Wednesday, October 31, 2007

caution danger tree


caution danger tree
Originally uploaded by Julep67
did you see lots of trick and/or treaters this evening?

our neighbourhood was absolutely buzzing with kids. About 5 minutes ago we took down the decorations from the porch and turned out the lights.

we ran out of candy and scared a few kids. It was a fun evening.

our gravel stealing neighbours next door (and the uptight guy who lives on the other side of them) were total asshats tonight and did not shell out. How do you not shell out in a neighbourhood full of kids?

I hope they egged and tp'd. jerks!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

almost


ghostly garland
Originally uploaded by Julep67
The day before Halloween can be one of the longest days of the years for a little kid. Thoughts of free candy, wearing a scary costume and getting to run around your neighbourhood, with your friends, in the dar, on a school night can make you go crazy.

Today the weather was gorgeous here and I hope that it holds on for one more day. It would be so neat if the weather actually was decent for the trick or treaters tomorrow night. I'm a little bit afraid that the construction might keep the kids away. Our driveway is still completely ripped up but at least the sidewalk is in. It's not the easiest to navigate in the dark. Honestly, I'm a little worried about it.

We're pretty much ready for tomorrow. I have some garden ghoulies to put out tomorrow night, along with some "danger" tape and some spooky garlands we found at the dollar store last week. I have my goodie bags all done up and sitting in box on a little table by the front door. I'll do the garlands and put our shaking skull on the porch when we get home from work tomorrow. Mark will put the strobe light in the basement window (it shines under the porch) and we found a CD of ska halloween songs tonight (not at the store, in our CD collection!) so we'll play that through the window too.

I'm a little bit excited about tomorrow night too. I'm not sure why but I really am.

Monday, October 29, 2007

by children, for children

I try, when I can, to "vote with my dollar." I try to avoid shopping at certain big box stores because I don't support their politics.

I also refuse to purchase gifts for the children and babies of my friends at a certain big box type store because of their history of using child labour. Despite claims of not knowing what was going on and insisting that this happened at a subcontractor's factory it makes me feel sick, all the same.

Why would anyone would shop here?

Sunday, October 28, 2007

poo jokes


pineapple
Originally uploaded by Julep67
A couple of weeks ago, my brother and I had a conversation about how so much humour in movies and on television is based on fart and poo jokes. We agreed that it gets a little tired at times although personally, I like a really well constructed fart and/or poo joke from time to time.

This morning, over coffee, Mark and I watched a recent episode of South Park which was devoted entirely to crap. More specifically, the episode was about Randy Marsh being in a race with a well known rock person / icon to produce the largest crap in the world. It was silly but boy howdy it made us both laugh. I think that it may be less funny to fans of this rock icon person but it amused us a lot.

Sometimes, a simple fart and/or poo joke can just make you laugh. Well, it can make me laugh anyway. I'm not overly proud of this but I will admit to it!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

productive

Getting stuff done feels awesome.

That list I mentioned, well there are some things actually crossed off now. Many chores were completed, bread was baked, fish tanks were cleaned, computers were repaired, money was made. Good huh?

It was a pretty busy day but it was a very good kind of busy. I'm tired now though, I think Mark is pretty pooped too. We're probably going to get to sleep sort of early tonight. If tomorrow is half as productive as today has been, well our house will be much much cleaner than it's been a really long time and our "to do" list will be shortened up, a lot.

Friday, October 26, 2007

hazy friday

A huge pile of top soil sits on the street in front of our neighbour's house. Tonight we saw four young lads picking out huge mud balls from the pile and proceed to hurl them at each other. There is now dirt everywhere. Clumps of dirt pollute the street and the new sidewalks. Fun times in the construction zone.

This week has felt particularly long. My cold is almost gone. At night, right around this time of day actually, I get a little bit stuffed up and I start to cough a smidgen. At the moment, some diet root beer is soothing my throat. Must be the roots.

I'm really glad that the weekend is here. We have a list of projects we're going to attempt. I like lists. I like how good it feels to cross stuff off of my lists. I'm hoping to feel very good about crossing stuff off, all weekend long.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

shitty or surreal

today was a bit of a weird day.

I wish I could talk about it but I don't really feel like I could find the words to describe it so I think I'll not bother. Some things are better left unsaid, right?

I'm just glad that the day is now winding down and I'll soon be sleeping. Just for once, it would be nice to have a regular, boring, normal day. I'm not sure what that would look like but it would be interesting to see all the same.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

disappointed

I checked my work email from home this morning and realized that as shitty as I still felt, I had to drag my butt into the office. Fortunately, the big last minute project that was waiting for me came with some help from my awesome co-workers. All day though, I was either freezing cold or really warm. I don't think I'm quite over this bug yet.

When we got home tonight, the construction guys had actually poured the concrete for our new sidewalk. They did not, however, leave us with a path to get into our yard. It rained again today and our street is completely covered with muck. We had to walk up to where they were pouring and cross onto a neighbour's lawn, in the middle of them working. Not good. It seems odd to me that they couldn't put a board down for folks to walk into their own homes. I will be so glad when this is over.

In other not so good news, I read this when I got home and was disappointed and disgusted but not entirely surprised. Stupid people suck.

Man Arrested In GA For Tying Noose Around Tupac Statue
By Roman Wolfe


Police in De Kalb County, Georgia have arrested one individual and are investigating a series of racial attacks at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, after vandals tied a noose around the neck of a bronze statue of slain rapper, Tupac Shakur.

According to police, the first incident occurred early Saturday morning (October 20), when vandals defaced the building and tied a noose around the neck of the statue of Shakur, which is located in the center's Peace Garden.

A second attack also occurred on the statue of Shakur, when vandals drew crosses and wrote rants about Hurricane Katrina and various record labels.

The attacks are being investigated as hate crimes by the De Kalb County Sheriff's Office and police are seeking additional suspects.

"We thank everyone for their prayers and support," Tupac's mother Afeni Shakur said. "Although our hearts are temporarily in pain, our spirits have already forgiven the perpetrators. Hate comes in all colors and genders therefore we will use this act of hate and ignorance to bring our community together and to pray for the healing of those who harbor such feelings."

Due to the attacks, the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation (TASF) recently began fundraising efforts to construct a fence around the parameters of the Center to secure the property.

"With God's guidance, the work of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts and Peace Garden will continue to positively impact and transform our community," Shakur added.

On Saturday, November 10/4, TASF will host its 2nd Bi-Annual Film Screening with a rededication service of the Peace Garden.

The event is free to the public.

Donations to help erect the fence to protect the TASF can be sent to: TASF, 5616 Memorial Drive, Stone Mountain, GA 30083 or at http://www.tasf.org/ and http://www.2paclegacy.com/

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

impractical joke

This is the first time in several hours that I've felt even part way normal. The tired feeling I had yesterday (with the not mentioned before pressure in my ears and watery eyes) was the start of a cold I've been fighting. I didn't sleep much last night but managed to get some naps in this morning.

Between tea and water and soup, I've been either running to the loo or snoozing all day. I just dragged my butt into the shower and that has definitely perked me up. Thank goodness. I didn't go to work today and I feel really badly about that. Stuff's busy right now and the last thing I needed was to miss a day this week but sometimes you just have to. I'm sure my office mates (I share an office with 3 other people) will be happy that I kept my germs to myself today.

Monday, October 22, 2007

heater


heater
Originally uploaded by Julep67
Mark and I both worked a little bit late tonight. I sort of wish I hadn't but it was one of those unavoidable things.

Today, I've felt as if I'm fighting a cold. This has been going on for weeks now and I can't tell if it's a cold or allergies. It's annoying for sure and I really wish it wasn't happening. I'm trying to get enough rest and stuff. Honestly, I know that I'm a little run down after the past several weeks.

Tonight, after dinner, I actually fell asleep for a few minutes during Coronation Street. This never happens. Never ever.

With any kind of luck at all, I'll be having a little bit of a long weekend this weekend. I really hope it works out, I feel like I could use some naps.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

bag o'eyes


bag o'eyes
Originally uploaded by Julep67
my halloween treat bags are ready to go.

I made up about 160 of them, there is candy leftover and I'm taking it to work tomorrow.

This year, we bought only stuff that we didn't really like, gum and jawbreakers and sour skittles and rockets.

the nice thing about this is that I won't be tempted to eat them. Mini-m&m's would not have a chance around here but skittles? I'm not worried.

I found my giant glittery door frankenstein yesterday so I think I'm ready for the "big day" now!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

recovery


recovery
Originally uploaded by Julep67
A while ago, one of our goldfish, Roger, died. He had a parasitic infection, I wrote a little bit about him at the time. The other two goldfish in the tank were infected too. Mojo, a large goldfish, was okay but Chocolate (our chocolate oranda who was brown when we got her and has turned gold and orange and is now white) got quite sick. She seemed to be doing much better until this week. The other fish in the tank were picking on her and on Thursday night, I think that they would have killed her if we hadn't moved into the hospital tank.

When we went to bed on Thursday night, I thought for sure that she'd die in the night. She was floating upside down when we went to bed. In the morning though, she had righted herself and didn't seem as swollen. Tonight, as I type this, she's in a brand new tank, all by herself, in my office. She's too big to stay in the little hospital tank and too weak to go back into the tank with other fish. Our thought is that we'll let her heal up in her own tank and then get her another little fish as a buddy. She seems to be much happier tonight than I've seen her in days.

Mark's head had cleared by the time we got up this morning. Mine was in bad shape though. We've been having some strange weather and it really made my head pound earlier today. I've never had a headache which made me light sensitive before. It was not a lot of fun and I have a lot of sympathy for folks who experience this regularly. Mark had to close the curtains in the living room, I couldn't open my eyes until he had. Too weird.

Last night, we taped "the next great american band." Honestly, we thought that it would take us ten minutes to watch the 2 hour show and I didn't imagine for a second that I'd find a band that I'd like but I did! They are from Florida of all places and are called Très bien!. The song they performed was an "original" composition but it sounded a lot like something from "Rubber Soul." I like all of their influences, they dress like a band my brother would be in and they were a lot of fun. Of course, anything I like on a show like this is usually jinxed so they may not be around for long! The show was a very pleasant surprise. We may even watch it again next week.

Well I should scoot I guess. I sort of dicked around all day today so I have a bunch of housework to do tomorrow. Fun huh??

Friday, October 19, 2007

working hard or hardly working?


working hard or hardly working?
Originally uploaded by Julep67
The other day, Mark was talking to one of the contractor types who is working on our street. The weather was very cool earlier this week and we've been concerned about the paving (or lack thereof) and the new sidewalks which have yet to be installed. The contractor told Mark that they would be paving and putting in the sidewalks starting late next week. Mark was happy to hear that, when he told me this (on the way home - he picked me up after talking to this guy), I was pleased because it seemed that they may be done before halloween.

By the time we drove up our street (less than an hour later) guys were back on our block, tearing shit up again. This particularly creepy looking guy (who was smoking a stinky cigarette I might add) advised us to park on the street because they were starting on the sidewalks - at 4:30 p.m. So, once again, our street is ripped to shreds, we cannot park in our driveway, the weather has turned to shit and we have to climb over trenches to get in and out of the house.

I'm not impressed, not by a long shot. And today, to add insult to injury, poor Mark has a killer migraine. Not really fair is it?

Thursday, October 18, 2007

let there be spider lights!

I got home from work about 45 minutes ago and decided to do a quick load of laundry. While I was in my laundry room, I found my Halloween decorations. They are now spread around the living room, waiting to be put up. I mostly just have various seaonsal lighty type things that go into our living room window. I have some other stuff which gets added to the porch closer to the day. I feel like I'm weeks behind this year but hey, better late than never, right?

I read the sad news about Deborah Kerr today. Someone I work with said, "well she was old wasn't she?" I thought, well, she was in her 80's but can't I still be sad? I loved loved loved her in "An Affair To Remember." I know she's not made movies for a long time but still, she was a classy lady and I think it's sad that she's passed away.

October 19, 2007
Deborah Kerr Is Dead at 86
By RICHARD SEVERO


Deborah Kerr, a versatile actress who long projected the quintessential image of the proper, tea-sipping Englishwoman but who was also indelible in one of the most sexually provocative scenes of the 1950’s, with Burt Lancaster in “From Here to Eternity,” died on Tuesday in Suffolk, England. She was 86.

Her death was announced to The Associated Press by her agent, Anne Hutton. She had Parkinson’s disease.

Miss Kerr was nominated for six Academy awards, without winning any, over more than four decades as a major Hollywood movie star. She finally received an honorary Oscar for her lifetime of work in 1994. Mostly in retirement since the mid-1980’s, she lived for many years in Switzerland, with her husband, Peter Viertel, the novelist and screenwriter.

The lovemaking on the beach in Hawaii with Mr. Lancaster, viewed with both of them in wet swimsuits as the tide came in, was hardly what anyone expected of Deborah Kerr at that point in her career. Along with Greer Garson and Jean Simmons, she was one of three leading ladies Americans thought of as typically British, and decidedly refined and upper-class. More than once she was referred to by directors, producers and newspapers as the “British virgin.”

Time magazine, in a 1947 feature article, predicted she would be one of the great movie stars because “while she could act like Ingrid Bergman, she was really a kind of converted Greer Garson, womanly enough to show up nicely in those womanly roles.”

Throughout her career, Miss Kerr worked at being unpredictable. She was believable as a steadfast nun in Black Narcissus; as the love-hungry wife of an empty-headed army captain stationed at Pearl Harbor in “From Here to Eternity”; as a headmaster’s spouse who sleeps with an 18-year-old student to prove to him that he is a man in “Tea and Sympathy”; as a spunky schoolmarm not afraid to joust and dance with the King of Siam in “The King and I”; as a Salvation Army lass in “Major Barbara”; and even as Portia, the Roman matron married to Brutus, in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.”

She could be virginal, ethereal, gossamer and fragile, or earthy, spicy and suggestive, and sometimes she managed to display all her skills at the same time.

Miss Kerr made “From Here to Eternity” even though Harry Cohn, chief of Columbia Pictures in that era, had wanted Joan Crawford in the part and had to be persuaded to accept Miss Kerr. She regarded the role as the high point in her climb to stardom in the United States, and it yielded her second Academy Award nomination.

Another high point came in 1956, when she was given the film role that Gertrude Lawrence had played on the stage in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The King and I.” She played opposite Yul Brynner, who recreated his stage performance as the strutting king in the film.

Bosley Crowther, reviewing the movie version for The New York Times, praised “her beauty, her spirit and her English style.” Her singing for classics numbers like “Getting to Know You” was dubbed by the offscreen voice of many Hollywood stars of the time, Marni Nixon. But her acting needed no assistance; she was nominated for another Academy Award.

She also received Oscar nominations for “Edward, My Son” (released in 1949), “Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison” (1957); “Separate Tables” (1958); and “The Sundowners” (1960). Other notable roles came in “Major Barbara” (1941, her first credited film role); “Julius Caesar” (1953); and “Tea and Sympathy” (1956), based on the Robert Anderson play.

Miss Kerr was applauded in the Broadway stage production of the play as well. After Brooks Atkinson of The Times saw the original production, he wrote that Miss Kerr had “the initial advantage of being extremely beautiful, but she adds to her beauty the luminous perception who is aware of everything that is happening all around her and expresses it in effortless style.”

Miss Kerr struggled against being pigeonholed by the public as somehow representing the British upper class, and was said to have instructed friends to tell anyone who asked that she preferred cold roast beef sandwiches and beer to champagne and caviar any day. But she is also quoted in a 1977 biography by Eric Braun as saying that “the camera always seems to find an innate gentility in me.”

Deborah Jane Kerr Trimmer was born in Helensburgh, Scotland, on Sept. 30, 1921, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Kerr Trimmer. Her father, who was called Jack, was an architect and civil engineer who had been wounded in World War I and who died when Deborah was in her early teens.

Her aunt, Phyllis Smale, had a school of drama and insisted that Deobrah and her younger brother take lessons in acting, ballet and singing. Deborah was attracted to the ballet but concluded that she was too tall, at 5 feet 6 inches. She began her acting career by playing small parts with a group that performed Shakespeare’s plays in the Open Air Theatre in Regents Park, London.

She got her first movie contract in 1939 after Gabriel Pascal, the producer and director, spotted her in a restaurant.

During the war, she read children’s stories on BBC radio. She made movies, too, among them “Penn of Pennsylvania,” “The Day Will Dawn,” and “The Avengers.”

By 1945, she was much sought after by British filmmakers and was cast opposite Robert Donat in “Perfect Strangers.” Her career was further enhanced when she appeared as a nun in “Black Narcissus” in 1947. However, after the movie was released in the United States, it was called “an affront to religion and religious life” by the National Legion of Decency.

Miss Kerr was married to Anthony Bartley, an Englishman who had been a decorated fighter pilot during World War II, for 13 years. They were separated in 1959 and their divorce became final the next year. They had two children, Melanie and Francesca. In 1969, she married Peter Viertel, who survives her, along with her daughters and three grandchildren, according to The Associated Press.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

mid week musings

As the week moves along and I get further away from the weekend, I feel better and better. Part of the reason I'm feeling better today (and this may sound quite petty but hey, that's who I am) is because I actually got to witness a little "instant karma" this afternoon. I can't really get into too many details because the details aren't important. The situation is a little bit ironic and, to paraphrase Bart Simpson, "the ironing is delicious."

At the beginning of this week, I thought that I may be able to book off Thursday and Friday as lieu for working last weekend. It's not looking like that will happen but I'm really okay with that. It'll be nice and quiet in the office, I'll have (hopefully) a couple of relaxing, productive days, and the coming weekend will be work free for the first time in weeks.

Anyway, I came across this afternoon. It's from the NY Times website...yet another reason to avoid this particular big box store:

10, 000 Employees' Data on Stolen Laptop
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON (AP) -- The Home Depot Inc. said Wednesday that a laptop computer containing about 10,000 employees' personal data was stolen from a regional manager's car in Massachusetts.

The computer, which was password protected, didn't contain any customer information, said Ron DeFeo, a spokesman for Atlanta-based Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement store chain. He would not say whether the information had been encrypted.

The regional manager recently reported that the laptop was stolen from his car while it was parked outside his home, DeFeo said. He declined to name the town where the theft occurred. Police were investigating.

The laptop contained names, home addresses and Social Security numbers of certain Home Depot employees, most in the Northeast, DeFeo said.

''We have no reason to believe that the data contained on the laptop was the target of theft, or that any personal information was accessed or used improperly,'' DeFeo said.

Home Depot, which has about 350,000 employees, notified the 10,000 affected workers of the theft in a letter and was arranging free credit-monitoring services for them.

The manager violated company policy by leaving a laptop with personal information in his car, DeFeo said. He wouldn't say whether the employee was disciplined.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

come on down

For a larf tonight, we watched Drew Carey hosting the new version of the Price is Right. I used to watch it now and then with Joe. He very rarely missed it; Joe was a massive fan of Bob Barker's. I really thought that Drew did a good job, he's no Bob but then no one could be, he's Drew and that's perfectly okay. Oh yeah, a woman won $21K at plinko. Cool beans.

Oh...and this is interesting. Hard to know what really happened but it sounds strange all the same...

Air America host Randi Rhodes wasn't mugged

BY DAVID HINCKLEY and TINA MOORE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Tuesday, October 16th 2007, 4:54 PM


There's no truth to the rumors that Air America host Randi Rhodes (above) was mugged near 39th St. and Park Ave. Sunday night. She is scheduled to return to the air on Thursday.

Air America radio host Randi Rhodes is temporarily off the air, but claims she was brutally attacked near her Manhattan apartment are bogus, her lawyer and a police source said today.

Fellow host Jon Elliott claimed on the liberal radio network that Rhodes had been mugged while walking her dog, Simon, on Sunday night. Elliot, who said Rhodes lost several teeth in the attack, waxed about a possible conspiracy.

"Is this an attempt by the right-wing, hate machine to silence one of our own?" he asked on the air, according to Talking Radio, a blog. "Are we threatening them? Are they afraid that we’re winning? Are they trying to silence intimidate us?"

A police source said Rhodes never filed a report and never claimed to be the victim of a mugging. Cops from Manhattan's 17th Precinct called her attorney, who told them Rhodes was not a victim of a crime, the source said.

Rhodes' lawyer told the Daily News she was injured in a fall while walking her dog. He said she's not sure what happened, and only knows that she fell down and is in a lot of pain. The lawyer said Rhodes expects to be back on the air Thursday. He stressed there is no indication she was targeted or that she was the victim of a "hate crime."

Rhodes started with the Air America when it launched in 2004. Her show airs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.

The network released a statement that said Rhodes "experienced an unfortunate incident."

"The reports of a presumed hate crime are unfounded," the statement read by a receptionist at the network's New York offices said. "Ms. Rhodes is looking forward to being back on the air on Thursday."

Still, the tale lived on in the blogosphere.

"What the %$#$ is WRONG with you people?? Are you that SICK in the head that just because you don’t agree with someone’s political views you believe that they deserve to be mugged? Are you on the right that DEMENTED??," a blogger called neddlenosehanty posted on watchingthewatchers.org.

Another blogger shot back, "I very seriously doubt if this unfortunate woman was mugged by a conservative. To jump to the conclusion that she was mugged by someone on the right is bigotry of another kind. Think not?"

tmoore@nydailynews.com

Monday, October 15, 2007

see you all on monday


see you all on monday
Originally uploaded by Julep67
I'm functioning on very little sleep right now.

On Saturday night, I could not shut my brain off to sleep. I got a couple of hours yesterday during the day but again, last night, I couldn't settle. Finally, at 3 a.m., I got up and watched some tv for an hour or so. Eventually at 4 a.m. I went back to sleep but I had to be up an hour later or that kind of sucked.

Everyone was dragging their asses around today. It's bittersweet, this feeling of having accomplished something but not having the time to enjoy how that feels. We just have to jump into the next thing and can't take much time to reflect.

Oh well, onwards and upwards, right?

Hopefully, if I'm lucky, I'll sleep tonight. I'd really like that, a lot!

Saturday, October 13, 2007

finally home

I am home.

I am tired but not in a puddle on the floor. puddles on the floor are not good things.

As exhausted as I am, I don't think that I could sleep at the moment if I wanted to (which I do).

It's good to be finished work for the week. finally.

Friday, October 12, 2007

pretty pretty pretty good

does everyone love Larry David or are we the only ones?

today went very well. I'm tired right now but a little wired too. One more day of crazy work stuff and this whole thing will be wrapped up for another year. Well, a little less than a year I suppose.

Anyway, I found this video today. I have loved this song for a really long time but had never seen this clip before. the early 90's were fun, weren't they?

Thursday, October 11, 2007

too much

This morning, I was in the office at 6 a.m.

Tonight, Mark picked me up at 7:30 p.m.

That's a long day.

A little too long I think.

Fortunately, the madness will be over in about 48 hours.

I need some sleep.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

humpday

I am having a very busy week.

This is probably the worst week of the year for me, work load wise anyway.

Thank goodness I have muppets to help me cope and make me smile when I need it.

how's your week going?

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

more joy division

Another article on the films. unrelated to the following article, I am nauseated with disappointment and frustration at the moment.

The Cult of the Lads From Manchester

By DENNIS LIM
Published: October 7, 2007


IAN CURTIS, the frontman of the beloved post-punk British band Joy Division, has been dead 27 years, longer than he was alive, but his moment in the film spotlight has only now arrived. Mr. Curtis hanged himself on May 18, 1980, two months shy of his 24th birthday and on the eve of what would have been his band’s first American tour. The Joy Division story, a sacred narrative to legions of cultish fans (and a natural for the movies, complete with doomed, charismatic hero), is now the subject of two new films, the biopic “Control” and the documentary “Joy Division.”

Both were made with the cooperation of those who best knew Mr. Curtis. “Control,” the feature directing debut of the portrait photographer Anton Corbijn, is loosely based on “Touching From a Distance,” a 1995 memoir by Mr. Curtis’s widow, Deborah, of their life together. “Joy Division,” directed by the music-video veteran Grant Gee and written by the author and critic Jon Savage, takes a panoramic approach, combining archival footage with revealing interviews of firsthand observers and Mr. Curtis’s surviving bandmates, who went on to form New Order.

In Mr. Corbijn’s film, as in Ms. Curtis’s book, the other members of Joy Division, which formed in Manchester in 1976, recede into a blur. The story homes in on Mr. Curtis’s personal pain: his struggles with epilepsy, overmedication and a guilt-inducing love triangle. By contrast, what emerges in “Joy Division” is a picture not just of Mr. Curtis and his band, but also of the social and existential conditions that produced them. The music’s coiled, haunted sound and nihilist lyrics, the documentary argues, are inseparable from the decaying postindustrial dystopia that was Manchester at the time.

The two projects, which evolved separately, are complementary but also work in similar ways. Intentionally or not, both return a mythic figure to life-size proportions.

The Weinstein Company is releasing the two films, having acquired “Control” at the Cannes Film Festival in May and “Joy Division” at the Toronto International Film Festival last month. (“Control” opens Wednesday at Film Forum in Manhattan. No release date has been set for the documentary.)

Mr. Corbijn’s hefty résumé includes four coffee-table volumes (mostly of celebrities and rock stars) and dozens of music videos for the likes of Depeche Mode and U2. But before “Control” he had no feature film experience. Speaking at the festival in Toronto, he said he had initially turned the project down but changed his mind, figuring that an “emotional connection to the material” would serve him well on his first feature. Born in the Netherlands, Mr. Corbijn, 52, was drawn to London in his early 20s by the flourishing music scene and, in particular, Joy Division.

Within two weeks of relocating there, he had tracked the band down for a shoot and taken what is perhaps the most defining photograph of Joy Division: the members walking into a tube station’s neon-lighted tunnel, Mr. Curtis looking back at the camera.

Like that image — and many others of Joy Division — “Control” is in black and white. “That felt like the proper approach,” Mr. Corbijn said. The covers for “Unknown Pleasures” and “Closer,” the group’s two studio albums, use black and white imagery. And an inky, gloomy palette, Mr. Corbijn added, corresponds with his memories of ’70s England.

Ms. Curtis’s book was the primary basis for the screenplay, but Mr. Corbijn and the screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh also wove in details of Mr. Curtis’s affair with Annik Honoré, a Belgian journalist. It took some persuasion before Ms. Honoré would talk to the filmmakers, but she eventually assented and even shared letters that Mr. Curtis wrote to her, heard in voice-over in the film.

Samantha Morton signed on to play Deborah. For Ian, Mr. Corbijn chose Sam Riley, 27, who had previously appeared in a few bit parts but was folding shirts in a warehouse when he landed the role. For Mr. Riley, whose magnetic performance is the film’s scarred heart, playing Ian Curtis was a draining feat of psychological immersion and physical mimicry. He had to enact the grand mal seizures that plagued him as well as the manic, uncoordinated flailings that were his signature dance moves. (Filming the scenes between Ian and Annik were easier because “I was falling in love in real life,” he said. He and Alexandra Maria Lara, who plays Annik, are now a couple.)

To populate the concert scenes in “Control,” the filmmakers rounded up Joy Division fans, which did not exactly calm Mr. Riley’s nerves. “It was big pressure going out there and having 150 extras discussing my merits and my failures,” he said. To make things trickier, the actors in the band were also performing — not simply miming — Joy Division originals.

Mr. Riley, who had briefly been the singer in a band called 10000 Things, could manage a credible copy of Mr. Curtis’s hectoring baritone, but the other actors were essentially learning to play their instruments (not unlike Joy Division in the early days). “We practiced for hours, between rehearsals and late into the night,” Mr. Riley said.

“Control” and “Joy Division” are both necessarily elegies, not merely to Mr. Curtis but also to a host of people and places that are no longer around. “To be brutal about it, the equity of Factory is death,” Mr. Savage said, referring to Factory Records, the now-defunct label that made its name with Joy Division. In addition to Mr. Curtis, Rob Gretton, who managed Joy Division and New Order, and Martin Hannett, the producer responsible for the band’s crystalline studio sound, are also dead. Tony Wilson, the mythomaniacal founder of Factory, a producer of “Control” and the subject of Michael Winterbottom’s “24 Hour Party People” (which touches on the Joy Division story), died in August.

As with other rock star suicides, Mr. Curtis’s final hours have been sifted for clues, retraced in near fetishistic detail. He was found dead by Deborah in their kitchen on a Sunday morning. The night before, he had gotten drunk, argued with her (she left), watched Werner Herzog’s “Stroszek” on television and played the Iggy Pop album “The Idiot.” As depicted in “Control,” which largely resists the temptation to assign blame or explanations, his suicide seems an impulsive act. “I think it was a moment,” Mr. Corbijn said. “I don’t think it was planned.”

The documentary, even less willing to indulge in the romance of suicide, doesn’t get into Mr. Curtis’s death until late in the film. “The ultimate romantic application of the myth is that Ian validated his art when he died,” Mr. Savage said, adding in no uncertain terms that he thought it was nonsense.

In a sense, the process of stripping the myth away from Ian Curtis began with his widow and her plaintive, clear-eyed book. Ms. Curtis has stayed out of the publicity glare surrounding “Control.” Despite being credited as co-producer, she has not attended premieres or spoken publicly about the film until now. She recently consented to an e-mail interview.

Ms. Curtis said she spent a few days on the set and observed most of the scenes that were filmed on location, often right outside the house where she and Mr. Curtis had lived in Macclesfield, a town near Manchester. She was rendered “pretty much speechless,” she said, meeting Ms. Morton. “I think she plays Debbie in a forceful way. Samantha became the strong, determined woman I always wanted to be.” Meeting Mr. Riley, especially in character as Ian, was harder. “I didn’t know where to begin to talk to him really,” she said. “I think the difference is that Samantha could empathize with me and Sam’s role required him not to.”

Watching the shoot naturally stirred up mixed emotions. “Part of me didn’t want to see the wedding scene,” she said, “especially as it was filmed outside the very same church” in which she and Mr. Curtis were married in 1975. She was present for the filming of one of the most painful scenes: as Ian and Debbie walk home from a party, he matter-of-factly tells her he no longer loves her.

“I felt emotional, not for me, but for the characters in the movie,” Ms. Curtis said. “It really was like watching someone else. And in that way I suppose it was a kind of release.”

Sunday, October 07, 2007

casino?

A little while ago, Mark and I were both sort of griping about not going anywhere or doing anything. I mean, it is a long weekend, isn't there a law that says we have to do something more than groceries or go further away than costco?

My mum & dad invited us out to their place but I really think I may have a cold so I don't want to spread it to them if I do have one. Earlier, Mark suggested the casino. It's a good suggestion. I don't care about those folks and can spread my germs willy nilly.

Maybe tomorrow though, it's almost time for the Simpsons. priorities huh?

on long weekends

the long weekend hasn't exactly been jam packed with excitement so far.

yesterday, I went into the office for a little while. I thought I'd be there about 2 hours and it was closer to 5. After that, Mark and I dragged ourselves around the shoppes with crazy holiday weekend shoppers so that we could get groceries. no fun, although coming home and putting our feet up felt good.

today, so far, I've napped a lot and am contemplating laundry currently. I think I may have a cold but it could be a combination of allergies and a lack of sleep.

I can't tell. It's not overly fun, this much I do know.

Oh well, in keeping with the holiday weekend theme, we did have turkey sausage for breakfast this morning, that was good.

Friday, October 05, 2007

working hard

Do you ever have days where you are busy, really busy, and you work very hard and yet, you accomplish nothing that you'd hoped to get done?

Yeah, that was me today.

No fun.

Guess I'll be catching up tomorrow. happy weekend indeed.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

dead in the head

my brain is not working so very well.

I'm that busy at work right now that by the time I get home at night, I'm almost completely brain dead.

I owe the world and his wife an email, I'm behind in paperwork stuff here at home. Our house is a little grubbier than it usually is.

We had a large event last weekend, we have a super large one starting a week from tomorrow (that one goes for 4 days).

After that, I can breathe for about 2 days and then we have another event in late October, 3 in November...I can't think much beyond that.

What I did think about today was Mark's head. The poor guy was knocked on his ass by this weather and has been sick with a migraine all day. He's feeling a little better right now but he's on a lot of medication and is in bed as I type this. Tomorrow will be a better day for him, I hope.

I hope it's better for me too, selfishly.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

imagine peace


tuesday


leaving beirut
Originally uploaded by Julep67
my work day was extremely productive although it was a little tiring.

I don't mind that so much though. if working through lunches and going in extra early means less time I need to think about working this weekend, that's okay with me.

Tonight, for the first time in a while, we're home for an evening. We don't have any where that we need to be, no one needs to be here, it'll be peaceful. I'm looking forward to this. A bit of a break is needed, by me anyway.

Recently, we've had too many late nights and too many busy evenings. Too many for me anyway. I work with some lovely ladies who have lots of kids and they are running the roads constantly. I cannot imagine having to do that in the middle of having to do all the other stuff that you need to do. I supposed you'd figure it out, somehow.

Just as an aside, someone told me that something I said to them, "made their whole day" today. That's kind of cool and it doesn't happen every day and his saying that, definitely made my day better too.

Monday, October 01, 2007

glass head


glass head
Originally uploaded by Julep67
My head was fuzzy all day today. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to get it together.

Honestly, I think I'm overtired. I worked a lot of extra hours last week and, in the middle of it all, I wasn't sleeping. Even the last couple of nights I've not been sleeping solidly. I hope this passes soon because I've got a lot on my plate the next couple of weeks. Hell, the next couple of months really but the next two weeks are particularly busy.

During the past week, I've reconnected with 3 people who I'd lost touch with. The three of them couldn't be more different and I met them all in different times during my life, through very different circumstances.

The internet is a good place for assholes to hide and do stupid stuff sometimes. At other times, it's a nice place to rediscover lost friends and be remind of happy and sad memories. Lately, for me anyway, the good stuff is outnumbering the bullshit.