I spent a large part of the weekend in my apartment, watching westerns on tv. Don't know how that happened, it just did. But I do enjoy them, which is why I was glued to the tv set watching westerns, some of which I'd already seen. I was flipping through the channels on Saturday, and came across the Clint Eastwood movie Hang 'Em High. Heard of it, never saw it. And the only real reason I started watching was because I recognized one of the actor's names, that of Pat Hingle, and it took me a few seconds to realize it was the guy who would play Commissioner Gordon in the Batman movies twenty years later. I wanted to see what he looked like twenty years younger. So after a good amount of movie goes by, he shows up, looking exactly like he did in Batman. Also of note was a brief appearance by a young Dennis Hopper, who showed up, acted crazy, and was shot, and Alan Hale, who you would remember as the skipper from Gilligan's Island. Anyway, I watched most of that. Never actually sat through a Clint Eastwood western before. Kind of liked it.
So then I flipped over to TBS superstation, where I had noticed the Kevin Costner movie Wyatt Earp was on. Long ass movie. This is only my second favorite Wyatt Earp biopic, after Tombstone, but as far as epic westerns go, it's actually one of my favorites. It's not particularly good, but I just like westerns, and long westerns all the better. Plus, I always get confused between which cast members were in Tombstone and which were in Wyatt Earp, and I often find myself assembling my own dream cast, picking people from each to star in new movie, or miniseries. Anway, with commercials, that movies gotta be about four hours long, at least. And just when you think it's over, they flash forward 17 years, only to flashback about 18 years.
I also watched a good part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which I'd always wanted to see, but couldn't finish it before Six Feet Under came on. There was another western in there as well, but I can't recall what it was.In other movie news, I was just about to go to sleep last night when I decided that I needed something to eat, which meant I had to watch tv while I ate. So I flipped through the tube and came across Dogtown and the Z-Boys, the movie chronicling the rise of skateboarding in the 1970s. Pretty damn interesting. I couldn't turn it off after a few minutes, and watched the remaining hour and a half until almost two in the morning. It made it seem such a cool thing to be a part of, surfer kids in California in the 70s, turning that into skateboarding. There were a lot of interviews with most of the kids grown up, and it was a weird mix of yuppies, burnouts, and old surf dudes. What was odd was that no matter how each person ended up, it seemed kind of sad. The ones that are successful now seemed like sellouts, and the ones that are machinists in some lowly job or in jail seem terribly tragic and sad. One guy, Jay Adams, was the one in jail, but growing up had been recognized as the most naturally gifted skater of them all, though he was the youngest. They didn't reveal much of his life since the 70s, or that he was even in jail until the end of the movie. But he had a huge scar on his face that looked like it had fresh stitches, and it was such a stark contrast to the pictures of him as a teenager with long blonde hair. The prototypical california skater kid. Now he looks like someone dumped a hot tureen of gravy over him. You feel especially bad for him, because he had the most talent and squandered it, while many of the others, including the filmaker behind this movie, figured out ways to cash in on their skating success.
Anyway, on the good news front, which had been all quiet for some time, yesterday was a good day. First, I raced home after work, between jobs, to facilitate a meeting between my landlord and the girl I found to sublet my place for July and August. The word is now that I am moving to a new home and new life in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. It's such a relief to get this settled this far in advance. last year i didn't find a place until less than two weeks before I moved. We finalize everything on Friday, and then my hands will be washed of Greenpoint. Or they will be in a month and a half. Then, as I left for my nightjob, with a piece of cheddar cheese in my hand no less, I checked my mail and saw the tell-tale yellow envelope that could only be from the U.S. Treasury department. Jackpot! Tax return! Touchdown, boo-ya, I make miracles happen! So my biggest dilemma of the moment is, what to buy? And I don't even feel that irresponsible, because no matter what I buy, i'll still have a tidy sum left over. Now if it just get warm. No, really, it's absurd. 60 degrees is your high on May 13th? Bollocks!
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