Mangan's memoirs

San Francisco scenes

by  • March 23, 2004 • 5 Comments

Today Melissa and I decided to do something usually reserved for tourists:
ride the cablecars in San Francisco and take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge.
We had a couple other diversions too, as you’ll notice.

If you want to ride an uncrowded cablecar, take the California Street line.
It starts at the foot of Market Street, stops at Nob Hill and Chinatown, and
continues uphill to Van Ness Avenue, where you grab another car and ride it back
down.

Melissa gets settled in for the ride at the foot of California Street.

The cab drivers have to squeeze in between the cablecars and the curb. This
guy was about 12 inches from my knees when he passed.

Fares are 3 bucks for a one-way ticket, or 9 bucks for an all-day pass. We
opted for the latter. You hop on and the conductor comes along and collects
the fare.

The view out the back, looking down California Street. It’s a lot steeper than
it looks.

Here’s the Powell Street cablecar. It’s almost always packed to the gills because
it picks up a load of passengers down the hill at Fisherman’s Wharf. Good
luck getting on … we tried three times and they all were full.

It was sunny, breezy and cool — perfect sweater/jacket weather.

Here comes another one up the street.

This one does a better job of conveying how steep the street is. It’s no vacation
trying to walk these streets.

That’s the Transamerica Pyramid in the background.

The sun’s a blur at Grace Cathedral, high atop Nob Hill.

It’s an impressive edifice by any measure.

The hazards of getting your camera too close to the window.

After we tired of the cablecars, we stopped by sports bar where somebody in
a silly suit was handing out free baseballs.

Inside, a more sanely clad guy gave us these balls. They’re part of a contest
in which the winner gets to throw out the first pitch at a San Francisco Giants
game.

Toward the end of the afternoon we made our way over to the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s
majestic any time of day.

A ship passes on its way out to sea.

Even a softheaded liberal like yours truly appreciates a nice patriotic image.

Digital cameras take wonderful sunsets.

We traveled to Twin Peaks, high above the city, after sunset. The white line
down the middle is Market Street.

Mangan's memoirs

The view from my porch

by  • March 15, 2004 • 4 Comments

The wireless experience: I’m on the porch, kicking back in my lawn chair. I can see the tops of the trees decorating the apartment complex. The sky is that perfect color of blue you see only with 50 miles of the ocean. It’s breezy and warm, low 80s.

I’m listening to tunes streaming from my CPU in the other room. Bob Dylan growling something about love gone bad.

The beer is made by Gordon Biersch, a San Jose microbrewery. BG makes life worth living — in moderation of course. Surest way to ruin your appreciation for a good beer is to drink a lot of it. You need that taste you get when you haven’t had one in a week.

Just another reason why people move to California but never move back.

Did I mention I’m on vacation this week? Got three days to get my brain ready for this presentation I’m doing in Houston. Blogging for copy editors.

Maybe it’ll be nice in Houston but it won’t be this nice.

Mangan's memoirs

Sopranos are back

by  • March 7, 2004 • 2 Comments

I had to watch, and now I think: Christ are they going to be this sullen and bitchy all season long?

Can’t figure out if this scene was poignant or silly: Tony is trying to talk his shrink into going out with him, she’s having none of it. He presses her for a reason, she says, “I don’t like your values.”

Tony says “What don’t you like about my values?”

My brain is screaming: You’re a fucking mob boss and a murderer, Tony. What’ s to like about your values?

So far two Annoying Guest Wiseguys Who Must Be Killed By Season’s End have been introduced. We saw a few scenes with the wonderful Robert Loggia, but only snapshots of the totally happening Steve Buscemi. Both of these guys can act circles around the entire cast of the Sopranos … must be written into James Gandolfini’s contract that they won’t be allowed to upstage him.

But they’ll be dead by the end of the season anyway, so why get worked up?

All I can figure is I must’ve been an honest chump whose shoe store got bombed by the Gambino gang in a previous life, because as much as I enjoy the comedy, the irony, the interplay of the characters, etc, a little voice is hollering from the far reaches cranium:

“The Sopranos are Criminals and they Belong in Prison for Life!” They do not belong in a pricey home in a, uh, tony suburb; they do not deserve to have their lifestyle beamed into six million living rooms every Sunday night. They are scum who kill, steal and maim to get their way.

OK, I know it’s just a soap opera with a mafia setting … I know I’m supposed to be charmed by the best talent in cable TV … I know I’m supposed to be able to say, “look, mobsters have lives, too.”

How’d I get stuck with this brain, anyway? Because it’s saying, right now, “how about a TV show about the lives those bastards snuffed out?”

Please, somebody, give me another brain, one that can let this shit slide and let me enjoy the best show on TV.

movies

Oscar night 2004

by  • February 29, 2004 • 1 Comment

“Billy Crystal’s welcome to come to New Zealand and make a film any time he wants” — Peter Jackson, director, “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” Winner of best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best song, best art direction, costume design, makeup, score, sound mixing, visual effects.


A telling omission: none of the acting awards went to “Rings.”

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Best pic has to be “Rings.” How can it walk off w/everything else and not win? Near as I can tell it won in every category it was nominated in.

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Best actor: Tough choice. i’m thinking Ben Kingsley. Oops, Sean Penn.
Must be the make-up Oscar for being passed over on “Dead Man Walking.” Classy speech for a reputed bad boy.

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Best actress: Charlize Theron gets the nod. God, these women are all hsyterical.
What a tan she has. Charlize, give it up, girl!

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Tom Cruise gets to give one away but never gets one himself. Wow, he seems to have shaved for the first time since 1999. Best director: why even name anybody besides Peter Jackson?

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Hey, it’s the Tim and Susan show. For some reason I knew it was going to be Sofia Coppola for original screenplay. Any question that the Coppolas are a film dynasty?

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The Coppolas. Sofia’s on drugs, I swear. I’m rooting for “American Splendor” for best adapted screenplay but alas, it’s “Rings” again. Peter looks like Belushi with a beard.

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Three hours and counting. Lordy.

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Cinematography: Might as well give it to “Rings.” Wait, it’s not even nominated. “Master & Commander” takes it. A well-photographed film. The DP sounded a bit blotto.

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Charlize: Is she as beautiful as Catherine Zeta-Jones? Melissa gives the nod to Z-J. Best foreign-language film winner: “We’re so thankful Lord of the Rings did not qualify in this category.”

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Wow: Jack Black is really short. This “you’re boring” bit is pretty funny — the real “best song.” “Rings” taking another statuette makes me want to gag, though it’s good to see Annie Lennox up there.

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Woo-hoo, it’s Mitch and Mickey from “A Mighty Wind.” Won’t win but it should. A rare outbreak of humor from the Academy. The Kiss: A hoot in any language.


Hmm, this French song is pretty entertaining. Those “Cold Mountain” songs are seeming stronger than ever.

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“People are moving to New Zealand just to be thanked.”

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Editing: A topic dear to my heart. Might as well be “Rings” again. How about we just give all the rest to “Rings” and we can all go home?

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Best score: “Rings” again. They’re going have to start thanking people in Papua New Guinea next. Suggestion for future years: Couldn’t they do the thank yous in private? Think how much more meaningful it would be.

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Not many categories left. Thank God.

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Gregory Peck: From Atticus Finch to Dr. Mengele. RIP.

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Best documentary: “Fog of War,” Errol Morris’ first win. Haven’t seen it, wonder if he’s getting it more for his career. “I fear we’re going down a rabbit hole once again.” Billy: “I can’t wait for his tax audit.”

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Kate Hepburn. True classic. A great one has to die so they can show some real entertainment on Oscar night.

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“It’s official, there’s now nobody left in New Zealand to thank.”

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Do I give a flip whose sound mixing was best? Take a guess. I thought it might go to “Master & Commander,” which had wonderful sound. But no: another “Rings” win. This is getting tedious. Now, clue me in: why a separate Oscar for editing and mixing? Hey, Master & Commander wins sound editing — see, I was half right.

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Almost two hours in … my butt’s getting tired. circulation in my legs is going. Good thing this laptop is so warm.

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Best Makeup: Another “Rings” lock? Well, that was a surprise.

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Inspector Clouseau! “That’s a Priceless Steinway.” “Not anymore.” Blake Edwards looks 300 years old. All that hard Hollywood living.

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Jennifer Garner’s dress: impressive. Safe bet the stars are all sneaking out for bathroom breaks about now.

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Visual effects: Another “Rings” lock. (Note Will & Jada, the odd Hollywood combination of tall man and short woman.)

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Three songs in and no crap to be found. Amazing.


Annie Lennox sings the “Rings” song. Not bad, but not the equal of the Krauss songs.


Alison Krauss — haunting voice, haunting tune. Probably too gloomy to win. Wow, two songs from the same movie, Cold Mountain. Nice showcase for Krauss — it’ll be a crime if her songs don’t win.

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Liv: Lose those glasses.

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Best live-action short: (where’s Danny DeVito?) “Two Soldiers.” Best animated short: “Harvie Krumpet.”
I wonder how many people have seen these movies and if they could fill a city bus. The Starsky/Hutch thing was mildly amusing.

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Bob Hope’s best “I didn’t get it” gags: “Or as it’s called around my house.. Passover”; “Or, as it’s called around my house: The Fugitive.” OK, it’s funnier when he says it.

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Best supporting actress: Another impossible name… I’m guessing nobody portraying an Iranian will win, though. Ooh, Renee’s back up there again. Kind of an embarrassment to be taking it for best-supporting …. I mean, she’s a major star and everything. But it’s one more Oscar than Tom Cruise has gotten. How’s that for justice?

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Costume design: “Rings” again. You’d get one too if you had to find costumes for all those orcs. (Renee: it looks like you’ve had a boob job!).

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Best animated feature: “Finding Nemo” is a lock. Robin Williams needs to turn it off for once. The guy telling his wife he loves her in front of a billion people was a nice touch.

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Production designer: (Angelina, we can see your nippies!). Goes to “Return of the King.” Pretty much a slam dunk. I was rooting for “Master & Commander,” because it was one of the first movies in which I actually made an effort to find out who the production director was. But the “Rings” stuff is so colossal in scale, no shame in losing out to it.

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Best male supporting: (C. Zeta-Jones: too gorgeous for her own good). I hope it goes to somebody whose name I can spell. Tim Robbins! Cool. All the others are better actors, of course. The crowd holds its breath as Tim says, “I’ve got just one more thing to say.” Sighs of relief as he tells abuse survivors to get help.

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He’s really going to keep this up for all five best-picture nominees. For once the rich, beautiful people of the movie industry pay the price of fame: no way to avoid Billy’s opening sequence. Please, bring on the awards for technical merit.

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Make him stop… Billy’s singing again. He’s got some nerve telling Clint Eastwood not to sing again.

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Cool, Michael Moore just got squished.

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Naked Billy Crystal. Scary.

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Opening sequence: Sean Connery being stentorian.