Monday, September 08, 2003

DVD Review: Sonny - 2 stars This is a well done film about a young man caught up in "the life" working as a whore in New Orleans. He was trained from preadolescence on, by his mother - also a "working woman." You can tell already that this film is a bundle of laughs, right? Indeed, it's pretty sad from start to finish. It's somewhat educational. I didn't know that those "in the life" call the rest of us "squares." Still - if I could have my two hours or so back, and my mind washed clean of "Sonny," would I take it? Yes, I would. I'd rather not have seen it. So - given that it's a well done film but I'd rather not have seen it, how can I rate it? Well, I wouldn't recommend that a friend see it. So I'll give it two stars. 11:20:56 PM    comment []

Turning work into a series of experiments Today I called Smith-Victor, asked two questions about lighting equipment, and felt suddenly ready to order more. B&H Photo was out of stock on several things I wanted, so I ordered everything from Adorama. Now I'm excited. I finally gave myself some truly experimental things with which to play. Toward the end of this week I can be playing with all kinds of lighting and light diffusion effects. Suddenly, a dreaded challenge has become fun. It looks as if I might need to accept my natural way of doing things. It has its ridiculous aspects. I go way overboard on trying a lot of options. I research like crazy. I buy more things than I need in order to try different things till I find what I like best. I experiment and then experiment some more. I see all the drawbacks of this approach. It does have two advantages, though. One is that it's my natural way of doing things. When I work this way, I'm not fighting with myself. My energy flows well. Second - I have fun. I love to experiment. When I can work with a sense of curiosity and discovery, I get very happy. So do energy flow and happiness outweigh efficiency and even good sense? Definitely! Why would I even ask? 11:16:03 PM    comment []