10 May 2012

I've posted another youtube video: A Walk in the Park, two minutes. It's a stop motion video I took during a lunchtime walk, and yes, I actually wore my iPhone on a strap around my neck to take it.

I would have thought that I'd get stared at a lot more than I did, but, in fact, nobody stared at all, not even in the elevator. I guess people are now fully conditioned to seeing electronic items being hung around the neck, attached to belts or jammed into an ear. We are wannabe Cybermen, or Borg.

The music is by my daughter and her husband, once collectively known as "The Skies." Ironically, Julie said that that number was really called "The Workout," but I knew it as the eighth track on their Avoid the Skies CD. Hence my designation as "Avoid the Skies #8."

Speaking of my daughter Julie, she is thrilled to learn that she'll be visiting Paris in July with her husband and his brother, and I'm thrilled for her. I want photos!

During my visit to Burbank last week I stopped by the house where I grew up, 1631 North Lincoln Street, and chatted with the present owner, Gus. He sent me some photos of his Man Cave, which is a far better use for the detached small house in the back yard than we were ever able to come up with. (It was the home of our washer and dryer.) Photos here. It's funny that the 1960's-looking billiards sign my Mom found at a yard sale in 1972 (forty years ago!) is still in service...

I ordered my replacement camcorder from B&H (aka "Beards and Hats" because it's owned and run by orthodox Jews in New York City). It's a Samsung HMX-F80. It takes 1280 X 720 high definition images and ought to deliver videos which are a leap in quality from my previous Hi-8mm analog unit. It comes in either silver or black. I asked Cari what color she preferred and she said she didn't care, and then suggested silver, which was my own choice. I'm kind of tired of black electronic items. When I get it, maybe I'll take it on a yard sale run to try it out, or to the next Civil War reenactment.

I've been reading really bad reviews of the new Tim Burton-directed Dark Shadows movie, which I fully expected when I saw the unpromising trailer. (Here's a representative review.) My dreamy gal pal Angela and I, both fans of the original television show, could see it coming. Tim Burton has been more or less remaking the same film over and over for the past decade or so, and we both agreed Johnny Depp is absolutely wrong for the character of vampire Barnabas Collins. (Have I ever mentioned that I really dislike Johnny "America is Stupid" Depp?)

Angela's mistake is in reading the Dark Shadows fan boards and getting annoyed with the breathless Burton-Depp sycophants posting therein. They're much better ignored. Angela refuses to watch the film. My wife wants to see it, however... but I'd just as soon wait for it to arrive on video and save the twenty plus bucks. Angela thinks that a radio show format might be the best idea for a revival, and I agree. Old timers insist that radio was better than television because you have to do the casting, costuming and set decoration in your head and therefore became a more active participant. Television is passive.

I think it's a common thread among reviewers, now: Hollywood is creatively bankrupt, and has been for years. You have to look to other countries and independents for intelligent, original movies these days.

Back to Dark Shadows: I am convinced that the best reincarnation of the original series was the 1991 television revival, directed by Dan Curtis (the series' creator and creative light) and starring Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins. A few years back I watched all the episodes in sequence on Hulu, something that wasn't really possible due to schedule interference with Gulf War specials and broadcasts. It was more than viable - it was excellent. Ignore Burton and Depp; watch these instead. But... I'm guessing that you weren't really craving for yet another production about vampires, were you?

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