Ciao, Tutti, and happy New Year!
Sorry for not writing so much lately. It seems that New York City is infinitely less inspiring and motivational than Florence. I suspected as much.
Before I get into the items of importance that bring me to write today, I would like to send a shout out to everyone who made it to my show at the Bowery Poetry Club last Sunday. It was the best performance of Guest Artist yet, and I was lucky enough to have guests from New Jersey, Michigan, and as far as California who aren't even students at NYU! I had family visits that were heart-warming as we rapidly approach the dreaded east coast winter.
As far as the blog goes, I would like to try a new format, as you will see. I've got some sections of important items I want to talk about. Basically, that's it. The blog will be categorized into subjects rather than locations as before, since my days of tourism are on sabbatical currently.
Music Events
I would like to take this opportunity to announce the creation of my second garage band CD, "I Don't Know," by my band First Regrets, featuring me, me, me, and me. The first CD, "The Rest Of The Days Of My Life," has been effectively ended when my pre-amplifier broke and I've had to rely on garage band sounds and my own voice to record everything. Seems rough, but I found out by making "Not a Love Song" that it could all actually work out to my advantage. As soon as I figure out how to embed it into the blog I promise to do so as a preview. Or just send your email address to samgoldsmithvibes@gmail.com and I'll send it off to you.
My NYU enemble with Ralph Alessi has a gig planned for November 5, the day after the election, at my favorite venue in New York City: the Jazz Gallery. I am super-duper excited to play there because a) I have always wanted to, b) it's my favorite jazz club in New York City, and c) the only way to play there with your own group is if you've played there before. Needless to say, this is going to be great fun for me and the rest of the ensemble.
Nothing coming from the Inspiration Sextet anytime soon, though as soon as I'm done recovering from the concert and my first batch of essays, I'll look into another recording project. No promises, though!
Politics: Debate and the Bailout
Everyone's favorite subjects of discussion these days.
I plan to watch the debate tonight with my friends from freshman year, even though I constantly assert that it isn't important in the slightest. I've said this many times before: Sarah Palin was a publicity stunt and is only important because it proves John McCain can't make important decisions in the clutch. However, as we saw, the historic publicity stunt worked out quite well for Mr. McCain. The choice was obviously for winning the election, not because he actually thought she could do a good job, and she has been pretty easy to fashion an image for since no one knows anything about her.
Everyone already knows all this. But leaving this all behind and looking strictly at policy, the two "mavericks" have some disturbing trends. I actually don't know how they can say they're mavericks at all, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to say this. Focusing on Sarah Palin, it seems her one claim to fame is her opposition to Ted Steven's famous bridge to nowhere. Good for her. She opposed the old boy's club and has now joined them. She's been a huge opponent of abortion rights and loves drilling, which, statistics say, won't even give temporary relief from the oil crisis we're in (this is a part of Obama's platform I'm not so thrilled with either). We all know about Sarah Palin's foreign policy, namely that she probably can't even find Iraq on the map, even if the names of the countries were there.
Congratulations, John McCain. You followed in Bush's footsteps by choosing a vice presidential candidate who is so much scarier than you that you will never be assassinated, no matter how bad a job you do.
This is just a summary, of course. If you wanted to read about the election I'm sure you wouldn't come to my blog to do it. The reason this affects me is that I, like a lot of people I know, am most interested in watching this debate because I hope and expect Mrs. Palin to make a fool of herself at some point in this debate. It's like last year's World Series; no one expected the Rockies to win anyway. So why watch? Well, this time the vice presidential debate is actually important. Even if their only job is to fall asleep until a tie in the Senate or take over the president's job if he/she can't do it, the vice presidency has become a symbolically important role in the administration. As much as I hate to admit it, this debate is actually important.
Switching gears, it was quite interesting to be so close to Wall Street for the last few weeks. You see people in suits and ties on the streets with empty coffee cups begging for cash.
That is an exaggeration.
Some things about the bailout: a) We don't have 700 billion dollars, and if we did, it would be better used to fund education systems, a national health care plan, research on alternative energy, social security, and a slew of other options. Either way, we have to stop our borrowing fetish as soon as possible, and this is not the answer.
b) One thing about capitalism is the inevitability of ups and downs. We can't throw this kind of money in order to, in Mr. Paulson's words, avoid the potential for a "recession." I thought it already was a recession.
c) Either way, this seems to be a total waste of money and no one knows if it'll even work.
d) I am sick of trickle down economics.
e) I am already going to have to pay for the Iraq war. Now I'm probably going to have to pay people on Wall Street, too.
e) I have a lot of problems trusting a Bush Administration economic plan. Call me paranoid.
f) My bank went under and was bought out. Property value in New York City - New York City, for goodness's sake! - is dropping because no one wants to start a new business or invest in anything. Local small businesses are dropping like flies. They say that if your neighbor loses his job it's a recession, but if you lose yours it's a depression. I haven't lost my job, but money doesn't seem to do everything it used to do. I don't like this bailout, but something has to be done. If I were an economic expert I may be able to do more than just complain.
Important Events in My Life
Dear Science
TV on the Radio's new CD finally came out on September 23, though I had to wait a few more days so I could open it up as a birthday present. I was rabid on the 23rd. This was possibly the most exciting thing that had happened to me since declaring my double major in history. Hm, that's not a great comparison. Let me put it this way: I had spent hours each day listening to the pre-release tracks on the TVOTR website. They had only posted 2 tracks.
I was fairly excited for this CD release.
For this CD to meet my expectations would have been virtually impossible. It would have had to be one of the best CD's ever made, topping even some of Peter Apfelbaum's, in order to match my excitement for it. It didn't. I was nearly moved to turn it off with disgust during to cliched catchy second track, "Crying." It was too poppish, it wasn't nearly as original as the TVOTR I knew, and the beats were too happy and upbeat. The CD does get better as it goes, not counting the excellent single "Dancing Choose," especially the melodic "Love Dog" and edgy "DLZ," whose lyrics give today's blog its name. The problem was it took until "DLZ," the 10th track, for anything really edgy rather than poppy to come out of the disc. I was disappointed.
This CD rewards multiple listenings. It really does. I cannot emphasize how much better everything sounded the third or fourth time. It's a lot like "Return to Cookie Mountain," their previous release, in that way. You have to get used to it. In reality, it IS quite original, a TVOTR take on pop music. They are always searching for a new sound, and I just had to get used to it being more like sounds I already knew. But the most amazing thing about the CD is its freshness. It's not quite edgy, it's not quite poppish. It is best described as fresh. The recordings are crisp, the lyrics are witty, and they never let you fall into autopilot listening mode; the songs are always changing.
Plus, singer/guitarist Kyp Malone has the coolest beard.
M Night Shyamalan
You must be wondering why I am writing about the director of "The Sixth Sense," which I have never seen before. In fact he has directed many other movies that I have never seen and never cared to see. In fact, I probably took more effort than I needed to simply to look up how to spell the guy's last name.
Well, funny thing. In 637 days (I'll be graduated then, I think), M Night Shyamalan is releasing a movie that, secretly, I wanted to write. I have been planning it out since the beginning of September, even going as far as to research screenwriting procedure. I hadn't planned on writing this movie for years, maybe even decades, but it would be worth the wait. Now it seems it'll only be two years (only!), and it won't be my movie. It'll be a real movie-maker's movie.
I wouldn't trust myself with writing a movie anyway. My tastes in movies are somewhat... strange. That's what I told myself as I cried myself to sleep last night after I found this out, and now I have to tell someone, so therefore I write this blog.
So what is this movie I wanted to make so bad? You'll never guess. I wouldn't have either a few months ago. I'll give you some hints: It has to do with my recent obsession with arrows. It is based on an animated television show. It's not Rurouni Kenshin or Death Note, though I suppose I could always do Kenshin if I really want to. It really needs to be done well.
It's a kid's show (come on, just because I'm 20 now doesn't mean I'm not a kid anymore!).
(I don't know if I'm allowed to put this photo on my blog or not)
As heartbroken as I am that I will not be able to make a movie based on "Avatar: the Last Airbender," I'm glad that it's being made by someone who knows what he's doing. Still, there's no way he's going to take any of my ideas. But I do have some advice for M Night Shyamalan that doesn't have anything to do with the direction I would have taken in making the movie. You see, part of my planning on making the movie myself was finding what needed to be changed with the show, and believe me, there isn't much. The show is by and large fantastic. Perfect for its audience, almost. There really doesn't even need to be a movie made of it at all. Anyway, straight to my unsolicited advice, which is actually more like a list of pleas:
1) Don't F*** up.
2) Change the ending. I have serious problems with the ending, namely that it doesn't make sense (I'm pretty sure my readers aren't going to watch this show, so if you're worried about spoilers, skip ahead to part 3). It's too perfect! First of all, I have major problems with a guy who's naturally gifted at everything and never really has to work all that hard, as Zukko says, getting everything he wants in the end. Second of all, there is no reason for Katara to like him that way. The only reason the hit it off in the end is because the viewer wants them to. A few episodes she was seriously not into him, and nothing changes by the end in terms of their relationship. The whole thing sort of comes out of the blue, just a forced writing convention to resolve all the plot lines roughly together. It works for the kids audience, but it generally doesn't make sense.
3) Be careful when dealing with Toph. She is a good character, and the writers of the show were thorough in keeping her character consistent, a tough thing to do with blindness (trust me, I have experience in that vein). There are some problems, though, to deal with. Mostly I am referring to her sometimes supernatural abilities to "see" things with her feet far away, or so minuscule that it's hard to believe. My favorite example of this is that she can tell if someone is lying just by feeling the vibrations of their heart. Now, come on. This is simple to avoid, though. Just make it so that in the plot it isn't necessary for that part of her to come out. There, problem solved. Toph also has the problem in the show of ping ponging between unlikely extremes, especially when interacting with Katara (she always seems to bring out Katara's bad, aggrivatable side and her motherly side, which I think is almost as bad). She can be tough and strong willed in one moment and teary and affectionate in another. This can work, of course, but it was one weak point in the show during the parts where her character was developed.
4) Develop the bad guys a bit. After watching Heath Leger play the Joker in "The Dark Knight," Dad said that villains will always be more interesting characters than heroes. Avatar is one exception to this rule. The bad guys, as well as the entire fire nation, are all flat and two-dimensional, excluding Zukko and Iroh, who I don't even count as villains. I am mostly talking about Azula and Ozai, but the entire organization of the fire nation isn't really humanized until very late in the show, and even then it isn't done very well. Basically, I take issue with the whole association with "fire nation" and bad guy that pervades the story. It's not there 100% of the time, though, and it would be a good idea to draw out the balance of nations as well as unique fire nation culture that makes them more than just an evil empire. As far as Azula and Ozai go, there may not be enough time to develop them, but there isn't really anything going on in their heads but a big power trip. This could be a lot more interesting.
5) The season finales of seasons 1 and 2 don't really work very well. Important things happen, like Aang nearly being killed by Azula's lightning, and Princess Yuei, the most unimportant and poorly paced character in the show, turning into the moon (my favorite line in the show: "My first girlfriend turned into the moon." "That's rough, buddy."), and Ba Sing Se falling. But there are some serious problems. The story in the north is terribly paced and awkwardly told. Things happen that have to happen, like Zukko capturing Aang, like Zhao, another unimportant character, dying. But the whole moon being blotted out thing is introduced and resolved too fast. However, I like Koh, the Face Stealer enough that I would try to keep him involved. The story in Ba Sing Se is a little different. The build up is nice, with the cultural conspiracy keeping the war secret from everyone in the city, including the king. But it's all downhill from there until the final two episodes of the season. To discover the Dai Li
's secret hideout they rely too much on luck and the brainwashed Jet. Too many coincidences for me. And I never really understood why they just left Jet in the secret underground lair. How's he supposed to get out without an earth bender anyway? And after that, the earth king is way too easily convinced of Long Feng's treachery. I don't see him trusting the children for a single moment. However, that makes it hard to move the plot forward, so what choice do we have? I have problems with it, but it ma just have to stay that way.
6) Really plan out what to do with all the extra characters. They're important in the invasion or they appear periodically, but they're so minor it could be really easy to get tripped up in them. I'm talking Haru, Jet, the Boulder, the swamp guys and Hugh, the flying men, Suki (she's kind of more important), Bato, the Blue Spirit, Boomie, Mai and Tai Li, Combustion Man, Joon, and others. Fans of the show would hate to see some of these characters go, but how can you fit them all in a movie? It's one of the problems moving a TV show to the big screen.
7) What's up with the giant Lion Turtle? (Spoiler) I like the solution of taking away Ozai's bending rather than killing him, but what is going on with this lion turtle? On one hand, I kind of like how I don't know what's going on. It's modern. On the other hand, it's an interesting writing convention. It seems like lucky avatar stuff. I sort of want things more explained to me, and I sort of like the mystery. It contradicts with the story telling of the entire rest of the show, though. You have to make a conscious decision of what to do about that part and what you want out of it.
8) Kataang? Zutara? I choose Katara, though I would rather see Kataang than Zutara. My honest appraisal of Katara's character is that she simply cares uniformly for everyone. She loves them all like family, but she is not really interested in romance. Most of the affection she shows towards Aang she also shows towards her brother Sokka. Even the kisses on the cheek are easily seen as sisterly. She seems much more interested in minor characters Haru and Jet, but it doesn't take a college student to realize this. There are only two times I see Katara show any romantic affection for Aang (spoiler): the episode when they dance with the fire nation school, and the final scene of the show. I particularly latch onto the scene where she blatantly threatens Zukko with death if he thinks of hurting Aang once Zukko joins the group. She only shows an interest in Zukko when she touches his scar in the crystal catacombs (I still don't get why she does that!). I've got my biases, but I think if the movie ends with Katara having a love interest, there better be a darned good reason because she doesn't exhibit it in the show.
9) The "field trips" with Zukko once he joins the group are great for the TV show, but they don't make any sense in a movie. There just isn't enough time for that sort of thing. Unfortunately, I think this means there will never be a time in which Katara ever trusts him. Her field trip sort of reeks anyway.
10) I have nothing bad to say about Sokka. He's like my cousin Andrew, which makes him a great character. It could be easy to let him fall into the role of "funny guy for slap-stick," but he's a really fleshed out character that should be tapped.
11) "The Storm," in season 1, had a big error for the TV show makers. Aang's guilt for running away is probably the best part of his character, flowing seamlessly with his fun-loving goofiness. At the end of this episode he declares he's done dwelling on the past (even though it's not true) and stops having those nightmares. Bad move. This should be something that plagues Aang throughout the plot. Here's why: Aang has nothing much to humanize him. He is a goofy kid who loves to procrastinate and pal around, while his innate talent for bending makes it so he doesn't have to work very hard to accomplish anything. It's a wonder he can somehow get serious enough to meditate. He's a prodigy. Zukko compares him to his sister in this way, not a positive comparison. Mastering the elements is depicted as a simple chore throughout the show. Aang only really struggles with a couple of things constantly throughout the plot: the main plot line, that is trying to master the elements and confront Ozai, and his unrequited love for Katara. The only struggle of these that the viewer can identify with is the unrequited love, but there is so much more there to exploit in Aang's character. Namely, this guilt he has for running away and failing in his avatar duties. This is a part of him that he can carry with him for the whole movie, and it conveniently resolves at the end.
Do I really have to come up with more? Honestly, there isn't really any way to screw up this show. It's pretty flipping amazing. I'm going to have a hard time waiting 2 years for it. I can't find much to criticize about it, and what I can find is easily explained by, "it's a kid's show." It is a great show, and that's why I have obsessed about it like this and taken up your time with my ramblings. I can't wait for the movie to come out, but I guess I'll just have to somehow. In the meantime, we can all wish for arrows pointing to our noses.
I guess I should get on with my life...
-Sam goldsmith
