the pod bay door

In New York today the sun warmed up considerably, and it was great walking weather. Here at 5:45 pm, the sun is down, but it is still warm. A nice change from very cool weather earlier in the week. Today was a great day, and it’s not over, but the theme so far has been Edmonton Friends. I had a 90-minute visit with Sekeena in the morning, and in the afternoon, descended upon Macy’s to find Jessica, and have a coffee with her as well. Both visits were great, life-affirming (ok, that’s corny, but true) and I left both visits energized. Both are doing well: Sekeena is in law school at nights, working towards her degree which she hopes to finish by 2005. Jessica’s new album is being delivered as we speak, 1000 pressings of her 5th effort, of which she is justifiably proud (I know, I’ve heard some of the cuts already). Seeing these two amazing women today was great, and it’s not over. In a few minutes, I meet with my friend Lisa (whom I met at the Steely Dan parties in March 2001). We are going for a bite, and are off to see Janeane Garofolo perform stand-up. Later.

I saw two movies today. The Grey Zone is one of the most powerful holocaust movies ever, and one of the best pictures of the year. It is written and directed by Tim Blake Nelson, who played one of the brothers in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and also directed O. The film examines the Sonderkommando, the group of Jews in concentration camps that ushered other Jews to the gas chambers, and then burned their bodies. The Sonderkommando were granted privileges such as food, wine, liquor, cigarettes in exchange for unspeakable acts, and were spared their own deaths, but for a period of four months only. On Oct 7, 1944, a group of them staged an historic revolt at Auschwitz.

The film features a number of memorable performances by Mira Sorvino, Daniel Benzali, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Allan Corduner as the Jewish surgeon who reported to Josef Mengele, David Chandler as one of the kommandos, and surprisingly, David Arquette, whose performance as a Hungarian Jew will make you forget his previous personas (of mostly assholes). The most horrifying aspect of the movie is its bleak and basic portrayal of the kommandos actions, which for them was business as usual. the movie is mind-numbing. I left wondering, again, how anyone could ever do this to another human being, and how the Sonderkommandos’ own psyches could survive until their own deaths.

I also saw Femme Fatale, the new film written and directed by Brian de Palma. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos plays a jewel thief who double-crosses her partners in a jewel heist of a diamond-studded – er – outfit. She escapes, and seven years later, returns to France as the wife of the US Ambassador. Along the way…well, it gets kinky, and messy, and confusing, and ultimately unsatisfying. Romijn-Stamos won me over as a Bad Girl, but it wasn’t enough for me to recommend the movie. Wait for the video/dvd/whatever.

Last night was another NYC ritual: visiting and having dinner with Leo and Diane Dillon in Brooklyn. I first met the Dillons at a regional sf convention I had helped organize, Context’89, in Edmonton that year. We’ve been friends ever since, and every time I visit NYC, I take the subway to Brooklyn and we meet, visit, and have dinner. Last night was no exception. They signed a number of copies of their books for me, in addition to a few posters and post cards. I love them both a lot, they are wonderful folks and brilliant illustrators. They showed me their current work in progress, another title by Margaret Wise Brown called “Where Have You Been.” Wise passed away in 1952, having written hundreds of of books and stories during her short life. The Dillons also illustrated her story, “Two Little Trains“.

Today is a runaround day, for lack of a better description. I hope to see The Grey Zone this afternoon, maybe get a half-price ticket to see 42nd Street, wander through a couple record stores, visit the Pop Shop. If there is an emerging theme to this trip, it’s laziness.

The one enduring image I have of New Yorkers this time around is that of cell phones: they are everywhere. Every third or fourth person is walking and talking on a cell phone. It’s like the plague. Speaking of which, for the first time in 100 years, the plague has hit NYC.

It’s Wed afternoon in NYC, cool, some drizzle. The movie Tully was better than I expected. Getting to watch Julianne Nicholson for two hours swayed my opinion, but seriously, it’s a fine little film. Tully is one of two sons of Tully Coates, Sr, a midwestern farmer who discovers that he owes $300,000 to the bank, but can’t determine why. Nicholson plays a friend of the family. Tully is played by Anson Mount. As the centre of the movie, he faces his family’s problems, and his own (as a womanizer without any responsibilities beyond the farm itself). The movie is gorgeous to watch, and the themes at times devestating. Of note is the performance by Bob Burrus as the father, who apparently hasn’t laughed or smiled since their mother’s death 15 years earlier. Recommended.
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Just left Joe’s Pub, where I saw Al Franken perform an hour of brilliant standup. Most of his bits were related to the US election, which is tomorrow. We applauded afterwards until he returned for an encore, for which he admitted he was not prepared. Backstage I heard him say to someone that maybe one time before in his career did he receive an encore ovation. It was deserved. I’m currently reading his book Oh, The Things I Know, and afterwards he autographed my copy, and allowed a picture to be taken of us both. He’s a stand up guy (no pun intended). Now I’m off to see Tully (the movie).

Returned from New Haven last night. Before I left I realized I’d lost my nice cotton sweatshirt, most likely left it at The Oakdale Theater, where we’d seen Yes the night before. *sigh* Once in NY I headed straight to Barbara and Anthony’s house to retrieve my suitcase. Anthony invited me to come with him to the guitar shop district on 48th Street, dominated by Sam Ash’s stores. I tried a few guitars while he exchanged foot pedal units.

I checked into the Leo House shortly afterwards, settled in, and went to see Secretary, the new James Spader/Maggie Gyllenhaal movie. Gyllenhaal, brother sister of Jake, plays a young woman recently released from what appears to be a psychiatric hospital, recovering from whatever mental problems she has (she likes to cut herself, among other things). She attended typing school, and applies for a job at Spader’s law office (he’s a solo practioner). From there the movie moves slowly into their mutual discovery of the pleasures of S&M. Spader, the King of Creepiness, never goes over the top into Very Strange Territory, and Gyllenhaal is a revelation to watch, as she slowly discovers a side of her she didn’t know existed. These two are made for each other. At times the movie is so quiet (scenes in which Spader literally whispers his commands) that you must strain to hear what is being said. This movie is not for everyone, and while I enjoyed it, it could have been about 20 minutes shorter.
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