Museum Magic

I recently visited the Mystic Seaport Museum, where I had the privilege of perambulating the contemporary Viking ship Draken Harald Hårfagre, which sailed from Norway to America, recreating the transatlantic voyage of Leif Erikson. I also examined several Norse artifacts from the Vendel Period and Viking Age.

The experience was both surreal and profound. To observe and interact with these psychically charged artifacts is a genuine form of time travel. If you concentrate hard enough, you can hear the dim echo of the past: the blacksmith's hammering; the battle-cries of gallant men; and the roaring of funeral pyres. Much like the Stone Tape theory of ghostly phenomena, these haunted objects act like metaphysical VHS tapes, waiting for us to play their fuzzy simulacra.

If you ever get a chance to visit such an exhibit, I strongly suggest that you go. It's a liminal experience which blurs the very distinction between past and present -- a truly singular thrill.

Jacob's Ladder

I just rewatched Jacob's Ladder (1990) for the first time in several years, and I almost forgot how unutterably potent this haunting film is. It truly gets under your skin, infects your soul, and darkens your existence with an irreversible sense of cosmic dread. And yet, ironically, at the end of it all, is a divine feeling of solace.

The main theme of the picture is perfectly summarized by Danny Aiello's character, when he says, "If you're frightened of dying, and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But, if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth." The takeaway, then, is to make peace with our personal demons -- including death itself -- and view them not as malevolent forces of chaos, but rather as agents of change, ushering us across the threshold, from one circle of manifestation to the next. Granted, that's easier said than done, and the meat of Jacob's Ladder focuses on the intense sorrow, agony, and horror of that very process, but if we embrace the cycles of death and rebirth, there is ultimately light at the end of the grimy subway tunnel.

According to the director, Adrian Lyne, the film has actually helped a number of terminally ill people cope with their own deaths, and I think that's just beautiful. I'm sure it's helped a lot of people to keep on living, too.

If you've never seen Jacob's Ladder, then I highly recommend it. Not only for the emotional gut punch it delivers, but for the stellar performances, groundbreaking cinematography, and haunting music as well. It just might set you free.

Limericks

A random hobby of mine is to write limericks about film directors. My latest one is for Sam Raimi, director of the seminal EVIL DEAD trilogy and the suspense masterpiece A SIMPLE PLAN...


SAM RAIMI

There once was a wiseguy named Raimi,
Who made splatstick films cockamamie,
With camera kinetic,
And comic aesthetic,
For love of which you cannot blame me.


Older limericks:


DARIO ARGENTO

Argento: the maestro of giallo.
His painterly shots I must hallow.
His use of P.O.V.
is suspenseful as can be,
and his killings will turn your face sallow.


DAVID LYNCH

"Jimmy Stewart from Mars" he's been called.
His surreal films will have you enthralled.
The Straight Story is great.
Blue Velvet first-rate.
And his lack of more films has me galled.


WERNER HERZOG

A soldier of cinema extreme.
Driven by strange fever dreams.
He looks like a sleuth,
For ecstatic truth,
And in wildest landscapes it teems.


DANNY BOYLE

He does action and drama and more,
And he uses trance music galore.
His films are eye candy,
so vibrant and dandy.
Ambitious right down to the core.


MEL GIBSON

There once was a Yank from down under,
Both onscreen and offscreen like thunder.
His films are real bloody,
But well worth a study,
His storytelling skills are a wonder.


KEN LOACH

There's a populist Brit named Ken Loach,
Well known for his realist approach.
He uses non-actors.
Rehearsals? Non-factors.
Long lenses? Used more than a skoach.

Self Doodle

Trying to improve my drawing skills. Here's a quick self-doodle: