Breaking. Bad.

Seriously, First Coast News? THIS is what you're going with as a top story?




I know that the weekend is always destined for filler material, but have some self respect for crying out loud!

FFF update (such as it is)

I've been meaning to mention an email I received a week ago. It was from Tina Brown, who does marketing for the Florida Film Festival. She had stumbled upon my frustrated post and sent out her sympathies as well as her assurances that they're working on making the schedule perfect before posting it online.

First off, much thanks to Tina for doing this. A cynical man could dismiss this as "just her job" but it's the kind of personal touch that seems emblematic of the FFF from my limited experience. When Mrs. Mosley purchased passes for last year's Festival, the guy who spoke to her on the phone was Chris Blanc, the head of the Enzian Theatre. She told me he was incredibly nice and personable, so I really have nothing but positive vibes from the folks who run it.

On the con side, Today marks T minus three weeks to the festival and still there is no schedule. There is, however, a new event announced and it's a doozy. Glenn Close will present a screening of Fatal Attraction and talking about her career on April the 3rd. Nice snag there, FFF. Given that my free weekend to come down there will be before this, I'm going to miss out on Glenn, but it's a nice follow up to the very entertaining Malcolm McDowell appearance last year.

As for Tina, if you're reading this, I'll just say that I'm heading down with friends on Saturday the 14th to purchase advance tickets and oodles of LEGO for my next stop-motion project. If there aren't any titles posted for me to buy tickets for by that time, well, March 28th might find me at home posing minifigs one frame at a time instead of relaxing in the Enzian.

Bibliophibians

So Mrs. Mosley and I went to the big used book sale downtown last night. For me, the fun of it is really the looking, not the buying. This is fortunate, as I find myself buying less and less books every year at the sale. Last night I bought a total of FOUR (!), costing me seven dollars.

One was a plain red hardcover in very good condition of H.G. Wells short stories. One was a hardcover of American poetry in excellent condition that is an exact duplicate of one I already own that is in very crappy condition. One was a large paperback of Tom Robbins' Skinny Legs and All also in excellent condition. Finally, there was a book I was actually looking for specifically, a hardcover copy of Douglas Adams' Salmon of Doubt. And given that the crappy condition poetry book will now go into the Goodwill bag, I'm actually only adding three books to my collection.

All in all, a good haul. Quality counts for something.

And having said all that, yes, I'm going back on Sunday when everything is half off.

Kitty is toast.

Being well acquainted with both entities in the title, I have to tell you I'm really looking forward to this:

"The Quest for G"

I know this is more or less a ten minute Gatorade commercial, but they've managed to create a piece of silliness that is much closer to "in honor of" than "ripped off from". And the giant head is like a Gilliam animation come to life. Watch it:

Roscoe Lee Browne Quote of the Month: March 2009

Speaking of productions featuring Lisa Gay Hamilton, here we have yet another modernization of Hamlet. Unlike Ethan Hawke's updated telling of the same year, this one retains the formality of the original setting by placing it in some high class digs in what appears to be upstate New York.

Campbell Scott plays Hamlet, Blair Brown plays Gertrude and Roscoe Lee Browne gets to dig into Polonius. Obviously, this being the bard, I could take any number of lines here and they would be sufficient. So I pick one of the better ones and just ask you to imagine Browne's wonderful baritone speaking these lines.

Polonius: This business is well ended. My liege, and madam, to expostulate what majesty should be, what duty is, why day is day, night night, and time is time, were nothing but to waste night, day and time. Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, and tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief: your noble son is mad: Mad call I it; for, to define true madness, what is't but to be nothing else but mad? But let that go.

Gertrude: More matter, with less art.

Polonius: Madam, I swear I use no art at all. That he is mad, 'tis true: 'tis true 'tis pity; And pity 'tis 'tis true: a foolish figure; But farewell it, for I will use no art. Mad let us grant him, then: and now remains that we find out the cause of this effect, or rather say, the cause of this defect, for this effect defective comes by cause: Thus it remains, and the remainder thus.