ghana: i want to be your friend

These are phone numbers and email addresses given to me by people I met or worked with in Ghana. Whenever a stranger discovered I lived in the United States, he or she would write down his or her contact information, saying, ”Call me, and we’ll talk,” ”I’ll stay with you when I visit America,” or ”I want to be your friend.”

Not one has heard from me. I was baffled. I still am. What could I have possibly done? What did they want from me? And most confounding of all: Why? I have my own ideas, but I’d rather not state them here. Make what you will.

“Ebenezer” – Accra, Ghana, June 2006

(The first. Ebenezer runs a phone booth outside the butcher shop. Callers pay him to use the two phones on his stand. He asked me if I were Chinese or Japanese or Korean; before I could answer, he said, “It doesn’t matter. We like you all.”)

(Chairman James, from the Liberian Refugee Camp in Budaburam, Ghana. He came to my rescue when I thought I was lost. He runs a small bus depot.)

(I met Williams on a minibus on my way to the Liberian Refugee Camp. He accused me of not trusting him because I was reluctant to give him my address in the United States.)

(A news reporter for Ghana TV. I met him on numerous occasions while working for The Daily Guide. The most handsome and charming guy I’ve ever met traveling abroad.)

(I tagged along for a story with a senior reporter named Alhaji and his cousin Mazuk. We were to interview a source, but because it was all very confidential, I was sent out of the room before the formal interview began. For close to two hours, I sat with the source’s secretary Georgina, who was supposed to keep an eye on me.)

(The Daily Guide’s 80-year-old proofreader/copy editor. During lunch one day, he was talking to himself about buying aphrodisiacs after work. He was close to tears when I said good-bye to him on my last day at the Guide.)

(The Daily Guide’s financial associate Fidele. The interns went to her for any and all on-the-job travel expenses. Among a few other women at the Guide, she bleached her skin. She is center in the picture below.)

Accra, Ghana, July 2006

my hobo life of philanthropy

So, instead of finding a permanent job, I’m going to Ireland in April. I’m full of bright ideas and irresponsibility — two things I cannot afford.

My current goal is to build up my CV for the Peace Corps. Tuesday, I start volunteering in New York City. I think I’m reading to children or something. Or painting a daycare center? I should probably find out.

one is the loneliest number

The opening sequence of the film Magnolia (1999):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O1Y8RhhAYc

The song is “One.” It’s not my favorite version of this song (Aimee Mann), but it’s a pretty good one. Written by Harry Nilsson, made (more) famous by Three Dog Night.

For the intro sequence of the film, which is also awesome, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAWDEsgMahQ&feature=related

I really must stop directing you to Wikipedia. Right now.

my private life

I love lists. These movies have been keeping my brain occupied. Some are flicks; they have reduced my IQ points. Some are films; they are, shall we say, awesome. This is my private life.

All the President’s Men 1976 – How this lost to Rocky for Best Picture I will never know.

Annie Hall  1977 – Woody Allen. Interior monologue. The kind of comedy I love.

Adaptation 2002 – This starts out with great promise, especially in terms of my English-major mind, then, toward the end, a character is devoured by an alligator. Shit that fuck.

Road to Perdition 2002 – Meh. Mediocre at best.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004 – Jim Carrey is every awkwardly charming character I have ever invented.

The Apartment 1960 – Old school comedy at its best.

Sunset Blvd. 1950 – The entertainment industry is accurate in listing this at the top of lists labeled “Best Films of All Time,” “Must Watch Films Before You Die,” and the sort.

Straw Dogs 1971 – Flick. Can’t say I enjoyed it. Afterward, I felt like I lost two hours of my life. I guess it was shocking for 1971.

Hotel Rwanda 2004 – I really loved this. Depressing as fuck though. Watch this to feel ashamed.

Rashomon 1950 – Perspective. Subjectivity. Truth. Murder?

Ran  1985 – King Lear Japanese style.

Ben-Hur 1959 -  Probably the best Biblical fiction epic ever. It deserved the 11 Academy Awards. Besides, who doesn’t love the two classic scenes from this movie? Rowing boats and racing chariots. Judah Ben-Hur can be my Jesus any day.

To Kill a Mockingbird  1962 – Never mind. I want Atticus Finch as my Jesus.

Moby Dick 1962 – Pretty decent special effects for the early 60s.

Zodiac 2007 – All right, I guess.

The Living Daylights 1987 – My Favorite James Bond: Timothy Dalton.

License to Kill – James Bond vendettas are the best.

Diamonds Are Forever  1971 – Old school and classic James Bond.

The Cider House Rules 1999 – “Good night, you Princes of Maine, you Kings of New England.” Returning to your duty, your destiny.

Babel 2006 – This is what movies should be like: less talk, more art. Love.

Rope 1948 – Underrated Hitchcock — and quickly becoming my favorite.

The Trouble With Harry 1955 – Dark humor Hitchcock.

The Lion in Winter 1968 – As close to a Shakespearean drama we get now. Henry II.

Becket 1964 – Counterpart to above — and even better. I love homoerotic subtext.

Ed Wood 1994 – All right. I’m not a fan of Johnny Depp, but he’s all right here as the worst director ever, Edward D. Woods, Jr.

Amores Perros 2000 – Written by the same man who wrote Babel and 21 Grams. Amazing. Watch this movie because this is cinematic storytelling at its best. Gael Garcia Bernal. That is all.

Blow-Up 1966 – This reminded me of Muholland Drive. I understand this film far more though, thank God. Slow, but pretty good.

The Pianist 2002 – Damn, Adrien Brody can fucking act.

Lost in Translation 2003 – Like every movie I love, it is, first and foremost, subtle.

More to come, I expect.

kharms

“Lynch Law” by Daniil Kharms

     Petrov gets on his horse and, addressing the crowd, delivers a speech about what would happen if, in place of the public garden, they’d build an American skyscraper. The crowd listens and, it seems, agrees. Petrov writes something down in his notebook. A man of medium height emerges from the crowd and asks Petrov what he wrote down in his notebook. Petrov replies that it concerns himself alone. The man of medium height presses him. Words are exchanged and discord begins. The crowd takes the side of the man of medium height and Petrov, saving his life, drives his horse on and disappears around the bend. The crowd panics and, having no other victim, grabs the man of medium height and tears off his head. The torn-off head rolls down the street and gets stuck in the hatch of a sewer drain. The crowd, having satisfied its passions, disperses.

“The Meeting” by Daniil Kharms

     Now, one day a man went to work and on the way he met another man, who, having bought some Polish bread, was heading back home where he came from.

     And that’s it, more or less.