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January 29, 2006

Hive a Nice Day

It's been three years since I moved from NYC, and every now and then I'm reminded how much I miss it. For instance, I just found out that one of my all-time favorite films, Spirit of the Beehive, just started a run at the excellent Film Forum in the West Village. Apparently they're showing a totally new, gorgeous print. Makes me want to immediately finish this damn novel and drive there to see it on the big screen (I've only seen it on video, and really, I'm pretty darn obsessed with this movie).

A.O. Scott reviewed the film in the Times on Friday. Honestly--if you're reading this and you live in New York, go see Spirit of the Beehive. I wish I could come along.

Posted by scottheim at 02:37 AM | Comments (3)

January 28, 2006

Happy Birthday Robert Wyatt

I confess that I was a latecomer to the astonishing genius that is ROBERT WYATT. Today is his 61st birthday.

He began as singer and drummer in the 60s band Soft Machine. He broke his spine and was paralyzed at 28 due to a drunken fall from a window, and since then has just made solo records. If you don't know his music, I highly recommend--it's strange and gentle and meticulous, mellowed psychedelia with elements of jazz, and he's obviously an eccentric perfectionist in the way of folks like Scott Walker or Kate Bush or Mark Hollis. And his voice is like nobody else's. His albums Rock Bottom and Dondestan are probably my favorites. He's had huge hits in the UK (ie "Shipbuilding") but unfortunately over here he's been generally ignored.

Posted by scottheim at 11:00 AM | Comments (2)

January 23, 2006

The Shebangs

My ultracool soulmate sister Tamyra sings and plays bass in a punky garage band called THE SHEBANGS in my old stomping grounds of Lawrence, Kansas. If you're ever anywhere near that amazingly cool college town, track down the band.

Also if you're interested, you can find info, some photos, and even a couple of their snotty, catchy songs on their myspace.com page.

Speaking of music... if I were in a band, I'd want to look as cool as Ladytron. Their latest CD is fantastic. I wanna have sex with all four of them. As evidenced by these photos, they sure knew the right place (ie, the man-machine gods of Germany) to look for fashion inspiration.

Oh, Kraftwerk.... Still one of the greatest things about being alive. The above photo makes me want to go sear the linings of my ears by loudly playing "Trans-Europe Express" again and again. The great thing about this Cape house is it's so secluded, I can blast the stereo at freight-train volume.

My All-Time Favorite Kraftwerk Songs:
(1) Spacelab
(2) Europe Endless
(3) Metropolis
(4) Computer Love
(5) Neon Lights
(6) Radio-Activity ("the Mix" version)
(7) Numbers/ Computer World 2

Posted by scottheim at 01:49 AM | Comments (2)

January 20, 2006

"Sometimes my arms bend back...."

Happy Birthday to one of my heroes, David Lynch.

Anyone who knows me well knows my utter obsession for all things TWIN PEAKS--my absolute all-time favorite TV show. (My favorite character: Grace Zabriskie as Sarah Palmer.) As for Lynch's films, my favorites are:

1. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (The criminally underrated Sheryl Lee should've won an Oscar.)
2. Blue Velvet
3. Mulholland Dr.
4. The Elephant Man
5(tie). Eraserhead
The Straight Story

If I liked the second half of Lost Highway as much as the first, it'd be right up there at the top. I love his nightmarish short films, too.

(Okay, some answers to questions from your comments: Amanda: yep, I liked Undertow but didn't love it; still, Jamie Bell and the little boy Devon Alan were great, and I'll never forget the nail-in-the-foot scene. And I love NIGHT OF THE HUNTER too; R.I.P. Shelley Winters. Techopuritanism: thanks for sending the slate.com stuff--I hadn't seen it yet! Aaron: I didn't see that Letterman. Do you know if that appearance is on line anywhere? Marc: it usually takes quite a while after a book is turned in before it makes the bookstore racks. Editing, early marketing, copyediting, typesetting, proofreading, more marketing... on and on. But recently I've been told that HarperCollins wants to publish the novel in early 2007.)

Posted by scottheim at 05:43 PM | Comments (16)

January 19, 2006

If I Ruled the Academy...

My three favorite films of 2005:

Nobody Knows (dir. Hirokazu Koreeda), Oldboy (dir. Chan-wook Park), and, (duh!) Mysterious Skin (dir. Gregg Araki--dig the alternate poster, the designs of which you can see more if you snag the UK DVD).

Here are some images from all three:

Posted by scottheim at 11:19 AM | Comments (5)

January 18, 2006

Throes

Final days of the book. I'm delivering it to my editor next month. Nervous breakdown imminent? I can think of nearly nothing else right now, although a few things have helped to distract: the eerie, queasy UNDER THE SKIN by Michel Faber, the new American Idol extravaganzas, and the aforementioned Brady Corbet's amazing work on the "24" premiere. I worry that my work obsession, and the resulting alienation from society, is making me come off as a scatterbrain to some people, a total asshole to others. A nerve in my left eye keeps twitching annoyingly. Anyway, below are pictures of my world right now: a chapter from the book on my Mac; my unshaven face trying to concentrate on that chapter; the fire in the woodstove; and Rascal doing what he does best (well, except maybe for pigging out on Fancy Feast. His favorite flavor? Either "Chopped Grill" or "Tender Liver and Chicken"). And I finally figured out how to make pop-up photos--thanks, Tim Trentham. Right now there's a cold and windy Cape Cod rainstorm outside, and even though it's after 3 a.m., I'm going to stay awake and listen to it.

Posted by scottheim at 02:45 AM | Comments (7)

January 16, 2006

Visual, Part Two

As a follow-up to the entry a few inches below this, here are some more music videos I like.

Cyann & Ben, "A Moment Nowhere"
The National, "Abel"
The Czars, "Concentrate"
Efterklang, "Swarming"
Antony & the Johnsons, "You Are My Sister"
Lali Puna, "Microscopic"
Clinic, "Circle of Fifths"
Björk, "Pagan Poetry"
The Montgolfier Brothers, "Journey's End"
Denali, "Relief"
Orbital, "Halcyon"
The Zephyrs, "Stargazer"
Múm, "Green Grass of Tunnel"
Editors, "Blood"

Posted by scottheim at 03:01 AM | Comments (1)

January 14, 2006

NYTimes Lists; Brady on "24"

More lists today from the New York Times, with the three major critics displaying their choices for THEIR nominations for Oscars. A.O. Scott lists Gregg for director and Joseph for actor, and all three vote for Mysterious Skin as best adapted screenplay. KICK ASS. Here's the special section from the Times where you can navigate to find the lists: Times Choices. The lists are located at "And the Nominees Should Be..."--and also see the feature "Critics' Oscar Ballots," where you can hear and see and audio slideshow that mentions the movie and script and shows a still from the film and a shot of Gregg.

I'm also jazzed because on Sunday and Monday nights, my pal Brady Corbet, who played Brian in the film, starts his extended guest-run role on the two-part premiere of the TV series "24." I've never actually seen the show, but I'm going to start watching it now. (As most people probably know, it also stars the fantastic Mary Lynn Rajskub, also from the film.) Set your TiVos now!

(Below: I was tired of using my own dumb photos from past film festivals, so instead I went searching and found these extremely odd shots of both Brady and Mary Lynn....)

Posted by scottheim at 10:55 AM | Comments (8)

January 11, 2006

Back In Action

Okay, okay, the Scott Heim blog is back after being down for a few days so my friend and stellar webgod designer Michael Borum at etherweave could do some fine-tuning.

If any of you are nice enough to bookmark me, make sure you change the weblog address to http://heim.etherweave.com/weblog/.

More soon....

Posted by scottheim at 02:57 PM | Comments (3)

January 05, 2006

Something's In My Shoe

Happy New Year! Laziness has been preventing me from making an entry. But I've been working on the novel (I sound like a broken record).

This entry's title comes from a message someone once mysteriously left on my answering machine in college.

THANKS x 1000 to everyone who sent me other links to critics' "Top Ten" lists.

For today, here's a list of links to some excellent music videos for some favorite songs. Most of 'em are in QuickTime. Enjoy.

Isan, "Gunnera" (dir. Mark Allon)
Sigur Rós, "Untitled #1" (dir. Floria Sigismondi)
Sigur Rós, "Glósóli" (dir. Arni & Kinski)
Crescent, "Spring" (dir. Crescent)
Bowery Electric, "Fear of Flying" (dir. Ed Feldman)
Hood, "You Show No Emotion At All" (dir. Stephen Royle & Chris Coyle)
Mogwai, "Hunted By a Freak" (dir. Plates Animation)
The Album Leaf, "On Your Way" (dir. Fluorescent Hill)

Posted by at 12:48 AM | Comments (3)