uploading this video was an act of love

in

but i needed you all to understand that i fell in love with new york this weekend.

it happened on sunday. the weather turned and with it my eyes opened.

and i was walking through central park, past strawberry fields when a sweet, sweet sounds turned me around and pulled me straight into what is more often than not, just a hotbed of tourists.

tourists there were. but i nestled right in with 'em and held my camera way up high over my head and moved my lovely little behind in time to the music. bliss it was.

please bear in mind this was filmed with my camera and you're hearing it through a computer. this group was amazing. this video does not do them justice, but you'll get the idea.




i'm loving new york this week. the beatles will do that to me.

(ps: "I'll Get You" is one of my favorite beatles' tunes ever--the bridge just kills me! the other being, "I've Just Seen A Face")







but this video took 5 hours to upload--5 hours for two minutes! what's wrong with my computer? 


oh disney, my disney

in

A couple of things have led me to this post.


First: my inability to load a video to blogger, which led to youtube, which led to youtube searches.

and

Second: a four hour nap at 7 pm tonight (woops, it's two am now and I might be up for a while); that being said my best work is done in the wee hours of the morn when the candle burns from both ends (whatever that means).

What can i say? Sometimes the stars align and a post is born.

So I was on youtube and decided to search for the film Newsies--it's been on my mind as of late and since itunes doesn't have the soundtrack a girl has to make do however she can.

My friends. Let's be serious for a moment. Have you seen this film? 

option a: no
my response to option a: no?! (shock and indignation). Amend this immediately. Our very friendship hinges on this.

option b: Of course, any mid-eighties to early-nineties child worth their salt has.
my response to option b: Ahh, good man/woman. So right. And the code to contra, they all know the code to contra (though the time period might lean a bit earlier on that end--eighties, not so much nineties) 


Are you still reading this? Are you as confused as I am? Bear with me--it is two in the morning. 

Okay, so seriously if you haven't seen the movie, I've included a brief clip below to wet the palate. 


And if you have seen it, then this is just to tickle your fancy.



1. Okay sooo...I don't know anything about dancing. but I'm pretty sure this dancing is sick--sick in new millennium vernacular meaning, off the chain. 

2. Christian Bale was an insanely good looking teen.

3. And now, this is where the post turns serious: why doesn't Disney make films like this anymore? This movie was about the newsboys strike of 1899 in New York City (source: good-ole Wikipedia), meaning...this movie was actually about something--something important and meaningful and exciting. 

Hanna Montana, Lizzie Maguire, High School Musical. Are you kidding me?! Disney, what happened? When did you become so...so...vapid. Okay, so no, Newsies wasn't a rousing commercial success (but helloooo...you shouldn't have released it on the same day as Fern Gully {I could have told you that}). Disney, this isn't just about Newsies--this is about a time when you stood for something--when the stories meant something--when it wasn't all direct to dvd junk--or about the promotion of one child star at the expense of all else. I long for Cinderella and Mulan (did you see Mulan? oh, another truly exceptional animated film--one of the last greats. Or what about An American Tail with the much beloved Feivel. Okay so yes, Pixar is still making the greats, Finding Nemo (a personal favorite). But Pixar left you Disney--think about it. Remember the glory days when Walt (bless his soul) would fire animators for almost imperceptible errors in continuity? The man had standards. Bring those standards back.

All I'm saying is when my kids grow up on Disney films, as they will, they will be the films of yester year. So in ten years or so I'm gonna need you to unlock that magical vault in a really big way. Because Wizards of Waverly Place: the movie, part 345 just ain't gonna cut it. 


Postscript: ironically enough the choreographer and director of Newsies is the man in charge of the High School Musical movies. Obviously, the man has chops. And listen High School Musical has a time and a place, but it is what it is, you know?

Post-postscript: another great movie from back in the day that's worth another visit, The Sandlot. Quite, quite funny. And yes it made by Fox.



pppppps: Is this not the sweetest thing you've ever seen?


i have a confession to make

in ,

i'm feeling terribly inept technically.

i want to share a video from this weekend.

it's only two minutes long. but blogger doesn't seem to want to upload it. i even tried to go the youtube route, but it appeared the upload might take weeks.

how do i do it? any ideas?

"my apartment is basically a couch, an armchair, and about four thousand books." the time traveler's wife

in ,


I suppose I should admit I finished this a week ago. Sitting in my favorite cafe, eating organic greens, tears careened down my face. 

The night before, I had cried so hard and tried so valiantly to not disturb the roommate that a high-pitched whistle (much like a tea kettle when it sings) arose from some place deep inside.

I don't have much to say about the book. It was pure poetry. Brilliantly written. 

It was difficult to get into because I wanted to understand the logistics of the time travel. And other times I had a hard time falling into the images because another part of my brain was going, my god--that turn of phrase--how did she just do that?

It was heart-wrenching in all the right ways. And it got me thinking about time and life and our different ages: sometimes I feel like I'm failing my eight year old self--the little girl who has yet to get to this point--the little girl who is still out there in the world (back in 1993). I want to be better for her. 

Yes, it may be hard to get into. But it's worth it. 

Want to know the moment I fell into the book--the exact moment I fell in love:

pages 70-71:

After an interval of tickling and thrashing around, we lie on the ground with our hands clasped across our middles and Clare asks, "Is your wife a time traveler too?"
"Nope. Thank God."
"Why 'thank God'? I think that would be fun. You could go places together."
"One time traveler per family is more than enough. It's dangerous Clare."
"Does she worry abut you?"
"Yes," I say softly. "She does." I wonder what Clare is doing now in 1999. Maybe she's still asleep. Maybe she won't know I'm gone.
"Do you love her?"
"Very much, " I whisper. We lie silently side by side, watching the swaying trees, the birds, the sky. I hear a muffled sniffling noise and glancing at Clare I am astonished to see that tears are streaming across her face toward her ears. I sit up and lean over her. "What's wrong, Clare?" She just shakes her head back and forth and presses her lips together. I smooth her hair, and pull her into a sitting position, wrap my arms around her. She's a child, and then again she isn't. "What's wrong?"
It comes out so quietly that I have to ask her to repeat it: "It's just that I thought maybe you were married to me."



Now I'm onto The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. The woman I babysit for said it's one of the best things she's read in years. It was sitting on her shelf. We're doing a book trade. She gets The Time Traveler's Wife for a while and I get The Namesake (one has to figure out ways to save money you know). I'll be sure to let you know what I think.

Keep the suggestions coming. My list is growing long and I'm loving that. And my pile of books on the windowsill is climbing. I will update the post on books soon enough to include all your fantastic suggestions.


image via ffffound