The Spanner - Part Deux

Well it looks like I will be putting my European summer on hold until October as I have just been hired to become the production assistant on the upcoming inaugural season of the Australian "Apprentice". I have never worked in reality TV and have gone through a mass of emotions in the last 48 hours from fear and discouragement. I hope I don't fuck this one up. This will probably be the only time you'll hear about the show as I'm sure I'll have to sign a confidentiality agreement soon. 

The Spanner

Here I am minding my own business and peacefuly waiting for my flight to leave this place we love to hate called Sydney. As my friend calls it, today latest development is a spanner thrown in the works. To recap everyone who hasn't listened to my rants, I've just gotten head hunted for the Australian version of "The Apprentice" as a production assistant. And althought I'm meant to fly our in less than two weeks, I'm also really tempted by this offer at reality TV haven. Who know? Verdict gets in tomorrow afternoon.

Night on Earth (1991)

First up on the DVD list of obscurity that I obviously won't get through due to two things: my short attention span and my callendar filling up slowly; is Jim Jarmusch's "Night on Earth".

"Night on Earth" follows the exchanges of total strangers stuck in an uncomfortable taxi ride. Simple conversation happen, people bond in odd ways and multiple epiphanies are almost certain.

Jim Jarmusch's collection of five nightly fragments from accross the globes was apparently written in eight days. As much as Jarmusch is considered an auteur of comtemporary cinema, you can't help but picture him in a leather armchair dictating to his assistant a list of  "cool by association" people that will make up his cast. He is the ultimate Indie that you want to hate but don't have the guts to. And with some very powerful friends to grace the screen, Jarmusch can offer as little as he wants to. Without all that star power, Jarmusch's films would probably not have the following of non-chalant hipsters that he does today. 

To be completely honest - and I know I'll get chastised by indies, nerds and general film wankers; I really found this film basic. It reminded me of what you would do for your video workshop finals. Yes it has some clever get-ups and good performances (Gena Rowlands is great as the over-worked Hollywood casting agent) but it's just not orginal and frankly gets a little dull. By the time the segment set in Helsinki came around, I wasn't bothered to read the subtitles. Mind you, I was hungover, but if I can watch a whole film without even once opening up my laptop, than I think I gave enough chances. 

2.5 stars

3 weeks of unemployment

A normal person would usually take advantage of this situation to probably do some good in the world, finish personal projects or learn chinese. But seeing as I've been a full-time slave for the last 4 years, this sudden break has really caught me off guard. 

Just for a quick recap, the reason that I currently have become a lady of leisure is that I was not too long ago made redundant. Thank you GFC and the unpredictable film industry. So I made the decision to jet off to Europe.

With little money in my bank account and plenty of free time, I now find myself forced in hermitude in the suburbs until I leave for the UK in early July!

After day three days of inactivity and recovery, I find myself scrounging through our house's mammoth DVD collection. Out of about 100 plus DVDs, what's pictured above is what I've avoided watching for the last few years. The challenge for the next 2.5 weeks is to watch as much as I can and babble about them.

Here's to working on ma ass groove on ma couch!

Well hello there!

Welcome! Pull up a comfy chair, make yourself a cup of tea and don't forget to let the cat out, because I'm about to give this blogging phenomenon another go. 

Guaranteed in this package:

- Mild attempts of pro photography

- Rants on almost everything and nothing

- Small phylosophical anecdotes (... actually don't hold your breath)

So here's to "not wasting anymore paper" and enforcing my opinions and views on all you poor souls.