Heaven Knows What (2014)

Posted on September 27, 2015 by observationblogger — 3 Comments

Every two weeks or so I check out the movie database Rotten Tomatoes which lists amongst other things – the latest DVD releases. The movie information of Heaven Knows What caught my eye.

‘Heaven Knows What blends fiction, formalism and raw documentary as it follows a young heroin addict (Arielle Holmes) who finds mad love in the streets of New York.’ – Rotten Tomatoes

I truly didn’t expect anything out of this, which is why it was such a huge surprise. Its near-flawless as far as documentary-style films go. The plot takes a back seat in Heaven Knows What which might turn people off, but that’s what I adored about it; raw, real and totally honest which defies the limitation of its budget. Too bad the score was detracting especially in the beginning.

IMDB Trivia: The lead, Arielle Holmes lived on the streets of NYC prior to this film and after being discovered by the filmmakers Ben & Josh Safdie, she wrote and texted them almost every situation and story she experienced via her heroin addiction, her tragic relationship with Ilya and life on the streets of NYC. When the film began shooting, Arielle Holmes got clean and remained clean throughout the shoot.

The performances here are compelling and the cinematography superb. Heaven Knows What is a very touching, intimate and stark film. It is probably the best movie I have seen which depicts homelessness since Mike Leigh’s Naked.

Tagged with: heaven knows what, mike leigh, naked, rotten tomatoes
Posted in Movies and TV

The Pamphlets

Posted on September 19, 2015 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

I read countless brochures and paraphernalia when I youngin. I had the pamphlets a long time and looked at them everyday, lying on my bed for what seemed like hours on end, gazing longingly at the glossy photos.

This is where it began for me. Dreams can stop being faraway things, the stuff of other people’s lives, and start to enter the daily world of what you do. It gave me a sense of purpose and belonging, pride in an otherwise banal existence of daily meat and potatoes around the family dining room table.

This, I thought, is how someone begins to live a dream. They open a pamphlet one day and suddenly know what needs to be done and sets about doing it –
making more pamphlets.

Tagged with: dreams, pamphlets
Posted in Reflections

The Wonder Years and ‘Catch The Wind’

Posted on May 22, 2015 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

In the chilly hours and minutes
Of uncertainty, I want to be
In the warm hold of your loving mind.

To feel you all around me,
And to take your hand, along the sand.
Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.

– Catch The Wind (Donovan)

No episode of any tv show pounded more at my adolescent heartstrings than the one below from the 80’s big tv hit –The Wonder Years.
In this episode called ‘Brightwing’, Kevin’s sister becomes a peace-loving radical, running away from home to join her boyfriend in a hippy commune. As the show draws to a close she eventually returns home as a folk song called Catch the Wind cues in. The coupling of this song with the narrator’s words about ‘how people were trying to find their way in life, only to find their way home again’ floored me; it truly did. Even when I rewatch it now I can’t help be fully immersed in this powerful scene:

I went on a mission. I had to find that song. Someone suggested it was Bob Dylan so I snapped up my first Bob Dylan record called Before the Flood. Included on it was Blowing in the Wind which I assumed was the song from the episode. Man was I pissed to learn it wasn’t. But alas that incidental error would begin a wondrous musical journey which continues to this day. Trying to emulate my newfound favourite artist I wrote a whole bunch of poems and lyrics. Afraid I might be embarrassed and lead a terminal bullied life at school, I kept those pages a secret. If they got out on the street or, much worse, into a school newspaper to join the bona fide list of school try-hards, the game was up.

Despite much frustration I never did procure Donovan’s debut record – What’s Bin Did and What’s Bin Hid containing Catch The Wind. I ended up making a shoddy bootleg on cassette tape from the video recording. Many years later, I would eventually watch the classic D. A. Pennebaker documentary Don’t Look Back of Dylan’s 1965 concert tour of England. Dylan and Donovan would confront each other for a famous folk duel (see below) where funnily enough, I saw both leave the ‘ol’ corral’ as the victor.

It was extremely satisfying watching that. I felt a sense of vindication apprehending the circle was now complete.

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, Catch the Wind, Don't Look back, Donovan, The Wonder years
Posted in Movies and TV, Music, Reflections

Do you want hear a really good song? ‘Right Down the Line’ by Ron Sexsmith

Posted on May 3, 2015 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

We hear songs every day and most of them we don’t really pay attention too. But the moment I heard Ron Sexsmith’s version of Gerry Rafferty’s hit, ‘Right Down the Line’ I knew I had to listen to more of this guy’s catalogue.
As Marianne Lucier stated on you tube:

Ron is not about the stagecraft. But he delivers volumes of the heart and soul of the song often better than the original did.

Even better, Ron is a passionate Bob Dylan fan. Check out his You tube page which is full of cover versions of Bob’s songs. It also has audio from his new album.

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, gerry rafferty, right down the line, ron sexsmith
Posted in Music

My Review of the Mayweather – Pacquiao Fight

Posted on May 3, 2015 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

I haven’t seen a more technically proficient performance than what Mayweather gave last night. As much as I despise what the man represents, his boxing prowess was about as close as you are going to get to THE perfect boxing performance. Anyone that tells you different is either lying or doesn’t know much about boxing.

Former world cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson was surprised by the margin of Mayweather’s victory. He said: “He shocked me and shocked everybody because he stepped up another three, four, five levels and shut him out. It was a complete masterclass.

“The whole thing of boxing is hit and not be hit. That’s what he did.” – BBC news.

To demonstrate how dominant he was, you only need to look at the stats – 148 connected punches to Pacman’s 81. Money Mayweather made Manny look almost second-rate. Some might even call it a boxing lesson. I’d be loathed to see a rematch because Manny was just so out-classed. Pacquiao was dominated nearly as much as Mayweather’s predecessors, Maidana and Alvarez. Mayweather gave us a sublime tactician’s exhibition of speed, accuracy and power. He controlled the range and Manny kept walking into his jab. Pacquiao wasn’t aggressive enough. Mayweather actually threw more punches – 435 to 429 – and landed with 39% of them, compared to 19% for his opponent.

Mayweather says he will hang up the gloves after the next fight, but I highly doubt it considering he is approaching Rocky Marciano’s record of 49 wins and 0 losses. Can you imagine Mayweather leaving boxing at 49-0 which would be after his next bout? I can’t. I think Mayweather’s 49th fight could be against the British boxer of Pakastani descent -Amir Khan.

Lots to look forward to in the world of boxing. Who said it was dead?

1. Floyd Mayweather: Bruno, Tyson, Froch, Khan united in praise– BBC News
2. Sport (and Adventure)
3. Longevity expert Peter Attia is my new hero! Nutrition and health.

Tagged with: Amir khan, Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather - Pacquiao, Money Mayweather, Rocky marciano
Posted in Sport and Adventure

Everest avalanche video: Camera captures moment of impact – ABC News

Posted on April 27, 2015 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

(Warning Strong Language.)

Read the whole ABC news story here

Tagged with: Avalanche, base camp, earthquake, Mount, Mt Everest, nepal, snow, you tube
Posted in News

The Telegram

Posted on April 24, 2015 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

A school-friend kindly sent me a telegram after I won at the Australian Schools Athletic championships, admitting I was good enough despite wearing cheap sneakers called ‘Trax‘. I still have the results of the event which show my Australian record just below Cathy Freeman who also won at the same event. For those of you that don’t know, Cathy Freeman went on to win the 400 meters gold medal in the Sydney 2000 Olympics. This is arguably the most heralded track event win in Australian Olympic history. You can watch this historic moment here.

Later the local paper would interview my brother and I:

WALK STAR SHARES HIS SUCCESSES

Most 15 year olds would not readily admit they owe their success to their brother two years junior.

I have kept my friend’s telegram all these years. The first two sentences were written to the lyrical arrangement of U2’s “All I Want is You”, which was a favourite song of mine at the time:

It’s true we didn’t have a front door. Our poor guests had to use a side gate and then dodge the snapping jaws of our little canines all the way up the steps to our back door.

Tagged with: All I want is you, Athletics, cathy freeman, Charles Bukowski, telegram, trax, U2, U2 All I want is you
Posted in Reflections, Sport and Adventure

The 20c Lolly Packet

Posted on April 19, 2015 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Mum, apron on, stirdy
dinner ready for father’s return
kids bathed, tumbled into pyjamas,
awaiting their 20c lolly packet
rousing reception – walks through the door
cheap aftershave and cigar aroma
lingers like an old worn photograph,
yet it wasn’t like that then
twas about the white creased packet
‘How will we split up our lollies’?

The banana, which resembled the moon,
the disgusting spearmint leaf,
or the chocolate-coated licorice-centred pill.
dressed in our crisp PJs
scent of baby shampoo in the air,
busily removing the lollies from their packets.
putting them in precise order
and swapped those we didn’t like,
ensuring an equal number between us.
It was an intricate system we had going.

Tagged with: father, photograph, The return
Posted in Reflections

Trax Boy and Now Ain’t Dat a Man!

Posted on April 17, 2015 by observationblogger — 13 Comments

trax Our family always tried to achieve middle-class respectability, and never quite got there. The kids at my school had made up their minds. I was the Trax boy; the school kid who wore the cheapest sneakers. Most of the kids’ families had farms with parents who wore flannelettes – not the untucked Western Suburbs style which smelt of bourbon but the settled, crisp, happily country garb which reeked of ‘contented money’.

These rich come-ins lived on cheap land (well, modest for them) with newly built double-storey houses; driveways manicured by shiny white pebbles – not the sharp suburban asphalt ones which tore your legs to shreds.

When my family’s debt mounted and loan repayments became exorbitant we would sell up and buy a cheaper house further away from Sydney. You could count on the housing market to skyrocket after we moved away. We missed the housing booms every time.

My father had to travel at least four hours in any one day to and from work because we couldn’t afford anything closer to Sydney. Even when he parked his car in the city, he had to walk forty minutes to work. How he did this for twenty-five years straight is beyond me. Now aint dat a man? And here I am today, I couldn’t be bothered driving five minutes down the road to get a missing screw for my mower.

Tagged with: ain't that a man, finances, trax, trax boy
Posted in Reflections

5 Reasons Bob Dylan is a God

Posted on April 17, 2015 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

This article 5 reasons Bob Dylan is a god from the Tampa Bay Times was a fun read especially the following section:

5. The truth

The Dylan I’ve always loved is exactly like the one encountered by a 24-year-old cop in New Jersey a few years ago.

Neighbors in the suburb of Long Branch had called the police after seeing a disheveled elderly gentleman peering into a vacant home for sale on a rainy afternoon.

When Officer Kristie Buble stopped the man and asked him what he was doing, Dylan said he was interested in buying a home. He told Buble his name and said he was playing a concert later that night if she would like tickets.

The officer knew the name, but she figured the old guy was a few chords short of a melody. She put him in her cruiser and offered to drive him to his nearby hotel, thinking they would more likely end up at the psych ward of a hospital.

“He talked a lot,” Buble later told Esquire magazine. “And I wasn’t even paying attention to some of the things he was saying because in my head I was wondering, ‘What am I going to tell the hospital, what am I going to tell my supervisor?’ He’s just blabbering in the back.

“When you encounter someone as famous as him, you expect him to be pompous: ‘This is who I am, don’t do this, don’t you know who I am?’ It was nothing like that, nothing at all. He was modest and calm and chill. … He was nicer than 95 percent of the people I deal with every day.”

You can read about the full encounter below:

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, Kristie Buble, Star Wars episode 7, Tampa Bay Times, The Force Awakens
Posted in Music

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