Entertainment

Day after...

Last night mirth and merriment were to be had in the heart of the Mission. Tasty tapas were eaten, litres of sangria were drained, and then the high-class lowlife a-go-go mecca the 500 club was patronized. So this morning while I was recovering I finished off Silent Hill 2 (PS2). I got the “In Water” ending. I would say that Silent Hills are a pretty good series of game - apparently falling into the genre of survival horror. So, so dark. The new one just came out, but I’m not going to pick it up yet as I need to get the imprint of my butt out of my futon.

Steve Martin

In this entry I chronicle my feelings about Steve Martin and introduce the Steve Martin Poster Test Steve Martin: SNL, “The Jerk”, “The Man with Two Brains”, “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” - pure comic genius. After this foray he did some interesting meta-film films: “Grand Canyon” and “LA Story”. These films marked an interesting - and definitely NOT BAD turn in his career. I mean, he could have done more of the same, but I support a creative person’s right to expand into new directions. I would even include “Leap of Faith” in this grouping, although that definitely was a bad movie (although interesting in concept).

Matrix Predictions

So tonight or tomorrow thousands of Matrix cultists will find out how far the rabbit hole goes. Anyone care to make some predictions?

If you prefer to go in with no hints / discussions delete this now…

(Yes, I am a very big loser.)

His Dark Materials

Australian Edition I really hope someone out there gets the right directing crew together to produce The Golden Compass or Northern Lights as a film. I think that the movie would work very well based on the script – but, there’s a certain difficult moodiness to Pullman’s book that I think would be very hard to capture on the screen. The cartoonishness of Harry Potter (boy wizard full of derring-do) is what made it easily translated to a film- but Lyra Bellaqua is neither inherently likable nor is she someone we empathize with nor is she someone we admire from the get-go.

Did the band Incubus take an angry pill?

The erstwhile head-nodding, top-40, sap-song auteurs, Incubus, have released a new album (whose title is based upon my favorite gathering of animals term, “murder”) entitled “A Crow Left of the Murder” (Neil Gaiman has an interesting take on this in one of the books of his Sandman series). Back to the band, the first single released is called “Megalomaniac”. You can find a link to the video here. Stop motion animation Hitler Rockettes Director Floria Sigismondi has given us a pastiche of visual gags that point out some of the difficulties of the Right’s rhetoric (“Heroes don’t ask questions”, babies suckling oil from a bottle), images of Adolf Hitler with bomber wings as angellic wings and Rock-ette legs dancing about, a Bush/Blair-like actor atop a Third Reich vintage podium, and stock footage of Stalin, Franco, et.

Watching some movies while unpacking...

Last night I watched X2. I enjoyed it a lot. It was a really good action flick. My favorite scene was when Yuriko and Wolverine were fighting in the underground lab and… Expand for spoiler content Wolverine takes the adamantium needle and pumps it into the post-racially beautiful Kelly Hu (portraying Yuriko) and it starts to leak out of her ocular orbits in a mercury-like cascade of death tears. The Chinese cheekbones that Ms. Hu’s DNA codes for bore those silver streams in a haunting display of sorrow. Farewell, Lady Deathstrike It was an outstanding achievement for the make up / special effects artist and it was a great display of director Brian Singer’s eye.

Drugs aren’t funny, but Dave Navarro is

I’ve been watching the Carmen and Dave: Til Death Do Us Part show and I had to laugh during the scene where they are giving each other shots. Now Mr. Navarro has quite a drug history, including a fairly lengthy history with heroin. As such, the irony of his future-wife implying that he would be incapable of giving her a B12 shot in her lipidinous derrière is not lost on our goateed guru of guitar acrobatics. “I could find a vein in the dark” Dave wryly comments, leaving off the implied you think I couldn’t shoot B12 into your petite rump?

Lieutenant Cmdr. Data is the perfect Existential Dilemma in a box

If you were an android and lost your memory and everyone treated you as if you were human, would you be a human?

Rock and Roll needs black-haired girls with shag haircuts....

Maria Andersson of Sahara Hotnights is the latest incarnation of the Joan Jett archetype.

More Ico - inspired whimsy

[To the Tune of the Kinks’ “Lola”.] “Yorda” Yorda I met her in a cage up in-a the sky where you sit all day and you cry and cry her name was YORDA, Y-o-r-d-a, YORDA. I walked up to her and helped her escape I asked her her name and in a foreign tongue she said: _(unrenderable)_, I think it's YORDA, Y-o-r-d-a, YORDA. Well I'm just a wee little horn-headed guy but when she fell off the edge she nearly broke-a my spine I'm saying YORDA, Y-o-r-d-a, YORDA. Well I'm not dumb but I can't understand, why she walked off a cliff while she held-a my hand I'm falling 'cuz a YORDA, Y-o-r-d-a, YORDA.

Scenes from 1987

I remember 1987. I remember I had this rather large Walkman that I could not be separated from. I was often afoot …uhh.. for lack of a better prepositional verb .. “rocking out” to Europe’s “The Final Countdown” release (with, of course, “The Final Countdown” and “Carrie” (… and “Cherokee” and many, many others ..) ). Anyhow, it was New Year’s eve 1987 and the local radio station (KRBE in Houston) was doing a countdown all night. We went out to dinner (my family this is and my grandparents who were visiting at the time). I recall being rather anxious about the possibility of not hearing the top ten.

Great New Track: "Mass Destruction" by Faithless

I heard a very good track today on MTV by a band called Faithless who I first ran across in NL (it’s actually a trio, one third of which, Rollo Armstrong, is the brother of quasi-depressive chanteuse Dido, who i think is the girl playing drums in the video…). Whether long range weapon or suicide bomber Wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction Whether you’re soar away sun or BBC 1 Disinformation is a weapon of mass destruc’ You could a Caucasian or a poor Asian Racism is a weapon of mass destruction Whether inflation or globalization Fear is a weapon of mass destruction [echoes of Russell Simmons]

The Cardigans’ new record is great

In the opening 3 minutes you get gems like: If this is communication I disconnect I’ve seen you, I know you But I don’t know How to connect, so I disconnect …rendered lovingly and tenderly by the lovely Ms. Persson. Perfect music to contemplate the last man to.

Just watched "Pacific Heights"

This is a movie from the early 90s that shows the peril of SF real estate! Glad to see that everyone’s been over-mortgaging themselves in SF at least since the late eighties. It was funny because everytime they showed the house (in Potrero Hill) I could recognize the area. Then when they wanted the real PacHeights feel they would film the cross streets of Pacific Heights, and then cut back to vista shots from Potrero. Oddly most SF movies are set out in the P-hill district – I guess that the Richmond and Sunset districts are a little too blasé.

I saw "Collateral" the other day.

Recently I saw the film “Collateral”. It is a very good movie and will easily fall within my top five for the year (and, unless the next six months produce many more amazing films than the first produced, it is likely to remain there). The film is definitely worth the cost of a matinee admission and might even be worth that 9.50 prime-time gouging (10.75 if you use Fandango). I have thought about the film quite a bit over the days since I saw it and I should like to discuss the film from a perspective generally not afforded to reviewers in the standard newspaper review format.

Dave Matthews band in trouble for dumping crap?

No no not their schlocky, spineless music. Literally – off a bridge in Chicago.

Hawaii on my mind..."Hawaii" too...

I’m leaving in a little bit under 48 hours….so I decided I would watch the NBC action drama “Hawaii” to get in the spirit. Good post-racial cast African-American, Japanese-Hawaiian, Vietnamese-named half-Caucasian half-something females, a Samoan gentleman… Hackers in Paradise Glad to see the presence of APPLE APPLE APPLE: The hacker-cops (more on them later) were using the new flat-panel Apple monitors (was that a CGI blurred out Mac OSX dock I didn’t see at the bottom of the screen?) and the toy of our decade, the iPod, had a cameo… But here’s the real question, hackers in tropical paradise? Are we supposed to believe that people would voluntarily live in Hawaii who have the genetic inclination to live in perma-semi-dark with gentle red lighting with code?

Law and Order Premiere

I watched the double airing of Law and Order last night. First, I miss Jerry Orbach. I mean that kind of deadbeat, deadpan, “ho hum another body” humor just can’t be imitated. However, Dennis Farina as a smooth, Italian, playboy meets Sherlock Holmes is an interesting character and he seems to work well with Jesse L. Martin. Something I really noticed is the downward spiral that Elisabeth Rohm’s character (ADA Serena Southerlyn) seems to be headed towards. Instead of a transfer or a flame-out her character (she is leaving the show at the end of the season) seems to be headed for mass disillusionment and burn-out.

Still not really packing...

I should be packing but instead I am watching “Pieces of April” and avoiding my work. It’s a pretty interesting movie - filmed in that IFC style of jerky camera movements, Dogme95 homage, etc. I like Katie Holmes, despite being a “Dawson’s Creek” alumnus she has really shown herself to be versatile, evocative, and talented … although her recent taste in roles (the all to predictably schmaltzy (even looking at the commercial) role as the President’s daughter trying to get through college “just like all the other kids”) is surely a perversion of her talent. …and while I’m on the topic, i hate the way they always photograph her with this tomboy smirk.

I didn’t understand the premise of "The Girl Next Door"

If you’re of a more Puritan viewpoint, you may want to pass over this post…No rough language, but just discussing the film, “The Girl Next Door”. Here’s the IMDB link to start off. What baffled me about this movie was the way the advertising and the plot conflicted and the way the movie’s threads’ messages conflicted with each other. First about the advertising and plot mess. So the advertising told us that a bookish middle class kid in suburbia has a surprise when the very hot girl next door moves in. The advertising put us in the dramatic irony bucket with the secret that she was formerly in adult films.

Virginia Madsen

Horribly underused, brilliant, and beautiful actress. Luminous and alive in this scene from Sideways

My Life with Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fandom

Now that James Dedman has outed me as a total diehard Yeah Yeah Yeahs fan (I have mentioned them before in other posts) I will now comment on what’s so amazing about the YYY. I first became really aware of their music one night when P-dizzle and I were up at Chez Maman up in Potrero. He and I had showed up in the later evening and we were sitting there eating when this beautiful dark-haired Prosperina type entered the restaurant (which, to be truthful, is a glorified hallway with stools). Being of the genetic disposition to find beautiful dark-haired Presperina types enchanting I waited until she ordered, assured she wasn’t waiting for a boyfriend to show up, and then invited her to join us at our table (she was alone).

Dedman’s Complaint

Surprisingly clever, and perhaps the most consistent I have read with respect to its theory of time travel, this book is quite good, especially considering that it is Niffenegger’s first novel. It would almost be timeless, save for its odd (and unnecessary) references to early 1980s punk bands. So says Dedman of The Time Traveler’s Wife. He complaint follows this pattern of argument that For all books, if it is “timeless” then it does not contain references to popular movements of the day. This is sheer nonesense. The rhetorical retort to “for all” is to provide a single counterexample. I proffer two.

Signs you’re in Silicon Valley

…You wear your Prisoner t-shirt to the gym and receive no less than 3 “Be Seeing You” salutes.

Some links!

Surrealist photo comics: A softer world

Pulp fiction art work

I love pulp fiction art work: the grittier, cheaper, grimier, more lascivious the better. Writers are grimy people. Yay for writers.

Ashlee Simpson, outed as lip-syncist

Why’d you have to lipsync your SNL appearance? And why didn’t your band ad-lib, start over? You’ve been outed as a Milli-Vanilli. The Train Wreck. At the end she blamed the band. Classy. I guess that’s why they kept on playing instead of helping you. Update: Update:

A show that scared the bejesus out of me

Back in the early days of cable (dating myself here), the then-fledgling MTV networks did not have the means to produce its own content (20 years later, it produces too much crappy content). As part of the MTV Networks Umbrella, Nickelodeon (now “Nick”) imported a great amount of content from our friend across the pond, the BBC and Thames productions. What the Hell? They also imported many Canadian shows like “Pinwheel:” Aside: T’was on Nickelodeon’s Today’s Special that I first saw the mysterious word “Ontario.” Today’s Special, You Can’t Do That on Television, and Pinwheel are all pivotal childhood media milestones and worthy of their own post elsewhere

A blasé entry

It’s 1035 and i’m exhausted. I stayed up late sunday night cleaning house, getting the laundry done (bed, bath, ktichen, and hall all look great). I’m trying to make a dint in all my projects (they are the things that clutter my living room) - hard drives, filing, assembling movies, notes for a CCNA exam, my fat 60GB iPod/Photo… But tonight I am too tired. I went to the gym after a 6 hour class on Report design for Microsoft applications. It’s interesting, the technology has changed little since a decade ago, it feels like the drop down plug and chug of the MS-access days.

How bad ass are Detectives Fontana and Green?

Popeye Doyle Clint Eastwood (even in a brown suit) Detective Lantana and Detective Green on “Law and Order” They have great chemistry as partners on Law and Order. Sometimes the lineup of L&O is more prosecutor-oriented (Waterston & Harmon) these guys bring back some old school hard-boiled enforcement to the show. I really like Lantana (Dennis Farina), his character has salt and pepper shades of wiseguy (fancy clothes, nicer than cop salary car) to match his hair color. I dig his presentation and his busting out of some serious Italian with the mobsters nona was a real treat.

Daily Texan Associate Editor Jim’s Movie

“Pleadings”….now has a trailer. I checked it out and it looks like a real honest to dog indie movie trailer replete with the courier font for the title cards (to get the extra Indie seal of approval). I’m mighty excited about this development, the feature is taking its final form

Postmodernism in the OC

On the last airing of “The OC” the character Summer mentioned that she could not be interrupted by the person knocking at the door because Thursday was “must watch TV night” and that she had to watch the fictional show “The Valley”. “The Valley” being one of California’s strange regional provinces like “Marin County”, “The City”, and “Orange County”. Ha ha - you may be writing teeny soaps, but you’re savvy about your role in the

If you consider how popular Jon Stewart is...

Jon Stewart is pretty popular these days. [The Daily Show] is massively popular, as is Jon’s and TDS’ book: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction. It all makes me wonder about Craig Kilborn who hosted the show back in the day. I wonder if he rues leaving TDS to host the late-late show on CBS (is that thing still on?). He’s sorta the Shelley Long (to whom I wish the best as she recovers from her difficult time) to Jon’s Kirstie Alley (to whom I wish the best as she recovers

The Apprentice

I admit, I didn’t watch the whole 87 minute lead up to Donnyboy saying: “You’re hired” to Kelly, but I’m glad Kelly is the next Apprentice. He was level headed, a quality leader, and seemed to be rather affable. All in all he exudes that California software design company laid back leadership style. Good for him. Much credit to one of the best schools of management out there: The US Army.

Desperate Houswife Mania

Yep, I watch it. It never takes itself too seriously and unapologetically looks for cliffhangers. Yay! I love Marcia Cross, she’s my favorite actress on the show. Her tightly controlled, purse lipped Bree van de Kamp is just such a tense psychological study in repression and control. Ms. Cross is a very bright woman as well, graduate of Julliard, masters in psychology. I like her style. I hated her on Melrose Place, then again, I hated Melrose Place.

I figured out why I like the Gilmore Girls

I like shows that involve tight dialog with quirky people in small towns…. BUT there is one caveat, if the work rests on the lazy screenwriter’s crutch of “put them in the South” I will reject the work like B+ kidney in an A- bloodstream. The archetype of a show of this type is “Northern Exposure”. Tight dialog, interesting plots, quirky characters - not in the South. GG: Tight dialog, interesting plots, quirky characters - not in the South. It just seemed that everytime some Hollywood grass chewer wanted to make characters quirky and justify why they were quirky he put them in the South.

We all knew the Jewish-reggae kid in college

It’s true. Ganja from the shofar? Check. Fuzzy pancho with yarmulke? Check. Zion and, uh, Zion? Check. Trying so hard to take his natural frizz into dreadlocks. Trying to be oy vey irie. BUT What if he got a little older, swung orthodox and then started laying down the phattest of the phat rhymes with a bit o’ irie stylee?

Siouxsie...

I think back in the day I was too young or hung-up on 4-chord progressions to appreciate her work but recently I’ve come around to liking the work of Siouxsie and the Banshees more and more. I think that things started to really change when I saw her on The Alternative on VH1. I knew the back story: she had been a punk back before I was born in the early London scene, Robert Smith’s litttle band had made their way into fame on her coattails, and she has sufficent eyebrow to stack books upon. Note to the subtlety-impaired, the Cure are a quite famous band who have sold bazillions of records.

Please, please, let Ashlee’s career be over now

The last time I blogged about Ashlee Simpson’s Milli Vanilli debacle on SNL it was pure schadefreude. I didn’t even re-type the blog entry that I lost about Conan’s spot for memorial quarters for each of the new states (“New York: Where Ashlee Simpson’s Career Died” - with a graven image of Ashlee’s offence to the word “dance”). I thought Conan might have been prematurly using the word “dead”. I was right. Her performance during last night’s Orange Bowl really, really, really, needs to put a big wooden stake in the undead beast that is her career. Much like a van Helsing , for the creatures own good it must be laid to final rest.

New band that has knocked me off my rocker

The last band that truly blew me away were The White Stripes - in the middle of all the same old post-Nirvana blandness out came something Southern (via Detroit), raw, baffling. Furthermore the WS live is an experience is being astounded, Jack White sounds like 3 singers and 2 guitar players. Today on SF’s 104.9 they played The Dresden Dolls. I know now what it must have been like the first time people heard Iggy Pop. Somewhere the brain circuit between “What the hell is this” and “I hate this” and “This is stunning” all lit up at the same time.

White Noise Review, Ideas, Meaning

Warning: Possible plot spoilers below Recently Jim posted the folowing quote on his blog that I would like to use as the reference point for my review of White Noise: Sadness is an inevitable ubiquitous element of human life: we are beings who want to live in a world that constantly threatens us with death or that reminds us of death, if not literally then symbolically, through loss and aging and disappointment. And to me, a healthy life has to integrate sadness. Only by integrating sadness can we resist the temptations of fleeing from it in ways that are destructive to others or ourselves.

Great Saturday Night Live this weekend

Unburdening the Tivo….. The Killers ROCKED. When they come out to the bay I am going to be there. Topher Grace was really funny as well.

Bush’s iPod

I’m half-heartbroken to hear that there is now photodocumentary evidence that GWBush owns on iPod - in some ways he’s more like me than I’m comfortable with, apparently (a humorous take on his playlist is here. Then again, his having an iPod explains a lot of things. For example, that blank look he gets when someone asks him a hard question. See, when you’re listening to books on tape (“The Pet Goat” on mp3?) it’s hard to pay attention to hard questions. Furthermore it explains whatTenet told him about WMDs in Iraq: iPod-GW: “Tenet! What’s the deal on WMD in Iraq?

I still despise Ann Coulter

This is partly why she’s famous, not because she’s smart or talented, but because she says inflammatory things and that makes good infotainment. Ditto Tucker Carlson, another hack on TV. The CBC smack talks the talking kneecap down.

The very well researched: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Over Christmas my enabler, my sister, purchased me the latest installation of the Grand Theft Auto series: San Andreas. I love these games, I love that they’re violent, crass, and work to rip apart the fabric of civilized society. I love that spineless wretches attempt to pin blame on games like this (or music like heavy metal. In any case, you can tell they researched Bay Area culture very well because the very second conversation your character has in San Fierro (modeled on San Francisco) is about property prices.

I enjoy "Two and a Half Men"

Most of all for Chuck Lorre’s Vanity Cards at the end.

Whoever is doing marketing at Burger King understand viral marketing

This ad’s (“Subservient Chicken”) discussion is spreading like wildfire all for the BK chicken something burger. Check out this deconstruction.

Just saw "Sin City"

I think there’s been a fair amount of buzz around the just released film “Sin City” based off the graphic novels by Frank Miller. I’m no comics afficionado (unlike The League) but I know good drawings when i see them. Ripped from the pages of gritty, hard-boiled, noir cop and corruption graphic novels, the scenes from the film present the readers clips or perfect stills with which our minds race to fill in the blanks in time and story. The magic of the comic form is that it shows the verbs at their most explosive intensity and the reader weaves the transitions on his own.

In a meeting, thus I tend the James Dedman Music Challenge

I’ve resisted answering this because I thought it was kinda stupid, but as I’m in a situation where I have time to kill… What is the total amount of music files on your computer? Well point one is that these files are not actually on my computer, I have them on a Network Attached storage device + USB hard-drive set up. I ran a recursive find out of an Xterm with _find . -name “*mp3” | wc -l _ Came up with 13,345 files. I consider that about right given that I have about 4 disc notebooks full of discs. It’s all ancillary to the life of petty hedonism I live.

On broadcast propriety

I mentioned how much I liked Chuck Lorre’s vanity cards. In line with my recent commentary on the FCC I thought I would repost this card from his site: CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #133 There was a scene in this episode which was drastically cut down in order to appease the censors. Their problem with it was the length of time we spent on the nude back of an attractive young woman. My problem is knowing that I work in an industry, or perhaps I should say a culture, that is more comfortable showing a dead naked body than a live one.

If I had a dinner table and my choice of diners

If i had a dining room table in this apartment … …and i could choose famous TV people to come over …. I would have… Jesse L. Martin - Dt. Green from Law and Order. Jesse was great on his guest role on the Xfiles. He can come over. Lauren Graham - She and Jesse could rap about the biz. I’d just serve more Pad Thai Chuck Lorre - He’s a producer, but he’s still cool David Duchovny - He totally bailed out when he was major famous. That’s pretty good…and I loved X-Files 94-97 Jamie Gertz - Because she’s Jamie Gertz

Few things are as painful

As watching episodes of the brilliant Freaks and Geeks on DVD. The absolute accuracy with which high school identity and awkwardness is portrayed hits the mark every time – like a misanthropic, sadistic, dentist. I’ve never winced and laughed harder at the same time. I hate stories that portray young adults (you know, teenagers) as always doing the right thing. Because being a teen is about letting go of the black-and-white rules and accepting the grayness that adults see. Case in point, Sam doesn’t want his sister’s parents-are-away party to get out of hand so he switches the keg for non-alcoholic beer.

WHERE IS THE DVD OF HAL HARTLEY’S TRUST?

This is one of the best movies I ever saw and I am eternally in the debt of Beth in NYC for having introduced me to it one early fall evening in Austin. Here’s the VHS link: [ LINK ].

The Italian direction of Law & Order

The lineup was: Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, Sam Waterston, Elisabeth R?hm Mr. Orbach died (R.I.P.) and was replaced by Dennis Farina (“Fontana”). Elisabeth R?hm was replaced by Annie Parisse (“Borgia”) Martin’s character (“Green”) seems to have caught a bullet and (we hope!) may survive, but has been replaced by Michael Imperioli (of “The Sopranos” fame) who portrays Det. Falco. Hang on here Italianate Imperioli Farina Parisse Non-Italianate Waterston - Ex. ADA McCoy Merkerson - Lt. van Buren the DA - Fred Thompson

When Tivo goes bad

Tivo, based on my recording of McLaughlin group and watching Charlie Rose seems to conclude that I would also like The Blow’Reilly Factor.

How amazing is Patricia Clarkson?

I just watched The Station Agent. Clarkson is simply amazing as an actress, she has such fine control facially. I think she’s one of the few actress who can pluck every note on the harp that is the facial expression of sadness. Her story is much richer being from The Big Easy . She has strong features that wouldn’t look out of place as a Depression-era moll, a society lady, or a heroin addled artiste. I’d like to see her in a more Southern role…I think she’s got the iron to do it well.

IM chat and drink coffee around The Social Bobcat at your own risk

me: does lauren hill have a new record out? the_social_bobcat: not sure

If you want to sell me something, a recipe

Greek Myth Cool glyphs - none better than cuneiform or Greek A quest against the gods An existential dilemma Pseudo (or actual) Latin chanting background music (? la Orff’s Carmina Burana) Great scenery and backgrounds Mysterious Oracles who say mysterious stuff Extra bonus: Get great voice talent like SF icon and host of City Arts & Lectures, Linda Hunt, to do the role of the wizened narrator. In short, God of War . This game is, may I lapse in to gamer, T3H r00lz!!!111!!!. You play Kratos - a very wan man in search of vengeance - seeking the death of Ares.

Haaayyy yoooouuu guyyyyyss! Goonies 2 !!!!

Could it be? Goonies ][ ? It’s been an off-again almost-on-again affair for years now. The internet rumour sites don’t seem to really know what’s going on and Warner Brothers hasn’t been a source of strong support in the matter (alas!). Boy that would be sweet.

Need a job? Proofreader at AOL?

Anyone see something wrong in the pope’s activity?

Hurry up, Macauly!

Big Mac, God sculpted your face so that you could play Michael Score of Flock of Seagulls in the movie version of 1984 musical history.

I like "Numb3rs" ? and it’s been renewed!

I always liked Rob Morrow on “Northern Exposure” and I thought David Krumholtz was great in “The Slums of Beverly Hills”. I would describe the show as CSI, but instead of shamefully titillating the audience by carving up buxom Vegas girls with scalpels, it entertains by encouraging us to use our minds and follow the mental acrobatics of a “math consultant (Krumholtz)” in his advisling his FBI-agent brother (Morrow). Invariably Charlie (a prodigy, and prof. at the fictitious “Cal-Sci” can bring his mathematical acumen to a case a bring it to resolution. Surely such an intersting blend of intellect and entertainment is doomed for the first season scrap heap, no?

Tom Cruise, Idiot.

From the BBC [SOURCE]. “You’re glib. You don’t even know what Ritalin is,” Cruise told Lauer on Friday night’s show. “Psychiatry is a pseudo science,” he said. “You don’t know the history of psychiatry - I do,” he added. First things first, I’m not sure he’s using the word “glib” properly. From what I understand, Lauer asserted that Ritalin was helpful to some people. This is just a fact. That’s not glib.

Finished Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

It was an amusing book. I like Sedaris’ writing. I can’t say that I had any great insights while reading it, but that’s not the point.

Hurry up, Nick Carter

In keeping in line with my previous entry about Macauly Culkin playing the guy from Flock of Seagulls. How about Nick Carter playing early 90’s Simon LeBon? AP Photo

Separated at Birth?

OK, keeping with my weirder of the weird celebrities playing the part of other celebrities, check out Johnny Knoxville! Here’s Johnny Knoxville… Oh wait, this is Johnny Knoxville

Steven On: Not living up to your potential

I encourage people to not live up to their potential. Check this out: Tommy Lee Jones: Harvard, English James Woods: MIT, Political Science Ken Keeler (staff writer on Futurama): Harvard, Applied Mathematics Many, many smart people in this world go to very prestigious institutions of higher learning that gear them to do a certain task. Rarely do some of them say, this isn’t all that great, take off, and go do something artistic and / or completely different.

Don’t we all love...

…the string bit in the background to the chorus of “Sad Song” on Lou Reed’s opus, Berlin. I borrowed this CD from a CD rental place in Holland shortly before I headed to Berlin in the Christmastime of 1997. I remember the hostel being up a dark, gray interior stairway. I remember the warm wooden floors creaking as we padded in, tired, with mulled wine stirring in our gullets. I remember putting on my headphones in my bunk and hearing the beautiful, minimalist, sad songs on Berlin. I can feel the sparse Teutonic nothingness of heroin-addled West Germany in this album.

Going to see Interpol in San Jose!

my best friend’s a butcher, he has sixteen knives he carries them all over the town at least he tries oh look it stopped snowing my best friend’s from Poland and um, he has a beard but they caught him with his case in that public place that is what we had feared… Citing from their amazing record “Turn on the Bright Lights”, I am so very much impressed with Interpol (and their sophomore effort “Antics”). I’m totally stoked. It’s not until the 15th of next month though. Until that time.. he severed segments secretly, you like that he always had the time to speak with me I liked him for that

Yet another vote for "The Forty Year-Old Virgin"

I had been hard at work on building a new server and porting a bunch of legacy Perl code over so yesterday I was due for a reward. I came home, ate a Sloppy Joe, and then headed to the Shoreline with Elle. I’m not saying anything new by saying that I thought this movie was hilarious, but it was. It was a (surprisingly) grown-up look at relationships, dating, forging one’s sexual identity, and kooky co-workers. It’s definitely R-rated, but it’s part of the resurgent adult sex-comedy that so blessed us during the early 80s heyday of Private Benjamin, Stripes, Porky’s, and Bachelor Party.

Revelation: The Movies Suck!

Susan Waxman’s much blog-discussed article in the NYT seems to mark a watershed moment in re-defining the relationship between uppity movie snobs (HERE) and the uninspiring auteurs of moronic, trite, summer fare, or at least the studio heads that pay their bills. The part of Waxman’s article that attracted my attention were these quotes by Marc Shmuger of Universal Pictures: Shmuger, vice chairman of Universal, said Hollywood has been too focused on short-term box office payoff and not focused enough on what he called “the most elemental factor of all” - the satisfaction of the moviegoing experience. IN THEATERS NOW: Bewitched Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo

Where were you when unix power tools were first mentioned on WB evening soaps?

On Veronica Mars (with cute-as-a-button Veronica portrayed by Kristin Bell) V-to-tha-M caught this bit of dialog that could be played out in most corners of my office building: **Pete:** How can you even have an opinion on [Ubuntu]() if you haven't tried it? [2.6 kernel](http://www.kernel.org), [live CD](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livecd) that even had [GNOME 2 point 0](http://www.gnome.org) the day [Warty Warthog](http://www.ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=3) came out. **Mac:** I'm sorry! I am perfectly content with [OS X](http://www.apple.com/macosx). I have all the [awk, grep, and sed](http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/unix/grep.html) that I want without any need for that pitiful [font deuglification](http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/FDU/index.html). **Pete:** But...but...but...the fonts are deuglified, and it's [free](http://www.fsf.org). Fine, you know, live in the dark ages.

Interpol!

Thursday night Elle and I went to visit lovely downtown San Jose to see avant-garde rock band Interpol play. It was an excellent show in an intimate venue. Paul Banks’ powerful voice really belted out strong song after strong song. I was worried that I wasn’t going to hear “Roland” but they closed out the show with it. I was so pleased.

Overheard at the Interpol concert

In the spirit of overheardinnewyork.com I present something overheard at the Interpol concert: “Doesn’t he [Paul Banks] look like Ellen DeGeneres a bit?”

Is the world ready for the return of NPH* ?

[ That’s Neal Patrick Harris for those of you not in the posse ] It’s time for the great old one to arise on the network of the Illuminati on “How I Met Your Mother” **Update: **Having watched 2 shows, it’s pretty dumb. **Update: **Having watched 2 shows, it’s pretty dumb.

Worried about the new season of Numb3rs...

Today I had the chance to watch the season premiere of Numb3rs and I’m pretty worried about where it’s going this season. Here’s what made the first season work: Mathematically / scientifically competent technologists (nerds) #1, portrayed by hot women A really interesting family dynamic between genius Charlie (David Krumholz), FBI big-brother (Rob Morrow), and Dad (Judd Hirsch). What’s it like to be the older brother while your younger brother is at Ivy League? Assuming that the audience might actually be smart It was for all these reasons that I was sure such an inventive show would be cancelled. It scraped by, but I’m sure the no-talent, formulaic bozos up in CBS management had some ideas on how to “improve” things.

Wisdom comes from IBM

“All parts should go together without forcing. You must remember that the parts you are reassembling were disassembled by you. Therefore, if you can’t get them together again, there must be a reason. By all means, do not use a hammer.” – IBM maintenance manual (1925)

Steven on the state of pop music

I’m not a fan of the pop genre but here’s my dictum. The greatest pop singer in the world at the moment is Kelly Clarkson who is shedding American Idol now that she’s milked all that image was worth. Go Kelly. You can sing beautifully. The best pop song on the radio is Natasha Bedingfield’s “These Words” which is so happy and ecstatic it should make you bubble where you sit. It has an interesting writer’s block angle to it that I really like. Besides, this may be the first and last song where Keats and Shelley get name-dropped.

The upside of Empire: Rudyard Kipling

I was reading in National Geographic about the domestication of dogs and they cited a bit from “The Cat that Walked by Himself” from the Just-so Stories. When Wild Dog reached the mouth of the Cave he lifted up the dried horse-skin with his nose and sniffed the beautiful smell of the roast mutton, and the Woman, looking at the blade-bone, heard him, and laughed, and said, ‘Here comes the first. Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, what do you want?’ Wild Dog said, ‘O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, what is this that smells so good in the Wild Woods?

Concert promoters need a reality check

At the Interpol show the tickets said that no cameras were allowed…. …yet it’s very obvious that the presence of recording devices such as cameraphones, phones used to record the music, and Canon Elph cameras would not be denied. It’s time for BGP and artists and promoters to come to their senses and realize that they cannot stop the shrinking and fidelity improvements of taping / recording / image producing devices. They should take an attitude whereby for some sliding scale percentage they will let you have access to a recording area. The better the equipment, the bigger the royalty.

REVEALED: Cameron Crowe’s "Elizabethtown" Secret Formula

Is it just me or does this not look like the most schlocky, paint-by-numbers, quarterlife-crisis-vogue sappy schlockfest? Crowe has helped make some seriously defining movies: Say Anything, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Jerry Maguire. Is this his taking it easy on himself? Here’s this movie’s recipe: For a base take one PLOT ABOUT A RICH PROFESSIONAL GUY WHO’S NOT HAPPY . C’mon Cameron, isn’t that incestuous? You defined that movie standard when you did “Jerry Maguire.” Tired of doing new and different things? As a transitional device add one cup of DEATH / ILLNESS OF A FREE SPIRIT PARENT. Wow, if this one gets any more formulaic it’ll be included in high school chemistry books.

An in-depth explanation of the Asherah virus, as described in Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash

I finished Snow Crash a while back and was very pleased with the book. One aspect I found lacking was a discussion of the Asherah virus’ ( a key plot focus ) history, operation, place within the larger evolutionary scheme of

Good movie weekend

If you look over in that right panel you will see that I exceedingly rarely go to movies because, honestly, most of them are absolute crap. But look at this weekend’s openers Walk the Line Harry Potter IV Sarah Silverman: Jesus is magic And the still-unseen-by-me “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

Good movie weekend

If you look over in that right panel you will see that I exceedingly rarely go to movies because, honestly, most of them are absolute crap. But look at this weekend’s openers Walk the Line Harry Potter IV Sarah Silverman: Jesus is magic And the still-unseen-by-me “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Man, I may have to make an extended visit out to the kinotheque.

Dr. Wayne Dyer: Living an Inspired Life

On November 10th, Elle and I had the opportunity to attend a lecture given by self-help guru, Dr. Wayne Dyer. I had first come across his teachings is “The Power of Intention” about 2 years ago. It was during the winter of my discontent when I had just returned to the US from Australia. During my sub-equatorial sojourn my dissatisfaction with life, the universe, work, myseslf, pretty much everything had festered into a black buboe. As Emmylou Harris says: The the they don’t tell you about the blues when you got ’em / is you keep on fallin, for their ain’t no bottom, there ain’t no end /

Vaya con Miyagi

The man who taught a generation to “wax on / wax off” has gone on to that great koi pond in the sky. Farewell Noriyuki “Pat” Morita.

What I loved Most about Kill Bill 2

Recently my recuperating (and thanks for all the well wishing, well-wishers) patient and I were watching Kill Bill 2 as it is playing on Encore at the moment (look, the cable bill is already 120 a month, to add more movies i’m looking at a 2 C-note bill, and that’s just insane) and I noticed two things. David Carradine is a great actor. I always thought of him as the scenery-chewing Kang, but this is undoubtedly the role he was born to play. His lethality is only assisted by the fact that he is an excellent raconteur. His stories and pop-culture philosophy (hallmark to Tarantino’s films) instead of being cute and needlesly quirky as in Tarantino’s previous films (Reservoir Dogs’ “Like a Virgin”, Pulp Fiction’s “That’s Mamie van Doren” etc.

I love the Silent Hill series of video games

I just got done completing Silent Hill 3 and, like most people who played the game, I am still completely baffled as to just what the heck is wrong with Silent Hill?! It’s a gruesome world full of monsters and preternatural evil, cultists, and a malevolent presence whose power seems to antedate time itself. And the art! It’s incredible! For a sample of a painting your character sees in Silent Hill 2, read more. (kinda gruesome, you’re warned)

I’m wary, but here goes

I’m so totally excited for V for Vendetta. The Wachowskis, oh how they burned me last time. Like a cheating partner, I’m not sure I can trust them again. Like a woman in any movie on Lifetime, I’m going to give them another chance, despite my better judgment. I loved the graphic novel and I really hope that the movie will match my expectation.

A film about pin-up icon Bettie Page?

[ Trailer Here ] I recall it being asked in the press how did Charlize Theron take her career to dizzying heights, while Gretchen Mol seemed to have vanished. Ladies and gentlemen, I daresay she’s found a great vehicle back in. A lot of ink and bytes have been spent contemplating the mystery of Bettie Page, but let me tell you what I think the secret is. First, the bang cut. It’s cute. Secondly, Bettie never lost her innocence or feeling of fun. In many ways the viewer of her work can’t help but almost giggle at the contrivances. On the one hand Bettie is getting flogged with a hairbrush, but we have the feeling that the moment the flash fuse blew, she started laughing.

Keira Knightley’s Teeth of Doom

Let it be said that Keira Knightley is not an unattractive woman. That is if you like women that are lean, tomboyish, without hint of feminine curves, yes. I mean honestly, the fact that Monica Bellucci (example, light nudity) and Keira Knightley are both credited with being in the same gender simply goes to show the wonder of genetic variation. Hooray for evolution. Owing to a perfect Keira storm, I have managed to see a lot of Keira lately: Cover of Vanity Fair “Bend it like Beckham” on Encore DVD of Pride and Prejudice picked up by my Lit. Degree girlfriend

I shudder to say, but I am totally excited about Silent Hill, the movie

I’m really quite busy at the moment, but I have to say that I’m totally excited about Silent Hill. I love the video games: they really know how to creep you out without resorting to “boo!” scare-ya scare-tactics. No, rather everything is silent, the spaces nebulous and empty, with the creepy drone of static to warn you of danger’s approach.

Posh Spice channels Sisters frontman Andrew Eldritch

Is it just me or is Posh looking a bit like Von himself here…. Mmmhmmm…

Flat Track Invasion: Steven sees TXRollerGirl Action

Don’t mess with Texas women"" – Bumper Sticker at Walgreen’s Friday night Lauren and I, after dinner at EZ’s, headed down to our favorite local bookstore BookPeople. I picked up Hellboy v.1 and on the way out scored some cool A Scanner Darkly schwag and noticed the following flyer for the Flat Track Invasion as presented by the Texas rollergirls. The flyer sat on our kitchen table the next day, but come Sunday midday, we thought that it might be a lot of fun to go and check out the demonstration. I must say that I was partly inspired to go through with attendance thanks to the League of Melbotis’ advocacy of his hometown girls.

Kit Fisto is my favorite Jedi

And this site celebrates Kit in all of his Fisto glory. Kit Fisto!

I saw "Pirates II", it wasn’t very good (1/2)

I’ll just be another voice joining what appears to be a chorus of voices in saying that the latest installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise was a gross disappointment. I am a complete and total movie snob. It’s pretty hard to get me to go see a film, much less say that I thought it was good. Occasionally (twice) I have been proven mistaken: “Anchorman” and “Pirates: Blah Blah Black Pearl”. The movie disappoints on multiple levels, but let’s go with my primary concern, the storytelling angle. Isn’t this really the reason we go to the movies, to be amused by a good yarn (as a Neil Stephenson character would say)?

Pirates II continues to disappoint (2/2)

I had another idea in my previous post, but didn’t want to muddle up that round of bitching with this point. You’ll need to read the previous post to probably get where I’m coming from in this post. I said: Pirates I led us to ask the great spiritual questions of all time, and Pirates II distracted us from finding those answers. I, for one, am angry about it. The fact that both of the movies are being made simultaneously indicates to me that these most important questions will be ignored - and so I’m not expecting much for the second film.

I can see the metal in your eyes

My, my, my, Maja Ivarsson of The Sounds you’ve picked one hell of a song to show the world that nasty-attituded Swedish punk-ettes can weild the power of feathered hair and Cheryl Tiegs shorts with cunning menace.

Shutter the Pentagon, close Westpoint: The War Nerd rules

Reddit has netted myself ( and the now hopelessly addicted Social Bobcat ) a real gem: The Ward Nerd. “Gary Brecher” ( possibly a nom d’ecrivain de guerre ) writes for [exile.ru][4] and has given non-military people a historical and geopolitical context in which to understand modern warfare. Gary’s text is bleak: tribal warfare makes sense, dying for nation-states is absurd; Hezbollah won, the war in Iraq will be quickly won, but occupation will see total loss. In modern conflicts, where I’ve been more attentive of late, Gary is like a scalpel, cutting through the media spin and good feelings and photo ops with some goofball in a bomber jacket on an aircraft carrier saying it’s over.

Bruno Kirby goes into the great beyond

I always liked Bruno Kirby, for me he will always be the young Clemenza from the Godfather series. And what can you say about that great moustache? It was trimmed to look like the ideal Italian-American paisan barbershop quartet singer, or perhaps a guy named Gino who ran the deli around the corner, or perhaps the guy in the suit on the subway who was an espresso conniseur and expert in science ( I’m thinking along the Marconi or Fermi model here ). He never really seemed to be able to break out of the Italian-American character acter mold: for better or worse (look at his IMDB listing, not many character last names end in a consonant).

Lauren’s first visit to The Alamo Drafthouse

Last night I had the pleasure of taking my girlfriend on her first visit to The Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar to see Little Miss Sunshine. LMS was a really great dark comedy. Ostensibly it’s the Venn diagram intersection of “people on the edge of a nervous breakdown take a road trip together” and “dysfunctional family pulls together in spite of itself to give the most innocent member a shot at the happiness they all secretly yearn for”. While this would set the movie up to be rather formulaic, the movie is most definitely not so! Instead of formulaic lessons being delivered, at the end of the movie I found myself considering a meditation on how people find different compulsions to which they can devote themselves so that their lives seem livable.

The Previews!

I forgot to write about the great previews I saw before Little Miss Sunshine. On the topic of The WAR Nerd, there’s a new movie about a Scotsman inside the Idi Amin genocide machine called The Last King of Scotland that looks really great. There’s also another dream world / real world / animated / dreamscape movie from Michel Gondry called The Science of Sleep that’s coming which features Mexican actor of great talent Gael Garcia Bernal and favorite yee-yee generation offspring Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Inflicting indignities upon a dignified people

“It’s becoming an absurd world,” said 83-year-old Tsuyako Egashira as she looked at the poster of the former teen idol. “Why does a pregnant woman have to show her belly? You have to take care of it,” she said. I loved this woman’s comment….becoming an absurd world… I have to laugh. While Christina Aguilera has a record executive husband (versus talentless deadbeat), the cover of Rolling Stone done a la a Vargas pin-up, and a song that I, pop music hater extraordinaire, couldn’t extricate from my cortex for the better part of 72 hours, Spears’ best counter retort is the cover of People, Bazaar, and Us Weekly with stories focused on deadbeat husbands, love of Cheetos, ‘getting her figure back (eventually)’ or getting ‘back to singing (eventually)’ (after she stops spawning, I take it).

Michael Bay, this is the last straw

Look buddy, Megatron is the bad-assest of the bad-ass. What did you do to him?

Early morning movie thoughts

[Helvetica: A Documentary][1] about what you might ask? About the typeface used on this very site! Lauren and I also woke up early this morning and saw Trust The Man. It was OK, but nothing out of this world. It was a typical set up, a younger unmarried couple has relationship issues, an older, married couple has relationship issues. Breakups, separation, wash, rinse repeat, crazy scene in which uncommitted people decide to live committedly to one another. It wasn’t particularly brilliant, but nice dramedy. David Duchovny and Julianne Moore were great as the older couple and David’s character’s visit to a sex addiction support group had some of the funniest discussion of deli meat ever seen in a film.

The man in black for president

Johnny Cash Owns Chuck Norris Reason 7. Chuck is a republican. Johnny was close with every president except for GWB. It was said he just didn’t trust that son of a bitch. When Johnny didn’t trust someone, you just knew something foul was going on. Reason 8.

Some things in life bear repeating many, many times

It’s a 106 miles to Chicago. We’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses.

Is America learning cabaret?

Cabaret Restaurant that serves liquor and offers light musical entertainment. The cabaret probably originated in France in the 1880s as a small club that presented amateur acts and satiric skits lampooning bourgeois conventions. The first German Kabarett was opened in Berlin c. 1900 by Baron Ernst von Wolzogen and accompanied its musical acts with biting political satire. By the 1920s it had become the centre for underground political and literary expression and a showcase for the works of social critics such as Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill; this decadent but fertile artistic milieu was later portrayed in the musical Cabaret (1966; film, 1972).

Aguierre: The Wrath of God

Many years ago, when I had a TV, when I had full cable, and I had time to watch IFC, I caught the Werner Herzog documentary “My Favorite Fiend” . In it, Herzog described his collaborations with the magnetic, megalomaniacal, intense, and strange German / Polish actor: Klaus Kinski. I’d seen Herzog’s Nosferatu with Kinski as the vampire, and that was interesting, but the film that really piqued my interest was Aguierre: The Wrath of God (der Zorn Gottes). Kinski plays the fortune and conquest-obsessed Aguierre who undermines an ofshoot of explorers from Pizarro’s main legion. As they lose men to trechary, accidents, Indian attack, and the jungle.

September

In a rare moment of pure non-work based relaxation I’m updating this blog and am watching the pure genre-trash movie: Reform School Girls featuring Wendy O. Williams. I knew it was going to be pure trash when I saw a shower scene, teased hair, the same typeface used in the Police Academy movies, Wendy O. Williams, 2 scenes of, uh, sapphic voyeurism and a cat fight within the first 15 minutes. September just had me running too hard for too long, weddings, bachelor parties, on-call rotation, system meltdowns. It was just too much. In other news

Suicide

No, there will be no goth poetry in this post. After watching Reform School Girls you’d have to be an un-curious person to not want to go and find out more about the life and times of Wendy O(rlean) Williams. This lady was absolutely fearless. In her death scene, she moves taut sinews and flesh like a wounded animal. In those few seconds she communicates more animal domination and charisma than any pop star Idolette I’ve ever seen. If you watch a bit of her videos with The Damned on youtube you see the macho, the preening, the presence, you can feel the way she tells you about the car crash that’s coming, crashes the car, and leaves you gaping at what she just made you see.

La Vie Austienne: ‘Go’ at Austin Java

Sunday night after Laur. came back from her day at work we were both a bit anxious to get out of the house. My friend The Social Bobcat had given me a ‘Go’ game as a groomsman gift (schweet) and so we decided to give it a, uh, go, at Austin Java on Barton Springs. Go is one of those ancient games of farthest asia that always seems to attract nerdy computer guys faster than rumours that Jun Kunasagi (if you do any googling for her, it’s probably not going to be safe for work) is washing a car in the parking lot.

Ladytron tickets

Oh, schnap, I forgot to mention that I bought tickets for LADYTRON who are playing Stubb’s in October. It’s a bit weird because I never imagined that Ladytron go outside and Stubb’s is an outdoor venue. I guess it’s that whole ‘futuristic jumpsuit’ look that makes me think they must live inside brushed steel structures on Bauhaus furniture phlegmatically drifting like post-industrial shades from powerbooks to synthesizers, to chaise lounges, to a painfully white kitchen where they drink champagne and sushi. This image of Ladytron has changed a bit with their recent market repositioning as possessing a bit of a fashionista mode.

Limbo: How low can you go

Today Pope Benedict the XVI got rid of limbo as the place for the unbaptised souls of children. Enjoy heaven, babies! I mean, really, how can anyone take any religion seriously after this? One morning, a guy wakes up, eats some breakfast, notes the weather is turning cold in Rome, and then decides to dispose of religious element before his morning intestinal evacuation. I’m not an atheist but the do have good T-Shirts: “When you can explain why you dismiss all other gods, you’ll understand why I dismiss yours.” This is why my interpretation of Christianity always goes back to the mystic, the gnostic.

Visiting Ginny’s Little Longhorn

Ladies and gentlemen, let us discuss a truth. There are times in life, when a person needs a beer after work. It’s not my usual practice to drink very much. Sure the occasional glass of wine with pasta, or a ‘rita on the rocks with a fine mexican meal, or a Negra modelo with queso, but alcohol, on the whole, doesn’t find a daily involvement in my life. Although, by the previous sentence, if I ate a diet of “fine mexican meals”, pasta, or queso exclusively, it might just, but I digress. With Lauren working until later in the evening, and me having too many hours to kill until she got home, the prospects for the early evening were go home (crickets) and surf websites or write code ( something I’d done enough of yesterday, thankyouverymuch ), watch DVDs, and I’d missed my yoga class.

TV Party at Alamo Drafthouse

We still don’t have cable at the house. Part of me thinks this is a good thing ( I’m not spacing out watching shows after work, I’m doing something like reading A Brief History of The Dead, James Dedman ). Another part of me misses Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars and … well, if I got going the list could go on and on, and that would certainly get us back to the other hand which says, maybe it’s a good thing that you don’t have cable. Nevertheless, I was a bit curious about the exploits of the Lorelais and noticed that the famous Alamo Draft House hosts a TV party featuring GG and VM on Tuesday nights.

"Go"-ing crazy, courtesy of the Social Bobcat

As you may have guessed, the use of “go” in the headline here refers not to an idiomatic expression indicating loss of mental stability, but is a not so clever play on words referring to the ancient Asian game of “go”. The SB bought me a “Go” set and I have found myself fascinated by its symmetry, it’s strategy, its beautiful aesthetic as well as how completely poor a player I am. I mean, it’s not that I’m just bad, I’m terrible. The instructions left too much to be desired and I’ve been brushing up with online tutorials. I decided last night, during a bout of insomnia, that my best bet was to play some Yahoo!

Steven sees Running With Scissors, the movie

While The League lacked lacked the intestinal fortitude and stamina to go see Running With Scissors, Lauren and I were brave enough to catch a showing at Barton Creek Mall. This is not to imply The League is not brave and sturdy, for he is certainly not lacking in the areas of stability or bravery, to the contrary, the arc of the life of the young Augusten Burroughs is very, very depressing. It’s so bad that the phrase “You can’t make something like this up” applies many, many times over. A Junior high boy dating a 30+ year-old man? A 13 year old being prescribed god-knows-what pills out of a medicine cabinet like they were trick or treats?

George, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and The Freudian Oedipal "Vision Thing"

I love the way the opinion writers are examining the fall of the Bush presidency in these grand Greek tragedy arcs. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times sees the theme of a spoiled son of privilege wrecking Daddy’s Porsche:. Poppy Bush and James Baker gave Sonny the presidency to play with and he broke it. So now they’re taking it back. They are dragging W. away from those reckless older guys who have been such a bad influence and getting him some new minders who are a lot more practical. I see much more the theme of the sorcerer’s apprentice.

On the topic of Un-Funny: Then there was Clerks II

When I was in my last year of high school, The Social B and I saw a hilarious movie, a hilarious movie beyond hilarity. A film which introduced to us the idea that a great many people lead lives of quiet desperation while waiting, discontentedly, on other people. They were people who, given no other options, were simply passing time wherever they were at and while they were doing that they’d had some funny thoughts about Star Wars, deviancy, rapping, and culture. I knew that there were rogue movie makers out there, people who had guts and vision, people who wanted to tell the world about what their bit of America ( or wherever ) was like.

A delightful independent film: Raising Victor Vargas

Back in the winter of 2002 when I was living in San Francisco I went to see the amazing City of God which featured the trailer for the then soon-to-be-released Raising Victor Vargas. It was one of the movies that first broke out after high quality digital video became available to the masses of independent-minded film makers. Unlike that phony and pretentious cynical aethetic called Dogme 95 ( by anti-humanist scab-picker Lars “von” Trier ), the natural light, the unsteady cam served to underscore the genuine moments when a macho boy decides to start trying to be a grown man.

I caught the end of "War of the Worlds"

All I can say is I know how this country would respond.

Emerging from trogdolyte mode

Boy these last two weeks have really raced by. There are so many things I’d like to comment upon, and tell you all about work, school, life, and everything that they would sound terribly like an excuse. Today I emerged from my bunker and the sun was….obscured by cloudcover, but I’m back out and posts should return to their usual rate.

Ricky Bobby...

Once was a time I absolutely hated Will Ferrell ( mostly, the 90’s when he was on a particularly un-interesting incarnation of the SNL cast ). I cursed the name “Anchorman” when it came out, but a bit over a year ago I was convinced to watch that movie and I absolutely died laughing. From that day my fatwa against Will Ferrell was removed as I recognized the Judd Apatow + Will Ferrell union is holy, good, and riotously funny. So, last night, we visited the DVD dispensing kiosk at the local grocery store ( stuff it, Blockbuster ) and picked up this movie to end a day hard spend studying.

Reasons *you* should come to SXSW this year

I’ll be there! Khoi Vinh, a talented typographer, designer, and the man in change of the NYTimes’ digital layout will be holding a masters class about gridded design. Rodrigo y Gabriela will be bringing their Meh-ee-cano Meh-Tal Acoustico magnifico sound. I’ve not had a chance to post properly about the amazing work that RodGab do, but the music is powerful, driving, thrumming, passionate and exiciting: pretty much everything that the current moribund state of heavy metal is not. On the album they do a cover of my and The Social Bobcat’s favorite (once-mighty) Met instrumental “Orion”. Check out this amazing performance on Letterman.

Broadway shows not needing to be made...

I still subscribe to the Bay Area TicketMaster email to make sure i’m up on whose touring. Regrettably their search for Austin fixes on San Antonio and as Austin lacks an Amphitheatre-type venue ( thanks be to the FSM, PBUH ), it’s easier to say “oh, The Decemberists are on tour, where are they playing here?”. In any case, in my latest update I saw…. Omigod It’s the Pre-Broadway Premiere of Legally Blonde The Musical

Getting harrassed by BCR Credit Collection Agency

Last week I started receiving phone calls from the BCR collection agency. I was in Atlanta with weak reception last week, so I missed the deluge as it began last week, but now that I’m back in Austin I’ve been receiving the messages. They call asking for a girl ( whose name I recognize from the initial weeks when I got this number, about a year ago ). I say she isn’t at this number, she will never be at this number, etc. The next day, I receive an automated call from BCR. The next day, I receive a call from BCR.

SXSW2007: The Premiere of "The Lookout"

Wow! “The Lookout” is one of the first movies all year that made me lean over to Lauren at the end and say “That was awesome”. I’m sorry “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Children of Men”, you both were important and worthy, but this was out and out fun and suspenseful. The main thing that I thought was great is that this may be one of the most tight scripts I’ve ever seen put to screen and that’s probably no accident as the director and writer were Scott Frank (Out of Sight, say no more). I never once had that feeling of “oh yeah, but where did he conveniently get implement X” or, “Oh yeah, the granny can handle the shotgun, sure” or “where did he conveniently become a master of kung-fu?

Conversations with my mom...

Who will doubtless comment here. I asked her what she and my stepfather did for her birthday. “Oh we went out to the movie theater. Being a small town I had already seen one of the movies there so we saw 300”. Mom. Apple pie? Leonidas dining in heeeeelllllllllllll?

I learned to like Woody Allen a little bit when...

I heard this: Alvy Singer: [narrating] After that it got pretty late, and we both had to go, but it was great seeing Annie again. I… I realized what a terrific person she was, and… and how much fun it was just knowing her; and I… I, I thought of that old joke, y’know, the, this… this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, “Doc, uh, my brother’s crazy; he thinks he’s a chicken.” And, uh, the doctor says, “Well, why don’t you turn him in?” The guy says, “I would, but I need the eggs.” Well, I guess that’s pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y’know, they’re totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and… but, uh, I guess we keep goin’ through it because, uh, most of us… need the eggs.

Paper Mario is Excellent!

Where have I been? Flipside, Flopside, and the greater realms of Super Paper Mario. As I person who was in late elementary school when the original Nintendo Entertainment System came out, I love Nintendo games. They’re fun, they don’t require a controller with 14 buttons to use and they take you to a world of imagination and levity. Doug Henning, Canadian master of magic, fantasy, and illusion Well, most of the time, sometimes they scare the bejeesus out of you with a hovering Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper, the penultimate bad guy in Castlevania: a side-scroller with no save, limited men, and this beasty bad dude before Lord Drac.

Oh yes! «The Golden Compass» is coming

Two Christmas seasons ago that mindless namby-pamby drivel known as Narnia assaulted my eye-sockets in San Jose. The only blessed moment of that two hours of tooth scraping was when a certain screenwriting lawyer-friend of mine abruptly turned and “Ssshhh!’d” a chatty 12 year old behind him. …CGI lion comes on screen and mutters something… Kid: It’s Qui-Gonn! Lawyer-Friend: ¡¡¡Shh!!!!! This Christmas, the gorgeous Golden Compass is coming to theaters near you and it’s envisioned the world of His Dark Materials in a lush, dream-filtered, techno-steampunk richness. The plot is compleling and the charaters rich. It’s sort of what Narnia would have been, had it been written by Richard Dawkins.

Commentary by Ticketmaster

Note: First blog post from new MacBook Pro :-D I still receive email updates for Bay Area acts. It helps me find out if said acts might be heading to Austin soon. There was this winner in the latest update. Hilary Duff Sleep Train Pavilion

Things I miss: Englishmen in Suits singing, with saxophones

I’m back in Mountain View ( more on that later ) and at the Tapioca Express on Villa and they’re playing “Captain of Her Heart”. I loved those smooth-singing Englishmen of yesterdecades: Spandau Ballet ( “True” ) When In Rome ( “The Promise “) Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark ( “If You Leave” ) Double ( “Captain of Her Heart” ) I think that idea is just about due for recycling into the current time. If Interpol mark the return of Joy Division, I should think my request is about 2 years from being granted. Update

Political Correctness Trips over itself

I’ve recorded how I was recently in Boston at the beautiful Westin Boston Waterfront hotel. The foyer is beautiful, the bar dark and sleek, the staff courteous. In every way a high-calibre hotel should be enjoyable, it is. Ancillary to this aesthetic, when turning on the beautiful plasma LG screen, you are given, instead of some graphic menu of “here are the movies we hope to bilk you an extra x bucks for”, a rotating series of interactive vignettes with this lovely, non-offensive, pretty, but not threateningly hot-pretty, conservatively-dressed, non-Caucasian ( because we’re down wit’ diversitay ) lady as your virtual interlocutor.

Dining out: Aborted

Yesterday Lauren and I were near the Arboretum area having a coffee at the beautiful Segafredo-backed 360 Hills Cafe on Jollyville. As hunger crept up on my lady she admitted to having a bit of a hunger for “Fresh Choice” which is a salad buffet that also sells some overcooked carb-heavy things on the side ( pasta, cardboardy pizza, etc. ). We walked in and checked out the menu options and saw that the limitless buffet was $9 mumbledy mumble. Nine-plus-dollars. 3 gallons of premium? For salad? ( “You don’t put burbon in it or nothin’?” ) I appreciate that the rich eat better than the poor and that establishments like this are the barometer of that ugly truth, but ten dollars for a salad bar is just beyond the pale of good sense.

If you do the "cable" thing, with the "TLC" channel

You may want to see Kris Carr’s crazysexycancer. It’s the documentary of a young woman who gets word on February 14th that she has inoperable cancer. The question is, what did she do with her life after that. What do we do with ours?

Sometimes the Internet requires me to "be open minded"

As a card-carrying member of the Liberal Superiority Club ( exhibit A: MacBook Pro ) I’m required to keep an open mind about things, occasionally accepting ideas or lifestyles that challenge my very assumptions about the way the world should work. Check this out: Wm said… Saw Kathy this past Friday in Atlanta @ The Fox theatre. She had a sold out performance and had to add an extra show afterwards. She looked fine from the 2nd row center pit which was about 10 feet from her. She kicked ass that night. All you other people can go listen to Ann Coulter…now that’s trash!

Dorky or Awesome? Iron man and "Iron Man"

So The League informed the world of the availability of the Iron Man trailer. I must say Downey looks like he’s caught the disaffected playboy / Bush-era military-industrial-complex profiteer turns warrior for good ( but with a hint of misanthrope ) lightning in a jar in a way which is not “just the character formula of Batman” yet again. He can do that because he’s an excellent real actor. See counter-example: But the thing I’d like to lens in on is the use of Black Sabbath’s Ur-Metal song, uh, “Iron Man”. “Iron Man” is the Epic of Gilgamesh of Heavy Metal.

Camp

Last night before we went to bed Lauren was watching YouTube and found a 1979 performance of Miss Piggy singing “Baby Face” at some sort of live gala event. I must say, I loved the way they swung the beat to disco and included beefcake-y male models escorting Piggy on an Egyptian style divan. Remarked Lauren: “You know I never realized just how intentionally campy Miss Piggy is.” And I thought to myself: “Indeed, for an overdramatic, quasi-narcissistic, stuffed, talking pig, she is rather campy.”

Dealing with the flu, poorly.

I have a stomach flu and I thought that a bit of lighthearted comedy would help. Woe to me that the chosen film was the sequel to the surprisingly sweet and kind Legally Blonde. Yes, that’s right, even as I type this I feel my neurons imploding to the ridiculous dialog, hackneyed plot twists, and barrage of pink that is Legally Blonde II.

Time for a startup: The Writers Strike

The WGA strike began during my unplanned writing hiatus, but as it’s still with us, I suppose this post is still relevant. Now this topic, when brought up with my writer girlfriend and The League quickly heated up passions in a hurry, so let me be clear first and foremost. I think that the writers are absolutely right to be on strike for the reasons they’ve identified. They see the writing on the wall and know that digital distribution is going to be an important revenue stream that their ideas gave breath to. They are absolutely entitled to residuals / royalties / etc.

A movie no one should see, or everyone should see

I’m well past the age of seeing movies that are terrible for the purpose of throwing back a few beers and marveling at just how horrible it is. But I remember that Mr. Shoemaker, at the beginning of UT football season, and I were both kinda excited to catch Shoot ’em Up. We thought that, from the trailers, the gratuitous love of bullets would be an unashamedly bullet-heavy, ridiculous action-fest. Through a moment of loopiness at the RedBox DVD kiosk, I found myself watching this with Lauren. Now on paper my man-crush, and Lauren’s more conventional crush, Clive Owen will be afforded opportunities to excel all things he’s good at:

Misheard Lyrics: Sometimes earphones make the difference

Inorrecto Goin’ to California with the weekend in my heart Robert Plant is joyous to return to the Pacific-kissing state. ahem Correcto Goin’ to California with an achin’ in my heart

"The Zero Effect": 10-year anniversary

The esteemed Ransom at Chronological Snobbery has asked if I would like to make a contribution to his retrospective on the 10-year anniversary of “The Zero Effect”. I admit, I procrastinated, I avoided the obligation and said that I, quite honestly, had nothing positive to contribute to the movie. Mr. Ransom agreed that I could take a con position. I took that offer and decided to re-watch the film and see if my perceptions had changed in the 10 years since I saw the movie. I can say they have not and I think that the movie is just as forgettable and insignificant today as I thought it was 10 years ago.

Superbowl

I didn’t watch it, but I think it’s karmic just desserts that the team who was apparently filming other teams’ practices got served. Want me to watch the Superbowl? I want to see The Pixies play the halftime show. I want Black Francis up there gibbering incoherently in Spanish, Swahili, and Aramaic like a portly, bald, Hispanic, Mel Gibson. I want Joey Santiago to wear a crown, a golden crown, with flammable gasses erupting from it so that his head appears to be on fire.

I should not fail to mention this: Van Halen (neu mit 25% more Halen) is awesooooommmmeee.

OK, let me level with you. Hipster pretense, “being into Bret Michaels-reality-show-star versus Bret Michaels sensitive tattooed rocker who realized after needin’ “Nothin’ but a Good Time” that “Every Rose Has its Thorn” … …hipster ‘Best Week Ever’” artifice aside the truth is this: Van Halen Totally Rocks. Shut up Hipsters I mean Van Halen rocks in that “filling up a stadium with nubile dishwater blondes in tube-tops” way. It’s old school rock - something that, I’m sorry to say, the emo-castrati of our age (it’s not their fault ), post Blink-182-Queen-esque ( lookin’ atchu “Chemical Romance” ) teens of this age are simply unfamiliar with.

One man's DITMTLOD is anothers, eh?

The League of Melbotis did a 10 point listing of ladies of the 90’s media he “once dug”. For the record, when men are left alone, they pretty much do this as their primary hobby of choice. Frequently sports is used as subterfuge so that we can have some space in which to play this game, but essentially, it’s the national pasttime. Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully. Dana Scully: Hot, Red Haired, Didn’t mind finding Mulder’s uh, “videos” on occasion. A babe who gave hope to those of us at home on Friday night watching X-Files and dialing BBS’. As I noted on The League’s site, Ms.

Rachel McAdams: Soon to be Queen of Girls Night

Rachel McAdams starred in the “The Notebook”. This movie is the staple of “Girls’ Nights In” everywhere. Later this year she will star as Clare Abshire in The Time Traveler’s Wife, based off of Audrey Nifenegger’s superlatively good novel.

Why?

Prosecutors have said those [illegal wiretaps] targeted included Sylvester Stallone and comedians Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon. Cornering the market on irrelevant star news?

Is was right about to sign up for cable TV when...

“Pamela will be an artistically rich and visually stunning series,” executive producer Randy Barbato said in a statement. “The series will offer an unprecedented look inside the life of one of today’s most iconic superstars in the style of a uniquely shot documentary film.”

Everything in its proper place

Yes, that title is from a Radiohead song, which is meant to say that I saw their brilliant performance last week at the (mouthful) Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavilion in Houston. I should write at length on the matter, but really, what is there to say about the act? They were punctual They played two encores, which, is light of point #1, supra seems a bit indulgent They were professional They are English They did not engage in mindless banter (“Hello HOUSTON, we’re Radiohead from the UK!”) They did have a very well put together light show. They are, in my estimation, likely to be the band, who like the Beatles, retains an interest in the hearts of the next generation Come to think of it, those last two points are worth discussing.

Fixing "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

This will be spoiler-laden, so if you want to keep the mystery, move on. ##Topic 1: Why was there even a story? In the back-story some conquistador finds a lost kingdom run by trans-dimensional beings ( aka aliens, but I guess that noun’s too pedestrian ) magic city and STEALS one of the skulls. Our Hero and The Bad Guys contend for the skull and are in the room as it is returned to the body from which it was stolen. This triggers an action such that the “hive mind” of the aliens “re-activates” and they become a living alien entity.

Finished "I, CLAVDIVS"

Lauren and I took to calling that “eye klav-divs” towards the end of the series ( 13 episodes ). It’s an excellent mini-series, truly showing the capability of television to deliver high art, quality acting, and subtle direction to the masses. Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out! Instead of the sublime, we now choose to stew in the mud. If you have the chance and want to be boggled at the astounding amount of treachery that members of the same family can visit upon one another, “I, Claudius” is a great tale. I loved Jacobi’s Claudius, he captures a vulnerability and fear through the first 10 episodes that inspire so much pathos and tenderness that you have to root for him all the way through – even when the necessities of his office drive him onto a path of corruption and bloodshed.

Steven's "History of New Wave" movie

If ever I get to cast a “History of New Wave” music, I already have Michael Score to be portrayed by Macauly Culkin, but who to play Colin Moulding of XTC? Answer: Jon Heder

Thinking about "Hancock": Nietzsche, "Kill Bill", and Will Smith

“Hancock” is Will Smith’s summer vehicle: The notable attributes of Hancock are that he is: Homeless Surly Prone to intoxication I thought this was a bit of a predictable gag, the Juno-fication of the myth of the superhero. Instead of doing the right thing ( or, freaking the-hell-out when teenage daughter is pregnant ), witticisms will abound and the surly pregnant-teen ( or, superhero ) will grow on you. The Jason Bateman factor seemed all but to ensure this. But the other day I listened to the “In Our Time (Radio 4)” podcast with Melvyn Bragg on Kierkergaard and was reminded of the sheer terror and weight underlying the “Fear and Trembling” thesis and I thought: “How would you respond to the proposition if you were a superhero, that is, if you were objectively better than everyone else?

A very average movie weekend

While I lauded “Control” in the previous post, we also caught “Get Smart” and “Baghead”. June, in the run up to the 4th of July hot zone of movies, seems to go through a doldrums just as the air truly begins to stultify. Left few other choices, we saw “Get Smart”. It wasn’t especially bad, but it wasn’t especially good either. I had the same feeling I had when I caught “Evan, Almighty”. I wanted Steve Carrell to do well, and I wanted it to be funny, it just, well, failed to deliver. Not even the cute Anne Hathaway in ( I am told ) Chanel could really keep me interested.

I fear your bacteria

Friend mike sent in this winner as “Worst Fight Scene Ever”.= The one that really sticks out in my mind is, why does the bad guy ( we can tell, he’s the one with the mullet ) lick the knife before engaging our hero ( are those Z Cavaricci’s? ) in morta combat? Is this to inspire the fear of staph infection in his opponent?

Degrassi

Here’s something from the embarrassed and ashamed section of my Netflix queue. We’re watching the “Degrassi High” series and there’s nothing like hearing the endless litany of “Suurries” and seeing Amanda “Spike” Stepto’s beautiful haircut. What can I say about “Degrassi”? For some of us growing up in Jesusland there were a lot of questions that didn’t get answered questions that, well, concern hormones, and girls, and, uhm, Kotex. To be fair, it’s not because my parents were prudish, religious, or too-embarrassed to talk, but there are some things you just want to not to have to ask about. “Degrassi” provided that outlet, or input.

Degrassi

Here’s something from the embarrassed and ashamed section of my Netflix queue. We’re watching the “Degrassi High” series and there’s nothing like hearing the endless litany of “Suurries” and seeing Amanda “Spike” Stepto’s beautiful haircut. What can I say about “Degrassi”? For some of us growing up in Jesusland there were a lot of questions that didn’t get answered questions that, well, concern hormones, and girls, and, uhm, Kotex. To be fair, it’s not because my parents were prudish, religious, or too-embarrassed to talk, but there are some things you just want to not to have to ask about. “Degrassi” provided that outlet, or input.

We saw "Hellboy II"

We saw “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” last weekend. I disliked it. It is for movies such as this that the 2.5 star rating was invented. There were some good ideas, in spots, but never that unified, compelling vision thing ( apologies Poppy Bush ) just never really materialized ( like Jr. Bush ). So here’s the gig. Humans are greedy and destroy the earth’s natural sylvan beauty. Elves and goblins, understandably tired of this, put together an unstoppable army that numbers, in the Lovecraft ordinal series, “seventy by seventy” unstoppable soldiers. After these clockwork and aurium terminators lay waste to such a degree that the beloved elven woods are actually damaged by the excess of blood, the Good King, his Moody Son, and his Good Daughter ( the twin of Moody Son ) decide to split up the crown which entitles the wearer to command the horde and put the army into a slumber.

Leading Men

Today it dawned on me that our generation will never have a leading man like Paul Newman. No my friends, the best we get is Ashton Kutcher.

Ain't Love Grand

“Her breasts would topple empires before they withered…she was the most sullen, uncommunicative and beautiful woman I had ever seen” –Richard Burton in 1953 on his first look at Elizabeth Taylor She loves me… She loves me not…

Farewell Mr. McGoohan

Patrick McGoohan, actor, director, producer and man with the most stunning elocution of the English language has crossed over.

Excellent episode of PBS' "POV"

If you’ve seen Schindler’s List, you can’ help recalling Ralph Fiennes’ masterful performance as the sadistic, truculent, SS-camp administrator, Amon Goeth. But what if you found out, one day, that the father you had never known was indeed that man who delighted in brutality? And what would you make of your mother, who had worked on her tan within screaming distance to a Polish concentration camp? And what if your only key for making sense of this was via a woman whose family had been exterminated, a woman who was brutalized and ridiculed in the ornate villa ruled by Goeth? What if you had to encounter the most damaged by that man in order to know that man in order to know yourself?

Going on record. My favorite Marvel character is "The Hulk"

Recent film adaptations have not given me opportunity to say this at an earlier date, but The Hulk is most definitely my favorite Marvel character. I wasn’t much into the comic books, but I very much liked the television drama. I first felt my true love for the minor key when I heard the Hulk theme “Lonely Man.” Thanks to the recent addition of rabbit-ears, we get RTN, the “Retro Television Network” which shows “The Incredible Hulk” TV show weekday evenings. While I’m no Hulk-ologist, I always liked the subconscious and everyman elements of the Banner / Hulk dichotomy. Even as a young kid I “got” that there is, in every man, a powerful force that he, betimes, may not be in control of.

The continued bounty of the RTN network

Steven: “Hey is that Leonard Nimoy?” Lauren: “Mayyy…” Imagines pointed ears and eyebrow makeup Leonard Nimoy playing Bernabe Zamora on “Wagon Train.”

Remembering "Fifteen"

My dad always said “That girl looks like a rabbit” when this was on.

Meeting Gina Carano

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/sports/04mma.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 An eloquent sport, insightful, intense, and severe. She’s going to attempt to be the first MMA Female champion: Gina Carano. She’s really inspiring and funny!

Remaking "Red Dawn"

http://io9.com/5370777/red-dawn-remakes-anti%20american-propaganda-posters/gallery/ I groaned when I heard about a “Red Dawn” remake. The promo materials look great though. I love the communist poster-re-interpretation with “greeted as liberators” slogans branded on them. That said, with “Communist” China a trading partner and “Communist” Russia run by a plutocratic coterie and Castro preparing to meet the Comrade in the sky, the notion of a Communist antagonist is a bit weak (as was better said in the comments by “Bill-Lee”).

Lauren as 'Joan Holloway' from 'Mad Men'

Grawr.

Radio Program Discovery: In Our Time

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl Can I tell you how much I love this program. Apparently in England they think that the radio listener might have two brain cells to rub together instead of an endless repetition of auto-tuned “music of the groin.” I’ve learned about Carthage’s End, Tacitus, the Great London Fire.

Tonight Show Shakeout: Prognostications

Diabolical Plan The greatest “Tonight Show” presenter ever was Johnny Carson Conan gets the axe because NBC sucks and he will go somewhere else Jay has ruined audience goodwill and “The Tonight Show” will fail spectacularly Jimmy Fallon will have a “tragic accident” Carson Daly will be left the lone man standing Check and Mate, sir Proof

RIP Peter Graves

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100315/ap_en_mo/us_obit_peter_graves Peter Graves goes to his reward. Over, Unger.

Pixar, what is the proper consumerist bearing?

In Pixar’s “Wall-E,” we encounter an adorable robot who is left to clean up the mounds of trash associated with the global spread of the consumerist lifestyle across the planet. Ancillary thereunto with the disregard for the natural world is the disregard of one’s own body and one’s own wellness. Pixar seems to be sugesting: “Hey, stop buying stuff and eating neon-colored food, get back to the basics and enjoy living as an able bodied human.” In Pixar’s “Toy Story 3,” heart strings are tugged as toys are left behind, subject to jeopardy, or wage petty internecine battles. All of this tugs at our emotional response as they toys seem to say “Remember to play, and play with us, don’t get rid of us – don’t throw away your sense of childlike wonder by scrapping us.

Dr. Who Cold Open

Hilarious.

"Glee:" So Much Promise, So Much Disappointment

I admit it, I didn’t like Glee when I first saw it. While there was a brief few weeks toward the end of Season 1 and the “Rocky Horror” episode where I experienced a brief thaw in relations, but now it’s back to full on dislike. Your cover of “Science Fiction Double Feature” won my heart… In the first season plot served as a vehicle to provide experiences that created emotional tension that, when acted out, could be embellished or advanced by means of singing. The second season lost all interest in this and has focused on creating song set-pieces which the characters are carried into by means of a gruel-thin plot.

I am ready for the popcorn

I don’t think I can hold it back any longer. I am, on the par with finding out that Santa and the Easter Bunny are coming to dinner and they’re bringing me a pony ridden by the Tooth Fairy, so excite about the popcorn movies coming out. First, at long last, the amazing, poised, and sensible Jennifer Lawrence is going to bring the fierce Katniss Everdeen to the screen in “The Hunger Games.” I loved this series, I loved the character, I loved the story, I even loved the conclusion. I cannot say how great a series I think THG is for teens.

RIP Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury died a few days ago and I’ve been feeling rather reflective about his work and what it means to me. I’ve read many of the “classic” science fiction authors: H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Asimov and Bradbury. What strikes me as most special about Bradbury was that his voice was perhaps the most human of them all. Like Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s, his voice never stopped being human. Vonnegut said he always found it odd that his work was classified as “science fiction,” a genre associated with pornography and kooks when his messages were fundamentally human ones. But the best science fiction is never about the “them,” it’s always about the “us.

The Girlfriend

The other night Lauren and I caught the new film “Ruby Sparks”. Written by Zoe Kazan, Hollywood royalty, and directed by the team that brought us the quirky Little Miss Sunshine a few years ago, “Ruby” seemed like a well-constructed re-visitation of a familiar theme: “If you had the ability to control, edit, and ’tweak’ the behavior of your love interest, would you? And if you did, could you ever possibly be happy with the result?” While the trailer didn’t seem to promise the exploration of any new territory, we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was willing go to new and interesting places.

Fart Patio

http://www.ifc.com/portlandia/videos/portlandia-fart-patio Having taken up a vegetarian diet recently is not in any way on my mind here.

Missing Rick Moranis

He was so funny and so iconic for a lot of our youths. He stepped out of the limelight to take the best care of his kids possible. http://imgur.com/gallery/fJZwKwo “A man provides.” - Gustavo Fring

Every kid in Wes Anderson Movies

Richard Gilmore on Life

The talented Edward Hermann left this mortal coil recently. BuzzFeed (which does better news than CNN these days) summed up some of the best moments his character, Richard Gilmore, had on “Gilmore Girls.” It was a fabulous show (OK, at least 4 seasons) and I miss the joy and warmth is has. http://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/richard-gilmores-best-quotes-from-gilmore-girls#.lsyNM1Pwa

The Empire Business

Remember when he said that?

Loving "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"

I don’t know if you have time for this, but the show “Crazy Ex Girlfriend” struck me immediately as something you might like (in all the best ways). Think “Kimmy Schmidt” crossed with “Glee” and “Book of Mormon” with a hard PG-13 pushing to R rating and with a very, very dark streak of humor running through it. The fact that it opens with summer camp theatre and that the girl expresses most of her mania and insecurity in campy, Broadway musical numbers seemed to be something you might find sadly / happily amusing.

Demented Brilliance of Rachel Bloom

I love it. Skewer the bi-for the ‘gram, over-noisy Katy Perry-esque produced by Swedes pop music bullshit. It’s hilarious, creepy, and spot on satire in so many ways. ALL HAIL RACHEL BLOOM.

How NPR Killed College Rock

I seem to recall somewhere around 1993-1994 in Cypress Creek High that someone uttered this exact phrase: “For many poor souls, there is no alternative to the alternative.” Now there’s no alternative. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/123187/how-npr-killed-college-rock

MTV Releases "Liquid Television" Archive

http://io9.com/5848426/mtv-releases-the-insane-liquid-television-archives-to-the-masses Time for “Art School Girls of Doom.”

Mobile Upload: Kinski and Sarandon? Cocaine apparently was one hell of a drug.

Kinski and Sarandon? Cocaine apparently was one hell of a drug.

SNL Slays: "Meet Your Second Wife"

Biting satire from SNL and Fey / Poehler. Leslie Jones, as ever, takes the cake.

The Tender Joy of "Freaks and Geeks"

Martin Starr renders a beautiful, silent, mime portrayal of being awkward, a boy, alone. Beautiful. https://tv.avclub.com/freaks-and-geeks-captures-its-humanist-heart-in-only-90-1798246291

"Here's the Thing" Podcast with Alec Baldwin

Alex Baldwin’s voice is magic.

Rewind: Bacall and High Point Decaf Coffee

I LOVE IT

My Favorite "This American Life" Ever

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/74/conventions It is still the one with Barlow’s romantic, heartbreaking, and funny story about finding love at a convention and relief from grief in the skies. Also: “‘Dark Shadows’ rules!”

Dog Steals GoPro

Bless this doggo who stole a GoPro pic.twitter.com/tZwVdniJoQ — Jon Christian (@Jon_Christian) July 29, 2018 I love watching my dog play chase, but I never see the eyes of the leader. Thanks to GoPro this is possible and the dogs perception of the terroir, the chasers, etc as shown in its eyes is amazing.

Seeing "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert"

A few weeks ago, in a fit of pandemic-fueled boredom and optimism about the re-opening of Broadway, Lauren decided to see if we could get any taping tickets. She saw that we could sign up for in-studio recordings of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and we went last night!

Stephen’s been profoundly funny, smart, and witty for years. From his diabolical “Chuck Noblet” with Amy Sedaris on Strangers With Candy, to his career-making Fox-esque infotainer satire persona “Stephen Colbert” on The Colbert Report, to the present work as a thoughtful and reasonable interviewer on the slot formerly held by David Letterman, he’s proven himself to be an entertainer for all seasons.

I can’t describe how impactful his roast of George Bush was during the height of the early aughts. There are roasts and then there are the irradiated atomic cinders Colbert left of Bush at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

To see someone level the kewpie doll of the horrible culture war deepening rhetoric that would metastisize into Trumpism all those years ago was…was… hoo-boy, something this anti-Bush liberal boy needed and relished.

Since that time he’s shed the “Stephen Colbert” persona and played it relatively straight on his evening chat show. I also admire that he’s never polemical or didactic (unless resisting polemicists, dictators or assholes), and he’s always willing to grant the other side fair arguments. I was particularly moved by his discussion around religion (he’s a Catholic) with atheist Ricky Gervais.

So, we got to see the show tonight! Read on for details!

Seeing "Selected Shorts"

When I first moved to the San Jose in 2000, I didn’t know a soul. Driven by ambition, hubris, curiosity and the desire to get out of the socio-political and heat environment of Texas, I went as far to the West as I could. I remember driving up from the Central Valley through the apricots, peaches, and garlic of Gilroy. The wide tree-filled manors of Monte Sereno and the brown hills of South San Jose served as pillars marking the entrance to the Valley of Heart’s Delight. It was magical and the smell of produce and the richness of Earth’s breast has never left me. I’m sure it’s all Kohl’s-anchored strip centers and Targets now.

In those days, I was eager to start working and making my splash in the tech world. There was still enough wheeze left in the coughing engine of “the New Economy” that I was hoping for one last shot at the optionaire dream of wealth and fancy. All that would be undone within 18 months, but knowing the sordid future coming due does nothing to undermine the joy of dreaming the dream. But in those early days, along in my tiny room, on Saturday night I had a ritual:

I would walk to the fast food options up the street and bring home my dinner. I’d listen to KQED’s programing of “The World,” “This American Life, “Selected Shorts,” “The BBC World Service” and then go to bed and sleep in late on Sunday. Often, in those nights, it would be me, my computer, stacks of CD’s loading Linux, or me working on programming projects. It seems small and lonely now, and it was, surely. But it was also where I started finding out who I was professionally. I can’t shun it.

To this day, I can still hear the introduction patter from program director Isaiah Sheffer: “Recorded at Symphony Space in New York.” How many dozens of times did I hear that over the years?

Maestro et moi

Maestro et moi

How funny it is, then, that I’ve now lived a few blocks away from where “Selected Shorts” was recorded all those years ago. For a couple’s night out, I got us tickets during Christmas to see a recording of “Selected Shorts” this past Wednesday.