Monday, January 28, 2013

V's 2012 Oscar Nominations

In a weird turn of events, neither the Academy or Fangoria magazine asked me to nominate any films for their 2012 awards season. Go figure? Does working on a CBS show amount to anything?!

Well, anyhoo, I won't let that small trifle stop me from sharing with you who I think deserves nominations for Best Film of 2012.

5. Hitchcock
I am not normally a Scarlet fan but I definitely loved her SPOT ON Janet Leigh impression. Moreover, what mattered most to me about this film was the dynamic between Hitch and his TRUE leading lady, Alma Reville. They always say behind every great man is a great lady and I never knew how much of an impact that discerning editorial eye of Alma Reville had on the Hitchcock canon. I can't believe people thought this sucked!




4. The Hobbit
Did you really think I wouldn't include this? Yes, the CGI sucked ass - I totally miss the prosthetics of the orcs and the Uruk-hai but the story line was so good, so reminiscent of the old Scandinavian tales Tolkien was so fond of, that I couldn't help but get lost in the tale. Any true fan would love this film although I can't comment on the 69 frames per second or whatever...

3. Paranorman

Any adult fan of horror should check out this movie which is geared at kids. The beginning sequence is a hilarious commentary on the B-movie slasher/zombie genres and the animation is actually quite good. My favorite? The ghost of the grandmother who vows to never leave her grandson, Norman, and a surprising twist for the jock character at the end of a kid flick.

2. Frankenweenie


 Thank goodness for Tim Burton's feature length reboot of his short film and Winona Ryder lends her voice! I think anyone with a nostalgia for a childhood pet can appreciate this film which brings me to tears each time I watch it. Classic Tim Burton (not cheesy overbudgeted Hollywood Tim Burton), with spiraling striped plants, Dutch references galore and Vincent Price-like characters.

1. Cabin in the Woods

I shouldn't even have to tell you anything about the film I think is the best of the year. By now, you've already seen it and memorized every line and are as obsessed with the wolf t-shirt as I am. And the best actor of 2012 - FRAN KRANZ! Stoners rule!

BEST FILM OF THE DECADE GOES TO:


You didn't know I was going to say this? If you haven't already seen it - hurry up and do it already. I have watched it now over 31 times on Netflix - no exaggeration.



Sunday, January 27, 2013

Winter 2013

Just wanted to include reviews of what I'm reading/listening to/watching this winter. It's been the best winter in years with Scandinavian like temperatures so I am thrilled beyond belief...

EDITORIAL NOTE: I cannot take credit for the 90% of the coolness in this post My younger sister, Ginger, still gives me good music to listen to. If it was not for her, I would still be listening to In Utero on repeat on a WALKMAN.  Thanks, Ginger, for re-introducing me to musik. 


SONG OF WINTER 2012: The Sword's "Winter's Wolves"
If you like Black Sabbath and/or the LOTR series, you'll love this band which hails from Austin, Texas. There is a lyric in this song that says "May the winter's wolves surround you /
And rip the life from your throats." The Viking goth sensibility says "YES, YES, YES!" to this.


BAND OF WINTER 2012: Alcest
I totally believe in meditation. I totally cannot do it. What works for me is imagining I am anywhere but here. If I could back in time to any period, I'd probably go to medieval France. Alcest teleports me there with their album "Autre Temps." This is my favorite song from the album.
BEST LOVE SONG OF WINTER 2012: Danzig "Blood and Tears"
Because I am soooooo dark! And because I can't shake the awesomeness of last summer's Danzig Legacy tour. If anyone says Danzig is a dick, I will smack you.
BEST FILM I'VE SEEN ALL WINTER: Joachim Trier's "Reprise"
I think it's pretty obvious I'm a huge Norwegian kick this year. So when I came across this on Netflix I was thrilled beyond belief. I think Norwegian culture, harkening back to the tradition of edda and saga and the written word, is a literary one and that this film is a commentary on that. It's about two young writers and the question of what it means to make one's life about one's art. I also loved Trier's more recent film "Oslo 31." On a side note, the lead actor in both reminds me of this guy I  once had a crush on for five years.

BOOK THAT KEEPS ME WARM AT NIGHT: The Lesson of the Master by Henry James
Admittedly, I am still trying to find time between working, writing and working some more to read this but basically it's about a young writer who befriends an older writer. It is the blueprint for the film I mentioned above and it comments about the sacrifices one has to make in life to pursue one's art. I can relate....

ORNAMENT OF WINTER 2012: Ovate Norwegian black metal inspired clothing
I couldn't get through the cold snap or walk the mean streets of Bushwick without this amazing Valhalla cloak from Canadian designer Ovate.
Ovate Valhalla Hoodie

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

On Tangibility....

Last night I was thinking about how much I spend at Barnes and Nobles and Amazon.com. I'd say, with each paycheck, I usually allocate at least $50 to books and music.

This is an improvement from high school when 95% of my pay check from being a hostess at Houlihan's went to CD's and band t-shirts. The last five bucks were for giving my sky blue Ford Escort a quarter of a tank of gas (because it would just pain me too much to spend money on actually filling it....)

This Christmas break I admit I read my first book on the Kindle Fire. I had to carefully choose which book it was going to be - I ended up with Junot Diaz's This is How You Lose Her because I am not a huge fan and I wouldn't mind NOT owning a copy of his book.

A lot of people have asked me why I continue to stock my shelves with books when I have the option of using the Kindle Fire HD. And I guess, call me old-fashioned, it's the TANGIBILITY of stuff like books I just love so much.

Most of my books have a story of their own. My book collection and collection of Nirvana import CD's and cassettes are probably the only materialistic things in the world I truly would mourn if lost. In my itty bitty Williamsburg apartment, my book case is the one space that screams at you with details about who I am and where I have been.

I have a full two shelves dedicated to British history, one full section to Oscar Wilde, several Norton Anthologies with huge USED stickers on them, a rack of my favorite DVDs which include the Unsolved Mysteries boxed set and a documentary on wolves and every Jimmy Stewart/Hitchcock collaboration. Stuffed in between are English translations of Tarjei Vessas's The Birds (because, you know....I need 50 copies of an out of print book) and anthropological studies on the immaturity of people who live in Brooklyn (yes, there are studies of this.)

I can look at my copy of The Catcher in the Rye and see passages I highlighted from the first time I read it at age 12. My Norton Anthology of Poetry has notes written in the margins about every boyfriend I've ever had and how he applies to one poem or another. My copy of Wuthering Heights I stole from my 10th grade classroom because I loved it so much that I couldn't bear not to have it.

There are pictures of my childhood cocker spaniel, Otto, and little boxes of high quality stationary.

I admit to now a days owning an IPod (it's a TEAL shuffle, ok?!) but I really miss the art of owning an album. Remember when you first bought a CD and because you had invested your own money in it you listened to that album first song to last? I only recently started doing that with bands I like such as Woods of Ypres and The Sword and Alcest.

Long before the days of Ebay and Amazon, it was actually DIFFICULT to acquire things like import CDs. For years I hunted for Nirvana's Outcesticide 3 after tracking down all the rest. Where did I find it? In the back of a bin in a used CD store in Wildwood, New Jersey called COOKIES. To this day, I still go back to that store and recall the absolute joy I had when I spied that CD in the rack.

It makes me sad when I hear people say they just want to read on the Kindle now or listen to music on the computer. Because things are so easily accumulated I don't think they are as appreciated, you know???



·  What was the first album you ever bought? “Nevermind” Nirvana
·  What song always gets you dancing? “Glad You Came” by The Wanted
·  What song takes you back to your childhood? “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode
·  What is your perfect love song? “In My Life” John Lennon
·  What song would you want at your funeral? “The Wind That Shakes the Barley.”
·  Time for an encore. One last song that makes you, you. “You Know You’re Right” by Nirvana


Monday, January 21, 2013

Ma vie...tout ma vie...and ADHD

When I was in second grade, they tested me for admission to the "Gifted Program" for "Academically Talented" students. I was in Catholic school and relentlessly bored.

But I was also eight years old and acted like a Mexican jumping bean (as my father used to call me.)

I always fidgeted in my seat, kicking my Mary Janes wildly to and fro. I had to fight the urge to whistle "Yankee Doodle Dandee" and fling my pencil across the room.

When I was given the test find out if I was a genius, they found out I was definitely smart, but entirely too hyper active to focus on anything worth a damn.

Today I know they give kids tons of meds for that kind of thing. I never indulged - I just tap danced the shit out of my hardwood floors and stuff like that.

As I get older, that wild and reckless wandering mind is still alive and well. I don't think there's any true classification for these things but I do find it makes for curious writing/learning.

When I was reading an article about a Norwegian film au jour d'hui (sp?) called Reprise, the director made mention of the novel length prose poem By Grand Central Station I Wept. Which brought my mind to Amazon to buy both the Oslo made film aaaand a copy of Elizabeth Smart's work which Morrissey is said to have very much treasured. (Not that I care what he thinks anyway....)

And I also have taken to the belief that anything associated with Norway that happens to appear in my day to day life is a clear omen from the god Odin that I am destined to go there soon...very very soon....


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

International Phenomonon: GIZMO

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I remember in the second grade I had this awesome blonde teacher named Miss Flynn. Miss Flynn asked us to write a paragraph about our favorite fictional character.

I hadn’t stumbled upon The Hobbit yet and I wasn’t crazy about any Disney stuff (except for the little seahorses in The Little Mermaid.)

But I do remember choosing to write about Gizmo from my favorite Christmas flick, Gremlins, at the time (pre-Nightmare Before Christmas).

Today, Gizmo remains my favorite hero of all time. In second grade I chalked it up to him being fluffy and cute and pretty much perfect (well, aside from that whole producing nasty gremlins when fed after midnight and soaked with water bit.)

But sometime last year, my BFF made it perfectly clear to me why Gizzy was my hero –

Because Gizmo is loyal but also lethal. (Remember his Rambo scene?)

Because Gizmo is adorable beyond any explanation.

Because if Gizmo were a government official, he’d probably have the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolved by now.

Because in a world of slimy, nasty, evil gremlins, Gizmo remains cuddly and kind.

The last part is the main thing that does it for me – because even though Gizmo is surrounded by monsters, his genuine good nature remains in tact.

J’adore Gizmo…


Zen and the Art of Veronika Maintenance - Tips for Surviving Life in New York City

In 2013, I'll have lived here for THREE YEARS. Hard to believe how fast time flies.

A lot of people from my hometown in Illadelphia ask me how and why I cope with living in the "Big Apple."

Admittedly, some days, MOST days, I HATE it. It's overcrowded, you feel like a rodent going through a maze on the subway on your way to work and it can be redundant as all get out. To make matters worse, you have a bunch of pretentious, superficial people running around being impressed by the latest and greatest restaurants, clubs, films, celebs.

But these are the things that save me:

5. BARNES AND NOBLE, UNION SQUARE: Barnes and Noble Union Square is my secret best friend here in NYC. I run away to the literature stacks when everything fucking sucks. When I was at UPenn, my favorite place in the world as the W section of the Van Peldt Library. This doesn't come close but all the trendy bookworms are over at the Strand leaving the goodies behind at B&N all for me. It's quieter annnnnd I ran into the band HOLE there. So it's pretty great.

4. MY FAVORITE BARTENDER: Remember the theme song from Cheers?
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came!
Damn. I never knew how much that song meant to me until right this second but yes, your favorite bartender is a NECESSITY in this city. You can say your hairdresser, but you can't take your friends from your hometown or your dad to your favorite salon and have them be wowed and dazzled and impressed that someone in the Big Apple actually knows your name. My favorite bartender(s), Erik and Jess, always make me feel loved and appreciated somewhere other than home, make me look cool when my friends are visiting and cheer me up when I am feeling lonely...Oh wait...that just makes me an alcoholic.
3. PERSPECTIVE: Well, that's pretty f'ing broad, right? Well, babe, it's all about perspective. When I am covered in mud from a puddle that a cab driver just intentionally drove through to splash me and it's freezing cold and the L train is delayed and there is no way back to Brooklyn and a rat is dragging another rat's dead body through the street and I just lost my Metro Card and people keep shoving into me and  acting like I am invisible and I just spent my last $900 on rent, I have to remember all of the nights I accidentally bumped into my favorite band from high school in a bookstore or walked with my best girl friend through Union Square on a Wednesday evening free from all responsibility or had the privilege of walking to see my favorite bartender and walking right back home to fall asleep or got to go to a Depeche Mode party or Jurassic Park Night. Where else can you be so overstimulated by so many awesome things? You could tell me somewhere but I'll argue you. (Unless it's like somewhere in Europe - I can't argue you there...)

2. NERVE AND SINEW AND THERAPY: You can't get to #3 without these things. NYC is not for the faint of heart. Don't come here if you are insecure - it will chew you up and eat you alive. ESPECIALLY if you are insecure about how you look! And if you do have doubts, which all of us surely do, you go to a therapist who helps you gain that much needed perspective.

1. ADVIL TIED WITH 80'S THEME SONG PLAYLIST: We have boxes of this in our office for obvious reasons....Also, if you remember the 1980's like I do, it was the age of the power theme song. Karate Kid? "You're the Best." Teen Wolf? "Win in the End" Beverly Hills Cop? "The Heat is On." All super motivating because trust me, you'll need it. 

Passionate People Have Problems - Especially with the Paris Review

I am a really passionate person. I tell myself this is why I am not really all that successful. As some of you may know, I work on a really highly rated CBS show as a Casting Director. My father always asks me, "You studied English. Why aren't you writing for the show?"

"Duh, Daaaaad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screech. "Because I don't want to."

See, passionate people like me have problems.My father should understand this - for a Protestant, he's one of the most passionate people I know.

When I say passionate, I mean the following synonyms from the thesaurus (remember those?):

SYNONYMS:          affection, affectivity, agony, anger, animation, ardor, dedication, devotion, distress, dolor, eagerness, ecstasy, excitement, feeling, fervor, fire, fit, flare-up, frenzy, fury, heat, hurrah, indignation, intensity, ire, joy, misery, outbreak, outburst, paroxysm, rage, rapture, resentment, sentiment, spirit, storm, suffering, temper, transport, vehemence, warmth, wrath, zeal, zest
ANTONYMS:          calm, calmness

I pretty much encompass all of the things in the above column and am the exact opposite of calm. 

Truth is, I'd much rather be a writer for The Paris Review or a professor at UPenn teaching the Romantics than being a writer for some violent cop show. If I wrote for any show at all, it would involve daydreaming dogs who can talk. Sounds fascinating, I know.

People always think it would be so simple to be a writer in New York. To be published. Well I am perishing in that department, hence the blog. And the cold harsh reality is that practically everyone here IS a writer and there is a lot of competition. I thought it was bad when I had to compete for a job in casting versus people named "Jade" and "Paris." Now in writing I have to compete against pedigreed pups from Philip Exexter Academy with parents who pay their rent. (A lot of alliteration and "p's" in this post, no?)

I swear too much. I write too honestly. I write about blue collar, working class things. I write about things I know that others can't relate to - oh, the list goes on.

My point is, it's not that easy to be a writer!





         

Thursday, January 10, 2013

BIG KID NOW




So when I initially started my blogging career, I was 21. (Yikes, I know.) And if you had told me in 2003 that I would totally be okay with being 30, I probably would have laughed at you.

The truth is I freaking DREADED this birthday coming up. My 29th year of life SUCKED because I endlessly obsessed about how many hours, days, weeks it was until I would have to give up my 20-hoodedness.

Could I still shop at Forever 21?
Would I suddenly want to have kids and get married?
Would I realize how much my life really sucks?!

Well, no. None of this came to pass. When I turned 30 I had the two biggest parties of my life, in MY honor, surrounded by people I love and adore beyond words.  Looking around at everyone, I thought, “Man, I have met some awesome people along the way.”
And my 30th year of life did not disappoint. In April, I accidentally bumped into Eric Erlandson of HOLE - the band I emulated in my high school cover band, Velvet. This lead me to seeing Courtney Love perform with them LIVE FRONT ROW. Then in May, my childhood friend Janelle and I ventured to the Pacific Northwest to visit Aberdeen, Wa., where my beloved Kurt Cobain grew up.  I had a short story published on www.tripcity.com in June. t’s all a blur pretty much after that.

I went to Dollywood.

I work with a lot of people who are in their early 20’s. And they tell me how scared they are of becoming 30 but I tell them it’s not that bad.

So next time I talk to you and I’m being a contradictory Pisces, remind me of this blog post and remind me of the shit I did in 2012.

Willkommen!


After a long hiatus from blogging I am back and will start sharing my thoughts with the world in writing that exceeds 140 characters and the amount a Facebook posting will allow.

So get ready for all of my randomness.... :)