Television cats.

Remember Garfield & Friends?














Top 2 Reasons I Was Interested in Watching Garfield & Friends as a Child

1. Cutting sarcasm and deadpan wit of Garfield's inner monologue.
2. The promise of "disguises, surprises, and pies of all sizes."

Top 2 Reasons I Changed the Channel from Garfield & Friends to Something Else as a Child

1. "...& Friends".
   
2. Nermal.

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In a somewhat unrelated matter, Heathcliff was awesome, too, but in a very different way.

No good.

Sometimes I like to do math in my free time.
Here is one of my favorite equations:

Jordan - Family Video = Happier Jordan

Do me a favor.
Boycott your local Family Video.

They are an awfully cheap, somewhat soul-sucking company.

Incidentally, job hunts are no fun.
But they are sometimes necessary.

Speaking of movies (kind of), allow me to recommend one of my
Favorite Movies Ever:

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

The greatest western of all time. Even if you don't like westerns.
Contains every feature of a great western that you could ask for:

• Ridiculously convoluted plot
• Great villains
• Great heroes
• Incredible soundtrack
• Awesome showdowns
• Sweet dialogue

ex.
Harmonica: The reward for this man is 5000 dollars, is that right?
Cheyenne: Judas was content for 4970 dollars less.
Harmonica: There were no dollars in them days.
Cheyenne: But sons of bitches... yeah.

Anyway.
Now, sleep.
Work in the morning.
Ugh. The week is long.
I can't wait until the weekend.

Tired and uninspired.

I got nothing.

I'm going to bed.

Two things.

I love this song:

Animal Collective- "Water Curses"

Also, I love these:













Quaker Oatmeal Squares.

Subtle, yet immensely satisfying flavor with a low sog factor.
Highly recommended.

Best Pokémon ever.

Just saying.

Car trouble.

I got my driver's license in early 2003, and until, oh, early 2007, I never had any car trouble. However, since then, it's come at me with unparalleled fury. My previous car, a 1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo:

worked without fail from the time I got it (October 2006) until January-February 2007. After this point, horrible, horrible things started happening. Lights were coming on, belts were breaking, things were heating, things were shutting off, the car was shutting off, sometimes it wouldn't start. Finally, last August, it starting emitting terrifying noises. My dad, who is a mechanic by nature, took a look under the hood with me for maybe the 2, 564th time. After pulling a bunch of things out, we found chunks of metal in places they didn't belong. Chunks of important metal that belonged in other places. The Monte Carlo's last hurrah happened late August, when I was driving it to my mom's house. It started SCREAMING at me, and the RPMs went way high, and it was smoking, and it was decelerating, and all the screaming.

Good Heavens, the screaming.

I pulled it off to the side of the road, and eventually it was towed away.

Then, last September, I bought a used 2000 Saturn LS2,



which immediately starting giving me some minor problems. Long story short, sometimes it shifts really hard for no reason (it's an automatic), and lately it's been shutting off randomly while I'm driving. Some lights come on, my power steering stops working, and I have to actually turn it off and start it up again.

"Please stop, man." This is what I say to my car. "Just please stop doing that." It ignores me. It does what it wants. I don't understand. I treat my vehicles (and always have) with respect and integrity. I get oil changes every 3000 miles. I make sure fluids are at the appropriate levels. I air the tires. I rotate them. All that business.

I think this Saturday I'm going to call CarTalk on NPR.

Movie.

Since this blog is most likely going to be fueled mainly by boredom/indecisiveness/other things, I might as well start right off with a bit of inspired restlessness.

So, why not post a recommendation of one of my favorite films of all time?

Good point.

Anyway, here goes.

I just recently watched, for maybe the fifth or sixth time, Ingmar Bergman's Viskningar och rop (Cries and Whispers) (1972). The first time I watched it, I was dazzled by the look of it, and was left for days to ponder its depth. The second time, already being a step ahead by having analyzed the crap out of it, I was able to be a little less tense, and was giddy by the time it was over. The third, fourth, fifth, (and maybe sixth) time I watched it, my feelings continued on in this fashion.


The story, involving two women who return to their childhood home to visit their dying sister, is so simple, yet Bergman uses these bare bones to plunge headlong into the depths of spirituality, family, and, most importantly, the soul (and there's more, I'm sure). Or, as Roger Ebert stated in his review of the film, "[It] is about dying, love, sexual passion, hatred and death - in that order." Despite the brilliantly lush (and red. This is a very red movie.) cinematography by (one of my very favorites) Sven Nykvist and its old-fashioned composition, there is a visual element to the film that is incredibly disturbing and even horrifying. The use of emotional, mental, and physical imagery is nearly assaulting at times.



Really, after howevermany watches, I still can't claim to grasp every shred of meaning packed into it, nor will I ever, most likely. Like the strong majority of Bergman's films, Cries and Whispers is so intensely personal, there's an aspect to it that is impossible to possess, impossible to analyze and pick apart. You will watch, and sit back, and think. The pieces will come together. It will mean something to you. There are no compromises at all. You must take it as it is. And it is wonderful.



Oh! I almost forgot. The performances add a lot to all this "great film" business, too. Particularly Harriet Andersson as the dying sister, Agnes, and Bergman regular Ingrid Thulin as sister Karin. Ingrid Thulin also happens to be one of my favorite actresses ever:


Here is a lovely picture of her and Bergman.

Begin tangent:

Watching Thulin perform, for whatever reason, has always had an incredibly hypnotizing effect on me. She embodies her characters with such personality and depth. She owns them, but still gives them each their own uniqueness, so it's never like you're always watching Ingrid Thulin. At any rate, any movie she's in is worth a watch, if only for her performance.

End tangent!



So! If you had enough gusto to make it through that mess, then reward yourself by watching Cries and Whispers, seriously.

You deserve it.

Netflix it!

First post is most important.

There is was a large bug on the front door of my house. He has been there since I woke up this morning. Just now, I went to take a picture of him, but the flash frightened him away.

Sorry dude.

Seven reasons tonight was a good night (in no particular order)

1. The weather
2. Ghost Hunters
3. 
4. I talked to more friends today than I have in a while.
5. The big front door bug.
6. The world wasn't black-hole devoured by the LHC...yet.
7. Love- Forever Changes

Here is a lovely video of a live performance of the best song on the album, called "Alone Again Or" (there's a second song on there, too, but it isn't very good):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tQspFesT3E

If nothing else, watch it for the greatest trumpet solo probably ever (2:01).

and dream of trumpets, I guess.

Good-night.