SYTYCD

I'm sufficiently recovered from the aesthetic shellshock I suffered from Malick's "The Tree of Life" to be able to comment on last night's "So You Think You Can Dance?" -- which should be a tough elimination, since there were a lot of great performances:

Miranda and Robert

I liked this one, thought Miranda did a great job, and Robert actually blended well in the role, even though he was in an unfamiliar element.

Melanie and Marko

I wasn't fond of Melanie's costume this go'round, and "lyrical hip-hop" feels like an oxymoron, but she and Marko did their usual awesome best. They are both such great dancers and performers, they own everything they do, so I hope they have enough of a fan base to advance.

While my MMMs did their typical beastly best, performing very well, but I was surprised at how strong some of the other pairs were -- my sense is that they were really trying to bring it to compete with the MMMs.

Caitlynn and Mitchell

Mitchell is one of the strongest of the male dancers, so he's kind of overshadowed Caitlynn, in my estimation, but she owned that samba, banged out a great dance, with Mitchell doing his usual great work.

Clarice and Jess

Clarice is one of the prettiest of the dancers, if not one of the best, but this piece served her incredibly well (as did the fantastic costuming), and Jess owned this number. I think he outperformed all of the guys in this one -- he didn't outdance all the guys, but he definitely outperformed them, just ate up the stage.

Even Ryan and Ricky had a good routine. I don't think Ryan is one of the strongest dancers in the group, but she had a good routine, and is likely to not get axed.

I think this episode was all about the performances -- my sense is that the dancers who got the good fortune to get good dances/choreography will have the best chance of advancing.

The ones I didn't list are likely the ones in danger, because I didn't think their performances were quite at the level of the above ones, and, so, are likely threatened when it comes to voting. We'll see how it goes. I actually voted online a few times, since it's free, and I wanted some of my favorites to get a few votes.

Treed

I saw Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" after work today. As ever, Malick's style of moviemaking lends itself to parody, while at the same time being full of memorable, evocative images. His montage-with-voiceover and assorted juxtapositions of images show a love of the power of film to move an audience with arresting images, his narrative is, as ever, elusive. There is a story at the heart of the movie, but Malick indulges his jones for memorable angles and images and his non-linear style of filmcraft makes it an elliptical exercise. Only a director/producer/writer of his stature can get away with being able to make a movie the way he does. Malick is a kind of visual poet--he weaves poetry in his imagery, but like poets that I know (and I've known my share), he is also pretentious, and that comes through, despite the enormity and epic nature of the film. There is a strong strand of humanity in the work that binds it like glue, the sense of frailty and limitation of human mortality and the tininess of our lives in the grand and cosmic scheme of things (and, to his credit, Malick actually manages both minute focus and literally interstellar gaze with similar ease). But I felt like a lot of the epic posturing in it would have been done away with and that the movie was strongest when it was focused on the O'Brien family. Faced with so much grandiosity, the brain longs for some temporal touchstones, and the family at the center of it, the authoritarian failure of a man played by Brad Pitt, his long-suffering but ultimately emotionally accessible wife, and their three boys, one of whom dies (I am presuming in Vietnam, judging from the time period of the movie, and that the boy was 19 when he died -- although the manner of the delivery of this message doesn't fit with a military death, the timing would certainly be right). The loss of the brother is keenly felt, without being mawkish or sentimental -- despite the Baby Boomer touchpoints of this 50s family in the South, there is authentic emotion run through the piece, and the sweet sensitivity of the lost son, who is an artist/musician (or a nascent one -- he's mostly a ghost in the memory of Sean Penn's character, grown-up Jack), there is just pain riven throughout his presence that, as a father, couldn't help but move me. Without seeing his fate (except to know that he died), you feel very strongly the sense of loss through his big brother's eyes, and in the eyes of the parents (even though Pitt's character is a conflicted shit, with retrograde notions of patriarchal propriety coupled with genuine love for his sons). Leaving the movie, having been dunked in Malick's directorial vision once again, absolutely everything around me resonated visually, from ripples in the lake water catching a pinkish glow from a setting sun, to the skyscrapers, to the beachgoers, and the traffic. Everything. Malick's power as a filmmaker (if not as a storyteller) is that great that it hits you that way.

I'm glad I saw it on the big screen, although it's hard to say if I liked it, exactly. It's a movie, and it moved me, for sure, but whether that movement was wrought by the content of the film or Malick's adroit use of imagery, I can't exactly say. I certainly won't forget it, even as I feel like Malick can all too easily be parodied as a moviemaker, his signature style is ripe for parody. Unlike, say, "The Thin Red Line," which is, itself, not necessarily an easy movie to watch, I think "The Tree of Life" is a movie that I enjoyed, but don't necessarily feel the need to see again. My chest is tight at the thought of doing so, and that makes me wonder if Malick succeeded in his endeavor, to prompt such an emotional response in me, that spirit of the sublime. Malick definitely knows how to make movies that are works of art, and this one qualifies in that regard, even though the journey it takes you on is a harrowing one, leaving you emotionally spent -- it's a journey that is not for the faint of heart, nor the heartless.

Pride

I was pleased that, despite the hate crime shitbirds who slashed the tires on 51 of the Pride Parade floats, the organizers managed to get all the floats going, and there was a record turnout of over 750,000 this year. I hope they're able to find who did it. This is the first time I've ever heard of something like that happening, at least on that kind of scale.

I get kind of irked by the human beatbox on Electric Company. What is this, 1985? C'mon. It bugs me to see a kid doing beatboxing. Maybe it's a case of everything old being new again or something? I dunno.

Moment of pathos tonight, as B1 asked me what a "phony" was. He had seen it said on a show, asked me what it was. There was something sweet in my 9-year-old not knowing what that was. I explained it to him. B1 is the furthest thing from a phony; he's true blue. Very sweet.

CK 1

I got the DVD for the first season of Louis CK's show, "Louie." It's so darkly funny, it slays me. I watched about half the first season before FX was pulled from my cable for whatever reason, so I missed the second half of it, but watching the episodes I had seen before again had me laughing again...



Bahah! Not every episode was funny front to back, but the stuff that was funny really made me laugh.

Sunny Day

Had the boys most of today. Took them out with their scooters, then, later, out for some kickball/soccer. Lovely summer day, sunny-but-mild. Very pleasant.

Exene's sister is in town, had the pleasure of chauffeuring Exene to Wisconsin for a triathlon -- that is a duty I don't miss one bit, lemme tellya. She's going to be in town for several days, which'll be nice -- she'll be watching the boys for those days, which they'll love. They really dig her, and she's nice, seems to enjoy her time with her nephews, so it's good all around.

This was also the weekend of Summerfest and the Pride Parade (and by the look of it, a home game with the Cubs), so the city was super-packed (more so with the good weather bringing the suburbanites in like plagues of locusts). Anyway, the Pride Parade is fun, but it's not worth trekking up there with the boys at this point. Back in the 90s, when Exene and I lived right along the route and could simply step out of our building and sit curbside to watch the spectacle and catch all the throws, that was one thing -- but these days, it's more of a haul. Maybe next year. It's fun. And this year would've been especially raucous, what with the whole New York gay marriage thing going down. I'm sure the homophobes and Christianists are going to be going apeshit over this latest fracas, but what don't they go apeshit about?

Anyway, I've got a busy week ahead of me, and am thinking about catching "The Tree of Life" this week. I also may work in a trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art, which I haven't been to in a number of years. That should be fun/amusing (depends on what exhibits they have). I also need to get busy this week with finding homes for some of my books. I've been sidetracked from that for a month or so, dealing with other stuff, but I'm getting my feet under me again, schedule-wise, and will get busy with that.

Off to run a few errands, restock and resupply with groceries and what-not. Oh, and I was a super-trooper and did my laundry this morning (and folded all of it but the socks, which I've put off for the moment, as it involves me sorting through three different sizes: me, B1, and B2; mine are easy enough to tell, but the boys are kind of a jumble, sockwise, so I have to methodically go through all of that).

B2 dug this shirt, said "Daddy, cool shirt. I like it!"

SYT

Some of my favorite performances from last week:

Melanie and Marko

Miranda and Robert

This Broadway-style one made cool use of a minimalist prop, which I think worked for it better than most of the Broadway ones they do...

Ashley and Chris

MIP

I saw "Midnight In Paris" again last night, figuring I'd catch it on the big screen a last time before it moved to DVD-land. I was pleased to see as many people (or more) there as when I first saw it. It was as entertaining as the first time. A good movie. It was fun to study the movie more this time around. I think Woody Allen is an ass man -- there are a number of ass shots of the various actresses in the movie, where the camera just kinda hangs there, ogling their asses. Enough to make me think "I think he's an ass man." But the movie holds up as well or better on a repeat viewing, I was pleased to see.

Next up on my movie docket is catching Malick's "Tree of Life."

What else? I'm gonna take advantage of the good weather to do some biking, and will stop by a store or two for some supplies for stuff I'm working on. I also want to make a jaunt down to a bookstore, something I haven't done in awhile, but I feel the need to do so, to recharge my brain a bit.

I'm in a pretty good mood, honestly. Just peaceful.

Foul!

I don't agree with the first round of eliminations on SYTYCD (they did a double round of eliminations tonight). Ryan was kept on, and they axed Melissa and Iveta. Okay, Melissa wasn't at the level of the others, so her getting axed made some sense. But Ryan should've gone with her. They shouldn't have ditched Iveta already. That kinda stunk. I was glad to see Melanie and Miranda continue, but figured they were safe, anyway. I agreed with their choices with the guys.

So You Think...

This week's SYTYCD was really good; they have a lot of really good dancers, just all-around solid people. Even the hip-hoppers are really adaptable and top-notch.

One of my favorite couples at the moment is Melanie and Marko...



That's from last week's episode. Melanie is pretty stocky, but has incredible dancing skill, great moves (she outdid herself on tonight's episode, but the above is representative).

I also like Miranda, hope she advances. We'll see.

One amusingly subversive thing they have in SYTYCD are all of the pairings where white girls dance with black boys and/or vice versa. I'm sure there are some retrograde nooks of the country where that can still rankle. You'd think we'd be beyond that in the 21st century, but noooo....

Anyway, good episode tonight. Great dancers, good performances. Even the Broadway one was interesting (typically, I loathe the Broadway ones, just because they're so stagey, but this one was artfully done).

Coolness

The righteous storms that blew through here last night mercifully lowered the temps a bit, making it less sweltering. I was glad to be able to bike to and from work without getting caught in the stormage. Plus, since it was cool and wannabe stormy, the shore wasn't packed. Saw a Latina with a perfect Gucci logo tattooed on her shoulder, with "Gucci" over it, just for added clarity.

Something else I was going to write, but I'm having blognesia at the moment. I'm thinking of catching "Midnight in Paris" again; it's rare for me to catch a movie twice on the big-screen, but I kinda feel the need to with this one, since it was such a good effort. Beats catching "Green Lantern." Baha!

Saw a thing today that talked about how, increasingly, the notion of multiverses is increasingly gaining currency among physicists. Cool stuff. Infinite possibilities in every moment, all of that stuff.

"Still Life."

Coolio

Ahh, the super installed my air conditioning, at last. Since it's a frickin' hot day, the timing couldn't be better (and since my sweat line is 74 degrees and up, it's not hard to cool off). Good bike ride home -- surprisingly, it wasn't too packed at the lake shore and the beach, but maybe because it's only Tuesday? Whatever the case, it was a breezy ride home.

Of course, as I cruised the fleshfest that is Bikini Boulevard, I couldn't help but notice that not having a tattoo puts one in a distinct minority, increasingly. I mean, this morning, on the elevator in, these two otherwise very Midwestern gals were amicably talking, and as they left the elevator, I saw that one had a star tattoo right at the nape of her neck, only visible because she had her hair up in a ponytail. Of course, a very safe spot, since she just has to let her hair down and it's covered, but all the same, kind of a surprise with somebody in professional attire, but then again, far more common than is once was. What might've been shocking in 1955 is commonplace in 2011.

Speaking of shocking and commonplace, I have seen a footwear trend that is ghastly and dismal (and I've seen reports of it in the South and on the East Coast, too). Bootie Sandals? Sandal Booties? I have taken to calling them "Floopsandals" because they look ridiculous, like somebody's wearing plucked Fraggles on their feet. These are somewhat representative, although I've seen far worse examples streetside...

Notice how the model has her feet up? It's because when a gal stands up with them, the Floopenfabrik bunches up at her ankles, created the Fraggle-like Floopeneffekt.

A still photograph is not enough to convey the sheer lameness of these sandals. I call'em Floopsandals because when one walks in these, it creates a kind of "flooping" motion, as the gratuitous fabric kinda flutters around. What might've worked with an 80s woman's bootie looks ridiculous with these sandals. This is the most dire fashion trend since UGG Boots. Seriously, you won't be able to miss the Floopsandals when they turn up in your neck of the woods, just because the monumental lameness of them just catches you offguard. These are so lame they make the gladiator sandals of the year or so before seem respectable and restrained by comparison. Beware the Floopsandal!

Keeping My Cool

I was irked, as my a/c still hadn't been installed; it's been almost two weeks. I gave the building management some time, figuring "They must be really busy" last week, and with the temperature drops, I would "weather" (ar ar) the absence of the a/c, but it's warming up again, and so I went downstairs to find out what the deal was, whether they'd lost my form, misplaced my check, or what. Anyway, I was fortunate that somebody was down there, although the guy was "busy" with two comely chickies, one of whom talked almost nonstop. He was a skinny, balding, pale geeky kinda guy, so I thought "Shit, this is going to be  awhile." So, I waited for a few minutes, hoping for the chatty gal to pause in her talking to take a breath, or at least for the guy to interrupt her to ask me what I needed. I wasn't going to be rude, I just waited until it was clear that, whatever these gals wanted or were doing (and I'm sure it was somehow apartment-related, from what they were jabbering about), it had basically been attended to. I piped up, asked the guy what the deal was with my a/c, and he looked it up. Both gals were good-looking in that bland, midwestern way. Well, one was; the other wasn't so great facewise, but had a really nice body. The talkie one had torn an ACL while skiing, and was talking about all she had to go through with that, and what she'd have to go through once she got the cast/splint removed (casts are looking so high-tech these days, it's hard to tell a cast from a splint, but this thing was like for her whole leg). I thought "Yeah, you'll have to be shaving that leg, too, when you get that thing off." *shudder* Anyway, the other gal looked kind of like a particular 70s actor, whose name eludes me at the moment. Tom Atkins. Yeah. That's who she looked like (truly), with bleached blonde hair. But her body was magnificent. The guy finally dredged up the forms, and it turned out that they has screwed up -- they had processed my form, cashed the check, and somebody had cleared the form like the job had already been done. The guy apologized, and I didn't lose my cool, although I was miffed. I left the guy with the chicks and went on my way. They're supposed to install it today. If they don't this time, I'll be pissed.

Of course, me being me, I wondered which if the two gals I would have gone after, as a kind of philosophical man-problem -- the chatterer was genuinely good-looking (looked like a blend of Virginia Madsen and Nicole Kidman), and seemed intelligent, outgoing, and personable. But she truly never stopped talking; like, the entire time I was there, she was talking; I honestly don't know how she breathed. That's like the near-equivalent of someone with an annoying laugh -- it's one of those things where you think "Could I put up with that for long?" The gal with the killer body was, of necessity, quieter (she did get a few words in edgewise, in the monologue tsunami going on), so her personality wasn't nearly as apparent as the more talkative one. But then, the quiet one likely didn't have to talk much -- her assets were immediately apparent. The proper Dave-answer, of course, is "Both."

(Don't worry, Joel Grey didn't harm Captain Janeway; he just employed a technique to induce an orgasm in a woman by way of nerves in her wrist)

Snicker

Amusing exchange between these two 20-something artgals on the bus (one of whom looked kinda like Kevin Bacon's baby sister, if he even has one; the other one looked kinda like Jason Segel, if he was a girl):

Bacon: We should go.
Segel: I don't do cosplay.
Bacon: I could go as Zelda.
Segel: Then I'd be Link. That would rock!
Bacon: Thought you didn't do cosplay.
Segel: I'd go if you went. It'd be a performance piece.
Bacon: Huh.
Segel: You know who I had a huge crush on, like when I was younger?
Bacon: Who?
Segel: Sean Connery.
Bacon: Yeah?
Segel: I mean, like before he was all leather handbag-faced. Way too much tanning. But everybody would make fun of me for my crush on Sean Connery.
Bacon: Huh. I liked Jimmy Stewart.
Segel: Yeah, Jimmy Stewart was like nice, but he could also be a badass.
Bacon: One time, I had a sore throat, and I sounded like Jimmy Stewart.
Segel: Wow. You know who else I like?
Bacon: Who?
Segel: Bill Bixby. But, like, nobody knows who he is, past a certain age. He was in 'The Incredible Hulk.'
Bacon: (grunts)
Segel: But I like him from "The Courtship of Eddie's Father." Like from that era.
Bacon: Wow.

That's all I heard, as I was getting off the bus. But I was amused. I hadn't thought about Bill Bixby since my childhood in the 70s, and these gals were at least 20 years from being born. Let alone them thinking about Jimmy Stewart and Sean Connery. It was amusing.