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May 31, 2005
TV Times (late 80s edition)
*
*Tomorrow I PROMISE to write something meaningful about art but I just had a crap day and TV talk is about all I can muster right now.
Moonlighting (S1&2) came out on DVD today. OK, maybe this is not the be all/end all for anyone who actually has a life, but come on, even if it did go out with a whimper instead of a bang it was the coolest detective show on TV in the late 80s.
I have to admit that I am a complete and total crazy when it comes to cops/robbers/spies and detective shows. I loved, loved, loved Rockford Files when I was a kid. I still try to watch the reruns on KDOC to catch glimpses of 70s LA (it looks kind of washed out but still cool). Other fab examples of the genre include, I Spy, It Takes a Thief (this was something my mom turned me on to in reruns when I was little. Robert Wagner when he was still cute!), Columbo, Hill Street Blues, Simon and Simon, Spencer For Hire, NYPDBlue, Prime Suspect and, of course, Law and Order (original recipe only – no SUVs or CIs, PLEASE).
So, yea, Moonlighting. Loved the fast talk, loved the Motown. The silly sexual tension was fun for the first two years. Hated the eps that focused on Herbert and Agnes, the lame attempts to hide Cybil’s pregnancy (JJ and Jennifer you are officially on notice. Come up with something believable!), and well, I was disappointed in everything after Dave and Maddie ACTUALLY got together – but it was fun while it lasted. Also, I think the first time I ever heard the words bitch and bastard on prime time network was Moonlighting but that’s probably not something I should be touting…
Unfortunately, I can’t afford to go down memory lane with this DVD right now. Maybe by the end of the summer I can do some ebaying.
Posted by lk at 10:41 PM | Comments (3)
May 30, 2005
Commander, Actually
As a sort of companion piece to my previous post about those two cute British Dames (toastkitten 7 May), here’s something about another one of my fave Brit actors. From Cinematical
British actor Colin Firth was made a Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity yesterday. In case it's not immediately obvious, that's an honorary position bestowed by the Italian military, originally created in 1947 to honor those who participated in the post-WWII rebuilding of the nation. Firth, who is married to the Italian producer Livia Giuggioli, organises Italian cultural events in England and is fluent in the language. "I sort of married a whole family and a whole country," Firth says. No shit.
I hope he starts choosing scripts that befit his new rank and title. As cute as he is, I just can’t pony up the cash for the likes of “Love, Actually” anymore!
Posted by lk at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
Not So Random 10
All five versions of a pelican
Yea, I know bloggers have a habit of posting the first 10 songs on their ipods but I am home today - listening to la radio and not la ipod. So I thought I would post the first 10 (not so randomly chosen) songs I heard on KROQ this morning.
BTW, It’s “A FLASH BACK WEEKEND on KROQ” (but when is it not!!?):
1. Say It Ain’t So - Weezer
2. On A Plaine - Nirvana
3. Hell - Squirrel Nut Zippers
4. Some song I don’t know and couldn’t find on the KROQ website
5. Some band I don’t know called Supersonic (I think) with some song I don’t know. Bleh.
6. Wrong Way - Sublime
*7. Glorified G - Pearl Jam
8. Sabotage - Beastie Boys
At this point I got tired of waiting for them to play Oasis and I switched to 93.1, and got:
9. Yellow - Coldplay
10. One of These Nights - The Eagles
And then I turned back to see if I could STILL catch Oasis and got:
11. When I Come Around - Green Day
*Funny story about finding the name of this song
Funny story about finding the name of this song: I vaguely remembered this Pearl Jam tune but couldn’t think of the name. TGFTI (Thank God for the Internet!). When I googled “All five versions of a pelican”, which I thought was the chorus, I discovered that not only was I completely wrong (the lyrics actually say something about a pellet gun), but that there is actually a website for mondegreens. Anyone who knows me knows that mondegreens are a way of life for me. I generally hear only about 1/3 of what people are really saying, but I got so tired of saying “what’ or “excuse me” or “could you repeat that”, that I just stared telling people what I thought I heard. Usually, this stops the conversation cold and results in much laughter before the person can compose themselves and tell me what they really said.
Some favorite examples from conversations with my cuz are:
“You want to go lingerie shopping?”
“Hostess snack cakes make great gifts”
I can’t even remember the original conversations anymore. But whenever she’s talking so fast that I can’t make out what she’s saying I’ll just chime in with, “You want to go lingerie shopping?”…
Posted by lk at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2005
In which Kitty has a rant, talks to a friend, comes clean and tries to get Zen…
OK. So, last week – a.k.a. Season Finale Week (in the tv world) or the week that Star Wars Ep III opened and made a gazillion dollars (in the movie world), was ALSO the week that Kitty got a freakin’ ulcer and almost lost her mind over her co-curating gig (in the real world).
I had such a great time in SF two weeks ago but honestly, it’s like a dim memory….
I have been struggling a little with this blog for a couple of months now. I have fun posting about movies, tv and funny stuff I see on the Internet but I’ve been grappling with the concept of anonymity. Does it even matter who I am, what I say or if anyone can connect the dots? For a while I couldn’t decide if I should write about my sorry-ass career in the “art world” and the politics of my current gig or if I should be discreet - be the lady that my mom taught me to be and keep my mouth shut (lest I piss someone off and have it cost me a job down the line…)
Carlagirl and I were talking about all this yesterday. After we discussed the state of the economy, shared our worst professional rejections and vented about how fucked up it is that Thelma Golden is living this fantasy life of designer clothes and huge apartments, when neither of us can afford health insurance, I decided that it doesn’t matter that much if I come out of the anonymity closet on the blog. Probably only 4 people in the world read this thing anyway.
I have to say, every time I think about what Carla has contributed and risked and accomplished in this field, I feel really silly talking about my sorry little internal dilemmas. It’s always good to talk to friends. It gives you perspective and hopefully it also gives you strength. So, yes, this was the week where America saw (hopefully) the LAST Star Wars movie, when the viewing public was left to ponder what exactly IS in that stupid hatch on LOST, and were shocked to witness the crazy Vaughn cliffhanger on Alias. This is also the week that anyone who actually reads this thing will find out that Toastkitten is actually Lisa Henry, a struggling curator living in LA (who also likes to watch tv go to the movies).
There. Done. Not such a big deal after all. Now Kitty will take a deep cleansing breadth. HAAAAAAAA.
Life, of course, goes on …
Posted by lk at 10:24 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
May 20, 2005
So much to post, so little time...
Posted by lk at 07:51 AM | Comments (4)
May 19, 2005
tv times ...
Wherein Kitty muses on dreams, mirages, descents and rescues, and then questions the sanity of the powers that be (otherwise known as the writers) of the Alias-verse.
Well let's just get this out of the way at the beginning:
WHAT THE HELL!
Right. Now I can proceed. I just had to get that off my chest because I still don't know why the writers have a) shoved the stupid Weiss/Nadia pairing (aka WADIA) down our throats all season, then b) proceeded to give Dix and Chase a torrid affair - OFF SCREEN and then c) give us about 45 minutes of a good ep spread across two bloody hours, so that d) we only have a one hour season finale next week while all the other shows get two hours. And by "all the other shows", I really only mean 24 and LOST, since that's all I watch on network these days. AGAAAAAAH!
So now that the complaining is almost finished, I will say that I enjoyed some of what went on last night. I did laugh out loud a few times at the whole Vaughn asking Jack's permission sequence and also the rough sex comment fully audible on comms (HA!). It was fun to see Lena Olin again. Of course she looked fabulous and I really enjoyed the scene where she and Jack have that slow dance on what looked like the set of the Titanic... Also loved, loved, loved the secret stairwell smooch between our favorite - though never seen - interoffice romance (Dixon and Director Chase)! But come on, I can't be the only die hard fan who is having just a little bit of trouble buying this stuff!? Clifford, The Big Red Ball, hovering over some Russian city? The whole stupid third Derevko Sister plot (I do love Sonia and she does look terrific, but I think her story line is La La La Lame). Also, after waiting half the season for more Angela, we finally get her all over this ep but there is no real understanding of what or who her character IS.
OK. Now the complaining is really over. Now comes the musing.
The last three weeks this show has been all over the map. Some good stuff but also lots weird stuff, non-continuity and gore. Which begs the question: If this was season 4, what on earth do they have in store for us next season when JG is all preggers and we are thrust into the never-never-land of Thursday nights when no one will be watching except, well, me.
YIKES.
PS I still miss Roberts. They should never have killed him off.
Posted by lk at 10:30 PM | Comments (1)
May 15, 2005
So great to get out of town ...
A few days in No Cal is good for the soul. Today my friend Julia and I took off early from SF and spent the afternoon in Tennessee Valley. We had lunch here :
And then later we drove through Tiburon. So beautiful and relaxing...
What am I even doing on the computer? I'm going back to my vacation! Hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend as much as Kitty has!
Posted by lk at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2005
Should she quit her day job?
Tonight we find out if Jennifer Garner has been paying attention to what goes on BEHIND the camera for the last 4yrs. Did she pick up any cool directing tricks from JJ and Ken Olin? I hope so.
I also hope that SpyDaddy and Syd get to have a heart to heart. After all the crazy hallucinations and gross hand-digging and syringes, I think it's time for Jack to be in a scene where he simply has a normal conversation with someone whose, like, you know, really there! Will we get a little more Arvin Cloane? Will we see even a glimpse of Angela!!?? Some online sources say more Sark is on the way, but WHEN? So many promises have been made this season but I'm still waiting.
Don't get me wrong,the last 2 weeks have yielded some fun moments, as for example, the emergence of Pimp-DaddyDix. I used to love Dixon's understated wardrobe but lately he's been sporting some really Huggy Bear like spyduds. I am glad he is getting more to do on missions, but seriously, some of these outfits? Hi-Larious. And what's up with the continuity? Didn't Vaughn shoot Dix a few weeks ago? And Dixon kind of saw it was him when V (stupidly) pulled up his mask! It seemed like there would be a little tension between those two or there would be unresolved questions for the APOers about V going rogue. But we got nothing!
Well, let me just calm down with all my questions… If you need proper recapping (or just a good chuckle), check Erin's latest.
Posted by lk at 03:55 PM | Comments (2)
Photography in Santa Monica
Some good photos at Bergamot:
Saw a few nice shows in Santa Monica yesterday. The highlights were Catherine Wagner at Gallery Luisotti - austere and beautiful views of the Moscone Center as it was being built in the late 1970s and an old favorite, Kertesz, at Fetterman. Funny thing about Fetterman's space, I actually don't like it. The funky railroad flat layout always unsettles me. You seem to enter into the middle of a cramp apt, standing in the central room which is too narrow, with large living room-style space to your left and cubbyhole office to your right - it's not a great design for looking at photos. I always feel like I'm intruding when I go into the other rooms but I also always come out of there feeling glad I went. Kertesz's overhead views of Paris and New York were some of the first images I fell in love with when I started studying photography. All those quiet pictures of small moments in the middle of large cities and pitch perfect interiors... These pictures can cure any cynic. Thank you, Andre!
Lowlights included Graciela Iturbide at Rose Gallery - her people less landscapes were kind of disappointing but I do appreciate that she's not just recycling her old themes. Also available to disappoint were porn star portraits by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. These are huge frontal and rather static color portraits. They show quite a bit of detail (I mean, like, peach fuzz and lots of pores on the faces, I was looking at the faces!). Actually, the whole porn star photo trend is kind of boring and just not my thing. I think good photographers like Larry Sultan and even pop portraitists like Saunders should just move on.
Oh, almost forgot the credits! Top, Catherine Wagner,Rooftop Construction with Tar, 1981 (from her series on the Moscone construction site in San Francisco), Below, Stairs of Montmarte, Paris, 1925, and Carrefour, Bois, 1930 by our man in France, Andre Kertesz.
Posted by lk at 09:28 AM | Comments (1)
May 08, 2005
Missed Opportunities
Edward Weston William Edmondson, Sculptor, Tennessee, 1941
I recently found out that the Studio Museum in Harlem is hosting Bill Taylor, William Edmondson and the Modernist Impulse (through July 3) . On the one hand, I'm excited because it means I might actually get to see it on my upcoming trip back east. But on the other hand, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. Once again, The Newark Museum has missed the boat. Actually make that twice again! - they missed out on organizing this kind of show themselves, and then they missed the second chance sweepstakes of hosting the traveling exhibition once The Krannert Art Museum put their show on the road. With an important collection Edmondson's sculpture AND a very long and significant history of collecting folk art, TNM should have been the ones to organize this exhibition (or at the very least be the big Northeast stop on the tour!) But TNM, suffering from a poor self image, a problematic location (read: too far from Manhattan island) and various staffing issues, was probably never asked to be involved and didn't have the support to generate the show on their own. Too bad. When I worked there I was constantly amazed by the work in their American collection and though the galleries were always bustling, I often wished we had visitors that were over 4ft tall.
I'll report back on the show after my trip next month. In the meantime, enjoy this wonderful portrait of Edmonson by another amazing 20th century artist. This photograph is ALSO in the collection of TNM. Last time I checked it was hanging in Picturing America (in the same gallery as one of the collection's crown jewels).
Posted by lk at 12:40 PM | Comments (2)
May 07, 2005
Alias cast members (and former cast members) in new shows
AliasMedia tells me that Anna, Willage, Agent Sean AND the former Mr. Jennifer Garner will all have new shows this fall. I particularly liked the blurb on Scott Foley's poorly named series The Unit "... starring Amy Acker and Scott Foley as members of a special forces unit, is considered a shoo-in, and something of a male Alias, or Malias, if you will. The former missus will be so proud". Guess Alias Media likes a portmanteau word just as much a Kitty does.
Posted by lk at 05:35 PM | Comments (0)
Dame Commanders of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire!
I know, sounds like a phrase that could be uttered just as easily by Bill and Ted as Alistair Cooke, yet this is the official title of actors Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. I'm a huge fan of Judi and have been quite fond of Maggs since the days of California Suite. So, when I cracked open this week's New Yorker on the bus the other day, I just beamed over this piece!
How funny. Wish I could have taken them on that shopping trip! Their new movie sounds sweet. It's in the genre a friend likes to call "old British folks who drink a lot of tea, are happy in the country ... and occasionally get naked" - like Waking Ned Devine. But I don't care. This is the type of flick I eat with a spoon. I will probably wait till this to comes out on DVD but still, how cute do they look in those hats?! Maybe I'll invite them to my next kitty tea party...
Posted by lk at 02:24 PM | Comments (1)
top 5 words
Found most of these while doing my daily reading from the blogosphere and I have been meaning to post them for about 2 weeks:
1. Grafedia
2. Wolphin
3. Nerdgasm - Found this on The beat as I was doing some research on this year's Comicon. Their blogroll caste system really made me laugh. The Nergasm blogs are at the bitter end and include -not surprisingly- this and also this but not THIS?
4. Angeleno museocracy - This from Tyler's piece, On the Tate & LA, from May 2nd. (In this system I am a serf. No doubt.)
5. Portmanteau - This is obviously one of my favorite kinds of words
Posted by lk at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
The week races by...
What a week! Work, work, work. Busing it downtown every morning. And I swear I meant to post something everyday but by the time I got home my mind was just mush. Add to all that, the fact that I have a friend in from out of town (anyone remember the debate between 24 and Air Force One? Well, he's been on American soil since Monday!). I have been quite remiss on the blog but I will try to make up for it this weekend...
Posted by lk at 08:29 AM | Comments (2)
May 01, 2005
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning at the AAMP
I'm going to be doing some traveling soon and so I was checking carlagirl's calendar for photo shows around the country. I ran across this great photo spread on the opening of Saturday Night/Sunday Morning: An Exhibition at the Philadelphia African American Museum - this show was curated by my good friend and mentor Deb Willis and includes work by some amazing photographers. If you happen to be in Philly between now and Sep 17th, check it out.
Thank you Carla for being so diligent!
Posted by lk at 11:04 PM | Comments (2)