Friday, July 22, 2011
William S. Burroughs: My Education. A Book of Dreams
Mikey Portman and I have teamed up some way and we are photographs...and we say:
"We are photographs and we will turn everyone else into photographs."
There is a screaming child there and I am afraid to touch it to comfort it since I know it will bite me.
Vignettes #56
Whenever I hear speak of 'authoritarian personality' I instantly think of certain teachers I had at school. I guess we've all experienced this kind of teacher sometimes in our lives. In the 5th grade I started at a new school, a German 'Gymnasium', which is a higher-level school where you can go to from elementary school, if you achieve certain grades. The new teacher responsible for our specific class, all male pupils, was a fairly young man who only educated on one subject, arts. On first appearance he seemed to be a liberal and pleasant-natured person, but we soon learnt that he had a mean streak in him, too. On one occasion he had to leave the classroom for a minute or two to talk to someone. However, he left the door to the classroom open, and from where he was standing outside he had a complete view of everything going on inside. Of course, since we were young boys, we all did some chatting and some were a bit more rambunctious. When the teacher came back, he was obviously not amused. Instead of scolding the whole class, he mentioned one of our names and told the boy to stand up. "I'm punishing you, because you were not still, while I was absent," he said. Naturally the boy protested and said that we all had not been still, others had been even worse. "That is true," the teacher replied. "But I'm punishing only you, because you are the one I'm picking out."
A similar incident: this teacher tells an -admittedly - funny joke, and we all have a good laugh. The teacher, however, punished one of us, because he had laughed a bit louder than the rest of us.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
New Stuff: Peyton Place
This soapy smalltown crime drama was supposedly a big inspiration to David Lynch and especially for his TV series Twin Peaks.
New Stuff: The Smiths
Yeah, it's the first time I every got an album from The Smiths; they kind of passed me by in the 80s...
New Stuff: Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane
The album 'Monk/Trane' was on The Wire's 'Immaculate 100' list, but isn't available as such on cd, so I got this edition which also includes 'Monk's Music' in complete, although I already have that one on cd.
Master Musicians Of Bukkake
After having heard about this band their mix of fake ethno music and drones I finally got their latest album.
New Stuff: Samuel Beckett
This biography is part of a series of German paperback monographies, I already have a few dozen, which you give you a short overview of the person's life and work, good photos and bibliographies.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Vignettes #55
While discussing Samuel Beckett's play Come and Go Ursula told me the following story she had once experienced: Ursula was with her friend Uschi at one of our local coffeehouses having a coffee and a chat. As in Beckett's play there were 3 elderly ladies at a table nearby and it was impossible not to overhear their gossip. Most obviously they were talking quite nasty about another person not present at their table. After a while one of the ladies left the group, and Uschi told Ursula to wait a few seconds and listen. Sure enough the two remaining ladies started slagging about their friend who had just left the table.
Minority Report (2002)
In the future, criminals are caught before the crimes they commit, but one of the officers in the special unit is accused of one such crime and sets out to prove his innocence.
Superior sci-fi thriller due to its director's expertise, but basically it's a succession of chases with a few plot twists on the way.
Blue Tornado (1991)
While experimenting with a new flight maneuver, a colonel and his friend encounter a mysterious light over a mountain rang.
Unnecessary and tedious sci-fi UFO hokum.
Monday, July 18, 2011
I Will Fight No More Forever (1975)
In a period when many thought that "the only good Indian is a dead Indian," Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce won the admiration of the American Public.
Diligently made for historical accuracy this TV movie already is a classic of its genre.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
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Another T-101 is sent back through time to protect John Connor once again on the verge of the rise of the machine and a female terminator is after them.
This time over it is more a feature-length car chase than anything else, but without an uplifting ending.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
After New York City receives a series of attacks from giant flying robots, a reporter teams up with a pilot in search of their origin, as well as the reason for the disappearances of famous scientists around the world.
Wonderfully recreated sci-fi adventure in the style of 40/50s B pictures.
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