Marathon Man

As my friends know, I am a lifelong Star Wars fan. Last September, with a golden opportunity to make a charming first impression in a class, I answered an ice-breaker activity, with steely resolve and no hint of hesitation, "My name is Francis, and my favorite movie is The Empire Strikes Back". I should have known that any hope of making friends was doomed.

Well, in December, I found myself with a sudden urge to undertake a Star Wars marathon, going from Episode I, The Phantom Menace, straight through to Episode VI, Return of the Jedi. Needless to say, I never even started because finals got in the way. One can only wonder what the experience would have been like (though I did get a taste in 1997 when I saw all three Special Edition films in a theater, back-to-back-to-back).

So, I'm checking out some websites that I frequent, and what do I find but this. Looks like someone beat me to the punch, on no less of a day than New Years Eve. I've come to the conclusion that I will indeed attempt this feat at some point, hopefully with good versions of all six films, fully aware that the endeavor will surely be better in theory than in practice. But, what's a fan to do? If anything, it will be an attempt to either finally appreciate the prequel trilogy or to renounce it forever within the context of the Star Wars pantheon.

Other marathons I've considered recently include Lord of the Rings Extended Edition and The Rocky Quadrilogy (I refuse to watch Rocky V again and cease to accept it as a member of the Rocky saga. Don't even get me started on the upcoming Rocky VI).

God Bless America!

Next month, the Olympic Games commence in Torino, Italy, and a spirit of competition, passion, and cameraderie will once again capture the hearts of the twenty or so Americans who pay attention to the events. I, for one, generally get more excited about the Summer Games than the Winter Games. I always look forward to swimming, track and field, and gymnastics. But, this year, I've found a reason to cheer on the Red, White, and Blue in Torino. And her name is Tanith Belbin. (I'll give you a hint, she's the one in the middle.)



On February 17th, ice dancing compulsories begin, and the duo of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto will be skating for the US of A. Why is that so special? Well, for one, the duo had to sit out the Salt Lake Games because Olympic rules, which differ from national rules stating that only one member need citizenship) require that both members of a duo must be citizens of the country they are representing. At the time, Agosto was from the US, BUT Belbin still held Canadian citizenship since she was born in Ontario (what do they put in the water in Canada?!). So, after a nailbiting citizenship process that finally came to a conclusion on December 31th, the pair are skating at nationals as a fully sworn-in duo. USA! USA! USA! Oh, whatever.

For those who don't know, ice dancing is a form of figure skating that focuses less on triple axles and triple toe loops and more on, you guessed it, paired dancing. It's a lot of fun to watch, and I remember first seeing it in the 1994 Lillehammer Games and rooting for the eventual Gold medalists, Oksana Grischuk and Evgeny Platov of Russia. Check it out, it's lively and entertaining.

Six Degrees of ... "Can't Hardly Wait"???

Bear with me for a moment. If you have not seen "Can't Hardly Wait", you are probably not that interested in a movie about an end-of-the-year high school party where our protagonist, Preston Myers, builds up the courage after four years to express his true feelings to Jennifer Love Hewitt. I won't try to convince you that it's a quality film (that's debatable), but what you may not realize is that that movie contained so many actors and actresses that went on to bigger and better things, a surprising achievement for a film that probably seemed like little more than a popcorn flick to most. The list is fairly, and surprisingly, distinguished:

Jennifer Love Hewitt - you know who she is, so we'll move on.
Ethan Embry - played one of the band members in "That Thing You Do", and was in "Freakylinks", and played one of the jerk co-workers of John Cho in "Harold and Kumar"
Peter Facinelli - starred in the failed show "Fastlane" with Bill Bellamy, but then hit the jackpot by marrying Jenny Garth, yes Kelly Taylor of "Beverly Hills, 90210"
Erik Palladino - looks kinda like a puffier Tony Danza, he went on to join the cast of "ER", but then again who hasn't?
Seth Green - hello, Scott Evil and then the voice of Chris Griffin on "Family Guy"? The Griffins rule.
Jenna Elfman - Dharma and Greg, but she may have had that show before the movie. She has a new show coming out
Charlie Korsmo - The nerd in the film who rocked out to "Paradise City" also played the son in "Hook" and the kid from "Dick Tracy"
Lauren Ambrose - played the headache daughter Claire in the HBO series, Six Feet Under
Freddy Rodriguez - played Federico, the assistant and family friend of the Fishers, alson in Six Feet Under
Eric Balfour - had a bit role in Six Feet Under, played Milo, one of the whizzes in "24", was in the remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"
Jaime Pressly - hot chick from Poison Ivy 2 or 3, got Punk'd really badly and cried when accused of owning a sweatshop, and is now on "My Name is Earl" as Jason Lee's white-trash ex-wife.
Sean Patrick Thomas - co-starred in "Save The Last Dance" with Julia Stiles, teaching her how to dance when in reality, he admitted he couldn't dance worth shit while Julia had to fake having two left feet
Donald Faison - drummer of the band, whom you may remember as Murray in "Clueless", and whom you DEFINITELY know as Turk from the fantastic show "Scrubs", which is now back for its fifth season, Tuesdays on NBC
Breckin Meyer - singer of the band, he played the stoner dude in "Clueless" and the white b-boy in "Go" and had a short-lived tv show about being a sportscaster (instead, they should have just brought back "Sports Night")
Tamala Jones - two words: Booty Call
Jennifer Lyons - not much, but she did play the oft-mentioned Pam Macy in "That 70's Show"
Liz Stauber - she played Mark Wahlberg's wife in "Three Kings", had parts in "Almost Famous" and "The Village"
Clea DuVall - been in a bunch of movies, notably "The Faculty", "Identity", and "21 Grams"
Jerry O'Connell - Verne from "Stand By Me", brother of the former "Bachelor", Cush from "Jerry Maguire", and apparently the new Mr. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. How did that happen?
Melissa Joan Hart - Sabrina the Teenage Witch had a bit part in the flick
Nicole Bilderback - the bitchy Korean cheerleader in "Bring It On", I'm guessing she was adopted because I don't think she's married or anything
Selma Blair - "Legally Blonde", "Cruel Intentions", used to date Jason Schwartzmann from "Rushmore"
Sara Rue - I hate her, she used to be on "Popular", but now she can be found on "Celebrity Poker Showdown"
Jason Segel - the eternally badass Nick Andopolis from "Freaks and Geeks"
Channon Roe - not sure if this counts, but he had a small role in "Boogie Nights" where he paid Dirk Diggler to rub one out in a pickup truck.

Screw Kevin Bacon, this movie is the ultimate branching point for all things Hollywood. Scary, isn't it? Not about the movie, but rather the fact that I've taken the time to think about this. Another cool thing to do is to see how actors and actresses are connected such that their parts often are related. Like if you watch two tv shows created by the same guy, you can notice the same people appearing on both, probably because they've become friends. For instance, some of the stars of "Spin City" have appeared in bit parts on "Scrubs". The common denominator? Creator Bill Lawrence. It's like how Clint Howard is always in his brother, Ron Howard's, films. Or, one of the female ballplayers in "A League of Their Own" ended up playing Bill Paxton's wife in "Apollo 13". Tom Hanks was in both of those films. I think I have too much time on my hands.

Music To My Ears

Living in the Bay Area for nine years, I went to my fair share of shows. In fact, I probably only survived 2001 because of the 20+ concerts, both big (U2 at the Anaheim Pond) and small (Dealership at the Stork Club), that I went to that year. That's when I really found music. Fast forward four years, and I find myself living in one of the biggest pitstops for any traveling act, New York City. And yet, in my first four months there, I saw a total of zero shows. Amazing bands came and went, and I didn't even try. Money, night classes, and indecision marred any attempts to revel in the vast musical landscape of New York.

My goal from here on out? See more shows. Check out new artists. Go to Todd P events. But first things first. Time to revisit some old friends on the touring circuit. Here are 3 acts that I'm going to see in the next few months, and I'm very very excited.

1. Jenny Lewis: The lead singer of Rilo Kiley, Lewis has recorded a solo album of beautiful, sad songs. Click on the links to hear either the band's music via their website or her solo songs on myspace.com. And for another track off her upcoming album, go here. She's a little bit country, she's a little bit rock. Oh, if you've ever seen the movie Troop Beverly Hills, she played Shelly Long's daughter Hannah. Indie-rock queen and child actress, all rolled up in one.

2. Stars: Members of a Canadian supergroup, Broken Social Scene, Stars blends lush sounds with wondrous melodies, delivered harmoniously by the male-female duo of Torq Campbell and Amy Millan, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes as call-and-response, but always beautifully. This is heartfelt music, probably what emo was intended to sound like, but instead we get whining from Dashboard.

3. The New Pornographers: Another Canadian supergroup (God Bless Canada for giving us The Arcade Fire, Elisha Cuthbert, Kristin Kreuk, and Avril Lavigne), the Pornographers got together in 2001 and cut an album for fun that ended up turning them into cult heroes. Two more albums later, and they're coming back to New York to tour with Belle and Sebastian. I had many chances to see them last year, and I blew it everytime. So, I'm not gonna screw this one up. Hopefully, all of the members will be there, especially Neko Case, one of several vocalists in the group, whose country-tinged voice is unmistakably recognizable and absolutely amazing. Ultimate creators of the pop sound, and yet they're so much more. Check out "Mass Romantic", their classic debut, especially the track "Letter From an Occupant". Hell, I'll email you the track if you ask.