Birthday of The Day (07-09-2008)- Evan Rachel Wood

Ah, the special post. This is about that one person even a cynical hellhound such as myself can't help but idealise/idolise [the choice of person being specific to the hellhound in question, of course]. In my case, that's my favourite actress, Evan Rachel Wood.
I won't do just the standard 'info from Wikipedia' for this one. First, I must tell about my fascination with her. While the first movie of hers I watched was Practical Magic, it would be a long time before I knew she was in it. No, my first experience of this actress was in a movie called 'Little Secrets.' I found this movie on TV and started watching it cos it had Michael Angarano, someone I really liked in some other roles he had done. While my primary focus was on Michael Angorano, and I was pretty much all set to ignore the female lead, over the course of the movie I was drawn to something quite magical in the petite blonde with eyes I could dive into (she may be 6 months older than me, but by the time I saw the movie, she definitely seemed a little girl in comparison). And it wasn't the looks that caught my attention (didn't hurt, but that wasn't it). Cos I see plenty of blondes with blue-green eyes in movies, but few actually make an impression. This one, though, was captivating. Although I had set out to merely enjoy Michael Angarano's comic relief, the young girl actually drew me into the story, and I felt like I was there with her at all times. I still feel the shock I did back then, when the character fell off a roof. It was a genuine effect, given that I wasn't yet a fan of the actress. The young girl was, as it turned out after some minor research, Evan Rachel Wood, a young actress whom I had only heard mention of as the 'edgy It girl' of Hollywood and a darling of the indie film industry.
Over the 2 years since then, I watched almost all her movies and paid attention to some other work as well.
Born to renowned Raleigh theatre personality Ira David Wood III and actress Sara Lynn Moore, Evan was always destined to be an actress. She was merely a few months old when cast in her father's annual production of A Christmas Carol. Eventually, she started dabbling in TV roles (American Gothic, Profiler) and moved to LA with her mother. She got noticed for her role as young Harriet Frankowitz in Digging To China and impressed even when acting with stalwarts such as Kevin Bacon and Mary Stuart Masterson. Over the next few years, she would obtain more roles in film and TV, gaining critical applause for her portrayal of the complex Jessie Sammler in TV's Once and Again where her character grappled with many issues such as eating disorders and sexuality. Her film career continued with movies such as Sim0ne with Al Pacino and Catherine Keener and the aforementioned Little Secrets, but it was the indie movie Thirteen that became the defining work of her career thus. Her performance as Tracy Louise Freeland (hah! How many psychotic fans remember the middle name as well? Not enough...), an innocent girl corrupted by the popular girl at school and getting into bad habits such as drink and drugs, and the strained relationship between self-harming Tracy and her single mother as Tracy descends into a downward spiral, earned Evan many awards and nominations, and remains one of the most jarring portrayals this century. The performance set a bar to which other depictions of self-harm and descent into a dangerous lifestyle must aspire- a bar that none has even come close to touching, of course. Evan continued her 'troubled girl' series with Pretty Persuasion and the Edward Norton starrer Down In The Valley (I still maintain the latter would have been one of the best movies I had seen if it wasn't for the pointless shootout that followed Evan's character's being shot) as well as acting in the multistarrer Sundance favourite The Upside of Anger. Since then she has worked in a wide variety of movies such as Mike Cahill's The King of California (I loved that movie- gave me a newfound respect for Michael Douglas as well), Beatles musical Across The Universe (for about a year, my Google Talk display picture was from the movie and my status was set to 'Across The Universe'- fairly appropriate given that at the time I felt that far away from friends back in India), Running With Scissors (didn't come near the book, in my opinion, but Evan was amazing- I was not even in the same room and I felt the daggers coming out of her eyes during one scene in the movie. Plus, during one scene in this movie, when she was asked to cry, she asked which eye to do this from. The director and crew thought she was joking, and called out which eye to do it from- and then stared in absolute shock when she produced tears from that eye. 'Zen master stuff,' the awestruck director called it) and most recently she has acted in Vadim Perelman's tale of a Columbine-like disaster, The Life Before Her Eyes alongside Uma Thurman, and the Golden Lion winning film from Darren Aronofsky The Wrestler. She is currently shooting for Woody Allen's next project, also starring Larry David.
In addition to her film and TV work, Evan has voiced characters in multiple animated movies, such as Asterix and The Vikings (Abba-English version), Shark Bait/The Reef (Cordelia) and Terra (Princess Mala). She has also appeared in Bright Eyes' music video for At the Bottom of Everything, her current boyfriend Marilyn Manson's somewhat risque video Heart Shaped Glasses and most famously in Green Day's Wake Me Up When September Ends (check out the full video. Please.). Evan's musical background isn't restricted merely to appearing in videos, however. A lifelong fan of the Beatles, she performed in the Beatles themed movie musical Across The Universe and sang many Fab 4 songs in the movie. What many don't know is that the movie was not Evan's first singing job in showbiz. Apart from singing a few songs featured in Once And Again episodes, she also recorded two songs for the School's Out Christmas Album (I have both songs- surprise, surprise...)
As for her personal life, well, she met her previous boyfriend Jamie Bell (of Billy Elliot fame) on the sets of Wake Me Up When September Ends. The relationship was going well, until Evan met her current beau Marilyn Manson who went on to paint a few portraits of her and cast her for his forthcoming movie. I'll admit her decision to go out with Manson shocked me and for a while I was unhappy (not cos it's Manson, but cos I like Jamie), but I am her fan and I eventually got over it. Happy for her now, and happy that her career is going great guns at the moment.
Hope things continue to go brilliantly for Evan. Happy birthday! [she is now old enough to drink legally in USA-21. But keep away from Manson's Mansinthe, Evan. Please]

Also, you'll be seeing a lot more of her in a different form (inspired be her, rather) once my Wacom Bamboo arrives...

Late post- BOTD Sept 6- Saeed Anwar

First of all, I know I should have posted this yesterday, but the net connection at home wasn't working as well as it should have (yes, it's been fixed, but barely seems any better than having no connection). But better late than never, and this being a post for my sis' birthday, I couldn't shelve it.
Now, coming to the choice of BOTD for today. I would, in 999999 cases out of 1000000, pick Roger Waters for the BOTD when it happens to also be his birthday. But, I said I would pick someone of my sis' preference, and from the list I saw on Wikipedia, that turned out to be Pakistani cricketer Saeed Anwar.
Saeed Anwar, for those who don't know, was a very accomplished Pakistani batsman who still holds the record for the highest individual score in a limited overs match (194 vs India in 1997). He was a naturally elegant player who used his wrists to steer the ball away for runs rather than merely bludgeoning the ball. He could, however, adapt very well to the situation, and could switch fairly easily between dour defence and freeflowing attack. An opening batsman, he combined his ability with rare concentration and was one of the greatest accumulators of runs around the turn of the century, and was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997.
In his later years, he had a bad spell of form, which coincided with the unfortunate demise of his daughter in 2001 at the tender age of three. Following this tragedy Anwar became a born-again Muslim, taking a break from cricket and serving as a devout Muslim. He eventually returned to cricket, with a very noticeable beard, as part of a Pakistani team full of similarly reborn Muslims. At the 2003 World Cup, Anwar was one of the few Pakistanis to perform well, but following the team's disappointing showing he was axed, as were many other senior players in the squad. In his retirement, he is now part of Tablighi Jamaat, and regularly goes out to preach Islam.

I should point out that my call for BOTD would have been Roger Waters, frontman of Pink Floyd. While his biog will have to wait until next year (and it will definitely show up next year...), here's a clip of him performing 'Mother'



(Belated) Happy birthday, sis

The return of the prodigal... idiot

Sorry, first I was occupied with stuff to take care of before returning to Bath, and then it turned out my connection here had been cut off while I was in India. Don't think I have the time to do a detailed birthday set for all the days I missed, so I might as well list the people I would have done a post on below. Will try and make up for it by doing a post on them next year even if they are dead by then.

August 24: Stephen Fry
August 25: Sean Connery, I guess, but there are so many people for this date...
August 26: Barbet Schroeder just about edges it...
August 27: Deco, though Pee Wee Herman deserves a lifetime shout just for being Pee Wee Herman :P
August 28: Jack Black edges out a lotta people
August 29: John McCain edges out so many people, cos he is one of the men of the moment
August 30: Andy Roddick may have earned it over the years, but I choose to do it on young hope Ernests Gulbis. If he's still doing the job next year...
August 31: A really hard one, but Queen Rania, cos she is a rare public figure I consider worthy of admiration overall, not just for achievements in a field.
September 1: Ruud Gullit. Though it should be Phil McGraw. Why? COS HE'S PHIL MCGRAW, DAMMIT!
September 2: I could play club favourites and choose Pato, but I'll be fair and take Joey Barton on experience and interestingness. That, and cos he would kill me if I didn't do so.
September 3: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
September 4: Dawn Fraser (also, my granddad)
September 5: Freddie Mercury

Will start posting again from tomorrow... I assume. It's also my sis' birthday, so I will definitely pick someone good :)