Synchromysticism

" Synchromysticism:
The art of realizing meaningful coincidence in the seemingly mundane with mystical or esoteric significance."

- Jake Kotze

February 28, 2017

The 'A Confederacy of Dunces' Curse

I just finished reading a book that has been sitting on my bookshelf unread for years, 'A Confederacy of Dunces'.
Once Trump was voted into office last year, I decided it was time for me to read it, not that I know what made me think of doing that;-)
A Confederacy of Dunces is a novel by American novelist John Kennedy Toole which reached publication in 1980, eleven years after Toole's suicide.
Lots of people have told me how much they liked this book and what a classic it was, including my Okie mate Andrew West Griffin, who even wrote a post about it at the Red Dirt Report titled -
 Hot dog!
In Andrew's 'Hot Dog!' article linked above about his 'A Confederacy of Dunces' dream Andrew writes about meeting Seth Rogen on a school bus.
Andrew writes that he was on board this bus with other people (who seemed to be members of the media) who were there to talk to Rogen about his new film role, playing – you guessed it – 
Ignatius J. Reilly in A Confederacy of Dunces.
Andrew wrote that post in April 2016, so I guess looking back from a 2017 perspective we would now see that incident on the bus as "fake news" I guess?-)
Seth Rogen
"A Confederacy of Dunces"
Audio book Side 1
Toole committed suicide in 1969 and I see that Seth Rogen is starring in a James Franco directed movie titled 'Zeroville' about a young actor who arrives in Hollywood in 1969 during a transitional time in the industry.
Zeroville
Andrew wrote in his post that "this year (2016), Rogen is starring in a 3D computer animated adult comedy called Sausage Party!
Yes, Rogen is the lead in this film playing a sausage
(hot dog!) named Frank, of course."
A "Lucky Dogs" cart from
 the era of
the novel
Andrew even wrote, "So, back in my dream, the bus is taking the curves pretty quickly. 
I am trying to stay in my seat, but getting nervous as we speed ever faster. 
All the while I’m waiting my turn to ask Seth Rogen a question about being Ignatius and if certain scenes – like the above scene at Paradise hot dogs – would be included (back in 1999, I interviewed the operator of New Orleans’ Lucky Dogs, Jerry Strahan, after reading his book about life as a hot dog vendor in the French Quarter called Managing Ignatius)."
I've got to admit after seeing Seth hand out an award ... and the right one too, I might add ... with Michael J Fox at the Oscars the other night, that Seth would have to wack the weight back on or put on a fat suit now to play Ignatius J. Reilly.
So, Seth would have to go back in time to get to that former weighty actor that Andrew probably had in mind when he associated Rogen with Reilly.
Hot (War) Dogs?-)
Maybe Seth's fellow co-star from 'Sausage Party', Jonah Hill would be better suited in the weight stakes to play Reilly?
I've got to confess that I found the novel a bit of a slog to read and while it got better near the end of the book, for me there is no way I would back a film of this book for the big screen, but I'm quite interested to see if anyone will back it and get the movie to the big screen while living to see it hit the screen.
Because this novel really does seem to be cursed for some reason.
Andrew wrote in his post that,"director and Louisiana native Steven Soderbergh said, “I think it’s cursed. I’m not prone to superstition but that project has got bad mojo on it.”"
And if you watch those two You Tubes directly above then you will find out why.
"Various reasons are cited as to why the Soderbergh version has yet to be filmed. 
They include disorganization and lack of interest at Paramount Pictures, the head of the Louisiana State Film Commission being murdered, and the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans.
When asked why the film was never made, Will Ferrell has said it is a "mystery".".
It's not only the film that seems to be cursed, but the city of New Orleans, as well it seems to me.
The day I finished reading the novel I saw this story in the news, which kind of reinforced that idea in my mind -
New Orleans: At least 28 injured after vehicle ploughs into mardi gras crowd
Andrew in his post seems to think his dream points to another major flooding of the city, or something along those lines, but his post is now almost a year old.
But to be frank, I think the whole planet is under a curse at the moment.
But, if I was Seth ... or any other actor for that matter, I'd steer well away from taking on the role of Ignatius J. Reilly for the big screen.
That film really does seem cursed and there was enough cursing in 'Sausage Party' to last a lifetime:-)
To any actor of thinking of taking on that role for the big screen I would look to the advice of the hot dog above when frank says,"don't you f#cking do it" and consider those wise words indeed.
Maybe a good role for Ben Affleck to consider though, with all of the luck he has in picking movie roles;-)
Nice try Ben, but the Academy can't
 be
fooled a second time:-)
And where did you guys get the idea to name the "Dark Lord" in the movie 'Sausage Party' Darren?
Have you guys been reading my blog?-)
And on a trivial note, I notice the actor who plays Darren (Paul Rudd) in that movie was born about a week after John Kennedy Toole killed himself.

UPDATE: 2019

February 27, 2017

What Just Happened in La La Land?!

Nice try Ben, but the Academy
can't be fooled a second time:-)
Jimmy Kimmel ironically on a cinema screen
 hosting the 2017 Oscars
I went to the cinema today to watch the Oscars beamed live on the big screen here in Australia and where I am that was a Monday 11.30 am start.
I love the atmosphere at these events as it's like a poor man's Oscar ceremony where you get to drink sparkling wine and chew on nibbleies while applauding along with fellow cinema aficionados
But I have to say that I'm still in La La Land after seeing my favorite film of the year get the red carpet pulled from under its feet.
I'm going to watch the Oscars again now (it gets replayed on free to air TV in prime time on Monday night in Oz) just to make sure what I saw on the big screen really happened.
See my last updated post to see my thoughts on the Rolex commercial starring Bill Paxton and Faye Dunaway -
Bill Paxton (1955–2017)
Well, I still couldn't figure out what happened the second time round either, but I'm sure glad that I went to the cinema to watch it live than sit at home and watch it on my cheap and crappy little TV set.
And Viola nearly killed me a second time today when I nearly choked on that lump in my throat again after listening to her speech.
And why did they have to play 'Both Sides Now' when recalling all those who passed in the industry this last year?
My father passed away last year and I've mentioned that song a few times in my posts in 2016, so it was doubly tough sitting through that song and the memories from last year.
Is someone at the Academy reading my blog?
And I thought it was ironic that Warren mentioned truth and politics and then misled us all with the wrong result by handing the envelope to Faye to read:-)
It was kind of like life imitating art when Trump won the election last year and most people whether they voted for Trump, or not couldn't believe it was true.
But at least they didn't call Hilary the winner and then take it off her.
But considering 'La La Land''s alternate "what if" ending in the movie where the audience is shown what could have happened, then maybe this was an appropriate ending for 'La La Land' on Oscar night where we got to see what just might have been?
La La Land got mooned big-time on Oscar night
Well, I can't wait to see how they'll top this Oscar's night next year.

UPDATE: May 8th, 2017
I just watched 'Moonlight' last night on DVD not having seen it before, and all I can say is that you have got to be f#cking kidding me that this film gets the 'Best Movie' Oscar over 'La La Land' ... come on.
It was obviously just a political vote with the film being a predominately African American cast and the Gay storyline and the backlash from the year before about diversity ... I get that.
But there is no way in hell that 'Moonlight' is a better film than 'La La land'.
The Academy got it right when they got it wrong.
'La La Land' was the best film by far this year.

Bill Paxton (1955–2017)

Just as I'm getting ready to go out and watch the Oscars live on the big screen here in Australia on this Monday morning, I see the sad news of the passing of Bill Paxton.
Bill Paxton, actor known for roles in Titanic, Apollo 13, dies aged 61
If the year between Oscar nights hasn't been sad enough already with the passing of so many great actors, it's about to be a little sadder tonight in the USA and this morning in Australia.
His 93rd and last acting credit on his IMDB page looks like a good one, too.
I can't wait to see it when it comes out later in the year.
I'll certainly be thinking of Bill today, while realizing that everyday alive is just one more bonus.
Neil Fingleton
I also see that Neil Fingleton, Game of Thrones star and the UK’s tallest man at a towering 2.3 metres, has died aged 36.
Game of Thrones star Neil Fingleton dies at 36 of ‘heart failure
Sad day in the acting world indeed.

UPDATE: February 27th, 2017
Commercial Featuring Bill Paxton Airs During Oscars Just Hours After His Death
It was bizarre watching the Oscars and seeing a Rolex TV ad starring Bill Paxton being shown in the breaks ... but nowhere near as bizarre as the "La La Land" ending to the awards when 'La La Land' literally lost the 'Best Movie' Oscar to 'Moonlight'.
Faye Dunaway was in the same Rolex commercial and she was the one who announced 'La La Land' as the 'Best Picture' winner. 
I'm sure the Oscar TV network are as mad as hell right now;-)
Starring Faye Dunaway;-)
I'm blaming the Russians, because we know those last two Commie presenters were in Russian themed movies once and that Trump has Russian friends and how much Trump would have loved to ruin Oscar night, right?-)
Then again, the "timing" couldn't have been better for Rolex, as we know how much they like making history on Oscar night.
Just sayin';-)