A Day of Activity! (did i ever actually say that?) I was up early-ish (I've been breaking my streak, rising safely in the AM), drove with dad out to Chase Pitkin and Wegmans (my best back-out job ever, I think, and more successful highway driving) for some errands. Also to Radioshaq, where I bought a 30pak of blank CDs and a matchingly multicolored 25pak of slimcases (hm. so you need to buy 150 before they come out even?) in order to make a summer mix. But trying to start the process back home, I was daunted by the permanence of the burned-CD format. A CD mix seems to me fundamentally different from a tape mix, and frankly I much prefer the latter. My plan was to make a set of two paired discs, one upbeat (designed specifically for cruising down the highway with windows open) and one mellower (for hanging out late at night in the backyard or whatever.) But especially with that degree of specificity, each track has to be perfect; no sub-par choices allowed. Combined with my qualms about whether or not to repeat tunes that have been on mixtapes from this semester, particularly if I'm having trouble locating the tape (the splendid long-playing "Mingle and Squeal" from about February). So much pressure!

I spent a while this afternoon cleaning the porch - scrubbing down the furniture, attempting to sweep months of accumulated leaves and dirt off the concrete floor (not particularly possible), and then washing the whole thing down with a hose (whoopee!) - while I listened to Rae's velvet-covered mixtape. So good. That may be the best tape anyone's ever made me. That was (supposedly?) partly in preparation for a little backyard barbeque we had in honor of memorial day, with appearances by Kate, Mike & (tall! afroed!) William and Trish, Mike, and (gradumacated! er, redheaded!) Caitlin. I handled music (the Lilys, who are fantastic and have been getting a lot of airplay around here; then Mofro, Shuggie, and Jimmy Smith, who I decided all sounded more or less the same), while Dad grilled the chicken and sausages (and overgrilled the buns, so that it brittlely crumbled all over my plate when I tried to take a bite) and Mom mixed the (rather strong) margaritas. And Martha graced us with her presence. Fun fun. Lots of talk of prom (including a "professional" prom-date who had served for eleven proms in addition to his own) and Smith, as well as "trendiness," olives, movies (David Lynch and Human Nature compared to You can count on me). Brilliant dessert of vanilla ice cream, Harren brownies, and my (still moist!) cake.

I have two movie reviews to submit: Lantana was quite reminiscent of Magnolia (Ester take note), down to title plant-allusion that they never bother to explain in the movie. But I liked it more, perhaps because it was only two hours long rather than three. And Australian. The scenario/storyline was interesting, and it got more so as the film progressed and lots of pleasingly subtle interconnections get revealed. It's hardly compelling or engaging, though, and I realized, despite some very fine (key- restrained) performances from the cast, I didn't really care that much about any of the characters. Still, it's worth seeing, if not worth the hype it's apparently had (in Australia or something). Pleasantly in the vein of "modern cinema," (on the American Beauty side of Memento? I don't know what I'm saying.)

Human Nature, now, reminded me very much of Fierce Creatures relative to Being John Malkovich's A Fish Called Wanda, which was about what I expected - that is to say, not nearly as original, hilarious, or just plain good as the "original," and probably not really deserving of comparison, but certainly enjoyable and amusing enough in its own right. And, as it happens, similarly concerned with themes of the human vs. animal dichotomy, the corruption of "civilization," and cheap sex gags. Well cast (Robbins, Arquette, Forster, particularly, are so nonspecifically familiar), well acted, visually quite nice. I won't go into plot summary (it's hard to describe in less than a paragraph, which means that most reviews I've seen are about half plot summary, but it's one of those which is disappointingly almost exactly as you would imagine it from the reveiw plot summary - so my advice is don't read a review before you see it), but it's predictably "quirky" and nowhere near as unpredictable as Malkatraz. There were a number of sections that were pleasingly reminiscent (even allusive) of some of M. Gondry's earlier work in Björk videos - the surrealistic bestseller in "Bachelorette," the scenery and animal focus of "Human Behavior." Sadly no return of the gorilla dentist of "Army of Me," though it would have fit right in. Funny thing - I saw the film while I was in the middle of reading the chapter in Pinker about animal language and the various misguided attempts to demonstrate primates' ability to acquire human language. He specifically contradicts a couple of things in the film, such as the "popular misconception" that pygmy chimps are more closely related to humans than other subspecies. Pinker is definitely opiniated and sometimes he just seems to be spouting off (as in his extended, nitpicking critique of "language mavens"), but it is fun reading and undeniably informative. Thirty pages left - what to read next?

I saw Lantana with Dad Saturday night, after a decent but unspectacular meal (once again, good appetizers; too much boring meat in the entree) with the folks at surprisingly crowded Mykonos. Human Nature last night after an unofficial block party in Dennis and Marilyn Roche-Ritchie's back yard. We were there about half an hour earlier than everyone else, bearing dad's scrumptious rhubarb pie, and sat in the slowly retreating sun (by the end we were completely in the shade of the house) discussing the city school district's financial plight, and college college college, with the R-Rs and our neighbors Lisa and John. As the afternoon bore on, more folks started showing up - at least two-thirds of whom I either vaguely recognized or had never seen before (lots of new blood on the street, it seems) - many with kids. Langes, Nazgoulds, Kellys. All ages, which is incredibly refreshing. Turkey burgers, fruit salad, pasta salad. Yeeah. Just like the good old times. My mom makes fun of my haircut (did I mention this - she's the first person to come down decidedly negative on it, and Martha quickly concurs. I dunno what to think - all my crazy college pals liked it so much.) I answer the same questions multiple times - Boston...Art History... I think of myself as just "the son of those people down the street." what a nice kid.

My eyes are getting bleary from staring at screens. Don't know about a video tonight. I think I'll work on songwriting now. K.

if
the as-
pirin
you take

doesn't cure
your
headache