What I'm Watching
Saw There Will Be Blood at the cinema. Pretty good, better than I was expecting, though it gets a bit bum-numbing at over two and a half hours. Liked Daniel Day Lewis's scenery-chewing performance as a misanthropic oilman. Lots of people complain that he's over-the-top, but I always think we go to the movies to see stuff larger than life. I especially liked the way he projects a seething effort whenever he's trying to be nice to people. I don't have a mirror when I'm trying to do the same, but he looks like I feel.

The plot's a bit uneven in the way they tried to extract it from a long, epic novel. Some elements seem to be introduced a bit too late to generate tension. Also I was a bit disappointed that he doesn't literally drink anyone's milkshake. He drinks their whisky in an earlier scene, but the milkshake itself is purely metaphorical.

Didn't think the cinematography was particularly wonderful despite the Oscar: it was good, but it's hard to film that kind of scenery badly. Thought Paul Dano did an underrated turn as the preacher Eli Sunday: he managed to be decently creepy by being less energetic than Lewis. The dual role as Paul Sunday just baffled me though: confused me as to why they looked the same.

Overall, not bad, could be worth a look if you have a strong bladder.

Review, review, review, review, adaptation, quotes, quotes, parody video.

Who is Liza Jane?
So, I had scraps of a song floating though my head: "Goodbye Liza Jane" by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Couldn't work out what was going on so I listened to it and transcribed the lyrics as best I could. Still didn't make any sense: can't see why they've got the six-shooters on but nobody seems to get shot. Here's my attempt:

Up the river and round the bend, goodbye, goodbye
Six-shooters on in the dawn again, goodbye Liza Jane
[chorus] Oh how I love her, ain't that a shame
Oh how I love her, goodbye Liza Jane

There's three wheels off and the axle's dragging, goodbye, goodbye
You can't ride in the little red wagon, goodbye Liza Jane
[chorus]

Take shooter back and spin on the wall, goodbye, goodbye [???]
Swing that gal clear across the hall, goodbye Liza Jane
[chorus]

Swing your ma and swing your pa, goodbye, goodbye
Swing that girl from Arkansas, goodbye Liza Jane
[chorus]

Circle late and we'll all get straight, goodbye, goodbye
Knock-down Sal and big fat Kate, goodbye Liza Jane
[chorus]

Those lyrics seem to be pretty different to this performance by the same band though. And they seem to be completely different to other Liza Jane songs like Li'l Liza Jane (1917) and this, this or this.

So, I guess I'll never know. I suspect Bob Wills got a completely different song mixed in with L'il Liza Jane somehow, so wagons and six-shooters just turned up in the lyrics for no reason.

Interesting that as far back as 1917 it still seems to be in a hazy middle ground between jazz and country though.

Web
Christdot to close.

Technology. The Avro arrow was an innovative Canadian jet. Death of a Cyclotron (/.). Combined toilet/washing machine concept.

Elephant-cam shows their animal buddies.

Least impressive disaster ever: London Eye stopped for one hour: "Staff spoke to the trapped tourists via intercom, instructing them to open emergency supplies of water, blankets and commodes."

Stolen from lylehsaxon's diary: this Toyko train boarding video is amazing.