Friday evening, which is sucking

[cleolinda]

Generally I put links or ramblings into Semagic as I find/think of them, and when I have enough, I hit post. The problem with this is that the entry you start may not be the entry you feel like posting when you finish. So I've got a blithe musing on Coldplay, of all things, right after this that I wrote last night, but today I found out that my frail, 84-year-old grandmother has fallen down and hurt herself (again), and while she hasn't broken anything, she can't put any weight down at all so my mom and my aunt are having to take her to the hospital, and the spectre of assisted living rears its head once more. And she had just gotten over shingles, y'all.

So... what I wrote last night:

I have a few of the songs off the new Coldplay album--I think it's coming out June 13? Fortunately there seem to be a few songs floating around already, and so far I like what I've heard. I really like "Viva la Vida," possibly because the line "I sweep the streets I used to own" really resonates with me for some reason. I mean, you know: there are times in your life when you felt like you were at the top of your game, and you end up looking back and wondering what the hell happened to you, and how you fell down to where you are now. I don't feel like anything was taken from me; I feel like I let something slip through my fingers, and sometimes I wonder if I can even remember what a good grip on the world feels like. Which is why I like the song, I guess, because the lyrics capture that feeling, but the music is actually really beautiful and almost hopeful-sounding. And the interesting thing is that, as the song goes on, it becomes about how hollow "being king" was in the first place. So it's both about nostalgia for something you had and being disillusioned with it at the same time. Huh.

I also really like "Violet Hill." My thoughts on that are less scintillating.

Linkspam (the more ebullient bits were compiled last night), because linkspam makes me feel better:

Mom in Web bullying case turns grief into activism.

What's Up With the Mysterious Denver UFO Video?; Denver Alien Video -- Revealed!

Radiohead to Prince: Hey, that's OUR song. I love it: "Well, tell him to unblock it!"

David Cook on arranging songs, fighting the 'smug' label, and baiting cougars; David Cook on Idol's heinous group numbers and a very cool tour collaboration; David Cook Is Everything That Is Wrong With the World, Says MTV. Wait, what?

This ambivalence has less to do with my feelings about Cook the person or Cook the performer as it does with my lack of feelings about either. This is probably because I have no idea what is going on in the majority of this country, though it could also be attributed to the fact that A) I am a music journalist living in New York, B) I never listen to rock radio, C) I am sort of an elitist jerk, or D) all of the above.

[...] He has probably never cared what a blog has to say (if he's ever read one), and he likely still has an AOL e-mail address. He is a Kansas City Royals fan.

He is a Rock-and-Roll Red State. He is Rolling Thunder across the Fruited Plains. He is SUVs and flag-waving and the American Dream. He is basically the living, breathing embodiment of the overwhelming majority of people in this country, whom I do not, cannot and — let's face it — will not understand. Not ever. He makes me realize just how detached I am with reality and how unimportant I am. And that makes me sort of hate myself. And this country. Sort of.

[...]

And there are underlying consequences here that I don't want to think about. Like, what does David Cook winning "American Idol" mean for Barack Obama's chances in November? Or for ever withdrawing from Iraq? Or ending our dependency on foreign oil? I worry about these things because David Cook makes me worry.

O... kay, then.

James Frey Rewards His Saviors.

"Dunkin Donuts is one of our sponsors," idiot! "His backtracking is magical!"

The Many Coffins Of Lost, or, two fake endings ("foilers") they shot in case footage got leaked; Your Chance To Join The Dharma Initiative; 'Lost' finale may have been series' best (I don't know--last season's was pretty exemplary. Particularly the last five minutes).

JAMES MCAVOY FOR BILBO? OMG. (Jack Black is just crazy talk.)

SIX NEW STILLS FROM SUNDAY'S TWILIGHT CLIP. OH SWEET IT'S THE RUMBLE IN THE BALLET STUDIO. Yes, this is the kind of book/movie that has a prettyboy vampire-on-vampire rumble in a ballet studio. "I keep waiting for you to get really resentful that these books are so popular," my mother said the other day. "Resent them?" I cried. "They give me hope!"

Also: EW previews the first chapter of Breaking Dawn.

New HBP promo from Slughorn's party.

Indiana Jones -- a pinko?

Comics creators weigh in: Dave Gibbons On 'Watchmen' and Alan Moore; Mark Millar on 'Wanted.'

New Hulk Pictures Prove James Cameron's CGI Criticisms Were Right; New 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army Poster'; First Look: 'The Soloist' with Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx; New Gerard Butler movie: 'Law Abiding Citizen' (poster); 'Disaster Movie' Poster Predicts More 'Meet the Spartans'-Style Belly Laughs (man, that is some weapons-grade sarcasm right there).

trailer_spot: Burn After Reading, Nights in Rodanthe, Zack And Miri Make A Porno, Visitor, Last Mistress.

See a Red-Band Trailer for the Coens' 'Burn After Reading'!; Your First Look At Angelina Jolie’s ‘Wanted’ [MTV Movie Awards] Preshow Clip.

Donnie Darko sequel in the works; Berkley and Evigan Board 'S. Darko.' With which Richard Kelly is not involved. You're all dead to me.

Guess What Mystical Board Capable of Contacting the Spirits and Asking Them Trivial Questions is Becoming a Movie!

Emily the Strange is Coming to the Big Screen; 'Emily the Strange' Movie to be Based on Stickers. Aww, I love Emily the Strange.

Comments

[elisa0984.livejournal.com]

Oh no! My grandmother fell about this time last year and man did that cause a kerfuffle in the family. I hope things turn out better than you expect.

[jcipa.livejournal.com]

I hope your grandmother's okay. My grandfather's still in assisted living (his stroke was almost two months ago now)-- lots of stress.

I had never heard of Nights in Rodanthe. My family stayed in the old Hatteras Island Resort in Rodanthe before it was washed away in Isabel. Last summer, we were in Salvo. I have no idea when I'll be able to get to the Banks next, so it made me all teary to see the trailer. I plan on living on the Banks someday.

[viorica8957.livejournal.com]

The Twilight stills look terrible.

I am going to enjoy this movie so much.

[ginmar.livejournal.com]

In a ballet studio? Oh, yeah.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

As I originally said, McAvoy already made me turn pervy for a faun, might as well ruin all the mythological characters for me.

[leucocrystal]

"I keep waiting for you to get really resentful that these books are so popular," my mother said the other day. "Resent them?" I cried. "They give me hope!"
LOL. I think that's probably the healthiest attitude to adopt. Sort of like, "My God, if this can get published, why can't I?" God knows you're a better writer.

I'm trying to picture an Emily the Strange movie, but am having difficulties. I do love her, though.

Also, I really enjoyed your thoughts on the new Coldplay song! I've always liked Coldplay pretty well, sometimes very much, but Viva la Vida is quite a departure from their usual sound (but in a good way). I like that they've changed up their tune in such a way that it seems to work well across the board -- it seems a lot of people are coming in to say "I dislike/hate Coldplay, but I love this song." That's always a good sign!

[nohara-megami.livejournal.com]

"I keep waiting for you to get really resentful that these books are so popular," my mother said the other day. "Resent them?" I cried. "They give me hope!"

You know I love you right? :D

Most of the complaints about the books that I hear from random people on the net is that 'I want to be an author, but if it is possible for books this terrible to become this popular, I have no desire any longer to be a writer', so having you say the opposite makes me happy that not everyone is of that opinion.

[ginmar.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry about your grandma. *Grasping at teensy straw*...She didn't break anything, that's good, right?

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I love it: "Well, tell him to unblock it!"
Ha! That's cute.

(I don't know--last season's was pretty exemplary. Particularly the last five minutes).
Yeah, I think last season's finale should go down as one of the best of all time, simply for what it did to the series (i.e., made it awesome again). I love Lost finales, though. They're always so exciting and crazy and leave you wondering what the hell they're going to do next season.

Hellboy II looks so damn awesome.

A....Ouija board movie? O...kay. But ha ha ha ha:

I was worried a Ouija Board movie called Ouija...would be like Jumanji, in that the sun, moon, and alphabet would literally emerge from the board and trample through a house.

I hope your grandmother recovers well.

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

The image of Sawyer in that coffin gave me a fucking heart attack. :O

[slmader.livejournal.com]

I'm such a sucker for Coldplay. I adore them with the fire of 1000 suns. A lot of die hards don't like the new sound but I lurve it.

[cygnus.livejournal.com]

Donnie Darko sequel in the works

WHAT.

Hollywood, I find your lack of leaving good things the fuck alone disturbing.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Rrrgh. Skipping linkspam this time out. Just hoping GrandCleo and you are doin' better. The Interwebs tug collectively for y'all.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Wrong alien video. (http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/05/30/shocker-alien-video-is-useless/)

[trash-addict.livejournal.com]

Yes please @ Mr McAvoy as Bilbo. I read that on the train last night and almost squeed.

[gaminette.livejournal.com]

DRACO!! *joys*

[amaelamin.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard "Viva la Vida" (or, in fact, that Coldplay was releasing a new album, which may suggest that I should stop using Livejournal as my primary news source.) But I Youtubed it based on your recommendation, and I do like it--I just can't get over the impression that they're covering a U2 song that doesn't exist. Anybody? Bueller?

[darth-snarky.livejournal.com]

Oh no! My thoughts are with your grandmother. I hope she's able to recover soon.

(I can has transition?) That MTV writer is everything that is wrong with music journalism, and why I want people like that off my side, dammit. He's safe, but, well, it's fucking AI. What the hell else did you expect? Cook's safe, but Archie was boring and safe.

And he complains about Cook's "earnest, gruff, decidedly weathered voice"--a style of singing that originated with Kurt Cobain (who was definitely blue state, although the idiotic red state/blue state idea didn't exist back in the 90s).

Anyway, David Cook gives me hope. See, the performer who actually interprets his lyrics, who has a real personality--he beat out the asexual robot-boy. (And AI is a show on FOX. The whole damn channel is all about the red states, and keeping the stupid red/blue divide in place.)

And one more music thing, to this waaaay too long comment: Prince has the rights to his own performances, and recordings of those performances. So he has every right to pull his version of "Creep" from YouTube if he wants.

[ter369.livejournal.com]

"I keep waiting for you to get really resentful that these books are so popular," my mother said the other day. "Resent them?" I cried. "They give me hope!"

I see the phenomenon differently. I've only skimmed Twilight. The actual sentence structure sent me fleeing. The series' popularity demand means there will be products marketed to a lesser common denominator reading level. It's not just that the author writes with a lack of sophistication; some of her readership may be comfortable at that level. Therefore, publishers of that subgenre will pass on manuscripts with more complex prose.

I was once told by my ex-agent that novels should be written so that even a seventh-grader could understand what was going on. Well, that means Jane Eyre should be off the shelves, any time now -- even if a lot of people read it voluntarily around seventh-grade age. I tried reading the Traveling Pants series, but the prose is so: "She was a girl. She had friends. They shared a special pair of pants."

There should be a variety of target audiences for different books. I know some people read just for story events, ignoring the prose as they might ignore acting over a great character at the core. I love the Harry Potter novels, but I have to ignore the overpowering use of ellipses in lieu of actual suspense or tension through word choice; and the passive voice ("In the room was a very interesting thing") means the movie designers have free reign to fill in the blanks.

[ter369.livejournal.com]

Cleo, good health and recovery thoughts for your grandmother.

Which should be separated from snarking about arts & entertainment.

[alpheratz.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about your grandmother, hope she gets better.

Re: James McAvoy, isn't he a bit young? I didn't have a problem with Frodo not being middle-aged in the movie, but it would bother me with Bilbo for a variety of reasons.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

OMG MY ALTER EGO! (a.k.a. Emily the Strange.) I ♥ her, for obvious reasons.

I think the most fun Emily the Strange moment I had was when I went to see some friends play a little concert at Rutgers. I was wearing my Emily the Strange shirt, and my friend Tim's girlfriend (Emily), whom I had never met, opened the door...also wearing an Emily the Strange shirt. We immediately knew the other person was cool. :)

(In other things, Dave's sister bought me some Emily the Strange bookmarks once, but didn't realize it was a bulk purchase...so I have, um, about 500 of them. No, really. Maybe I should mail them out with Christmas cards next year (Merry Christmas, and have a bookmark!).

[kittenkatt.livejournal.com]

Oh noes! Your poor gramma! Hope she's aiight.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

A month ago we went down to see my cousins/grandad as a celebratory "yay, I finally have a job and can leave home" thing. It was supposed to be a special, memorable day for those reasons.

Then my 84-year-old grandfather fell down a step on the patio and broke his fall with his face. And the very worst part was that we all watched it happen and heard the THWACK as his head hit the stone paving. He tore open the ball of his thumb, wrote off his glasses and cut his head/nose. The colour completely drained from him and he couldn't speak for several minutes. I won't lie, it's the scariest thing I have ever seen.

But. He was able to go home alone that very night, he was feeling perfectly chirpy again by the morning, and the cuts to his face were only superficial. No broken nose (miraculously), no concussion. I believe his hand has completely healed by now too and he's back to his old self. Our big worry was that it would make him feel Old, especially on the back of having recently had to give up his beloved barbershop because of his breathing troubles. (Chronic asthma, and he's recently had to come off some of the steroids he took to control it because was causing recurrent cystitis - ouch.) But it doesn't seem to have had a long-term effect on him at all, though I'm sure he was a little cautious the next time he went out on that patio...

Which is all a long-winded way of saying that sometimes little old men/ladies can be remarkably resilient. Your stories of your grandmother have always somewhat reminded me of my grandfather. So fingers crossed she'll bounce back as he has.

[batmaz.livejournal.com]

My Nan had a fall too recently and she broke her foot so I know how you feel. I went around to her house on my days off to make her breakfast and lunch for her. But my nan is amazing so she's back to her normal self, holidaying in Greece and cooking meals for 9 and things. I hope your Nan gets better soon! *glomps*

Also, the S. Darko film can die and burn in hell for eternity. Please.

[tera77tera.livejournal.com]

I just realized: probably one of the most important things in life is being around the people you love ...

Paris Hilton doesn't think so ... did you see her last video? She is realy NUDE! I saw this video on BBC today!

Crazy people around us!

(http://www.parisrocksagain.com)

[somewhatmoot.livejournal.com]

http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/View.aspx?ciid=1253575

[a-little-wisp.livejournal.com]

I heard Viva la Vida and had a very similar reaction. I didn't really listen to the words at first, as I was distracted by something else, but as the song continued, I started getting this deep melancholy, nostalgic feeling - I'd say the song was written in sepia.

I listened to the words and I have to admit, I actually started tearing up; the piece really ripped right through me. People used to have such terribly high hopes for me, and my dreams were huge (my castles were built on clouds), but it's only until I actually hit college and real life that I realized just how fragile those dreams are, how fragile I am. It's amazing how far a person can fall in such a short amount of time, and how painful the disappointment from other people and from one's own self can be. "One minute I held the key, next the walls were closed on me."

Aaaagghh, I don't think I captured it right ("I don't feel like anything was taken from me; I feel like I let something slip through my fingers, and sometimes I wonder if I can even remember what a good grip on the world feels like." <-- that was gewd). But anyway, that comment was longer than I'd thought it'd be. >>

Twilight clip

[trailer-spot.livejournal.com]

I've posted the one-minute clip from Twilight (http://trailer-spot.livejournal.com/180009.html).