2007-10-08 - 10:54 p.m. Issa is playing at the Rubin Museum this week! I've been meaning to go there anyway, now I'm doubly motivated. I saw Michael Clayton and it is darn good. George Clooney plays a character who is, for once, not a happy-go-lucky charmer*, but a rather hapless fellow tortured by a crisis of conscience and beset by financial woes. He has some great scenes with the little kid who plays his son that are as much about the kid's skilled performance as it is about Clooney's. And Tilda Swinton--what planet does she come from? Her beauty and intelligence seem to be from some celestial realm. *NB: I didn't see Syriana It really is just a coincidence, all these German bands, but today I was half-listening but still enjoying the genuine krautrock of Harmonia, whose debut album has also recently been reissued. I had not previously heard them, but learned that they were a super-group (of ubermenschen) that included members of Cluster and Neu! and, briefly, Brian Eno. Nice, quiet, proto-electronica. A couple of months ago, my landlord installed a lovely bench in front of my apartment building, tethered to the foundation with chains. Mysteriously, a few weeks later, it was replaced with a fancy garden chair, flecked with pretty mosaic tiles in a soothing seascape design. I guess he didn't want people congregating. This weekend, the fancy chair was replaced by...a metal folding chair. I am at a loss as to what happened to the fancy chair, and what diminished seating arrangement is in store for us next week. Maybe a chalk drawing. thoughts? (7 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact