A New Year’s Message

 

Some thoughts on the end of 2007. From T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets: 

Home is where one starts from. As we grow older
The world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated
Of dead and living. Not the intense moment
Isolated, with no before and after,
But a lifetime burning in every moment
And not the lifetime of one man only
But of old stones that cannot be deciphered.
There is a time for the evening under starlight,
A time for the evening under lamplight
(The evening with the photograph album).
Love is most nearly itself
When here and now cease to matter.
Old men ought to be explorers
Here or there does not matter
We must be still and still moving
Into another intensity
For a further union, a deeper communion
Through the dark cold and the empty desolation,
The wave cry, the wind cry, the vast waters
Of the petrel and the porpoise. In my end is my beginning.

Sweeney Todd

For some reason, even though I’m a big Sondheim fan, and I’ve liked productions of Sweeney Todd that I’ve seen on public television, I wasn’t really looking forward to this. For one thing– Johnny Depp? And another thing– Helena Bonham Carter? Not exactly the first two people I’d expect to see as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett, respectively.

And yet, it works. Burton mines the source material for all its inherent darkness and gore. Depp and Bonham-Carter stalk through the movie like goth rock stars, a musical Bonnie and Clyde.  They scheme and sing, and if the voices are a bit on the weak side, well, Burton is there to make the whole thing work. He opens up scenes, having Sweeney take to the streets in his mad mind, as he searches for new victims to sate his thirst for blood. Mrs. Lovett’s key song, “By The Sea,” is turned into a wryly amusing series of imagined scenes. Personally I’d never really liked the number, which Angela Lansbury drew raves for on Broadway. But here it works.

Possibly the one scene that speaks volumes about the film/musical is a three part number (between Anthony the Sailor, Sweeney, and the Crazy Beggar) that manages to mix sentimentality with gore. Resigned to the fact that he will never see his daughter AND gain vengeance on the judge who wronged him, Sweeney sings:

And though I’ll think of you, I guess,
Until the day I die,
I think I miss you less and less
As every day goes by,
Johanna…

It’s a beautiful, sad song, punctuated by scenes of Sweeney slitting customers’ throats and dumping them into the basement, where they will be ground into meat pies.   The scene ranks right up there with some of Kill Bill’s goriest sequences. The bloodletting is both comical and unsettling.

So if you’re the queasy type, I’d suggest you pass on Sweeney Todd. It’s not for the faint of heart. But it does make for a grand vision of a man gone mad.

P.S. In case you wanted to hear some of the music without watching the blood, here’s the reprise of Johanna that I quoted from earlier:

Look Who Finally Decided To Show Up And Post Something

Yeah, yeah– that would be me. [big sheepish grin]

So here’s the skinny– we moved downtown. A big No-Prize for anyone who can point out where we live in this picture:

 

Just saying we moved makes it sound so easy. But me and Riley spent the better part of a month searching for a decent place. And then it took a month before we could finally pack and move. And then it took me about a month to recover from said packing and moving.

But it’s worth it. Big windows, a view of the top of City Hall, a stone’s throw away from the Grand Central Market, and walking distance to the Metro subway station at Pershing Square. 

So now I’m back. Note the new image banner to reflect the edgy downtown vibe that I’m desperately trying to cultivate here. In the coming months, expect a few reports here and there of all the uber-cool things downtown L.A. has to offer.  Plus all the usual stuff I ramble on about.

Hope everyone’s having a great holiday season!