Stranger Than Fiction–10 Ways I Love Thee

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Tentative Equinox North

If you’re a regular reader, you might by now have guessed that, for the most part, I’m not really what they call an “early-adopter.” That’s why you will see reviews of things that are long since yesterday’s news. But I don’t care, I just want to share the things that resonate with me, particularly if that resonance lasts over time. And Stranger Than Fiction has become in my own personal iconography a long-term resonator. 

Now, if it matters to you, I love the high-concept. I love it in movies, books and theatre. What is the high-concept? I think of it as ‘reality-tweaked.’ It’s our reality but with one aspect of it changed. When this works it, in a weird way, has a ring of truth about it. For instance, the movie BIG‘s high-concept is “a boy growing up overnight” and for me the reason it works is because if a kid really did grow up overnight, this is the kind of story that might actually happen. Other examples of this genre are Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Time Traveller’s Wife, Purple Rose of Cairo, The 5th Life of the Cat Woman, Gods Behaving Badly, and Probable Future. Don’t quote me on any term papers or anything. This is the view of a non-expert here. I am singularly unqualified to be making any kind of definitions or classifications. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Back to my point. I love Stranger Than Fiction. I saw it on the day it was released in theatres. I bought the DVD the day that was released. I also own the shooting script, the soundtrack and the poster. I hope Zach Helm gets a healthy slice of all the dollars I’ve thrown his way.

These are just 10 of the ways in which I love Stranger Than Fiction:

1. It speaks about the power of art to affect our pereceptions and our lives.

2. It shows us that an artist can and should grow even if growing means they lose their mastery of what they’ve done before.

3. I love how he shows (creates? makes a case for?) a world where we are all inter-connected even to what we perceive as inanimate.

4. I love the wrecking ball slamming through the walls of his house — for me, a symbol of a changing consciousness.

5. I love how all the straight lines imprison Harold and all the circles free and save him. (Okay, that’s more about the filming than the writing, but it’s the writing that allows that kind of idea to spring forth from the original touchstone)

6. I love how in his script even the stage directions are poetic. Example on p.124 of the shooting script:

Suddenly she stops and looks at him. They stare at each other for a moment.

Her lips part

His fingers twitch

The skull in Hilbert’s carpets looks on (anxiously)

The manuscript reveals their lopsided fate

Then…

7. I love how the meeting with Ana on the bus is filmed–he sitting in the hinge of the bus so their shifting physicality mirrors the internal struggle of connecting. (Again, I know that’s the filming, refer to point 5)

8. I love the line “I may already be dead, just not typed.”

9. I love that the last 15 minutes make me weep every single time I watch it, particularly the last long voiced over monologue about all the things that save us. And who knew that Will Ferrell could actually act?

10. I love the idea that writing about something makes it real.

11. (Bonus) Oh, and I love the music.

So, in case you’re ego surfing Zach (and I would so not blame you if you are, why don’t you have a website yet?), let me increase my chances of you finding me. Zach Helm. Zach Helm. Zach Helm. My plea to you is to write the stage version of Stranger Than Fiction. I don’t know how you would stage a wrecking ball, but just leave that little problem to those brilliant stage designers. Maybe they can do it all with lighting. (Sorry, inside theatre joke). I want the stage version because I would be a second perfect choice to play Karen Eiffel. Emma Thompson (why does she have to be so good at everything she does? It really grates on my nerves) is obviously the first most perfect choice, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t bring something new to the role.

Maybe I’m already a celebrated actress, just not discovered yet. 

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Poem to a Teenager – by Issa Light

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Tentative Equinox North

I just had to share with y’all this beautiful poem by Issa Light (formerly Jane Siberry). She is such a great artist and everyone should run to her site, myspace page and be patrons of her art by buying stuff from her Pay What You Want store.

Poem to a Teenager

the hardest thing I’ve ever done

is to stand back when I wanted to run

after your tiny unprotected back

as you walk out into the world

steadfast, trusting

 

but stand back I must

for I must trust that this is your own unique particular journey

 

I know that you will be moving through

the perfect trials and tribulations that will teach you what you need to unfold unto yourself and the universe

 

and at a certain point

you will move beyond the world within which i grew and my experiences will carry less helpfulness you will have to move into original thought finding your own unique way to transform into the silken ear the strange challenges of today’s world know that there is nothing you could say or do that will stop me from loving and respecting you.

 

and as you move across the narrow bridge that particularly dangerous time called being a teenager making your way alone, as you must your precious hands learning the twist and rough of rope as you move forward on the narrow bridge high above the abyss as others, and perhaps you before, may have slipped and slid givens now giving way the hiss of pebbles raining past

 

know that we are waiting on the other side praying, urging you on towards safety in this particularly perfectly difficult part of your private journey between you and the largesse of your soul

 

may these words be contained in a private place in your heart and not forgotten in a time of need that you might remember and reach for me call me from anywhere, anytime and if not from a phone, then directly from your heart for surely this is more possible now and greater to come

 

– – –

 

the hardest thing I’ve ever done

is to stand back when I wanted to run

after your tiny, unprotected back

 

– – –

 

get safely through, little friend

we are nearby, waiting for you

 

in the end, we are all one

Posted in Aliens and uncharted planets, Mothership | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Red Pen Rebel

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Tentative Equinox North

April 10th is my good friend Michaeleen’s birthday. She was killed in a car accident almost 20 years ago, but I still miss her. We became friends in Grade 3, and remained good friends up until her death at the way too young age of 21 (2 months shy of turning 22). 

Interestingly enough, in my dreams, she hasn’t remained the age she was when she died. She got older, married, and the last time I dreamed about her she had been working as a writer for the CBC. I know that’s a little weird, but I have found it comforting throughout the years.

If she had lived, I’m sure she would have been a writer of some renown by now. She had just had her first published piece in her college writing collection and she was planning to do more classes in creative writing. When we were in high school we were in different classes and often would spend a boring class writing a note to the other, which we would then exchange in the hallways as we changed classes. It was entertaining and a great way to prevent oneself from falling asleep in history class. I kept all her notes to me because, well I’m sentimental that way, and her writing even at the tender age of 16 was so good. And here I share with you one of her masterpieces (I want you to remember back to high school when one had to use blue pen (not black) in English and pencil (not pen) in Math. Ah, the years of petty rules.

To Cluck [ed note: my nickname was Cluck, hers was Muck, as in MuckCluck, get it?]

This is a terrorist threat. If you don’t hand over $1,000,000 you will be sorry. Put the money in an unmarked lunch bag and place it in Rm 21 on the third desk in the row closest to the window. (I realize you must be tired after that sentence, but do it anyway.) If the money isn’t in my possession by lunch time tomorrow life will become very difficult for you. Your Snap album will mysteriously disappear. Your ghetto blaster will be set in front of a herd of raging elephants. And you might as well say good-bye to FRED [ed note: Fred was my large stuffed duck which was something of an ongoing inside joke]. Even I’m too squeamish to tell you what will happen to him. THIS IS NOT A JOKE. These directions had better be followed OR ELSE.

Love always,

The Mafia

Life is tough eh Cluck? [ed note: you know we’re Canadian right?] Oh well, don’t work. You have to logically list your problems and then solve them. What could possibly be wrong with your life beside Xavier [Ed note, boy I had a crush on, not his real name], school, and a terrorist threat. Look, see it’s not so bad.

Instant and automatic change to pen to make your world a little more blue. Not blue in the sense of feeling but blue in the sense of colour. Since everything in this school is blue [ed note: Catholic girls’ school with Navy Blue uniforms] the pen might as well be too.

WAIT A REBELLION. I DARE TO WRITE IN RED. WHAT COURAGE, WHAT VALOR, A REBEL WITH A CAUSE. I LOVE IT.

Well back to the same, old, boring blue pen. A b rebellion can only last for so long.

BUT EVERY SO OFTEN THAT TINY REBEL WILL EMERGE AND FIGHT AGAINST THE STEREOTYPENESS OF SOCIETY.

Well, must go. The bell.

Love Muck,

AND HER TINY REBEL

See what I mean? That was written with only one scratch out–she had started to spell rebellion with a b.

I love the idea of the red pen rebel. On the surface so nice and polite, acquiescent and compliant. And then very quietly doing your own thing anyway. ‘Cause sometimes the rules are stupid.

So, here’s to you my Red Pen Rebel. I miss you.

Tell me about your Red Pen Rebel friends, or perhaps some of your own red pen rebellions. Or just let me know that you too want to sign up to be a red pen rebel. Maybe we can start a little movement in her honour.

Posted in celestial beings, Leaves, Observatory, Twilight | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Because I Can

Posted on April 9, 2008 by Tentative Equinox North

This weekend marked a momentous occasion–the potty chair was removed from the bathroom. Yep, that’s right. We are officially done with the toilet training and the three-year-old is now big enough and competent enough to use a toilet just like the rest of us. Let the trumpets sound!

But to really celebrate how far we’ve come I want to hearken back to an earlier time in his development and give you just a brief snapshot of our toilet training journey by listing just a few of the unorthdox places that Griffin has peed other than his potty chair:

1) Several heat registers

2) Off the 2nd floor balcony on to the children bouncing on the trampoline below

3) A shoebox

4) Into an empty apple juice bottle which my daughter then took a swig of believing it to be the actual apple juice advertised on the label.

I know that last one is just awful (funny, but awful).

We will just celebrate his exploring, curious mind won’t we?

Any of you with boys out there have similar experiences? Please let me know I’m not alone!

Posted in Mothership, Observatory, Sun | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Tentatively X-Rated

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Tentative Equinox North

Why do you visit me here? Is it to find out what cute things my kids are saying? Do you expect to get some pithy observations that probably have already been made by other people in more observant and humourous ways? Do you come to see my quaint Canadian spellings? Apparently that is not the case. I am actually a portal to the dark underbelly of Vancouver’s S&M apprenticeship scene. I know! Who knew? How exotic! How refreshing! The internet and kink! Two great tastes that go great together!

Yes, last week a search engine directed someone to my website who was using the search string “dominatrix training Vancouver“. I can only assume it was because of this post and this one, and because I’ve mentioned Vancouver a couple of times in other posts, (BTW, if it was you and now you’re back using that exact same string…uhmm…Hi, how are you doing? Yes, I guess I am making a little fun of you. I’ve been very bad, I know. I would say maybe you should punish me, but clearly you are unqualified to do that if you haven’t completed your Masters in S&M.)

I would actually like to know how many pages this person had to scroll through to get referred to my site. Because I think she (I’m assuming) had to be pretty tenacious. Yes, I suppose I COULD do that myself, but that’s all I need is for the babysitter to report to her mother that she found ‘dominatrix training Vancouver’ in my web search history.  Really.  You do it. You tell me what page I turn up on. Of course, now that I’ve just used the phrase two more times I suppose I’ve increased my chances of turning up on the first couple of pages. <Sigh> This internet stuff is tricky.

I think the part that cracks me up most is the combination of S&M with human resources. I mean do you do an apprenticeship? Do you have to shadow a fully certified dominatrix and get so many practicum hours before you move up a level? Maybe there’s modules like firefighters–so, instead of being certified for a 10 pallet blaze, you get your ball gag module, then your flagellation module, an optional knot-tying module,  and so on and so forth. Is there a mission statement? A health and safety committee? What about customer experience feedback forms? Do you have to go on corporate retreats? If you go to the physiotherapist do you submit the receipts to your extended health plan or professional development officer? How does the job interview go? Who gets called for references? These are my questions.

I’m flattered by the confidence in my dark side. Sadly, I can only confess to a high-noon shadow side rather than a full-on dark side of the moon variety of shadow. I’d like to be able to offer more as I know we’re all about our shadows these days. I get a little melancholy now and then. I like the Romantic poets. I get cranky without my morning coffee. I’m addicted to chocolate. It’s all I’ve got. Sorry to set you up and knock you right down again.

Maybe Google is now just amusing itself by sending people to random sites. More proof that our technology is now running the show. We’re living in a Matrix-world people.

Oh, comments will DEFINITELY be moderated.

Posted in Aliens and uncharted planets, Dark side of the Moon, Observatory, Sun | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Son and seagulls

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Tentative Equinox North

I took my two oldest children to Granville Island last week. I had to get ready for the trade show and I figured they could hang out while I gathered what I needed. Our first stop was of course Laurelle’s Deli in the Public Market where we picked up walnut cinnamon buns. As we were walking back to my office I told both of them to cover their food lest the seagulls steal it. My son was incredulous that this was possible. But I assured him that indeed it was. As I settled them into their hang out area, I was making sure they each had something with which to entertain themselves. I say to my son…

What are you going to do? Do you have a book?

No, I’m going to stand by the window and watch seagulls steal people’s breakfasts.

Ah, the simple pleasures of life.

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Trade Show Report

Posted on April 2, 2008 by Tentative Equinox North

I’m back. My feet still hurt. I think I managed to do some selling, but you know nothing’s certain until people sign on that dotted line, so this week is all about the follow-up. Whatever. Like you want to know about that.

What I notice about these kind of trade shows is the clothes. This was an arts trade show so it involved artists showcasing their acts. And I will say that some of what I saw on stage could easily be found on Go Fug Yourself and some of the clothes on the trade show floor had me glancing around corners to see if a Stacy and Clinton style intervention was imminent. People, look in a mirror before you venture out into public.

I myself went with a Spice Girl theme. Ginger Spice on Friday. Posh Spice on Saturday and some mix between Baby and Sporty Spice on Sunday. By Monday, I looked like Scary Spice but I’m afraid that was unintentional. 

My favourites of the showcases were: Squid, Precision Drumming Team, Musica Intima, and Corpus. A quote from Corpus’ show Flock of Flyers. (This is said in the form of a military chant):

We’re Canadian! We don’t have planes! We have IDEAS!

 And on that note. Back to work!

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Partial Eclipse of the Blog

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Tentative Equinox North

I am at a trade show for the next few days, so there will be no time to post for me. Although I’m sure I will amuse myself by writing posts in my head, during those long hours. My feet already hurt.

Amuse yourself in the archives, comment on posts that you meant to and didn’t, check out some some of the links to the right.

In particular, go to The Woman Who Talked Too Much (to the right and down I tell you!). She wrote a brilliant post on her friend’s GPS which even further proves my point about technology.  There’s been a coup d’etat and we’re just the last ones to know about it.

Also, go view The Story of Stuff if you have 20 minutes. You have 20 minutes. You’re already surfing, it would have been 20 minutes anyway.

Have a lovely weekend. Sunday marks the end of my busy work season. Let the trumpets sound! Ta-ran-ta-ra! Tzing-Boom!  That is an Iolanthe reference for those not in the know. Which reminds me…have you bought your tickets yet? Surrey Arts Centre in May. For God’s sake Google it, I can’t spend my whole morning providing links I’ve already provided!

Gotta run. Have a great weekend.

And now, I’m off to sell! Sell! Sell!

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World Theatre Day Message

Posted on March 27, 2008 by Tentative Equinox North

International Message by Robert Lepage 

There are a number of hypotheses on the origins of theatre but the one I find the most thought-provoking takes the form of a fable:

One night, at the dawn of time, a group of men were gathered together in a quarry to warm themselves around a fire and tell stories. All of a sudden, one of them had the idea to stand up and use his shadow to illustrate his tale.Using the light from the flames he made characters appear, larger than life, on the walls of the quarry. Amazed, the others recognized in turn the strong and the weak, the oppressor and the oppressed, the god and the mortal.

Nowadays, the light of projectors has replaced the original bonfire, and stage machinery, the walls of the quarry. And with all due deference to certain purists, this fable reminds us that technology is at the very beginnings of theatre and that it should not be perceived as a threat but as a uniting element.

The survival of the art of theatre depends on its capacity to reinvent itself by embracing new tools and new languages. For how could the theatre continue to bear witness to the great issues of its epoch and promote understanding between peoples without having, itself, a spirit of openness? How could it pride itself on offering solutions to the problems of intolerance, exclusion and racism if, in its own practice, it resisted any fusion and integration?

In order to represent the world in all its complexity, the artist must bring forth new forms and ideas, and trust in the intelligence of the spectator, who is capable of distinguishing the silhouette of humanity within this perpetual play of light and shadow.

It is true that by playing too much with fire, we take a risk, but we also take a chance: we might get burned, but we might also amaze and enlighten.

Robert Lepage, Quebec

17th February 2008

(Translated from the original French)

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All by myself

Posted on March 26, 2008 by Tentative Equinox North

I got stuck getting into my sports bra yesterday. There I was stranded, half way in, half way out, arms flailing uselessly like some as-yet-undiscovered anemone. And of course, it is at this inopportune moment when in walks the 3-year-old.

He pauses while he takes in the whole scene.

Mom, you okay?

He says a concerned look on his face.

I struggle and finally I manage to release myself from the bottleneck stranglehold and get the girls safely tucked away.

Good job, Mom. You did it all by yourself!

he says to me with undisguised parental pride in his voice.

And you know what? He’s right. I did do it all by myself. I do lots of praiseworthy feats all by myself. In that moment, I could see what it’s like to be in his world of first times and mastering the basics–where the most minor of accomplishments are worthy of amazement and praise. Wouldn’t that be wonderful if our modest achievements were met with that level of acknowledgement?

  • You emptied the dishwasher before you needed to? Good job!
  • You made three nutritious meals today? All by yourself? Nice work!
  • You opened the curtains and made your bed? Good going!

I’m going to try it. Today, I nurture my inner three-year-old.

And to you reader, I’d like to compliment you on your achievements today. Feel free to leave some of your noteworthy accomplishments however minor you might think they are in the comments. We’re all doing a better job than we think we are.

You did it all by yourself! Good job!

Posted in Mothership, Observatory, Sun, Vernal Equinox | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment