Hollywood

Sometimes it's a surreal experience living in Hollywood. Last night while BBQ-ing, we noticed that there was a huge light show coming from the Hollywood and Highland area. While we were attacking our steaks, we learned it was Jay-Z doing a comeback concert with a new cd. I'm sure having Hollywood Blvd blocked off annoyed a few people trying to get home on Thanksgiving eve.

Notes on Altman

Maverick American director Robert Altman died earlier this week @ 81 years of age. I first was aware of him when we were shown "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" in film school. Next time was an ex who had a bootleg of Altman's classic, "Three Women". He was a great filmmaker but I won't remember him for his films.
What I will remember Robert Altman for is what he said about the dead. In one of the most ascerbic eulogies ever, Altman said of Don Simpson when the drug addicted producer died, "I wish he had lived longer so he could've suffered more". Brutal, to the point and instantly memorable.

Biskind's "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls"

Seven Profile

I love this snap of Seven I took the other day.

Instead of.....

"Republicans vacating the Capitol are dumping a big spring cleaning job on Democrats moving in. GOP leaders have opted to leave behind almost a half-trillion-dollar clutter of unfinished spending bills."

Instead of doing their duty, this Republican Congress is going to punt. Or as Crooks and Liars put it....."Never send a Republican to do a Democrat's job".

Yahoo News

Be Kind, redux

I'm finally getting around to looking at some pics that were given to me. Here are a few.

The unbounded excitement that can sweep a film set.


A little bubbly at the halfway point.


El and Mos share a moment after a night of shooting.


Yours truely perfecting his balancing abilities.

The Father Returns

Newsweek Online
Dad has bailed him out all his life....except this time there's 2,800+ dead bodies involved.

Kodak

I love this new ad campaign for Kodak.

It's Official.....He's Certifiable

"And years from now, when America looks out on a democratic Middle East growing in freedom and prosperity, Americans will speak of the battles like Fallujah with the same awe and reverence that we now give to Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima."
Bush @ Dedication of the National Museum of the Marine Corps Nov.10, 2006

Full Trancript

Vote

I hope every reader in the United States is planning on voting today or has already sent in their absentee ballot.

“This is the most important vote that you’ll probably ever cast. Because should this gang of thugs continue in the two houses of Congress, there isn’t any chance of getting the Constitution back." So says Gore Vidal.

You can see the whole Gore Vidal interview @TruthDig

Sunrise

The sunrise in Hollywood yesterday was this wierd pink color. It was just after sunup and only lasted about 20 minutes. But with the morning fog, it was freaky and beautiful.

Pat Marella

Some great time lapse photography from retired train man P Marella.
There's a hyper reality to his work that's fantastic.

Black Brownies

The last day on "Be Kind, Rewind", we were shooting on the upper eastside of Manhattan. We only had 2 short scenes to shoot with Danny Glover. But in the afternoon, some neighborhood boys, Jacob and Sam, came to the back of the electric truck looking for Jack Black. We had to tell them that he was not there that day. That he was back home with his family in Los Angeles.
The boys left their note and a plate of brownies with us. Although we were the profiteers of the sweets that day, I think it's a testament to Jack's popularity. That everywhere we went, or whoever you talk to, he has a great reputation and people genuinely like him. Deservedly so.
All the stars were very generous with the locals in Passaic and it undoubtably made life for us all there more pleasurable.

I Shot Andy Warhol

One of my electricians (Jim F.) on the last film also worked with Ellen and I on "I Shot Andy Warhol" back 1993. It is one of the early faves on mine. Mary Harron was a fine director to work for. She and Dan had written a fantastic script and being able to see Lily Taylor act it out each day was a joy.
It's great seeing those 13 year old pictures, taken at the beginning of a career and knowing that we've all gone on to bigger and better projects..

Two Things

Two things today are getting my blood boiling.
(1) For all the rightwingers that believe that being gay is a choice and biologically driven, comes this story from Oregon on attempts to change sexual orientation in the wombs of sheep in the hopes of someday being able to prevent it in humans.
Martina Navatilova has the story on this tax payer funded study here.
"OHSU experimenter Charles Roselli is drugging pregnant sheep to prevent the actions of hormones in their fetuses’ brains and cutting open the brains of rams he calls “male-oriented” (homosexual) in an attempt to find the hormonal mechanisms behind homosexual tendencies so that they can subsequently be changed. Roselli’s cohort, Frederick Stormshak of OSU, has surgically installed an estrogen device in rams’ bodies in an effort to alter “gay sheep’s” sexual preferences and make them heterosexual. According to the grant applications, the experimenters plan to extrapolate the test results to humans—with the insidious implication that homosexuality in people can be “cured.”
(2) "Influential US evangelist Reverend Ted Haggard has admitted to purchasing illegal drugs from a male prostitute, but denied using them, in an interview with MSNBC."
"The Rev. Ted Haggard admitted Friday he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a gay prostitute who claims he was paid for drug-fueled trysts by the former head of the National Association of Evangelicals.
"I bought it for myself but never used it," Haggard told reporters gathered outside his home. "I was tempted, but I never used it."
So...... he requested drugs on multiple occasions but never used them.......Hmmmmmm.
What gets me about this admission is that in the hierarchy of the virulently anti-gay christian right, drug abuse is seen as a more preferable lapse then owning up to a gay liason. These people's hypocrisy is almost overwhelming.
The MSNBC has the story.