this y that

my daughters b-day was last week (happy birthday, sweetie). we all had a blast at her party saturday...read my wife's account (and leave her a comment!) for further evidence of how men truly never grow up (at least not this man)

read my friend gina's bio at the buzz gallery and dig her awesome work

did i just say, "dig"? yeah, you bet i did - i am one hepcat, still listening to the mjq - to paraphrase andre 3000 et al, Now what's cooler than bein' cool? Ice Cold!

i watched i heart huckabees and i am ammending my list of favorite movies to include it...where to start? great ensemble cast, very imaginative, substantive, without being didactic or pretentious, purposefully ambivalent. i will say, i don't think this movie is for everyone - but you know, i think i've been there and this movie rings true from beginning to end - and does so in a lighthearted, whisical way, that is not heavy handed - yet does not degenerate into silliness...i've watched it twice over the past few days. once regular, once w/director commentary, and will prob watch it again with cast commentary... i understand there is a special edition dvd with more stuff that i will seek out...the music is outstanding - by jon brion, who produced brad mehldau's largo (another favorite record by a favorite artist)

i half watched some of the oscars - was glad jamie foxx won - other than that - not really interested. i have often wondered why i don't *dig* most nominated movies. i mean, i am sure they are well crafted, but i have 0 desire to watch the aviator or million dollar baby. i have decided for me, movies serve the role that fairy tales do for children. i want magic and i want to be transported into another world. while most people say they want movies that are *realistic*, when i examine most of my favorite movies, they are totally *unrealistic* at least on a literal level. to use, what i believe to be gabriel garcia marquez's term, they have a sort of magic realism. too literal movies seem to be very preachy. engage my imagination and use the medium to create a world in which i can inhabit - distill experience and show me in an artful way new ways to see my world - be poetic as opposed to prosaic (my new fave word) . my 3 favorite movies of the past year - i heart huckabees, the life aquatic and the house of flying daggers - none are realistic, in one sense - yet they strike me as "real" - as the native american storyteller once said, i don't know if my stories really happened, but i know that they are true.