Out of Focus

SPEEDY with Alloy: If only it was outside like Chaplin's Mutuals

Last Friday night, I had the extreme pleasure of going to Celebrate Brooklyn! to see Carl Davis conduct the 16-piece orchestra The Knights as they played his new original scores to three fantastic Charlie Chaplin shorts from his post-Keystone, Mutual Film days: The Immigrant, The Rink and The Adventurer. It was a truly fantastic evening -- a beautiful and eminently comfortable summer night, a not too overcrowded Prospect Park Bandshell, and three really fun and often hysterical silent films accompanied by some really great music. As I've mentioned frequently, I love watching silent films with live accompaniment. It brings an element to the experience -- whether the accompaniment is a simple single piano or a full orchestra -- that somehow is utterly different than even hearing the same score via recorded methods.I hadn't watched any silent comedies in a while, though, and seeing Chaplin in his early two-reeler glory presented a tremendous reminder of how great these stars of silent comedy truly were, not simply as performers and comedians, but as stuntmen. In The Rink, in particular, Chaplin performs these multiple stumbling moments on roller skates that look funny, especially in their slightly sped-up manner, but upon reflection simply make me say, "How the hell did he do that? How is he that strong?"

I don't think I had actually ever seen any of those Chaplin films even though The Immigrant and The Rink are two of his most famous from his pre-United Artists days. One silent film I have seen many times -- and mentioned repeatedly -- is Speedy, the genius 1928 comedy starring Harold Lloyd. I love this film. I can watch it and rewatch it. Much of it was shot on location in New York. It features the original House That Ruth Built as well as The Babe himself. It has a great subway sequence showing what dating was like in the early 1920s when Coney Island was a destination spot. It has one of my all-time favorite movie chase scenes which includes a shot of a horse-drawn trolley car driving through Washington Square Park, under the arch and around the fountain because at the time, that was a through-road.

Lloyd always gets third billing (if any) when mentioned along with Chaplin and Buster Keaton, but he certainly deserves to always be included in the same breath. He played a very different character from either Chaplin's mischievous Little Tramp or Keaton's wide-eyed, somewhat more oblivious, or rather casual to the situation around him, characters. There's something about Lloyd's physical comedy that always feels more athletic even if simultaneously a little less elegant. In comedy terms, he's Gene Kelly to Chaplin's Fred Astaire. And Speedy -- a lovely little story about a boy wanting a girl and needing to impress her father by saving his trolley route from being taken over by the big bad railroads (read: coming subway system) -- is one of his best.

Why am I talking Speedy right now? Because even though I've seen it several times -- in theaters and on my own DVD set; with live accompaniment and without -- I'm sad that I can't make it to BAM tonight as they'll be showing the film with the how-does-that-small-group-of-three-guys-make-such-a-big-sound-Alloy Orchestra. I've seen Alloy perform several of their scores with other films, but I don't believe I've ever seen them do Speedy, and that's just a shame. They're really great, and if I didn't have a play ticket tonight, I would certainly be at BAM. If you've never seen Speedy or never seen it with live music, I whole-heartedly encourage you to go and experience a whole different kind of movie magic than that to which we've now become accustomed -- for better or worse.

The People I See -- Volume II: Cat stroller

Today's edition: The Woman with a Cat in a stroller at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket

I beat the rain this morning to the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket. At just after 10 AM, the place was pretty crowded. There were long lines at the Ronnybrook Dairy Farm and Blue Moon Fish booths -- the fish one had me waiting about 10 minutes!

About half-way through the fish line, I ran into a little bit of stroller gridlock, but it was understandable because one stroller didn't have a baby in it. Instead, its inhabitant was making all the passing babies stare. It was a cat. A big cat. A big fat cat. Maybe not a 44 pound cat, but pretty big nonetheless. And this wasn't any ordinary bucket-seat stroller. This thing was first class: fully covered part-mesh enclosure, reclinable so this cat could splay out flat.

The owner was an older woman, my guess is mid-to-late 50s. She wasn't actually in the fish line. She wasn't actually in any line. She and her stroller were essentially just standing in the middle of what is otherwise supposed to be free-flowing traffic. Who knows why? Maybe she was waiting for someone. Maybe she was looking around deciding where to go. But she was there when I got into line and she was there when I left the line. And her cat looked comfortable as hell.

The People I See -- Volume I: Spandex and CB

And now to institute a new feature here on Out of Focus: "The People I see." Even the title is part of my attempt to say more with less, as a longer description could be, "The people I see who make my jaw drop, say to myself, 'What the hell?' and find me spending more than an idle second imagining the life and the world (or worldS) they inhabit." Pretty self-explanatory, no?

Today's edition: "Spandex and CB at Starbucks"

It is 2008, right? I'm not sure that I ever remember seeing people walk around with CB radio units on shoulder straps, but especially in 2008? I've watched enough Ice Road Truckers (which means about two minutes) to know they're still in use, and that's not surprising. Then of course there are the police, etc. I'm sure they're used a lot in places without cell service, but even during my Sprint Wireless days, Sheridan Square never seemed like such a dead spot. And if you're walking around with a CB radio slung over your shoulder, doesn't that mean someone else is doing the same, or sitting somewhere or something. I don't know ... maybe I'm overthinking ... but that was the last post.

Anyway, I'm sitting here typing when a guy sits down at a table near mine. He's wearing a fitted workout sleeveless shirt, skin tight, as well as a pair of spandex shorts that are way too short. If not for the fanny pack placed run under his navel as opposed to his fanny, the circumcised or not question would be answered. He would take smoke breaks by going outside but would leave the pack on the table along with a poster packing tube -- empty/filled? no idea. The cigarettes were an Asian brand I assume since the writing was either Japanese or Chinese. He was not Asian. Important? Probably not. Maybe. Who knows? He sat and drank a Venti something -- with his sunglasses on. He read nothing. He wrote nothing. He just sat. And he had this CB radio ... with a shoulder strap. When he went outside for his smoke breaks, he carried it with him. When he returned, he set the whole thing down on the table. I never heard it squak, but of course, I have my iPod on. I never saw him speak into it either though. He didn't come with anyone and didn't lleave with anyone, nor did he meet anybody here. Just killing time, I suppose.

Too Much Thinking

I think. A lot. Too much. I don't mind how much I opine, but the thinking ... the thinking doesn't stop. And the non-stop thinking sometimes, but not always, doesn't lead to realization. It just leads to more and more thinking. I think about believing and believe in what I'm thinking, but somewhere along the way, many things get missed. Feeling. Experience. Connection.

I spent last weekend at a retreat where all I did was try to stop thinking. I went to the Catskills, to a place in Haines Falls, NY (near Hunter Mountain). I didn't bring my computer, and I received virtually no cell service. I brought my iPod and reading material, but I vowed to utilize both only on the bus rides there and back. I wanted and needed to spend some time with myself. That's different from spending time alone. I already spend a lot of time alone. I'll go through waves of time where even when I go into my office, I won't necessarily interact with that many people.

But as I wrote (hell, how did it get to be) two weeks ago, I'm good at distracting myself. I don't only distract myself from things I should do, but I somehow to manage to distract myself from things I actually want to do. It makes no rational sense since, as part of my thinking and overthinking, I'm always looking for the "why" and the logic and the rationality. But instead, I've created blocks, and many of the blocks have been ... well ... calling them counterproductive or even detrimental would be understatements. And the thing I probably distract myself from the most isn't a thing, but rather, it's just me.