Greetings and salutations!

It has been nearly four months since my last post; how time flies when you're having...fun. I don't know if there's anyone out there still 'listening', but I felt compelled to post a few things here today:

Quick Thoughts: Public Enemies

The latest Michael Mann film was a bold attempt, no doubt, but on exiting the theatre I heard more than one comment about an excellent movie hiding in a good one. Public Enemies was certainly thrilling but hardly on par with Heat, Mann's masterpiece to which Public Enemies was often compared leading up to its release. Frankly, I think the use of digital to shoot a period piece was the wrong way to go; it made everything too sharp, too clear, too obviously a movie set, etc. The use of hand-held cameras was also distracting at best. While I can appreciate Mann's attempts at cinematic evolution, I think restraint would have better served his cause.

Quick Thoughts: Lady Gaga

I know I am going to take some flack for this one, but recently I've become somewhat fascinated by the music and the persona of Lady Gaga. The thing that got me started was a comment in Rolling Stone by Marilyn Manson, following their work on a "Love Game" remix about how similar they (he and she) were, in how they approached the (music) industry.

"I was most impressed by her paparazzi shots. I thought that it looked the way that rock stars should look, as exciting as something that Warhol or Dali would do...She’s very smart, she’s not selling out, she’s a great musician, she’s a great singer, and she’s laughing when she’s doing it, the same way that I am.”

Gaga herself had previously identified Andy Warhol is an important influence, as was the concept of performance art. Anyway, she strikes me as the least bit intelligent which is more than I can say for the impression I get from most pop stars.

Announcement

For any of those remaining out of the proverbial loop, as of June 6th, at 4:15pm Japan time, I was engaged to Takako Matayoshi. We will be married in Osaka on October 24th at 2:00pm Japan time. More details will certainly follow. For now I will say that I am very much looking forward to this new journey, and will be posting my new adventures in Japan this fall.

With Hope,
Joseph