No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on January 23, 2010

I am behind on a couple of things I usually can keep up with around the house. It is amazing how one week can throw your entire schedule off. Then there are the other tasks that need to be done. Today I want to take down and put away the holiday lights and do a quick go round of the yard for sticks and branches that have fallen in the yard. It is suppose to get to a comfortable temperature later today so that is on my list. There are a couple of other things that need attending to as well today.

The laundry had to go out this week because our dryer stopped working. It is repaired but the guy working on it said that it failed at a good time because the lint had built up so bad, we were heading for a lint fire. I have cleaned it out the best I can but we are having someone come in next week to get it totally clean. So check your dryers and make sure that you don’t end up with too much lint. This will also help the dryer dry better. So it is worth the investment.

Yeah, I know I have being a bit mundane in my writings recently. There is some stuff going on “behind the scenes” as it were but right now it is not my place to talk about that. Once some things sort themselves out in my brain, I’ll probably be back to my ramblings as they were. I might take some time this week to show how I make a project or two.

Have you seen the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus yet? Yeah that film is still tickling my brain and getting me to think about a lot of stuff. A film that stays with you that long has something seriously on the ball.

There is some football being played this weekend. Have you heard the song that Prince composed after watching the Vikings win last weekend? I’m going to say that the Colts and the Saints are going to advance to the Superbowl which will be the first time in a long time that the teams with the best records make it there. (Sorry Popfiend, but I am looking at the Colts vs. the run when they have their first stringers and it doesn’t look pretty).

Today we are going to take Caroline to see The Tooth Fairy. She wants to see it and it has Julie Andrews in it so I am game. This morning Peter is going to the gym and taking Caroline with him since she loves the childcare there. I figure anywhere she can go and socialize is good for her.

I am grateful for the soundtrack to Sherlock Holmes by the same composer who did the music for Pirates.

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Posted By Kathleen David on January 22, 2010

I am a creative person by nature. My mind just works in ways that can be unfathomable to others but it works for me. How I see the world is a little off, literally. I have a slight stigmatism in one eye that throws the world off about a ¼ of an inch. This means that doorways and I have been very familiar with each other. I have learned to compensate for it like my dyslexia and it really doesn’t bother me much unless I am very tired.

But there times that I need a motivation (deadline) to get my head back into the creative game. This month I am doing two art dolls, one paperdoll, and a Harry Potter bookmark. And I have less than two weeks. Then I have the Farpoint Artshow where I première some new pieces and new ideas that carry me through the year. Then I have LunaCon, Shoreleave, and probably DragonCon. I might have another one or two in there but they aren’t on my calendar yet.

Given a deadline, I get very focus. I am trying to teach myself to focus at other times rather than doing it all at once at the last minute. I am a great last minute person but I can see what I could have done if I had taken some time or had some more time. I also know that I tend to futz when I do have time and can go overboard with the detailing. Part of it is that I work out an entire project in my mind. I go over what I want to do and go through the possibilities to achieve what I want. I discard some and use other ideas. By the time I am sitting down and working, I have gone through the “how” about a dozen times.

So I am going to do some cleaning that needs to be done, find some supplies I need, and get cracking on my 4 projects due by Feb. 1st. Next will be a stuffed critter challenge for an Olympic theme challenge. Then the conventions.

I am grateful for my creative impulses.

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Posted By Kathleen David on January 20, 2010

I need to convince you, dear reader, that you need to see a film and I can tell you very little about the actual film since I want you to discover it the same way I did.

Terry Gilliam is on my list of favorite movie-makers of all times along with Jim Henson and Tim Burton. Terry Gilliam has a very hard time getting his films made and distributed. It is amazing what that man goes through to get something up on the screen. This was no different. His leading man died and his funding vanished because it was based on the power of the star, his executive producer died right at the end of filming insuring that the film was in the can but not post production, and he got hit by a car that broke his back while in post production.

Not to mention the clown festival that occurred trying to get a distributor in the US. The opening date kept moving back in the US. It started as Thanksgiving film then Christmas Day and then limited opening Christmas Day and wide on January 8th. Wide is a joke. There is one theater in my area showing it and it is a bit of a drive from the house. Not much better on the other half of the Island or much of the US. Atlanta had it in a couple of places but if you were in the Midwest, well sorry I think you have to go to a very large city to see it. This film deserves to be seen and, like so many Gilliam’s films, the suits don’t get it so he gets screwed on the distribution.

So how is Heath Ledger’s last film? AMAZING! FANTASTIC! And half dozen other adjectives describing total awesomeness.

The cast is top notch. You have Christopher Plummer as the titled character of Dr. Parnasus who has amazing powers of the mind. Andrew Garfield as Aton the jack of all trades for the show. Vern Troyer as Percy who proved to me that he can really act with this role. He has a very difficult role that he just takes and makes it better. Lily Cole is Valentina and does a very good job as the much put upon daughter of the good Doctor. She has a rather unique look that reminds me of another Gilliam find named Uma Thurman. I expect more from her in the future. Then there is Tom Waits as Mr. Nick who almost steals the film at points. I know Mr. Waits has a music career that is going fairly well but he need to do more film.

But, I hear you ask, what about Heath? What about Johnny, Jude, and Colin? Did it work? Boy howdy yeah it did work and in spades. Heath is bloody brilliant and I honestly wish he could have finished the film and gone onto his next one but if this was the one he went out on, then it was not a bad one to make his last. Then there are the three friends who stepped in to pick up the baton and run with it. They donated their fees and any profits to Heath’s daughter Matilda so her future is secure. So go see this film and help Heath’s daughter.(Heath had not redone his will to include his daughter.) And each is at their very best in this. Colin has the hardest piece of the three but does it with panache. They had Depp for one day and three hours but he did an amazing job. Jude Law had a section that brings the plot galloping forward and it is set up for Colin’s piece. He takes the part and runs with it. Also I hadn’t realized how blue his eyes were until this film.

Mr. Gilliam has said in interviews that this piece is slightly autobiographical in that weird Terry Gilliam way. In Mr. Gilliam’s own words, “”It’s autobiographical. I’m trying to bring a bit of fantasticality to London, an antidote to modern lives. I loved this idea of an ancient traveling show offering the kind of storytelling and wonder that we used to get, to people who are just into shoot-em-up action films.” He brings us a character that represents the storyteller in a world that just doesn’t seem to have time for stories any more. (Side note to Mr. Gilliam, I will always have time for your stories) But it is not a sad film just has strong themes and images both happy and sad. It makes you think and takes you on a journey.

If you have a creative bone in your body, and I know you do, you must see this film. You will leave the theater uplifted and transformed in ways that you never knew that you could be. It is a Masterful work that I want everyone to share in. I also want the Imaginarium but that is a whole different entry.

So RUN, don’t walk and enter the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnasus. You will not regret the time or effort to do so.

I am grateful that we did see it on the big screen.

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Posted By Kathleen David on January 19, 2010

This is probably going to be more random than usual but right now my brain is all over the place. Maybe this entry will focus it a little bit.

Caroline is still coughing. Peter took her back to the Doctor again and her lungs are clear and her strep has cleared up. It is a post-nasal drip that is causing the cough. We can control it with cough medicine but I would love to not wake up at 3 AM listening to my daughter hack up a lung. Her energy is fine and she is eating. It’s just that bloody cough.

I am feeling a little tickle in my throat as well. I don’t know if it is just the plane ride which can cause that for me or if I am heading for a cold. I am taking vitamin C and hoping that this goes away soon.

I put in my application for DragonCon early this year. Now I wait on the Art Show to crank up or I might take a year out. I’m still deciding. I do know that I will be showing at LunaCon and Farpoint. I need to get the paperwork in for Luna. I did my on-line application for LunaCon, now let’s see if I am deemed worthy enough to participate. I really want to go because the artist guest of honor is someone I admire a lot and really want to meet in person. I need to get Peter to put in his application for DragonCon sooner rather than later this year.

I am participating in Artist Trading Dolls and Paperdolls this month. I just loved the themes of both. The paperdoll is a mermaid. The ATD is an Alice in Wonderland theme. I know what I am doing for one but sorting out the other card.

Peter and I are going to finally see Dr. Parnasus today. It is playing at one theater in our area. I swear Terry Gilliam gets seriously screwed each and every time on his films. The man is a visual genius and makes great films that are used as shining examples in film school but he can’t catch a distribution break to save his life. And again his film is given very limited distribution during a time that will make sure it stays almost unknown.

Did you know that Sherlock Holmes is still under copyright protection in the US? As are Tarzan and John Carter of Mars which I did know from my time at Del Rey. Mickey Mouse I think we all knew. However the owners to the copyright on Holmes is a bit of a serious mess due to sales, re-sales, and some bad lawyering. I’m a little unsure where things stand with the Lovecraft estate at this point.

They are trying something new to teach younger children how to deal with depression. They are teaching positive thinking and some coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety to middle school kids. Trying to change their way of looking at things before it becomes too engrained. It will be interesting to see if it works in the long term. I don’t think depression is on the rise, I think we can now talk about it without stigma (or less stigma). Sort of like we can now talk about cancer where 40 years ago it was considered a black mark against the family.

A Disney hint, if you want to ride Toy Story Mania (totally worth it by the way), when you go to Disney Hollywood studios, get a fast pass as one of the first things you do. They go really fast and the wait time creeps up quickly. Or, if you are staying on property, go when they have Extra Magic Hours. You’ll still have a bit of a wait but nothing like when the park is open.

I am off to work on my ATD and paperdolls then onto Parnasus.

I am grateful for things that give me inspiration.

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Posted By Kathleen David on January 18, 2010

Because Caroline is home due to MLK day so we aren’t back to a normal schedule yet. Tomorrow will be back to totally normal or as normal as we get around here.

We did watch the Golden Globes last night and I give best speech of the evening to Robert Downey JR with Mo’Nique a very very close second. I did like Meryl Streep’s speech about how she is just a vessel for all the wonderful characters she plays. She is such a Yalie in that respect. But Downey tickled my funny bone and woke me up. Ricky Gervais did pretty well. His sense of humor is not for everyone and the double entendres didn’t go over well with Middle America however he was killing in the room according to those who were there. Michael C. Hall and John Lithgow received awards based on the last season of Dexter and deservedly so. Both were powerhouse performances. So an OK but not great awards show.

Much to just about everyone’s amazement, the Jets beat the Chargers. I wonder if the Bengals regret and the Colts are going to regret letting the Jets into the playoffs by not beating them. Most of the other games were one team tap dancing on the other team. So we still have the two teams with the best record for the year in the race. So it is the Vikings vs. the Saints and the Jets vs. the Colts for a chance at all the marbles. I am figuring on Vikings vs. Colts with the Vikings winning it all at this point.

I have my new glasses which my eyes are adjusting back to since I have been without glasses for a week. It is nice to see clearly again rather than fighting through the fuzz.

I am grateful to have glasses that work again.

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