In which the medical system here does not cause me headaches

So I've been getting these headaches (I've probably told you about them) that I was calling "Half-Migraines" because they were kind of half the pain of a regular migraine only twice the duration (thus essentially working out to be the full amount of pain once you carry the ones).

Except they're not migraines.

The neurologist tells me that they're caused by some kind of problem with my spine alignment/muscle tension/stress (which is all contained neatly in one single German word which I have forgotten now).  Anyway rather than just writing me a prescription for pain relievers and sending me on my way, I got a prescription for pain relievers AND a prescription for a series of massages and a special class to strengthen my back and improve my posture.  Massages and posture class that my insurance will completely pay for.

Granted, I pay for my own insurance as a freelancer, so it's still kind of me paying for these things.  But it's me paying for massages that the system says that I should get to have without feeling like I'm splurging on myself.

Between this and the fact that my doctor is just the nicest lady possible (references available upon request), I'm feeling pretty good about the health care here today.  Of course, that nice lady also said it's been too long (as in not ever since I've lived in Vienna) since I've had regular blood word done, and that I should probably do that as part of a general physical.  So unless there's a new way of drawing blood without using any needles, I might be changing my tune sometime next week.

In which tragedy strikes the Oscars

And no, I'm not just talking about James Franco's "hosting".

My friend S.B. couldn't go watch the Oscar broadcast with me at three in the morning.  It seems that she couldn't get the morning off of work Monday (we wouldn't be finished until about 5:30, remember).  Everyone else I asked had similar commitments Monday morning that they couldn't reschedule for such a Crazy Project.

Now, I didn't mind watching by myself.  But it's a little hard to get out of the house after midnight (in below freezing temperatures) all by yourself.  So my motivation kind of fizzled.

And I stayed home.  And slept through the Oscars.

I didn’t feel too good about it.  But I’m feeling better about it now that the reviews of the show are coming in.  I wasn’t sure exactly what they were going for picking Hathaway and Franco in the first place, but it seems like I sure didn’t miss much.

I still did pretty good on my picks, anyway.  I got 15 out of the 24 right, which is exactly the same score as Roger Ebert.  And that’s a man who knows movies.

But I’m promising myself, that I’ll plan for more back-up for next year.  So book someone good for next year, Academy.  ‘Cause I’ll be watching.

In which I watch other people network socially

Still with me on That Crazy Project?  Well, here comes some Social Network for you.

I liked this movie.  A lot.  Which is funny given how much I do not like facebook (or maybe it makes perfect sense?).

I think they had me from the very first scene.  But didn’t they have everyone?  That’s an excellent trick to hook audiences: make the dialog of your opening scene so lightning fast that they literally have to scoot forward in their seats to try to catch every word.  Very clever Mr. Sorkin.

But then even with that Paying Very Close Attention diligence that I was attempting, I still didn’t get at first that there was some back and forth with flashbacks.  But once I got it, I liked that very much.  I was surprised that the story focused on those lawsuits; I guess I thought the story would be a little broader.  But there’s a lot in this film as it is, and it felt kind of jam-packed, so I’m glad they focused it. 

Mark Zuckerberg sure comes across like a… well, like a complete and total jerk in this thing.  Wow.  If this film is even the tiniest, tiniest little bit true… Then he is not someone I want to know.  But what a great character for a film.

Will it win?  My first instinct when I saw it was: No.  I didn’t think it was the best picture I’d seen.  But the more I read things about the film, the more I think the voters may just give it the award.  I think I’d rather see the King’s Speech get it though.  What about David Fincher?  Well, maybe.  I'd be okay with that.  But my gut (and the stuff I'm reading) tells me that it will probably be Tom Hooper.  And Jesse Eisenberg?  Nope.  While the character is a bad guy – he’s more of a passive bad guy, and that doesn’t really make for an Oscar-winning performance.  The camera work was really nice, so I’m betting on some Best Cinematography for this thing though.

In which I try to do this today

“Be undeniably good.  When people ask me how do you make it in show business or whatever, what I always tell them and nobody ever takes note of it ‘cause it’s not the answer they wanted to hear – what they want to hear is here’s how you get an agent, here’s how you write a script, here’s how you do this – but I always say, ‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.’  If somebody’s thinking, ‘How can I be really good?’, people are going to come to you.  It’s much easier doing it that way than going to cocktail parties.”

–Steve Martin

In which Kings and Fighters duke it out for Oscar glory

The big day is approaching, and I still have a lot of films to see.  It looks like I’m only going to make it for all of the best picture nominees (though that will cover a lot of other categories too).

But in this episode of That Crazy Project, I bring you my thoughts on two of the contenders.

The Fighter was a decent, upstanding film – no doubt a reflection of the decent, upstanding guy that ‘Irish’ Micky Ward is in real life.  But in a film, decent and upstanding are not really… interesting.  It told a nice little story about a scrappy little boxer with a lot of gumption and ‘can-do’ attitude.  But there was zero question of whether or not he would win.  As a story, it’s a dud.

But then there are the supporting characters.  Christian Bale plays Micky’s cracked-out, washed up boxer of a brother.  And you never really knew what he was going to do.  And their mother… Well, she’s a real piece of work.  So it becomes kind of interesting how this plucky little boxer just has his life sort of happen to him.  And it’s funny how in the middle of all the actors working on their Massachusetts accents, Mark Wahlberg’s real MA accent kind of sounds fake.

But really, the film left me with two thoughts:

I do not want to be a boxer.

I do not want to be on crack.

But if boxing is the ‘sport of kings’, let’s talk about kings, shall we? (Segue of the year!*)

The King’s Speech was terrific and really likeable.  It was a moving story – more so than I expected – and also funnier.  Colin Firth did an amazing job with that stutter, and I would really like for Geoffrey Rush’s Lionel Logue to be a friend of mine.  Helena Bonham Carter wore fantastic hats and that little HRH Elizabeth looked just like photos of a young HRH Elizabeth.  As it ended, I actually wanted to stay with them all a little longer and just see them together.

And similarly, it left me with two thoughts:

I do not want to be a king.

I do not want to be a princess (based on the scene after her father’s accession and she has to greet him with a curtsy).

The big questions, of course: Will they win?

The Fighter will probably get a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Christian Bale’s performance, but I think that’s it.  I think The King’s Speech will get Best Actor for Colin Firth, maybe Original Screenplay, and… maybe Best Picture.  We’ll have to see how the other nominees come out.

* It seems that "The Sport of Kings" can be either boxing or horse racing.  Let's just pretend it's for boxing, 'kay?

In which I eat my words (and other people’s)

I’m a pretty voracious reader. 

Perhaps I have always been.  I know that I read a lot as a kid (references available upon request).  But it all kicked into high gear when I was about fourteen.  For my birthday that year a friend of mine gave me two Agatha Christie mysteries.  I had heard of Christie, I think, but I’d never read any or seen any adaptations on TV.  But I thought, “huh, I like mysteries.” 

I read those books straight, without breaks, and without stopping between them.  And I was seriously hooked.

Soon Agatha Christie became forbidden books.  My parents had to ban them during school weeks, because I would absolutely not do anything but read them.  I wouldn’t stop for dinner or homework or bedtime or school.  I would just read until I found out who done it.  (It was never who I thought it was.  Even after I had considered every suspect.  I always got it wrong.)

Then when I moved to Vienna my relationship with words intensified even further.  See when I first moved here, I didn’t know where to find cheap books in English, I didn’t know where to buy English newspapers (and I didn’t have a television or a computer that would play dvds).  So I was pretty starved for words.  Starved for language.  When I did come across something written in English – an advertisement, an imported copy of Cat Fancy left at a café, anything – I just ate it up.  And I don’t mean dainty nibbling with a knife and fork, I mean tearing it apart with my bare hands and devouring it, sentences smeared all over my face and participles dangling off my chin.

And much like anyone who’s ever gone through a period of poverty or want, I have never forgotten that time.

In which I can't stop with the ridiculous titles

I know, I know.  They're getting old.  But I can't stop.  Everything I think of is in terms of "in which"s.  It's like I'm possessed.  It's some kind of in-whichcraft. 

(I know I shouldn’t encourage them, but that last line makes me chuckle heartily.)

In which I find black swans to be scary, but the kids to be all right

I haven’t updated you on my project to watch all of the Oscar nominated films before the ceremony, and the clock is ticking.

So let’s start with a couple of Best Picture nominees, shall we?

First, there’s Black Swan.  I saw this in the largest cinema in Vienna (based on no actual research into screen size, just me figuring it’s pretty large) and the cinema where S.B. and I will watch the Oscar ceremony.  This is important because I think it was great to see some of the stage scenes in a theatre that looks like it could handle a production of Swan Lake.  Made me feel like I was really there.

But the film: terrific.  Best Picture?  Maybe.  I liked the story and how it mirrors the folk tale the ballet is based on.  I really liked how accessible it made everything: the dance world, the thriller aspects, und so weiter.  Also – SPOILER ALERT – it kind of surprised me.  I didn’t really think it was going to go where it went.  Was it scary?  Well, no.  It’s kind of… a thriller.  But it’s not scary.  Except that things pop out at you a little bit.  And if you’re kind of a wimp about that, you may jump a little bit.  I jumped a lot.  In fact, at one point, I followed up a scream by saying out loud, “That was scary.”  The guy behind me started laughing.

Best Actress?  I’m not sure.  I’d put your money on it, because I’m guessing that she’ll get it, but I’m not really sure that Natalie Portman put in a Best Actress performance on this one.  Let’s see how the rest of the ladies do.

My bet for the rest of the categories it’s nominated in:

Cinematography – Maybe (But True Grit has all of that Epic Landscape)

Directing – Probably not (I’m thinking The King’s Speech)

Film Editing - I don’t know, I never pick those things right.  If they do their job right, you never notice, right?

But it was fun seeing the dance world again.  Are dance movies going to come back because of this?  And will each form of dance get its own psychothriller version?  If so, I’m looking forward to the new tap movies Zombie Time Step and the Shakespeare re-boot, Shuffle off this Mortal Coil.

“But enough about Black Swan, did you like The Kids Are All Right?”

I did.  What a sweet film.  The kids are believable and not ridiculous.  (Except why didn’t they explain his name?  What kind of name is Laser?  He sounds like a supervillain – is that the sequel?)  The parents are layered and interesting and I believe they’re a family.  Mark Ruffalo is rumpled and charming as always and Julianne Moore and Annette Bening are terrific.  It’s kind of unfair that Annette Bening is nominated but Julianne Moore isn’t, because I felt that those two roles were pretty equal, performance-wise.  Sure, Bening gets the yelling scene and gets to be the Woman Scorned – both of which the Academy loves – but I thought Moore was just as great. 

So, will it win anything?  Probably not.  It’s a sweet film, but not monumental, the way some of the other Best Picture nominees are.  Bening is terrific, but again, not very showy, like the other roles she’s up against.  Could have a shot at Original Screenplay, but I think that’s a long shot.  And Mark Ruffalo?  He’s had better roles than this.  But of course, “It’s an honor just to be nominated.”

In which the Music Dies on a different Day than I’d always thought

Yesterday, as I’m sure you know, was Groundhog Day.  (Did he see his shadow in Punxsutawney?  He must have seen his shadow in Vienna, because it was very sunny yesterday.)

But it was also the Day that I thought the Music had Died.  I always used to have trouble remembering when it was.  But a few years ago I remarked to myself, “Oh, it was on Groundhog Day.  I can remember that.”  And so it stuck in my head that it was on February 2^nd.

I’m sure you know, of course, that it was in fact not on February 2^nd but on the 3^rd.  Which means that for the past couple of years, I’ve been driving my Chevy to the levee and drinking my whiskey and rye on the wrong day.

It's the truth, Ruth

Why observe it at all?  This has to do with my friend S.D.  See, you hear that song on Austrian radio fairly often (don’t get me started on Austrian radio – it’s not pretty), and my friend S.D. likes to tell people all about the stories behind the song.  Only she can never remember who was in the plane crash.  And she loves that I know who was in the plane.  (I don’t understand how people might not know.  Didn’t they see La Bamba?)  So whenever she’s out and about and she hears that song (which I’m telling you, is often, thanks to Austrian radio), she gives me a call to find out who was in the plane. 

Oh Boy

So a couple of years ago, we decided to observe the day with an evening of music from the three (and their contemporaries), poker (because she likes any excuse to play poker), a little 50s-inspired clothing (because I like any excuse to wear a costume) and whiskey and rye.  Except that we didn’t know where to get rye in Vienna.  And isn’t rye just another kind of whiskey?  Drinking two different whiskeys together just sounds horrible.  So we drank margaritas. 

You probably know that S.D. doesn’t bluff in cards or drinks, so you learn not to chase her bets.  I lost ten Euros last year.  Still, it’s a nice tradition.

Come on, let's go

Except this year I had plans on the 2^nd (remember, I still thought it was on the 2^nd), so we didn’t do anything yesterday.  But now that I’ve realized my error – and in time too – I’m going to give her a call and see if we can get together to honor the music.

“That’ll be the day” indeed, Buddy.  If only I can remember which day it is.

In which I bake things

Over the last couple of years, I’ve undergone a kind of culinary transformation.  Cooking used to make me nervous.  “A handful of this…” – “Until it turns golden…”  The inexactness made me worry.  (I actually have a set of measuring spoons for ‘a pinch’, ‘a dash’, etc.)

But then along came the Melty Cheese Thing.  (You don’t know about the Melty Cheese Thing?  I don’t know if it can be pinned down by mere words… I’ll have to try in another post.)  Now I am “Quite the Little Cooker.”

A Sunday Invention

So often on Sundays I set out to make what I declare to be “Tasty Things”.  (I think it’s important to declare them to be tasty in advance, that way other people don’t even have to form their own judgment.  It saves everyone time.)

This Sunday I invented a New Tasty Thing.  I wanted to make a kind of fruit tart, with pineapple rings as the fruit part on top.  So I followed a recipe I had for pastry dough (which came out perfect, thank you very much) and one for custard.  I poured that into small little ramekins (which sound like some kind of pokemons), topped each with a pineapple ring that fit just perfectly, and baked ‘em.

Scrambled recipes?

Now when I was thinking ‘custard’, I was really thinking… like a pudding kind of thing.  Sweet and creamy.  What I got was custard that was more quiche-like.  Almost savory, but not salty.  I’m sure the flavor of the custard would have gone nicely with a less acidic fruit (or even vegetables).  But as it was, it gave you the impression of eating scrambled eggs with pineapple.

There’s a reason restaurants don’t serve that.

But the custard did cook up through the hole in the pineapple ring, which looked very cool and like I’d meant for it to do that.

Which of course, I did.

In which I break my promise to stay away for the weekend just to tell you how cold -8 degrees really is:

Very, very cold.

In which I take the weekend off

In an effort to get away from the computer a little more often, I'll be taking the weekend off.  But just so you don't miss me and all my pithy updates, here's what you can imagine me doing this weekend:

• Going to have breakfast at Amacord on Saturday (I'll have the Wiener Früstuck with a portion of Schinken, and a caffe latte).
• Going to S.B./M.B.'s for dinner.
• Walking down to Schönbrunn to pay my respects to the Fake Roman Ruins.
• Baking something Sunday morning that I will declare to be tasty, regardless of how it actually tastes.

So I'll see you all next week (with extra words to make up for how few are here).

In which I watch every single film nominated for an Academy Award

So if you remember that my friend S.B. and I go every year to watch the Oscar broadcast in the middle of the night ("previously on Vienna in 250 Words a Day"), then you'll also remember that this is the second year that we'll be attempting to watch all of the nominated films before the ceremony.

"All of them? Even the documentaries?" Well no, obviously not. S.B.'s seen one of them, and it's the only one I've heard of so I'll probably just vote that one. I'm sure that's probably how the Academy does it anyway.

But we will certainly try to see as many of them as we possibly can and especially all the best picture nominees. (Last year I was so incredibly informed about all the nominees and could speak quite expertly about their chances for winning, despite the fact that I couldn't keep straight the titles A Serious Man and A Single Man. I had to keep saying "The Coen Brothers One and The Colin Firth One.")

This project is great, but has its challenges.

First, the challenges.
Vienna is usually pretty behind when it comes to film releases. Sometimes six months to a year behind. [Ed's note, sometimes we get them one or two days early, like with Event Films such as Harry Potter. Yay time difference!]

And then, if they don't think there will be a market here, some films may just never come out. So tragic.

Fortunately for us, the dvd release schedule is not always tied to the cinema release, and sometimes a film is available on dvd before it's in cinemas because of it's release on the German market.

Last year Crazy Heart just didn't make it in time though, and I had to content myself with watching the trailer over and over again and figuring that everyone really likes Jeff Bridges. We were only able to complete last year's Oscar 2010 collection in May or June I think. (But it was worth the wait, Crazy Heart was good.)

Not being able to see all these movies way before means a pretty rigorous schedule leading up to the awards ceremony. But we handle it like pros. We'll have to be in the cinema at least once or twice a week, with a dvd or two thrown in for good measure. To be honest, we were further along this time last year. We started with the other award shows to guess what we'd need to see, so we already had several under our belt by the time the announcements were made. We didn't pay as much attention this year (plus the Golden Globes had Burlesque in there, so we couldn't really take them seriously).

And then, all those cinema tickets add up, and it's kind of an expensive project.

It's really great though.
We're already going to the Oscar broadcast, so it's nice to be informed. And as you know, I'm into film, so it's nice to be informed about something I already like. And then it's fun to be able to make an educated prediction of the winners to maybe win Fabulous Prizes! at the event.

But also, it kind of forces me outside of my normal viewing to see things that I might not otherwise see. To give you a hint of my normal viewing habits, every year when the nominations come out I have already seen 4 of the 5 films nominated for Best Visual Effects (and for some reason, Editing. I guess I really have my thumb on the pulse of the Editing Industry). Last year I'm sure I wouldn't have seen The White Ribbon, because everyone says Haneke's films are always so depressing - which it was not. And I would not have expected that I would have liked The Hurt Locker - but I did. And I would not have otherwise have gone to see That Sandra Bullock Movie that won her the Oscar - because it was in fact very, very terrible.

Maybe I should have put that last bit in with the negative points.

So join us next time when I start writing up the reviews of some of the nominated films I've seen so far.

In which I prepare to watch the Oscars at three in the morning

So as you may remember, my friend S.B. and I have gone to watch the Oscars the last couple of years. As I'm in Vienna, this means heading out to a local cinema at 12:30 to get our seats in time for the red carpet interviews. The actual ceremony starts at 2:00 or 2:30 and finishes somewhere on the other side of 5:00.

Though you may not believe it, this is really the best way to watch them.

First of all, we'll be in a big theatre.
Nothing says "I'm doing something exciting" like being in a room full of a couple hundred other people who are excited. There's an MC. There's games. There's free champagne for anyone who comes in an evening gown or a tuxedo, but I've never managed that. I love any occasion involving costumes (references available upon request), but it's kind of cold in a cinema in Vienna in February at three o'clock in the morning. Still, despite not quite looking as good as the nominees, there will be a palatable excitement in the room. You just can't drum up a palatable excitement on your couch.

Plus, and this is something that the cinema itself has been recently sharing as part of its 50th anniversary, they've held movie premieres in this cinema. (Spartacus no less. Check out the little note they received from Kirk Douglas.) So that's a big deal. It sure beats a couch.

It's in the middle of the night.
I know what you're thinking, that sounds really inconvenient. Shouldn't that be a disadvantage? No, actually it makes it more exciting. There is something so funny about being someplace at a time when it's usually closed. Maybe it's just the 'kid locked up in a toy store overnight' thing. Or the decadence of knowing that you'll be heading home at around the same time as all those other suckers are on their way to work. But making a complete break in normal routine elevates the event to VERY VERY EXCITING. This is really Event Television.

The key to making it work, of course, is the red carpet. I can't stress enough how important it is to watch the red carpet. Heading out to a cinema at 12:30 is not that bad. Trying to leave the house at 2:30 would be impossible. Obviously. But the red carpet gets you out before you seriously start to think about being sleepy and is great at further building the tension. ("Yay! Look what she's wearing! I hope she wins just so I get to see that dress again!")

I think a lot of things could be made more interesting by special event middle-of-the-night scheduling. For example: I'm not a fan of grocery shopping (too much of an understatement?), but would I attend a special once a year night owl event with several hundred excited shoppers? Absolutely. A three A.M. tax file-off? Sounds fun. [Ed's note, that event actually exists and is just called 'waiting until the last minute to file'.]

I thought I had a third reason but now I can't think of it.
But those other reasons basically cover it: it's in a big, fancy cinema and it's in the middle of the night. It's a lot of fun.

In which I start a blog

I'm not really good at staying in touch. I'm the slowest email-er around. The time difference makes calling difficult. And I'm horrible at sharing pictures (though you are welcome to come by and peruse my collection of undeveloped rolls of film).

"So here you are blogging?", I hear you ask. Yeah, who knows? Maybe it's easier.

Also, I've got to get used to writing A LOT of blogs for that other big project we're working on (you know, the one with all that made up stuff?), so at the very least, this is good practice for me.

And at the most? You'll get to hear from me: Day to day updates from Vienna! Dispatches from foreign climes! Little snapshots of my life in approximately 250 words! Maybe even actual snapshots!

(I'm not guaranteeing actual snapshots, mind. And I don't even know if I've used 'climes' correctly. But I'm going to give it all a shot.)

The funny thing is that none of you are even reading this yet - or at least not while I write this. I've got to build up a few of these to see if I can even maintain this enough before I can start telling people about it (because let's face it, I don't have a great track record). So if you're reading this, I'm already doing pretty well. Maybe you won't even read this entry, because by the time you get here there will be hundreds and hundreds of other posts and you'll never make it all the way down to this one.

So maybe it doesn't matter that it's not exactly 250 words?