breakfast.
The patient wait, pre-boarding.
Quietly and slowly embarking.
The window seat.
The benign power of the take off.
The city dropping away.
Splayed out in its chaotic beauty.
Travel time devoid of reception.
Circling the unfamiliar destination.
Known but not routine.
Landing with a controlled but bumpy thrill.
All the little steps that transition life from normalcy to holiday.

Even though I know
everything continues on
its like some bit of magic
where I walk outside time
and all the little hurdles
are incantations
allowing me up and out and free.

'In Search For Israeli Cuisine' A Review

In Search of Israeli Cuisine is a culinary documentary which follows Israel born chef Michael Solomonov as he travels the country and attempts to uncover the nature of the burgeoning national cuisine which, like the area itself, is a melding pot of countless cultures.

The country and the food are both beautiful and complicated as seen by the calm but deeply interested and appreciative Solomonov. Cliches found in countless cooking shows like "food is love" and "food will bring us together" have actual and concrete meaning as well as deep and lasting history in Israel. Solomonov takes us through a brief history of Israel, Jewish and immigrant cuisines as well as the small but diverse regions of the country. The conflict is addressed explicitly but its tension is lingering in the back ground of every scene. Solmonov ignores politics completely and focuses solely on food showing enthusiasm and respect for every and all the eclectic dishes and chefs he encounters. And by doing so, focusing on the myriad of cuisines and tastes and cultural influences, we get a sense of the real day-to-day life of Israel not devoid of the political tension but without the polarizing fervor the subject can illicit. And perhaps we glimpse a way forward.

If there is a flaw of the film it is with Solomonov and only slight. He's not very good at describing what he's tasting. We know he likes it but he doesn't give us, the viewer, any differentiation he describes almost everything unilaterally as "awesome". Forgivable given his success as our psuedo-Virgil.

Engaging but not necessarily cinematic.

Rent It.

'T2 Trainspotting' A Review

T2 Trainspotting is a dark comedy/drama, a sequel to the 1996 Trainspotting based on the Irvine Welsh novels. Mark(Ewan McGregor) returns to Edinburgh after living clean in Amsterdam for twenty years. He reconnects with Daniel "Spud"(Ewen Bremner) who has continued to struggle with heroin addiction. Mark then pays back Simon "Sick Boy"(Jonny Lee Miller) who has since forgone heroin for cocaine, inherited his aunt's bar, and also moonlights as a blackmailer with his girlfriend Veronika(Anjela Nedyalkova). After initial tensions the three renew their old friendship. Meanwhile the volatile Begbie(Robert Carlyle) escapes prison and attempts to resume his old life as a criminal. Eventually the four are reunited.

All four returning leads give outstanding performances. They wear their age well but convey the natural regret, nostalgia, and frustration that come with it. They are no longer the cocky rebels of their youth and that makes perfect sense. In some ways the events of the first film have defined these characters but they have aged with all the complicated dreaming, second-guessing, and stifled promise that can imply. They are all still the young men they were- prone to rage, duplicity, and addictive behavior- but they are fuller, reflective, more complex. The film is about adulthood where nothing is clear cut and the pure joy and certainty of youth is far behind. All four embody that in impressive and varying ways. The characters have less rebellious energy(why wouldn't they?) but more texture.

Boyle's most compelling and honest film since 2007's Sunshine the film has interesting camera flourishes and cinematic embellishments but they are all deployed with purpose and in balance, serving the story. Flashbacks and scenes from the first film fade in and out and are layered over the action in a way that does not distract but elevates the narrative making the past, so important for the characters, literally intersect with their lives. The soundtrack also is wonderful. No, the film doesn't have the same fevered, frenetic, borderline disgusting feel of the original and it is the better for it. This is not a film about twenty something junkies its about adults grappling with how to be adults. And that couldn't be more interesting and relatable.

Less edge but more soul than the original.

See It.

Old Songs, Old Days

Listening to Moby's 1999 Play album
alone in the theater before the show
drinking a hot cup of coffee
high school,
summer after senior year
languidly comes back
not nostalgia or regret
just contented wisps of memory-
my '85 Jeep Laredo
dark bedrooms, the hum of fans
hot and humid nights
passion and contentment
the breeze from open windows
excitment and fear
that looming spector
College-
but mostly the folly
and promise
of youth

impervious hope
cloaked in bluster

Sleep

We all need sleep. It's a basic biological fact. Growing up especially. I remember as a kid being able to sleep for luxuriously long stretches. Once after a week long backpacking camp I slept for twenty hours straight. It was glorious. After my teens though sleep and its necessity became somewhat of an adversary. Mostly, I believe, as a symptom of my burgeoning alcoholism I developed a pretty intense case of insomnia. Not that it was every night but if I wasn't drinking to excess I couldn't sleep and those rare days I was too ill or attempting to abstain I couldn't sleep at all. There were countless nights of sleepless tossing and turning before I made an honest attempt at getting sober.

The first year I was sober, perhaps as a side effect of the anti-depressants I took or as a result of being deprived of real REM sleep for the better part of a decade, I had nightmares every night. I slept fine but had intense dreams, they weren't frightening exactly just overwhelming and vivid. After that first year I no longer needed the medication and my sleeping and dreaming leveled out. I discovered absent from any substance I was a light sleeper. I've never been able to take naps and as my body and mind reoriented closer to something like normalcy a good night sleep took a bit more attention.

Now it takes me 30-45 minutes to fall asleep, if I wake up early its hard, most times impossible, for me to fall back asleep. Any kind of noise above the normal background variety, any fluctuation in temperature and I wake up. It's a struggle. Throw age on top of that and getting up early to pee becomes a consideration. Perhaps its a matter of conditioning or maybe its normal. Even if it is normal that doesn't make it any less difficult, any less frustrating. Sometimes it can feel like my body is fighting against one of it's own basic fundamental functions. And in those dark predawn hours the world is relatively unpleasant, maybe especially so given my history.

I try to go to bed allowing enough time to relax, meditate a bit, and slow my thinking. Try not to snack or drink too much water before bed and mitigate any possible distractions but sometimes things are outside of my control(delivery and garbage trucks, our powerful but unsubtle radiators, the cat). The past couple days especially have been kind of crapshoot. But all things being equal it is a relatively trivial and easy problem to contend with. And one, now sober with a considerably different outlook and having learned and grown over the years, I can begin to deal with.

Any problem, all problems, use to be overwhelming. Any challenge dramatic in its overblown proportions and how I let it effect me. Any complication daunting. Now having gained some level of maturity and some modicum of patience I can at least approach problems, irritations, setbacks, with a little bit of clarity and perspective. View difficulties for what they are- a normal part of life, that me and everyone else in the world deals with to greater and lesser degrees on a daily basis, and that they are above all manageable.

'Ghost In the Shell' A Review

Ghost In The Shell is a scifi action film about a near future where humans are enhanced by cybernetics and robots are commonplace. Hanka Robotics, the world's most advanced technology copropration, have put a human brain(ghost) in a completely synthetic body(shell). This experiment Major Mira Killian(Scarlett Johansson) is working as a counter-terrorism operative for the government when she comes into contact with the seemingly villanous Kuze(Michael Pitt) who is on a mission to take down Hanka.

Johansson is adequate in the role, certainly physically capable as far as the action, but fails to convey any real depth, nuance, or inner conflict that you'd expect with a character that is constantly faced with the kind of existential conundrum that is the Major's situation. She plays it almost categorically neutral, which not an overt failure, leaves a lot to be desired from the lead. Pitt is a bright spot in the cast giving the villain compelling idiosyncrasies implying more than we see. Pilou Asbæk as Batou, the Major's partner, and "Beat" Takeshi Kitano as Chief Daisuke Aramaki are both very good but are mostly foils to the Major. Juliette Binoche as Dr. Ouelet is a bit of an odd choice, she is always compelling but is underwritten and underutlized.

The production design of the film is beautiful. The cityscape, the action, the costumes, the score are all basically perfect but the main failing is the bloated narrative. So much plot is jammed into the film it fails to explore the interesting scifi concepts that make Ghost In The Shell unique. The result is polish with little substance, potential unrealized.

Entertaining but mostly shell with little ghost.

Rent It.