I got to watch this the other night. I’ve been trying to watch every good movie that was ever filmed in NY.

This is the kind of movie you watch today and it’s not just a dope movie, it’s a historical picture. This was not that long ago, even though it seems that way. It’s the same New York. It’s not based on a true story and some of the performances may be overacted a little,  but from what I’ve learned from old school New Yorkers, this isn’t so far off.

These 3 guys robbed a mafia safehouse for 300,000$ and took out some cops in the process. So they have not only the italian mob headed by a guy who has no problem using the N word in the most negative way, but the cops are after them too. Anthony Quinn plays the “old boys” Captain about to retire when this happens and the new Lieutenant is going to take charge, except the new Lieutenant happens to be black, and this change of power is something these 2 guys have to work through, the first with his lifetime of bias to get over.

All of the acting in this is good to great. I found this looking for more stuff Anthony Quinn is in, a favorite actor of mine.. everyone in this was good though. Real s#%t.  Some of the scenes are really powerful and all of the action scenes are some dope pre-computers realFX ish

#itsOnNetflix

Peace

~t

ps – i’ma do more of these

Oh and I forgot to say the soundtrack is great too. Check it

Annie Hall: Alvy, you’re incapable of enjoying life, you know that? I mean you’re like New York City. You’re just this person. You’re like this island unto yourself.

Alvy Singer: I can’t enjoy anything unless everybody is. If one guy is starving someplace, that puts a crimp in my evening.

I remember the first time I saw it. Yea. that’s me! It’s a NY thing.We’re all connected. I feel like I have to write a movie too after watching Woody Allen ish. Shoot in NY of course. NO SPECIAL EFFECTS. No computer imaging. No green screens. Just people and their stories.

Woody started out writing plays. Nothing but the actors, the physical scenery and the words. Raw talent. Just like the Brooklyn Bridge. Made by hand. Made in NY. CLASSIC.

heat swelling

trees in my head mellowing

beats saying hello and inviting me over to freak

can’t say no

melody so cool it’s freezing

just what i need

a breeze across my body

wishing on a star

the sky lit up

in came the storm

the rhythm got me rocking

still air moved by frequencies beyond the terms east or west

a song

some singing

from somewhere

in the dark

trying to be funny, tough talking because my muscles don’t pop,

not knowing that the way I walk fast is because I had to hustle..

having life is lucky but my success comes from never giving up,

they thinking I want fame, I’m surprising because I only need love

no funny names, no alias, just what I was given, water to a world on fire

Be cool and keep your head up

they think I’m thin because I wanna be, now I’m trendy,

if only they knew before I had too much pride for free lunch

and no one packed one for me,

they see the brand new gear but they didn’t see me struggling wishing I could laugh

wishing anyone would understand , back when all I had were notebooks in my bag

Living in a world where crooks rule the land and if you can’t win you go out with a bang

that’s not the way I pursue happiness I could fight every time someone assumes I can’t

I’d rather give peace a chance

knowing my ideas outlast my body

Peace&Light

t

But I’m getting off topic. I understand that people love sports. I love sports too. For the most part, watching it is boring as shit though. I’d rather actually pick up a ball and play. John Lennon said “if every American demanded peace instead of another TV set – there’d be peace”. I bet if every American played sports just as hard as they supported pro games the overweight and health statistics in this country would be a lot different.

Twitter is great. I get all kinds of amazing information from the people I’m following. Until there is a game. Then everything is drowned in a sea of “OHHHH SHIT DID YOU SEE THAT?!”. I like to know what’s going on in the game, but there’s 100 people saying the same thing. I think a “twitter” just for sports would be good. The market is there. Someone take that idea. Save my timeline! GET MONEY!

ha

for real though.

peace&light

t

This is a song for the genius child.
Sing it softly, for the song is wild.
Sing it softly as ever you can -
Lest the song get out of hand.

Nobody loves a genius child.

Can you love an eagle,
Tame or wild?
Can you love an eagle,
Wild or tame?
Can you love a monster
Of frightening name?

Nobody loves a genius child.

Kill him – and let his soul run wild.

Langston Hughes

Golden Slumbers fill your eyes

Smiles Await you when you rise

Sleep pretty darling do not cry

And I will sing a Lullabye

((I’ve found myself playing this many times these past few years))

((please press play before reading))

I’m getting older. New families are beginning. Old ones are fading away. I feel the transition. I’m 24 years old. In a little over a month I will be 25. I think my father’s father passed when he was 32. I didn’t get to know him. George. A big irish man. He worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard most of his life. Only 7 more years of my dad? A few of my friends never really had theirs. Now, more of my friends have lost theirs. My father just called me and told me about my great Aunt passing.

Aunt Fran. She was 83 years old, lived a long life in a Brooklyn. A loyal Mets fan and a true servant of the faith but NEVER not once did she “preach” to me or force me to believe in anything. Everything I learned from her I learned from how she treated me and everyone else. She didn’t tell me how to act. A few years ago their (her and my grandmother’s) older sister passed away from cancer. I am thinking now of them reuniting. They loved to play tennis & golf. I see them on infinite greens. I said in a tweet I want to name my first daughter (I suspect I will have daughters) Lucia, after her. I had that thought a few years ago and it’s stuck with me, I still believe in it. A beautiful name. They were both ill before they passed, and they both lived long lives. Neither of them had children but that was unnecessary as they both have many nieces and nephews who loved them. Who will remember them.

My grandmother is now going to be alone in her big old house in Brooklyn,without her sisters that have lived in the 2-family home for 50+ years now. My grandma, being my grandma, is cool though, she has friends, has been through pain before, is active in a neighborhood(bay ridge) theatre company, and she’s like me. Or rather, I’m like her. She goes on. I am one of 3. My grandmother was 1 of 3. I am definitely very much my own, independent. But without my brothers? Without the only 2 people on the planet who know exactly what I’ve been through since birth? 1 of 3 alone is a hard spot to be in.

I was going to write a blog about my mother tonight. I’ve saved the draft I started but I will say that one of the major points in my life, in my mother’s life, in my family’s life, was the loss of her older sister. I will elaborate on that in the other post but my point is we may fight with our brothers and sisters, we may say we hate them and genuinely mean it, but in the end, NO ONE on this Earth knows you better than your brother and sisters.

The importance of brothers & sisters.

We cannot rely or be dependent on parents or elders to be around forever to teach us. But we can rely on each other, brothers & sisters, to be here as we’ve been from birth. I have two brothers by blood, but I have many more brothers & sisters by LOVE. My peers. My family. We are here for each other. We are the only ones who know what each other have been through.

These past few years I’ve been to more wakes and funerals than in the 20 years or so prior.  I didn’t go all of the ones I should have. I just couldn’t. Friends. Union brothers & sisters. Family. I don’t think there’s a black cloud around me, I think it’s natural, and I am seeing this because life is going by that fast.

I’m not sure that I am “good” at emotions. I know what I want to say. I know what I feel. I worry if I’ve shown enough compassion, if the people I care about know how much I care.

And then after all this agony and anxiety I find a song and I say, listen to this song..

and everything is alright.

to my brothers & sisters still here

thank you for understanding

peace & LIGHT

t

but there were these

Sirens & Lights

I tried to turn off the constant stream of voice in my mind

I could not

there were these theories and ideas

and I was drifting into relaxation when again there were

Sirens & lights and I thought more about why even sleep

many times I’d decided just to get right up

and be

these Sirens & Lights

flashing

passing

in the night

]]> http://thomasthoughts.com/2010/05/09/sirens-lights/feed/ 0 thomas http://thomasthoughts.com/2010/05/08/im-good-optimistic/ http://thomasthoughts.com/2010/05/08/im-good-optimistic/#comments Sat, 08 May 2010 18:59:59 +0000 thomas http://thomasthoughts.com/?p=442 ]]> I’m good at something for everyone

not so much everything for someone

but hey, nobody’s perfect

I’m trying my best

I started to read this article. I didn’t make it past the 1st paragraph, this sentence “elevating concerns about whether other militant groups could deliver at least a glancing blow on American soil.”.

I stopped.

Of course they could. Any idiot can buy an old pathfinder on craigslist, load it with a bunch of store bought shit and drive it into Times Square. Count your federal/state/local tax dollars going into investigating this amateur scheme. I wonder if someone is.

Then I thought, on top of everything else, it was a neglected by the government and society Viet Nam veteran street vendor who first notified police of the burning truck. An ABC7 reporter said “you must love your job you’ve been doing it 15-20 years” to which he replied “I didn’t have much choice” without hesitation.

GET THE MONEY