RandomCha

I’m suddenly very sad.

Jackie McLean died today.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/hc-mcleanobit0401.artapr01,1,2812547.story?coll=chi-news-hed

One of my all-time favorite, desert island, 100% essential albums has been remixed, remastered, and is about to be rereleased.

And has an amazing new website, so loaded down with cool stuff that I can’t even describe it all.

http://bush-of-ghosts.com

This album pioneered dance music based on sampling, mash-ups, and cross-cultural scrambling. If you really care about music, you owe it to yourself to BUY THIS ALBUM.

Oh yes, that’s what Andy & I encountered when we got home last night. They’ve been doing some sort of noisy remodeling project in one of the first floor apartments. And we live on the third floor. Said sickening smell permeated our entire place. We opened our windows, of course, but after awhile I had a nice low-level headache going. Slept rotten. I got up really early this morning and fled to Corner Bakery. I feel somewhat decent again, but if the fumes are still there tonight I’m complaining to our management company. Not that that’ll do any good.

I have an irrational, perverse desire to watch “Escape From New York” tonight.

For those who don’t know, Greencine is like Netflix … only it’s based in San Francisco, is centered around independent, foreign, documentary, and hard-to-find DVDs, and isn’t an evil corporation. We are on the “4 out” plan and here’s what we have at the moment, none of which we’ve watched yet:

#1 “5 X 2,” dir. by Francois Ozon.
#2 “Suspiria,” dir. by Dario Argento
#3 “The Shining,” dir. by Stanley Kubrick

#4 will be shipped in a few days, probably “The Paradine Case,” dir. by Alfred Hitchcock.

Do we have great taste or what?

I really have nothing planned this weekend, except for writing and wasting time. We will probably gorge ourselves and watch the last three episodes of “Lost” Season 1. Then we will be ready to begin the expensive process of catching up on Season 2 by using iTunes. Unless anyone has them taped?

Wow, two reps for one of our vendors stopped by the office about an hour ago, and one of them was actually kinda hot. Not often we see a hottie around here.

John Huston’s autobiography is a pretty good read, except for when he rambles on about his horses or Ireland.

Oh boy, I can tell already that today is gonna be a killer. Brandon’s upstairs all day filling in for our absent shipping manager. No time to goof off. I shall reward myself by having a cocktail right after work at the new bar which finally opened down the street from the office, The Cobra Lounge, and going to Old Navy for some new cheap splurging.

My choice for DVD last night was “Faces” and no one liked it. I suppose I’m a glutton for punishment. Cassavetes often enrages people, or puts them to sleep. The untidyness of his approach can make the viewer feel confused and distant. I thought the black & white was extraordinarily beautiful, and there were many searingly emotional moments. Lynn Carlin and Gena Rowlands were brilliant.

W’s unconvincing displays of “angst” of late are so pathetic.

Here in Chicago, we have a word to describe springtime. And that word is “winter.”

Read the article in The Economist:

http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5601463