July 14-16, 1999

I feel I'm floundering a bit here, was before vacation, now still am. What do you like here the best? What would you like to see more of? Feedback would be a really good thing right about now.

An excellent new word: barkative.

Fine music (as heard at this year's Winnipeg Folk Festival-- some I knew before the fest, some which are new to me): Sam Baardman, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Chuck Brodsky, Greg Brown, David Essig, Four Bitchin' Babes, Vance Gilbert, Veda Hille, Hot Club of Cowtown, Lucy Kaplansky, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Shooglenifty, Swing Soniq, and Susan Werner.

Strange and interesting list of British film fans fave 100 American films [via the occasional]. Seems similar, IIRC, to the IMDB list of top 100 films, actually.

Morphine webpage. Sigh. I've been listening to Cure for Pain a lot today.

There's far too much I could say about stuff I've experienced offline in recent weeks. I had a great time at Convergence, a new science fiction convention here in Minneapolis. And a fabulous birthday on July 5th (partially spent at Convergence, as well as with old friends, new friends, and family).

Then I was gifted with a ticket to the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Anyone who knows me, knows I've been meaning to attend for years now. In fact, I've encouraged other friends to attend . . . just never quite got there myself. Events always conspired against me. This year, friends conspired to get me there and I'm beyond grateful.

I enjoyed the hell out of my first Baggiecon. Baggiecon being the name of a gathering of science fiction fans and friends who camp and party together at the folk festival. We're a hard group to miss, what with glowy pink (and blue) thingies at the mainstage events . . . our extremely large circle of tents (complete with shower tent, kitchen tent, storage tent, a large sunshade . . . ). And of course there's the fine music by "Decadent" Dave Clement and company.

I'm a bit sunburned, mosquito-bit, bruised, and sore . . . but ever-so-glad I went. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen or who were there for the squirtgun war, the mystery of the missing glowy things, the scare quotes, and all the rest. Special thanks to Karen Cooper, Shaun & Alexa Kelly, and the denizens of the Bhigg House.

Maybe I'll write up some con and trip reports later, to be posted in rambles. Will let y'all know if I do.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that I like Pauline Kael. Read this excellent new interview with Modern Maturity:

MM: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Kael: I hate it. It is very creepy being imitated.

MM: Do you think your criticism has changed movies or affected filmmakers?

Kael: I'd rather not say. If I say yes, I'm an egotist, and if I say no, I've wasted my life. Although I've been told I have influenced some people to become directors. Unfortunately, most of them are lousy.

And:

MM: In a long marriage, the relationship changes as each partner's knowledge and feelings about the other change. How has your "relationship" with movies changed over time?

Kael: In front of the screen, I'm still a kid. Movie love is abiding throughout life. The movies have a fascination that our ordinary lives don't have. The people are more beautiful, the vistas more splendid. When the lights go down, we want to be charmed and entertained. We're lovers who are let down all the time, and go on loving.

MM: When I'm at the movies, I feel like I'm swept up, lost.

Kael: I feel as if I'm found.

Remember David Brin's Star Wars pieces @ salon.com? Gee, who would've imagined he'd get a lot of email about those (heh) . . . he's posted an addendum on his site. I'll not quote from it, some bits could constitute spoilers. I do think he may be right re Yoda, FWIW.

I'm so eager to see Mystery Men it's not even funny. Is it July 30th yet?

I'm curious about Inspector Gadget, too. Would amuse me greatly if they dubbed Don Adams voice in over Matthew Broderick's, but then I'm a strange gal.

And, of course, Muppets From Space is now showing at a theater near you. Gonna see it sometime this week.

At long last, a page listing current character actors. It's called Who Is That? Fabulous idea. [via bring the rock]. The list is short thus far, but at least they've got Vincent Schiavelli (what more could you want? Oh wait . . . ).

What? No Clint Howard page yet? For shame . . .

Joe Jackson plays New York [via robot wisdom]:

So it intrigued me to learn that Mr. Jackson, 43, was playing the Bottom Line as part of a small club tour with his bassist for most of the last 20 years, Graham Maby, and his drummer for most of the past 15 years, Gary Burke, under the banner "Just for the Hell of It." Was he capitulating to critics or nostalgics? Or just displaying another sort of chutzpah?

As it turned out, Mr. Jackson’s only arrogant act was parking a full-size grand piano on the Bottom Line’s postage-stamp stage. This, he acknowledged during the set, prevented the people in the front rows from being able to see him.

[ . . . ]

"You don’t really need to see me," he said. "As long as you can hear me."

It'd be so incredible to see one of these shows . . . Wow.

Early Patrick O'Brian work republished [via robot wisdom]:

What is astonishing is to learn that this novel, set entirely in India and full of local colour - however inaccurate - was written by a young man, living in Dublin, who had never set foot in the subcontinent.

What conclusions about Patrick O'Brian's "essential nature" can be drawn from this? Only that he is a true fantasist.

This is the week the gang at TeeVee.org are handing out their TeeVee Awards. Good stuff, thus far. Read it all if you care a whit about TV, they're spot-on re ER and a great many other shows. I could quote a bunch of things, but I'll try to stick with just this one. Trust me on this, the rest of it is well-worth reading. I only really disagree thus far on Ally McBeal (I don't think it's slid as much as they seem to).

I was particularly taken by their comments in the best actress in an hour-long series category, they gave the award to Sarah Michelle Gellar of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and made this far too true observation:

That's one of modern television's little ironies. Some of the most compelling women's roles -- and actresses -- are languishing in the shadowy doldrums of silly Sci-Fi for the Kids. Buffy is one case in point; Claudia Christian's Susan Ivanova on the late Babylon 5 was another. Though the show certainly has its critics, nobody can deny that Star Trek: Voyager offers a cast populated with strong women. And those who haunt the upper reaches of the cable dial may chance upon Claudia Black and Virginia Hey of the Sci-fi Channel's Farscape.

The best dramatic female roles are all in shows that require a hefty and willing suspension of disbelief. What does that say more about: The freedom and quality writing going on in shows beyond the mind-numbing radar of the Big Four networks, or the unwillingness of the television-watching audience to accept female characters as something other than one-dimensional stereotypes?

Acses rocks. It's a tool for comparing prices between various online stores, it even factors in shipping charges. Fabulous! [via peterme].

The Newsradio Station is the place to go for all info related to the show Newsradio. One of my favorite shows in recent years, reruns are currently airing in syndication in most markets (watch for 'em). This site has the usual stuff (episode guide, sound files, etc), as well as some cool behind-the-scenes tidbits.

Eek! As The World Turns fans will find this casting call particularly interesting [via tvbarn]. Boy are they aging a couple of kids, but this is soapland after all.

Best soap news I've heard of late is that Elizabeth Hubbard is returning to As The World Turns as "Lucinda" and that Tom Wiggin (formerly ATWT's "Kirk Anderson") is joining the cast of Guiding Light.

Yet another attempt at defining weblogs, this time from Leonard Grossman:

What is a Weblog?

At its simplest, a Weblog is a listing or index of a surfer's finds on-line...a log of the explorer's expedition. Weblogs range from simple collections of links to Jorn's extensively edited, savvy selection of news, gossip, graphics, and much more, co ntaining pithy quotes and helpful comments, truly a daily guide to much of the interesting reading on the Web and much, much more.

Weblogs may appear daily, weekly or whenever the inspiration hits. The trick is to find an editor you trust. Weblogs by their nature, reflect the interests, biases and personalities of their editors. You don't have to agree with a logger's conclusions , but you want to find an editor who finds the same things worthy of attention. If the editor has a perspective that is somewhat different from yours, it makes the experience all the more worthwhile.

It's a nice look at weblogs, with links to Robot Wisdom, Honeyguide, and this page. Thanks to Leonard Grossman for the mention/link.

Mark Sandman, of the band Morphine, is dead. I can't properly express how sad I am about this. He wrote some great songs. He sang and played bass beautifully. I regret that I never saw Morphine live, always thinking there'd be another chance. Mostly I'm gonna miss the music, period. Sigh.

Humanitas Prize winners announced: the "Shades of Grey" episode of Homicide won in the 60-minute TV show category. October Sky won in the film category. Very cool. [via hlotslinks]

deja links: The H:LotS Files is way cool. It features some of the best stuff posted to alt.tv.homicide over the years, as collected and commented on by Dave Locke.

What I Learned from TV Cops [via hlotslinks].

Some TV tidbits [via tvbarn]:

Bridget Fonda coulda been Ally McBeal and Oliver Platt might've been The Practice's Bobby Donnell (maybe). Methinks it all worked out for the best for everyone involved.

Eric Idle to join the cast of Suddenly Susan. Ack! What is he thinking? One hopes he's getting paid a lot of money. But still . . . the show isn't merely awful, it's one of the worst shows on the air.

Gloria Reuben to exit ER. With Reuben, Marguilles, and La Salle all leaving, there's little reason left to watch this ailing show. Besides Anthony Edwards and Noah Wyle, I suppose, but their characters have entered the self-parody zone already. Interesting to hear Ming-Na (formerly known as Ming-Na Wen) will be rejoining the cast.

Jamie Luner is the new Profiler. She previously appeared on Melrose Place. If anyone out there cares.

Excellent! WKRP In Cincinatti comes to Nick at Night.

Lifetime spends megabucks for Mad About You reruns (starting in 2002).

I love the recent redesign of Aaron Barnhart's TV Barn.

The Gallery of "Misused" Quotation Marks [via NowThis and cardhouse].

[This link dedicated to Karen Cooper and many other folks who were infected by "scare quotes" at Minicon, Convergence, and Baggiecon.]

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