Michelle Branch "Creep"

Like me with posting on this blog, only way more extreme, it's been a long time since Michelle Branch has released any new recordings. Apparently, she's had record label problems and what not, but recently posted a cover of Radiohead's "Creep" on Soundcloud:





Anyway, Michelle is one of my favorite musical artists--singer, songwriter, musician--so this is cool to hear. Hopefully, it won't be too long until we finally get another album of original songs from her.

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Poem "Make a Gesture"

[part one]

can't escape the feeling / that the only way to get anything
is to chase it down and catch it
can't get around the apparent reality / that the only way to get anything
is to give something better in return
that the only way to get there is to be there first

maybe that's just life / maybe it's just thermodynamics
maybe it's not supposed to make sense

can't escape the feeling / that nothing i have to give will get me in the door
the toll of the bridge / is a bottomless pit
that only exists to swallow more and more
maybe if you fall, someone will catch you / maybe that's what it takes

[part two]

now with a clear mind / i ascend the staircase to you
to find that my grand gestures were only smoke screens
for running my fingers thru your hair
like clumsy thimbles thru a feather
they don't match
but like sometimes different shades of blue
together they make something like music

[part three]

hello / this is different / it's familiar
it's a sliver of what i've been waiting for
and that's a start
in a wind tunnel, i can finally breathe
and falling from far up in the atmosphere, i can finally see

reverb and echo, and a modulating bassline
have restored my spirit, and now i can feel okay
about painting my face with racing stripes
give me a short sleeve shirt under a windbreaker
and some dark red running shoes and a faded pair of jeans
and i'll map the coastline
just to be able to throw my arms around you


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The Fisher King

So, I just watched The Fisher King for the first time ever, tonight. It had been on my to-watch list for quite a while. In light of the events of the past couple of weeks...anyway, for me, now was the time. I expected it to be an interesting film for several reasons (Robin Williams of course, story elements from Arthurian legend, director Terry Gilliam) but even expecting the unexpected, I was surprised at how beautiful it was.

In particular, the scene in which Parry (Williams) recounts the story of the titular Fisher King to Jack (Jeff Bridges):

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This film also made me think of the lyrics to the song "I've Been Waiting" by Sixpence None the Richer:

The lyrics to the first verse, to get right to it:

So I'm waiting by a phone, for the blessed ring

Like a holy grail for a fisher king

Time is ticking down like a metronome

Rhythm for my brain and its ceaseless scares...

It's an incredible song, and I now I have a bit more insight into those words, which is very cool.

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When I saw the headline saying the Robin Williams had died, I found myself more affected than I can recall having been for any celebrity's passing. I don't mean to suggest that I absorb the news of most deaths with indifference, but rather that I don't usually feel as though someone whom I've never met was somehow a close personal friend. That's how I felt this time.

There's something very sad about the way that we, as humans, so often find ourselves reappraising people and things--and coming to realize the depth of their meaning--only after they're gone. It feels tragic in itself, a symptom of our tendency to be overwhelmed by the day-to-day details of life to the extent that we don't manage to stand still and really look at and think about things. (I'm speaking for myself.)

I don't know that there's anything that I can say, except that it's an amazing thing to consider that even as fragile and short-lived as we are, that one life can bring so much laughter, joy, wonder and inspiration to so many people. There's great power in that.

To end this post, here is a commercial that Robin and his daughter Zelda did. Like so many of these things, I only saw it after the fact, but it's just about the sweetest thing ever:

If life can be this beautiful, even for just a moment, that's an incredible thing.

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Poem "The Aftermathematics of Recovery"

don't remember / the best thing you can do is to forget

you need a short memory / if you're to recover for the next set

don't overthink it / just take a moment to be dormant

still your thoughts and collect your wits

all that you need is a handful of pine needles / and your quadriceps

and a low fire flickering in the autumn wind

you will wake again / into the stillness of oblivion

as you climb through the clouds at the summit of this moment

into the clear / into the the wings as you reset again

don't go it alone / a fist has nothing on the grip of another hand

but we don't always get to choose

and you do what you have to do to make it thru today

maybe this is how it has to be

and maybe that's okay

you will wake again / into the stillness of oblivion

as you climb through the clouds at the summit of this moment

into the clear / into the the wings as you reset again

have seen it all before

and am so tired of going around and around in this revolving door

don't come back this way / find a different, better path

the whole point of the experience

is to escape the darkness of the past, for the light

because there's something better over the horizon

just take a moment more to be dormant

collect your spirit and collect your wits

let the lava rise to light your eyes

and drink up the ocean of this moment

with your inner fire

you will wake again / into the energy of infinity

as you inscribe the sky with calligraphy

one dream to find you, one dream to bring you back to life

one dream to put the magic back in your eyes

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i see fire

Werner Herzog Reads Where's Waldo

This is fake--it's a parody of how Werner Herzog sounds, and what he says when he narrates his documentaries. The humor is an acquired taste of sorts, but I could listen to this sort of thing for hours. It's seriously thoughtful, funny, absurd and hypnotic all at once.

Also, Encounters at the End of the World (trailer below) is a really good documentary by the actual Werner Herzog. Its subject is Antarctica--the people, creatures and landscapes there. Beautiful and interspersed with moments of dry humor and bizarre interjections. Classic.

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Poem "Citrine"

i’m feeling just a little bit miserable

still recovering from that high / that i hit a little while ago

tied to the same clichés that we try to transcend

and the end looks suspiciously like the beginning

step in from the heat, to where the l-e-d's come on at night

absorb the sound and suck in the ghostly whites

from the audio cones and the black lights

i don’t know if this is gonna work out this way / but it’s worth a shot

sometimes good things happen when you just let the music play

don’t stop the music / it’s okay to go crazy when you dance

it’s no problem, the only problem is in your mind

sometimes ya just havta to break down and take a chance...i know that

‘come on’ is what came from me

put myself out there to take it all in / and i am afraid now

a victim of the very thing that i tried to avoid

and now the music just sounds like noise

well, turn it over / pull the ripcord with a vengeance

i need you more than i can admit

as afraid as i am of interpersonal fission

my eyes need to see you in my peripheral vision

need to know you’re there

need some sort of reassurance / that you’re not going anywhere

she said / that it’s not me it’s you

well, isn’t that always the way that it always is?

conventional wisdom says that it’s all in my mind

and no one ever got anywhere by going insane

she said / that she flipped the switch for faster than light

and i can’t keep track of that velocity

it’s just a stream of details that are already obsolete

there's no access to a tesseract without a cardigan sweater

is that you in it? / is that a euphemism? 

if these small consolations are the background pattern in my mind

and the small constellations are the background noise in the sky

then i just need to bleed in broad strokes

so take the high that you hold in your hand

turn it over, and pour the syrup straight outta the sun

i can feel it coming up, mercury in a vertical line

things’ll get better, no life till indiana jones leather

i'm sorry for the conflict of interest, but it'll all make sense

when you see how i've got it arranged on pinterest

okay, so i sold my soul for an easy way out of that

but no damage done, damn it, the world isn't flat

the best moments are always the most eccentric and distorted

and there's no beauty without some eccentric proportions

and this may get it wrong

but as long as you know what i mean

don’t stop the music  /it’s okay to go crazy when you dance

it’s no problem, the only problem is in your mind

sometimes you just havta to break down and take a chance

bring down the horse and leave it all out on the floor

and that’s the variable that summons the singularity

leaves with you and me, hand in hand, through that door

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w/i/p / meanttobelyrics / cstar

Poem "Voyager"

i’ve already spent half a lifetime / mining data for you

in the pipeline defined by my programming

taking photographs / and slowly unraveling the truth

i’m getting farther away from the beginning

but i can’t figure out how to stop being the same thing

and i can’t shake the sensation that I’m spinning

maybe not spinning in place / but what’s the difference / it’s still spinning in space

i’d give anything / nay / i’ve already given everything

just to get away from this place

i’ve nearly spent a half-life / burning through the sky

my thermoelectric generators’ radioisotopes

are approaching their expectancy / and getting so damn tired

the knowledge of the meaning of the universe

can be your blessing, or it can be my curse

and the way that the radiation reads depends on where you are

out here, there are no falling stars / just crossing lights

i’d give anything / nay / i’ve already given everything

just to get away from this place

i’d give anything / to break the bad habits that hold me

i’d give anything / to break out of orbit

but who i am / is something to do with hieroglyphics

and gold and white sands

an encrypted construct of someone's mind

and a bunch of other stuff that there’s a chance

that no one will ever understand

so set me to music / light me on fire

program me with your deepest desires

in space, no one can hear you dream

but if you listen very closely, you can hear your own heart breathe

i'd give anything for it to be quiet enough

to hear myself when i stop thinking

i'd give anything / nay / i’ve already given everything 

just to break away / into interstellar space

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a metaphor, of all things

stardate oh-eight-two-five-two-oh-one-two

Poem "Dusk"

is this a test? / what do you want from me?

getting closer to collapsing / something's getting closer to happening

it's not a question / not if, but when

it doesn't make much sense / but there's an inevitability in the dissonance

is this a question? / if what you're saying is relevant / then the answer is yes

your harmony / is our symphony / is the the first note of this rhapsody

reach the crest of infinity / and turn away / this is how i'm gonna play it

it has to be this way

i'm keeping my eyes open / even though that bypass shorts the imagination

can't disappear into virtual reality / until you've written the equation

the sky fills with smoke / like octopus ink in a liquid globe

the walls of this room / used to be dark blue / now the canvas is black

your darkness / is my dawn / is the door in to the jumping off point

on the verge of insanity / on the verge of despair

almost falling off from the top of the stairs

but it's not over / we're turning a corner / curving to approach infinity

the rainbow paint dries / and your tears become tattoos

and the next time that you open your eyes

you know exactly what you want

is this a question? / if and when and infinity

the answer to everything is yes

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Well...

...I am still alive. I have just been lacking the combination of clarity and motivation to add anything here, lately. But I have some drafts that I may finish soon...

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Music

>>> My favorite newer band. They just blow me away.

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Visualz

I just realized that having something G-Pal-related as my last post is really depressing (once upon a time, that wouldn't have been the case). So to bump to something cooler...

by daRoz on deviantART

Imperial Walkers!

...and early morning in the futuristic high desert, courtesy of KuldarLeement, one of my favorite artists:

"Highways"

...and some Luke Skywalker, because Mark Hamill is on the move, and we're soon in for literally the return of the Jedi:

source

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Gwyneth Paltrow on the Emotional Affectability of Water

This article on the AV Club, playing off of a post on Gwyneth Paltrow's goop.com website, is a lot of fun:

Suggesting that merely the act of toweling off after a bath qualifies as a conscious uncoupling, unprocessed thinker Gwyneth Paltrow has shared her belief that water has feelings—and like that of a highly paid actress who regularly expresses her advice on how to attain her lifestyle, these feelings can be so easily hurt. Paltrow quietly sounded the warning bell about water in her semi-regular GOOP newsletter, secure in the knowledge that—as far she is aware—water doesn’t read the Internet, and so it wouldn’t learn that Gwyneth Paltrow thinks it’s emotionally fragile. But everyone else now understands the importance of remaining upbeat around their Fiji bottles and sinks, lest their sour moods affect the one thing still acceptable to consume on a GOOP diet.

“I am fascinated by the growing science behind the energy of consciousness and its effects on matter,” Paltrow says of the rapidly expanding branch of science known as “pseudo-science,” which is embodied by the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto. As she explains to a fascinated Gwyneth Paltrow, the possibly cartoon Dr. Emoto is best known for The Hidden Messages Of Water, in which he documented experiments with writing words such as “I hate you” and “Fear” on vials filled with water that, he claimed, became “gray, misshapen clumps” when frozen. Conversely, writing “I love you” and “peace” on polluted water supposedly yielded “gleaming, hexagonal crystals,” of the sort you would be happy to serve at your next dinner party. All of this was documented in that most renowned of scientific journals, the coffee table book.

“I have long had Dr. Emoto’s coffee table book on how negativity changes the structure of water, how the molecules behave differently depending on the words or music being expressed around it,” Paltrow writes, possibly by way of explaining her recent separation from Coldplay’s Chris Martin, whose music was only making her water sad. After all, Gwyneth Paltrow certainly did not have her assistant harvest macrobiotic water—which originated in rain created by non-fat clouds, was filtered through the blades of tree leaves that personally know Sting, and mixed with the piss of aphids doing yoga—just to have Chris Martin turn it to poison with his warbling.

Implausible as it seems, Gwyneth Paltrow’s theory of mood affecting liquids hasbeen corroborated with extensive research by scientists of equal standing. 

 Cue Ghostbusters YouTube clip.

So in conclusion, it is probably best to only say positive things around water. And also around Gwyneth Paltrow—who is, after all, 80 percent water.

Thank you, Internet, for something to laugh at.

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neuro Bliss

I really like the White Raspberry version of this drink, and not just because of how the bottle is awesome and looks like a lava lamp. It tastes great, is refreshing, and anything that even might help reduce stress is welcome.

No thoughts beyond that. Just something that crossed my mind and felt worth mentioning. It makes me happy just thinking about...

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Having Watched A Film...

I went to see Belle today. It's very good, with some terrific performances, especially by the lead actress. Between that, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Godzilla--an odd trio of films to group together though they may be--I've had good luck at the theater over the past month or so.

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Space and Time

I just watched An Adventure in Space and Time, the dramatic recreation of the birth of the Doctor Who television program in the 60's. I'd been meaning to check it out for awhile, and it was just as good as I'd heard. A very lovely, moving and inspiring trip back in time...

More broadly, this is an exciting time for a science fiction fan. Besides the obvious pick of the upcoming next Doctor Who series with Peter Capaldi, there are also the actor-connections of Karen Gillian in Guardians of the Galaxy and Matt Smith in the on-the-horizon Terminator: Genesis.

Beyond Doctor Who, there is of course Star Wars: Episode VII, which has begun filming and about which there was a new casting announcement today, that Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie have both been brought on board to join the growing ensemble of actors both new and old. I almost cannot believe that this film is really happening, and while it's impossible to not be a bit afraid, there is plenty of reason to be both optimistic and excited.

In particular with regard to the latest news, it's great to have more significant female characters in Star Wars. Many of the books and The Clone Wars show have featured as much, but the films have of course been a bit...lacking, thus far.

Also, there are upcoming 2014 films such as Edge of Tomorrow (looks like a good bet), Jupiter Ascending (looks sketchy, to be honest, but I'm hoping for the best) and Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. Ridley Scott is another director with some sci-fi allegedly in the works, in the form of rumored sequels to Blade Runner and Prometheus, as well as an adaption of the literary classic The Forever War--which I've never read, but which sounds interesting.

But that's not all. James Cameron has three sequels to Avatar on the way, new Battlestar Galactica film content is possibly under development and Roland Emmerich is working on two sequels to Independence Day and future Stargate films. I really love the original Stargate, so that last bit has me very excited.

Finally, I would probably be remiss if I didn't say something about the Star Trek franchise. I'll admit that I'm unusually pessimistic about the forthcoming third film in the rebooted big-screen series. I was very disappointed with Star Trek Into Darkness, and the fact that Roberto Orci, one of that film's writers, has been selected as the director...not what I was hoping for, to say the least.

But anyway, there's a lot to feel good about, out there. I really hope that Star Trek makes it back to the small screen at some point in the near future. Like Doctor Who, television is where Trek truly belongs.

Here's a parting quote, from a 'doctor' somebody, a long time ago:

"Our lives are different from anybody else’s. That’s the exciting thing. Nobody in the universe can do what we’re doing."

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Poem "Buenos Aires"

if and when you find me

leaning against the back of the chassis / of a fallen starship

if and when you find me / eyes closed / underneath the dorsal fin

just tap me on the shoulder / with your index finger

and i’ll unzip my jacket to let you in

like a stick of light / that you only have to snap to ignite

your signal is all that i need to receive / to reilluminate my eyes

we make it our personal responsibility / to hold an umbrella over this city

if and when we land / in an alpine meadow / on top of the andes

if and when we can relax / for just a moment / before the war goes on

you don’t even have to open your eyes

just tilt your head / and hold my hand / and smile

like a lithium ion battery / we can recharge almost as many times as we need

given a consistent source of energy / we can approach infinity

some things go right / in spite of how much of everything goes wrong

the light in your eyes / stays on

some things seem to persist / in spite of how very little they make sense

until their end / it’s not a question of if / but when

we make it our personal responsibility / to hold an umbrella over this city

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world of noon by vombavr

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starship troopers / may twenty-fourth

Small Download/Upload

Being a very slow and gradual explorer, I heard Led Zeppelin's "All My Love" for the first time today. And loved it.

Poem "Reactorspheres"

more than one ball of fire in the sky

close enough to be comforting / but at a safe distance

at your beck and call / you can turn it down

when you move your hand like a wand

or accelerate the particles to the point

where your eyes turn gold / to shield your soul against an overload

nothing more than / a fracturing sphere

under the surface of your consciousness / in a dark and brackish pond

i’ll pick up the pieces / if you don’t mind / while you dry yourself out

that’s just how we work / how we are

water cooled / centrifuges / head-first / into you, over me

the water flows to a head / into its ending / and our beginning

a midst the mists /and the wintergreen

you’re not dreaming / we’re having a moment / this is synergy

the sun winks at you / through the fractal geometric trees

cascading chain reaction

it’s not the photograph / it’s your caption

i love you

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Poem "Red Star"

every time I cross an intersection

every time I see a red honda civic

i have an instant of obsession with whether it's you in it

your code is still running in my mind

facial recognition software / crossing the lines

but that update's passed its time / you and me / we're obsolete

it’s better the sooner we come to terms

and accept the road as better for its curves

but what does that really mean?

was driving north / thru turnagain pass

and suddenly, overtaken tactlessly

cursed the insensitivity that some people have

maybe there's some irony in that

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closure / revised on stardate 060514

Poem "Nowwhen"

it doesn't make sense / it doesn't help

to know that everyone else / is doing okay

it's a small consolation / to know

that the star you've been following doesn't exist any more

that it was just your imagination's interpretation

of the bleeding light of an extinct constellation

all we need / is release from the pain / please

we were meant / for more than the doom / that we've collapsed into

we were meant to be more / than these wrecks washed up on this lonely shore

we were destined / to look to the stars

with the potential to become / more than we are

i don't know how it's come to this / it's the hope that's missing

the sky was retracting / into the back of a getaway van

leaving me alone / in a void all my own

i'm broadcasting to tell you that i still care

if there's a chance that there's anyone still out there

i haven't forgotten about you

i'm just drowning in an ocean of endless blue

until something snaps my synapses / and i wake

whatever it takes

all we need / is to feel the pain / for just a second

and then release

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Music Video

This is just one of the best feeling audiovisual things I've experienced lately. Full spectrum gorgeous. I didn't used to have much interest in Justin Timberlake, but a couple of his songs have really meant something to me in the last six months or so.

And I totally want to be him in the performance above, on that stage with that band. Good energy going on, there.

Graphic Design

So, here is a logo of sorts that I came up with, for a project -- not an actual job, just a hobby -- that I'm working on. I sketched it out on a piece of paper earlier this week, and then drew up this 'digitized version' today:

I probably spent far more time on the above image than I needed to, but I really wanted it to be geometrically precise, and I was trying out some new things in Photoshop. Anyway, it turned out well relative to my expectations, so that's good. I feel like I accomplished something. ; )

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Salmon Shoes

I just came across this very-minor-curiosity news story:

Macklemore Debuts New, Personalized Air Jordans, And They're Panned By Fans

This is Macklemore the rapper, he of the duo with Ryan Lewis and the "Thrift Shop" song. Truth be told, I've never listened to it and have no particular plans to. However, this thing with the shoe does interest me.

Basically, Macklemore presented a Jordan Brand shoe with custom coloring inspired by salmon, dubbed the "Northwest King Salmon Melo," which I assume relates to the fact that he is from Seattle (the "Melo" denotes the basic shoe platform being the Carmelo Anthony signature model). That's all cool, in theory at least. But here is what the shoe actually looks like:

Source: Instagram

Now, the first thing that one notices about this shoe is how monotone it is. Custom color notwithstanding, it would seem that the key to personalizing footwear would be to include more chromatic variation than that.

Twitter user @lankdan calls the shoe out for looking like "uncooked fish," which is true. But I grew up in Alaska, and I've seen many salmon, and the shoe looks just as much like cooked fish as uncooked fish. The real point is that they look like the inside of a fish. Where is the silver, the scale patterns?

It is actually a fantastic idea to take visual inspiration from salmon, but at least half of the equation has to be the skin of the fish. Even when "reddening" in spawning mode, a king (chinook) salmon is primarily defined by its silvery outer color, like so:

Source: Wikipedia

Combining a silvery scale pattern with the characteristic "salmon pink" internal color is a great potential design scheme. Basketball shoes, already prone to just-as-gaudy motifs, often incorporating shiny patent leather (not to mention herringbone out-sole traction patterns), would be a perfect fit.

Long story short, this shoe is a missed opportunity.

However, it does bear mentioning that actual salmon skin, or "salmon leather" as it is often called, is a real thing in the world of clothing, albeit on more of a trendy specialty basis at this point.

Even just in the realm of whimsical art, here is an example of how much fun salmon, specifically the outside of them, can be:

"Canned Salmon" by Chris Arend
(Anchorage - Wild Salmon on Parade)

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Ranking Marvel Comics Films

Having recently enjoyed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I felt like revisiting and updating my personal rankings of the Marvel Comics-based films that have been released so far. While The Winter Soldier is, in my opinion, the best film yet produced in-house by Marvel Studios, I cannot quite rank it as the top film in this list alongside films produced by Sony and Fox.

There are several Marvel-based films that I have not yet seen - the Blade, Punisher and Ghost Rider franchises as respective wholes, Elektra, Howard the Duck, the 1990 Captain America film, etc.

Anyway, here is how I rank what I have seen:

1.  X2: X-Men United  -  The most thematically powerful, comprehensively well-made Marvel film.

Highlight  -  The 'coming out mutant' scene at Bobby Drake (Iceman)'s parents house.

2.  Spider-Man 2  -  No other Marvel movie has more heart. From an emotional standpoint, this is an incredible film.

Highlight  -  The Train Sequence

3.  Captain America: The Winter Soldier  -  Mature tone, spy-genre sensibility and a great ensemble cast playing out a resonant story.

Highlights  -  Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce. The breathtaking design of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, the Triskelion.

4.  Spider-Man  -  A remarkably pitch-perfect comic book film, translating the aesthetic and fun straight off of the page and onto the screen.

Highlight  -  J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, a comic book character brought brilliantly to life if ever there was one.

5.  Hulk  -  Under appreciated and a bit on the weird side, but few superhero films have ever been so thoughtful and ambitious.

Highlights  -  The incredible combination of sets, cinematography and editing. The psychological depth of the story.

6.  Iron Man  -  Tight, concise and surging with charisma. This was a masterstroke for Marvel Studios.

Highlight  -  Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark.

7.  X-Men: First Class  -  A great spread of back-story and foundation, wrapped in fab 1960's historical fiction.

Highlights  -  The set and costume design. Arguably the best climactic set-piece of any film on this list.

8.  X-Men  -  A strong, character-driven foundation for modern, serious comic book films.

Highlights  -  Phenomenal, diverse casting. The Wolverine-Rogue subplot.

9.  Thor  -  The perfect approach to this character, techno-Vikings and science geeks, given Shakespearean flair by the perfect director, Kenneth Branagh.

Highlights  -  Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston as Thor and Loki, respectively. The gorgeous visual design of Asgard.

10. The Wolverine  -  Dark, stripped-down and visceral. If it weren't for the inconsistent ending, this would be ranked much higher. (I still have not seen the Unleashed Extended Edition, which is reputedly a better version.)

Highlight  -  Rila Fukushima as Yukio.

11.  Iron Man 3  -  A very satisfying end to its trilogy, with a great mix of pathos, action and humor. The 'Mandarin twist' is divisive, but I loved it. How often do you get a true surprise in one of these films?

Highlight  -  The Air Force One Rescue Sequence

12.  Captain America: The First Avenger  -  Lovingly constructed and wonderfully earnest, although it plays as a bit of a montage. Marvel Studios crammed quite a bit into this film.

Highlights  -  Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell as Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter, respectively, both separately and together.

13.  The Avengers  -  No other film is as much fun, or quite the same team-building landmark. Still, the plot and climactic villains (the Chitauri) both strike me as sub-par. This is an instance of sheer charisma covering the weaknesses. But there are weaknesses.

Highlight  -  The witty, endlessly entertaining banter between the characters.

14.  The Incredible Hulk  -  A solid take on the character, but in over-correcting for Hulk's weirdness, this film limited itself to the relatively mundane.

Highlight  -  Edward Norton in the lead role.

15.  Spider-Man 3  -  Overstuffed with villains and plot lines, and not a little bit crazy, but satisfying and spiritually consistent nonetheless.

Highlights  -  Thomas Hayden Church as Flint Marco/Sandman. Also, the emo Peter Parker dance sequence, because sometimes there's nothing better than taking a step into the bizarre.

16.  Iron Man 2  -  Disjointed as an overall film, but enjoyable in spite of its unevenness.

Highlight  -  The Howard Stark/World's Fair/New Element plot device, a very inspiring conception, even if a bit clumsy in execution.

17.  X-Men: The Last Stand  -  A decent film in its own right, but a drastic drop in quality and change in tone from the first two X-Men films.

Highlights  -  Ummm...I suppose, the final teaser scene with Magneto. Otherwise, there just is not a lot to choose from here.

18.  Daredevil (Director’s Cut)  -  An odd combination of gritty and downright whimsical. The net result is, to me, somewhat less than compelling.

Highlights  -  The small pleasures, such as the design of Matt Murdock's apartment and Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey herself) as legal secretary Karen Page.

19.  Fantastic Four  -  Fun, lively and easy-viewing family entertainment. Also campy, unfortunately, and a decidedly underachieving representation of the source material.

Highlights  -  Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis are superbly cast as Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, respectively. A pity that the rest of the cast is not so pitch-perfect.

20.  Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer  -  A reasonably thoughtful, dynamic sequel. Same basic issues as its predecessor, though.

Highlights  -  Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Silver Surfer. Also, I'm going to break with the common consensus and say that the "space cloud" depiction of Galactus was a good idea and makes sense.

21.  The Amazing Spider-Man  -  Fantastic first twenty minutes. This should have been incredible - just look at that killer cool poster art. But the producers neglected the story, and that is the cardinal sin.

Over the course of two hours, this film devolves from a promising reboot into an unrealized, lesser imitation of Spider-Man 1 and 2. A pity.

Highlight  -  The outstanding cast.

22.  Thor: The Dark World  -  A stakes-raising sequel with no true drama and an almost complete absence of substantive character development. Nothing about this film is egregiously bad, but it's difficult to find anything especially good, either.

Highlight  -  The eye contact shared between Jane Foster and Sif as they walk past each other in Asgard. Unfortunately, this dynamic is given mere seconds of onscreen insinuation. There is romantic drama (with a potentially fascinating love triangle) waiting in the wings, but it goes mostly unexplored.

23.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine  -  A disjointed feature-length montage full of ludicrous, over-the-top action sequences and disappointing character portrayals.

Highlight  -  The sparse, beautiful Canada sequence with Lynn Collins as Kayla Silverfox. That part of the film should have been the template for its entirely, and indeed looks forward to the more intimate tone of the vastly superior The Wolverine.

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Zepparella "When the Levee Breaks" Video

So, this is not new, but I just came across it today. It's a cover of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" by Zepparella. I know that there are plenty of Zep cover bands out there, and this is not the only all-female one, but this might be the most that I have ever enjoyed seeing one of them perform:

Sure, other bands might be a lot wilder, with mismatched outfits and under-some-influence antics. But I like this take very much. It has a sleekness to it that keeps locked dead-on to the pulse of the song. The lead vocalist knows exactly what she's doing, and you can hear every instrument. Very cool.


While I'm at it, though, the other Zep cover performance that I really enjoyed (and I'll be honest, I haven't seen that many) was on American Idol a few years back. No, it wasn't Adam Lambert. It was Elise Testone, doing "Whole Lotta Love."

Like this:

Someone made a comment at the time, and I completely agreed, that Elise could be Robert Plant's niece. She absolutely sings the heck out of this song, up one side and down the other. The raspy vocals, the unusual runs and the best crazy-yet-listenable scream that I've ever heard anyone pull off. This song is about attitude as much as anything else, and she nails it.

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Poem "Albatross"

"albatross"

the dark side of taking risks / is the complication of your existence

there's nothing unprecedented about this

the dark skies above us / are only a side effect

of staring into shadows / with our eyes closed / in apprehension

i was going to say / that it’s not as simple as it seems

but maybe it’s a lethal dose of simplicity / inescapability

you may be able to free me from my guilt

but i cannot get by myself

i’ve come to understand that this is just the way it is

there are no options / d’y2 think that i have a choice here?

white lining around the borders of the clouds

the quiet draws out the sadness

my white whale / is poles apart / from my holy grail

and so the quiet draws out the albatross

the cover of the north / is four corners of a clean-pressed shirt

the melancholy / in your maturity

the sounds of a sad, soul album / recorded ten years after the fact

it’s the motion capture of your slow collapse

it’s the sound of snowflakes being born

in the origin of the path of capricorn

in a river of silver / i am born again

that’s just the way it is / it’s your existence / just live with it

white lining around the borders of the clouds

the quiet draws out the sadness

my white whale / is poles apart / from my holy grail

and so the quiet draws out the albatross

the stillness fills the space with empty brackets

there’s no motion for the camera to capture

the anchor holds the present just below the surface

hits the pause on the play for the purpose

the weight bends my wings down to the earth

there is no escape from this rotational curve

waving goodbye to myself in the mirror

when i know that i’ll always find myself right there

the stillness summons the albatross

in a river of silver / i am born again

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some burdens just persist