I Just Want Someone To Watch TV With

Leighton Meester Is Legal... I Think.

2006-09-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Last night three TV shows dealt with the legal age of consent. "House", "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". The twenty year old actress above is Leighton Meester and she played a seventeen year old interested in Dr. House. He stayed at an arm's length though. Just seemed odd that three shows all dealt with this subject on the same night. Don't they have any other plot lines to write about? Plus they seemingly contradicted each other. "House" and "Law & Order: CI" both said the legal age was eighteen but "Law & Order:SVU" seemed to suggest that a seventeen year old girl could do what she wanted with a thirty year old man. Oh well.

"Beautiful Beast"

2006-09-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

Last night I traveled down to Philadelphia to see the play Angel: A Nightmare in Two Acts. The male lead was my best friend Rob Hargraves. He played Dr. Josef Mengele. The play centers on a teenage Nazis named Irma Grese. She was a guard at the Auschwitz concentration camp. She was in charge of 30,000 female prisoners who nicknamed her the "Beautiful Beast". While the subject matter is very serious the play's second act took on a surreal mood. The lead actress was horribly cast. She was playing a role six to ten years younger than she was. Years after her execution it is believed that her ghost haunts Krema Three at Auschwitz where she used to be in charge.

It was nice to see Rob, birthday boy Jon, Bobby and Mrs. Harridan from http://www.missharridan.blogspot.com/

One Extreme to the Other

2006-07-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

Twenty years and about 80lbs seperate these two photos. I remember all the comments people used to have about how thin I was. However it was still a bit shocking to see how I used to look. I'm so used to having a big belly now. At least I can say that I used to have a six pack. Now I have a keg.

Separated at Birth

2006-03-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

Dean and David were conjoined twins. A pack of hungry rabid bunnies chewed at where the two boys were connected... their faces. Now look at the hideous scars. Oh the horror!

Not Cheesy, Very Nice

2006-03-03T14:40:00.000-08:00

So I walking through PETCO thinking how everyone in the building must be in some small part be a good person because we are here for one thing: animals.

To get to the food that my cat Luke likes I have to pass the homeless cats which always breaks my heart. This time I noticed that one of the volunteers tending to the cats was Bree Sharp http://www.breesharp.com/ who I had photographed way back in the day. We chatted for a moment. She was very nice.

Blast From the Past

2006-02-27T12:18:00.000-08:00

A friend from the past just e-mailed me on myspace.com I haven't spoken with Linda in maybe ten years. Her band http://www.theorionexperience.com/ has two songs on MTV's Laguna Beach.

Happy Birthday to Me

2006-02-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

From my close personal friend Emmy Rossum.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002536/

40 Things About Me

2006-02-15T15:09:00.000-08:00

1 My first real concert was The Rolling Stones in 1982.
2 I can’t straighten my arms.
3 My first concert sans parents was Circle Jerks & Black Flag.
4 My earliest memory is watching a moon landing with my maternal grandfather while in Ocean City, NJ for the summer.
5 I’m the dictionary definition of workaholic. (Guess where I’m typing this.)
6 I remember the first time I saw Star Wars in a theater in Ocean City, NJ with my dad, his cousin in law, my uncle and my grandfather.
7 I remember which lines of the film I had to ask my dad to repeat.
8 I’m hard of hearing
9 I have a hearing aid, which I never wear.
10 I used to wear glasses but then I got Lasik.
11 Five generations of my family has gone to Ocean City, NJ for summer vacations every year for over 90 years now.
12 I used to collect comics.
13 To this day I walk down hallways with my fists out at my sides as if I have claws like Wolverine from The X-Men.
14 The two earliest films I remember seeing in theaters were Freaky Friday with Jodi Foster and one of the Planet of the Apes films at a drive-in.
15 I’ve never been someone’s boyfriend.
16 I supposedly came in second in voting for prom king at my senior prom.
17 I’ve been to France, Spain, Canada, British and US Virgin Islands, Switzerland and Italy.
18 I was born with a hernia
19 I came in first in my 4th grade bookmark-making contest.
20 The first album I bought was Hey Jude by The Beatles.
21 I remember when I was young being at a film, going to the restroom and walking back into the wrong movie. It was Alien. The scene where the alien’s blood burns a hole through several levels of the ship. I have no memory of what the film I was there to see was.
22 I’ve wrestled people but I’ve never been in a fistfight.
23 I hate getting drunk.
24 I used to be depressed all the time.
25 Now I’m fine.
26 In college I read aloud to a friend and she commented on how I kept tripping over the words. I guess that comment bruised my ego because I’ve never been without a book since.
27 Whenever I type the word “met” I picture a player from the New York Mets at bat.
28 I also picture the right wing on the left side of my mind and the left wing on the right side of my mind.
29 I called out sick five minutes before I realized that a plane had hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
30 I’ve been complimented on my voice, my lips and how thick my hair is.
31 I’ve had work crushes but never a work relationship.
32 My first real kiss was with my friend Millie at a party. I was a freshman in college. I don’t count the kiss on the check that my senior prom date hastily gave me at the end of the night.
33 I can quote from MTV’s The State a lot.
34 I’ve been an extra in two films. Once as a homeless person and once as an audience member at a female boxing event. I believe both went straight to video.
35 I used to have a pierced ear but the earring fell out at a Fishbone concert and I never bother to replace it.
36 I’m in a Journey video. Very briefly and from far away.
37 I used to dream often of being shot, the band Fishbone, flying, not being able to throw punches.
38 Now I most often dream of Amy Rogers. I’ve dreamt of her dozens of times. She is a co-worker who is just the cutest thing ever.
39 The first album I ever listened to on a walkman was Sucking in the Seventies by the Rolling Stones.
40 I once shook Robert Frank's hand.

Mystery Girl Seems To Have Made It To 2nd Round In Hollywood

2006-02-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

WHERE THE HELL IS JILL CARROLL?!?!

2006-02-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

Maybe if she was kidnapped in Aruba the news would be talking about her.

Model Mom and Urchin Boy

2006-02-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

Every time someone happens to see photos of my mom they tell me how beautiful she is. I get a kick out of that. She's way too modest to admit it though.

Ladies and Gentlemen Meet Your Newest American Idol

2006-02-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

The Posting Everyone Will Be Talking About

2006-02-08T05:52:00.000-08:00

Why is it when a celebrity does anything other than smile and wave the news has to scream "The video/film/comment/photograph that everyone will be talking about." Why do I never hear anyone talking about this things that everyone is supposed to be talking about? Yesterday and today I must have seen headlines about actresses Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson being nude on the cover of Vanity Fair about twenty times on the internet and in the papers on the subway. Sure it's nice to see these lovely women posing nude but honestly.... WHO CARES?! Who cares if Simon Cowell is cranky on America Idol? Who care where Britney Spears seats her baby? That's the poll today on www.cnn.com Ugh! The news is just horrible.....

A Million Little Idiots?

2006-01-29T12:15:00.000-08:00

I really don't understand the big deal about this so-called controversy regarding James Frey's A Million Little Pieces. I find Oprah to be incredibly petty. From what I'm to understand he embellished a few pages of the book.... Yeah, and? What is the big deal? SO WHAT? There are people dying in Iraq based on the lies of the Bush administration. Why isn't Oprah offended by that? Oprah is a smart woman. So why is she being so dumb and petty regarding this subject? I heard people are planning lawsuits against Frey and his publisher. Get a life people!

The New World

2006-01-28T08:53:00.000-08:00

I saw Terrence Malick's The New World last night. I thought it was typical Malick which is a great thing. Beautiful, haunting, peaceful, etc. Q'Orianka Kilcher is a real find. A natural beauty. I'll admit the film can seem slow compared to a Michael Bay film.

When I left the theater I overheard an unfortunate exchange:

Man: "I never saw a Terrence Malick film before."
Woman: "And I never will again. That was horrible!"
I guess poetry isn't for everyone.

Japan's got Giant Jellyfish

2006-01-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Holy Crap!

Iraq

2006-01-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

Today marks 2,222 US soldiers dead in Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed as well.

Journalist Jill Carroll, age 28, will probably be killed on Friday if her kidnappers demands are not meet.

Nice going George. You fucking asshole!

Maybe I Should Move Down Under

2006-01-17T15:24:00.000-08:00

At work I sometimes have to talk on the phone with clients from other countries. I just now got a call from a woman in Australia. She had a lovely accent but I didn't catch her name because I was trying to get back to my call on the other line. So I wrote to our sub-agent in Sydney, Australia to connect him with the client who called. I cc'ed her on the e-mail. I wrote:

"Dale - This lovely accented woman (sorry! Didn't catch your name) from Australia called to get a lightbox of Heath Ledger art for their next cover. Can you contact her? She is cc'ed on this e-mail."

A moment later she wrote a reply:

"Thank you so much for your help with this. It's funny you should mention my accent, I got off the phone to you and said exactly the same thing to my fellow colleagues!!"

I immediately blushed. Who would have thought that a Philly accent would ever get a compliment?

Baby, You Can Drive My Car

2006-01-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

This is Honda Girl. She is soooo cute.
This guy is sooooo lucky. I wish I could drive through the forest with her and listen to New Order on the radio while we go to visit her niece. I bet she has a niece who calls her Cool Auntie Honda Girl or whatever her name might be.

http://automobiles.honda.com/models/model_overview.asp?ModelName=Civic+Hybrid&Function=tvspots_0

Questions!

2005-12-29T16:03:00.000-08:00

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I think I was working at either Barnes & Noble or Tower Books.

What were you doing a year ago?
Exactly what I'm doing now.... work late because I have no life.

5 snacks you enjoy?
Honey Nut Cheerios
any kind of chocolate
chips and cheese

5 songs you know all the lyrics to:
Almost ever Beatles song

5 things you would do if you were a millionaire:
Buy all media outlets and constantly tell the world what a scumbag Bush is.
Get cable.
Buy a hoagie.
Buy houses for all my friends.
Buy a lottery ticket.

5 bad habits:
Work to hard.
Play the martyr too much.
Watch too much tv.
Not flossing.
Not having a decent hobby.

5 things I like doing:
Holding my cat Luke
Reading
Talking with my family
Seeing movies

Best of (What I Happened To Have Seen In) 2005

2005-12-28T11:44:00.000-08:00

I didn't see much this year. Most of these I ended up seeing on DVD.

Match Point - A wonderfully paced story with an unhollywood ending. One of the best of the year.

Inside Deep Throat - Great look back at how people viewed that film when it first came out.

Murderball - Great film about a subculture you never knew about.

Cinderella Man - You know how it's gonna end but you get swept up in it. A good film despite having Renee Zellweger in it.

Thumbsucker - Nice.

Batman Begins - A great telling of the origin of the Batman.

Sin City - Not your parents comic book movie.

The Amityville Horror - Actually scary at times. The principle cast is pretty good. And there's also Rachel Nichols. 'nuff said.

Layer Cake - Fun, twisty UK crime film that Guy Ritchie wishes he could make.

High Tension - Despite what my cinophile friends say I like this film. I agree the ending was inconsistent but I thought it had nice camera work. I will say that the subtitles and dubbing made no sense. The translation was fine but there was no logic as to what to dub and what to subtitle.

Happy Endings - Nice performances all around.

The Devil's Rejects - Yep, Rob Zombie directed a great film. A homage to '70's horror.

2046 - Great Wong Kar Wai film with the great Tony Leung and the always lovely Ziyi Zhang.

The 40 Year Old Virgin - Gross out humor but with a heart of gold.

The Baxter - Worth seeing only for three reasons. Elizabeth Banks is adorable. To support any and all projects by members of The State. Lastly for Michelle Williams' lovely portrayal of a wallflower.

The Exorcism Of Emily Rose - Although I had a lot of trouble with the reason why Emily is possessed I thought it was a good film.

A History Of Violence - Just a great, bare bones film. Could have been a play almost. Nothing fancy, just character and plot.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Good film. Third best in the saga.

Capote - Phillip Seymour Hoffman does a great impersonation despite being 6 inches tall than the real Capote.

Into The Blue - Ignore the montages of beautiful bodies in the first twenty mintutes and you will actually enjoy this thriller. There is actually a plot. The one thing that annoyed me was how idealistic Jessica Alba's character was.

Good Night, And Good Luck - Great film. The only thing not comteporary about it is that everyone smokes indoors. Scary.

Jarhead - A misunderstood film. Everyone complained that it's a war movie with no war. Well that's kinda the whole point.

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire - Just nice to see familiar faces. Some of the earlier scenes looked better than the rest of the film.

Walk the Line - I learned some stuff about Johnny and June that I never knew before. Not the greatest but enjoyable.

Brokeback Mountain - A great film about heartache and not being able to be with the one you love.

Syriana - A gripping movie that doesn't really go anywhere but I liked it.

Munich - Man, oh man. Spielberg gets nasty with this film. Very bloody. Another great performance by Eric Bana. When he hears for the first time his daughter say "Da Da" over the phone is an amazing scene. Israel actress Ayelet Zorer is great as Mrs. Eric Bana. Also good is Marie-JosÃe Croze.

King Kong - Naomi has never looked lovelier. Kong's "performance" is amazing to watch.

War of the Worlds - My main complaint with the story of WOTW is that it ultimately goes nowhere. Tom and his kids played by Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin are all good.

Yeah I know I missed a lot and there are a lot I saw that I don't think merit commenting on.

Growing up sucks!

2005-12-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

I remember waking up before dawn to look at all the presents under the tree on Christmas morning. I remember eagerly awaiting a visit from Santa. Thinking about it now as an adult I wish I could talk to my younger self and say "don't be so greedy."
Christmas now is so different. Adult responsibilities abound. Scheduling time off from work, getting the right gifts, traveling back and forth can just be so tiring. I guess the excitement of getting gifts when you are young evolves into the excitement of giving gifts to the youngest of your family. Witnessing their excitement makes it all worthwhile.

Worst Performance, Ever!

2005-12-12T07:07:00.000-08:00

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Havoc. This is one white boy that should never play a wanna be gangster. Simply horrible.

Which Are You?

2005-12-09T10:52:00.000-08:00

When I'm around my friend Rob I feel like he's Jerry and I'm George or Kramer. He'll get this look on his face of quiet amusement and that he thinks I'm crazy. But when I used to hang out with this guy I knew named Tim I think I was Jerry and he was George or Kramer. He would get things stuck in his head and just wouldn't let it drop. We could have an hour long discussion on if a waitress was rude to him or not. When I watch Seinfeld George and Kramer's pig headedness is soooo Tim.

My New Bathroom

2005-12-08T15:04:00.000-08:00

I just finished re-doing my bathroom. New everything. I think I'll put this photo of Cris above the toilet. Wonder where she is today.....

I Miss John Lennon (still)

2005-12-08T07:26:00.000-08:00

Topher Grace: Gay or Geek?

2005-12-08T07:19:00.000-08:00

For years Topher was the luckiest man on television. He was paid (Paid!) to make out with Laura Prepon. That was his 9 to 5 job. So what does he do then? He quits to be in a Spider-Man movie. What a moron! He either is about to come out of the closet or is a hardcore geek. I'm undecided as to which is the truth.

Self-Reflexive Fashion Shows Can Be So Stupid

2005-12-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

I was watching the vapid Victoria's Secret fashion show last night and I was thinking a few things:

Ain't nothing finer than thigh high stockings.

What the hell is Naomi Campbell still doing this runway stuff for? Haven't most models of her era launched themselves into other arenas? Guess she has nothing more to offer. Plus wasn't it odd that she wasn't hightlighted like the other name models?

Why, why, why do we have to see all the backstage crap? Why can't we just see the show, or just see the movie or the
award show? Why does everything have to be self-reflexive
and post modern? Why is the making of something now half
the show? Is it because the show itself isn't enough to entertain? Making the spectacle, talking about the spectacle, mistakes during the spectacle and the spectacle itself are all equal parts of the spectacle.

The editing was driving me crazy. I understand that the less you see of something the more tempting and alluring it can be. However these women have nothing to hide. It's not like they can't withstand the extended gaze. It's not like if you look at them longer than two seconds you'll think "oh my, what a hag!"

Do I really need to here the queeny stage manager's comments while I'm watching the models running around?
Note to producers of the show: kick out all the hangers-on and the riff raff backstage and maybe it won't be so chaotic.

3263827

2005-12-07T06:36:00.000-08:00

Who's Your Daddy?!

Comics Are For Geeks

2005-12-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

This is one of the first comics I ever got. 1975. Wow, so long ago. I was six years old. This issue is worth several hundred dollars in mint condition. My copy only has half a cover. Oh well.

That's Wolverine with the claws in the bottom right corner. To this day without thinking I make fists and pretend to scrap my claws along the walls when I walk down narrow hallways at work like Wolverine would do. Although Wolverine would never work anywhere 9 to 5.
I wish I could be a cleaner. Clean the world of disease, waste, pollution, illegitimate presidents, everything. Then all the babes would love me.

Are you a Mad One?

2005-12-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

My home girl Stephanie just reminded me of one of my favorite sentence fragments. "Breathe dead hippo" from Heart of Darkness.

-"Certainly they had brought with them some rotten hippo-meat which couldn't have lasted very long anyway, even if the pilgrims hadn't, in the midst of a shocking hullabaloo, thrown a considerable quantity of it overboard. It looked like a high- handed proceeding, but it was really a case of legitimate self-defense. You can't breathe dead hippo waking, sleeping, and eating and at the same time keep your precarious grip on existence."

I named a mix tape "Breathe Dead Hippo" back in the day.

I also love the sound of the words Crumpled Paper Cup. All the "c's" and "p's" sounds. Soft White Light Bulbs. Same thing. All the "t's" and the bookends of the "s's".

I was at a party in college once and some guy next to me was tripping and he said "Dude! My shoelaces are speaking German to my shoes!" I just laughed at that.

My mom introduced me to this passage from On The Road:
"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!' "

She used this when speaking at her college roommate's 50th birthday.

The Cure For Depression

2005-12-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Medication and a good pet. In my case a dopey nine year old cat named Luke. He's a plopper. He will plop himself anywhere and mostly that means on me. It's nice to feel needed by him.

Caryn's Nape

2005-12-05T14:58:00.000-08:00

I just like this photo. I took it a few years ago. Back in the day when I took photos. I don't take photos anymore.

My camera got stolen when I lived in Pelham Bay in the Bronx. I got the camera for my high school graduation present. I wish I could find the person(s) who stole it and punch them in the stomach.

I remember some of the first photos I took with that camera. I first got it in 10th grade. Around Christmas time. I photographed my friend Rob on a snowy hill and I came home with frozen hands that needed to be warmed in water in the kitchen sink.

Anyway this is a photo of my former coworker Caryn. I wish I could photograph most of my former and present coworkers. She was great to photograph. Very open and always pleasant.

I don't see the world in photos anymore like I used to. There is a building near my house that I would love to photograph at dusk when the sky is purple and the building is all orange from the setting sun behind me.

I work too much

2005-12-05T14:49:00.000-08:00

Well this is my first blog posting ever.