Movies I watched in 2015

Spent over a week of my life watching movies this year. And this does not include the amount of television in general, series followed, binge watched, or sports. Do watch Bron/Broen though. Outstanding television. That’s a lot of time in front of a screen. Wanted to hit over 100 movies to see what it was like, and I did, and it’s like, wow I watched over 100 movies so fucking what?

It means I should write and read more that’s what.

We Are the Best
In A World…
Richard Pryor: Live at the Sunset Strip
Roger Ebert: Life Itself
Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie
Taken 2
Ain’t in it for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm
Force Majeure
The Darjeeling Limited
Frank
Gil Scott Heron- The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Singin’ In the Rain
Paton Oswalt: Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time
50,000,000 Joe Franklin Fans Can’t Be Wrong
The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
Swingtime
Wing Chun
Wuthering Heights (1939)
The Philadelphia Story
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Killer Mermaid
Iron Monkey
The Blue Dahlia
The Maltese Falcon
Kingsman: the Secret Service
Way Out West
Sunshine on Leith
Northern Soul
The Ruling Class
Paul Williams: Still Alive
Lady Snowbird
Battle Royale
Darby O’Gill and the Little People
Odd Man Out
Grey Gardens
Lime Kiln Field Day (1913)
Chef
Wild Tales
King Kong (1933)
Holiday (1938)
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Smashing Time
Citizen Kane
Ninotchka
Avengers: Age of Ultron
No No, a Dockumentary
Atari: Game Over
God Help the Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
Zombeavers
Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll
Kung Fury
The Other One: the Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir
The Sheik (2014)
The Castle of Fu Manchu (MST 3K)
Quadrophenia
Two Days in Paris
Inside Out
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Love and Mercy
The Road Warrior
Godzilla vs. Monster Zero
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Chicken Run
Wayne’s World
Bride of the Monster (MST 3K)
Amy
Born to Boogie
Tig.
The Search for General Tso
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
Arsenic and Old Lace
Duck Soup
Singin’ In the Rain
Downstairs (1932)
The Bank Dick
It’s A Gift
Casino Royale (2006)
Breathless (1960)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Why Be Good?
The Illusionist (2010)
Help!
Bridge Of Spies
The Forbidden Room
The Mouse That Roared
Rumble in the Bronx
Charade
A Free Soul
Spectre
Call Me Lucky
Strangers May Kiss
Brave
Jason and the Argonauts
The Assassin
Begin, Again
Outrage
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Beyond Outrage
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
It’s a Wonderful Like
The Thin Man

The books I read, 2015

It's a longer list than last year, thank God. At least I averaged more than two books per month this time. Also the quality of books was better, I felt. If you see no stars, the book was finished and it was ok. Three starts means better than average. Four stars means I really, really liked it.

Juan Gelman - Unthinkable Tenderness. 191 p. ***
Leroi Jones (Amiri Baraka) - Blues People: Negro Music in White America 244 p.
Graham Kelly -Terrace Heroes: the Life and Times of the 1930’s Professional Footballer. 174 p.
Alejandra Pizarnik – Diana’s Tree. 45 p. ***
Etgar Keret - The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God and Other Stories. 182 p. ***
Nick Hornby - Funny Girl. 452 p. ***
Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett - Good Omens 384 p. ****
Erik Larson - Dead Wake: the Last Crossing of the Lusitania. 430 p. ***
Scott Martelle - The Madman and the Assassin. 226 p. ***
Thomas Kunkel - Man in Profile: Joseph Mitchell of the New Yorker. 366 p. ****
Wade Shepard – Ghost Cities of China. 218 p.
Kim Gordon - Girl in a Band. 273 p. ****
Paula Hawkins - The Girl on the Train. 322 p. ***
Irvine Welsh - The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins. 349 p. ****
Caitlin Doughty - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and Other Lessons From the Crematory. 254 p. ***
Jim Sweeney - North Korea Undercover: Inside the World’s Most Secret State. 306 p. ***
Matthew Sweet - Shepparton Babylon. 388 p. ***
Jay Stringer - Ways to Die in Glasgow. 277 p. ****
Steve Silberman - NeuroTribes: the Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity. 534 p. ****
Elion Paz - Dust & Grooves: Adventures in Record Collection. 440 p. ***
Chrissie Hynde - Reckless: My Life As A Pretender. 312 p. (worst book of the year)
Sophie Calle - Suite Veìnitienne (one volume unpaged)
Grace Jones - I’ll Never Write My Memoirs. 386 p. ***
Patti Smith - M Train. 253 p. ***
Kate Clifford Larson - Rosemary: the Hidden Kennedy Daughter. 320 p. ***
Elvis Costello - Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink. 674 p. ****
Denise Mina - Blood, Salt, Water. 295 p. ***
Clips Nesteroff - The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy. 425 p. ***
Percival Everett - Half an Inch of Water. 163 p. ****

2015, the year in poetry

2015 was not the most public year for me and poetry. I'd like to blow this year up socially as being constantly worn out made it difficult to attend open mics in the community.

Had to cancel a feature in Pittsburgh due to weather difficulties but I did have a good reading in Dayton in May for the Gem City crew.

It was an honor to be a part of the Sign Your Art project that put poetry on the street signs all over Columbus.

Had a great co-feature with Nancy Kangas at the Kitamu Coffee for the Second Friday Fete in November.

Had some strong thoughts about how the Columbus Arts Festival gave poetry the shaft.

Still writing, albeit slowly. It's there, quiet.

Most important though, we lost Gina Blaurock and so many of us are still reeling from her death.

2015 slideshow

For the past four years I've been making slideshows and setting them to music. This year is no exception. It's been a year of a lot of loss. Friends, a co-worker, my Brother and my biological father just died on Sunday. It adds up.

The music is Nobody's Empire by Belle and Sebastian and it's a very appropriate song that resonates this holiday season.

Who is this guy?

A friend messaged me this morning to tell me that I was on the CBS Morning News in a clip about Star Wars. This was news to me, I do not remember any cameras when I was in the theater.

Found the clip here and was a bit freaked out.
The person who looks like me is at the 1:53 part of the segment.

The wardrobe, the glasses, the hair. Honestly, it almost could be me.

Took a screen shot.



Honestly at first glimpse it's kind of jarring.

Now. How do we find this dude?

218 views in five years

From back in the day when I was writing. Writing well is another issue entirely. At least my mug is on youtube, for anyone to find, stumble across blindly, hate watch, or whatever.



Come on, let's get to 500 views by 2021! Four digits by 2030! We can do this internet!

Some Music I Liked Listening To In 2015

Instead of fifteen tweets about it, here are fifteen records I liked this year

Belle and Sebastian - Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance. I really liked Nobody’s Empire a lot. You’ll see that in a week or so.

Cait Brennan - Debutante. Technically this is not being released until January, but I was an early adopter and have been digging this blast of rock/pop for several months.

Charanee Wade - Offering: the Music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson. This is such a respectful project. Ms. Wade has a great voice that matches up with the material.

Chvrches - Every Open Eye. You’re always skeptical about the second record but this band actually exceeded the promise of the first release. Lauren Mayberry is a star.

D-troit - Soul Thing. This was from the Music Alliance Pact Project. A bunch of Danes being American funky. Good stuff.

Steve Forbert - Compromised. The man keeps delivering.

Sarah Hayes - Woven. This is a terrific folk record from one of the members of Admiral Fallow. Ms. Hayes has many talents.

Darlene Love - Introducing Darlene Love. Best record from a person in their seventies this year. Ms. Love’s voice is as fresh and powerful as ever. Timeless.

Florence and the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. I love watching her career soar.

Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free. He remains one of the best singer/songwriters out there.

Ellie King - Love Stuff. I had no idea she was Rob Schneider’s daughter and grew up in Ohio. Gritty and sassy debut.

The Last Hurrah - Mudflowers. This is a neat little project produced by H.P. Gunderson, who worked on Sondre Lerche’s Faces Down record. Maesa Pullman is the singer. She’s Bill Pullman’s daughter. Pleasant little pop record.

Leon Bridges - Coming Home. A second coming of Sam Cooke. I’m impressed with his style and look and hope he pays more attention to the music than the fashion in his next works.

The Mynabirds - Lovers Know. Laura Burhenn keeps delivering quality sounds with a goth girl group edge.

Veruca Salt - Ghost Notes. Might have been the best comeback no one heard. Nina Gordon and Louise Post patched up their differences and made a very fine record.

If you're interested in a deeper playlist or an MP3 or two, shoot me a message here or back channel.