Inception

I did it. I broke down and went to the movies. After all, I have plenty of time to fill, and as much as I know there is a HIGH chance of frustration at the cell phones and the whispers and the overzealous munching of popcorn and the crankling of plastic candy wrappers and the squeaking of seats, there is still a ROMANCE with the theater that I have not yet escaped.

But, I did refuse to go to the Park Slope Pavillion. Too many bad experiences. Friends have told me BAM is a good place to see a movie. So I went there. When you go to BAM you feel like a Brooklyn insider. There aren't even any signs outside of the building to let you know you are at a movie theater. I sheepishly opened the door into a building that I thought (correctly) was the theater and bought my ticket for Inception.

I don't remember the last movie that has received so much press and word of mouth than Inception, the concept is cool, and it's the kind of film that seems made for a theater. So what did I think?

As Fischer's dying father utters on his death bed, "disappointed." I was all ready to call my friends who have seen it and talk forever about hidden meanings, plot twists, and metaphysics, but I walked out shrugging my shoulders, thinking, "This was pretty cool, but whatever..."

Ultimately I did not care enough about the characters involved and much of the plot (not the action, the backstories) felt forced. I really didn't feel anything when it came to Cobb and his wife; didn't really care that much about whether the inception worked! What did the spinning top mean at the end? I don't really care about that either.

Perhaps my expectations were too high or perhaps this is just a decent popcorn heist-flick dressed up as much more than it really is by the hype; by the power of an idea.

Powerwashing

When I go back home to Jersey on a summer weekend, or any weekend for that matter, there is not much to do. It is nice to get out of the city for a little while, but I find myself retreating upstairs to my computer most of the time while I am home. I don't know what to do with myself. And I am not content just lying around reading a book or watching TV.

So I fidget. I wander up and down the stairs, check my email and wander aimlessly online. Go back down, open the refrigerator. Look in the garage to see what new memento from childhood I might find this time. Times with my family revolve really only around food, and generally just dinner. So when 5:00 rolls around we can crack open a bottle of wine and have "something to do" for a few hours around cooking, eating, and cleaning. And then, all of a sudden, it's 8:00 and the house goes quiet.

It turns out that just this month my mother has decided to put the house up for sale. This is the same house that's "been going up for sale" for nearly the entire time I lived here, starting in 1988. Sure enough, though, a bright yellow Weichert Realty sign now stands prominently on our front lawn. Naturally this means that there is now "a lot to do."

One of the things that apparently comes with selling a house is powerwashing the concrete patio in the backyard. Twenty years of dirt and browning concrete will not do. Now, I'm sure that on some cable channel there is some show about all the things one needs to do to sell a house at maximal value. And I'm sure that powerwashing is one of them. But the truth is that I don't think it would even cross my mind that this is a task that could be done.

Nevertheless we had to get out there this morning before the evil sun of 2010 beat too brightly and inch by inch spray away the caked dirt on the concrete in the backyard. The powerwasher we were using, borrowed, old, run on gas, leaking water everywhere, made us only that much more inefficient.

Yet there was something strangely satisfying about the process of holding the "power rifle" down the ground and methohdically carving out sections to whiten and make new again. "No, I do not want a break; let me just finish this section..." I had something to do. I felt useful. And, so, mildly happy, I jumped in the pool.

The Subway at 9:30

So this week I have been attending a professional development workshop that begins at 10am on the Lower East Side. This means that I am on the F train at about 9:30. It is amazing how different the commute is versus my normal 7am commute during the school year. I can't help but feel frustrated at not having a door spot where I can work on my crossword and not stare at the ridiculous New Yorkishness that so irritates me during a morning commute. Men in long sleeves and scarves on a hot and humid summer day; teenagers bopping to anything-but-private-headphone hip hop; women squeezing their way into seats and updating their make-up through pocket mirrors. I like the extra sleep, but ultimately I'm still tired anyway. I miss my 7am F crowd... For now...

A Williamsburg Tour

It is not often that I want to travel out to the neighborhood to the north. I don't know if anyone can even mention Billyburg these days without someone rolling their eyes. But, I was meeting a friend and, to be honest, I often have a lot of fun out there. So I did my research, created a google map of potential pit stops and G-Trained it up at around 7:30 on Friday evening. Here's what I found:

BARCADE: My friend Reena has told me about this place and the concept seems fun: great craft beers on tap, video game stations from the 80s lining the walls, big, open space. I did not experience what the late night scene might be at this place, but the late evening crowd was a good mix of people varying in age and level of hipsterness. Friendly, huge, airy Williamsburgy space. I did not play any video games but did enjoy the nostalgia their mere presence evoked.

We then took a lenghty walk in the dusky sky to FULL CIRCLE, a skeeball themed bar. This was definitely the best place of the night. The music was superb... I remember hearing a few deep Talking Heads cuts and an alternate take of "Sweet Jane" on the playlist. When you walk to the back of the bar there are three skeeball stations and a sort of stadium seating setup behind them where people sit, watch, and cheer on the players. Contrary to what I had imagined, there was no lengthy list hanging on the wall to sign up or flocks of skeeball nuts hovering around with special skeeball gloves and personal sets of skeeballs. In fact, we were able to easily play as many games as we wanted. And the strangers in the bar were all very friendly.  I guess I'm the asshole with the pretensions. By the way, I am proud that I was able to score a 360 after just a few tries. Not bad for never playing.

The next stop was BERRY PARK,  a huge oasis of a place with a welcoming roof deck on top. The place was filled with good looking young people doing their thing. Again, not pretentious. Just chill. Walking onto the rooftop I had a flashback to some of the places we went to in Portland, OR last year. Although I was very hungry at this point, I did not order from their fancy pants menu. I waited instead for street pizza.

This is important. I tried a slice from a pizza joint on Bedford and N 9th St. It comes up before the massive throng of people at the L stop a few blocks away. While the slice was slightly thicker than I generally prefer, the taste was excellent. I remember thinking that this place needed to step up its game because clearly it's going to miss out to the places nearer the subway. So, I just had to compare. I stopped in to get a slice at the place right at N6th street. And guess what? I couldn't even finish it. Horrible. And guess what else? The place was packed. Hmmm...

Eight Albums For July

July, the first full month of summer, offers me plenty of time to reaquaint myself with music I had forgotten about or just haven't gotten to. It's also one of the few months when I can actually listen to a new release thoroughly when it comes out. Summer releases have a certain amount of staying power because most people are listening to music more---as anthems for road trips or even just out at the bar. Here's to summer...

1. Wilco - "AM" (1995)

Pure alt-country sounds refreshingly raspy anew.

2. The Roots - "How I Got Over" (2010)

Hip-hop faves make soulful summer album.

3. OK Go - "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky" (2010)

This too shall not be passed.

4. Tom Petty - "Mojo" (2010)

The blues with a Petty twist.

5. Monsters of Folk - "Monsters of Folk" (2009)

Took a break, love it again.

6. God Street Wine - "$1.99 Romances" (1995)

Reunion tour brings high school memories.

7. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - "Fruit" (2009)

Thanks Sternberg. Band name describes music.

8. Band of Horses - "Infinite Arms" (2010)

Only listened twice. Pleased. Want more.