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April 26, 2006

Livresse

I'll be away for the next week, taking part in the Festival Livresse in Belgium. If you're curious about this, here's a brief description from the festival programmer: "From the 28th to the 30th of April 2006, around 40 artists will meet at "Livresse" festival 10th edition on the theme of the "transformation" in a place called 3Déstructure, a former piano factory, in Charleroi, Belgium." And if you're anywhere near the town of Charleroi, stop by and say hi! Until I return... happy spring.

Posted by scottheim at 02:19 AM | Comments (1)

April 22, 2006

R.I.P. Alida Valli

Just got word from my equally film-obsessive internet pal Michael Gottuso that the wondrous Alida Valli has just passed away.

Valli was the star of not one, not two, but FIVE of my all-time favorite films: Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA and INFERNO; George Franju's sublime LES YEUX SANS VISAGE (Eyes Without a Face); the rarely seen Bernardo Bertolucci incest freak-out LUNA; and the Carol Reed / Graham Greene / Orson Welles masterpiece THE THIRD MAN.

Here's a little Alida Valli fansite I found online. And here's her wikipedia page (already updated, mere hours after her death, to include that fact). I'm going to spend the next few days watching her, again and again, in all her sheer wondrousness.

Posted by scottheim at 08:27 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2006

Sprung

I've been silent. It's feeling like spring here on the Cape. Our big news is that Michael and I seem to have bought a house. I won't go into all the details here just yet... maybe on the next installment. But that's been taking up some of my time.

So, more on that later. For now, more about Brazil. As I mentioned before, every single place we went was sublime, and obviously the country rocked my senses in such a way that I haven't wanted to do anything since returning--in addition to house-hunting, that post-vacation lethargy is one of the reasons I haven't posted anything here lately. Plus, I'm still in a slight funk because of completing the novel, and I've also had a lingering flu (picked up on my last day in Brazil, I'm afraid).

As I mentioned a few posts ago, we spent time in Sao Paulo, Rio, and Salvador. Above and below are some photographs: (1) Portuguese guidebooks & maps, courtesy of our Rio host Jess Taylor; (2) Sao Paulo bus station trash bins; (3) Ipanema beach coconut chopper; and (4) my #1 favorite lust object, out of all the Brazilian lust objects I saw... I'd had a few beach caipirinhas, so wasn't shy with the camera, and he was kind enough to let me drool and take his picture(s).

Below: (6) Michael & I with our Sao Paulo friend Marcones; (7) My sunburned legs after our first 12-hour stretch of walking in Rio; (8) on the Salvador beach, where we gawked at all the (9) kids diving off the rocks.

Below: (9) and (10) Rio: a view toward Copacabana and Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf) mountain from Ipanema beach; and then a look down upon Rio from that very mountain the following day when we braved the scary tram ride to the top. And (11) and (12): Shots of the Pelourinho section of Salvador... I only wish I had some photos of the capoeira show we saw.

By the way, the Mysterious Skin film played in selected areas of Brazil not long before we were there. Unlike most non-US countries, Brazil opted to translate the title: Mistérios da Carne. Below is a Brazilian poster for the film, along with a couple of shots of Brazilian graffiti, stuck here for the hell of it.

Okay, I'll break here. My sunburn has faded. I think I've adequately worked off all the moqueca and caipirinhas that packed a few pounds on my ass. Now my desk and workspace are both an utter mess. I have about 10,000 emails and phone calls to answer. But it's spring. Soon I'll be editing my novel. Soon I'll be working on a new screenplay. And I've finally made the step away from rents and landlords and have bought a house with my boyfriend. I suppose 2006's going pretty well so far.

Posted by scottheim at 09:11 PM | Comments (9)

April 07, 2006

Hiatus

Sorry, everyone, for being so quiet. Right now I'm in NYC, visiting friends and my accountant. (I'm typing this from an unnecessarily expensive Starbucks' T-Mobile HotSpot. Why are free internet connections fo hard to find in this city??) But I'll be back in 3-4 days with that belated account of Brazil and also some big news about my future living situation. Until then, you can read a cool interview with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, laugh hard with the new Stephen McCauley novel, help me root for chef Lee Anne Wong on Bravo's new reality show Top Chef, or watch the trailer for The Descent, which finally comes out in the US later this year. Okay, I'll talk to you soon.

Posted by scottheim at 04:52 PM | Comments (4)