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| 25 November 2007 |
| Fire Walk With Petey |
For my recent birthday, my sis and bro-in-law sent me that new-fangled "deluxe gold box" DVD edition of Twin Peaks, which contains everything Twin Peaks-related that ever aired on TV - the long-unreleased pilot episode, and both seasons, and a bunch of extras and whatnot. The prequel movie, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is not in the box, but I already have that on DVD anyway.
The main reason I really wanted this collection was the chance to see the two-hour pilot again, which I hadn't seen since it originally aired in April of 1990 - nearly 18 years ago now. Watching it, I was amazed all over again that David Lynch managed to get this thing on primetime TV, before cable was as big as it is now, before the Internet. And not only did Lynch get this thing on the air, it was HUGELY POPULAR, too.
For a movie I hadn't seen in 18 years, I was surprised at how much of it I remembered. It is just as great now as it was then. Definitely some of my favorite David Lynch work ever.
After watching the pilot I switched over to the extras disc. One of the features on it is an "interactive map" to where some of the locations that were used in the pilot are. Only the pilot was actually shot in Washington state, the series was all done in LA on sound stages.
Watching the pilot made me miss living in Snoqualmie, where some of the locations are. In fact, I lived just a hop, skip, and a jump away from many of those iconic locations for over 3.5 years, and I'd never visited some of them. Of course, I never had a DVD that pretty much gave out street addresses for these locations before, either.
One of the best things about Twin Peaks is the way it evokes a sense of place. You believe you are out there, in the boonies, and that there are scary beasties waiting for you in the woods. When we moved to Snoqualmie in January of '02, it still had that "place-ness" about it, and you can still find it now, depending on where you go. But it is getting built up out there very fast. I left there for my pie-in-the-sky Bachelor Pad In The High Rise In The Big City existence two years ago now, and it's amazing how different Snoqualmie is just since then. It's kinda depressing when I think of it.
So I really wanted to get back out there and poke around. I have daydreams of moving back, even though I know I won't; no point in chasing old ghosts around, no matter how happy those years seemed to have been to me now. But it's just a 40 minute drive out there from Seattle - and I had a whole day open today! I'd just take Petey the dachshund out with me and we'd make an EVENT out of it!
After copying down the addresses of some of the locations I'd never seen in person from the new DVD and quickly MapQuesting them, Petey and I headed out on the highway, looking for adventure. We got off I-90 at exit 31, the foot of which now has a newly-installed roundabout (we found another one of these later in Fall City), and we were in North Bend.
The Cafe
I hadn't planned to go to this location, since I'd been to it before many times. I've even eaten there, and tried the famous cherry pie (which, frankly, doesn't hold a candle to my own recipe). But I figured we were RIGHT there, and I had camera in hand, what the hell. So here is Twede's cafe, which doubles as the RR Cafe in the series.
Petey stares forlornly out the window at Twede's. He was hoping for pie, no such luck. Yes, the poor dude is going bald.
The Title Sequence View
Seen in a million places from calendars, VHS covers, CD soundtracks, here is the spot that had the iconic "Welcome To Twin Peaks" sign that Agent Cooper drives past on his way to see Sherriff Truman. This one was tricky to find, as you literally just pull off the road to see it. I guessed this was the right turnoff, and when I compared my photo to the original (seen here at Wikipedia), I realize that I guessed right. Hasn't changed very much in 18 years.
Ronette's Bridge
Not very far up the road from the last photo. This is the bridge that Ronette Pulaski staggers across all bloodied and catatonic in the pilot. She had been there when Laura Palmer was murdered, and had been assaulted herself. It looks like railroad tracks in the show, but it's actually a pedestrian footbridge over the Snoqualmie River.
Petey doesn't look too afraid of BOB.
Petey seems to be looking for clues to solve the case. Maybe he thinks Agent Cooper is generous with the treats.
The Smokestack
Another image from the title sequence. In the show, the second shot you see in the credits is a pair of smokestacks - 18 years later, only one remains, and apparently most of the other buildings around it are now gone. This was part of an old Wayerhauser pulp mill. It was the only location I went to today that felt a little sketchy to be there - there were all these NO TRESSPASSING signs everywhere. Right across the street from this was:
Sheriff Truman's Office
Seeing these locations in real life made me appreciate more how locations are found in the real world, then edited together to make you believe in a fictional place. I think location scouting seems like a fun thing to get to do.
It appears Pete is hoping that Sheriff Truman will come out and donate something from the typical giant spread of doughnuts. Pete is nothing if not an optimist.
The Roadhouse
This is in Fall City, right on 202. When I saw it again, I realized that Beta Girl and I had come here in the past to have brunch or something. Currently the place is being gutted, I dunno what it will be when it re-opens.
And that's all she wrote for today. We drove past some of the other spots that I already had visited, like Snoqualmie Falls and the Salish Lodge (which doubles as the Great Northern Hotel), but that place was MOBBED with visitors so I didn't feel like stopping. We also drove past the rows of old train cars where the ones they used as the location for Laura Palmer's murder still sit. It's hard to say which of the many old train cars they might have used - and there are three that are covered with tarps that I think would be the most likely suspects.
Anyway. This was fun to do, and it was a nice excuse to get back out to my old stomping grounds and see how it's changing. Now I've got to get into Season 2 of the show, which apparently took a nosedive quality-wise until the very end, when it rebounded. I haven't seen a lot of those episodes, so we shall see.
"I've got good news! That gum you like is coming back in style!"
-MAN FROM ANOTHER PLACE |
| 9:08 PM |
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| 16 November 2007 |
| In Defense Of Two-Dee |
So tomorrow that new Beowulf movie comes out. I am interested in it because I've never actually read the book, and it seems like a nice Cliffs Notes way of getting the jist of the story.
Robert Zemeckis made this flick, and he's made lots of flicks I really love in the past (Back To The Future, Contact, Cast Away) and so that puts another little check in the movie's "plus" column before I have even seen it.
Like his The Polar Express (which I have not made it through - didn't dig what I saw of it), he's doing the "film real actors, then completely replace them with near-photorealistic CGI versions" thing. I don't mind this approach, it can be done wonderfully (see: Gollum). Apparently, they've gotten way better at this since The Polar Express (whose creepy moving mannequins are part of what turns me off about the movie). All is well and good.
Now, here's the thing: they also made Beowulf using this new-fangled "amazo-3D" technology - that apparently "REALLY IMMERSES YOU" in the movie and it's going to "COMPLETELY CHANGE EVERYTHING" and blah, blah, blah. I've seen quotes from James Cameron saying that he'll never do any film ever again WITHOUT using this 3-D process.
I guess I don't mind if that's what he wants to do. It's his art. But if he doesn't also release "2D-non-AMAZO" versions, I won't be seeing the movies. Because no matter how GREAT the new TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH - the 3D effects will never, ever work for me. I have a vision defect that is impossible to correct. Even though my brain has adapted to this problem quite well (I've had it my whole life, and I don't wear glasses), one thing is certain - I don't have, and will never have, stereo 3-D vision like those with normal vision do. My brain figured out another way to show me depth perception, but it is imperfect (side note: no wonder I had so much trouble judging the ball playing in the outfield in Little League).
Now, Beowulf is going to be shown in non-3D movie houses, of that I am certain. I just hope there aren't going to be lots of obvious "WOW, SOMETHING COMING RIGHT AT THE CAMERA!" shots in it. That will be annoying. |
| 11:31 AM |
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| 10 November 2007 |
| Back To The MP's |
The other day I recommended Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way for a friend to check out, which lead me to digging out my own copy for a re-read. If you're a creative type, and you're looking for ways around a block, or ways to reinvigorate your work, or just some sound advice, this book might be for you. I've read it through a few times, though I have to admit I haven't necessarily followed the "12-week course" framework it outlines to the letter. But even the author mentions in an early chapter that this is alright - the book is there to be used creatively, in whatever way you see fit.
Those who know the book know it's signature daily task - the "Morning Pages." When the subject comes up among other Artist's Way devotees, there's always a knowing smile, and usually a rueful shake of the head. The Morning Pages are a key component to author Cameron's route to freeing your inner creative, regardless of whether you're a painter, a singer, a dancer, a filmmaker - or whether you always wanted to be one of these things. Three pages of longhand writing in a journal, every morning, first thing, without fail. No cheating by using a computer - LONGHAND. With a pen or pencil. Like you were back in school.
It's a surprisingly tough discipline. I was thinking about how often (or how not often, actually) I write longhand anymore. Almost never - recent experiences include writing checks, filling out intake forms at the doctor's office, little scribbled diagrams to myself when I'm trying to figure out a problem at the day job. I see why Cameron wants us to do our Morning Pages in this way. She calls it "building a hand-made life." That phrase has some resonance for me right now.
So, I started up on the Morning Pages again this morning. I hope to keep it going for a good while to come. |
| 9:59 AM |
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| 08 November 2007 |
| Tongue-Tied with Co de Kloet |
Well, that was weird (in a great way). I just got done talking on the phone to Co de Kloet for his radio program on Radio 6 in Hilversum, The Netherlands. We were talking all about the new Half Zaftig releases that Co has been playing incessantly on his show for the last couple of weeks - and the "weirdness" was that I was so shocked to be doing it! I've never done a live radio interview before, and I was nervous because I desperately didn't want to be boring. Co was fabulous and professional and wonderfully complimentary, and my normal response in such situations is to flush, get tongue-tied, and be all like kickin' at the dirt with my sneakers. Which would make for an absolutely horrific radio interview, of course.
But that didn't happen, because Co kept everything on point, and steered me back to the main topic whenever it was my intent to go off on some long tangent. He played a bunch of the music, and it was also strange to listen to my songs over the phone from THE NETHERLANDS(!), while also talking to a very friendly Marc, the producer for Radio 6 ("Don't hang up!"). Anyway, that was great. Thanks to Co and Marc at Radio 6, and thanks to PaulB for being the "creative catalyst" that made it happen.
AND, Co gave permission to post the interview as an MP3, so to the large majority of you guys that I'm sure weren't able to hear it live, HERE IT IS.
Don't make fun of the nervous guy on the phone. Hey! Quit it! |
| 9:53 AM |
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| 06 November 2007 |
| Nosoalmo, Ho! |
| Somehow it's November already. November is a big month for the online phenomenon of "National [Do Some Activity] Month" contests. The idea being that creative work is often best motivated by a hard deadline, so set aside a month for people to publicly declare they are going to finish some sort of work. For example, it's National "Write A Novel" Month. And it's "National Post Every Day In Your Blog" month. I don't really have the desire to write a novel (screenwriting is a much more attractive discipline to me, because you can dispense with all the purple prose), and since I didn't know about the Blog one until a few days into November, it's too late for me to do that. But, I am a participant in National Solo Album Month. Basically I have the month of November to write and record a solo album all by myself. It has to be at least a little over 29 minutes and change (a number that comes from the length of the debut album by the Ramones, judged to be the shortest "great" album ever made). I've been feeling the itch to write lately, and like a lot of creative people, I can have a hard time getting myself to get started. I'm using this public declaration as incentive. I'll post little updates here as I try to get to 30 minutes of music before the end of the month. On a completely unrelated note, I'll be speaking live on the radio Thursday morning with "creative catalyst" Co de Kloet about all things Half Zaftig. Co has been playing us like crazy on his program on Dutch Radio 6, a development that we've been most thrilled by. I'm supposed to be on the show between 1700 and 1800 Dutch time, which works out to 8 and 9 AM Pacific, 11 and 12 PM Eastern time. You can CLICK THIS LINK to listen to the interview Thursday. |
| 3:53 PM |
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