Film: Wheel of Time

An involving documentary from Baxblog fave Werner Herzog.

A bit of synchronicity- I picked it up the day before a fraught meeting with my mom. I've gone over the Herzog section at the Insomniac a thousand times and never seen this one until it fell into my hand.

When it comes to documentaries the subject is irrelevant, the star for me is Herzog's mesmerizing voice. He fits that old saw about the vocalist who can sing the phone book- Werner could read a list of neocon talking points and have me nodding along in a trance. It's fortunate that he uses his amazing powers only for good.

This one is a winner.
Herzog is in fine voice, and the topic (Tibetan pilgrimage) is fascinating and completely unknown to me. It also delivers an apropos life lesson, like a uniquely uplifting episode of the Cosby Show sans schmaltz.

Worth a rental for the scene where Herzog leans all his humorless Teutonic gravity behind the question "is this tree really the center of the universe?" and the Dali Lama can't respond without laughing.

Good stuff, with plenty of typically brilliant Herzog shot framing.
Two thumbs up.

New banner

courtesy of London street artist Eine.

tiny motorcycles

made out of watch parts.

Gratz to DT!

He arrived safely in Sydney, Australia for a summer of hanging out at the nearby racetrack & rugby stadium & sunning himself like a lizard.

Hey Bobo, howcome all you ever get to do on your summer vacation is herd rich alumni up the Amazon on a barge? What a ripoff!

wallpaper

neato collection from Germany.

Tales of Jack

the wife:
I think we're going to the beach tomorrow, jack.

jack:
Oh, GROSS!

the wife:
We want to swim in the water.

jack:
that's even grosser! Do you wanna get eaten by a shark?!?

This has been another chapter from the Book of Jack.

Blurb of the Month

Dust jacket copy for Jorney to the Golden Door:

Journey to the Golden Door is the autobiography of Jay Sommer, who at the age of twenty-one came to America with a limited formal education and with virtually no knowledge of the English language to eventually become the 1981 National Teacher of the Year, an award presented to him at the White House.

The only question is why hasn't Jerry Bruckheimer optioned this rags to riches saga?