Salvatore Giuliano

Nathan is a movie buff. He has a collection of films, including some pieces of the ever famous Criterion Collection. I have been watching a lot of the DVD's that I'd never seen before, and I recently finished Salvatore Giuliano. I have to say I didn't like it. It was described to me as the first of the reenactment documentary. The director filmed in all the real locations where the actual events took place. However, it wasn't informative. It appears to be billed as a biopic, but nothing about the events of Giuliano's life are really explained. While there were shots in this movie that were breathtaking, and I found myself in awe, it left me confused, knowing really very little more than I came in with about the title character. Then I utilized the advantage of owning the Criterion DVD and watched the making of documentaries. The purpose of the movie is explained in the special features. It turns out that this movie isn't meant to be a biopic at all. The director didn't film a single thing that he could not also back up in historical fact through photographs, articles, and first person accounts. The film is less about Giuliano and his fellow outlaws than it is about the corruption of the Italian government and police, along with their involvement those same outlaws and the italian mafia. Knowing and understanding didn't make me enjoy the film anymore, but it did help me see what everybody else sees in it.

Fiber Alert!

So everyone sees all these commercials lately for fiber products. You know the ones. Activia yogurt, Fiber One cereal, all of those. Well, as disgusting as it is to admit. I have a fiber problem. Most days I don't even come close to consuming the recommended amount of fiber. Since I do all the grocery shopping and cooking, that means my fiance also isn't getting his recommended amount of fiber. So, I've been looking into some of these fiber products and trying them out. Generally I hate anything that you have to drink. Drink powders leave things grainy, and generally taste like crap. However, my mom gave me the Special K protein/fiber drink powder (pink lemonade flavor), and it isn't terrible. They tell you to mix it in a 16 oz. bottle, but I use a 32 oz., and think I would hate it in only 16 oz. I've also started taking chewable fiber supplements every day. The jury's still out on whether any of this will work, but I figure it's worth a shot, right? Maybe some day soon I'll actually start counting my fiber grams every day. Ha!

No place to clown around.

When I was 12 years old I took a clown class. I've performed at circuses, birthday parties, parades...all the typical events. I think I'm a good clown.

When I lived in Lansing I participated in activities with a clown alley, but since moving to Grand Rapids I haven't done much. Well, a couple of weeks ago, it occurred to me that it wouldn't be too difficult to have some promo pictures taken of me in costume and have my fiance build me a website. I had let my memberships in the COAI (Clowns of America International) and WCA (World Clown Association) expire, so I figure that maybe I'll renew those this year after the wedding and follow through with this idea. Part of this process, of course, is to find a clown alley to belong to. So far I've found nothing. There is one alley up here, and it appears to be awfully small...I can't imagine that they do much, but I could be wrong. I'm tempted to just belong to the alley I was involved with in Lansing and just travel the state a bit. I don't know what to do. I don't know where I belong. I really miss clowning, but I can't seem to find much.

How do you find a clown organization to belong to? If I do join an alley, providing I find one, I am going to volunteer to build them a website...even if it's the most basic, just so that nobody else has this problem. The funny part is that I'm totally motivated to do this now, and it's kind of a let down to not have anywhere to go or any meetings to attend. The nearest event coming up is the Midwest Clown Association convention in Lansing...in OCTOBER. Bah. I'll figure something out.

A Passion Above

I saw an interview with someone whose name I can't remember. She was talking about the value of blogs, and how everyone should blog. I've decided I agree. I've made the attempt to blog many, many times, but could never seem to do it in a way that I considered "right".

This woman that I can't remember, she said to blog about what you have a passion for. Whatever it is. Okay. It's been strange for me to blog at all, because nobody reads my blogs, and I never thought that this would be all that interesting. So this is what I've decided.

From this point forward, this will be my main blog. After I have made a few posts, I will link this to my facebook page and other pages. I will write about whatever I feel like: books, movies, life. If one topic seems to stand out more than others, I will create a branch blog containing those items. Make sense? I think so.