Meaty Posts should start with Meat

These are the boys, the meaty boys, which have my back this week.
Last night Roberto and I finally saw "There Will Be Blood". I went in with high expectations which were completely met and then met some more. Daniel-Day Lewis earned that fucking Oscar! For those of you have either seen it or don't care about SPOILERS, here is that final scene which made me have to work very hard not to pump my fist into the air and scream "EEEEEE...YYYYUS!". It was not the only scene to have this effect!



For those of you who didn't already know, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood composed the entire soundtrack and did a magnificent job. During the very few shots where my attention may have wandered - namely broad California scenery shots - his soundtrack kept me absolutely riveted and contributed to the feeling that if I looked away, even for an instant, I would miss yet another magnificent example of What Film Should Do. Here's a clip of the music.



And if you feel like watching one of the horrors I came across in my failure to find my favorite scene, then go on ahead and do that to yourself!



Armed with what I knew going in, I very much expected the film to be evenly split between Eli the young pastor and Daniel the oil man. I should have paid more attention to the poster! This is a Daniel Day-Lewis marathon and though other actors put in strong performances, this really is all about him. He owns every scene he is in (about 90%) and you are always curious as to what he'll do next, even if it seems obvious. The charisma of his performance is such that you find yourself looking at the world through his characters own willful, misanthropic, pragmatic eyes and thus your opinion of his two more despicable acts has a way of being more sympathetic than it might be otherwise.

It's a shame we had to wait five years for another Paul Thomas Anderson film, but it was a wait that was richly rewarded. His cinematography took a film which may appear to have no need for the big screen and made that size screen borderline mandatory. Columns of oil, gritted teeth, bible thumping and other things which are not CGI muppets are presented with an intensity that matches Daniel Day-Lewis's frequent outbursts - including a part about halfway into the film where he just slaps the shit out of the sniveling young priest (which, frankly and a little sadistically I admit, I could watch on a continuous loop for some time).

So yes, this kind of plays to my "beliefs" at times and thus the final facet which the film maker has little control over - whether or not the story plays to your personal views - also fell into place. Grab your wallet and run to the theater as fast as you can!Speaking of the imaginary beast brigade, the second big Scientology protest happened yesterday in 'celebration' of L. Ron Hubbard's birthday. The Toronto protest got a decent crowd and I nabbed a few photographs. Good on the three hundred plus got out there and gave these odious shit-merchants a poke in the eye. Another protest is already planned for April 12th and I think I'll finally participate.Finally, I've recently learned of a real-life fellow who seems every bit as driven and strangely admirable as Daniel in "There Will Be Blood". His name is Joaquin Balaguer and I strongly suggest giving his wikipedia entry at least a little perusal, as he is just about the best example of a literal enviro-fascist as I've ever come across in my readings on history and politics.

More Sweding

You may recall my rambling about "Be Kind, Rewind". Well, here is a particularly fun Swede of Star Wars that my room mate bumbled across. Enjoy!

One thing I've been thinking a lot about since moving to Toronto is the whole condo rah rah rah.A lot of amateur class warriors like to hate on them due to the opulence of several complexes, mixed with the greed which is plainly evidenced by the developers at times and the occasional hint at nefarious practices to serve said greed (i.e. pressuring the city to let them bulldoze historical and/or colourful neighborhoods to build more condos). I've also heard some complain about how they have a way of blocking everyone else from the lovely view of Lake Ontario.My temp job at the moment is with Waterfront Toronto and they are all about the redevelopment of a long stretch of prime real esate. The view from various windows on their floor affords a peek at precisely the tall towers which have some folk grinding their teeth.I think this is certainly something I want to learn more about. I know that my own life aspirations tend to steer away from living in the suburbs, in a house, raising some kids etc. Generally I want to live in a central, urban location and not have to deal with the multitude of maintenance issues a house involves. This sorta lends itself to my working towards a deposit on a condo instead of a house. Now, I'll have to do pretty well for myself to afford any of the places I'm showing here. Like I said, opulence.But there is another angle that appeals to me, the environmental one (surprise!). Surely it's more environmental to stick a few hundred people into one building which covers as much land as any condoplex usually does than to spread them out across several acres of lower density housing? I think this is certainly something worth researching and wouldn't mind if anyone wants to toss in their ten cents on this one. Plus, it's not a commune or anything but I know they generally have communal areas and one could hope for a better shot at getting to know your neighbors that way then what I've witnessed in places like Kanata Lakes or the outer regions of London.Meanwhile, I continue to work on retyping and rejigging "Tonight We Fall In Love" from top to bottom. It's strange to be doing this, it's somewhere between reading ancient diary entries and chastising your younger self for doing something worse than your present self is able.

Quiet day

Holy cow am I tired but tomorrow I'm looking at a post to go with some waterfront pictures I took today. I wouldn't be writing today but I wanted to share this interesting article, which may lead to some interesting ramifications on the U.S. presidential election as well as the semi-official war on science that is being conduced in that same country.

Now I gotta go continue to sleep off the housewarming wingding in which there were...TOO MANY MEN.

TOO MANY MEN

Jesus Christ London...

...this is not a good idea!

Addendum: Ah, now I see why that picture of Patrick Swayze I used seems to be attracting so much traffic.

Round and round and round she goes

FLIPFLOP

...and you don't stop?

Well, I've found more than three days temp work and it feels pretty durn good. A permanent role would be better, but this staves off the money demons to such a distance that they shan't be distracting me as much as they have been lately.

This is good since my web series show bible got the thumbs up from my director, who is now going to run it by the producer to do a cost analysis. I look forward to finding out what may need to be cut or changed to save costs, so that I can then plow onward and write the remaining twelve episodes of the thirteen episode season. Given that it's for the web, they're going to be about ten minutes long and I enjoy the constraint.I couldn't find the exact post, but I know I've mentioned here before about how one of the first challenges I had to overcome was writing scenes that read like novels. With only ten pages to try and convey almost as much as you might have in a half hour or even hour-long program...this is not a luxury you can afford! I still am not in a position to reveal much, but when I can, I will.MEANWHILE

I cannot seem to escape these craven idols of Freddie Mercury.

Friggin' innernet!

Sometimes I still get a little dazzled by some of the absurdities of the way the internet works. Curious as to why I was getting dozens and dozens of hits today, I checked my stats to see that TODAY IS THE DAY, THE DAY WHEN EVERYBODY IS SEARCHING FOR A PICTURE OF PATRICK SWAYZE (that I used as a visual gag once).

My tits, they went up

I must admit, I'd bought into the semi-legit "common knowledge" that Torontonians are less than savvy when it comes to judging what is a harsh snow storm by Canadian standards. Having already had an anti-climax or two, I didn't take the warning for tonight seriously.

Did I get hoisted by my own petard? Something like that! The important thing is that I just damn near cracked my coccyx by slipping on fresh, smooth smooth ice. While lying on my fractured ass, I looked up at a great scene of snowfall coming down into a Kensington market alleyway. I pulled out my camera and was promptly told the battery was out.

Okay world, ya got me! Pictures tomorrow. Standing erect without fear of reprisal tomorrow.

Hardware

Remember photos? I just did...

THANKS, CHURCHY

As if the film industry isn't difficult enough, some jerk decided to help make it more difficult. The facebook group which stands in opposition to this puts it all together more thoroughly than I would, so I've copied and pasted the relevant info below - along with a recent letter to all the members. One thing I like about the group is that it provides email address for contacting the involved politicians, so that the group might actually affect something.

-----------
Canada's Tory government is using clauses hidden away in Bill C10, an omnibus piece of legislation tweaking the Income Tax Act, to set itself up as the arbiter of which films and TV programs made in Canada are offensive, or not in the public interest. If C10 passes, the Heritage Minister will develop guidelines to deny tax credits (a key part of film and TV financing in Canada) to shows that step over the line--and it's anyone's guess how the Tories will define 'decency', 'obscenity', or 'contrary to public policy'.

Will films subversive of Christianity be funded (Jesus of Montreal)? Films with teen violence (New Waterford Girl)? Films with incest (The Sweet Hereafter)? Films with explicit sex (Crash)? Films with -- gasp -- gay themes (The Hanging Garden, etc., etc.)? Films with necrophilia (Kissed)? Films with threesomes (Where the Truth Lies)? Once the Tories pass this legislation, it'll be their administrative decision.

The Tories' evangelical base is celebrating the new legislation as a victory: the Globe and Mail reports that "Charles McVety, president of the Canada Family Action Coalition, said his lobbying efforts included discussions with Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, and 'numerous' meetings with officials in the Prime Minister's Office. 'We're thankful that someone's finally listening,' he said yesterday. 'It's fitting with conservative values, and I think that's why Canadians voted for a Conservative government.' 'There are a number of Conservative backbench members that do a lot of this work behind the scenes,' he said."

Right.

What's more, most films and TV programs apply for tax credits late in the game, after scripts have been written and principal photography completed. They use the predictability of tax credits to apply for federal subsidies, loans, and Telefilm Canada grants. With the proposed new guidelines, films and TV programs with even a whiff of controversy will become risky for funders, and artists will be under strong pressure to self-censor.

Please join this group, encourage people you know to join, and WRITE LETTERS to Senators, MPs, party leaders, the Minister of Heritage, and others. You'll find contact info and sample letters below.

It would also be great if you would share your own letters on the Discussion Board, post links to relevant articles under Posted Items, and use the Wall to state your views (no flame wars, please).

Bill C10 is currently in Third Reading, which is to say that there's little time to mobilize on this. Please do what you can.

For more info, see:

Canada tax credits: strings attached (The Hollywood Reporter): http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/international/news/e3i0055cabe5256398a723f2462ae029b3c

Evangelist takes credit for film crackdown (Globe and Mail): http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080229.wculture29/BNStory/National/home

Tories plan to withhold funding for 'offensive' productions (Globe and Mail): http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080228.wheritage28/BNStory/robColumnsBlogs/
------------
Hi there,

More than 1000 people have joined this Facebook group in opposition to Bill C-10 in its first day! Please check back for news, refer your friends and networks to this Group, and keep the ball rolling.

Most importantly, though, please fire off letters, even very brief ones, expressing your opposition. Addressees could include:

* The Prime Minister: pm@pm.gc.ca

* Leaders of opposition parties:
Stephane Dion: DionS@parl.gc.ca
Jack Layton: Layton.J@parl.gc.ca
Gilles Duceppe: Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca

* Your local MP: http://canada.gc.ca/directories-repertoires/direct-eng.html

* The Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO): cavco_bcpac@pch.gc.ca

* Letters to the Editor of national and local newspapers; TV and radio newsrooms; etc.

Thank you.
-------------

In the interest of fairness...

I thought I'd present this short clip about Obama.

In case anybody actually still has any doubts...

...as to whether or not L. Ron Hubbard was a money-grubbing madman....here is an authentic picture of him auditing a Tomato.They have past lives, you know.

Phew! Right then...

....it took a little longer than I expected, but I finished the first draft of the show bible for the web series I'm working on. This consisted of...

- The basic treatment (outline of the premise)
- Character Guide
- Episode Guide
- The first episode

I look forward to re-reading through it tomorrow and seeing how the assembly of all my disparate notes from the past six weeks or so looks after taking a break from squinting at all the connecting joints I was busy fashioning.

MEANWHILE

Oh ho ho ho...

Sorry for a quiet spell folks

I am currently in another script fugue! But once it's over, this means you can count on another Script-Writin' Fancy-Like entry. This particular fugue has been almost continuously accompanied by the incredible melodies from Goldfrapp's new album, which they've been nice enough to upload in it's entirety to their MySpace page. Christ knows, I just might request that "Clowns" be played at my funeral.


Uh


See you soon!

Last night I caught Be Kind, Rewind. The sweded films they have online are pretty fun! My personal favorite is the Robocop swede...

Though I rather admire how Michel Gondry sweded his own film trailer! I suggest you watch the official one first and then his.

Fire follow up

Yeah, I think maybe I was a little quick to condemn the other photographers. What went on yesterday wasn't a sign of the decline of morality and compassion anymore than it was another step towards the BLOGOSPHERE TOTALLY ROCKING THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA YEAHHHHHHHH.

I kid, I kid.

One aspect I neglected to mention was how the cold weather led to a kind of ice palace feeling - I think a real quality photo would have been of the fire rubbing right up against the ice walls created by the hard work of the firemen. But you'll have to settle for these I guess!At one point I caught a television crew on a rooftop, though the silhouette of the camera wasn't turned the right way by the time I got my shot. I couldn't lose the feeling of being a peeping tom catching another. It's a tad puritanical, but I can't quite shake the feeling that nobody should have taken pictures at all.

! (Big ol' Fire at Queen & Bathurst)

So it turns out there are some bloody gigantic fires raging only a couple of blocks from me!
--------------------
Update: So it's 2pm now and I've just gotten in from inspecting the scene for myself. I suppose it's my duty as a member of the new web 2.0 cybernation widget mo-fuck to upload them. So, without further ado and as this scene continues to unfold, here is...

AN UNFORTUNATE EVENT WHICH SO FAR HAS ONLY CAUSED PROPERTY DAMAGE, I THINK......AND THE SWEATY, HEAVILY BREATHING SCOPOPHILIACS WHO JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH!So far as I know, nobody has died or been terribly injured. Though I'm sure the store owners will see it as one, I don't see the nightly news dubbing this a terrible tragedy. So I'm not sure if I'm justified in getting a little annoyed at how I spotted at least twenty people with cameras in the ten minutes I spent taking my own masturbation fodder. I just spoke with Rob on gchat and his explanation is as correct as it is short "It's big news". The end, Mr. Brackenbury, get off that high horse (which doesn't have any legs to stand on anyways...or maybe I'm the one without legs. We're going to need a wheelchair for somebody, is what I'm getting at here).

More on this when I get my thoughts together.

I know I've said it before but...

....THIS guy is also going to touch you in places no doctor has ever found.Oh yes, it's the King of Kensington. I think they should have made him a lot fatter though, since my first thoughts were more along these lines when I first came across him.Now that we have an answering machine, I don't feel so damn pinned to the apartment while job hunting. I'm going to make a point of bringing my camera with me while taking walks and so there should be some more activity here, if only for that.Funny thing about Spadina...I remember having one of the most vivid dreams of my life, about two years ago, in which I actually had a large degree of lucid dreaming going on. In it I first found my way out of a helter-skelter downtown Ottawa and out into a snowy plain. I eventually stumbled upon a long railway track and in stepping over it I caught sight of a magnificent, golden city on the horizon. It was encased in a kind of ethereal bubble and I had to navigate this strange bridge before I could get across. Parts of the bridge rotated at random, like some demented Super Mario Brothers level, but eventually I found myself on the other side.

When I was there, I knew I was in the city I was supposed to be in. Looking ahead of me was an almost endless road which I realized my mind had stolen from Toronto - from Spadina. Along the horizon there were countless buildings from all the cities I've ever been too. I soon after stumbled into a leafy, tree filled neighborhood that was from nowhere in particular - although I felt this golden, composite city was a kind of dreamtime London. It filled me with an incredible sense of purpose and well-being.Standing to take a couple of these photographs, it all came back to me. That it was a lucid dream made the flashback all the more vivid. I wouldn't say I felt like I was standing with one foot in my dreams and on in reality, but maybe I enjoyed an instant of being one step beside that.

--------

Addendum: This is bloody fascinating and has gone a long way towards restoring my sense of curiosity in what archaeologists might find next.

So er uh what's up with that Oliver guy?

Kensington Rooftops

I live!

So yes, the last week and especially the last few days have been total chaos from waking up in the morning until going to bed in the morning. But now I'm on the other side of things, life is much improved. I have a free chair with a desk (not free) to work at. My room, now having my old bedside table and a new bookcase, now looks like My Room and not just some doss. I've pulled another three day temp job whose earnings have pulled me out of The Danger Zone and had a very promising interview - the kind that feels more like a friendly conversation - for a magnificent job which lay not even twenty minutes from my place.

Sleep continues to be an elusive creature, but la dee dah. Toronto is generally being pretty good to me so far and I've been able to get set up here a lot quicker than in London. For that, I'm really quite grateful.

Meanwhile, if you want to read something beautiful then you could do a lot worse than the recently uploaded, serialized tale that Daniel Clowes did for The New Yorker.

Happy...

....VALENTINES DAY!

FURNI-TURE

So yeah, I went shopping at Furni and got a bookcase which can kill even the strongest man with it's domineering presence. Tomorrow I am going to a burlesque show for Valentines! I have also got an interview with what could be a great day job all lined up, so things are generally turning up "Oliver" right now. Things'll probably be a bit quiet for the next few days as said days are rather packed, but some fun pictures and other things will crop up as soon as they can.

--------

Addendum: I thought that the "Furni" website was some left over promotional gag from Fight Club - but apparently a couple of dudes ripped off the name and made a real company that is analogous to the IKEA (where I actually went) spoof.

Macro to Micro

SCRIPTIN' FANCY-LIKE: It's a big, overly detailed world

Right then, the other night I watched a film which bears some broad similarities to a project I am working on. It was last year's Children of Men. If you don't want to risk spoilers, you'd best stop reading now.

Watching it has helped remind me of my priorities for a project of mine which also takes place in a near future with a dramatically altered world stage. I must confess to having almost entirely fallen into a trap I knew would be a danger with such a script...I became obsessed with world building, with the macro, with the background...and neglected the story! Good thing it's not too late.

A nit picking obsessive could take some real gripes with Children... and on the surface, that nit picker might not seem so much of a narrow minded idiot. There is no explanation for why children have ceased to be born, nor is there ever any explanation for why one woman - a MacGuffin/character hybrid if there ever was one - is suddenly able to be pregnant after an eighteen year gap between her pregnancy and the last one humanity has seen. This, and several changes between the book and the film, certainly got up this person's nose.

But there is such a thing as knowing what's important to the story - what's needed to simply have a story. It's an old truism, but we really do need a compelling human connection to care about any story. Alternate history novels are particularly vulnerable to forgetting this, though there are some stellar examples of what can happen when the writer does remember. I'd also argue that these kinds of stories are even more vulnerable than usual to having plausibility tossed aside in favor of expressing a personal agenda, but I'll try not to digress!

So you get this tug of war between wanting to have a world with a unique enough hook (No new kids for 18 years and the world is falling apart) to snare people who see a trailer or read a blurb, while having that compelling human element which will maintain interest while the film is actually viewed, as well as hook those potential viewers which are not so fussed about high concepts. The latter is expertly achieved in Children of Men and even a high concept junkie like myself found himself, during the tense chase scenes, finding myself drawn in because I cared about the fate of the people I was watching - not the hypothetical fate of humanity as represented by the growing fetus inside one of them.

You have a paternal relationship between Michael Caine's marvelous character (Jasper)and the protagonist, Theo. Though you quickly learn that Theo and his former wife (Julian) have been apart for some time, something which was certainly contributed to by the untimely death of their child, they are shown as still having troubles but not having forgotten why the came together in the first place. There are only a few glimpses of their love for each other, the last of which is very wisely placed moments before Julian's death. Sucked into the individual level, you are quickly pushed back out to the macro as you are made to want to know what might threaten the surviving characters.

The same dynamic plays out with the human cargo/MacGuffin character, Kee. She's more interesting for her mouthy attitude and burgeoning friendship with Theo than her carrying the sole human fetus on this broken Earth. Removed from context, it rightly seems absurd to come out with something like "Of course she is carrying the sole human fetus, what else has she got?" - but let's face it, in a film with high concepts and higher stakes...that sort of thing is expected, for without it there would not be the story being told. It's her mouthy attitude, immature approach to her role (i.e. wanting to name the first human baby in eighteen years "Bazooka") and the development of her relationship to and with Theo that makes the viewer give two shits.

So therein lies the challenge which I must force myself to undertake, if I want my own thing to get anybody excited. Having looked broadly across geography, history, economic theory, political theory, environmental theory and even some sociology...the time has certainly come for me to shove my nose right down to the ground level and create some engaging individuals to inhabit this world. Sometimes I would, not always incorrectly, tell myself that the world needed further work because of how it's details would trickle down into those which define the characters and their immediate settings. A certain even might be the direct cause of one character's cynicism, say. But what I've needed to remind myself is that it can work the other way too, plus not all facets of an individual are shaped by the world at large. I gather that people can influence people? Personal events as well as world events, yes?

So that's that then. Next time I post on this, I'll discuss another challenge which I am currently facing and which every alternate future or history story has had to wrestle with - how to convey and prioritize the information which makes up the world itself.

------------
Meanwhile, the Writers Strike seems to be having a rather large monetary effect on the industry?

I'm not entirely sure what this is about

...but I kind of like it!

Ye Olde Scientology - The Return

I must say, I found myself wishing I was back in London today - so I could have been present for at least these two minutes of an anti-Scientology protest.

Maths

Plus: I recently tripped over a brilliant video store on Queen St. West called Suspect Video. They sell as well as rent, so it's worth going to even if you're just passing through. They have a great selection...I mean, they not only have Turkish Star Wars but they taught me of the existence of Turkish Superman.

They even have movies without Turkish in the title!

Minus: Some greasy, greased up bastards are teaching colonials how to speak in a British Accent, ostensibly, to impress the ladies.

Guys.

Guys.

That's my thing okay...

Good times on King Street West

Jorb!

Well, just some temp work...but it pays well, looks to be easy and is just around the corner. The news in Toronto is filled with stuff about a subway problem that's causing large delays and I'm all

Who cares, chumps?

Chumps care, that's who.

Given that a temp job led to a long term piece of employment when I was in England, I hope the same thing happens here. Then I can buy nice things and focus on writing, as well as other more interesting things to put here then "I hear job hunting is pretty unenjoyable. Also, do you like food? I like food"


CHUMPS
---------------------------------
Addendum

Oh fuck me, that last panel made me do a genuine spit take.

Meanwhile, it's been kind of fun being privy to Dino comics creative process. Perhaps, now that life is finally entering a stable period for the first time in months, I'll get back to my own little thing..