Terrrrrmbler

My favorite things from 2011

Man, this year went by quickly.

My favorite movies from 2011
The Tree of Life 
Le Havre 
Take Shelter
Into the Abyss
Cave of Forgotten Dreams 
Tabloid

My favorite movies I saw for the first time this year
Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company (Allan King - One of the best films I’ve ever seen)
There’s Always Tomorrow (Douglas Sirk)
Drifting Clouds (Aki Kaurismaki)
Employees’ Entrance (Roy Del Ruth)
The Only Son (Ozu)
The Browning Version (Anthony Asquith)

Records I’ve listened to most this year
Townes Van Zandt - For the Sake of the Song
Gilberto Gil - 1968
Paul Simon - Self Titled
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
Al Green - The Belle Album
Al Green - Call Me
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Quiet Hooves - Saddle Up
Bubbly Mommy Gun - Ain’t Got No Favorite Color
Gilberto Gil - Expresso 2222
Jane Birkin - Self Titled
Townes Van Zandt - Self titled
Lots of Van Dyke Parks
Harry Nilsson - Nilsson sings Newman
Brian Eno - Before and After Science
lots of various Roberta Flack
Pentangle - Basket of Light
Lindsey Buckingham - Law & Order
Fleetwood Mac - Mirage
Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want to See Bright Lights Tonight

Guilty pleasures I’ve enjoyed most this year
Skyrim
Portal 2
Star Trek - The Next Generation (I’m a real nerd)
So many others I can’t even keep track

I’m so restless lately. Things are good, but most days all I can think of is how badly I want to be on the road and filming. There’s been a lot of changes recently.

I am working on a film that I’ll be traveling a lot for. So far, it’ll take me to Florida, Alabama, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon and New York but there’s a lot more to do. It’s a movie about acting, quite literally. It’s meant to be two hours of watching lots of different performances of the same piece. It’s still a narrative film but it’s hard to describe. I hope it’ll turn out well. My role as director is pretty much to sit back and watch things happen while not really directing at all. It’s fun. A portion of it is being filmed in my old highschool, which is pretty neat.

I quit my job. I’m doing okay financially and my job started scheduling me three hours a week, so I left. I left my job to work on a movie, so that felt pretty good. A friend told me that a former manager tried to talk shit about me to her this weekend. Instead of being offended I was overwhelmed by relief to be out of there. I worked four years at the same job and someone there couldn’t even manage decency when I had to leave so that I could follow my dreams and pay my bills.

I’m either moving to New York in December or August. In December I’d be moving up without Becky and living with friends. If I wait until August, Becky and I can get a place to ourselves in either Greenpoint, Prospect Heights or Fort Green. I’m really excited, either way. I am so grateful for the people in my life here in Athens but I feel so bored being stationary and I need a change of scenery. Thankfully, most of my friends from here have moved to New York or will be doing so in the near future. All of my friends who have moved there recently have found really amazing work doing things that they love and are good at. I hope the same happens for me.

Becky and I have a really beautiful home out in the country right now. We’ll be here almost a year unless I move to New York in the next few months. It’s a pretty great place for the two of us. There’s a screened porch with a swinging bed.

Becky got a kitty. She’s very sweet and has taken a liking to Maggie.

I’m feeling incredibly rushed these days, as if I don’t have a lot of time to solidify a career before I’m too old to be starting out. I feel like there’s been a good amount of momentum in my life. I’m really lucky. I need to make sure I work hard enough to keep things moving.

Today’s google homepage is about Calder!

Bob Dylan cheese songs

So, I was talking to Jeff and Greg last night and we were trying to make cheese related Bob Dylan song titles. We didn’t think of any that were good besides the first one. Here’s what we came up with.

Tangled Up in Blue Cheese
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue Cheese
A Hvarti Rain’s Gonna Fall
Brie-ing It All Back Home

This may be the worst post I’ve ever made. Can you think of any?

Becky and I move in a month and it’s strange preparing for it. I’ve never really felt settled enough either in a place or in a relationship to make a home my own, but its comforting in a lot of ways. In a month when I’m able to sit outside in the morning and write on the table that I ate on every night growing up it will feel worth the effort I’m sure, but I’m still a bit nervous about feeling stationary.

So many of the major people in my life have moved or moved on recently that it’s hard for me to really feel the same about this town, but I still enjoy it here. I spent years building the life that I have here, but so much of that was built around going out, seeing shows and drinking with my friends that being sick for the past four months has really altered (and in some ways ended) a lot of my social life that I had grown so comfortable with. I don’t necessarily mind this in most ways as I’m feeling very good about almost every other aspect of my life and I still have plenty of friends that I love and care about, but it’s a real change not being able to do the basic things that brought me and so many of the people in my life together. Hopefully I’ll be well soon and can go to shows, play tennis, and do normal things again.

I’m trying harder to make things happen for myself right now. I realize that my failure or success is in my hands and that hard work and dedication is the only way that things will work out the way I want them to, but how to manage long term priorities with short term needs is still difficult. I’m sure every artist who hasn’t managed to make ends meet with their work by my age deals with that, but I’m trying my best given that I’m going to be in Athens at least for another year. I love living here and if I could find a way to make a living on making movies here I’d love to make it my home permanently, but at the moment all I think about every day is films I want to make, and most of that can’t be done here. I’m writing a lot and doing as much planning on this one project as I can, but as much work as I do I won’t feel satisfied until the movie is finished and my friends can see it. I’m lucky to know so many hardworking people who bust their asses everyday on the things they care about and have things to show for it (albums, photos, concerts, stores, light shows, etc). I’m trying my best and hopefully soon I’ll have something more than screenplays to show. It’s easy to feel defeated when all you have to show is something that’s written and you work a job that doesn’t treat with any respect and requires no specialization, but thank god I have friends who are so supportive of me. Hopefully soon I’ll have as much to show for my efforts as my friends have.

Things I’ve enjoyed most in the past few months

So these are things I’ve really loved this year, that I can think of off the top of my head.

Movies

Taste of Cherry - A new favorite, one of the best films I’ve ever seen. A perfect film.
Drifting Clouds - I’d say it’s the best Kaurismaki film and it is one of the most entertaining and optimistic things I’ve seen in a while.
The Only Son - Possibly my favorite Ozu. Simple and sweet like all of his films but shorter and more concise, like his silent films.
Another Year - The new Mike Leigh film, it’s GREAT. Definitely my favorite of his.
Close-Up - An incredible movie by one of my favorite directors about a person imitating another great director! Really plays with truth and fiction in an amazing way.
The Browning Version - A really remarkable movie. Years ago I imagine this would have been my favorite. Michael Redgrave is AMAZING in it.
Sisters of the Gion - A heartbreaking Mizoguchi with a pretty melodramatic ending.
Some Like It Hot (I’m a big fan of Billy Wilder, but somehow I had never seen this! I’m watching Sabrina today)
The Front Page - It’s not a great film but man is it strange seeing Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau curse and talk about sex so much in a film. “His Girl Friday” was based on the same play but they’re very, very different films.

Music

 Al Green -  The Belle Album - Probably his last great record. The production is really unique and it’s somehow both a romance record and the first of his christian albums.
Jane Birkin - Di Doo Dah - I can’t say enough about this album. It’s produced and arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier with all the music and words by Serge Gainsbourg. It’s my favorite thing that Serge or Jean-Claude did I think. 
Ethiopiques - Vol. 9: Alemayehu Eshete - Mat told me about this not too long ago but it’s great and incredibly distinctive. I’ve never heard another record that sounds like it.
Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 - Not to rave about production again but it’s the best sounding Sabbath record and it’s just so much fun.
Bruce Springsteen - The Promise - Recorded around the time of Darkness on the Edge of Town so if you like that, you’d like this.
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love - I wish I had this record in high school because it would have been something I listened to all the time.  
Michael Hurley - Blueberry Wine: The First Songs - Hurley’s first album, I’ve had it for a while but it’s been only recently that I’ve put a lot of time into this one.
Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece - Neil tried to tell me about this one for a while and I didn’t listen until recently, but it’s so great! Definitely dad rock, so proceed with caution if you’re not into that kind of thing.
Roberta Flack - First Take - Far from a perfect record (or even a great one) but her voice is in its prime here and it’s so beautiful hearing her. The version of “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” on this album is one of the nicest things I’ve ever heard.
Paul Simon - Paul Simon - I wouldn’t have believed that my most listened to album of the year thus far would be Paul Simon, but it’s really an incredible record. Mother and Child Reunion, Duncan, Armistice Day… there’s so many amazing songs on the album and it’s a great record for summer. I recommend it to everyone. I’m writing too much bahhhhhhhhhhhhhh