Sue and I went to see "The Host" today at Landmark Sunshine Theater on Houston Street in NYC today. A really enjoyable film, combination social satire, monster film, and family gathering. The basic idea is that a monster is created from some bad stuff poured down a drain in a morgue (authorized by an American doctor, adding to the politicial subtext of the film). The monster likes to swallow people, and then spit them up later in a bit of a holding pen in a sewer.
Most of the people swallowed die, but a few survive, and one of the survivors is a little girl, so her father and extended family try to save her.
The movie is from Korea, and from what I understand, it's the highest grossing movie in South Korea ever. Whether that includes films made outside of SK, I'm not sure.
There are some interesting parts to the movie, where I'm not sure if the comedy was supposed to be funny, or whether there are just some cultural differences to the approach to comedy or drama. However, it was a good movie, it surprised me in places, and worked on a number of levels.
Sue and I took the PATH trains from Journal Square to 9th Street in NYC, then walked to the theater. It was about a 35 minute walk in NYC, which wasn't bad, except for the slush/snow still on the ground.
NP: Magma - Kohntark (Part One)
17 March 2007
16 March 2007
Birthday!
Ah yes, today was my birtday, born in Neptune, NJ, at 6:51am, back in 1971. As my friend Brian points out, I'm now officially square, as 6x6=36.
Ah, math humor. I just realized we passed pi (March 14th) the other day, when it was mentioned on Stephen Colbert (that's why he was feeling so irrational).
Because of the crappy weather today, we actually had a half day of work. So, it was nice to get away from work early on my birthday. Yay for me.
Sue and I would have gone out to eat, but because of the aforementioned bad weather, we got a pizza from the place down the street. Personally, it hit the spot for me, so a good birthday was had by all. Sue got me a t-shirt that is "Stewart-Colbert '08," which I will wear with pride.
This weekend, dependent on the weather, we'll probably go into NYC to see "The Host," as I mentioned the other day on here.
That's about it... Happy birthday to me, and all that... :)
NP: Genesis - Firth of Fifth (28 Nov 1981)
Ah, math humor. I just realized we passed pi (March 14th) the other day, when it was mentioned on Stephen Colbert (that's why he was feeling so irrational).
Because of the crappy weather today, we actually had a half day of work. So, it was nice to get away from work early on my birthday. Yay for me.
Sue and I would have gone out to eat, but because of the aforementioned bad weather, we got a pizza from the place down the street. Personally, it hit the spot for me, so a good birthday was had by all. Sue got me a t-shirt that is "Stewart-Colbert '08," which I will wear with pride.
This weekend, dependent on the weather, we'll probably go into NYC to see "The Host," as I mentioned the other day on here.
That's about it... Happy birthday to me, and all that... :)
NP: Genesis - Firth of Fifth (28 Nov 1981)
The Host
I think I have to seek out this movie during this weekend at some point. It may only be playing in NYC, so it may be worth a trip in...
NP: Brian Eno - Back in Judy's Jungle
NP: Brian Eno - Back in Judy's Jungle
14 March 2007
Eh...
I'm in one of *those*moods tonight... Just kind of bleah...
I've found that when I get like this, I just have to let it ride out. If I actively try to combat the mood, I end up annoying and depressing myself. But, if I just take life as it is, and try to relax, it generally does get better.
These things don't usually go on for more than a few hours, or a day. Sleeping usually helps. I may be subdued the next day, but it's not horrible. It's just getting through stuff.
I think one of the things that I'm thinking about is what I want to do with my life. I enjoy my work, but is it really what I want to be doing? Is it enough? If it is, that's great! But, I want to make sure that I'm doing the right work for the right reasons. I'm trying to keep my eyes open, and my brain open, to different possibilities out there. I'm certainly not actively looking for another job (I'll be here for at least another academic year), but it would be interesting to see what may be out there for someone with my work history.
I'm using this blog to think out loud right now. Don't take this all as me being in a horrible funk or that I hate my job. I simply want to feel like I'm doing what I should be doing with my time. I generally think that I am, but days where I get a bit down, it leads me to question a lot of this surface/work type things. At my core, I'm a generally happy person. I like my life, and I have a lot of good people around me. So, I analyze and question, to see where I am at, and where I might think about going.
If I come up with any ideas, I'll let you know.
NP: Genesis - The Cinema Show (1976)
I've found that when I get like this, I just have to let it ride out. If I actively try to combat the mood, I end up annoying and depressing myself. But, if I just take life as it is, and try to relax, it generally does get better.
These things don't usually go on for more than a few hours, or a day. Sleeping usually helps. I may be subdued the next day, but it's not horrible. It's just getting through stuff.
I think one of the things that I'm thinking about is what I want to do with my life. I enjoy my work, but is it really what I want to be doing? Is it enough? If it is, that's great! But, I want to make sure that I'm doing the right work for the right reasons. I'm trying to keep my eyes open, and my brain open, to different possibilities out there. I'm certainly not actively looking for another job (I'll be here for at least another academic year), but it would be interesting to see what may be out there for someone with my work history.
I'm using this blog to think out loud right now. Don't take this all as me being in a horrible funk or that I hate my job. I simply want to feel like I'm doing what I should be doing with my time. I generally think that I am, but days where I get a bit down, it leads me to question a lot of this surface/work type things. At my core, I'm a generally happy person. I like my life, and I have a lot of good people around me. So, I analyze and question, to see where I am at, and where I might think about going.
If I come up with any ideas, I'll let you know.
NP: Genesis - The Cinema Show (1976)
13 March 2007
In other news...
What else is going on in my life besides talking about comedy? Here's a quick lowdown:
I got tickets late last week to see Genesis at Giants Stadium in September. I wasn't happy that there wasn't going to be a show at Madison Square Garden, which I thought would have been a better venue, but I'm not scheduling the tour. So, I buy where the show is.
It should be a great tour. Our seats are in Section 110, so we'll be on the side, with a good angle for the whole stage. I've also been posting a lot on the new official Genesis message board, and have somehow made my way up to being the number one poster on the board (for now). I think this makes me king of the Genesis nerds, or something, a crown I will proudly wear, as a Genesis nerd myself...
Work is gearing up, I'm going to have busy evenings next week, I'll be on call, and have evening commitments I think almost every night of the week. That's fine though, I'd rather have those meetings when I have to be around anyway. The following week is our Housing process, I get to be a worker bee then. Tomorrow, Residence Life is attending a meeting of the Board of Trustees, so we get to answer whatever questions they have about Residence Life. Should be fun...
It was Sue's birthday this past Friday, which made everything we did this weekend special for her birthday. We have fun together, two geeky peas in a pod.
That's about it for now. More to come later!
NP: Catherine Wheel - Kill My Soul
I got tickets late last week to see Genesis at Giants Stadium in September. I wasn't happy that there wasn't going to be a show at Madison Square Garden, which I thought would have been a better venue, but I'm not scheduling the tour. So, I buy where the show is.
It should be a great tour. Our seats are in Section 110, so we'll be on the side, with a good angle for the whole stage. I've also been posting a lot on the new official Genesis message board, and have somehow made my way up to being the number one poster on the board (for now). I think this makes me king of the Genesis nerds, or something, a crown I will proudly wear, as a Genesis nerd myself...
Work is gearing up, I'm going to have busy evenings next week, I'll be on call, and have evening commitments I think almost every night of the week. That's fine though, I'd rather have those meetings when I have to be around anyway. The following week is our Housing process, I get to be a worker bee then. Tomorrow, Residence Life is attending a meeting of the Board of Trustees, so we get to answer whatever questions they have about Residence Life. Should be fun...
It was Sue's birthday this past Friday, which made everything we did this weekend special for her birthday. We have fun together, two geeky peas in a pod.
That's about it for now. More to come later!
NP: Catherine Wheel - Kill My Soul
12 March 2007
Richard Jeni and the Art of Comedy
I wanted to write a bit more about Richard Jeni, and his comedy. A bit of background on me.
When I was in late elementary school, I discovered a few old Bob Newhart and Bill Cosby albums in the closet in my house. I recognized both of them from TV, and said to myself, "Wow, I wonder what's on these? TV shows?"
I played the albums, and was amazed to find people talking, telling funny stories, and getting laughs. I thought this was great! Here was something that I could listen to, and laugh over and over again! Comedy, on demand.
I remember one of my friends coming over, and I make him listen to one of the Bob Newhart albums. After finishing it, he left. We did remain friends, but the comedy album format didn't really do anything for him. I couldn't get it.
After listening to them once, some people would ask, "You know the jokes, why do you listen to them again? How can it be funny all over?" For me, the answer was about listening to the nuances, the timing, the rhythm of the words. The word choice. The way the jokes were intoned. Accents. Pauses. All in the art of comedy. What do you do, and what don't you do?
After those classics, I got into Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and really delved into comedy with meaning, with subtext, and with purpose. Did I get all this when I was in Junior High? Nope, but on repeated listenings, I got the ideas behind what they were saying.
This brings me to Richard Jeni, again. When I first saw him, probably on the Tonight Show, doing his Jaws bit, where he talks about watching Jaws 4 late at night, and his body revolting against him for watching such a dumb film, it got me. The imagery, the timing, the thought, and even the animals (in this case, the Shark, and his spinal column) in the story.
Jeni made the comedy look easy, as all the great performers did. But I was in amazement, as I *knew* that he had honed this bit to within an inch of its life, and it *worked!*
When I saw that first Showtime special, I was continually amazed, and delighted, by the amount of effort Richard put into his show. The wording, the phrasing, all showed signs of an intelligent guy, going for it. One thing that continually amused me in his routine was his use of animals. He would mention the indignancy of the lobster tank at "Fred Robster," and how, at the steak house, you guessed it, no cow tank!
In the bit, there was a little line where the cow, crying, says, "Why don't you try the lobster," and the lobster returns the quip, "Why don't you mind your own damn business..." It was a subtle thing, but he used animals often enough in his bits that I had to believe that there was something more to it. Something about us as people. Because, of course, the animals are just substitutes for us. Jeni wasn't as overtly subversive as a Bill Hicks or a George Carlin, but in his own way, he could turn the mirror on ourselves, and make us laugh a bit...
That's as maudlin as I'm going to get in this.
Jeni was also great at weaving his bits into each other, having little references come back from previous bits, culmunating in a big laugh at the end of the show. I saw him live at least twice, and perhaps a third time (those years living in Boston seem so long ago in a lot of ways), and he never disappointed. I regret not having made an effort to go to some of his shows more often, in those intervening years.
I deleted a comment from yesterday's post, saying that Richard Jeni was just a D-list celebrity who didn't make it, that the suicide was the biggest news that he had made in years. And I think that shows just what's wrong with the culture of celebrity. Jeni was a steadily working comedian, playing probably over 100 shows a year, and doing great material. I'm not in his head, so I don't know if he thought that he should have been a bigger "star," or had a better film career. All I know is that he did stand up great, and had a lot to be proud of with that. If this was suicide, and if it was caused by despondency over his career, I'm really sad to hear that, because I think that Richard Jeni had nothing to be ashamed about with his career in comedy. He was a true comedian.
When I was in late elementary school, I discovered a few old Bob Newhart and Bill Cosby albums in the closet in my house. I recognized both of them from TV, and said to myself, "Wow, I wonder what's on these? TV shows?"
I played the albums, and was amazed to find people talking, telling funny stories, and getting laughs. I thought this was great! Here was something that I could listen to, and laugh over and over again! Comedy, on demand.
I remember one of my friends coming over, and I make him listen to one of the Bob Newhart albums. After finishing it, he left. We did remain friends, but the comedy album format didn't really do anything for him. I couldn't get it.
After listening to them once, some people would ask, "You know the jokes, why do you listen to them again? How can it be funny all over?" For me, the answer was about listening to the nuances, the timing, the rhythm of the words. The word choice. The way the jokes were intoned. Accents. Pauses. All in the art of comedy. What do you do, and what don't you do?
After those classics, I got into Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and really delved into comedy with meaning, with subtext, and with purpose. Did I get all this when I was in Junior High? Nope, but on repeated listenings, I got the ideas behind what they were saying.
This brings me to Richard Jeni, again. When I first saw him, probably on the Tonight Show, doing his Jaws bit, where he talks about watching Jaws 4 late at night, and his body revolting against him for watching such a dumb film, it got me. The imagery, the timing, the thought, and even the animals (in this case, the Shark, and his spinal column) in the story.
Jeni made the comedy look easy, as all the great performers did. But I was in amazement, as I *knew* that he had honed this bit to within an inch of its life, and it *worked!*
When I saw that first Showtime special, I was continually amazed, and delighted, by the amount of effort Richard put into his show. The wording, the phrasing, all showed signs of an intelligent guy, going for it. One thing that continually amused me in his routine was his use of animals. He would mention the indignancy of the lobster tank at "Fred Robster," and how, at the steak house, you guessed it, no cow tank!
In the bit, there was a little line where the cow, crying, says, "Why don't you try the lobster," and the lobster returns the quip, "Why don't you mind your own damn business..." It was a subtle thing, but he used animals often enough in his bits that I had to believe that there was something more to it. Something about us as people. Because, of course, the animals are just substitutes for us. Jeni wasn't as overtly subversive as a Bill Hicks or a George Carlin, but in his own way, he could turn the mirror on ourselves, and make us laugh a bit...
That's as maudlin as I'm going to get in this.
Jeni was also great at weaving his bits into each other, having little references come back from previous bits, culmunating in a big laugh at the end of the show. I saw him live at least twice, and perhaps a third time (those years living in Boston seem so long ago in a lot of ways), and he never disappointed. I regret not having made an effort to go to some of his shows more often, in those intervening years.
I deleted a comment from yesterday's post, saying that Richard Jeni was just a D-list celebrity who didn't make it, that the suicide was the biggest news that he had made in years. And I think that shows just what's wrong with the culture of celebrity. Jeni was a steadily working comedian, playing probably over 100 shows a year, and doing great material. I'm not in his head, so I don't know if he thought that he should have been a bigger "star," or had a better film career. All I know is that he did stand up great, and had a lot to be proud of with that. If this was suicide, and if it was caused by despondency over his career, I'm really sad to hear that, because I think that Richard Jeni had nothing to be ashamed about with his career in comedy. He was a true comedian.
11 March 2007
Richard Jeni
I just read about an hour or so ago, on AOL News, that Richard Jeni, one of my favorite comedians of the past 17 years, died by an apparent suicide.
I first discovered Richard Jeni from 30 minute Showtime special from 1989. I still have it on tape somewhere. I showed that tape to so many people, making fans of him when I was in college. I think I was having some friends over to watch Evil Dead II in the summer of 1989, and while waiting for a few more people to show up, we caught this special on cable. We all laughed, but I really connected with his humor.
Later that summer, I taped it, thinking that it would be good to bring to college with me. It was, and the following summer, I taped his second 60 minute Showtime special, and those tapes became regular viewing in our room in Shaw House at Boston College.
I saw Jeni live at least once during college, and a few times while living in Boston before departing for grad school in 1996. I even have a tape of every episode of his short lived TV show on UPN, Platypus Man.
While in grad school, I picked up Jeni's CD, Greatest Bits. The tape I made of it is still in my car, and gets played often on long car rides.
I don't know what may have driven Jeni to suicide. Did he feel that he deserved bigger success? Did he have health issues? I don't know, and it almost doesn't matter, as we've lost a good comic voice.
So, Richard Jeni, I'll miss your comedy. And, I'll miss the potential that once was...
NP: Genesis - Behind the Lines
I first discovered Richard Jeni from 30 minute Showtime special from 1989. I still have it on tape somewhere. I showed that tape to so many people, making fans of him when I was in college. I think I was having some friends over to watch Evil Dead II in the summer of 1989, and while waiting for a few more people to show up, we caught this special on cable. We all laughed, but I really connected with his humor.
Later that summer, I taped it, thinking that it would be good to bring to college with me. It was, and the following summer, I taped his second 60 minute Showtime special, and those tapes became regular viewing in our room in Shaw House at Boston College.
I saw Jeni live at least once during college, and a few times while living in Boston before departing for grad school in 1996. I even have a tape of every episode of his short lived TV show on UPN, Platypus Man.
While in grad school, I picked up Jeni's CD, Greatest Bits. The tape I made of it is still in my car, and gets played often on long car rides.
I don't know what may have driven Jeni to suicide. Did he feel that he deserved bigger success? Did he have health issues? I don't know, and it almost doesn't matter, as we've lost a good comic voice.
So, Richard Jeni, I'll miss your comedy. And, I'll miss the potential that once was...
NP: Genesis - Behind the Lines
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