So while I was driving back from Camp and the family reunion every July 4th in Central Maine, I listened to my wife's IPod and heard Man or AstroMan?

The wife has been getting into Tenacious D and there is only so much I can listen to of it ...

But it made me think how great Man or Astroman were at Pomona College in 2001 and think of my favorite live shows ever.

There are two artists I saw twice both were awesome live.

One is the immortal legend of Rock and Soul, Ray Charles .. once in New Brunswick, NJ at the State Theatre (around a 2,000 seater) in an amazing about 75 minute set ***** .. One of the great shows I ever saw .. I think it w as in the mid-90s? ...

Another was later in Ray Charles's life in a free show outside in Pasadena, CA in 2001 ... It was a fun show but not as amazing **** ... I think its awesome I saw one of my favorite performers of all time live twice.

Another group who was ASTOUNDING live is Living Colour (Cult of Personality is their big single) .. I saw them once at the University of Chicago in Fall 1993? at Mandel Hall, in a 1,000 seat theater usually reserved for classical shows ... Just awesome and insanely great ... Had a "seat" in the pit and had an absolute blast .. One of the best shows ever ***** ...

I also saw them before my really bizarre trip to London in the Summer, 2001 in North London .. They were brilliant there too but the crowd acted posh, and distant ... I loved it though, and thought it was awesome I saw they were in a show in the free paper ****

Other great shows were Lollapolloza 2 at the JFK Stadium Grounds, Philadelphia, Summer 1993 ****1/2 .. A wonderful, hot exhausting show, with Tool, Dinosaur Jr, Fishbone ... Was in the pit a good 5 hours before I just had to get water...

Another was U2 in the Summer of 1992, in the ZOO TV tour, at the floor of Veterans Stadium, Philly ... I had seats about 8 rows away in the acoustic set at the end of a long runway .. Great stadium show *****

Also the Little Steven Underground Rock Festival at Randalls Island, NYC in August? 2004 ... Great show, the Misfits and MANY others were great .. Do wish there was more then one stage ... Lots of fun ... Would have saw Iggy Pop if I wasn't there for 12 hours already, the Strokes didn't play WAY too loud (posers) and there wasn't a hurricane warning out ... And of course the wife wanted to go home .... ****

Awadagin Pratt (classical pianist) given ticket at Mandel Hall, Chicago, 1993 ... ****1/2

BB King blues festival, Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ .. mid-1990s? ... .Buddy Guy was unbelievable so was Koko Taylor (also saw her at the U of Chicago) .... Fun show ****

Also saw Paul Simon live twice (once at the concert in Central Park ****) and once with Bob Dylan in Holmdel ****

What are some of your favorite shows ever?

ecq

Progressive Series on DVD .. and two excellent film reviews ...

I have gotten very in to Lost by watching Season 1 on DVD .... And since Alias had its series Finale tonight, against 24's season finale .. I was curious what people thought of watching these complicated shows that make more sense when you see the entire program, not just bits and pieces ...

Its funny, I watched Lost briefly with my wife during the premiere and didn't get into it ... It has been an absolute joy however to watch on DVD ....

I also saw two very good movies this week ...

One was Match Point **** .... Woody Allen's best movie in many years .. possibly since Crimes and Misdeamors or Even Zelig and The Purple Rose of Cairo .. The acting was great, the script very interesting .. Johnathan Rhys-Meyers was much better then I thought he could be, Emily Mortimer was very cute and quite adorable .. and Scarlett Johnansen is absolutely gorgeous ... Very good film .. Highly recommended ...

What I also liked about "Match Point" is that it didn't star Woody Allen, or even really have a pseudo-Woody (like Branagh in Celebrity .. or the DREADFUL performance by Jason Biggs in the Horrendous Anything Else 1/2*) .. .Very interesting surprising movie .. Catch it when you can ...

I also saw the spellbinding and powerful movie "City of God" **** ... This movie is beautiful, brilliant and heartbreaking ... Really awesome cinematography and very good acting ... Although I thin this would be a hard film to see multiple times ... I would love to see more by this Brazilian director ....

Also looking forward to Rites of Spring this Wednesday-Monday in the Berkshires .. Can't believe I will be there in 36 hours )) .... Vacuumland is over, and the next challenge awaits ...

blessed be ...

ecq

p.s. Read my poem and co-read a children's story "Toot and Puddle" at Church on Sunday as part of a service I helped create ... I had people actually clapping at the end of the children's story .. That was an absolute blast!

Saw some more movies this week, and also watching the first disc and a half of Lost Season 1 ...

The first thing I will review is "Lost" .. Its quite good, very interesting, very rich ... Excellent show which I want to keep wanting to know about .. I really like the hunter w/ the wheelchair, the hot female criminal, and the big guy ... good show ***1/2 ...

Then there is Waters famous .... "Pink Flamingos" .. John Waters (1972) movie of disgusting things ... It was OK .. ** ... I liked the Waters commentary on the DVD better then the movie itself... I am glad to say I have seen it though, I definitely can't recommend it though ... It was bizarre though.

I have also seen "Good Night and Good Luck" .. It was most deserving of an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, and Best Actor for David Straitharn .... **** .. An excellent movie well worth seeing, I could easily see it as a companion to Miller's "The Crucible" and of discussing 1950s politics, would be an excellent movie to see for students ... It is also quite enjoyable ...

I also resigned from the vacuum gig, the job literally makes me sick, and its time for the next thing .. Unfortunately I think it will be another McJob ...

Wish me luck, its time for me to get fulfilling work .. A much more difficult challenge then we were led to believe in school, or by the "knowledge worker" revolution talked about in Robert Reich's "The Work of Nations" or the late Peter Drucker's "Post-Capitalist Society" ...

I think I just might make the plunge and become an academic .. .also check out my poetry from the last post ..

ecq


There is also one more thing I want to review .. the absolutely brilliant book of living with the "Worst Dog in the World" .. Marley and Me ... ***** .. It is absolutely great, if you have ever loved a dog especially ...

Just a warning though, its going to pull at your heartstrings and might make you want a dog again .. If you love dogs, despite how crazy they can be you should most definitely read this at the Library, Bookstore, or borrow it from a friend ...

Its just great ...

e. charles quinn

12 Monkeys .. ***1/2

Saw Twelve Monkeys Again ... wife rented it on her netflix queue ... ***1/2 .. really interesting movie .. possibly Brad Pitt's best acting performance ...

.. I also really do love how the plot keeps circling itself .. a very good movie ...

Listened to some of Gilliam (and another's) commentary and it seemed reasonably interesting.

A film quite worth seeing if you haven't seen it before ...

Not quite as good as Brazil, but you do wonder what could come next in the movie, like the great Brazil *****(my favorite movie) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail ***** (possibly the funniest movie ever made) ...

Tarnation, Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition Remix (PS2 game), Naked Gun, and Oldboy reviewed today ... All are very good and VERY VERY VERY different.

First Midnight Club 3 .. .I rented this like 9 months ago for over a month .. I almost bought it then but couldn't afford it ...

This game is utterly fantastic.... There is brilliant cars, difficult races, and lots and lots of fun .. the music is wonderful too ...

My favorite game for PS2 and one which will be played for many many hours .. >I love that it is street racing too ... ***** .. Superb! ...

The greatest hits version is 19.99 and includes a few more cars as well as a new city, Tokyo .. Excellent Game!

Naked Gun is one of my favorite films growing up and I think the film I have seen most ***** ....

I have seen this movie probably 30 times but not in a while, I find it absolutely hilarious and just loads of fun .. If you like Airplane and such you have probably seen this, if not see it now.


Tarnation is one of the most unique movies I have ever seen. Its a hard movie to review ***1/2 ... The movie was made on IMac on IMovie with many old home movies and such.

I am very very happy not to be Johnathan Collette, if you enjoy documentaries, and want to see a film about a tough childhood, and a mother who may have gone crazy by shock therapy, this is a very interesting movie. It is also a very challenging one... Not for everyone, but a brilliant, difficult film.

The third movie I am reviewing is "Oldboy" ... This is a Korean film that I heard excellent things about... It is a movie that is also very tough to review without spoilers...

The main character in this was acted outstandingly and the film took turns I completely did not respect.

There are many issues of imprisonment, revenge and voyeurism in this movie.... It is fascinating and the main actor reminded me of Kuroshawa's great actor, Mufume ... Very good movie ****

Had "Cinderella Man" rented for a while but never saw it .. .the first 5 minutes looked eh .. will see it eventually ...

e. charles quinn

Oscars ... A Rant

I think John Stewart did a very good job, much better then I thought he would ...

It was also very very odd to see Ben Stiller's package in a green jumpsuit.

Why oh why for the love of god, are they playing music DURING the beginning of the speeches ...

It is so mean, and annoying ...

There were so many bloated tributes on this show, why cant they give the winners 2 minutes to speak ...

Good speeches especially by Clooney and the foreign film winner ...

Was also lovely to see how nervous Philip Seymour Hoffman was ...

Next year director and Conti .. let people talk ...

Ang Lee just won for Brokeback Mountain, I bet he will win for Best Picture now too ...

Even the music over Ang Lee ... Never started the speeches with music before... I cannot say how annoying this is.

I do need to see Brokeback Mountain too, have only seen Crash among the best picture nominees ...

Walk the Line still my favorite movie of the year *****

WOW Crash won for Best Picture.. Its the only one of the nominees I have seen ...

I will be interested to see what Haggis writes or directs next after Crash **** and Million Dollar Baby **** ... Two straight Best Pictures written ...

Congratulations Paul Haggis and Crash...

edmund davis-quinn

p.s. How for the love of god did the cut off the Best Picture speech .. I really hope they fire the director Horovitz and Bill Conti for that ... That was simply atrocious ...

Two three star movies with great acting performances .. neither easy to watch .. "The Lord of War" and "Love Liza" ...

Just saw "Love Liza" today *** ... Philip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant in it, in one of the most depressing movies ever ... Man is Hoffman's character sad .. [spoiler] You would be too if you lost your wife .... and friends don't let friends huff gasoline [/spoiler] .. the movie was hard to watch but really wonderfully acted ... I really like Philip Seymour Hoffman a lot, but still rooting for Jouquin Phoenix for his amazing portrayal of Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line" my favorite movie of 2005. *****

Second, Lord of War ... I also saw "The Lord of War" on DVD this week .... *** ... Another great performance by Nicolas Cage as one of the great salesmen ever .. .illegal guns are his trade ...

Interesting movie, its tough what to think of someone who give guns to help make African Civil Wars bloodier. His moral ambuguity was both interesting and hard to watch. Cage's character is not the most likeable person in the world, but it is a great performance. Like "Love Liza" .. it is not an easy movie to watch. But I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Its amazing how close the nominees are between the Independent Spirit Awards and the Oscars this year and that the Best Actor/Actress were Hoffman and Huffman .... I have also never seen so few best picture nominees .. I have only seen "Crash" which I enjoyed a lot ****....

edmund davis-quinn

Primer/ Gunner Palace

Reviewing 2 very different movies today...

1. is Primer ... This is one of the most interesting debuts I have ever seen ... It does not have the clearest narrative ... **** ... It is a movie about time travel, discovery and causality ...

Here is a short discussion ...

I really enjoy this movie ... yes its confusing, yes some of the sound and camerawork isn't perfect .. but its really interestign and involves engineers tinkering that find something they don't expect ...

It would be very interesting if they could go farther back then they thought they could ... Basically in my mind things got weird and when they tried to fix it things got weirder ...
.. i think seeing the subtitles helps too ...

I really enjoy this film and it was the second time I saw it ... ***1/2 ...

I would be very curious to see what else Shane Carruth does with more then $7,000 .....

Here is a plot explanation of the movie .. I will put the website in spoiler tags ...

http://www.francisshanahan.com/detail.aspx?cid=375

This movie is very interesting, very thought provoking, and intriguing ... the narrative is not completely clear but very very interesting .. .would love comments ...


The other film I am reviewing right now is TOTALLY different. Its Gunner Palace, a documentary about a unit that was stationed in Uday Hussein's old pleasure palace in a hostile neighborhood called Adamihya, which the US doesn't control well ... It has around 300 troops stationed and basically acting like cops trying to find insurgents in post-"war" Iraq.

This movie deals with the fact that most soldiers are very young and that in Iraq, the main armed conflict and taking of Baghdad is/was much, much easier then winning the peace. I do hope Iraq finds stability, but there were many errors made in Gulf War II... Chief among them was the immediate dissolution of the army and police and not protecting Baghdad's cultural treasures.

Its an interesting film, and i enjoyed it. There is one really interesting cat out of Colorado that plays a great guitar and some good freestyle rappers.

This movie took me a few tries to get into .... ***

that it for now.

E. Charles Quinn

Inside Deep Throat

***1/2

The version I rented was the "R" rated version from Blockbuster Online. This movie was released at NC-17.

First, I am happy to report the movie was 88 minutes long not the 60 minutes shown on the envelope and at Blockbuster Online.... I had a huge rant on SG about this being 30 minutes shorter in the edited version. I am very happy this is nearly the full film.

I was shocked to realize this movie grossed $600 million dollars. It also changed the way erotica/pornography was treated in this country. This battle of censorship is the main thrust of the picture.

Since the $25,000 budget of this movie was partnered with mafia money, the stars got almost no money ($1250 for Linda Lovelace and $250 for the male star) and the director got bought out early on. The mob got most of this money, and I think if it was going to be prosecuted it should have been under racketeering not obscenity.

Really well made documentary, excellent special features, all of the shorts are fun to watch, and the commentary seems very good although I have not finished it yet... The main commentary has lots of interview excerpts that didn't make it in the film.

I really do wish that "dirty" pictures and mainstream movies had merged more in the early/mid 70s ... Most of the erotica made today is not in the same class as a "Deep Throat" or a "Devil in Miss Jones 1/2" ... Devil and Miss Jones 2 being my favorite erotic film mainly for the comedy (****1/2) ...

A very good movie, very well directed about one of the biggest censorship battles in American history. I would love to say that censorship is dying in this country, but in the Bush adminstration there are new crackdowns.

America should never forget that the first amendment is the core of the nation.

E. Charles Quinn

100 Things about me ... I got this idea from the fantastic blog Mainely Midge ....

http://mainelymadge.typepad.com/mainely_madge/

1. I am a night owl.

2. I am a media junkie.

3. I went to Rutgers University

4. I am listening to ITunes right now .. Doors in Concert .. I used ITunes once more when I wrote my novel.

5. I wrote 56,000 words in November for No Filter but have wrote much less in the last 2 months.

6. I am a HUGE Rutgers sports fan.

7. I will listen to Rutgers football, and womens and mens basketball on the Web Radio ... http://scarletknights.com, http://nj.com/wor (mens basketball and football) and http://nj.com/wrsu ...

8. I look at http://nj.com/rutgers nearly every day to see if there are any stories about my alma mater ....

9. I really like the website Suicide Girls .. I started it to enjoy the women .. I have kept at it with the discussion groups.

10. I run the Non-Fiction, Documentaries, and Basketball groups on that site ...

11. I compulsive rate things and love to make lists.

12. I loved hearing about Nick Hornby's character make lots of lists in the book "High Fidelity"

13. I am a Philadelphis sports fan

14. I love the phillies

15. I majored in Political Science and am one credit short (a world history (the class is China's Foreign Relations) from a second major in history...

16. I have an MBA ... I have gotten much from it except debt ....

17. I loved Claremont .. Went for an MBA there and became more of an academic and less interested in money.

18. I love my wife Lanna dearly ...

19. I love seeing my cat Hunter "Socks" Thompson post in his kitty blog .. http://huntersocksthompson.com

20. My favorite movie this year by far was "Walk the Line" *****

21. My original review for "Walk the Line" was ****1/2 .. I need to think about a movie before I can give it ***** ....

22. I hated that Peter Travers of Rolling Stone went away from the 5 star reviewing system which they still use on LPs ...

23. I prefer saying LP to CD

24. I love vinyl

25. I collect things

26. I find it hard to pay full price for a book .. but if its a quarter I will grab lots of them.

27. I have difficulty throwing away newspapers ....

28. I seriously want to read every article and will even if the paper is years old ...

29. I sometimes feel more comfortable in academia then the real world...

30. I wish I traveled more ...

31. I have been to Oxford, London, Geneva, Moscow and St. Petersburg .. As well as Monterrey, Mexico ...

32. I have also been to Tijuana, Ensanada and Mexicali but hardly consider that leaving the US...

33. I honeymooned in Quebec and Montreal ...

34. The best meal I had on that trip was in a small resteraunt in a strip mall about 8 miles east of Trois Riverois ....

35. I wish you could drink in public

36. I love beer.

37. I have a beer blog .. http://mainebeerguy.blogspot.com

38. I love Maine beer but wish there was a store that had lots of non-regional beers ...

(a break)

39. The Great Lost Bear in Portland is one of the great beer bars in the world ...

40. My other favorite beer bars are Lucky Baldwins -- Pasadena, CA ...

41. The Old Bay Resteraunt -- New Brunswick, NJ .. home of Rutgers University (BA Political Science '98)

42. The Blind Tiger Ale House -- Greenwich Village, NYC

43. I stay awake much too late ...

44. The Great British Beer Festival was going on a ten minute walk from me when I was in London but I didn't go ... I immediately regretted this ...

45. I love the song "Happy Happy, Joy, Joy" from Ren and Stimpy

46. I have bought DVDs of seasons of the Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, and Ren and Stimpy but rarely watch them....

47. I love all of these shows.

48. I have been to a few big concerts in my life .... Genesis -- 1991 (after junior year of HS) .. U2- During the Zoo Station tour (I believe 1992) on the floor of Veterans Stadium

49... I am listening to "One" off the "Achtung Baby" album right now which I heard Bono and Edge do acoustically about 5 rows from me in the Miss America type catwalk in the middle of Veterans Stadium.

50. I liked old Veterans Stadium ... I saw a few Phillies games there and always loved the 70s multi-purpose stadium ...

51. I saw David Cone get 20 strikeouts against the Phillies while he played for the Mets and rooted him on the whole way ...

52. My favorite baseball park I have been to is Wrigley field

53. I loved the big urinal trough at Wrigley ...

54. I go to minor league games now since I went to a Trenton Thunder game about 5 years ago ...

55. I have never been to a hockey game

56. I plan to go to a Portland Pirates game soon..

57. I live in Westbrook, ME just West of Portland, ME

58. I misss NYC sometimes .... There was so much to do there...

59. NYC frequently exhausted me

60.. My parents recently moved to Allentown, PA but still consider them living in NJ ...

61. I grew up in Skillman, NJ just north of Princeton

62. I cheer on the Princeton Tigers, although not as much as the Rutgers Scarlet Knights

63. I watched the Tigers beat UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on the Princeton Campus at the old student center

64. I think Princeton University's Chapel is one of the most beautiful churches in the world ...

65. My kitty thinks the Christmas tree is the best toy ever and loves to roll the ornaments around

66. Luckily we have very few breakable ornaments...

67. Its January 23rd and the tree is still up

68. The most beautiful church I saw was a small one adjacent to the Tetrikiaov Gallery in Moscow, Russia ...

69. Another stunning church inside was St. Paul's Cathedral, London

70. I started University at the University of Chicago ... Gray Gothic looks lovely in the summer ...

71. There is not a worse place to be depressed then wintertime at the University of Chicago .. Gray Gothic is really depressing on a cool winter's day ...

72. I love the blues

73. I was under 21 when in Chicago and didn't go to nearly enough blues clubs ...

74. The Blues and Beer celebration at Chicago at Ida Noyes Hall was the best festival of its type I ever went to .. I love just having 4 bands play on 3 floors...

75. I was a virgin until 23.

76. I met my wife over the internet .... I was on nerve.com/ and she was on bust.com (Spring Street Personals)

77. I went to Lollapalooza 2 and was in the mosh pit for 3 hours ... That was fun ...

78. Living Colour is one of my all time favorite live bands .. I have seen them twice .. Once at Mandel Hall, University of Chicago in 1993 .. once in London in July, 2001 ...

79.. I love the web comic Questionable Content ... http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1

80. Me and Lanna (my wife) moved from NYC in January, 2005 .. We haven't been back since ...

81. Boston is only 2 hours away but for some reason Monson, ME (31/2 hours away) seems closer ...

82. I was married in Monson, Maine on July 3, 2004 ... the town where my wife grew up ...

83. I was married outdoors with a Pig Roast and DJ equipment lent by a friend ... I would recommend this to anyone

84. The minister who performed at our wedding was excellent .. and it was her first time performing at a wedding ...

85. I thought I would only do 25 of these at a time but up to number 85 ... cool ..

86. I have a feeling I will do more then 100 of these

87. My favorite film all time is Brazil...

88. My kitty loves playing fetch with furry mice ....

89. My cat is an indoor cat but travels very well ...

90. I interned at the NYC Fringe Festival 2003 .. .and saw about 30 pieces of theatre .. . I wished I did it in 2004 ...

91. I was interning at the NYC Fringe Festival during the 2003 blackout while the show Pinafore! (a gay take of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "HMS Pinafore) was going on .. the troupe finished the first act at the Christopher Street pier it was awesome...

92. I played Pedro (one of the muletters) in "Man of La Mancha" at Bar Mills Playhouse this summer ... It was one of my first times doing theatre and I loved it ...

93. I have done stand up a few times and killed and bombed .. When I have done well it was off the cuff and went a long time ...

94. One of these times was in HS (Junior year) at the Man of the Year contest, one was after Rutgers cancelled a game vs. #1 UMass because a student (one) sat in the center of the court..

95. This student was called "the Rosa Parks of Rutgers" by Newsweek .. but she probably shouldn't have been allowed on court with 8,500 students watching Rutgers leading the #1 team in the country at halftime .. especially considering she probably didn't pay for her seat...

96. I have difficulty letting certain things go ...

97. I think I want to go back to school but I am not sure for what.

98. I declared bankruptcy before the law changed.

99. I can't believe they are eliminating the Estate Tax (the main reason for such foundations as the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, creation of universities, Carnagie Foundation ...) at the same time they are eliminating the ability of people to simply forgive debt without credit card counseling

100. I couldn't believe how easy it was to go before bankruptcy court .. the whole thing took 2 minutes...

101. I wonder if I would make a decent lawyer.

102. I wonder if I should have went to Sloan for my MBA instead of Drucker (had a 700 GMAT)

103. I wonder about a lot of things.

104. I am having trouble editing my book .. I actually think its pretty good ...

105. I was a College Republican .. but now despise George W Bush ...

106. I was pretty sure the Iraq "war" would be easy but the peace extremely difficult before the US invasion

107. I think the documentaries "Control Room" and "The Corporation" are absolutely brilliant ...

108. I wanted to be a writer when I was in 3rd and 4th grade ...

109. I have some non-fiction in me and need to figure out how to write it.

110. I love the number 111 .. three consecutive numbers and stuff..

111. See I went 11 over ... I subscribe to the Financial Times but don't really like it (free from airline miles)

112. Can't stop typing .. I will add pennies to tips to come up with cool numbers .. ie 11.11 or 17.76 ...

113. I love making lists .. and would heavily recommend the Von Iglefeld series by Alexander McCall Smith

That was a lot of fun .....

Blogging rocks!

Too bad you have to worry about being dooced...

Bonus reviews: Mr. Peabody's Apples(a children's book) by Madonna 1/2* .. Just crap ... boring

Syriana:

Interesting one to see after all the documentaries .. I hope all this isn't happening for oil but who knows .. Very interesting and very good movie ... My third favorite 2005 release so far after Walk the Line(****1/2) and A History of Violence (****1/2) ...

Not the easiest movie to watch .. if you enjoyed the interlocking plots of Traffic (also written by Gaghan) you will like this.

George Clooney is absolutely fantastic... Chris Cooper is very good too... ****1/4

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 04 2006 1:22 AMI just read a most enjoyable book "The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs" by Alexander McCall Smith ... ****1/2 ... I don't always finish the books I finish but this one was most entertaining.

It also has the nice aspect of only being 128 pages long ) ... I really enjoyed the eccentricity of the main character and the author winking at himself.

I also loved how I got the book .. at the UU Church of the Lehigh Valley in Bethlehem, PA they have a give a book/ take a book bookcase .. Being UUs, they often give more books (as most unitarians have 100s- if not thousands of book) then they take .. I found some good ones like this and Being There.

Got my first shipment of Blockbuster DVDs (i like the 2 free rentals in the store (games or videos) but don't like no NC-17 movies or the recommender as much as NetFlix) .. .anyway it was $1 for 6 weeks so hey .. Got March of the Penguins, The Fog of War and Control Room...

I hope 2006 is treating you all well....

ecq

1/5/6

the book is a very silly one involving someone who came up with the classic "Portugeuse Irregular Verbs" and thinks this is an unbelivably important book .. he is a german and very much thinks he is smarter then everyone else ...

Right now looking at "The Fog of War" from Blockbuster online ... Wasn't able to watch it on my main TV .. luckily I have another DVD player .. unforuntely with Blockbuster Online I have to send the DVD back anyway and wait for a new one before I get another movie ... I believe NetFlix (which is much superior) sends you a another movie immediately ...

Also rented Control Room yesterday **** .. This is an absolutely fascinating movie about Al Jazerra's coverage of Iraq II ... I couldn't believe they closed the CentCom media center after the "mission accomplished" in early 2003 ...

Its been almost 2 years later and the Iraq war still isn't over ....


Hard to tell from the movie how one sided the coverage was, they definitely showed more Iraqi wounded and killed, but it seemed relatively even. Also fascinating to see parrells made with the Isreali-Palestian Conflict


...

A most interesting movie .. and I quite liked the young Lt. at CentCom ... I liked that he was learning through the experience ... Highly Recommended...

Watched "The Fog of War" and still watching the deleted scenes (already almost 30 minutes of them) .. Absolutely fascinating look at McNamara and the politics on the LBJ-Kennedy era .. If you are interested in Cold War Politics at all you must see this ... ****1/4 ....

Just fascinating stuff ...

I also saw the very cute "The March of the Penguins." ... Antartica looked stunningly beautiful and I am very happy I am not an Emperor Penguin **** .. This will make my top 10 list I think ....

Ok so rented "Primer" next which, I have seen but my wife hasn't **** ...

I really like the nesting Time Travel and alternate reality in this ... I know some find it confusing I found it utterly fascinating...


ecq

Seeing the parents was nice this weekend also saw three movies and willing to do an early top 10 list (incomplete)

I saw three this weekend

the first and by far the best and the #1 movie I have seen this year is "Walk the Line" ... ****1/2 ... this is an amazing biopic about June Carter and Johnny Cash and has amazing performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon .. see it Now!

The second movie I saw was King Kong ... Having seen bits of this I had monster expectations .. This one was lots of fun and very bloated. The movie was better as a sum of parts then as a whole ***1/2 (#8 of the year?) ... The special effects were awesome especially Serkis as King Kong and the rest of Skull Island ...

I also saw the Chronic .. Chronicles of Narnia ... It was very weird having a main character and

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
chief weenie
as my namesake Edmund ....

The movie had nice effects and good acting but didn't really gel for me .. I give it a marginal thumbs up but **1/2 .. Lucy was well portrayed but the whole thing felt much too disney.

Without further adieu an incomplete top 10 ....

1) Walk the Line .. no doubt about it....

2) A History of Violence ... ****1/2 ... This one was very good and surprised me .. great acting by Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen among others .. the one movie I don't want to say much about ... if you have seen you can e-mail me though...

3) The Corporation (2003) .. ****1/2 ... This movie devasted me .. .Just a fascinating story of the power of the corporation and its medical diagnosis ...

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
Psychopath ... Only concerned with Shareholder Equity and Profits ...
... although not technically a 2005 release I saw it this year ...

4) SavingFace ... ****1/4 ... Although this is officially a 2004 release .. the release was very limited .. a wonderful love story about two Chinese lesbians who grew up in Flushing, Queens .. there is a lot here about family too ... WELL worth seeing ...

5) Batman Begins ... **** ... I forgot about this one .. the best of the Batmans since Tim Burton directed them ... I really liked this one ... I probably liked War of the World better save the ending ... I loved the darkness in this one .. Christian Bale really worked ... Katie Holmes less so.

3, 4 undeserved by what I have seenof 2005 releases ... I hope there are movies I haven't seen that belong here ...


6) The 40-Year Old Virgin ... **** ... Without any doubt the funniest movie I saw all year ... and lots and lots of heart ... Steve Carell is amazing in this one ... His relationship with Catherine Keener is beyond sweet....

7) The War of the Worlds ... **** .. . For the ending alone ...

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
.. how the f**k is the son still alive at the end ...
this lost half a star ... This movie spellbound me and was a better scare fest then the more critically loved King Kong ... Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning are very good as was the creature designed ..> V.V. good (maybe 3rd best of the year) without ending .. this really should be a 6-7 pick ... I have not seen some movies that might belong here like Syriana, Brokeback Mountain, Munich and Cinderella Man

8) Jarhead ... **** .. The most existential war movie ever made ... A movie about what its like to hurry up and wait .. would see anything directed by Mendes ... Tempted to say just want to keep The Corporation and Saving Face in top 10 because I liked them so much ... Gosh I forgot a lot of movies ...

9) Sin City ... The most visually inventive movie of the year ... **** ... Mickey Rourke's best performance ever ... Very interesting movie to watch ...

10) In Her Shoes ... This may well be too high .. ***1/2 ... I really enjoyed this movie .. This was definitely one I saw with my wife's consent but I really enjoyed it ...

11) .. Star Wars 3/6: Sith .... ***1/2 ... Wow do I want to give spoilers on this one... I will just say outside the lines that this was my favorite of the 2nd trilogy .. It is nearly as good as Jedi ...

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
How the heck does Anakin change so easily .. I am good .. but my wife might be hurt .. ok lets kill thousands of younglings and turn evil... Also one of the worst love stories ever ..
... Harry Potter 4 might take this spot ...

12) Fever Pitch ... ***1/2 ... A fun Drew Barrymore movie ... an odd retelling of the Nick Hornby though .. I enjoyed it but if you really want to understand the psychology of a sports fan read the book "Fever Pitch" by Nick Hornby about the horrors and joys of rooting for Arsenal Soccer Football in N. London ...

1st Honorable Mention ...

13) Kung Fu Hustle ***1/2 .. Just a lot of fun .. I enjoyed Shaolin Soccer more but well worth seeing ... Stephen Chow is a joy to watch ... Just a fun movie ...

Highest expectations not quite met ....

14) King Kong ... ***1/4 .. not sure it belongs on the top 10 at all .. .Kong was one of the great special effects creations ever and it probably deserves technical awards along with "War" ... Way too long at 3 hours 20 minutes ...

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
Why did the ship take an hour ... Not sure if I bought the romances either ... Had huge expectations and was disappointed ...



An Honorable Mention to ....

15) Murderball ... ***1/4 ... This was a lot of fun .. I loved the hardcore Wheelchair rugby players ... Well worth watching ..

I also liked .... .
16) (this was fun) Hitch .. *** .. This doens't really belong on a top 10 list at all but it was fun ... I enjoyed it ...

Please give comments and tell me more movies to put on the list ...

ecq

Yep now the list is even longer ... Haven't seen Wedding Crashers, or Penguins either

I reached the end of my book ....

Final count: 55,877 words ... This might increase if I fill in some scenes today ...

The book ended sweetly although it may have went for a few more pages without time constraints ....

It also ended up with the last day on the 4th Friday in August, 2001 not October 5, 2001 as planned...

Its been a great adventure, and I think I will write a lot more. I am really curious how the editing process will go.

Its too late for this year's Nano, but definitely do it if you can next November.

edmund davis
http://nofilterbook.blogspot.com

Here is the last excerpt ....


Here are the last few paragraphs ...

Mathilda and Timothy decided to hold each other for a few minutes, shower together, and then walk around Oxford. They kissed and then went out to the Oxford morning.

There was a story in The Independent, and a picture in the Sun, “The Magnificent Life of Timothy Higgins.” Tim and Mathilda were very happy to see it.

Tim and Math went out to breakfast outside. It was 70 outside, a little crisp and beautiful. The couple couldn’t have been happier together. They loved each other, and were blissful.

THE END

No words yesterday! After my writing dynamo this month, I did no words yesterday!
Zero.

If you wonder why, its because I had a full day in retail.

I was there from 9:15 to 6:15 with a one-hour lunch.

It was the "best sale of the year," meaning lots of customers. I also desperately need to get new dress shoes, so my feet got really tired.

By the time I was home about 6:40 I watched just a bit of the Auburn-Alabama game. Auburn was leading 28-10 and won by the same score.

I just wanted to lay down. By 7:45 I went to bed.

At 8:00 my mom called, it sounds like she totaled her car and now drives a 2001 Chrysler Concorde, I was barely there and just slept.
I kinda half got up at 12:30 and with the Kitty's urging at 6:00 .. but didn't really wake up until 8:20 am or so ....

I have choir at church today, and had to wake up after sleeping for more then 12 hours. I did get 630 words in this morning though. This means even with yesterday, I only have 700 words to 45,000 ...

I have a lot of church today, and work retail from 4-9 tonight. I should have an hour and a half to type with the Nano Mainers at Panera ...

Hopefully that will get me over 45,000 words, and I will have some energy tonight.

I still want to pass 50,000 by Wednesday.

Edmund Davis-Quinn

42,000 words


I got another 1,300 words in this morning.

The book is going very well.

I also find that I find other writing easier. I am becoming a blogging fool.

I am also applying to work as a reading specialist/ed tech III in South Portland, ME school district.

I think it would be great to work with first graders and improve their reading.Wish me luck.

This is an extra blog, my main blog is http://edmundcquinn.blogspot.com ....

I also have a blog about my book at http://nofilterbook.blogspot.com

And my wife's book blog is http://jesterfest.blogspot.com

Cheers!

edmund davis-quinn

I am now on a different page ..

http://nofilterbook.blogspot.com

This one never really took off.

edmund davis...


wow i have done over 41,000 words!!!

This is my page for my novel for National Novel Writing Month ....

Their website is http://nanowrimo.com

It is an alternate manic version of my life set in Europe from Mid-August to early October, 2001 (from the end of my Oxford class to my flight back from Rome on October 5th, 2001 of what might have been).

I am most curious if I can write 2000 words a day too.... Should be a wicked good way to get rid of writer's block.

50,000 words in a month, ... Its been done can I do it?

edmund davis-quinn