Joaquin Phoenix on the David Letterman show about three years ago:
Joaquin Phoenix on his first appearance on the David Letterman show since then, last night:
(CBS made YouTube take the clips down. Now you get to watch their commercials online. Roll eyes.)
Notice the fact that he’s dressed in what appears to be the same suit. He claims to be leaving acting to follow a career in hiphop. You make the call. Is he serious? Is he on drugs? Is he pulling an Andy Kaufman/Tony Clifton?
The other day my husband called me. He was picking up lunch – some hot dogs from one of Austin’s ubiquitous trailer food stands.
“Lunch is going to be a little late,” he said. “I had to subdue a drunk and take away his keys. Just waiting for the police to get here.”
Apparently when he got to the counter, there was a guy just standing there, not saying anything. Everyone waited. Finally the cashier asked, “Hey buddy, can I get you anything?”
The drunk guy replied, “… Todd.”
At this point everyone knew something was wrong, and the guy started to wander to his car. He got in, proceeded to back up, and was backing towards the proprietor’s auto. Folks just watched him do it. Hub dashed over, reached in, grabbed the keys and made off with them. He said Drunk Guy got out and took a couple of bleary swings at him, but Hub led him over to one of the tables and sat him down, keeping him busy with conversation until the police could get there. Drunk Guy acquiesced easily enough, talking about his business, wife and family.
Eventually the cops came, took Hub’s statement, and the food establishment comped him one lousy order of fries. He came home with our hot dogs, none the worse for wear, thank God.
I wonder why that man was so plastered on a Monday noon.
Last spring I posted that Dave Szulborski was seriously ill and could use some good thoughts. He was in the hospital for treatment of leukemia for several weeks, and was happily declared in remission after a grueling round of chemotherapy.
Unfortunately, after spending a Christmas with an origami crane-decorated tree and his wife and baby, Dave has suffered a relapse and is back in treatment. And things are not looking as bright this time.
It just tears me up to see this happen. Utterly shredded. Devastated. Hence the disquieting dreams and the decision to become part of the marrow donor database. But I do believe in the power of positive thinking over recovery, especially on Dave’s part, and I think that if he realizes how many of us love and adore him it will help him through the immense difficulty he’s dealing with. So if you have a moment, there is information in this post on how to snail mail and how to email him a card.
Personal heroes? Well, the rules are that it can’t be someone who’s a friend, but honestly, Dave’s the first (and so far, only) person who came to mind when I read the blog post asking about what living, non-super-famous person is someone you really admire. Been wracking my brain to come up with someone who falls within the guidelines and I can’t think of anyone else. So that’s why I’m saying lots and lots and lots of prayers for Dave Szulborski, my hero.
Starting Very Soon Now (an interview is in the works) I’ll be contributing to Culture Hacker, which is a blog that inspects the intersection of new media and storytelling. I’ll be joining the ranks of some of my favorite homeskillets, Nick Braccia and Haley Moore, as I attempt to write intelligently about what I can’t even articulate to myself half the time. Wish me luck!
Every bad word from every episode of The Sopranos, ever.
There are nearly 30 straight minutes of four letter words spliced together into one seamless video. After a while it just sounds like a bunch of hoarse chickens. Plus, you can watch James Gandolfini lose his hair and gain his gut. He’s still cute, though.
I heart Cash Cab, and I especially heart its host, Ben Bailey. That look is straight out of a Looney Tunes cartoon.
(If you don’t already know what it is, please don’t go looking up hentai on an image search unless you want nightmares… just know that it’s explicit, twisted animation. Like, tentacle rape and stuff.)
A post on MetaFilter noting the death of jazz singer Blossom Dearie took me to the excellent Schoolhouse Rock video she sang – Figure Eight.
My daughter came down while I was watching it and wondered at me for a while. She’d seen Schoolhouse Rock stuff, of course, but I explained to her that when I was a kid there were just four television stations, and only one chance a week to watch cartoons, so you’d better be there bright and early with your bowl of cereal on Saturday morning if you wanted to get in your good TV veg time. And how Schoolhouse Rock ended up teaching up stuff in spite of ourselves. And she thought I meant we didn’t have to go to school and just had to sit and watch cartoons instead.
The words. I have a way with them.
I completed my Clapotis this afternoon. I cast on Christmas day with Ornaghi Filati Bamboo yarn in crimson. It only ended up taking about 4.75 skeins, a far cry from the 9 skeins I bought. I even did three extra straight section repeats for length, so it’s taller than I am – probably about 75″. I will probably end up blocking it, but for now I’m content to gaze adoringly at it and wonder where I’ll wear it first.
More pictures here and beyond.
