-Day Four-
I am just letting you know that I probably will be posting pictures in an additional post today, as I do not have them readily available upon writing this post.
I was about to say that today was the most uneventful one in the stay so far. That is saying something when you consider that yesterday peaked at 2 PM and never quite picked up after that. It was a lot of television after 2 PM, and somehow, I was still willing to call it more eventful than today for the sole reason that it almost seemed like nothing happened. That is, until the sun went down.
Trying to catch up on sleep, I was up late until 4 AM. Tonight's soundtrack seemed to feature a heavy rotation of Pete's Dragon song "Happiest Home in These Hills." Somehow, the black humor and irony of contrasting love with brutality was so adorable at 4 AM. I listened to that song at least six times before I admitted that I was probably tired. Also. I checked out the latest installments of Anne Marsen's video blog called Stargroves Vlog, including the episode about IKEA that made me love her so much more. I am almost convinced that I will psychologically pick a girl who is brunette and adores tabbies. It may not be more than unintentionally subliminal, but I get the impression that it may happen.
Also, I forgot to talk about something that I teased on Facebook. How will I end up on Operation Kino this Friday? They have a lightning round section where they ask for Twitter submitted answers to questions vaguely associated with that week's news. This week was all about what foreign director should make a big Hollywood blockbuster. My main fear is that I posted an hour or two after the post, but I still have that joy in me that I'll be referenced on something eventually, especially since I feel like I have been sneaking onto their radar in the last two months. My answer? Gaspar Noe. I mostly just want to hear if David Ehrlich can do something with that. Of course, Noe is a ridiculous selection just because he has a film called Irreversible, which deals with... ahem, rape.
That was actually from Tuesday, but I felt like I was being mean not to bring it up. Otherwise, the rest of the sleep was uneventful and I woke up around 11. I admit that even in America, I want to be up early so that I at least feel psychologically productive. Good news, that just happened today. Been up since 7 and was listening to the next Analyze Phish episode while getting the room in order (Alex insists that there's a guest that will be using the room for the night).
Alex wasn't too far after. We basically sat around playing an acoustic guitar for awhile. Of course, being in the same room as someone who can play guitar makes me feel inferior. I like what they're playing, but then you pick up the guitar and all you can do is play a really beginner's version of Devo's "Mongoloid." Of course, that song is awesome no matter where you play it. I snuck in some "Freedom of Choice," but that was more because I remember the bass line. Truthfully, I don't know if it is time away from playing, but I cannot play too much bass on a guitar, even if it is just note-note-note.
Alex and Chris got my rail pass stuff taken care of and we were ready to roll by 1 PM. Alex and I went down to the train station to get everything in order. For the most part, no complaints. Just like the DMV in that you get in pay a price, and you're set. Change two weeks to two minutes and you have how I got my rail pass in a nutshell.
Looking at times, we decided to hold off on going to Hastings at that moment. We were going into town to see Gangster Squad, which I jokingly claimed was an odd way of reminding me of what Los Angeles looked like. There wasn't any showing that matched the train and our arrival, so we held off until the evening.
Instead, Alex bitched about wearing shorts in freezing cold weather that also featured a slick patch of ice. He admired the way that I recovered after my foot caught the edge of one. I think my limber nature from bagging all of these years is the one thing that I will take when I quit my job (Side note - don't take this as anything more than "you know I want to quit, so don't look shocked. I won't leave until I find a decent paying writing gig"). But still, that guy wore shorts for the entire time, bitched about it, and then claimed to be too proud to change. Mind you, he had two hours when we got back to the house to fix this, but no... he was too proud to even take advantage of free time to change his pants. He decided that "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" was a better call. Hope the irony isn't lost on you.
We caught the trail around five to go to Hastings. See? I told you that the day was uneventful. We practically wasted time in those two hours, and I caught up on some much needed writing. At the train station, we finally got going and Alex assures me that he likes to be incapsulated with much when he is on moving transportation. I sat next to a guy that was playing Against Me! for the entire 20 minute journey. Hope the irony isn't lost on you.
We swiped our cards to leave and suddenly we were in Hastings. Dark outside, and Alex occasinally bitched about wearing shorts and no underwear. I will admit that I felt some odd juxtaposition from the stereotypical England that I felt like Rye was. This place actually felt modern. Alex assures me the place sucks, but I was still in an odd appreciation and suddenly I wanted to see if he'd take me to where Attack the Block was filmed. Of course, I can't stand the risk of mugging, so I never brought it up.
But the place looked decent. However, we didn't even cross the street before Alex decided to take advantage of photo ops (I am officially convinced that me bringing a camera isn't too eventful). He took a photo of a truck that he claims looks like Optimus Prime. Maybe you'll see the photo later, but I still have no idea what he is talking about. He left me at the corner just so he could get a better shot.
When he finally returned, we bought our tickets from the movies and went to have a snack. I am still confused on why my stomach has been oddly empty, full, or congested at odd hours, but I am sure that it is just adjustment. We went into a McDonalds, and it almost felt like going into a familiar place. The crowd had that typical vibe and it was loud as hell. Of course, in an odd fashion, the first thing that I cracked out European money for on this trip was a chicken nugget meal. Truthfully, it was a little dryer than I am used to, but I felt like I needed food.
Alex assures me that the portions are smaller. In fact, I can easily say that the American equivalence to a large is a medium. In a sense, I have tried to eat better/less anyways, so I wasn't too offended. I got a large meal and pretty much was fine after that. However, the one thing that bothered me more than anything is that there are no refills. I have almost curbed bad food habits, but I am a heavy drinker (which may contribute to why I try to steer clear of alcohol on top of other personal reasons) and I tend to overdo it. If you gave me a 2 liter of soda, I'd probably would have drank half in the short time that we were there (though do acknowledge that I am trying to cut down on soda, but this is just for comparison in terms of my thirst).
An odd thing about the McDonalds is that Alex doesn't like it, but not for the reasons that I assumed. In our time there, he noticed two lesbian school girls, but my eye was more fixed on the amount of preppies that came in. It really felt like I was back home, in an odd way because, well, McDonalds was always full of school kids when I was there.
We finally went back to the theaters and walked right in. I was honestly confused because the place felt like a hole in the wall. You enter, and it was flight of stairs after flight of stairs. I want to note that I am fine taking stairs and that my choice to call yesterday as a struggle was more because the stairs were ancient and at odd angles. These just ridiculously went on forever and even after getting to the ticket taker, we had stairs to go. The theater was also rather small, and about three times smaller than the ones that I am used to. However, I do admire any theater that features a gimmicky curtain that rises when the film starts.
The trailers were interesting, if just because I saw an ad for the green berets. Not exactly world shattering, but the subtle different in foreign trailers really impressed me. Even split cuts in some to slightly more provocative images seemed like an interesting call. Of course, this was a Rated R movie. Don't get me wrong, we get that treatment in the states. It is just that I felt like everything was more openly accepted. Of course, I just want to say that the Place Beyond the Pines trailer looks even more gorgeous on the biggish screen. If you haven't seen Blue Valentine, you are missing out on a masterpiece that justifies why I think that this will be one of the best of the year.
The one thing that is not exactly different, but initially annoyed me was people talking. True, it was a hole in the wall cinema to begin with, but I still am that cinephile who respects the right of silence during a film, no matter how hole in the wall the cinema is. There was a group behind us that I feared was going to bother me more than they did. It was two chicks that were talking loud for the first five minutes of the movie and then continued in a more hushed tone. Also, random parties were talking, admittedly brief, during the picture. In America, or at least in classier picture houses (yes, let's see how many synonyms I can shove in this mother), they would have been yelled at by now. Alex assures me that this is not a fair representation of English theaters, but we'll see when we finally get around to Django Unchained, which is the next on our roster.
The film itself was an odd choice that I wonder how it would have played in summer. As the guy who was anticipating it when it was initially supposed to be released, I tried to see it with the same hype and not the January shit-pile that usually bestows the cineplexes. Really, the psychology that has been instilled in me with that mindset is still rather established, though I argue that it has gotten more lenient in recent times. I am just wondering if it would have played better in September when it was initially supposed to be out.
I am also wondering where the infamous scene had to be removed. It honestly made no sense where a theater shooting fit into that film. Also, I am convinced that remaining footage from that unfortunate footage made it into the final trailers, as you can see glimpses of gun shots in front of movie posters. I am convinced that those are relics of the original footage. However, I do not know how much of a difference the edits were. I mean, they do shoot up a night club and Chinatown. If it wasn't for James Holmes, I would argue why the edit needed to be made. As it stands, I felt like they could have easily been fucked if someone shot up a night club, Chinatown, or hotel.
I will try not to derail with talk of censorship, but I wondered a few things. Gangster Squad received shit for having a theater shooting scene. Django Unchained, being an alternative western, was somehow accused of promoting violence in relation to the Sandy Hook story. However, I haven't heard anyone make any accusations about Inglourious Basterds, which saw a cinema burn to the ground at the end. As I was talking to Alex, blaming the media is dumb. I mean, nobody became a capitalist because of Monopoly.
Of course, Gangster Squad was smart to be moved. It was nonstop action, punching, and shooting. It is violent and while not gorey, it would seem problematic to release it after the James Holmes affair. It really is one of those movies that promotes violence to a ridiculous degree. The question after that is how you like your violence. If it is over the top, you'll at least find something to admire about this story.
However, the reason that I was excited was because of two reasons. Besides my lust to see anything that Ryan Gosling is in, it is also another film by Ruben Fleischer, whose filmography includes 30 Minutes or Less and Zombieland. Technically both should clue you into the graphic nature of Gangster Squad, but as a casual fan of both of those films, it only made me more excited.
So, now that I have bored you with preamble, what did I think of the movie? It was definitely ridiculous and had a formula that seemed to feature almost every conversation ending with someone getting punched in the face. It really was a straight forward excuse for people to get hurt. It also felt subtly cartoony and Sean Penn looked just that way. It was quite peculiar how dark and over the top it chose to be.
But without going into too much, I felt like it was solid. Not amazing, but it definitely was nonstop violence and felt like a Quentin Tarantino-inspired excuse for excess. Ryan Gosling was a little bit odd. He talked in a sweet tone, but his dialogue at times felt a little clunky and weird. However, kudos on Michael Pena at least trying to stop playing those dumb gangster roles. So basically, the film isn't exceptionally great, but good enough for an afternoon flick. Has enough fun stuff going for it and I ponder if it would have been better received in a world isolated from James Holmes, violence, shootings, etc.
On the train ride home, we had another interesting adventure. We got on the train after talking about Beavis and Butthead and why it only came back for one season. We also made a lame Schindler's List riff. Alex also found my soft spot, which is somehow doing riffs in which Jason Statham is his typical self, but as James Bond. It isn't very elaborate, but it is so amazingly fun to listen to.
But on the train, we're sitting towards the back and this guy asks me for a bottle of water. He claims that he wants it so that he can wipe cocaine off of his credit card to pay for a ticket. The bathroom is tied up with someone also hiding from the ticket taker. After telling the guy that I didn't have any water, I pretty much stopped talking to him. I was confused, and as it stands, I only understand 90% of what people are saying on this trip anyways.
I heard shout outs to grass and other stuff, like maybe he was drunk or something. I stayed quiet and let Alex take care of all of the interaction. From what I piece together, when the ticket taker came around, the druggie accused us of putting cocaine on his credit card. Smart man, the ticket taker didn't believe him. Later on, the guy even suggested that he pay to get us a drink at the pub in Rye. Great, this guy is getting off in Rye.
So from there, I continued to keep myself free of discussion. However, conversation soon got on Pulp Fiction and that one scene involving a gimp and some sex. Nothing more. He claimed that it was the only part that he remembered. He felt like pulling out money in the middle of the night would feel like getting raped by a man. He later claimed that he wasn't into gay sex, but somehow still defended the scene. It was pretty odd. I tried to politely excuse myself when the train docked and to hopefully keep him from following us, we went to the nearby market to buy soda and chips. However, I saw him get in a car with a guy named Jethro (at least that is the name I collect from asides), so I felt like 10 minutes in a market would put us in the clear.
Back at the house, we watched some Threesome and contemplated the day ahead. We have found that the nights are the most problematic aspect of the trip. We have nothing to do. I suggested games, but that was misconstrued as video games. Either way, we're trying to get that straightened out. I have no idea what will come of it.
We also briefly chatted with Natalie over the internet. I saw Alex play her a song and somehow Alex doesn't have to try hard to make me laugh. He can play guitar and sing in a wonky register, and that will get me every time. I didn't really get to know Natalie, but continuing my theory that I will marry a cat person, I did see her cat and that was far more interesting than anything else I saw in her room. I actually did that dumb swooning thing.
Eventually Viv got home and we just stayed up chatting about the future. We got to the point that we changed the plans for the next day from London to Brighton, which Alex assures me is a better choice. I mean, anywhere that produces Fatboy Slim can be better than London? Yeah, if you're jamming inside a large octopus.
It was overall an odd night of me just noticing subtle differences. For some reason, I was fascinated by how long everyone talked about the things that they disagreed on. The burgers were oddly the tip off that I needed to say something. All that did was make Viv address it as being normal. Of course, she used my whole name, which always makes me feel weird. As much as I am fine with people calling me Thomas, Willett has always been an odd place that made me feel like I was about to be punished. It felt like the family being disowned in some way.
Don't get me wrong, the conversations were fun and I am getting a lot to enjoy about the evenings. However, I guess just that they talk about the good and bad of burgers for more than 20 seconds seems weird to me. Of course, I blame my father for that. He and my sister are very much uninspired when it comes to having an extended conversation on defense against their dark arts. It actually feels good. Usually I only have these rants with my mother, and I find it more cathartic than a brief "we like homemade soup, deal with it."
I went to bed and fell asleep a half hour later. However, something that has become an obsession with me is reading reviews for movies that I just saw. I decided that /Filmcast was a good call. I tried to listen to it, but I passed out at some point. Also, I want to take this moment to promote the Downcast app. Katey Rich tipped me off to it months ago, and I bought it just for this trip. It updates my shows every hour and it is so efficient. I cannot see me going back to the dumb Podcasts app. There is just so much more efficiency in this whole brouhaha. The searching is also easier.
So yeah, not much else to report on. It wasn't really an eventful day besides getting to see how Alex recommends violent movies to the women in his life. I don't know Viv's tastes all that well, but I feel like the motherly types in my life are not quite into shoot 'em ups. That was probably the most interesting thing. Alex recommending Gangster Squad to Viv. My mom would have shut it down quickly. Also, I need to see the Untouchables now. I like Brian De Palma films, but I haven't seen that one. I just feel like there are similarities. I did see L.A. Confidential, before you wonder why I don't say the more obvious similar one.
Anyways, that's probably it for right now. Pictures will be resurrected eventually. Keep an eye out for that stuff. Otherwise, today should be a lot of fun. I'll be talking at you later.
QUESTION: What is William?
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