April 13, 2006 - 7:03 PM

And Now, Recently

Recently thought: If the left is wrong and the right lies, how can the center hold? How screwed up is our political system? Is it broken? Is idealism lost in the upper levels? Has power corrupted? How can we get someone who is of the people and for the people into positions of power and effect?

Recently also thought: Is natural human greed making capitalism a suck-ass way to go? Should a business do everything it can to maximize its profits for its shareholders at the expense of its employees and its customers? Or should it balance remaining in the black with taking care of the people who work there while giving the public a good, viable product? And is it our fault as well for taking part in the "money money money for me" mentality, with us wanting companies in which we buy stock to reap giant profits at any expense? I hate the capitalism. Let's all become communists. Of course, human greed screws that one up too...it screws up any economic system, doesn't it? Stupid humans.

Recently seen in the theaters: V for Vendetta. Tony, Margaret, Matt, and Sharon didn't seem to like it all that much. Matt thought it to be too self-important. Me, I had a fine time. It doesn't hurt that Natalie Portman is pretty to watch; it also helps if you don't like to make your brain work too hard to try to relate the story to the 80's Britain or 00's U.S. political climate. I've never been good at being able to spot allegory and social commentary in books, tv, or movies. Like, with Buffy and the whole high-school/teenager metaphor that people laud: *shrug*, I just liked the stories and the dialogue. Or the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with the whole Christ-thing: never got it when I read it. Maybe it's because I'm not deep, maybe it's because I like to dumb myself down. Anyways, I just took in V for Vendetta as a darkly humorous thriller with a decent story and good pacing.

Recently watched on DVD: Emma (one of my mom's favorite movies)...the one with Gwyneth "i had another baby!" Paltrow. I do like that Jeremy Northam, although I've only ever seen him in Gosford Park and in Enigma, but he does such fine work. And god, don't you just feel so sorry for Miss Bates when Emma gives her a right verbal smackdown?

Also Recently Netflixed: Catch That Kid, a tween caper movie that isn't a crapfest like tween movies can be. I think its factor of goodness rests mostly on the shoulders of Kristen Stewart, the star. For someone who's so young (born in 1990), she's a realll good actress. While I liked her as the daughter in the movie Panic Room, it was her lead role in a tv movie called "Speak" that made me take notice. She acts her age and acts it very naturally.

Recently played: cello with Angela Correa at Tangier on Tuesday. She was in fine form, pulling out some new songs that she'll be recording later this spring. I accompanied her on 3 ditties and did a passable job. As before, there was very little cello in the monitors, so I had the disconnection of only being able to hear what I was doing through the main speakers facing out towards the audience. As I explained to Matt, it's like speaking, but not being able to hear the voice coming out of your mouth or resonating in your head- instead, the voice is projecting out starting 10 feet in front of you and away from you. Disorienting, and when it comes to playing, difficult to stay in tune sometimes.
Still, co-P.A. Ryan and a friend were in the audience and they liked it, as did Terami Hirsch and her husband. So I know that I didn't suck too hard.

Recently heard last week: (speaking of) Terami Hirsch at Genghis Cohen last week. An excellent show. She seemed to be a little more comfortable than she was at the Hotel Cafe CD release show last year. With her, I'm in that strange fan/friend territory where you appreciate an artist as a fan for a while, then you talk to them after a show and find them to be quite the delight, and they don't mind your dorkiness. So you get to know them a little, and you email a bit, and they're cool and fun and even come to a show that you're playing to support you. I'm kinda that way with Susan Werner and Sylvie Lewis too.

Recently heard last night: Charlotte Martin again, this time with Matt in tow. Sound problems plagued her set, and the uber-chatty girls sitting near us put us in a bad mood.

Recently heard in two days: I'll be at the Knitting Factory on Saturday to see Sarah Harmer. It's been 5 years since last I saw her (at the KF with LDBL and Nick...one of my first concerts here in L.A.). Very much looking forward to the show.

Recently reading: Terami's blog. Besides being a talented singer-songwriter, she's also an entertaining and gifted writer. One of the first sites I go to everyday (along with Dancing Brave, who is getting married in almost a week [and is it weird to be getting excited for someone's wedding who you only know from reading her online writings?]) to see if she's posted something new.

Now Listening To : iPod- The Judybats: Native Son
Random Thought : Going to get my drink on with Amherst folk.

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