just got home from kraz's 13th annual boston pasta party. there was plenty of socializing (seeing so many runners in street clothes was interesting, in and of itself) - and there was even some pasta :D it was a great prelude to the marathon next weekend!
here are few pictures
"when you're strange: a film about the doors" opened in limited release at the angelica here in new york city today. it premiered at the sundance film festival last year to generally excellent reviews. since the premiere, the initial voice over, done by (writer/director) tom dicillo himself, was replaced by a narration performed by johnny depp! it's a fascinating film, composed entirely of archival film clips (mainly from concert and studio performances).
one highlight is the rarely (if ever) seen footage from jim morrison's experimental film, "hwy: an american pastoral," that was shot in 1969. it's the glue that brings together the multitude of film clips assembled by dicillio. the completed documentary exists in a time warp that encapsulates the rise and fall of the doors. if the film has one weakness, it's the inclusion of one too many stock images of the 1960's. how many times to we need to see images of the "turbulent" times - especially when they're at the expense of additional footage of the doors!
but overall what dicillo accomplished with his take on the band is well worth watching (if not a must watch for fans). the gritty verite of "when you're strange" is a startling contrast from oliver stones's slick dramatization "the doors." while val kilmer did morrison justice, there really is only one jim morrison. watching morrison perform, watching him self-destruct on screen, is powerful stuff. that said, the film takes a much broader look at the rest of the band members. it's not (as one might expect) just about jim!
aside from the "hwy" footage, one real nugent in this film is the "wild child" studio sessions. the behind the scenes look at the evolution of the song, the work of the band in putting it together makes a powerful impression on how serious these guys were about the music. that aspect doesn't come off in the concert footage - which mainly devolved into jim's efforts to rile up the audience. in that vein, the footage from the miami show that led to morrison's prosecution (and conviction) on lewdiness charges is pretty harsh stuff.
miami, which itself followed the the images from the equally disastrous hartford concert where jim taunted the police (after one had maced him backstage) until they stopped the show, included a particularly nasty screed where jim repeatedly insulted the audience. despite the apparent bottoming out of their touring plans (all the shows were eventually cancelled), the doors managed to regroup and a year later managed to release "l.a. woman" and once again top the american charts.
but the band's resurrection was short-lived. within six months morrison would be found dead in paris bathtub - from a heroin overdose. but the film doesn't dwell on the particulars of his death. instead, we get a matter of fact portrait - in line with the other rock stars that preceded him (notably hendrix and joplin). there wasn't any moralizing about his self-destruction and the end of the band. in this respect, one could say "when you're strange" focused on the highs and lows of the band and bypassed the explanations.
interestingly, i just finished john desmore's "riders on the storm" only two months ago - so the doors saga (via desmore's point of view) was fresh in my mind as i watched the film. all three surviving band members worked with dicillo in varying degrees (at a minimum, they looked at his work in progress and agreed to his interview requests). all in all, except for some of the lame 60's stock footage - it's a good documentary, and a story well told by dicillo.
on april 8, 1994, kurt cobain, lead singer of nirvana, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in his seattle apartment. cobain was only 27 years old and left behind his wife, courtney love, and their daughter, frances. the police found a note at the scene and ruled his death a suicide.
cobain had a serious heroin habit (and had been in rehab) before his death. cobain and nirvana were at the front of the alternative/grunge rock movement of the early 1990's. ironically, while i was a fan of "nevermind" and "in utero," my favorite album was their live performance as part of mtv's "unplugged" series! that particular album is still in current rotation on my ipod!
cobain's irrational belief that the only way to escape the sad and desperate conditions engulfing his life was through suicide is chilling indeed.
on a more upbeat note, today also marks the 33rd anniversary of the release of the clash's self-titled debut album!
the 2010 nyc marathon lottery was held today. more than 120,000 runners applied to run the race. it was the 4th year in a row that applicants exceeded 100,000! in a first, the nyrrr broadcast the initial lottery selections live, over the internet. victoria salbu from norway was the first runner selected. nine runners (4 international, 4 from the united states, and one from new york city) were announced. the rest were left to check the entrants database :D
separately, the nyrr announced that olympic medalists meb keflezighi and deena kastor committed to run the 2010 edition! meb is the defending champion, having won the race last year in 2:09:15! he's scheduled to run the boston marathon in less than two weeks! deena, who made her marathon debut at the nyc marathon with a 2:26:58 in 2001 (a then u.s. record), is looking for her first win in nyc!
the 2010 edition will by my 9th consecutive nyc marathon!
yesterday afternoon there was a rally at city hall in support of camp pouch. scouts began on staten island, took the ferry over to manhattan, and walked up to city hall (another group walked over the brooklyn bridge and joined them) to protest the proposed sale of the boy scout camp on staten island to real estate developers! i walked over from my office across the street to express my support for the scouts.
here is a video clip of the event from the staten island advance:
| Save Pouch Camp Committee hits City Hall |
The 2010 Bunny Boogie was a surprise add to my race schedule. I had not planned on a race this weekend because it was a low mileage recovery week in the wake of Umstead. In fact, I passed on the Scotland Run 10K for that reason, opting instead, to volunteer at packet pick-up to satisfy my 9 +1 requirement for the 2011 NYC Marathon. But when Katie said she wanted to run a race this weekend, plans changed. The Bunny Boogie 3 miler was the perfect choice!
So off to Darien we went. I even dressed for the part by digging out a vintage Bunny Boogie tee shirt (from 2004). Katie had run this race before, in 2008. In addition to the course, she recognized most of my running friends. Briefly, Dawn, Emmy, John, Rob, Roy, Joe, and Jim, to name just a few. In fact, since women got a 2.5 minute head start over men, Katie ran with Emmy as her pacer!
The course has one notable hill in the second mile (which we climb to reach the start, so technically we do it twice), but is basically a fast course. Katie wanted to break 25 minutes. But since it was her first road race since last fall, I told her to just have fun and not worry about time - just finish strong! I don’t know what the splits were, neither Emmy or Katie kept track, but she finished in 25:20! Katie took second in, and Emmy won, her age group! They each collected chocolate bunnies for the AG awards :D
While I was more concerned with Katie’s race (I caught up to them at the top of the hill, roughly a mile and a half), I wound up running it by myself. I was going to take over pacing from Emmy, but they insisted that I keep going. They were doing just fine without me! So here are my splits:
6:31
7:08 13:39
6:46 20:25 (20:26 official)
6:49 pace
I was incredibly happy with that finish because I ran under 21 minutes. I squeezed in a solid bit of speed work as part of my recovery week! Afterwards, I tacked on an easy 6 miles when I got home. I ran ten miles on Sunday (1:19:13) to round out the low mileage week at 35.
This week, and next, will also be relatively low mileage (my Boston taper) - probably 40 miles. But I’ll end this week with either the Scarsdale 15K or the Long Island 10 Miler. Then off to Beantown!
here are some race photos.
happy easter everyone!
in addition to coming a week early this year, easter kicks off the season opener for the world champion new york yankees tonight! not that the powers that be planned it that way, but playing against the boston red sox doesn't get any better (unless that game is at yankee stadium, which, alas, it isn't). must watch t.v. tonight!
getting back to easter, after a quick morning run and trip to church, it's off to brooklyn and mom's house for easter dinner. need to run (and should run a lot) to get a head start on burning off the calories i plan to consume this afternoon :D
hope everyone has a great day :D
