Sweet Revenge

First a WARNING: Adult language is present in the videos. If you're below 13 years of age, this post is not for you.

The following is a series of clips from the Jimmy Kimmel Show. Some of you may have already seen these clips but they detailed the animosity that brewed between the tv host and the actor Matt Damon back in 2006.

Matt Damon was supposed to guest on Mr. Kimmel's show a number of times but his invitations to appear on the show had always been either canceled or postponed almost always due to "lack of time". So when he finally got to appear on Jimmy's show, this was the reception he got:

Mr. Damon left the show in a rage in spite of Mr. Kimmel's profuse apologies and efforts to put the matter to rest. Mr. Damon must have felt so humiliated by the experience that he decided to strike back.

Mr. Kimmel, obviously hurt by Sarah Silverman's (his girlfriend at the time) betrayal, also decided to strike back at Mr. Damon where it could hurt the latter the most.

This star-studded effort at revenge ought to put the matter to rest.

Anyway, if you had a difficult time figuring out some of the words to the "I'm F##king Ben Affleck" song in the previous clip, the following clip shows the lyrics as sub-titles.

I hope you enjoyed this little humor break. :)

An Afternoon By The Potomac

The hotel I stayed in at Alexandria, Virginia a few weeks ago happened to be very close to the Potomac River. I was lucky in that the city had a small park by the river called Tide Lock Park and my hotel was just a block away from it. So one weekday afternoon after work, I decided to take a walk in the park to enjoy the sites and to take in some fresh air. The park had some park benches near the water where one could sit and relax to enjoy a nice, lazy afternoon.


The photo below shows the banks of the river and a walkway next to it. The walkway is quite long and stretches for at least eight miles along the banks of the Potomac River.


A shot of one section of the walkway. The area at the other side of the river is Washington, D.C.


A shot of another part of the same walkway. This time, in the background, one can see the faint outline of the Washington Monument at the left. One could also see towards the right the dome of the US Capitol.


Another shot of the river's banks.


On the way back to the hotel, I walked by these nice colonial-style townhomes. They were in a great spot for they had a clear, unobstructed view of the river.


The townhomes were on a rise or hill and I walked a bit towards them to take a closer shot.


I took another shot of the townhomes as soon as I got back to my hotel room. The following picture is a shot of those homes from my hotel window. The picture shows how close those homes are to the river.


The bridge you see in the background is the Woodrow Wilson Bridge which links Alexandria, Virginia to Washington, D.C.

I enjoyed my brief walk in Tide Lock Park that afternoon. The views and the fresh air helped me destress that afternoon.

The Dance Of The Rolls

I was supposed to follow up my Alexandria, Virginia series with some more photos of the place but I will digress for just a bit. Although I haven't written much about movies on this blog, I do enjoy watching good movies regardless of whether a film is a new release or a classic. I developed an interest in movies from my mother's side of the family.
My maternal grandfather loved going to the movies as a hobby and it was through him that I first heard of the great comedian Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977). My grandfather loved to talk about the Chaplin movies he enjoyed, especially those he saw during the pre-war "peace time" period. The Chaplin movies he loved were The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and Mr. Chaplin's semi-autobiographical movie, Limelight (1952). Mr. Chaplin became famous for playing the role of "The Tramp", a gentleman vagrant who always managed to do the honorable and decent thing in spite of the very rough and tough circumstances he was in.

Mr. Chaplin was heralded as the complete artist for not only did he star in his films, he also produced and directed them, wrote their script, scored their music, and whenever the story called for it, he even choreographed the dances.

I'm wondering then if anyone can copy and perfect the following performance as a way to entertain friends either over lunch or dinner:

The scene above featured Charlie Chaplin in the classic movie "The Gold Rush" released by United Artists back in 1925. Mr. Chaplin called this particular scene "The Dance of the Rolls" and it showed him perform it before a group of lady friends. The clip captures how Mr. Chaplin brought two seemingly ordinary dinner rolls to life by mimicking a ballerina's dance to the obvious delight of his little audience.

The genius of Mr. Chaplin shines in this scene for one can just imagine the amount of creativity, timing, and physical coordination required to present such gem of a performance. He made the movements seem so easy when in fact they were far from being so. Johnny Depp copied the same movements 68 years later in a movie called "Benny and Joon" (1993) where he played the role of an eccentric who cared for and won the heart of a mentally ill woman. In a later interview, Mr. Depp stated that the performance was quite difficult for it took him three weeks to copy, rehearse and perfect Mr. Chaplin's moves.

The following video clip compares the two performances:

With no offense meant towards Mr. Depp, one can clearly see that Mr. Chaplin appeared more relaxed in his performance and thus his moves appeared a lot more fluid. I do not know how many hours Mr. Chaplin devoted to prepare for such a fine performance but one thing is clear, this performance is but one of the many reasons as to why to this day, Mr. Chaplin continues to be both an idol and an influence to many career film and television comedians.

Alexandria - A Sentimental Trip

I was in Alexandria, Virginia on a one-week assignment a few weeks ago. I love this town because aside from its rich history, I lived here for a few months many years ago as I was starting life out here in America. My late uncle was very kind enough to let me stay at his place rent-free while I looked for a job.

According to Wikipedia, Alexandria lies 6 miles south of Washington, D.C., or roughly a ten-minute drive. The buildings in the "Old Town" district of this city are at least 250 years old and are about three storeys tall on the average.

The following photo shows one of the markers in the Old Town district that talk about Alexandria's origins:


The following photo shows an exact replica of the house George Washington owned and stayed in whenever he was in town. It is on Cameron Street and stands on the exact spot where his house originally stood. This replica, a faithful reconstruction of the original home, was built in the early 1960s.


The 2006 Honda Civic parked in front of Washington's house is also a replica of the one he used to own. This fuel-efficient and fully-loaded car was a gift to him from a grateful nation. (Please ignore those two sentences. In addition, per Rudy's observation, the car was actually a Toyota Vios and not a Honda Civic as I had earlier thought it to be. Sorry about that. Hehehe)

The following photo shows the same house but taken from a slightly different angle. On this photo a bust of George Washington can be seen behind the left window.


The following sign was right in front of a restaurant called Gadsby's Tavern. It is on Royal Street and is one of the most famous and historic restaurants in town, having been continuously in business since 1770. As the sign says, George Washington used to be a regular patron and according to its website so were other US presidents such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, and James Monroe.


The following shows the tavern's front door. Note the low position of the door knob. I was told that that's how doors were built back in those days. It also probably had something to do with the average height of the people back then. Although George Washington stood more than six feet tall, the average American was quite short.


I ended up dining at this place with a co-worker. I apologize that I wasn't able to take pictures of the building's exterior because by the time we were done with dinner, it had grown quite dark outside. So please refer to its website for pictures of the building.

Since it's a centuries' old town, walking "Ghost Tours" are also offered in the evenings led by tour guides dressed in period costumes. One of those Tour Guides is shown below:



For a Tour Guide, I found this one particularly weird and camera-shy. I observed that whenever people tried to include him in their shots, he almost always turned his back to them. Should I call the police? Hehehe Oh well....

Anyway, Alexandria is a very nice place to visit. Although it's classified as a city, huge sections of the city are quite peaceful and relaxing. The pace is a bit slower than other East Coast cities such as New York. Thus, whenever you're in the Washington, DC area, please find some time to stop by this city and enjoy some bit of living American history.

Let's "Take Five"

I apologize that I've been busy with personal matters the last several days. However, as I took a break from work earlier this evening, a term common to musicians, "take five", came to mind. The expression originally referred to a short five-minute break musicians took. Whenever such a short break was called, one often said "Let's take five".

However, this expression also reminded me of a classic jazz tune from 1959 also called "Take Five". The tune was composed by the late Paul Desmond who as saxophonist was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Dave Brubeck was the pianist and completing the quartet were the other two members: drummer Joe Morello and bassist Eugene Wright. The tune gained fame for its distinctive saxophone melody, as you will later hear, and for Mr. Corello's outstanding drum solo.

The following video shows the quartet performing the tune on a tv show called "Jazz Casual", a show that was hosted by jazz columnist Ralph Gleason who would eventually co-found Rolling Stone Magazine. This particular segment was aired on American public television back in October 1961:

The band performed the tune live on the show and it explains the less than excellent quality of the audio. The stage is practically bare and one finds the camera shots quite basic. However, in lieu of the rather low production values, what the viewer gets is pure entertainment thus making it possible for the tune's beauty to shine through.

Overall, I personally find the tune's melody rather relaxing, lending credence to the song's title. I love listening to this tune often at night when I'm either out for a quiet drive or enjoying a quiet evening at home.

However, since the tune was performed live in the studio, the quality of the audio leaves quite a bit to be desired. In order to better appreciate the tune, I am adding the following clip that features the aong's recorded version:

The Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded in 1967. Sadly, unlike the band's other members, the tune's writer, Mr. Desmond, is no longer around. A heavy smoker, Mr. Desmond succumbed to lung cancer in 1977. But even though he's gone, he left us a gem of a tune that's become part of jazz music history.