Today's listening: Africafunk: The Original Sound of 1970s Funky Africa; The Golden Palominos, This Is How It Feels

Here's what it looked last night when it was snowing.

Barb reminded me that I used to have a MarkieCam webcam set up so folks could see the mountains (or clouds) out the window to the west. Unfortunately, the tops of some new condos blocked the view, so (I guess in mourning) I took the cam down. I'd have to find a new place for it (maybe toward the studio space, until it reaches that looks-like-it-was-just-bombed stage three weeks into the quarter). But on a day like today just pointing toward the sky might be enough. Weather this time of year ranges from warm and damp to cold and damp to cold and dry to sunny and dry to...you get the picture. If you don't like the weather, wait a half hour. A little secret is that the weather is actually pretty neat in its changeability (though it helps to have layers of clothing and a warm place to sleep), not just depressing/gray/wet. On the flip side, a factoid that brought me up short: between sunrise and sunset today, Dec 30th (about a week after the solstice), we have eight and a half hours of daylight. THAT'S why I love people who leave Christmas lights up until spring.

Today's listening: Andrew Hill, Point of Departure; Various Artists, Dubhead Volume 2; Neil Young, Weld; various stuff by Bill Laswell and friends on Axiom records

It's snowing... little tiny flakes for now. Barb's been wishing for days. I know Joanie was praying for NO snow, 'cause she has to get herself and family down Lord's Hill and that must be a challenge and a half even with a 4WD Sub. But Barb wants it in the inner-6-year-old way, 'cause snow is cool. And hey, it's almost New Year's. We did get a white Christmas, why not?

Mark and Barb go to the movies: 21 Grams (dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) Give it up for this director: he's after the big game. Love, faith, death, guilt, endurance, meaning in a meaningless and God-less universe--they're the themes in this film the same way they were in the amazing Amores Perros last year. He also uses the same washed-out, grainy visual palette and the same intricate, fragmented story line that only gradually reveals connections of choice and coincidence among the film's characters. This is a dream cast, for sure. Benicio del Toro has the world-weary gravity he displayed in Traffic, Sean Penn the explosiveness and tenderness he had in Mystic River. Naomi Watts is as jaw-dropping in her descent from the normalcy of her contented, middle-class life to absolute desolation as she was in her transformation from the bouncy Betty Elms to the feral Diane Selwyn in Mulholland Drive. (I find her screen beauty perfect in its imperfection--like the great European actresses of the Fifties and Sixties.) This is definitely not a feel-good movie, but one that puts us through the wringer to feel how transitory (and how precious) are the loving connections that bind us. In his ability to plumb the depths of the human heart, I don't think there's a director who can touch Inarritu right now.

Here is what I wrote last night, saved as a draft--big mistake! If someone knows how to change draft to "publishable" (or just to publish) please let me know.

***********************************************************

Tonight's listening: Miles Davis: The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions, Adrian Sherwood: Never Trust a Hippy

Viewing: Scarface (1983 Version)

Here's a link to my art work.

We're clearing the pad for launch. File songs in alphabetical order (bless Scott for the always thoughtful birthday gift of alphabetiization), plug in the QY77 and come up with some drum tracks (or what the heck, some loops). Yeah!

Today's listening: The Big Beat of Dave Bartholomew: 20 of His Milestone Productions 1949-1960 ; Lounge Lizards, Big Heart: Live in Tokyo

Mark and Barb and Joanie go to the movies: Bad Santa (dir. Terry Zwigoff)

I don't know what the hell I expected. Maybe something to take its place alongside The Ref or The Santaland Diaries in my small cache of favorite Christmas-related works. And I know, Terry Z's favorite theme is that old standby, total cultural alienation. But please. If the idea of a drunk, a dwarf, and a fat kid rolling around on the floor in pain after clubbing each other in the vamily jewels leaves you in stitches, this is totally your kind of movie. It definitely seems designed to milk money out of the pinhead crowd (though some marketing genius decided to see if they could cross it over to art-movie types like me--nice plan), though to date I don't think it's been too successful at this.

Let's try this. Barb is always telling me I need to be WRITING. So this is one place I'll do it. If it evolves, if it doesn't, we're good with it.