Now Playing: Celebrity Fruit Window
Goodness me, have we ever gotten spoiled over the last few weeks with all the 300 publicity. We've been awash in articles, interviews, videos, and photos, not to mention the movie itself (in two different formats, no less). And now, suddenly, the spigot has been turned off and life is back to normal. But we David fans are a hardy lot. Like dromedaries, we can travel for months at a time between the distant oases of David projects, fueled by the occasional mention of a film festival or charity event. Yes indeed. Only the strong may call themselves Daisy fans. Only the masochistic.
As we embark upon this latest desert stretch, across a barren expanse in which no Daisies grow, it will be important to keep your morale up with happy thoughts. Let's begin with this one: Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and be grateful you weren't mail-audited by the IRS last week, to the tune of $3000. (Thankfully, most of that bill will go away, once I track down the paperwork proving that I already paid taxes on that set of stock options from 2005. I like how the IRS generously awards themselves 15% interest, though. Just try to find that rate in a money market acccount.)
So, as part of this spring's Serenity Now! campaign, I visited an acupuncturist yesterday. She took my pulse, peered at my tongue, and diagnosed me with mild Spleen Qi deficiency and Blood Stasis. I'm to abstain from cold drinks, ice cream, and salads, eat only warm foods, and incorporate into my diet more mulberries, kelp, squid, vinegar, abalone, and bladder wrack. Well, no wonder I'm low on Spleen Qi. My abalone intake has been seriously lacking.
If anyone has any good recipes for bladder wrack hotdish, let me know.
After the acupuncture visit, I stopped by the local Patagonia outlet, which used to be a reliable source of workout clothes for people who, like, y'know, actually work out. I came away empty-handed. Their women's clothing line has mutated into eeeeeentsy cute halter tops and pink size 0 lycra shorts that look like they'd disintegrate if exposed to sunlight or mild breezes. All the pants are copiously flared, with a 1" rise. I want clothes you can actually climb rocks in, not clothes that merely suggest that you climb rocks. Clothes you can sweat in. Clothes you can stretch in. Clothes you can be tall in.
It's not just Patagonia. The Tiny Pink Princess Virus has infected women's athletic clothing everywhere. Is this a symptom of some sort of post-millennial feminist backlash? "It's OK for girls to explore Antarctica, but you MUST LOOK CUTE while you're doing it."
Do not go gently into that pink night! Rage, rage against the flaring of the pants.
That's one reason I admire David: because when it comes to fashion, he wears what looks good on him, not what the magazines tell us all men should be wearing. He has the courage to buck the tide and dress like an individual. Gender stereotypes are boring. And limiting.
Speaking of gender stereotypes, I finally saw "Blades of Glory", after nearly killing myself laughing at the trailer (which was right next to 300 on the MTV site). It was stupid and wonderful and moronic and outrageously funny. They got all the figure skating tropes and cliches exactly right, from the overused Sarah Brightman tune "Con Te Partiro", to the overwrought choreography (created by Sarah Kawahara, Michelle Kwan's coach), and most especially the contrasting styles of the two male skaters. It reminded me of the classic Alexei Urmanov - Elvis Stojko rivalry from the Lillehammer era. I was a fervent Urmanov partisan, because he drew so much ire for his frilly, ruffly swan costumes, and because of all the kneejerk North American sports commentary dissing the balletic Russian skating style. Urmanov's Olympic victory may have been a fluke, but he deserved every bit of that gold. He had far superior speed, line, technique, and edge quality. Wearing leather and doing choppy straight-line footwork to rock music may excite the crowd, but it ain't skating.
Actually, I wouldn't have minded if Kurt Browning had won in '94. He's quite possibly the greatest male singles skater of all time. Gene Kelly on blades. He can do a program containing nothing but school figures, and still be mesmerizing. Despite being the first skater to land a quad jump, and winning four world championships, he never medalled at the Olympics. Just goes to show, you can't judge talent by trophies.
So, to sum up: IRS and bellbottoms bad. Acupuncture, Russian skaters, and David Wenham good.