One Sentence Movie Reviews: "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" (2005)

Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (2005): "What I said."

One Sentence Movie Reviews: "Visions of Light"

Visions of Light (1992): "Whenever you feel that movies have nothing left to teach you, see this one."

So Sang Janis:

When in San Francisco, the staff of Kevin Smokler.com highly recommends a trip to see Love, Janis at the Marines Memorial Theatre. Love Janis is a condensed autobiography of the life of Janis Joplin told in a bifurcation of letters she wrote home from San Francisco to her family in Port Arthur Texas and her songs. One actress does the singing, the other the acting. The show uses this duality to probe the difficulty Joplin had with reconciling her private self, (a lonely, proud, self-concious woman from a tiny Texas town) with the superstar she became while still in her early 20s, a conflict, the show whispered, that ultimately killed her.

While this commentator felt lonely and self-concious about his own age while sitting in a room of folk who experienced the 60s instead of hearing about in on classic rock radio, his intrepid companion reminded him that, to most of the audience, Joplin was a lasting memory of their youth. Just as he wouldn't want the audience peeing all over The Brat Pack and The Safety Dance, so should he not begrudge them their nostalgia. As she often does, the intrepid companion spoke wise.

The musicial itself is powerful, sweet and a rockin' good time. Recommended as a fine evening out whether Joplin is memory or history.

Love Janis is playing now at the Marines Memorial Theatre in Union Square in San Francisco.

Gleanings: Diners, Bikes, Lightbulbs and Lady Bloggers

• Perhaps you can't wait until next year's Tour De France to watch more cycling. According to my sources (Senors Veen and Sarvas), Cycling.tv has some video clips (but essentially requires a broswer custom designed by Bill Gates himself) and OLN Cyclsm Sundays will offer condensed versions of major races. Not much but it's a start.
• SF Power is a community power co-op offering low cost and free energy efficiency services to certain city neighborhoods. I don't live in one of those neighborhoods but damn, could I use something like this.
• If you're dying to find out what celebrity you look like (and really, who isn't?), upload a photo to My Heritage and they'll tell you (via Smoke and Ashes).
• James Fallows tried to live entirely in Web 2.0 for two weeks. A couragous man (via New Media Musings).
• I was too busy this week to go to either AlwaysOn or Blogher which makes me sad.
• Roadfood.com is a people-driven guide to diners throughout America. The search is a bit broad but this could potentially blossem into my dream come true (via OJR).

One Sentence Movie Reviews: "Clerks II"

Clerks II (2006): "Doing nothing is what you make of it."

Working on: (7.29.2006)

A short list of my current projects. Also known as the remind-myself-I-have-a-job-even-though-I-work-in-jammies-and-eat-cereal-for-dinner-list.

1. Book proposal continues apace. Got some nice feedback from my agent this week.

2. An article for Fast Company which is turning out to be quite fun.

3. Book reviews for the LA Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. Much reading to be done on the plane out to Lollapalooza this week.

4. Piece for Dailysonic that will have to wait for my return home from Chicago.

5. Consulting for Mental Floss, The Idea Festival and a few private clients.

6. Going to a prom.

One Sentence Movie Reviews: "The Warriors"

The Warriors (1979): "A good/bad movie is as enjoyable as a kinda good movie"

The Citizens do The Safety Dance:

I have no good reason why but I love this version of The Safety Dance. Maybe because only one of them knows the lyrics.

Quote of the Day: George Bernard Shaw

"All great truths begin as blasphemies." --George Bernard Shaw (via The Writer's Almanac).

I Speak Again:

I did this commentary for KQED's Perspectives on the closing of several Bay Area independent bookstores. I think I sound like I have a head cold.