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Came across this article on the CS Monitor site - "For Cinemaniacs, moviegoing is a 24/7 Way of Life":
By David Sterritt | Film critic of The
Christian Science Monitor
NEW YORK - Jack Angstreich isn't exposed to daylight very often. When sunlight does glint off the New Yorker's Ebert-like glasses, it's usually when he emerges from his apartment to dash into a cab or scurry into the nearest subway. Invariably, Mr. Angstreich's destination is always that of a darkened room: the cinema.
On average, Angstreich reckons that he sees two or three films every day - on a really good day, he'll see four or five. To call Angstreich an avid filmgoer is a bit like calling Bill Gates well off. The term just doesn't do justice to describe a man who sees, on average, between 500 and 1,000 theatrical releases per year.
"There's a sense of being on a treadmill. There's a Sisyphean aspect to it," admits Angstreich.
There's even a name for the lifestyle he's chosen: cinemania.
fun article, but not really difficult journalism - it just rehashes the same weird movie fanatics from the film
Cinemania - which is one of my favorite films of all time - first seeing it at the 2003 Philadelphia Film Festival - and secondly when it returned off-festival to the big screen here in Philly. I guess that I'm a big time moviegoer myself, but no where near the extreme of the people in the movie - and I don't hate video! (see article) I pick up most of my films on video from the public library - about 5 films a week - hmmm.... - that's about 260 movie a year - not counting the many films that I see at the theater. Does that qualify me as a cinemaniac?
Having to deal with awful writers block on a paper that I'm writing -this what I have so far...
African-American Life in America in the early part of the 20th Century: through the eyes of Langston Hughes' autobiography The Big Sea
S.A.A
Spring 2004
The social degradation suffered by African-Americans in the first half
of the 20th Century left them few options within American society. This degradation took many forms; racism, limits on economic opportunity, and violence. One of the great African-American figures in American creative arts - Langston Hughes - lived and created some of his most renowned work within this restrictive environment. Best known for his poetry Langston was also a journalist, songwriter, and social commentator on American race relations. Born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, he spent most of his early years in the cities of the Midwest - moving to Topeka, Kansas shortly after his birth, and spending part of his teenage years in Cleveland, Ohio. By examining the early life of Hughes we can get an understanding of the ways that African-Americans coped with the racial restrictions of the past. Restrictions that cut through the fabric of everyday life. Hughes began his struggles with these restrictions early.
As he states, "At first, they did not want to admit me to the school because there were no other colored families living in that neighborhood. They wanted to send me to the colored school, blocks away down across the railroad tracks. But my mother, who was always ready to do battle for the rights of a free people, went directly to the school board, and finally got me into the Harrison Street School - where all the teachers were nice to me, except one who sometimes used to make remarks about my being colored. And after such remarks, occasionally the kids would grab stones and tin cans out of the alley and chase me home." (Hughes, page 14)
This gives a clear indication of the segregation that was prevalent at the time. It was taken for granted that the young Hughes would be sent to a school for colored children. Without the intervention of his mother that would have still been the case. That this incident took place in Topeka, Kansas is very relevant to understanding the situation. Racial restrictions were placed on African-Americans throughout the United States. Racial division were perhaps less stringent in the Midwest then they were in the southern states. Racism wasn't alien to Topeka, but the difference between the racism practiced there and the racism practiced in the South was the firmness in which it was enforced. It is unlikely that Hughes' mother would have had any success getting her son admitted into a White school south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The cracks that existed in the racial restrictions of Kansas could be used by the Hughes' to gain Langston entry into a White Topeka elementary school.
As a teenager Langston attended Central High School in Cleveland, Ohio. Hughes states, "Central was the high school of foreign-born parents-until the Negroes came. It is an old high school with many famous graduates. It used to be long ago the high school of the aristocrats, until the aristocrats moved farther out. Then poor Whites and foreign-born took over the district. Then during the war, the Negroes came. Now Central is almost entirely a Negro school in the heart of Cleveland's vast Negro quarter." (Hughes, pages 29-30)
Here Langston gives a fantastic description of the movement of people within one neighborhood, and how it's racial and economic makeup changed over time. Langston describes a trend towards upward mobility. As the economic resources of residents improved they moved from the neighborhood of Central High for greener pastures elsewhere. In this particular community the transfer was from wealthy native-born White - poor native-born White - foreign-born Whites - until finally you come to native-born African-Americans. The community has undergone many chances, but the fluidity of these changes seems to stop once the community becomes African-American. There is a sense of finality to Hughes description of the current composition of the neighborhood. He states that the high schools is now all Negro and there is a feeling is that it will remain as such because it is now firmly within the Cleveland Negro quarter. No future waves of migrants are expected to uproot this final phase in the life of the high school and neighborhood.
At the time of Hughes attendance Central was still located within a mostly White community, but one with a vastly differently ethnic composition then which he was previously exposed. This new ethnic composition presented Hughes with social opportunities that didn't exist in Topeka, "When I was there, it was nearly entirely a foreign born school, with a few native White and Colored American students mixed in. By foreign, I mean children of foreign-born parents. Although some of the students themselves had been born in Poland or Russia, Hungary or Italy. And most were Catholic or Jewish...there was a distinct Jewish-Gentile division among my classmates. That was perhaps why I held many class and club offices in high school, because often when there was a religious deadlock, a Negro student would win the election." (Hughes, page 30)
Within this environment being an African-American ceased to be a social handicap. Hughes was an integral part of the social scene in his high school. There are a few principle reasons why this was possible considering the period of American (and world) history when this took place. As Hughes mentioned, Blacks weren't a large segment of the student population. Under these circumstances they ceased to be a threat. The Jews and Catholics of the school recognized that it was to their advantage to use African-American students as a buffer in order to avoid conflicts. The fact that a largest segment of the student population was of foreign origin was also important in easing racial tensions. The newness of America to this group could mean that they were largely ignorant of America's racial traditions. For this reason they didn't just discriminate against Hughes out of habit. Racism of the kind practiced in America wasn't apart of their experience and was contradictory with their political and social beliefs. In further accounts Hughes recounts how prevalent Socialism was among the students.
They openly celebrated the Russian Revolution of 1917 and some students
(Hughes amongst them) were reprimanded by the schools Principal for their supposedly un-American beliefs.
It is my belief that the radical beliefs of the foreign-born students were a major contributor in their full acceptance of Hughes. Political they thought of him as an equal, and socially he was a fellow classmate. The uniqueness of this situation cannot be overstated. African-Americans often found themselves in competition with new residents from aboard. Conflicts between the groups were common, especially if they perceived the other as a threat to their own chance of employment or accumulation of property. The small population of Blacks in Hughes' Cleveland made such conflicts unlikely.
Hughes first trip to the Harlem section of New York City was as a student at Columbia University. His decision to attend Columbia was based largely on his desire to see Harlem. In the Big Sea Hughes gives us a vivid description of what life was for those who lived and worked there.
Source
Hughes, Langston (1995) The Big Sea New York: Hill and Wang
[BP Questions]
What's your main reason for being on BlackPlanet? Attention, boredom, meeting new people, etc.
SoMuchAzz: Boredom.
HotAss_Girl22: To meet people cause i just got here and i got no friends just my husband and my kids
Fly_Azn_Chick: I`m on here to talk to people... why do u ask? what`s ur reason?
DH (to F_A_C): No real reason, other than just being interested in hearing what you have to say on the subject.
If Blackplanet was shut down tomorrow would you care?
SoMuchAzz79: I could care less if it shut down or not, it`s not a major part of my life.
Pretty_Grl_Mika: Nah I wouldn`t care..but I just be on here to meet new people
My searches on BP are usually random - which means that I almost never know what I'm going to get - (it's just a roll of the dice) - today wasn't bad - a few attractive women - I'm really not satisfied with how spread out my searches are - my only criteria is 20-25 & female - I could also use location if I wanted - but when I've done that in the past I've been disappointed with the results - who knows what may come of todays efforts - as always I'm hoping for conversation, but...
Azz_Lik_No_Otha (IL) * SoMuchAzz79 (OK) * XxCoverGirl21xX (KS) * HotAss_Girl22 (CO) * SweetSexcBody (CA) * Pretty_Grl_Mika (DC) * BlazinAsian0183 (MD)
A book we should all attempt to read...
Eden Eden Eden by Pierre Guyotat
To be truthful I haven't been able to get past page 16 - too many references to cumming, farting, and bleeding for my taste - but I'm fascinated by the style of writing - it's so fresh, expressive, and smooth - Guyotat is powerful talent and apparently very eccentric to say the least! (see Reading Pierre Guyotat )
Serena Williams Versus Jennifer Lopez
Stupid and trivial - I know - but I was thinking about this yesterday (don't ask me why) - Who would America choose in the Battle of the Booties? I have my suspicions, but...let the contest begin (with some help from google):
[Round 1]
Serena Williams ass vs Jennifer Lopez's ass
Results: SW - 864; JLO - 2,630 (!!!)
The Winner of R1: JLO with an amazing 1,766 result margin! Serena is definitely in trouble!
[Round 2]
Serena Williams booty vs Jennifer Lopez's booty
Results: SW - 322; JLO - 185
The Winner of R2: Serena makes a gutsy comeback - winning R2 by a satisfactory margin of 137 results.
[Round 3]
Serena Williams butt vs Jennifer Lopez's butt
Results: SW - 639; JLO - 599
The Winner of R3: Serena gives it all that she has left - winning R3 by a slender 40 results. Will it be enough?
--------------------------
The Victor: Jennifer Lopez wins the booty battle by a convincing margin of 1,584 results. Serena Williams loses :-( - despite winning two of the three rounds. She angeryly demands a recount as JLO makes her victory speech.
I'm really becoming frustrated in my attempts to find quality blogs - I've tried google - but that's hit or miss; too many old blogs that aren't being updated anymore - Yahoo! was a waste of time - what I've settled on is just clicking on random newly published blogs from the blogger homepage (There has to be a better way! a blog search engine perhaps? hmmm..) This what I was able to find last night:
Afghan Voice
F@#K Everything
I Have No Life
Translation eXchange
Sending out emails in order to stimulate discussion is very depressing - there is no way to tell if anyone ever reads anything you send out - sometimes you receive a reply - usually you do not - for all that I know every message that I have sent will be deleted upon receival - stay positive [repeating to myself - stay positive, stay positive, stay...] - it is all for nothing - morbidness creeps in - The average woman receives up to 400 messages in the 1st month of joining a dating site (read this somewhere on the web) - it's true - I'm sure that it is - I would give up if it wasn't so darn addictive...
TexAssMexican * MouseyNYC * BabyGurl_D * My_Time_2_Shine (CA) * Diamond_2607 (ON, Can) * Jamaican_xStasy (CA) * Fly_Azn_Chick (PA) * Sexy_Ga_Peach69 * U_WannaBeMine (NY)
Read my poem "Knox Street" at the launch party (4/22/03 7pm-9pm) for the latest edition of Hyphen the Temple University undergraduate journal - I battled with some nervousness, but I went through with it - forcing myself to to be the first presenter of the evening:
Knox Street
Our posts, fences, and stairs face
As do our windows (A voyeur's delight)
Row upon row of houses
Where privacy is more theory than reality,
Homes where the walls that separates us are so thin
That they make a mockery of our intimate moments.
We live in these cramped conditions
Hidden from the sun and fresh air
Chocked off by the city smog.
Our children are the 1st to attempt to break away
They find sanctuary in the streets
Where they play, fight, and steal.
Unseen by the wardens that remained locked inside.
From these surroundings I emerge daily
With a smiling face (A reminder of my youthful exuberance)
And leave to a world of my own creation
Only to return every night
To find those that choose to remain.
The fantastic film Weather Underground is coming to PBS - (in Phila.) April 27 10PM-1130PM - on the PBS documentary series Independent Lens - had the pleasure of first seeing this film at the 2003 Philadelphia Film Festival - a must see...
Dialectic Humanism's 2004 Philadelphia Film Festival Rewards
Another film festival has drawn to a close - and again I have attended each screening alone - it's not that I have no friends - just no reliable friends - there isn't one person who I could rely on to meet me half way - quarter way - ANY way - I want to swim through a sea of people who hold my interests - admittedly my interests are quirky, but they are not singular - the theaters are full despite my solitude - there are advantages to solitude - I spend only what I can afford - I see what I want - I arrive on time - leave when I feel - I see what I want (I said that before, but it needs repeating) - I see what I want, I see what I want, I see what I want, I see...there is no need for friendly compromise when you have no real friends || I wasn't satisfied with this festival - one great film - one ground-breaking film - one excellent informative film - and others that were just good
I was inducted into the "Gamma Theta Upsilon Geographical Honor Society" today - my geekdom transformation is almost complete :-)
My Latest trip into the mutilated maze of BP - we'll see where this goes - hopefully quality discussion will develop (Don't hold your breath!! :-)
AkaLizz (MD) a fantastic looking web-model whose website and Yahoo! Group will provide much in the eye-candy department.
All-Natural (IL) - sexy looks, intelligent, and natural -
her site.
AllDat-Azz (FL) - a few excellent pics, but very little has changed on this page in years - probability of discussion .00019 :-)
ChubbCheeks (PA) - pretty, slender-but curvy - I'm sure that I've contacted her before - still no discussion - *sigh*
DwnAzzChik (FL) very attractive Asian woman; apparently she has met 50 Cent.
ThickAssedAsian (CA) - I'm a sucker for a screen-name - especially if includes the magical curvy-Asian combination :-)
|| Megumi ||
I first encountered pictures of Megumi on this Yahoo! Group - an amazingly attractive woman - but in reality she's just another women who isn't my girlfriend :-)
Sent out several notices to women on BP today - not really expecting to generate much discussion from this - but only time will tell:
Whispermaiden (PA); Sirennar (MA); SweetStrwBerri (WV); NiceASSets (CT); SoftLegs99 (NY); SxyLusciousTerp (MD); DaSexyBrown (FL); MissNYs2002 (NY); MzLadyLuck (IN); FunkChunk (TX); Mamacta389 (NM); Sweet_Sonya (VA).
(copy of a note I sent to a friend)
Saw the film "BaadAsssss!" last night - Directed and starring Mario Van Peebles - the film is based on his father, Melvin Van Peebles, experience in making the film "Sweet Sweetback's Baad Assss Song" (1971) - both were in attendance (there was a Q & A after the showing) - the absolute best film I've seen at the festival so far - possibly the best film I've seen this year - right up there with "The Dreamers" - movies such as these are what feeds my passion for Cinema - but the pleasure that I get from films is so temporary - it's not like sex - where the pleasure is more intense and memorable - it's seems that I need a harem of films to order to appease my insatiable lust - Oh how my memory fades! Guess it's about time for the next movie :-)
Cinema Review: Control Room - USA, Egypt 2003, 83 mins
Al Jazeera - truth projected through lenses - our truth - not yours - Qatari truth - straight from the Middle-East - independent - not of money - but independent of all your constraints - Independent of the corporate boot licking and government manipulation - You hear that Washington? You hear that London? Tel Aviv? We report your actions - the things you don't want us to know - the things you wish we wouldn't talk about - But we do - and in this forum (our forum) - we express our truth 24/7 - 365 - Hear that Egypt? Here that Saudi Arabia? You can ban us, but we'll be back - we report the things your media so conveniently forgets - we listen, investigate, and report - Did you REALLY think that we would ignore the burning of Baghdad? when the first US tank crossed into Iraq we were there - when the first bombs fell we were there - we put microphones to average Iraqis and let them express their views - Did you do that? ABC, NBC, CNN, BBC, CBS? Did YOU do that? Did you give any air-time to an Iraqi who wasn't an exile or government official? Why? we gave the real Iraqis a voice - the ones in torn shirts - in bandages with wounds still dripping blood - those who lost homes and love ones to American "smart bombs". We did this - What did you do? You told no truth - and falsely said that our truth was lies - Is showing a wounded child in a hospital a lie Mr. Rumsfeld? Is this a lie Mr. Bush? you hated our ruth and in turn you begin to hate us - this why you bombed our Baghdad offices - killing a journalist - Is this what you call collateral damage?
Murder the messenger and continue your sleep!
Date:Thursday, April 15, 2004 @ 10:39 PM EST
From:MsSA007
Re: {{Finish This Thought...}}
To:DH
----- Original Message Was:
The Men of BlackPlanet are So...(?)
Best Wishes
DH
--------------------------
the men of blackplanet are so inarticulate..
now you finish this sentence for me..
DH is so..?
____________________________
(My Reply)
intelligent that it makes his head hurt :-) - so attentive that it becomes a burden - and so committed that he easily gets lost in the moment.
Best Wishes
DH
Indians (Asian) on BP...
Largely disappointed in the search (you try :-) - a few gems - but not enough to make it worth while - what was my purpose? I find Asian-Indian women attractive - but they usually appear to be very restrictive in their social interactions - being on BlackPlanet shows at the very least that a woman would be open to diverse relationships *
Sexy_desigirl - no telling when this page was last updated... *
MsSA007 - have I send her a note before?? *
Lovebug-of-772 - I've sent notes to this page many times but never received a response. Someone is home - notices for parties are posted on this page often, but the pics always remain the same. No real personal touch to anything here - It's possible that Lovebug isn't the person who updates this page. hmmm....
The Loser in the Cinema...
Movies can capture some aspects of extreme shyness, but usually fail in the end. They tend to fall back on a character that I call the "loveable loser" - a character that is impossibly weird, but still finds himself/herself at the center of everything, and having to fight of love interests. The movies below are really guilty of this phenomenon.
Billy Liar (UK - 1963)
Pecker (USA - 1998)
Rushmore (USA - 1998)
Amelie (France - 2001)
The Man Who Copied (Brazil - 2003)
Ban the lovable loser from Cinema!
WEHT Ashley Juggs??!!
Obviously you can still see her at her website - but is there any truth to the retirement rumors? Or (God forbid) to those that say she has undergone breast reduction surgery! This would be a monumental tragedy if true - she will always be my favorite web model.
//Internet Dating Web Guide//
{{BlackPlanet Women..}}
Ms_Silkyblue's answers to one of my email interviews:
What type of movies are you willing to pay for?
Action/Thriller
Horror
cultural
kung fu
I personally go to the movies once or twice a week. How about you?
1-2 times a week
Who comes to your mind when you think of great actors or actresses?
denzel washington
angela basset
Do you have any strong opinions on Spike Lee? Since he`s one of my favorite directors I`m very curious how other people view his work.
no strong opinion. i feel he is a very important and brilliant director who has opened doors for others.
List 5 great movies that everyone should see.
matrix
lord of the rings
it
school daze
lost boyz
One,
Nickimmy
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A women who I first saw on the Miss Applebottom site - sent her a short introductory message - Baby Got...
XXVenitaXX
Cinema Review: Work Hard, Play Hard
Cinema Review: Work Hard, Play Hard (Violence des echanges en milieu tempere) - France 2003 95 min
The contradictions of capitalism; live for your work; devote all your free time to your work; think about nothing but work; postpone life for work; postpone love for work; work is everything; work is your life; what were you before work? the company gave birth to your very existence; you were a non-entity before employment; you cease to exist without your employment; you are nothing; we own you; we can do what we will with you; you are our slave; so carry on with your duty; your mission: prepare our client for the upcoming merger; study work methods; interview employees, study them; quiz them; trick them; berate them; fire them; upon merger 80 employees must go; draw up a list of the unlucky and report to me next week; "Your conscious getting the best of you? This is business...your conscious is irrelevant. Your emotions is irrelevant. Use your compassion as an asset - Distribute pink slips with a smile on your face :-) The wishes of your girlfriend, her child, her mother is irrelevant. There will be other women. Other passionate nights in hotel rooms or on sunny beaches. Remember our company motto - Work Hard, Play Hard!"
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