Posted in Culture, tagged Global Hangover Day, Magical Thinking Day, New Year's Day, New Year's resolutions, NYE, personal change, resolutions on 02 Jan 2014| 3 Comments »
Yesterday, New Year’s Day, was Global Hangover Day.
It was also Global Magical Thinking Day.
Call me a cynic, but there is nothing special about New Year’s Day. It has no potency, no power. It signifies nothing of interest in the physical world, marks neither solstice or equinox, time to sow or time to reap. (more…)
Posted in Culture, Writing, tagged amazon, blogging, creative writing, ebooks, Kindle, novel writing, self-publishing, Writing on 31 Dec 2013| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Culture, Movies, tagged Don Quixote, hollywood, Lawrence of Arabia, Mr. Chips, Peter O'Toole, The Lion in Winter, The Man of La Mancha on 16 Dec 2013| Leave a Comment »
The last one is gone.
Yesterday, the last of my Deities of Cinema, Peter O’Toole, passed away at the age of 81.
Born on an unknown date in an unknown location, he was the son of a Scottish nurse and an Irish bookie who made their way through the underclass of war-torn Britain. O’Toole came from little, but followed his nose and his talent, and eventually built a larger-than-life-sized persona to match his larger-than-life-sized career. He was a colossus in a profession filled with stars and showed himself able to handle anything from farcical comedy to tragic drama to subtle, supporting roles. He could be urbane, crude, boisterous, bombastic, kind, loving, cruel, imperious, or callow as the role required, and he gave us iconic performances as Lawrence, Lord Jim, a young Henry II (Becket), an elder Henry II (The Lion in Winter), Mr. Chips, Don Quixote, Alan Swann, and dozens of others.
There are other great actors alive in the world today; this cannot be denied. But there are no more giants. The industry has changed, and it can no longer contain the type of personality O’Toole presented to us.
Working with O’Toole during the filming of King Ralph, John Goodman, asked the revered actor if he might borrow an ashtray.
O’Toole flicked his cigar ash on the floor.
“Make the world your ashtray, my boy.”
The last one is gone.
k
Posted in Television, tagged british television, Chloë Sevigny, hit & miss, television, television reviews on 13 Dec 2013| Leave a Comment »
The British television industry has a tradition of creating short-lived series. In America, a show may have 23 episodes in a season; in Britain, it is often only half that or, as fans of the recent Sherlock reboot well know, only three. In addition, the Brits will create a “series” that is only expected to live one, maybe two years. Where we Yanks will keep a show going well past its sell-by date, the Brits make a show, air it, and move on to the next idea, the next story.
Naturally, they have their long-standing staples like Coronation Street, East Enders, Top Gear, and Time Team (which sadly was canceled after two decades of wonderful programming), but by and large this “one-off” approach to television creates a more varied viewing landscape where, if you don’t like a show, just wait a month or two and something new will be on.
And so, British television will often take risks that would give American television execs apoplexy.
Hit & Miss is a perfect example. (more…)
Posted in Culture, tagged anthropomorphism, anthropomorphize, car ownership, car trouble, cars, conversations with inanimate objects, human nature on 12 Dec 2013| 4 Comments »
It’s hard not to anthropomorphize.
My lawnmower is cranky and only likes to start if I tip it on its nose when I prime the engine. I have often described my computers as malevolent or downright evil. I’ve named every car I’ve ever owned, and have been known to plead, cajole, and beg, as if my entreaties will urge the vehicle on that one last mile to the gas station.
It’s all nonsense, of course. My conversations with inanimate objects do nothing except perhaps answer an inner echo from our pre-industrial heritage, when horses, donkeys, and oxen were our “engines,” and talking to them did make a difference.
Still, it’s hard not to anthropomorphize. (more…)
Posted in Books, tagged book reviews, creative writing, Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Writing, writing tips on 09 Dec 2013| Leave a Comment »
Though they show no particular affinity for me, I love dogs.
At my core, I’m a cat person, but I adore the dogness of dogs and the unique relationship they can have with humans. And though it may sound strange, I love the humanity of dogs, their willingness to love us and to trust us (whether we deserve it or not).
It is not a surprise, therefore, that I enjoyed Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain. It’s told by a dog. It takes place in Seattle.
What is a surprise is how much I enjoyed it.
Seriously. This book is now on my Top Five list. As a reader, I loved it. As a writer, it taught me some lessons I’m ready to learn. (more…)
Posted in Culture, Low Tech, tagged car maintenance, classic cars, Erector Sets on 02 Dec 2013| 6 Comments »
I miss Erector Sets. I blame my car.
Pepper (or Peppah-Girl as my Hawaiian friends call her) came home last week and since then I’ve been somewhat…preoccupied. She was in the shop for a loooong, long time, but it was necessary. I let the pros fix all the critical issues (like steering and brakes and such) and left the small, non-crucial items for myself.
There are many things I like about this car, but one thing that pleases me most is her simplicity. Pepper is a decidedly low-tech vehicle. She has a tractor’s engine (seriously…the engine Triumph used was designed for tractors) and simple hydraulics for brake and clutch. The steering is unpowered, requiring a good deal of brute force to turn the wheels (especially when stopped). One part of the engine is actually made of glass, and parts of the body are supported by pieces of wood.
All this pleases me greatly.
It’s been a long time since I worked on a car. I never really got into the serious gear-head stuff like pistons and differentials and transmissions, but the things I was doing this weekend were well within my capabilities. I fixed some wiring, replaced dashboard knobs, installed a grab bar and lap belts, swapped the old locks for new ones I have keys for, and trouble-shot a tail light problem. These were all–even drilling holes for the lap belt anchors–pretty straightforward tasks and while I was working on these fixes, I felt like a kid again.
Growing up, one of my favorite toys was my Erector Set. The set I had wasn’t anything like today’s versions. Almost everything in it was made of metal, not plastic. It had actual nuts and bolts, not thumbscrews and snap-together pieces. The metal beams and angle brackets were somewhat sharp at the edges, the set had no specialized parts, and the instructions were basically just pictures of what you might want to build instead of step by step Ikea-esque pictograms. The biggest difference, though, was that you could build anything, not just the one or two things for which the set was designed.
And build anything, I did.
I built the cranes and helicopters pictured in the booklet. I built skyscraper superstructures with playing card walls. I built things that weren’t anything at all, but that pleased my eye or used every piece in the set (or both). The Erector Set of my youth taught me about load strength, cross- and angle-bracing, lock-nuts, pulleys, and a hundred other practical attributes of construction. Mostly, though, the set taught me not to be afraid of working with my hands. Later, with this grounding in the basics, I taught myself household repair, woodworking, cabinetry, watch repair, and yes, car maintenance.
So, this afternoon, as I disassemble Pepper’s door panels to gain access to the door locks, it will be like I’m back in the old house on Briarwood Drive, sitting cross-legged on the linoleum, playing.
k
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 