Notes
from Austin Volume 2 #36
LODGER's
Notes
A couple of Sundays ago, I went to check out the "Dracula"
performance featuring Phillip Glass and Kronos Quartet
at Bass Concert Hall. The whole affair was rather dreary
with members of the elite upper class mixed with the gloomily
dressed intelligentsia. The most bogus and unacceptable
problem with this whole charade was the rich elite bringing
their spoiled youngsters to the event. One of these mother
and son teams of the obnoxious gentry sat behind me and
yammered through the entire performance. When their preparatory
banter included a discussion of who Bela Lugosi was and
whether he was still alive, I wanted to turn around and
scream at the top of my lungs, "Haven't you fucking assholes
ever seen 'Ed Wood?'" I wanted to fly off in a Fassbinderian
rage and murder the entire orchestra section. The air
of the event continued to denigrate consistently throughout
the performance. Meanwhile, attempting to block the obtrusive
matriarchal tutoring lesson going on behind me, I noticed
Barna Kantor and Aaron Valdez of Cinemaker Co-op fame
also in attendance.
The film began and much to my interest it included
the original soundtrack with dialogue in the performance.
Glass and his musician sat behind the screen and, at
interesting but all too frequent times during the film,
were lit so that they could be seen behind the projected
film. It looked cool. Awash with bright white light
at times, they were bathed in red only at the film's
conclusion.
The performance, however, was rather lackluster. Not
once during the proceedings was there a "goosebump"
moment where the absolute desolation and eerie qualities
of Glass score truly accentuated the creepiness of the
film. More often than not, Glass' score seemed reminiscent
of Steven Reich's work. My friend Kelly has since burned
me a copy of the score on CD and while it is wonderful
background music, never once does Glass demand attention
or use the music to heighten the film's power. Instead,
his baroque and simple score underscores the images
with surprising subtlety. This makes for a great CD
but a rather drab live performance. At only 70 minutes
long it was hardly worth the $35. (That's 50 cents a
minute!)
The most annoying part of the performance was the
young and moronic audience who insisted on guffawing
at every opportunity at the campiness of the 1931 film.
Yes, this film is not completely subtle, especially
by today's standards; it is a relic of a far off time
in cinematic history. But rather than accepting the
film's limitations and enjoying what Todd Browning was
able to capture in the medium's formative years, the
audience instead opted to treat it like high comedy
and laugh at it as if it were a batty old aunt. Yes
it was surprising and odd and certainly surreal when
Browning had Dracula's castle in Transylvania include
images of live armadillos, but it wasn't hilarious.
Trying to be hip and droll, the crowd lost all contact
with the truly avant-garde of the visuals. It is an
annoying trend in young, moronic Austin audiences. Another
moment of bellowing came when a small box was opened
by a character in the film and one of the female members
of Kronos, lighted behind the screen, seemed to appear
in the box. This was cool and looked awesome but again
the audience seemed to think it was "funny." How ignorant.
Monday night at Casino el Camino's I got recognized by
one of my favorite barmaids there, Monica, for my appearance
on Lube TV. "Are you some kind of on-line film critic?"
she inquired. When I answered in the affirmative, she
said she had seen the episode where I had sat in as co-host
for John Christensen. She complimented me on my humor
and told me I was funny and made me feel cool. I truly
love Casinos because the staff there are some of the coolest
and most genuinely nice folks you could ever hope to me.
Casinos is consistently the only place on 6th street that
seems to be open to anyone and everyone is allowed to
be themselves. It's just a great place to hang.
On Election Day, Tuesday, I went to Charlies. It was rainy
and wet and downtown parking was crazy because all the
revelers were going to the capitol. Unfortunately, even
as late as 4am they were denied a Republican orgy of fireworks
and cheering.
Ah, the election! I am so excited about this election.
I voted for Nader since Bush was obviously going to
win Texas. I am pissed off about it now because those
fucking dumbass schmucks in Florida who were Nader supporters
should have been smart enough to vote for Gore. Dumbasses.
But the whole elongated process of electing a new
president now has me excited by the idea of democracy
in action. Only in America could this process take as
long as it has and not included violence or coups or
armed militia. Folks, this is the American way! A president,
under our current process, is not supposed to be truly
elected until December when the Electoral College meets.
That is when we, supposedly, really know the winner.
These, mainly Republican, morons who insist that we
must know who the winner is immediately just don't understand
democracy. Democracy takes time. Democracy is not perfect.
Democracy is the will of the people and often it is
important to move slowly and wisely when attempting
to comprehending the will of the people. It's a PROCESS
and it takes time.
The most astounding and obvious thing about this elongated
process is that it has given us a chance to see how
the two forerunners may act as the seated President.
Gore has moved consistently with valor, deep consideration
and pragmatism. He has, in short, acted like a true
statesman. Bush has acted like a spoiled rich child:
Insisting on an answer now. Insisting that the will
of the people be ignored and opting for the will of
machines instead. He has, in short, been a horse's ass.
Yes, I want Gore to win but I'm willing to sit back
and watch and allow the process to happen on it's own
timetable. Much of this is mandated by state's laws
and Bush, a Republican who supposedly believes in state's
rights, has consistently fought the state in this matter.
His bullying of the officials in Palm Beach county reveals
a man who does not respect local elected officials.
It is easy to determine that he therefore does not respect
state officials as well. He's not a Republican, he's
a Bush. He is only interested in what's good for Bush
and his rich supporters. What an obvious, transparent
jerk. I feel sorry for anyone ignorant enough to vote
for him.
What's occurred to me as being the saddest thing about
this whole election is that Bush, with his "Hee-Haw"
southern phoniness, appeals mostly to the blue collar
person, the very people he will hurt most if elected.
Gore, meanwhile, with his pedantic, seemingly phony,
sterile demeanor, appeals mostly to urbanites and intelligentsia,
the white collar rich, the folks he will most likely
hurt if elected. It's like a Catch-22.
The past two Wednesday nights, I've been over at John
Christensen's pad taping episodes of Lube TV. Episode
40, which will air on November 29, finds me guesting and
helping to discuss some short films about parenthood and
reproduction. There is also a Skinny Puppy video.
The following Wednesday, December 6th, Episode 41
will air. This features only one short film, a piece
by Scott Coffey called "Gray Matter." Shot on video
in 1999 in L.A., the film runs 20 minutes and features
a performance by David Lynch. That's right: THE David
Lynch. This is a short film I discovered recently and
I was lucky enough to secure a copy for Lube TV.
Coffey is a young actor and now filmmaker who appeared
in Lynch's "Lost Highway." He also is working with the
oddball director on "Mullholland Falls," an aborted
ABC TV drama that is now being turned into a feature
film by Canal Plus. Coffey's short film is amazing,
you must see it to believe it. Lynch plays Coffey's
psychic father.
Again, that's Wednesday night, December 5th, 11pm
on cable access channel 16. Charlie Soto: Get your VCR
ready.
John Christensen, by the way, has been chosen as a featured
player in the big budget film "The New Guy" which is lensing
in Austin currently. John will be playing a prison inmate,
one of nine, in a scene featuring lead DJ Qualls. "The
New Guy" also features Lyle Lovett, Jerry O'Connell, Willie
Nelson, Gene Simmons and Robert Van Winkle (aka Vanilla
Ice) and has been filming at several location in Austin
including Lakeline Mall. "The New Guy" is the directorial
debut of Ed Decker.
Qualls, as you may remember, was the nerdy Kyle in
"Road
Trip." He also appears in the upcoming Barry Sonnenfeld
film.
Christensen also has featured roles in the forthcoming
Sandra Bullock film "Miss Congeniality" (coming out
Christmastime) and 2001 release "American Outlaws,"
the Jesse James film made in Austin a few months back
featuring Scott Caan, Timothy Dalton and Kathy Bates.
He also has a speaking part in "The Duo," a local Jam
Pictures film that lensed earlier this year in town.
Christensen also co-hosts Lube TV with Mark Brauner,
a short film showcase aired each week on cable access.
Thursday I went to the Paramount to see "The
Fantasticks," a film version of the off-Broadway musical
that was written several years ago by some UT alumni.
There were only about 20 people in attendance. This film
is only being released in select cities and Austin seemed
a natural choice for a run, but the film has really flopped
here.
While I was downtown Thursday night, city workers
were busy removing the barricades in the quiet of the
night that had been set up for Bush's big party. Tee
eh.
And that's a wrap. Until next time! lodger 2000
Austin
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