Thanks to a really nasty case of dehydration (following an intensive end to a work project), I was able to watch more DVDs than a human being should in one weekend. (Of course, between Netflix and the library, it's a wonder I get anything done...)
Anyway, here goes:
Doctor Who:The Two Doctors - I wasn't a big fan when this story was first shown in America, but watching the DVD, I actually enjoyed it. Patrick Troughton and Colin Baker have a great chemistry, and although it's no Talons of Weng-Chiang, this is probably Robert Holmes' last gasp of greatness.
61* - I have never really liked Billy Crystal, except for Analyze This, and so I wasn't sure how to take this baseball movie he directed. Needless to say, it's an instant classic, focusing on the 1961 Yankees. This is one of those guy movies that women can enjoy. (Gee, is that patronizing or what?)
A Man For All Seasons - this would be the last film that I would expect would be an influence on Kevin Smith, but in two hours, it deals with so many issues of religion vs. the state...and shows why Leo McKown was the best number 2 on The Prisoner.
These are all really cool, and if the new releases at Blockbuster are all checked out...you have alternates!
June 27, 2004
June 25, 2004
I Wanted to be Wolverine!
This is one of those kewl online quiz thingies, and you should head there. Personally, this wanker came long after I dug X-Men, and will have to do it again.
(Aside to Louie - and you know which Louie I'm talking about - this isn't me, is it? I would rather be Wolverine...or even Mr. Fantastic)
(Aside to Louie - and you know which Louie I'm talking about - this isn't me, is it? I would rather be Wolverine...or even Mr. Fantastic)
Important - click this now!
This is a cut-and-paste job; if you dig historic buildings, or just want to do something that's right, head on down, read, and take action. Thanks.
------------------------------
Dear Friends,
I have just read and signed the online petition:
"The National Trust's Indictment in the Crime of the Century"
hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition
service, at:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/63004cb/
I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might
agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider
signing yourself.
------------------------------
Dear Friends,
I have just read and signed the online petition:
"The National Trust's Indictment in the Crime of the Century"
hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition
service, at:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/63004cb/
I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might
agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider
signing yourself.
June 20, 2004
A Tribute to Dad
Since it's Father's Day, I decided to take this test, and lo and behold! Dad's favorite movie! Now, since that movie reflects my personality, it's time for the Afterschool Special Moment!
June 19, 2004
Identity Crisis # 1 (Review)
First, I have to admit - I love comics. Had started as a kid with three books (Superman, X-Men, and Hawkman), remember the three-coverless-in-a-plastic-baggie-for-29-cents package deal, and fell back in love during the Watchmen/Dark Night/Crisis on Infinite Earths revival. Yes, I read "literature", but I also really enjoy graphic literature...and right now, I am still in semi-shock over how good comics have become.
I am talking about the first issue of the well-hyped Identity Crisis mini-series by DC. Brad Meltzer (who wrote the book) has created a really cool mystery featuring super heroes. (For those of you who aren't familiar with his work - and I suggest you do so - he has a very clean, very gripping style - in short, like John Grisham with talent). This is the kind of comic you want to give friends to show them not just that comics aren't for kids...but that the best writing isn't necessarily in prose.
It's hard to discuss without spoiling, but I will give it a shot - it begins with two heroes on patrol, with great back-and-forth dialogue that you don't find in comic books (and slightly reminiscent of James Robinson's Starman). The story progresses in snapshots of time - between "now" and selected fragments from "now". Ultimately, 2/3 of the way into the book, we see the first sign of a mystery - a corpse.
The deceased...several people have commented on how inappropriate/cheesy/unnecessary the death is...which I think is Mr. Meltzer's intention. If he had killed off, say, Crazy Quilt (a bottom-tier villain), it would not have the kick-in-the-gut resonance that it does. It then goes into the investigation, a funeral...and then one of the best, couldn't-see-it-coming cliffhangers that I have ever experienced. (Having read issue one about 4 times, it still crackles and surprises).
Kudos also to Rags Morales - I've always been a fan of his DC art (in both Hourman and Hawman), and here, his art is really crisp and allows the heroes to shine at the forefront. (My only quibble - his Metal Men don't seem all that impressive; but hey, it's only the first issue). His art serves to compliment the plot: here, the heroes seem both larger-than-life and human all at the same time.
In short, this comic has done what very few comics have done for a long time - make me wish the days would go by faster, so that I could pick up the next issue. (And shame to Marvel for putting out the amazingly sucky Identity Disc at the same time - that book is a crime against nature). There are very few pleasures left in this world...thank God Identity Crisis is one of them.
I am talking about the first issue of the well-hyped Identity Crisis mini-series by DC. Brad Meltzer (who wrote the book) has created a really cool mystery featuring super heroes. (For those of you who aren't familiar with his work - and I suggest you do so - he has a very clean, very gripping style - in short, like John Grisham with talent). This is the kind of comic you want to give friends to show them not just that comics aren't for kids...but that the best writing isn't necessarily in prose.
It's hard to discuss without spoiling, but I will give it a shot - it begins with two heroes on patrol, with great back-and-forth dialogue that you don't find in comic books (and slightly reminiscent of James Robinson's Starman). The story progresses in snapshots of time - between "now" and selected fragments from "now". Ultimately, 2/3 of the way into the book, we see the first sign of a mystery - a corpse.
The deceased...several people have commented on how inappropriate/cheesy/unnecessary the death is...which I think is Mr. Meltzer's intention. If he had killed off, say, Crazy Quilt (a bottom-tier villain), it would not have the kick-in-the-gut resonance that it does. It then goes into the investigation, a funeral...and then one of the best, couldn't-see-it-coming cliffhangers that I have ever experienced. (Having read issue one about 4 times, it still crackles and surprises).
Kudos also to Rags Morales - I've always been a fan of his DC art (in both Hourman and Hawman), and here, his art is really crisp and allows the heroes to shine at the forefront. (My only quibble - his Metal Men don't seem all that impressive; but hey, it's only the first issue). His art serves to compliment the plot: here, the heroes seem both larger-than-life and human all at the same time.
In short, this comic has done what very few comics have done for a long time - make me wish the days would go by faster, so that I could pick up the next issue. (And shame to Marvel for putting out the amazingly sucky Identity Disc at the same time - that book is a crime against nature). There are very few pleasures left in this world...thank God Identity Crisis is one of them.
June 17, 2004
June 16, 2004
Hey, Ho, Let's Go...But Not Into That Good Night
I have to admit, I didn't really get into the Ramones until college (hearing "Rock & Roll High School" at the occasional HS dance notwithstanding), but I got a little chill when I heard that Johnny Ramone had cancer.
It is kind of strange - Joey contracts lymphoma, Dee Dee dies of a heroin overdose a year later, and the third crucial "brudder" is going down (but not without a fight). It's also funny, because I just watched Rock and Roll High School again for...well, I bought the DVD used for ten dollars. It is not only a great pastiche of 50's "rock is the enemy" movies, but is probably one of the best rock films of all time...at the very least, the best film Timothy Van Patten has ever starred in. There's some datedness to the film, but it is proof that Roger Corman -who wanted to initially do "Disco High" - could be talked into a better, even lower-budget, idea.
It's easy to ignore the sheer brattiness and genius of the Ramones - after all, juvenile song subjects over a grinding 4/4 beat sounds, well, dumb. However, not only in context, but even now, with cookie cutter punk bands prevalent, it sounds like a well needed breath of fresh air. They never did disco mixes, or rap tracks, or even high concept albums (unless you count Acid Eaters, their covers album). They were always about hey, ho, let's go, and no song lasted more than two minutes, making their CDs a bargain.
Also, many conservatives (maybe even my good friend Mark K don't realize that Johnny was a very staunch conservative and an articulate spokesman. (Coming from a leftie pinko liberal like myself, that's quite...something) Yes, it's hard to believe that in a realm of leftist values, here was a rocker who could speak on conservative issues who didn't come across as, well, crazy. (And yes, I'm talking about Ted Nugent).
Hard to believe they're gone...I wanted them around for my kids to play, so that they could drive their old man.
In tribute, the only words I have to say are...gabba gabba hey!
It is kind of strange - Joey contracts lymphoma, Dee Dee dies of a heroin overdose a year later, and the third crucial "brudder" is going down (but not without a fight). It's also funny, because I just watched Rock and Roll High School again for...well, I bought the DVD used for ten dollars. It is not only a great pastiche of 50's "rock is the enemy" movies, but is probably one of the best rock films of all time...at the very least, the best film Timothy Van Patten has ever starred in. There's some datedness to the film, but it is proof that Roger Corman -who wanted to initially do "Disco High" - could be talked into a better, even lower-budget, idea.
It's easy to ignore the sheer brattiness and genius of the Ramones - after all, juvenile song subjects over a grinding 4/4 beat sounds, well, dumb. However, not only in context, but even now, with cookie cutter punk bands prevalent, it sounds like a well needed breath of fresh air. They never did disco mixes, or rap tracks, or even high concept albums (unless you count Acid Eaters, their covers album). They were always about hey, ho, let's go, and no song lasted more than two minutes, making their CDs a bargain.
Also, many conservatives (maybe even my good friend Mark K don't realize that Johnny was a very staunch conservative and an articulate spokesman. (Coming from a leftie pinko liberal like myself, that's quite...something) Yes, it's hard to believe that in a realm of leftist values, here was a rocker who could speak on conservative issues who didn't come across as, well, crazy. (And yes, I'm talking about Ted Nugent).
Hard to believe they're gone...I wanted them around for my kids to play, so that they could drive their old man.
In tribute, the only words I have to say are...gabba gabba hey!
Passion Is No Ordinary Word
A change of pace - a note that's more personal than critical or looking at the outside world.
The above is the title of one of my favorite songs by Graham Parker. In recent times, I've been wondering "why am I doing what I am doing? Am I just engaging in insane behavior - doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result"
In the past few days, the answer has hit me - from other people - and it's passion.
Passion is something lacking in our culture - irony, cynicism, distance, detachment, postmodernism are all prevalent. Our culture reinforces the idea that if we believe in something strongly, we have somehow "sold out to the Man".
Well, there is no "Man". Or "Woman". Things just are the way they are - it is tough to be passionate about something that may not pay well, or where great sacrifice is necessary. But somehow, it all seems worth it - it is as if passion can provide the motivation to move forward. It makes every fight, every argument, every dealing with a difficult person meaningful, and helps build towards a greater good.
Thanks for letting me share.
The above is the title of one of my favorite songs by Graham Parker. In recent times, I've been wondering "why am I doing what I am doing? Am I just engaging in insane behavior - doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result"
In the past few days, the answer has hit me - from other people - and it's passion.
Passion is something lacking in our culture - irony, cynicism, distance, detachment, postmodernism are all prevalent. Our culture reinforces the idea that if we believe in something strongly, we have somehow "sold out to the Man".
Well, there is no "Man". Or "Woman". Things just are the way they are - it is tough to be passionate about something that may not pay well, or where great sacrifice is necessary. But somehow, it all seems worth it - it is as if passion can provide the motivation to move forward. It makes every fight, every argument, every dealing with a difficult person meaningful, and helps build towards a greater good.
Thanks for letting me share.
June 15, 2004
Hey, kids! My first follow-up to a previous post!
One of my first posts back in may was about
Yahoo increasing their storage size, and so here's my first follow-up blog. Hooray for me!
Of course, I still stand behind my words, and I checked my e-mail this morning. Although Yahoo Pops! no longer works with it (and I'll have to see if I can still pop my mail), it's a slightly less appealing interface...and my SBC account has two GB storage.
Wow, just think - they could have done this all along...
Yahoo increasing their storage size, and so here's my first follow-up blog. Hooray for me!
Of course, I still stand behind my words, and I checked my e-mail this morning. Although Yahoo Pops! no longer works with it (and I'll have to see if I can still pop my mail), it's a slightly less appealing interface...and my SBC account has two GB storage.
Wow, just think - they could have done this all along...
June 14, 2004
Mom Always Liked You Best
Sometimes, you come across something in your youth - a favorite record, a book, a film - that makes you reflect as an adult. You learn some new aspect of that piece, and then you realize there was a much greater richness and resonance resulting from greater sacrifice than you previously thought.
Case in point: The Smothers Brothers.
My mother had most of their mid-1960's albums - Think Ethnic, Greatest Hits Vol. 2, Mom Always Liked You Best - and, like her Beatles, Bill Cosby, and other 1960s records, I listened to them voraciously. I always liked the Smothers - two brothers who had an unusual give-and-take on folk music. (Kind of like George and Gracie, only a little more hip). As a child, I always dug some of their best, most off-kilter lines, like
"There were pumas in that crevasse!"Tommy served as "buffoon" to his brother, Dick (who, for my money, is a fine example of the Bob Newhart/Jack Benny school of comedians - keep a straight face and let everyone else get the laugh). For those of you who wish to sample, purchase a copy of Rhino's compilation, Sibling Revelry: The Best of the Smothers Brothers
"I don't like cream of asparakeet!"
"My brother, super-sibling Dickie, put termites in my Lincoln Logs"
"My old man's a refrigerator repairman, whaddaya think about that?"
. It's too bad Rhino is now Warner's de facto reissue label; we won't get a volume 2 with "My Old Man", "The Fox" and "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair", but the CD is well worth the cost.Recently, I caught Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
which focused on their censorship battles with their 1967 - 1969 CBS show. After watching it (and strongly considered illegally taping off of a DVD....and which is now available via YouTube), I have to say that now, their comedy resonates even more strongly...because now I realize that they didn't just use humor to entertain, but they made an honest effort to use it to change the world.The documentary is just the right length (90 minutes) and hits all the familiar marks. (The whole brouhaha starts with a clever sketch about censorship, features a Democratic president who didn't like the show, and devolves into a one man vs. the network fight. However, what shines through isn't that the Smothers were groundbreakers in delivering social satire on television...but that, even now, they are still quite clever and smart. (Unlike reruns of Laugh-In, which show it to be dated and too fixed in their time). For example, in one clever juxtaposition, two classic Smothers routines combine into a statement on race relations, bigotry, and acceptance. The tone of the documentary is casual, but what is revealed isn't about the nature of censorship...but of the power of humor.
It's a question of growing up - it's not about leaving the recklessness of youth behind, but being able to temper that anti-establishment spirit with a good dose of maturity and intelligence. Or, in other words, knowing who needs to hear "**** you" and how to say it well.
And for that, we need to thank Tom and Dick. They may only do yo-yo tricks now, but considering what they started...it's well worth it.
[February 4, 2017 Edit - in reviewing this on the 50th Anniversary of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, this documentary still holds up. Watch before it's pulled]
June 11, 2004
More Fun With Reading...
Since today is a national day of mourning for President Reagan's death, and since most of my work contacts are off, I'm pretty much stuck in front of the computer...so I thought I would engage in this little activity first posted on my friend and fellow science-fiction enthusiast Brian's blog.
Basically, the books in bold are all "classic" literature which I have read. (Tried this as a comment on the aforementioned blog, and all I have to say is...gee, I need to get the hang of this "blogging" thang.) Enjoy!
Beowulf
Achebe, Chinua - Things Fall Apart
Agee, James - A Death in the Family
Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice
Baldwin, James - Go Tell It on the Mountain
Beckett, Samuel - Waiting for Godot
Bellow, Saul - The Adventures of Augie March
Brontë, Charlotte - Jane Eyre
Brontë, Emily - Wuthering Heights
Camus, Albert - The Stranger
Cather, Willa - Death Comes for the Archbishop
Chaucer, Geoffrey - The Canterbury Tales
Chekhov, Anton - The Cherry Orchard
Chopin, Kate - The Awakening
Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness
Cooper, James Fenimore - The Last of the Mohicans
Crane, Stephen - The Red Badge of Courage
Dante - Inferno
de Cervantes, Miguel - Don Quixote
Defoe, Daniel - Robinson Crusoe
Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor - Crime and Punishment
Douglass, Frederick - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Dreiser, Theodore - An American Tragedy
Dumas, Alexandre - The Three Musketeers
Eliot, George - The Mill on the Floss
Ellison, Ralph - Invisible Man
Emerson, Ralph Waldo - Selected Essays
Faulkner, William - As I Lay Dying
Faulkner, William - The Sound and the Fury
Fielding, Henry - Tom Jones
Fitzgerald, F. Scott - The Great Gatsby
Flaubert, Gustave - Madame Bovary
Ford, Ford Madox - The Good Soldier
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von - Faust
Golding, William - Lord of the Flies
Hardy, Thomas - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Hawthorne, Nathaniel - The Scarlet Letter
Heller, Joseph - Catch 22
Hemingway, Ernest - A Farewell to Arms
Homer - The Iliad
Homer - The Odyssey
Hugo, Victor - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hurston, Zora Neale - Their Eyes Were Watching God
Huxley, Aldous - Brave New World
Ibsen, Henrik - A Doll's House
James, Henry - The Portrait of a Lady
James, Henry - The Turn of the Screw
Joyce, James - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Kafka, Franz - The Metamorphosis
Kingston, Maxine Hong - The Woman Warrior
Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
Lewis, Sinclair - Babbitt
London, Jack - The Call of the Wild
Mann, Thomas - The Magic Mountain
Marquez, Gabriel García - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Melville, Herman - Bartleby the Scrivener
Melville, Herman - Moby Dick
Miller, Arthur - The Crucible
Morrison, Toni - Beloved
O'Connor, Flannery - A Good Man is Hard to Find
O'Neill, Eugene - Long Day's Journey into Night
Orwell, George - Animal Farm
Pasternak, Boris - Doctor Zhivago
Plath, Sylvia - The Bell Jar
Poe, Edgar Allan - Selected Tales
Proust, Marcel - Swann's Way
Pynchon, Thomas - The Crying of Lot 49
Remarque, Erich Maria - All Quiet on the Western Front
Rostand, Edmond - Cyrano de Bergerac
Roth, Henry - Call It Sleep
Salinger, J.D. - The Catcher in the Rye
Shakespeare, William - Hamlet
Shakespeare, William - Macbeth
Shakespeare, William - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare, William - Romeo and Juliet
Shaw, George Bernard - Pygmalion
Shelley, Mary - Frankenstein
Silko, Leslie Marmon - Ceremony
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Sophocles - Antigone
Sophocles - Oedipus Rex
Steinbeck, John - The Grapes of Wrath
Stevenson, Robert Louis - Treasure Island
Stowe, Harriet Beecher - Uncle Tom's Cabin
Swift, Jonathan - Gulliver's Travels
Thackeray, William - Vanity Fair
Thoreau, Henry David - Walden
Tolstoy, Leo - War and Peace
Turgenev, Ivan - Fathers and Sons
Twain, Mark - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Voltaire - Candide
Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. - Slaughterhouse-Five
Walker, Alice - The Color Purple
Wharton, Edith - The House of Mirth
Welty, Eudora - Collected Stories
Whitman, Walt - Leaves of Grass
Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorian Gray
Williams, Tennessee - The Glass Menagerie
Woolf, Virginia - To the Lighthouse
Wright, Richard - Native Son
Basically, the books in bold are all "classic" literature which I have read. (Tried this as a comment on the aforementioned blog, and all I have to say is...gee, I need to get the hang of this "blogging" thang.) Enjoy!
Beowulf
Achebe, Chinua - Things Fall Apart
Agee, James - A Death in the Family
Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice
Baldwin, James - Go Tell It on the Mountain
Beckett, Samuel - Waiting for Godot
Bellow, Saul - The Adventures of Augie March
Brontë, Charlotte - Jane Eyre
Brontë, Emily - Wuthering Heights
Camus, Albert - The Stranger
Cather, Willa - Death Comes for the Archbishop
Chaucer, Geoffrey - The Canterbury Tales
Chekhov, Anton - The Cherry Orchard
Chopin, Kate - The Awakening
Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness
Cooper, James Fenimore - The Last of the Mohicans
Crane, Stephen - The Red Badge of Courage
Dante - Inferno
de Cervantes, Miguel - Don Quixote
Defoe, Daniel - Robinson Crusoe
Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor - Crime and Punishment
Douglass, Frederick - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Dreiser, Theodore - An American Tragedy
Dumas, Alexandre - The Three Musketeers
Eliot, George - The Mill on the Floss
Ellison, Ralph - Invisible Man
Emerson, Ralph Waldo - Selected Essays
Faulkner, William - As I Lay Dying
Faulkner, William - The Sound and the Fury
Fielding, Henry - Tom Jones
Fitzgerald, F. Scott - The Great Gatsby
Flaubert, Gustave - Madame Bovary
Ford, Ford Madox - The Good Soldier
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von - Faust
Golding, William - Lord of the Flies
Hardy, Thomas - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Hawthorne, Nathaniel - The Scarlet Letter
Heller, Joseph - Catch 22
Hemingway, Ernest - A Farewell to Arms
Homer - The Iliad
Homer - The Odyssey
Hugo, Victor - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hurston, Zora Neale - Their Eyes Were Watching God
Huxley, Aldous - Brave New World
Ibsen, Henrik - A Doll's House
James, Henry - The Portrait of a Lady
James, Henry - The Turn of the Screw
Joyce, James - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Kafka, Franz - The Metamorphosis
Kingston, Maxine Hong - The Woman Warrior
Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
Lewis, Sinclair - Babbitt
London, Jack - The Call of the Wild
Mann, Thomas - The Magic Mountain
Marquez, Gabriel García - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Melville, Herman - Bartleby the Scrivener
Melville, Herman - Moby Dick
Miller, Arthur - The Crucible
Morrison, Toni - Beloved
O'Connor, Flannery - A Good Man is Hard to Find
O'Neill, Eugene - Long Day's Journey into Night
Orwell, George - Animal Farm
Pasternak, Boris - Doctor Zhivago
Plath, Sylvia - The Bell Jar
Poe, Edgar Allan - Selected Tales
Proust, Marcel - Swann's Way
Pynchon, Thomas - The Crying of Lot 49
Remarque, Erich Maria - All Quiet on the Western Front
Rostand, Edmond - Cyrano de Bergerac
Roth, Henry - Call It Sleep
Salinger, J.D. - The Catcher in the Rye
Shakespeare, William - Hamlet
Shakespeare, William - Macbeth
Shakespeare, William - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare, William - Romeo and Juliet
Shaw, George Bernard - Pygmalion
Shelley, Mary - Frankenstein
Silko, Leslie Marmon - Ceremony
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Sophocles - Antigone
Sophocles - Oedipus Rex
Steinbeck, John - The Grapes of Wrath
Stevenson, Robert Louis - Treasure Island
Stowe, Harriet Beecher - Uncle Tom's Cabin
Swift, Jonathan - Gulliver's Travels
Thackeray, William - Vanity Fair
Thoreau, Henry David - Walden
Tolstoy, Leo - War and Peace
Turgenev, Ivan - Fathers and Sons
Twain, Mark - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Voltaire - Candide
Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. - Slaughterhouse-Five
Walker, Alice - The Color Purple
Wharton, Edith - The House of Mirth
Welty, Eudora - Collected Stories
Whitman, Walt - Leaves of Grass
Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorian Gray
Williams, Tennessee - The Glass Menagerie
Woolf, Virginia - To the Lighthouse
Wright, Richard - Native Son
June 8, 2004
Nutted By Reality...
You know, maybe I'm becoming cynical (or a bad stand-up comic), but I am just a wee bit tired of reality shows...
Ok, I admit, I got a little hooked on The Apprentice (OK, the season finale), but it just seems a little...well, futile. Recently, here in St. Louis, we had a call for Average Jane - that's right, Average Joe with a woman as the "central interest." Between that and the improbably titled Who Will Marry My Dad?
Personally, if you are going to do reality, do it right - do a day in the life of the President of the United States. Do the training room at my office at lunch time (trust me, it is laugh-out-loud funny). Do something educational, or uplifting.
Unfortunately, most "reality" shows are just as contrived as their fictional cousins. Let's face it - in real life, do you think Donald Trump would just call someone into his office and say, "You're fired"? Or, if set out in the wild, be able to bring one "special" object?
It's times like this that make me glad I have a library card...and that I'm too cheap to get cable, but can easily afford Netflix
Ok, I admit, I got a little hooked on The Apprentice (OK, the season finale), but it just seems a little...well, futile. Recently, here in St. Louis, we had a call for Average Jane - that's right, Average Joe with a woman as the "central interest." Between that and the improbably titled Who Will Marry My Dad?
Personally, if you are going to do reality, do it right - do a day in the life of the President of the United States. Do the training room at my office at lunch time (trust me, it is laugh-out-loud funny). Do something educational, or uplifting.
Unfortunately, most "reality" shows are just as contrived as their fictional cousins. Let's face it - in real life, do you think Donald Trump would just call someone into his office and say, "You're fired"? Or, if set out in the wild, be able to bring one "special" object?
It's times like this that make me glad I have a library card...and that I'm too cheap to get cable, but can easily afford Netflix
Soundtrack of My Life
In other words, "Songs which I can't stop from playing in the past few days, either on my computer or CD player", in no particular order:
Boomtown Rats, Elephant's Graveyard
Luscious Jackson, Naked Eye
The Jam, Burning Sky
Led Zeppelin, The Immigrant Song
Faces, Cindy Incidentally
Effigies, Mob Clash
Isaac Hayes, Theme From Shaft
Beatles, Across the Universe (from Let It Be Naked)
Dead Boys, Ain't It Fun
Clarence Carter, Slip Away
Monkees, Can You Dig It?
Replacements, Temptation Eyes
So, folks, you can get some insight into the kind of music I dig...
Boomtown Rats, Elephant's Graveyard
Luscious Jackson, Naked Eye
The Jam, Burning Sky
Led Zeppelin, The Immigrant Song
Faces, Cindy Incidentally
Effigies, Mob Clash
Isaac Hayes, Theme From Shaft
Beatles, Across the Universe (from Let It Be Naked)
Dead Boys, Ain't It Fun
Clarence Carter, Slip Away
Monkees, Can You Dig It?
Replacements, Temptation Eyes
So, folks, you can get some insight into the kind of music I dig...
June 7, 2004
Fun, creative time killer!
(this is HTML code pasted in from about.com - try it and see!)
I took the Blogging Personality Quiz at About Web logs and I am...
The Writer
Words captivate me. And, I like to capture words. Blogging enables me to write often. It also provides a place for me to share what I write with a reading public. I can be funny, inspiring, intelligent, cynical, or morbid. It doesn't matter what I write about in my blog. It only matters that I write.
June 6, 2004
You're Not Hardcore...Unless You Live Hardcore
Or, Another Way To Spend a Saturday Afternoon...
Just finished watching the soon-to-be classic School of Rock, and this movie, well, rocks. It's hard to believe that Jack Black and Richard Linklater could make a movie that is 1) so incredibly mainstream, 2) so sweet, and 3) gives such a cool counterculture message.
You all know the plot - Jack Black's a failed rocker, he becomes a substitute teacher, and he encourages his class to develop their hidden talents. First, props to these kids - they got talent, and none of them engage in "movie cute" behaviors. There are also so many ways that this movie could have gone wrong...and didn't. It's pretty much entertainment for the whole family, without being cloying, annoying, or sugary. You can see the plot points a-comin' at times, but somehow, the cast and crew managed to make them work towards its advantage.
Definitely one of those movies that I'll own on DVD (hey, the pitch to Led Zeppelin for "The Immigrant Song" is worth the price of admission..)
Just finished watching the soon-to-be classic School of Rock, and this movie, well, rocks. It's hard to believe that Jack Black and Richard Linklater could make a movie that is 1) so incredibly mainstream, 2) so sweet, and 3) gives such a cool counterculture message.
You all know the plot - Jack Black's a failed rocker, he becomes a substitute teacher, and he encourages his class to develop their hidden talents. First, props to these kids - they got talent, and none of them engage in "movie cute" behaviors. There are also so many ways that this movie could have gone wrong...and didn't. It's pretty much entertainment for the whole family, without being cloying, annoying, or sugary. You can see the plot points a-comin' at times, but somehow, the cast and crew managed to make them work towards its advantage.
Definitely one of those movies that I'll own on DVD (hey, the pitch to Led Zeppelin for "The Immigrant Song" is worth the price of admission..)
June 5, 2004
A Fun Way to Pass A Saturday Afternoon...
I have to admit that, on the look of things, it seems unusual - after all, I'm not really in the acting/writing profession (unless you count my numerous attempts at trying to write). So when I heard about some improv workshops as part of the St. Louis Fringe Festival through Ed Reggi, I engaged in my semi-regular hobby of attending improv classes.
You would think that a Chicago boy would have taken said classes through Second City, but I never had the courage (or the money). Again, I'm just a community development/substance abuse/civically-minded guy: why take a class - albeit, cool - on short form improv?
Because...it's probably the safest form of play on the planet. It's a confidence builder that only involves threatening the imagination - no worries about bumps, bruises, or broken bones. It's about being able to mentally turn on a dime, on earning trust with another person, about doing the invisible dance of turning nothing into a symphony of action, motion, and laughter.
The stage acts as a laboratory, as a safe way to engage in hairpin turns. As an added bonus, it allows for creativity on the job, clearing out the mental cobwebs, and just allows for pure fun - entertainment for its own sake. A high that almost never gives out, and a few moments of joy in an otherwise overstructured world.
You would think that a Chicago boy would have taken said classes through Second City, but I never had the courage (or the money). Again, I'm just a community development/substance abuse/civically-minded guy: why take a class - albeit, cool - on short form improv?
Because...it's probably the safest form of play on the planet. It's a confidence builder that only involves threatening the imagination - no worries about bumps, bruises, or broken bones. It's about being able to mentally turn on a dime, on earning trust with another person, about doing the invisible dance of turning nothing into a symphony of action, motion, and laughter.
The stage acts as a laboratory, as a safe way to engage in hairpin turns. As an added bonus, it allows for creativity on the job, clearing out the mental cobwebs, and just allows for pure fun - entertainment for its own sake. A high that almost never gives out, and a few moments of joy in an otherwise overstructured world.
June 3, 2004
Hey, kids? Do you dig music?
You know, some things come when I least expect them, but are very pleasant when I receive them. The attention of a beautiful woman, the affection of my cat...and my regular issue of The Big Takeover.
The Big Takeover is a music fanzine, but it's not your typical rag like Rolling Stone or Spin, or even Blender (which does for music criticism what Charles Manson did for Beatles music). It's an intelligent, half-yearly (almost yearly) compendium of all that is hip and happening in music. It's subtitle is "Music With Heart", and that's precisely what this magazine is about. It opposes a statement made by one of my favorite musicians, Graham Parker, who declared, "I have seen the future of rock...and it sucks!!!"
But what makes it great is not the editorials by Jack Rabid (who is one of the most intelligent, insightful individuals I have ever read), or even the value for the money (tons of interviews and reviews). It's the philosophy - to give you an idea, issue 54 (currently out) focuses on
Modest Mouse
Pernice Brothers
Killing Joke
Rocket from the Tombs
Poster Children
Weirdos
The Mekons
Jim DeRogatis
TSOL
Leatherface
Undertones
Greg Dulli
The Zombies
Stereolab (featured on the cover!)
This magazine, in a non-nostalgic way, takes me back to high school, when I would head to Kroozin Music in Chicago (now gone) and just browse the racks, finding some obscure treasure...or just something that I had never heard before. In a time when modern music is oriented towards pushing product, towards moving units, this is always a timely reminder that music (like much of life) is always best when it comes from the finest parts of ourselves.
So head to the website, check out the sample articles, and subscribe. Tell them you were referred from me - I don't get a kickback, other than the joy of bring a hidden treasure to light.
The Big Takeover is a music fanzine, but it's not your typical rag like Rolling Stone or Spin, or even Blender (which does for music criticism what Charles Manson did for Beatles music). It's an intelligent, half-yearly (almost yearly) compendium of all that is hip and happening in music. It's subtitle is "Music With Heart", and that's precisely what this magazine is about. It opposes a statement made by one of my favorite musicians, Graham Parker, who declared, "I have seen the future of rock...and it sucks!!!"
But what makes it great is not the editorials by Jack Rabid (who is one of the most intelligent, insightful individuals I have ever read), or even the value for the money (tons of interviews and reviews). It's the philosophy - to give you an idea, issue 54 (currently out) focuses on
Modest Mouse
Pernice Brothers
Killing Joke
Rocket from the Tombs
Poster Children
Weirdos
The Mekons
Jim DeRogatis
TSOL
Leatherface
Undertones
Greg Dulli
The Zombies
Stereolab (featured on the cover!)
This magazine, in a non-nostalgic way, takes me back to high school, when I would head to Kroozin Music in Chicago (now gone) and just browse the racks, finding some obscure treasure...or just something that I had never heard before. In a time when modern music is oriented towards pushing product, towards moving units, this is always a timely reminder that music (like much of life) is always best when it comes from the finest parts of ourselves.
So head to the website, check out the sample articles, and subscribe. Tell them you were referred from me - I don't get a kickback, other than the joy of bring a hidden treasure to light.
For Your Browsin' Pleasure...
I'll post something a little more in-depth later, but first....
The Skeptic's Dictionary and
something to put the cream in your coffee...
The Skeptic's Dictionary and
something to put the cream in your coffee...
June 1, 2004
Blogmania Abounds!
Hey, I am in between projects at work, and need to be a little silly:
Blogging is fun. It's cool as stuff. For all of you who want to blog, first, head to Blogger.com and get an account. Trust me, it's more fun than frying bologna.
Want to promote your blog? Then head to Blogarama, Blogrolling, and BlogLinker - it's that easy.
(Plus, you get to read other people's cool blogs - how sweet is that?)
OK, it's back-to-work now!
Blogging is fun. It's cool as stuff. For all of you who want to blog, first, head to Blogger.com and get an account. Trust me, it's more fun than frying bologna.
Want to promote your blog? Then head to Blogarama, Blogrolling, and BlogLinker - it's that easy.
(Plus, you get to read other people's cool blogs - how sweet is that?)
OK, it's back-to-work now!
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