Man always dies before he is fully born

The estranged man on the other hand tries to solve the issue another way, namely by conforming to his surroundings. He only feels secure and safe if he resembles his fellow man as much as possible. His highest purpose is to achieve approval of others, and his greatest fear is having to live without it. Being different, or belonging to a minority, is a danger that threatens his feeling of security. The consequence is a search for limitless conformism. The feeling of guilt with regard to sin that controlled people's lives some generations back, has now been replaced by a feeling of discomfort and insecurity with respect to being different.

(Erich Fromm)

Zabriskie Point

Director/Writer: Michelangelo Antonioni
Stars: Mark Frechette, Daria Halprin and Paul Fix
Music: Pink Flyod and Jerry Garcia
Year: 1970
IMDB

My Rating: 8/10

A movie about dreamers. I love how Antonioni uses the stark desert landscape, looks incredibly beautiful. Also, the explosions look wonderfully poetic. I would suggest that by blowing up luxury condo and material goods is a way of saying "fuck you" to the right, to the power, to the capitalism. One of Antonioni's most accessible movies, in my opinion. Oh, did I mention the music? killer soundtrack!

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

Director: Robert Altman
Writers: Edmund Naughton (novel), Robert Altman, and Brian McKay(screenplay)
Stars: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie and Rene Auberjonois
Music: Leonard Cohen
Year: 1971
IMDB

My Rating: 7/10

Robert Altman's take on the wild west. Refreshing. Western is not really my type of genre, but this is a good one. Beautiful, great music, Julie Christie.

The Fire Within

Director: Louis Malle
Writer: Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (novel)
Stars: Maurice Ronet, Léna Skerla, Jeanne Moreau and Yvonne Clech
Music: Erik Satie 
Year: 1963 (France)
IMDB

My Rating: 9.5/10

Based on the same novel as Oslo, August 31, I prefer this version. The impossibility to touch, to love, to understand the very life I'm living in. Suicide is not an option for me, but I understand his agony and devastation very well. We're all struggling to get through life, aren't we?

The Story of Jazz

I'm seriously into Jazz now... and this documentary is a good start point. While being a rock and roll fan for some time, now I understand why Jazz will always be an important inspiration. Good jazz is about good musicianship. A good jazz musician is often a real artist, who has proficiency/creativity with their instruments and ability to compose rhythm and harmony that conveys a certain feeling or emotion, whether it's for dancing (swing), or late night drinking (mellow jazz) or tripping (free jazz). The story of Jazz itself is quite amazing. Within its golden era, between 1920s to 1950s, it has evolved itself so much, and produced so many good artists and good music. Whereas rock and roll... it's much too complicated to compare. Well, there's no need to compare anyway, good music is good music.

Great Jones Street

I was reading William S. Burroughs before I got my hands on this book. The book by Burroughs was called Exterminator! For the most parts, I did enjoy his wild imaginations. As I read on, the lack of links between stories lost my interests in finishing the book. So there I was, walking aimlessly into a bookstore in Helsinki, and found this book. The back cover mentioned something about "fame, rock star, withdraw, privacy"...

At reading the first few chapters, I knew I'd love this book... as it begins with a rock star growing tired of fame and fortune, and decided to leave the band in the middle of busy touring. Somehow after the rock star began his retreat, DeLillo got Burroughrized, wild imaginations flying everywhere, weird conversations sprouting out of nowhere... it seems as everyone is on drugs, probably DeLillo himself as well. However, I did manage to finish the book. Yes, it's kind of like parody, to music industry, to our obsessions with drugs and fame, to all the noise everyone is making (and complaining) around us. Though it's written in 1973, it couldn't be any more accurate to describe our society today... particularly here, in the cybersphere.

I Trawl The Megahertz

My favourite audiobook. I think everyone should listen to this incredible 20-mins track with hauntingly beautiful music and poetic words. It's like a lullaby, a dream, a movie script, a transitional conscious state between reality and fiction that exists only in the soundscape of "I Trawl The Megahertz".

'Your daddy loves you,' I said
'Your daddy loves you very much,
He doesn't want to live with us anymore.'
I am telling myself the story of my life

Lord you gave me nothing, then you took it all away


Repeat after me: happiness is only a habit
I'm listening to the face in the mirror
but I don't think I believe what she's telling me

And these are the footsteps you follow
The tracks of impossible love

They may help us make sense of who we are and where we came from
And, as a compassionate side effect
Teach us that nothing is ever lost