Owl City

On Philip Marlowe

So, I'm working on my third Raymond Chandler in so many days... I finally requested the few novels of his that I hadn't yet devoured from the EPL and am spending much time losing myself in the wealth of words that man so graciously gave to the world.

Below is a passage I read this morning on the bus to work… I was almost completely thrown over by how perfect a passage it is. Philip Marlow is waiting to meet his client in a country-club bar when a beautiful woman walks in and stuns all the attendant men into silence.

“I stared. She caught me staring. She lifted her glance half an inch and I wasn’t there any more. But wherever I was I was holding my breath.”

I love how with such a careful hand Chandler tells me how his lead character is swooning over a woman he’s not yet met, while maintaining Marlowe’s absolute and indisputable masculinity. This latter achievement is especially important, as Philip Marlow is pretty much the epitome of manliness. He is strong, physical, and assertive when he needs to be, smart, funny in a sarcastic fashion, honest, and surprisingly moral. Naturally,  he doesn’t swoon. He holds his breath, which is more than he’s done for any of the other dames he gets tangled up with. I know it won’t work out for ole Marlow because this lady is already married to the man he’s just been hired to find. But I’m curious to see if he’ll steal a kiss or two before the end of the case.

As a side note, I was just thinking about who would make a perfect Philip Marlowe on the big screen... I know Humphrey Bogart has played him, which is alright, but so has Elliott Gould, Danny Glover, and James Caan. Who made those decisions!? So, the first actor who comes to mind for ME is Clive Owen, of course. And, who is apparently already been tapped to play Philip Marlow in a screenplay by Frank Miller that is currently "in production"? Clive Owen! Yesss! I mean, YES PLEASE! Now, all that's left to do is hope that the movie actually gets made!

Year of the Flood

I am really excited for the release of Margaret Atwood's new book. Even though it's precursor, Oryx and Crake, was never at the top of my reading list due to the uber-depressing subject matter (I'm no fan of post-apocalyptic futures), Year of the Flood sounds really interesting and I'm probably going to pick it up on its release date. Until then, I've been tiding (heh heh) myself over with visits to the website:

http://yearoftheflood.com/ca/

LoveLi

Pretties

I woke up earlier than my alarm this morning, and after a quick potty break was about to dive back under the covers for another blissful 45 minutes of slumber when I my eyes were treated to the most beautiful sunrise coming through my window. It was one of those types of sights that is so unbelievably gorgeous you literally cannot move your gaze away without feeling wracked with guilt for taking nature's natural beauty for granted and knowing in some mysterious way that at some point in the subsequent hours of the day you will be smote down by god, having been deemed unfit for life. So, no going back to bed for me.

Then, on my way to work, I passed by some very pretty flowers, and again, pretty sure that if I didn't take a pic it would be the last time I'd ever see a pretty flower AGAIN, I made a fool of myself in front of the construction workers and city maintenance men wandering around near City Hall looking for something to do, and snapped a couple of shots. Love the lovely colours on what is, for all intents and purposes, a Monday morning.

Bleeding Love

This love thing is trickier than I thought it would be... 

So long, summer...

Flood

Josh, Kent, Lorraine, and I saw The Acorn perform at MacDougall United Church last night. They were opening for Bell Orchestre, so only played for about a half an hour, 45 minutes or so, but they put on the most incredible show we could have been there for 10 hours and not felt it! Except for the insufferable heat, that is. How they managed to achieve such a fullness and complexity of sound on a rickety little stage has me in awe of the band's abilities as musicians and performers. I'm SO glad we went :)

I love love love this band. And, I love love love the song that they are playing in the video above, called "Flood". If the camera work is a little shaky, that would be because a) I was trying to record with my camera while also watching the performance itself and couldn't find a comfortable way to position myself so that my arm didn't fall off; and b) I couldn't stop moving in my seat (pew?) because I was so caught up in the music!

Oh, and, my camera cuts out at the very end so I didn't catch the last minute. But, you get the idea. Buy their music. They are AMAZING.

Can-struction

Was in Southgate Mall yesterday where they are holding the annual can-shape-fundraiser-food drive competition thingy. I quickly got a couple of pictures before anyone milling about noticed and (heaven forbid!) took me for a tourist ;) My favourite is the bridge, but Atlas is pretty awesome too. Except, his eyes make me think of Wall-E! Just me?

On The Way There

Just a picture I took from the plane on the way to Las Vegas. The little winky glint at the top is the moon. It was just a sliver then, but on the way back last night/uber-early this morning the moon was a huge gorgeous crescent. I would have snapped a pic of it but my camera battery was dead and Dani's camera was tucked away in her carry-on. I would have asked for her to dig it out but she was pretty busy freaking out in the seat next to me. A little turbulence managed to turn her into a wreck in mere nanoseconds... which, as far as sights go, almost made up for not getting a tangible memory of what it's like to fly alongside the moon.

Big Sky

I took this while I was waiting for the bus after work today. I love those days when the sky just seems huge and robust, full of whatever it is a sky can be full of.

Video II: The Science of Skin

The other night I was just about ready for bed, but wanted to do another video first. So, I combined the two and made a video while in bed! Tee hee. I thought maybe I would read another piece of my writing, so I chose a poem that I wrote in my first year of college.

I can remember the act of writing "The Science of Skin" so clearly - I was sitting in the cafeteria at the Center for the Arts campus, taking up time before a class, just sitting there in one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs and trying to avoid the distraction of table-top graffiti while doodling words on a fresh clean sheet of paper. I don't know which particular combination of vowels and consonants sparked the creative wave that tossed the flotsom of the poem ashore. I do know that it is one of my favourites. It is also the poem that my teacher, Jannie, made me read to my poetry class, after which she firmly rebuked me for doing such a shoddy job of it. Hopefully I did the rhymes better justice this time - and that my inexplicable lisp doesn't reappear!

John William Waterhouse

This was the first painting I saw by John William Waterhouse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Waterhouse). It was featured in a medieval romance calendar and, true to form, I completely fell in love with it. Then, while working at Chapters I came across a coffee-table art book of all his works, and went through a period where all I could do was rhapsodize about the beauty he created. I much prefer realist art to abstract art (MUCH) so the fact that each of his subjects seems as if he or she could step right out of the canvas appeals to me greatly. I love that he uses such lush imagery, so much beautiful colour... his paintings are so passionate, but elegant. I also adore that most of his works are based on either mythological characters and stories or characters from epic poems and other forms of literature. His paintings of Ophelia are soul-stirringly gorgeous.

My all-time favourite, though, is Boreas:

Every time I look at this painting (at least, the pixelated version) I can feel the brush of the wind across my cheek, the texture of the billowing fabric sweeping against my arm... I can hear the rush of the breeze through the long grass, and imagine the slight warmth from the overcast sun. I also find a little of myself in the melancholy expression on the woman's face - though obviously she's much prettier and as perfect as all of Waterhouse's subjects - because whlie she looks a bit sad and a bit lost, two emotions that I can relate to, she also looks like she feels an awful lot, and if there's anything I do, and do well, it's feel.