Sunday, March 25, 2012

Torn Down in the Name of Convenience*

It’s probably about time for me to pull High Fidelity out of the old DVD book.  It’s been a while and, lately, everything seems to be pointing me in the direction of Cusack.  Other than his brief, yet stellar, performance in Sixteen Candles, there was no character quite like Rob Gordon to take the edge off my own life.

Okay, fine, there was that somewhat mysterious, too dorky to realize he was cool, man of every girl’s dreams character, Lloyd Dobler.  But everyone knows that the deeper brooding and overtly-melancholy fucked-up-ness of Rob is way closer to real life.  Lloyd is the one we all want; sweet, devoted, teaches us to drive a stick-shift, supports us when our dad goes to prison, goes with us to London. 

But every woman knows that boom-box thing would never happen in real life.  Instead, he’d probably end up hating London because the cloudy and gloomy days would bring out his inner emo and he’d fly back to the states to ruminate over his failed relationship for the next decade.  In the end Lloyd will just end up owning a flailing record store, borrowing money from us that he’ll never pay back, and cheating.  Sorry but it’s a true fact that the girls looking for Lloyd pretty much universally end up with Rob.

But I digress…back to Cusack.

Another thing pulling me into Cusack-dom was this book I read yesterday “Stupid and Contagious” by Caprice Crane.  The main male character all but tells us that he’s Rob Gordon.  So of course that character was all I could picture through the entire book.  But, you know, with blue eyes. 

The book was phenomenal, recommended by a friend as she said the writing style was so similar to mine she almost thought she was reading my work.  I knew what my friend meant within about 10 pages.  I will definitely read every book Crane has written.  Especially if she has more characters like Rob.

And I almost completely forgot about The Raven coming out in just four short weeks.  I’d heard about this last year but didn’t know how I felt about it.  If I were making the ‘Rob’s Top Five Authors of All Time List’, Poe would pretty much be in the number one and number two spot.  I was convinced they’d take the most well-known of Poe’s poems and hack it to bits (haha, yeah, slight pun intended).  But they’re not.  Hacking it I mean.  The poem is the inspiration for the movie and I seriously can’t wait.

The movie is about a detective who joins up with Poe to solve a whole bunch of murders that someone is perpetuating based on his writing.  Not that I support serial killers or anything but seriously, how cool is that concept?  Only thing better than having a stalker when you write like Poe does is to have someone respect your work so much that they start living it.  That’s hardcore.  I may break my no theater and no horror (ish) rules for this one. 

Oh yeah, Cusack plays Poe.  Not the serial killer (or so we think, who knows right?).  Not a hitman, like some other characters he’s already played.  But he still gets to be all dark and broody.  Oh Cusack, it’s like you were born for this role.

Anyway, seems the world is pushing me to do some kind of list, top five or something, so I’m doing this Sunday Stealing meme.  While I wait for my book’s copyright registration to come through I may just have to have a Cusack movie marathon later this week because I'm clearly running out of interesting blog posts... 

1. Which TV character do you think you are most like?
Other than the baby thing Christina Applegate’s character on “Up All Night” springs to mind.  Otherwise I’ll go with Miranda.  Also sans baby.

2. What time do you go to bed?
At exactly 11:07 every night.  If I stay up until 11:08 I know the world will cave in and the locusts will come.

3. What was the last meal you made from scratch?
AH HAHAHAHAHA!!!!  Oh wait, you’re serious about that question?  Does throw-everything-into-a-crockpot-and-pray count as “from scratch”?

4. What is your favorite type of music?
Obviously I should be saying something about outer limit progressive hipster shit that no one has ever heard of (including the hipsters, seriously) but I don’t drink enough Starbucks to be that cool.  Plus I don’t have the effort to keep up my work out routine enough to get into black skinny jeans.  So I’ll just go with pop.  Just like Rob, who was a progressive hipster.  Maybe.  Makes me feel like I'm in good company or something.

“What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”
- Rob Gordon

5. In what position do you sleep?
I’ll go with lying down like most of the other humans I know.

6. What is your first memory?
I forget.

7. What is your least favorite smell?
Top 5 all-time least favorite smells: skunk, puke, horse poop, wet dog, and cat pee.

8. Its your round at the pub and your friends asked you to surprise them. What drink would you buy and why?
Beer.  Because I’m cheap and boring.  And we’re in a pub for god sake.  What do you want, a fucking mojito?

9. What was the last thing you read/watched that made you cry?
America’s Next Top Model.  Every time they send a girl home for being beautiful and skinny but just not "modely" enough I feel so sad for her…

10. They say that you learn something new every day. What was the last thing you have learned?
That my husband had no idea how they changed from ice to parquet and back to ice at The Garden.

11. Which Literary love interests would you snog, marry and avoid.
Seriously no opinion on this, never even thought about it before.  But now I will.  And I'll get back to you.  Maybe.

12. What is your oldest memory?
See #6

13. Paperback, Hardback or Kindle? Which of these is your favorite reading format and why?
Books.  Real ones.  I can’t bring myself to use a tablet.  I even downloaded Kindle to my phone and I’ve made it through about 10 pages of a book I’m actually enjoying.  I also added it to my library queue.  There is something Zen and gratifying to flip actual pages even if its heavier to carry.  Technology is not always the better choice for me.

14. If you could bring back any canceled TV series for another run what would you pick and why?
“Family Ties”, I think there was just so much more they could have done with Skippy.

Sunday Stealing provided the questions.  As a side note I deleted #15 because it was word for word the same question as #13.

A meme really is an excellent choice for those “feeling basic”. 

*“Pointes” to you if you got the reference in the title.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I can't wait to see Cusack as Poe. I think that he is one of the best actors around.

Alice said...

See, it is a tough call between Rob Gordon and Martin Blank. They are both awesome. (The Hornby books "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy" are even funnier than the movies.) And how can you never have thought of your literary crushes before? Definitely get back to that.

Suldog said...

Good meme-ing on your part. I like how you slip back and forth between flip answers and ones you (probably) really mean. As for the TV show that should come back for another run, I'll take "Boomtown", with Rex Trailer.

(That's totally lost on anyone outside of Massachusetts, and you're probably too young. Oh, well.)

Anonymous said...

Okay, you got me. I've seen High Fidelity five times (though it's been a while) and I'm almost certain that that's where your title comes from. But... Aaahh! I can't remember the line! Epic fail.

I could Google it, but that's cheating. And I could ask my wife (who is a HUGE Cusack fan) ... but again, that would be cheating. I did tell her about this post though, emphasizing the "Sorry but it’s a true fact that the girls looking for Lloyd pretty much universally end up with Rob." statement. She agreed 100% You guys would get along so well, I swear.

Anyway... I enjoyed your meme answers. I am also anti-Kindle (I'll hold out as long as possible) and I can't cook for shit. Not sure what TV characters I resemble, or what literary love interests I'd snog/marry/etc... I guess i need to read more!

Judi FitzPatrick said...

Sadly, Jim, I remember!

I was lost in this post in the beginning and have no idea about the title reference.

I do love your meme answers. I agree on #11, never gave that any thought. I'll get back to you, too, maybe, someday.

Love, Mum

Jenn Flynn-Shon said...

A la Maison - Yes, and one of the reasons is because he flys so far under the publicity radar that I'm forced to respect him as a person that much more.

Alice - You're probably right about needing a literary crush but I pretty much fall in love with all of them until I'm done reading the book then its on to the next...I'm fickle with my lit-loves!

Yeah Jim, sorry but that one is right over my head...but apparently my mom knows which means I probably should know...Google here I come!

A good guess Chris but its Grosse Pointe Blank, another classic Cusack snark-fest (with Jeremy Piven - double score!). The Mrs is prob a fan of that one too if she has a thing for him, the KFC line during the reunion scene is about as good as it gets. I'd love to meet her one of these days! Us scrappy northeastern gals have to stick together :-)

Glad I'm not the only one who'd never thought about lit crushes, Mum...now musicians, athletes, movie stars...that's an entirely different story! (fyi, most of the post is about an actor, John Cusack, & references to his movies. Just one of those generation gap things I guess :-)

Almost Precious said...

Great questions and answers. I agree with you on #11, though I'm in love with the leading men in my own stories it's because I created them . . . and there is usually a reality behind my creation. ;)

Also concur on #13. I love the feel of a book in my hands and what's a bookshelf without well read books in it ? You've also mentioned some books that now have piqued my interest, I've placed them on my wish list at Amazon.com.

This is my 3rd attempt to post as I couldn't get the catchpa right . . . both times couldn't tell if it was an "rn" or an "nn" or maybe an "m" ??? Hate those things!!! If I don't get it this time, I'm giving up.