Christmas in Philly
I went to visit my sister Susan in Philadelphia last week, and took this super-peaceful picture of a horse ornament on her tree. The ornament was from my dear departed grandma. Susan and I toured her very-ultra-groovy Center City neighborhood.
posted December 28, 2009, 3:14 pm

My newest Netflix list
As the 66,361st-ranked Netflix reviewer, I take my reviewing responsibilities seriously, as evidenced by my latest posting, "Get Up Offa That Thing" (a manly list of movies about exercise). Fortunately, you don't need to be a Netflix member to the view the list here.
posted October 27, 2009, 2:06 pm

Pet Shop Boys in Boston
One of my favorite musicians, bands, music acts, whatever, the Pet Shop Boys, came to Boston September 5, so we saw them. The concert was part of this year's "Pandemonium Tour," to promote their tenth studio album, "Yes." The New Yorker's Sasha Fere-Jones, writing in the August 31, 2009 issue, describes their work as having an "envelope of wit" enclosing a "roiling heart,"and noted that in the three times he's seen them, "I cannot recall ever seeing Chris Lowe move." (Lowe plays keyboard, Neil Tennant sings, both write the music.) During September 5's performance, Chris Lowe, perhaps having read the New Yorker piece, departed briefly from his post at the synthesizer to pointedly march, with a bemused grin, back and forth once across the stage. Despite the appalling venue conditions, with six hours of standing, my experience seemed more like that of an INS deportee or gulag prisoner—I think I'm all set with going to concerts—the performance had much to love: electronic remixes, multiple colors, cubic imagery, and Isabella Blow-type headgear. Read the admirable Brooklyn Vegan's review of the "eccentric duo"'s virtually identical performance several days earlier at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom, see a video of the Boys doing "I'm With Stupid": well-done video and studio-produced audio are always more compelling, at least to me, than live performance.
posted September 8, 2009, 2:09 pm

The hip rotation seminar
Being a practicing physical therapist, I receive, with an unsettling regularity, invitations to further my knowledge. Among the most impenetrable is one sponsored by a Dr. Onar, that seems to be an entire seminar on hip rotation. Seeking to develop and improve hip rotation "regardless of the client's goals," the seminar offers "focus" on the "three keys":

• Muscle inhibition will be "addressed."

• Hip and trunk dissociation will be "optimized."

• "Appropriate" "functional" movement will be "integrated."

If you want to register for this seminar, it's not too late.
posted March 24, 2009, 9:02 am

It's a new year
With Bush gone and hope rising, Bob and I welcomed the new year at First Night in Boston. It was freeeeeeeeeeezing cold, but that meant no lines during the cheery evening. My favorite event was Karen Aqua's Animation, in Room 311 at the Hynes center. From the brochure: "Since 1976, Karen has created animated films exploring the themes of ritual, journeys, and change. Her work reflects an interest in symbol, myth, prehistory, and tribal culture." What the brochure didn't add was that Karen Aqua is a frickin' genius. Images danced, sang, and evolved, bending to a rich and ancient logic as joyful as Hayao Miyazaki's. The rhythmic but unclassifiable music was provided by the Ken Field's mysterious Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, pictured at above. As the New Yorker notes, Ken's ensemble "dresses in feathered masks and sequined robes to cover a broad range of New Orleans-inspired funk." I met Ken after the screening, and told him that my sister thinks (correctly) that I am a walking advertisement for Netflix and he should contact them about their carrying DVDs of Karen's extraordinary work. He said he agreed with me but said, almost apologetically, that Karen doesn't really throw herself into marketing. So I sent her a e-mail gushing about her films, and mentioning how one suggests one's own film to Netflix (by going here, scrolling down to "Content Aquisition," and clicking on "Submit Your Film.").
posted January 30, 2009, 2:44 pm