Escapism Rules.

Ok, so last weekend my mother was here. Overall, it was a great visit, really. We all had a blast and it was simply awesome to see her again and know she's doing well, and I know for a fact she felt the same way - she was a little worried about her first born living in NYC, etc., etc. and she I think it did her some good to see how and where I live first hand to realize that I honestly do have my feet grounded. Alison, ever the good sport, and I took her from Battery Park all the way up to Central Park with plenty of stops along the way and then surprised her with an early birthday present (1oth row orchestra seats for The 39 Steps which was fantastic and amazingly funny in the best Python-esque sort of way imaginable) her first day here. I think she was overwhelmed but had a great time. Day two was a trip to Staten Island before a 'meeting of the moms' where Ali's mom came over and the four of us all had dinner. Her third and final day saw an off season trip to Coney because she wanted to see it before it is torn down (any day now.... The Warriors would be pissed and rightly so!).

As such, I'm still tired. It was three days of non-stop 'stuff' and while I was happy to do it and look forward to doing it again, it reminded me that I'm getting old. Couple that with more work related bullshit than I care for and it's been a long week. Add to that the completely unexpected death of a former co-worker from my last job and you can understand how I'm tired, and so I've opted to find solace in the finer things in life.

This week, what has occupied me?

-Shaw Brothers Kung Fu - definitely see Kiss Of Death if you dig Kill Bill style revenge films done right and House of Traps is fun if you like guys in bad outfits running around in houses filled with... traps.

-Deception - Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor star in this very mediocre and predictable film that features more naked ladies than you'd expect. That said, naked ladies can help but not save a film that lays all its cards on the table from the on set. If you have half a brain, you'll see the twist coming.

-Pieces - Juan Piquer's trash classic got a 2-disc release from Grindhouse Releasing. Just get it. It's awesome. And bloody. And it has a rad Bruce Lee dude in it.

The Jesus And Mary Chain: The Power of Negative Thinking - four discs of JAMC's demos, outtakes, covers and b-sides. I'm of the belief that feedback actually helps purge the bad stuff from your head when life beats up on you and this set definitely does the trick. It's worth getting just to hear their fuzzed out and dirty sounding wall of sound cover of Prince's Alphabet Street. Awesome stuff.

These things, coupled with a nice bottle of mid-priced Aussie merlot, are a good combination. That said, the next couple of months have a lot to look forward to. St. Louis/movie work is the weekend after this one and Alison is taking me on a secret vacation to an undisclosed location the second weeke in November. I've got the seed for a screenplay or story of some sort brewing in my brain and in December I'm hoping to take off to the great white north for a few days to see the whole fam damily. Life is good over all, really. I've little to complain about, but the little there is, I'll take full advantage of.

Without further ado, some odd pictures Alison took of me at the Coney Island aquarium earlier this week...