Art is in the Voices

I have always been fascinated with the process of creation - in particular I am drawn to the deconstruction of the process. Whether the topic is music, film, and art (in all it's various forms) - listening to an artist who is able to speak coherently about their process is a rare and wonderful thing.

Much to Joey B's chagrin, I watch film commentaries constantly to get an insight into all of the elements that went into the final product. I even once attempted to watch the Director's Commentary on a Hilary Duff movie (to see if even a bad movie could be rendered more interesting - in this case the answer was a resounding NO). I would, however, recommend listening to the Director's commentary on "American Beauty" - it is the gold standard of commentary in my opinion. But I digress.

Earlier today, I stumbled across this video on the Etsy blog where an Artist describes her work and her career path. I was incredibly inspired by her passion and her bravery. I hope you will be too.

CrazyBeth Strikes Again...

Just got a voice mail from Ianovich about today's episode of The View. Apparently, when discussing the Obama gaffe about the Special Olympics during his appearance last week on The Tonight Show, Elizabeth got so worked up that she threw water on Barbara (I'm sure it was an accident). This is all hearsay at this point, so don't quote me!

Anyway, I am scouring YouTube now trying to find the video. I'll upload it as soon as I can.

UPDATE: Here it is, though as a caveat, I have been running around from one crazy meeting to another today and haven't had a chance to view it. I will watch it tonight and post my comments then.

The Sky is Grey...

I have an ongoing love affair with the 1970s documentary "Grey Gardens." I saw it first during a film class during college and, for days afterwards, I thought constantly about these two sad, lonely women who were trapped together in their dilapidated mansion on Long Island. I couldn't get them out of my mind. At the time the movie depressed me horribly, but in time I came to appreciate them as as the quirky, but entirely lovable, women they were.

I am thrilled to report that a biopic (also called Grey Gardens) is coming out soon starring Drew Barrymore as Little Edie. My excitement comes, not only from the subject matter, but also from the fact that one of my film school mentors, Ms Patricia Rozema, co-wrote the script.

For those of you not familiar with Rozema's work, I encourage you to see "I've Heard the Mermaids Singing" and "When Night is Falling" (my personal favorites)... I didn't see Kitt Kittredge, so I can't really recommend it.

She is an incredibly talented director and writer and I am jazzed that she is involved in this project. Take a look at the trailer and let me know what you think.

The Bad Touch

Today's New York Times had an article titled, "Sex, Lies and Photoshop" about the amount of retouching that occurs in today's magazines, and how hard the magazine industry is fighting to keep it all on the down-low.

I'm sure everyone has bigger fish to fry, but I would love for someone to step up and hold magazines to the same level of accountability that they do advertisers, pharmaceutical companies, hell, even cigarette manufacturers. Unlike these businesses mentioned, who must diligently report side effects, special effects and any tampering whatsoever, magazines do not have to report (or in any way acknowledge) that an image has been retouched. The rationale being that re-touching falls under the heading of artistic license. Ridiculous!

The fact is that these magazines make millions of dollars selling a beauty ideal that doesn't exist. The women in these photos (already genetically aberrant) are then slenderized, their eyes enlarged, their limbs lengthened, their teeth whitened and their skin rendered flawless. If the photo manipulators wanted to hang that on a wall in a gallery - that would be artistic. But, as we all know, these images aren't meant to be artistic in the classic sense (with some notable exceptions, Annie Liebowitz and Helmut Newton spring to mind).

The negative ramifications of the increasingly unattainable images in these magazines have been repeatedly pointed out in the sky-rocketing rates of eating disorders and body dis-morphia. I am not asking the fashion industry to change their methods, I am asking for a small asterisk on the bottom right hand side of the page stating, "Photo has been retouched". Why is that too much to ask?

On The Watch II

I had a very wonderful, and frenetic weekend.
Saturday started with a massage and shave at HALO spa for men in the Gold Coast, followed by lunch with Joey B at Red June and then book shopping at Shake, Rattle and Read. We then spent the rest of the afternoon reading/relaxing and then ordered a delicious Thai dinner and watched SNL (was it just me or was the whole cast super AWKWARD????)

Sunday morning we had brunch at Tallulah and then went to the Davis to see "The Watchmen".

The movie was pretty much in line with what I expected. It was visually stunning, the violence could have been rendered a little less graphically for my tastes (but I'm definitely not the primary audience for this flick) and it ran just a bit too long - I would have cut maybe 10-15 minutes out to speed up the pacing which, when you consider that it's a 2 hours and 43 minutes picture, isn't really a lot to lose.

I thought the acting bordered on the cheesy occasionally, but on the whole I walked out very satisfied. I may even venture over to see it at the IMAX - this is a movie that should be seen on the largest screen possible.

After the film, Joey B and I did more reading/relaxing had calzones for dinner and then watched the Celebrity Apprentice. Actually, looking back, my weekend doesn't seem so frenetic after all. I guess you had to be there.

Be Loud and Proud

Fellow residents of Illinois, Take Note:

The Domestic Partnership bill has passed committee (in a slim 5-4 vote) and will be going to the House of Representatives.

I am asking everyone who is willing to please call, email (ie contact) their representative and let them know that you support equal rights in Illinois.

Of course, in typical Illinois fashion, the opposition is complaining that this is just marriage under a different name (which is the same argument the opposition in other places use to try and get domestic partnership bills through so that they won't have to *shock*shock*shock* provide equality to all citizens by granting them the right to the word.

This issue affects you, or someone you know and care about. Please be loud, be heard, be vigilant. In the words of Joey B's favorite chant from "Day without a Gay, "Obama. Obama. Let Momma marry Momma!"

Yes We Can!

Here is a sneak peek at Alexis Bledel as WWII icon Rosie the Riveter from the upcoming issue of Glamour Magazine.

I really miss seeing her face and I'm glad that she was chosen to participate in a center spread, with fellow young "Hollywood Starlets" recreating iconic images of women.

It has been quite a Gilmore Girls Alumna couple of weeks. First Lauren Graham in the New York Times, then Kelly Bishop on last night's Law and Order (defense Lawyer) and now the divine Ms, Bledel in Glamour.

Life is good.