the awesome/terrifying freedom

just in time for the movie, i finished harry potter 4. fantastic. it's the 'empire strikes back' of the series.

the score for 'goblet of fire' is fantastic. gone are the tinkling bells, patronizing arpeggios, and muddled whimsical tuba theme that john williams crapped out (his score for the third film is better, thanks to having an actual director). the new score repeats the william's theme only once, playing it on soaring strings. you can almost hear doyle's irritation at having to include it, and then feel his excitement as he creates something new and better. i've always been a fan of patrick doyle - who scored kenneth branagh's best films: much ado, henry V, and my absolute favorite: dead again. his harry potter score bears much in common with 'dead again's:' sweeping, romantic, operatic in scale, full of solid, mature themes, and most of all, it's the score of a taught suspense thriller. i can't wait to see this film.

started reading 'a field guide to getting lost,' which was recommended to me by emily after a deep conversation centering around WTFAWGTDWTROOL. what the fuck are we going to do with the rest of our lives. the book is lovely and insightful.

went to the 'out 100' awards at capitale. took a date. he hated nearly everything about it, excepting the open bar. 'we're not really standing in line so we can stand around and watch gay people give awards to gay people for being gay are we?' i had no answer. i was irritated that he would so deeply criticize an event i had invited him to, but was also really attracted to his frankness and lack of interest in the 'gay world.' turns out defamer had similar things to say. looking forward to where this might go.

i put 'the birds' on my ipod. i hadn't watched it since high school, and i'm astonished by just how good it is, and just how good tippi hedren was in the role. it's so subversive in its sexuality that it hardly feels american. i can't think of another film that so eloquently parallels an unexplained animal attack with an unspoken sexual competition between mother, daughter, jilted lover, and newcomer.

speaking of the ipod - i discovered the coolest hidden feature of itunes: lyrics. if you control click a song title, you can access tons of features for each song - track order, edit album art, etc.. but who wants to go through and find lyrics to every song in your library, then cut and paste them into that window? look no further than pearlyrics, a super cool program that will automatically find the lyrics for every song in your library and automatically upload them into itunes. brilliant. fucking brilliant - especially if you are like me: a music first, lyrics later kind of person. click the center button as you listen, and after it scrolls past the album art, you can read the lyrics as you listen on the subway.

i'm sure it's out there, but a similar widget that downloads album art would be awesome, too.

after having it a month, my feelings about the 5g ipod are still very strong. because it now holds movies, the machine feels even more an extension of the owner. it's not the ideal way to experience new media, but it's really fantastic for watching old favorites. steve jobs was right when he said that video wasn't ideal for the ipod because it requires full attention - whereas music can be a background activity. i would never watch a full movie on my ipod, but i love watching snippets of my favorite films, a few minutes at a time - and noticing things i never saw before, like:

indy's gay student, who, in 'raiders of the lost ark,' sheepshly puts an apple on his desk then bolts out the door. probably the only hint of gayness in any of the movies (aside from the willie scott anything goes tapdance number).

the opening shot of the birds incorporates an ingenius invisible wipe that seamlessly transitions from an outdoor location shot of tippi hedren crossing a san francisco street to a studio set of the outside of the bird shop.

on my ipod:
the birds
rope
north by northwest
indiana jones trilogy
empire strikes back
king kong 1933
citizen kane
six feet under series finale