Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

Šogad, atšķirībā no iepriekšējām reizēm, Eirovīziju skatījos gandrīz kā profesionālis - kā nekā vairākus mēnešus diezgan intensīvi nodarbojos ar šī pasākuma rezultātu pētīšanu un analizēšanu maģistra darba izstrādes ietvaros. Līdz ar to arī manas izjūtas pirms kārtējā konkursa bija dalītas - no vienas puses gribējās, lai kaimiņu balsojumi šogad izšķirtu konkursa iznākumu un man būtu aizstāvēšanā spēcīgi argumenti. No otras puses cerēju, ka pārmaiņas pēc rezultāti nebūs prognozējami bez mazākās piepūles un ka šis pasākums spēs kaut cik izrauties no farsa apkampieniem.

I was through with something like a quarter of this book when I suddenly realised that I knew what was going to happen next. And it wasn`t because the story was so predictable. It was just that I knew of the story. It goes like this - a doctor is called to a hospital but ends up with a prostitute mainly because he has some trouble with his wife (both of them admit to have had way too much interest in other people). Then he meets a friend of his whom he hasn`t seen in quite a while who happens to be playing the piano in some secret events where he needs to wear an eyepatch. So Friedolin (that`s the hero) asks the friend to let him go to the place of the secret meetings. I was on a tram where I was reading the book when it occured to me that this was a trivial story and that I had seen this on film. Then I came to the conclusion that Tom Cruise was involved in the film as Friedolin (only with a different name ). "Eyes wide shut" is the title "Traumnovelle" is nowadays known for. The book itself doesn`t tale place in America as you`d probably guess but in the Vienna on the edge of 19-20th centuries. The story itself is quite similar to what Stanley Kubrick made in the film. Even the parts with the sexual orgies are there. I won`t say this is the greatest story I`ve ever read but it was quite interesting for sure.

Nu es vairs kaut ko nesaprotu. Kā tas gadījās, ka līdz pat nesenai pagātnei es uzskatīju Cinderella par vienas kategorijas grupu ar riktīgajiem metālistiem, kas mitinās manas kolekcijas pirmajos diskos? Patiešām nesaprotu.

Vakars vakar pie NxN izvērtās ļoti jauks un to nebūtu bijis prātīgi sabojāt, skatoties kādu smagnēju "gruzilu", līdz ar to izvēlējāmies labi zināmu vārdu - Robinu Viljamsu, kas vislabāk zināms kā muļķīgu un ne pārāk kvalitatīvu komēdiju varonis (protams, ir arī izņēmumi viņa biogrāfijā - piem., "Dead Poets Society"). Filma gan neizrādījās gluži komēdija, bet sagruzīties no tās skatīšanās vismaz es arī nevarēju.

Do I need to remind you who John Cleese is once again? I don`t think so. But what can I tell you is that is a truly unique film - it features three members of the Monty Python`s Flying Circus before they joined up to create the probably greatest comedy show ever. John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Michael Palin all can be seen in this film which shows us the possibilities, how a person can irritate other people. Some of these sketches don`t work particulary well, while others are truly classic. For example, the sketch about airplane pilots that keep telling through loudspeakers to the travellers that everything is ok with the plane, and that there`s no reason to panic (they do it just to have fun). So is the sketch that eventually ended up in the Circus series about the job interview and the ways to make fun of the poor guy trying to get a job. But, for example, old women with bad hearing aren`t extremely funny, if may dare to say that. It`s clear that all these guys were only on their way to becoming what we love them for, but some potential they had already then.

I`m a nasty pervert, my dears ones, and I`m not ashamed. Why should I be? Who are you to judge me? I watched this film about prostitution in 1920s and I`m not ashamed at all. And this film even features nudity from a 13-year-old Bruke Shields. And I don`t give a damn about this. What`s the story about? Violet is growing up in a whorehouse and her time to start making money arrives just now. Her mother wants to leave the damned place, but Violet has nothing against it - it`s a living after all. She`s a bit perverted for sure - but what else can you expect if you grow up in a place like this? There`s another important character in the film - it`s Bellocq - a photographer, who`s by the way a historical person - who made a lot of pictures of prostitutes of Storyville (that`s in in New Orleans). He develops some weird passion for Violet, but she`s not ready for him, of course, and not the physical part is the problem - she`s perfectly capable of that but her imagination of what life is about is a bit... so to say... uncharacteristic for a person like me. What`s wrong with this film? It doesn`t actually tell you that prostitution is bad, that child prostitution is bad (I may think that it is but it doesn`t matter) - and that`s ok with me, for the last thing I need is somebody moralising like he was J.C. in a McDonald`s cap.

Once again Austrians dissapoint me. The title of the book promised that it would be a football-story, something I would find it quite easy to enjoy. Yet it proved to be misleading. Bloch is a fellow who was a football goalie once but who is a monteur nowadays and who gets sacked from his work. So he just goes arround, doing nothing in particular, nobody really cares about him anymore. He tries to make contact to people he used to know but they don`t have interest for Bloch anymore. So he strangles a woman without any reason, goes to a town near the border where nobody needs him as well. The main morale of the novel is found at the end of the book when Bloch watches a game of football and the trick for a goalie to be successful is shown - you have to remain calm and make the striker shoot the ball into your hands when he`s taking a penalty shot. Peter Handke didn`t hit the goal with me, I would rather say that he shoots like Oleg Blagonadezhdin (a Latvian playe most notorious for hitting pigeons more often than hitting the goal).

Manā pazīšanās ar Deiva Grola grupu "Foo Fighters" šis albūms gluži, kā arī tas atbilst hronoloģijai, bija otrai. Žēl tikai, ka kā pirmo es neklausījos grupas debijas ierakstu, bet pēc "Color and Shape" iznākušo "Nothing left to lose". Patiesībā es gan nezinu, kāpēc lai man tā būtu žēl, bet pareizi tas noteikti nav.

Jāņa Einfelda Cūku grāmata manā plauktā mitinās nu savus gadus 8-9 noteikti un esmu arī iepriekš to lasījis, tomēr vienmēr ir interesanti novērtēt, kā ir mainījusies mana attieksme pret to vai citu mākslas darbu.

I wonder why "Jesus H Christ" is the only record I`ve written about in this factoid. Considering myself quite a fan I don`t find this normal so this situation is going to be changed. And a brand new album from the Chumba camp is the perfect occasion to do just that. "A singalong and a scrap" is yet another record where the former punky anarchists use folk music as a weapon targetting their goals. If you didn`t know that they are a bunch of anarchists you`d never guess. You`d probably never know that the beautiful romantic "When Alexander met Emma" is a song about a couple of anarchists who wanted to asassinate the president of the US. "Fade Away" is another beautiful song, which sounds a bit like sober "Pogues" without Shane McGowan. "Bella Ciao" is done acapella without the bombastic feel of a live performance. When I heard it first I didn`t like it at all but after repeated listens I found out that what I first thought to be a failure may be an improvement after all. The opening "Laughter in a time of war" is also quite good. Heck, I like this record! And it`s not only because I like the message - I enjoy the performance even without it! This may not be a breathtaking experience, it doesn`t expand your mind and it doesn`t strike you instantely as a genius piece of music but it`s very solid and I like it, as I already said.