Emotionally Charged Towel #8

As I look back on the piece of music we were working on, I'm amazed that it actually made it as far it did before it fell apart. Sure, I was the one to make the sudden changes in tone and measure, but I thought that it would make the overall piece stronger. Something to set it apart from from the tunes we grew up on, something that rang fresh and true to the ear. Something... we could be remembered for. The beat and the tempo were there all along, but maybe my notes were too sharp and yours too quiet. Trustingly, I gave it back over to you. You will know what to do. This is your thing, something you're good at, and it just needs some fleshing out. I wasn't prepared for the fact that when you returned it, there was not one remnant of anything I had brought to the piece. The notes I'd added had been erased and written over. Out of sight out of mind, right? Did my notes not make sense? Did they turn your stomach with their treble or send your heart beating too fast with their pace? I don't admit to knowing everything about music but I thought they sounded fine. I thought that they added a sweet touch to the overall melody. I've since grown weary of jumping back into the song that resembles nothing of what I envisioned we could both do together. It has all of you in it but I don't see, and I can't hear, where I'm needed in the tune now. I had picked you as my partner because I was your biggest fan. I believed in the things in your head and the direction you could go. Your music was a revelation to me, so full of heart and passion. I even hung your poster on my wall like a star-struck teen. Now I look at the poster hanging there and I wonder how I ever thought I could be a part of your world. You are well on your own journey with plenty of tour stops along the way and, though not stuck by any means, the touring life is not in my schedule. I had my jaunt a long time ago.

Film: Park Chan-Wook's LADY VENGEANCE

Just Desserts: LADY VENGEANCE Is Worth Saving Room For

Looking back at the previous films in Korean director Park Chan-Wook's 'Vengeance' Trilogy, kicked off with SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE then OLDBOY, one has cause to not be so keen on taking in the third film, LADY VENGEANCE, without your hands half parted over your eyes. Both of those films toiled in such dark waters of the human revenge mechanism - complete with decapitations, battery operated torture, bloody hammers and sloppily eaten live octopi - that it was a wonder anyone made it to the other end safely. But there was a gradual build in Chan-Wook's storytelling (one we Americans missed out on as part 2 was released here before part 1) of the lengths people can go when they've been wronged. MR. VENGEANCE was a hot and sweaty mass of blood and bad choices that gave way to OLDBOY's shine and dark swagger. The latter tied the hero to a horrible secret that made it hard for the viewer to accept that things could ever be 'okay' in the end. That chapter, however, concluded with the visual of a beautiful snowstorm large enough to clear the air and cleanse the pallet enough for its sumptuous and filling conclusion LADY VENGEANCE.
As the film begins we meet Guem-Ja (Lee Yeong-Ae), the 'lady' in question, as she is released from prison after serving a 13 year stint for her involvement in the killing of a little boy. She harshly turns down the tradition of eating tofu upon release, to signify the beginning of "living a sin free life", because she knows that with the revenge plan she has cooking in her mind her sin free days are a long ways off . It seems that Guem-Ja took the fall for her boss and didn't have to lose 13 years of her life AND 13 years of knowing the newborn daughter she had to give up. So she sets out calling on favors from women she helped in prison, where she quietly earned the nickname 'Kind Hearted Ms. Guem-Ja', and by working in a cake shop to earn money for the endeavor. Her networking and cake baking skills picked up in prison combine to deliver a dish to her former boss that is best served moist and sweet.
It is in this giant mixing bowl filled with 1 cup vengeance, 1 cup femininity, a spoonful of motherhood, a pinch of sass and a cube of style for taste, that the film really takes its form. Unlike its lead-ins, LADY VENGEANCE is not intense but is instead wistful and patient in its examination of the powerful fury that can erupt in even the softest of people. Its mood is bouncy and the visuals are swathed in the soft colors of a romantic comedy. Working as a classic 'woman's' film like MILDRED PIERCE but dipping its pen in the bloody ink of 'revenge' titles like MS.45 and KILL BILL, the film plays its heavy themes with a light laugh and a gentle touch. Lee Yeong-Ae plays the lead with a soft focus behind the fiery red brushed on her eyelids. Her Guem-Ja is a quiet woman who can hardly believe the position that she is in, or how she got there, but what is done must be done. The drowsiness of her face shows a woman who has lay awake for 13 years with a worry that must be taken care of if she is to ever sleep soundly again.
While building the plan Guem-Ja reunites with her daughter and realizes that inciting payback is a horrible thing to teach a child (who unbeknownst to her has own daggers out for Mommy). Will committing such a finite wrong EVER make things right? When it appears that the film is going to let Guem-Ja fulfill her wishes cold it delivers a delicious twist that invites the idea of selfish revenge as a way of making things right, for the better of the world, but with even more consequences. Perhaps that is the film, and the trilogy's, ultimate purpose. Revenge is a weed that will grow threefold and blanket the lives of all those involved. The lesson in this trilogy seems to be: cut the weed and it will just come back, do nothing and it takes over everything. Can redemption and peace ever come out of having to balance the scales? LADY VENGEANCE provides an answer that is thankfully buried in layers of blood red icing and dark cake sweet enough to help us swallow it.

Hungry Hungry Haikus #41

The thinnest of cracks
Before I knew twas too late
I was full no more

Emotionally Charged Towel #7

Someone asked me today, "Geez Keith, where's your head at?". I'd have to say that this song describes me these days. Now I just need Cher to smack me in the head and yell "Snap out of it!"
It's Imogene Heap's HEADLOCK. Now everyone sing along!

Distant flickering, greener scenery.
This weather's bringing it all back again.
Great adventures, faces and condensation.
I'm going outside to take it all in.

You say too late to start, got your heart in a headlock,
I don't believe any of it.
You say too late to start, with your heart in a headlock,
You know you're better than this.

Wear a different pair, do something out of step.
Throw a stranger an unexpected smile.
With big intention still posted at your station.
Always on about the day it should have flied.

You say too late to start, got your heart in a headlock,
I don't believe any of it.
You say too late to start, with your heart in a headlock,
You know you're better than this.

Afraid to start, got your heart in a headlock,
I don't believe any of it.
You say too late to start, with your heart in a headlock,
You know you're better than this.

You've been working, you've been hiding,
And you look half dead half the time.
Monitoring you, like machines do,
You've still got it, I'm just keeping an eye

You've been working, you've been hiding,
(so what)
And you look half dead half the time.
(don't care)
Monitoring you, like machines do,
(will not)
You've still got it, I'm just keeping an eye
(the end)

You know you're better than this

Can't make a start, got your heart in a headlock,
I don't believe any of it.
You say too late to start, with your heart in a headlock,
You know you're better than this.

(what can you lose?)
Afraid to start, got your heart in a headlock,
I don't believe any of it.
You say too late to start, with your heart in a headlock,
You know you're better than this.

Emotionally Charged Towel #6

Driving home late tonight this song came out of my Shuffle and surprised me with a tear. I must be going through some things...
By the way, it's Goldfrapp, TIME OUT FROM THE WORLD. Just thought I'd share.

Breathing in your sip of gold
I follow all your little lines
I like to watch a thousand times
I want to feel you here
I like to watch a thousand times
I make a shrine for you

Time out from the world
Leaving it all
Just for a day
You like there's a down
Hold me and around
Take us a day?

Here I go, I'm going back
On every word you ever said
I'm dreaming of another time
Yesterday my alibi
We changed the world, just you and I
I make a shrine for you

God Save The Next TOP MODEL

My favorite Top Model contestant, Danielle, took home the $100,000 modeling contract. All this despite annoying the judges with her sweet Arkansas accent. But that's cool, I like my Covergirls with a little sass anyways.

Contact your local congressman to see how you can get our new Top Model to work for your community!

Ruminations on America's Next Top Model 5.13.06

Well folks, this Wednesday is the season finale of Cycle 6 of America's Next Top Model, which means that Thursday whomever is crowned can begin her duties: fixing the deficit, ending poverty, getting New Orleans back on its feet, and taking fierce-ass photos. Here's how things look:

My wishes for ANTM:Danielle, Danielle, DANIELLE! But I will be just as excited if Joanie takes it, just as long as Jade gets gone in the first half hour (It's kind of an "anyone but Bush" situation, Jade you were fun as an adversary but your job is done)


How it will really go for ANTM:Joanie will win, deservedly so, she takes good photos, has a good walk and friggin' went through 12 straight hours of Dental surgery to get rid of that snaggle tooth. That's commitment.Danielle will place second due to the fact that Tyra and the gang are hellbent on making her lose her Southern accent. Sure, that's important for a Top Model, because one day she'll want to have a crappy talk show just like Tyra and you can't do that with a country twang (Tyra does it every day... without talent even!!)Jade will finally get her come-uppance and piss off Twiggy who will finally snap under pressure and bludgeon her to death with a clunky shoe.


Some parting words to the girls who had to immediately pack their bags and go home:
Sara: Nice try. Really! But your karma for stealing Joanie's poses is kinda steep. You're going to go back to that mall you were discovered in... and work there.
Furonda: I hope something comes of your experience because you had the best exit of any eliminated Top Model ever. And I kinda miss your tiara.
Nnenna: You're kind of an emotional mess and hiding a bitch persona. Lose it, work with your smile (warmth is great!!) and find the cure for cancer with your chemistry degree (seriously!! Modeling?)
Brooke: If only you could figure out how to mine that whole "so wrong you're right" look you have going on. Contact J Lo though, I think she needs models for her clothing line and you're a dead ringer.
Leslie: I can't believe it took that long for you to go, I must've dozed off. Fix that walk, MAMA'S FAMILY was funny but shouldn't be idolized as a posture.
Mollie Sue: I will light a candle every day until you get rediscovered. Smile a little more and come back little Sheba. At least as a special guest model next season, mmmkay?

6 Weird Things

So here's my list of "weird things/habits":

1: At 28, I have only recently learned how to ride a bicycle.

2: When eating french fries I very much prefer mustard over any other condiment.

3: I have an almost unhealthy love of Stovetop Stuffing. I'm sure that it's comfortably tied to family Thanksgivings of yore.

4: I don't eat seafood (tastes fishy) but I don't mind a tuna sandwich or fish sticks every now and then. (Why are these all about food??!!)

5: I own the movie TROOP BEVERLY HILLS starring Shelley Long. Seriously.

6: My bottom ear lobes are kinda long and when I'm nervous or pensive I tend to tug on them (thus making them longer I suppose)

BONUS #7: I collect photographs of people on the phone (old clunky phones with cords, not cell). It's mostly stills from movies but I like them from real life too just the same.

Hungry Hungry Haikus #40

Tis the simple things
All free of complication
That makes life sweeter

Ruminations on America's Next Top Model 3.21.06

Since this is a decison that concerns ALL of America, I thought I'd help national diplomacy with some of my thoughts and concerns regarding this season's crop of future runway and print personalities.

THE GIRLS STILL IN THE RUNNING:

BROOKE - The judges keep labeling her "so wrong she's right". That's bound to backfire somewhere around episode 7 I predict.

DANIELLE - Beautiful and boojee. She's the type that gets Tyra to break face and stand and say "Girlfriend! You got a boootay! Wha Wha!

FURONDA - Say it with me, Fur-on-da. Did a smart thing by passing out a list of rules to the girls on how to act around her (my favorite, "The best person to discuss ME with is MYSELF"). Needs to stop wearing her fake tiara around the house before someone feeds it to her.

MOLLIE SUE - Like a baby Annie Lennox and I think it's high time that a double-name entered the fray.

GINA - Proof that Asian girls can't hold their liquor... wait, make that Asian girls with low self esteem.

LESLIE - Two episodes and I always forget that she's a contestant. Needs to blow out that Latin spice or just go home.

JADE - Every cycle has the girl that has to tell everyone "this is a competition and I came to win". This is that bitch. Pretty, yes. Humble, no. She wants a million, kitten and she's a soldier sistah... you better recognize. Take a good picture Jade or shut up.

JOANIE - Like a reverse Monet, she's weird from afar but nice up close. A plus.

NNENNA - No disrespect, but she has the best sob story of the bunch. Sent away from a father in Kenya she actually is humble (take a note Jade) and exudes real beauty thusly. And she got a bald make-over and can still work it.

KARI - Like a baby Brigette Bardot but she has the craziest lips I've ever seen. Seriously, like bat shit crazy not just crazy crazy.

SARA - Like a tall Scarlett Johanssen this found beauty (she was pulled out of a mall) actually has a the most potential to become the most important American of 2006 (not counting 36 Mafia or that cheerleader who fell on her head and still kept cheering).

GIRLS WHO HAD TO PACK THEIR BAGS AND LEAVE IMMEDIATELY:

KATHY - When the judges of America's Next Top Model keep focusing on your Southern twang and tell you to try hard to change it, they're being nice. They had no intention of ever making you America's Next Top Model.

WENDY - Girl, I feel for you. You escaped Hurricane Katrina to audition for ANTM. But at filming you still hadn't heard from your parents. Obviously you were going to be distracted. Go home, spend some time with your family and try again next season.

KEITH'S PREDICTIONS OF WHO WILL BE IN THE TOP THREE:

SARA
DANIELLE
MOLLIE SUE

wild card - NNENNA

Ooookaaaay, I've spent far too much time on this one. But you know, you can't put a price on being an informed person when it comes to such delicate American positions. I hope I have been helpful.