Lewis

So Jared Lewis has headed on home to Salt Lake City. Department projectionist for the past three and a half years, a vital part of the the film festival, and a very good friend. Always someone you could depend on when times were tough. Always good for a laugh or a word of support at the right moment. Really going to miss having him around.

Rather than trying to wax eloquent about the Man from Screwtah, which'd probably get maudlin, I'll just post a few pics from the past couple days.

1. Prepping to project his final Cinematheque show, Buichi Saito's Plains Wanderer, on Saturday night:


2. Quick pic with DB after the show:


3. A last breakfast Sunday morning at Lazy Jane's, with Meg, Erik, and myself:



4. In front of the Wisconsin State Historical Society after grabbing some fish tacos at the Union, a little before Friday's C-theque show:


So there you go. And there he went. Godspeed, Mr. Lewis, and thanks for all you've done.

Gonna miss you, buddy.

Obligatory Monona

Lake, that is. A little after 10 AM today.

Harmonizin': Traveling Music

A little Sonny & Brownie action, with a side of Pete Seeger:

Snow Again

The cold snap's well past, and it's a balmy 27°, so it's like Spring, with snow:

Obligatory Mendota, Part II

Combined some of the photos I took on Lake Mendota the other day into a panorama:



Not perfect, obviously. And for some reason I left out the Terrace. So here it is from about 10 minutes later:



So there. You go.

Pat Novak Says...

"I had some of the answers, but not enough. It’s like trying to weave a rug with a spinning wheel and a bucket of sand.”

- Pat Novak, Feb 20, 1949 – “Jack of Clubs”

"But the Iron Hills of Pittsburgh ..."

"... Where all my memories are. Gathering the light around the reservoir."





Quote from a Hem song. Pics from about 12 years ago, eastern edge of Allegheny County, southwestern PA.

Cinema Report: Two Things That Every Movie Needs

1. Monkey in a Space Suit:


2. Astronaut with a Gun:

And that's . . . one to grow on.

Pat Novak Says...

"Well, I watched her as she turned and walk out of there. It was the kind of a walk that makes you flip the calendar and find out how far away Spring is. I looked around a while, but it didn't do any good, the place was full of doors, so whoever killed Fleet Lady got out easy, like a rumor at a Church Picnic. I closed the door and went down the line to call headquarters. As I stood there talking, I saw Sybil Thornton drive away. It was a long convertible with red asbestos seat covers. After I called headquarters, I went back and waited by the stable. About a half hour later, a police car pulled up, and when I saw who got out, I began to get unhappy, like a three-legged man at a ballet school. It was Hellman from Homicide and he had a squad with him."

-- from Pat Novak for Hire March 6, 1949 - "Fleet Lady"

No Time for Snapshots, Dr. Jones

Didn't have time to grab a new shot today, so here's this bit of unnecessariness:

Pat Novak Says...

"Well, I watched her for a minute as she brushed her hair back and started the car. It was nice hair, and the dress helped too. It was dark blue and had a v-neck, but the designer believed in big letters. She pulled away, and gave me a look you could take on a safari. It was enough to tell me she was as safe as a tap dancer on a floor full of dynamite caps. I walked up and turned in at Pier 19. When I reached the door of the office, I could see the old man sitting by the desk. He looked tired, and a year older than the Bible. His hands were shaking and his skin was coarse and the color of an old razor strap. When I walked in, he glanced up at me and looked about as happy as a Cocker Spaniel with a stomach ache."

From Pat Novak for Hire March 30, 1949 - "Rory Malone."

Artbloggery

For my own reference as much as anything, a couple of blog links. Two artists who are doing some of the best monthly comic book work these days, who both work with Ed Brubaker, one of, if not the best monthly comic book writer these days.

1. Sean Phillips' Sure Beats Working

2. Steve Epting's sketchblog

And for good measure, Brubaker's site. (If'n you don't know, Phillips and Brubaker work on Criminal, and Epting and Brubaker work on Captain America.)

Harmonizin': Serenade for a Kaiju

"And a Wisconsin Hitchhiker with a Cueball Head..."

"... is wishing he was home in a Wisconsin bed."


About a 40° drop overnight. -1° F outside at the moment, without the wind chill. -7° when I walked in to campus this morning. Those are some cold Wisconsinites out there.

Keep It Clean

Kind of an ugly day today.

Goofin' Agin

Obligatory Orpheum

Much earlier in the day, on the way back from Capital Square:

Obligatory Library Mall

About twenty minutes or so after the Mendota shot:

Obligatory Lake Mendota

Early evening, late in January:

Obligatory State Street

Look to the East:


Look to the West:

Goofin'

Happy Harmonizin'

Something a little more upbeat:

Changes

In light of the events of the past month and a half, and the events of the next several weeks, gonna get my maudlin on:

Augh! Even More Harmonizin'!

And-a one:


And-a two:


And-a three:


Okay, not a lot of harmonizin' in two, but whatever.

Here's one to grown on:

Good Grief, More Harmonizin'

One from Mark Knopfler and Emmylou:

Harmonizin': Two from Townes

These go out of synch after a bit, but what the hey:

More Harmonizin'

From the Archives: Yet Another Public Service Announcement

Attention:

Do not be a seal.

As the images show indicate, seals shall stand no chance against the inevitable onslaught of our Orca overlords. If you want to be a seal, then the Orca have already won.





That is all.

P.S. Mothman is indifferent to the seal, unless seal is looking to bum some change. In which case, Mothman will say: "What you talkin' about, seal. You KNOW Orca's gonna be wanting some change for the bus, and you KNOW what's gonna happen to me if I don't have it." Seal will try to lie, he'll be all: "I am not seal. I am the walrus." Mothman will reply: "Shut up. And goo goo ga get the fuck out of here."

P.P.S. C.H.U.D. may be momentarily amused by the seal. In light of this, some have suggested packing a seal for any lengthy sewer expedition, but this is disastrous advice, as the seal inevitably attracts the attention of the blind albino sewer Orca that swim blindly beneath the city streets of our great metropolitan centers.

So don't pack a seal, don't be a seal, don't even offer one a lift. If you see one, do not make eye contact, go home, paint the scratches on the tank, put the Sarge to bed, and forget this night ever happened (c.f. 1941).

P.P.S. This just in. Apparently, sealions eat penguins. I am not making this up. Holy crap. It's like Thunderdome out there.

Top Ten Doctors. Also, Two Minutes to Belgium.

Top Ten Doctors:

10. 7th
9. 8th
8. 6th
7. 3rd
6. 4th
5. 1st
4. 9th
3. 2nd
2. 5th
1. 10th

Right, so that's that done.

And now:



Okay, I'm a dork, but there's a little bit near the end there that does the heart good.

Harmonizin'

From the Archives: Another Public Service Announcement

Warning. Orca is a master of disguise. He is also insidious. So watch
out.

That is all.

Test: Can you spot the orca in this picture?

Pat Novak Says...

"I closed the shop early and I came home to read. Well, it wasn't a bad book, if you ever wanted to start a forest fire. It was one of those historical things, and the girl was just getting her second wind and her third man, when the door to my apartment opened, and the place began to get crowded. From where I sat, the crowd looked good. She sauntered in, moving slowly from side to side like a hundred and eighteen pounds of warm smoke. Her voice was alright, too. Reminded you of a furnace, full of marshmallows."

From Pat Novak for Hire November 24, 1946 - "Go Away, Dixie Gillian"

Cinema Report: "Kansas Is Corny!"

Watched Ralph Bakshi's American Pop this weekend. Haven't seen the whole thing in quite a while.

Not an entirely successful film, full of rotoscoping, stock footage, backgrounds with motionless crowds, some thin sound design, real songs and real voices attributed to ficitonal musicians, and so on.

It's pretty awesome, too, at least at certain points. Such as this one, which is one of my favorite scenes from any movie, ever.

Tony, the latest in the music-tinged family line (which stretches across the 20th century - it's one of those kinds of movies), leaves New York and heads cross-country to California. Along the way, he stops off in Kansas, and falls for a waitress in a roadside diner. After he works a shift as a dishwasher, they head into the cornfields:



There's a genuine sweetness there. And there's a great sense of pace, as the scene picks up speed in a series of starts and stops with Tony's performance (and the rotoscoping does work, in this scene at least, to preserve the performance, Robert Zemeckis take note). Tony surges ahead with rambling enthusiasm, ambition and desire, and then comes to a stop while gazing at her, and then starts up again, all leading to the moment where she quietly takes control of the scene, reduces him to single words, and offers him the fleeting promise of the final line. Really fine, fine stuff.

The rest of the movie doesn't usually hit this level, but there are a few moments, here and there. Might do a little review entry about the film later. I dunno. Is anyone reading this stuff?

From the Archives: Addendum to Public Service Announcement

Just in case you were thinking: "But I'm in Wisconsin. Orca can't get me here." Read the fine print on the Orca poster:

"He will hunt that person down . . . ACROSS ALL OBSTACLES."
That includes land.

Orca could, for example, catch a bus. Who's going to tell them they need exact change? Especially if they're zombie-Orca. Also, Mothman is often known to carry change. (Fucking Mothman.)

And keep in mind that, according to the poster, they are "one of the most intelligent creatures IN THE UNIVERSE." That's pretty damn smart. I'm sure those bastards could figure something out.

For example: Orca, also known as "sea wolves," often hunt in packs. As viewers of YouTube already know, they can also leap up onto shore and beat the shit out of seals. And then eat them. And then toss them thirty feet into the air and shit.

So who's to say one one Orca couldn't leap up onto shore, and then have one of his buddies jump up right behind him and push him further along. (The first Orca to make landfall, not the seal.) And then one of their other buddies could quit fucking around with that seal it's been tossing around, and jump up, and push the second Orca further up the beach, thus pushing the first Orca (now known as "Orca Zero") even further up the beach. And so on.

Now, there are about 100,000 of these bastards out there in the ocean, and they grow to about 30 feet, so by my calculations, Orca Zero could make it about 560 miles inland. This would take him past California and well into Nevada. So he hits Vegas with some change he bums off the Mothman (fucking Mothman), wins big on the slots (or just starts eating people till they give him money), and hires a fat ass limousine to take his fat ass to Wisconsin, where he will proceed to HUNT YOU DOWN WITH A RELENTLESS, TERRIBLE VENGEANCE - ACROSS SEAS, ACROSS TIME, ETC.

In the meantime, his buddies in the Orca daisy-chain would proceeed up and down the West Coat interior by means of a steamroller technique (c.f. Bob & Doug McKenzie).

Anyways. Don't get too comfortable, just because you're in Wisconsin.

Just sayin'.

P.S. See the photo below. Would you like to deal with a zombie attached to that? I wouldn't. (Though I suppose it would make the C.H.U.D. think twice. Or once. Them being C.H.U.D. and all.)

From the Archives: Public Service Announcement

(Click on the image to read the text first.)

Watch out for these bastards.

If you see one, do not, under any circumstances, even if it seems like a good idea, harm its mate. Not even for fun. Orca will hunt you down - across seas, sure, across all obstacles, fine, but also ACROSS TIME! You harm its mate today, Orca will kill you YESTERDAY!

On the other hand, at least it's not the Mothman.

Fucking Mothman.

We should all be grateful that they haven't formed an alliance. (Obviously, in such circumstances, the Mothman would use the Orca as some sort of an aircraft carrier which would HUNT YOU DOWN ACROSS TIME.)

That is all.

P.S. "Orca vs. Mothman" would make a fine move. It will serve as a sequel to "Zombie vs. C.H.U.D."
P.P.S. Zombie-Orcas would be really scary.