Holidaze

I am high. On life. Up in Longview visiting as we speak. Had a really good time playing basketball with my brother and best friend, and visiting with my good friend and sister-in-law. I also got to see my friend Jared. Hopefully I can see my step-dad today before my dad comes and gets me. I get days up there too. I am so thankful for this time I have with all of them. I also get to see my grandma and perhaps my friend Mishel as well. It has been really good so far. :)

Christmas 2009

Going to be one of the best! Almost done shopping, going to see my dad and stepmom and then my mom and stepdad. Mom's in town now shopping with me. :)

Rational Self-Interest

The Blazers make me very happy. Long has the day been since the "jailblazers" and thank God. I'm consistently impressed with how unselfish and ego-free this team is, and I'm currently watching them play the Bulls at home.

Go Blazers!

November

Well.. as of the 13th, I am officially 30. Woohoo.

I am going to game day with Joel today at The Cooler. It's a fun place. I got french toast there a few weeks back for a game day. Good stuff. Ducks play the Arizona Wildcats. Going to be a really good game, and I'm stoked to go and get my day started early and down a bunch of coffee to make my Saturday a very productive one.

I have to fill out my FAFSA before Monday so I can start getting the financial aid ball rolling before I had back to take a few prereqs at Lane Community College. Here we go!

The Chess Player, Silent Film, State of the Union

Migraines are much better and more under control, although I can say with certainty that they still certainly occur and daily at that.

I have spoken to so many people through my work (as a pharmacy technician) that I feel really blessed for that job and completely at ease discussing my symptoms and other people's.

There are so many regimens for the treatment of this chronic condition that discussing it with others really allows me to feel good about the future. I hope at least some of that has worn off on others as well. A girl brought in a card for a very bargain acupuncture and that was really sweet of her.

I've been watching so many movies. Currently watching a 1927 silent epic, The Chess Player. Criterion (through eclipse) released a couple of his films (Wooden Crosses and Les Miserables) so it is good to have a basic introduction to his work before I work my way through that sometime in the future.

School/Life

Kickin it at the lab, working on some video editing. All seems well. Writing a lot of film stuff lately.

Big month ahead

I'm moving out. I was essentially kicked out. It's a good thing. I need to turn a corner and bring things into sharper focus. I sit in the computer lab, finishing the editing on my first film, a very late film for my Experimental Animation course from the Spring last year.

Tuesday the 2nd of June, 2009

Well it is official. I am moving out. I will be in a one bedroom apartment downtownish and much closer to campus.

Watching Wendy and Lucy in a class right now. Excited about seeing it finally.

Much love,

A case of the Mondays, redux

New Haneke film wins Golden Palm at Cannes. The White Ribbon. Definitely looking forward to this. Inglorious Basterds*, Tarantino's new remake, should be interesting as well.

Have a bit of a headache as I lie awake to write.

I met a girl off of myspace yesterday, for the first time in a while. We had Starbucks and then kinda wandered around Alton Baker. It was nice. Her name is Jennifer and she's very sweet and cute. It seems mutual as well, so more about that as the Memorial Day week rolls on.

What's new? Monday 6am

Well here I am, up and about at 6am Monday. I have super early classes this quarter coming up. I have an all day class 8-430 during 0 week. Then I have Spanish 103 from 8-1120 during the final "trimester" of summer quarter.

What's up with Sri Lanka? And apparently they've found the genes for menstruation.

A brief reflection

I saw my neurologist exactly one week ago, April 16th. Things are going pretty well. Although I still get a headache daily, I haven't had to use abortive medication in about 5 months.

We're going to stay on the same regimen and I'm up to 180lbs! I need to exercise mucho.

Tuesday is Blues day

I went to my first Seder on Sunday, at Jenny's. It was quite unique and pleasurable. I miss ritual and solemnity. Note to self: go to more of these types of things when the opportunities present themselves.

I see the neurologist on Thursday, and hopefully we'll re-open a dialogue on how to treat whatever the head issues are that I have. I still get the weird pressure every day.

Classes are going well this quarter, Spring 2009. I'm taking Spanish 103, English 260 (Media Aesthetics), and Fieldwork Film Production through the Folklore department. I hope to shoot a short film with some interviews by "experts" on their thoughts on apocalypse.

Hmm

My buddy Ben is moving to California next week and he's coming over tonight for dinner. Alas. :/

Week End...

...is one of my favorite Godard movies, second perhaps only to Contempt. So I had a frickin hilarious dream. Me and some friends were out and somehow we got asked to play. I asked if anyone had any requests, being mockingly cocky, and someone wanted Band of Horses. I immediately launched into Ode to LRC. Hah. It was rad.

This is a totally random post. We watched Taxi to the Dark Side for our Survey of Documentary final and I ended it (the reflection paper we had to write) with some cheese:

If the first casualty of war is truth, then the war documentary must act as a sort of resurrector and should shake the foundations of Heaven and Hell and raise the dead.

Cleaning day.

Final in Survey of Documentary Class, various other things

Final in survey of documentary class today at 7pm. I have questions for a take-home final, an essay to write, and I'm hoping to make up a couple of the missing reflection papers from throughout the term. I'm watching Fast, Cheap, & Out of Control by Errol Morris right now, and it is quite good.

I missed an appointment with my neurologist last week, which kinda sucks, but I'm too busy with this final now to worry about it much. Look for my essays at my other blog --

Monday, 3/16/09

Still working my way slowly through Ozu's films. I'm on Early Spring now, which is his last black and white film before his transition into color with Equinox Flower. Ranking my top 5 Ozu films goes a little something like this:

1. Floating Weeds
2. Late Spring
3. Tokyo Story
4. An Autumn Afternoon
5. I Was Born, But...

I have just three to go and I've seen everything readily available in the states (region 1, at least).

Tuesday morning

I'm working on getting through a few different books. The graphic novel Swamp-Thing, which is really excellent, and a couple of "true crime" books on Jack the Ripper, who may or may not be real it seems. I was out and about at the pawn shops perusing their collection when I stumbled across From Hell. Ever since V for Vendetta, I've been curious about Alan Moore.

"I find film in its modern form to be quite bullying. It spoon-feeds us, which has the effect of watering down our collective cultural imagination. It is as if we are freshly hatched birds looking up with our mouths open waiting for Hollywood to feed us more regurgitated worms. The Watchmen film sounds like more regurgitated worms. I for one am sick of worms. Can't we get something else? Perhaps some takeout? Even Chinese worms would be a nice change." - Alan Moore, Los Angeles Times, 9/18/08.

I am also still working my way through the short stories of Dave Eggers.

The Ide(a)s of March

So Sunday with Ozu was extraordinarily intense. The three films we saw, Late Spring, Floating Weeds, and Tokyo Story, were all very powerful and I'm grateful to have experienced them. My friend Jenny came along, and we had pizza and a good time was had by all.

April brings 4 films by Henri-Georges Clouzot, often touted as the French Hitchcock. I've only seen Wages of Fear and I'm excited to see a few of his others, and to see that one again.

I see my neurologist on Wednesday.

Tokyo Boshoku

Sunday is the 6th installment (to my knowledge) of "Great Directors," a series at DIVA (Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts), and Tom Blank will be playing three films of Yasujiro Ozu. Late Spring, Tokyo Story, and Floating Weeds are the three slated to play.

On my own I've watched The End of Summer, An Autumn Afternoon, and I Was Born, but... So far all of these films has surprised me in a very good way, and I'm so happy that I'm able to discover these gems by little-known (at least here in the States) directors.

Today I'm finishing up Tokyo Twilight, and its quite a handful. Abortion, abandonment, poor communication, this film conjures up all that is bad in everyday human existence, especially post-war Japan.

A quick reflection

I still feel disappointed about not seeing Milk, but I'd like to quickly reflect upon my happiness at Slumdog Millionaire doing so well. In a world of post-Prop 8 USA, there is no question that gay rights are still something to be fighting for, along with many other minority issues in the United States. These issues are no less important worldwide, and herein lies the crux of why I find (at least the concept of) Slumdog Millionaire more important.

I have this strange concept of a hierarchy, when it comes to ethics and politics, which for as little as I've read in the theories of these throughout history, are informed by Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and now, though I'm not sure how aligned the majority of my values are with his, Peter Singer.

Interestingly enough, I often tell my friends that I'm vegetarian but that it's not my core "stance." I don't think animal rights (of all animals non-human, that is) are nearly as important as human (animal) rights are. In a purely materialistic sense (philosophically, not talking about consumerism or shallow worldviews here), animals will never be given the rights they deserve until humans are. And I'm talking all humans. What does it matter if 6 of 7 continents are treating animals really well, either completely eliminating or drastically reducing their consumption, if just one country on one continent is still mining a rain forest to create grazing land? This is a question of balance and education, which in my eyes is a very human RIGHT. Until the mistakes and successes of each culture that have ever existed are made known to each and every extant culture, we will not know how to properly weigh in these different concepts of life as a human and act accordingly. In other words, first we must educate and address human suffering before the suffering of what the vast majority of humans consider "lesser" animals can ever fully be understood.

I feel that Slumdog Millionaire gives the Western world a very unique perspective on a thoroughly abject version of human living. Despite its vibrance and beauty, so many people should not be starving and living in squallid conditions. I make no claims as to their mode of living, just at how so much of it is done with little access to basic human needs.

Milk, at least as I've come to understand it through reading about it, should be commended for its educating principles, as rights for homosexuals, transgender, and all kinds of other minorities need severely to be addressed. I guess I just fear that if the majority of people aren't made to have concern for minorities in other countries, they surely will have a hard time addressing concerns of minorities in their own countries as well.

"To think out in every implication the ethic of love for all creation -- this is the difficult task which confronts our age." - Albert Schweitzer

The time is nigh - 2nd Annual Good/Bads

Just a little over a year go, I saw the movie Bicycle Thieves, in my History of Motion Pictures, pt. II class. It changed my life. I intentionally absorbed all of the special features, and the bits on neorealism and Zavattini (the screenwriter) had me starving for more. Here was a movement where the political ramifications of every day action and a mixture of high and low art came together, offering a unique and all-to-brief glimpse into a world that could be.

Sunday marks the 81st Academy Awards and the Second Annual Cody Must Watch All Available Films to Applaud The Academy For Good Choices and Scold For Poor Ones. I'm just going to call them the Good/Bads. Last year, for instance, it was good that There Will Be Blood was nominated, and bad that No Country For Old Men took the prize. Fine film, but epic like TWBB, I think not. This year I've already unfortunately missed ample opportunity to see Milk, which, from a simple synopsis point-of-view, seemed excellent. I've seen The Wrestler, The Reader, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Wall-E, The Visitor, Dark Knight, Changeling, Tropic Thunder (are they serious nominating Robert Downey Jr. for this??), Australia, Hellboy II, and Kung-Fu panda.

Being a foreign movie fanatic, I'm saddened that none of them came to Eugene, which seems a pretty internationalized smaller city. Waltz With Bashir looked amazing and will probably be easily available on DVD (us North Americans love our cartoons) and Revanche (Revenge, Austrian) will be coming out on a Criterion disc at some point, whether it wins or not.

I plan on seeing Bolt, Doubt, and Frost/Nixon this weekend.

Some early thoughts:
Last year a nomination for Best Animated Feature, Persepolis, unveiled another facet of what a cartoon can do - namely, make a devastating biography into something transcendant and beautiful - and lost. This year, quite possibly the best cartoon ever made will not suffer the same fate. Kung Fu Panda, which was a great cartoon, will lose to Wall-E, which follows more in the tradition of the darkhorse Persepolis than last year's labelmate and winner, Ratatouille.
The darkness and political illuminations of last year's Best Picture and Best Director nominees comes wrapped in the fluffy innocence of a lifelike robot. A spoonful of sugar indeed.

Atonement really bothered me as a nominee last year. Not only did it personally abhor me that anything around Keira Knightley was nominated for a best picture, but the story itself was sentimental dreck. This year, the sentimentality seems to have taken the backseat to story, which is a great thing. Slumdog Millionaire, Ben Button, and The Reader (the three BP noms I've seen) contain strong themes, and I can't see Milk or Frost/Nixon as any less story-driven. Milk, which may contain more sweetness than the others (more lactose if you will!) still has the message of a minority being subjugated, especially in the wake of the anti-freedom Prop 8 in California.

Although I found the story of Slumdog Millionaire more original and more fun, The Reader was a devastating and brutal take on memory, and with less punch, so was Ben Button. All very good stuff.

Hello Friends of DON~

Seeing all of your email addresses with my own in a group mailing I've received in past messages, and in case you have not yet heard the sad news that our friend Don Davis has left his earth life, I take the liberty to let you know via Don's brother's recent message, below.

With heartfelt respect and many fond memories,

Michael O'Hearn

This message came in February 2nd, a Monday. Though nobody reads this, I feel it proper to summarize my dealings with this remarkable man. I worked for Safeway as a pharmacy technician from late May of 2005 to September of 2007, and I poured my heart and soul into the job. I was surrounded with amazing people and I met person after person who came to the pharmacy, one of the longest standing in Eugene, Oregon. Many college professors, writers, doctors, lawyers, and various creme de la creme frequented this place, and at times it took the appearance more of a speakeasy than a place of medication and advice disbursement.

I met Don briefly and at one point was probably helping him at the counter and he told me a joke. "What did Bush suggest we do about Avian Bird Flu?" Knowing it was about Bush gaffes (and in a particularly well-off area I never knew what political leaning I'd get), I cracked a huge grin. "Bomb the Canary Islands." I chuckled a bit. This is the kind of guy Don was.

After many further jokes, Don and I exchanged numbers and wound up hanging out a few times. Every time he saw me, "Did you see Chinatown yet?" The guy was relentless in forcing me to catch up on my classics. Don turned 80 years old last year (2008) and he didn't look or act a day past 50. He used to quip many a Mae West quote, and I got him a magnet for Christmas. It has Mae West on a surfboard being carried carried above the heads of a group of men, with the quote, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful." I never had the chance to give it to him, with the busy schedule of a student and numerous excuses. It will stay with me as a reminder of you forever, friend.

RIP

Ooh la la

It's February 2009! Time flies when you're.. having fun? Doing crappy in school this quarter, but today I'm going to turn it around. My head has been good the last few days but it's a bit bad right now. I will be graduating after summer quarter and most likely moving north. It should be awesome. I'm excited to live near my mom, dad, grandma, brother, and many of my other relatives/friends.

I am considering Graduate school in film studies, but I'll be taking some time off to figure that one out.

Hope all is well to anybody who is reading this!

Le chagrin et la pitie ---

I haven't updated this thing in forever. I still get "migraines" every day. I take 20mgs of Propranolol TID, 100mgs of Amitriptylene QHS, and 40mgs of Citalopram QAM. My head is better, or perhaps I'm just learning to cope and produce with it more aptly.

School starts on Monday and I'm pretty excited. I'm taking Media Aesthetics (my last required course for my film studies certificate), Survey of Documentary, a math class I have to have, and Origins of Food, which is an anthro class that should be amazing. I'm often curious just how much coffee and sugar really contribute (read: create) to modern society. If smoking survived as an adaptation to kill intestinal worms (even if stupid people don't know this), why caffeine and sugar? Perhaps Naomi Klein should write a book about foundations of society (and hypercapitalism, disaster capitalism, whatever you wanna call it) along these lines..

Happy 2009 everyone!