Saturday, September 30, 2006

can't get enough of that wonderful...

Frack. I admit, I'm more of a fan of Fluff in a metaphysical mode than a physical one. The idea of it, rather than the... errr... substance. Still, a science fair, a cooking contest, Fluff-inspired concoctions by Union Square local food and drinkeries, and rumors of a tug-of-war over a pool-o-Fluff...? This may trump THE MALTESE FALCON and THE ASPHALT JUNGLE at the Brattle...

*sigh*

Decisions, decisions...

Keep on keepin on~

* Fluff, not fluffER, sorry. =)

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Giant hornet sighted over German countryside!

It's in Revelations people!!!

=)

Check against the scale. That's a good 150 feet! Heh. Dunno how long the aerial photos persist in the maps.google system. If it's gone by the time you reach this post, click for a snapshot.

Keep on keepin on~

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

is there a TV doctor in the house...?

A crappy homecoming this evening, post-advance screening of SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS. Upon returning home from catching the free screening with Joe, Dan, and Ray, we discovered that my Philips flat screen (tube, not anything fancy) TV set is no longer TV-ing! Grraaahhhh!!!!

It was working fine this morning. It was off all day until we got back, when Rowan attempted to power it on via the remote. He wasn't watching the actual set when he did it, but he heard that familiar electrical wince of the TV powering on, but the tube never lit up. I wasn't around when this went down, but was on the scene a few minutes later. I tried the remote and the power button on the set and got nothing. There's a green light that's on when the set is turned on, even before the tube "warms up" and delivers its calm, soothing light, and that green light doesn't come on at all now.

I tried plugging it into different outlets. Nothing. I felt around in back where the plug wire goes into the set and moved and twisted it a bit while trying the power button, to see if maybe the wire had been yanked or was loose or not contacting something or other inside. No luck.

I don't know TV innards so well, but I'd hafta guess that it's the power supply. Electricity isn't making it even to the green indicator light. Should I be able to take the model number of my TV to a Radio Shack or somewhere and get a replacement power supply? And should that be a simple thing to replace? Once I figure out how my TV set's case is made to be opened up...?

Frack.

Does anyone out there shooting thru the tubes of the internetz know? Please share if you can.

The Contact & Support area of the Philips website...

Question:
My set is dead, has no power, and/or the LED is flashing.

Answer:
Unit likely is in need of repair. Call Philips contact center at 1-888-PHILIPS (1-888-744-5477) for further assistance.

*sigh*

I haven't called them yet. Maybe I'll try it tomorrow. I'm going to cling to some weak denial tonight. Maybe when I wake up tomorrow it will be working again. That could happen, right?

Oh, SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS? Just about what I expected, given the setup in the commercials and trailer. Billy Bob does his thing as the insufferable bastard motivator, and as always, does it well. We even got a trailer for the next movie where he gets to do this very thing again, in/as MR. WOODCOCK. In that he's opposite Seann William Scott, who's never disappointed me and always makes me laugh. That should be some good and painful fun. Back to SCOUNDRELS...

Yeah, so Billy B is perfect as the drill sergeant how-to-be-an-alpha male instructor. Who else could deliver lessons like this with such conviction and bile?

"How many of you own self-help books? See, there's your problem. You're losers. How are you going to help ANYone, much less yourselves? When you try to get help from yourself, you're getting help from an asshole!"

I like Jon Heder as the loser/decent guy seeking guidance, but really, would it hurt to get him to try a different haircut? Maybe make it part of a makeover from loser to lion?

The movie takes maybe a little too long in the beginning establishing his loser credentials (it's slow AND a huge downer), but once it gets into the schooling part, it has a few great over-the-top physical comedy and character moments, what you'd expect from OLD SCHOOL creators, given the premise. But the big laughs are not spread out as evenly in SCOUNDRELS as in OLD. Surprise! Sarah Silverman drops some wonderfully mean bombs, and Ben Stiller plays a great scoundrel school alum (technically, he may be a dropout). Heder's fellow loser classmates, SNL, MAN BITES DOG, and HIGH FIDELITY vets, are solid, but don't get to do all that much. Basically, it's totally wait-for-it-on-DVD-able. For some reference, I told people to see BAD SANTA on the big screen when it was out. =)

Would be worth it if you're looking for some crass laughs at suburban matinee or discount ticekt price.

I was a bit dismayed at myself, just for a second, at the number of laughs the suggestion of or explicit reference to one man sexually assaulting another coaxed out of me.

Just for a second.

What? Why are you looking at me like that? You've gotta hear it in context!

=)

Keep on keepin on~

Goats & Fellows @the Middle East...

A very entertaining and lyrical show by The Mountain Goats and opener Christine Fellows!

Beware! I am even more of a hack at talking music as I am at talking movies. I'm afraid I can't offer anything too deep in texture, flavor, or the context of musical genres, movements, personalities, or history. Basically, I really enjoyed what I heard tonight. =)

For a couple of nerds on acoustic guitars, the Goats rock fun and hard. =) Lead singer and guitarist John is very animated in his performance. A great storyteller (in song and patter), he naturally brings just the right expression to each line of a song and pluck and strum of his guitar, whether it's exaggerated pain, cross-eyed fury, comic disbelief, a look of being lost in memory, intense focus on a single note, or, screw it!—I'm rockin out! Peter, being the bassist ("the best damn bassist on the indie rock scene" — John), mostly looks stoic until the encore, when he nods his head once or twice and the crowd goes nuts. =)

Christine's music reminds me very much of Aimee Mann's, which in my book is a very good thing, and says a lot about her voice and her lyrics. One thing that I noticed, but didn't necessarily hurt the music, is that about half the songs she performed started up in a similar all-at-once musical way. I'd only heard four or five of her songs before the show, and most of her set I was hearing for the first time, so on more listening, I may change my mind on that.

And more listening I shall do, as I went and bought myself a copy of her most recent album, PAPER ANNIVERSARY, right from her hands, which had just signed it. I mentioned how much I enjoyed the video for "Migrations" available at her website (click "Music Video"), and she had great praise for her performance artistic collaborator in it, Shary Boyle. A quite perfect marriage of visuals and song. Christine explained that Shary had created the imagery and a performance for every song on the album. I told her I hope to see some of those captured on film or video in the future and she said that she'd be very pleased if they could make that happen.

Tonight Christine wore a black housecoat looking thing, almost MATRIX gear, and a charcoal baseball cap. She made it look cute.


Aggravating that I had to be physically uncomfortable and tired while taking in such musical sweetness, fun, and adventure. The show was scheduled to start at 8pm. We showed up just about then. Good to be on time/on the early side to stake out a bit of space for the evening, but in the end I think Christine got started at about 10. Two hours? That's a bit much, no? Well, In, Rowan, and I planted ourselves near a railing on the left side of the front third of the floor facing the stage. Rowan and I could see the performers heads over and thru the audience noggins, and my sister could perch herself on the rail to get a decent view. But y'know, by the time the Goats really got going, I'd been standing for hours, and while they were performing had to work at maintaining the least bit of personal space around me and try to keep an unobstructed view of the really cute girl in the middle of the crowd pack to my right. Not easy. And after hours, as I said, not comfortable.

I've never been *super* keen on the live music experience. Arena stuff is its own thing. The shows I went to were all unique experiences, built by the bands, and I especially dug them because of the good company. In smaller, club venues, I'm partial to shows that don't typically encourage fist pumping and jumping around. Rows of chairs, or bleacher, cafe and/or booth seating certainly make it easier to take. I saw an excellent John Cale show at the Middle East many moons ago with Zorknapp. The performer and his music and his fans were just right for an attentive, sit-down audience set up, and that's what was provided. Rows of folding chairs in front of the raised stage. Everyone could see and hear the music making and the crowd was all kinds of pleased. That is pretty much how I dig catching live music. The Paradise in Boston has some great options. The club/mainstage is a big room with multiple levels. The stage is raised over a floor that's open and danceable. Around the floor are two bars towards the back, and steppes of seating and railed milling about areas that go up to a wider second floor with another bar, railed overlooks, and more seating in booth and freestanding varieties. I've also seen one show in the Paradise bar, and was lucky enough to have a barstool for my seat. The space is pretty multi-use, seating with tables surrounding two sides of an open floor, the third side features the bar, and the fourth is the backdrop to the low stage. It probably gets rowdy with the right performers, but I saw the Modern Troubadors, featuring Teitur and Abra Moore, a very mellow, low key, and wonderful show.

Maybe I woke up Old one day a few years ago...?

*sigh*

Frack. It's WAY late... Some things I'll mention now that I may or may not riff on at a later date but would like to look back on at some point and snicker or groan...

Cool guys who pick and twiddle little flowers from wherever. "I don't care if you're wearing a jacket made from carpet samples!" The bandana guy. The fist pumping loud mouth Mountain Goats fan. Our pre-show discussions on ("My Name Is...") Roosevelt Franklin and zombies, the Black Plague, and the religious right...

Gosh, we had an equinox a couple days back, didn't we? Hohum.


Keep on keepin on~

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

The Muppets Take The Matrix

No Muppet can be told what the Matrix is...

Thanks to Keri for the pointer to this fun by MagicDonnie & Co. =)

Keep on keepin on~

The Mountain Goats@The Middle East...

My sister turned me onto these fine mellow cynical fellows and we're gonna go check them out at the Middle East Tuesday evening (tonight).

They're not new, just new to me. Surprising, I know. What with my finger on the pulse and all. =)

Even if In hadn't exposed me to their alternately pointy, plucky, and musical guitar behind their clever, mean, real, and funny words (with titles like "International Small Arms Traffic Blues," "Linda Blair Was Born Innocent," "New Monster Avenue," and "Fall Of The Star Running Back" =), finding out that BRICK's director took it upon himself to shoot their first video certainly would have gotten me to sit up and pay attention.

Also, they're called The Mountain Goats, so they've got that going for them, too.

Keep on keepin on~

Wack. Just checked the Middle East's site and the show is sold out.

brought to you by the letter F...

The Muppets... No. No lead-in. Words won't do. You've just gotta watch it.

Really.


Keep on keepin on~

Monday, September 25, 2006

the Clinton interview...

You've probably seen the "HIT JOB" headlines, maybe read into the articles partway, and if you've seen anything on the TV news about it, it'll likely only be strategic clips and bites. Please check out the interview in its entirety...

The interview continues with discussion on the Initiative as well as Rovian tactics in part 2.

DO read Richard Clarke's AGAINST ALL ENEMIES (excerpt available online here) if you can stand some well-written non-fiction about the U.S.'s steps and missteps in its anti-terrororist policies and combat.

It seems to me that Clinton's done an amazing push for the Global Initiative program in the past few days. That a hermit troll like myself even knows that he's doing it is testament to that. Of course, his appearance on the DAILY SHOW did up the odds that I'd take notice. I think it was during that interview that I was a little bit blown away to hear that Rupert Murdoch (of mySpace and Fox owndership, not Aisles, the mastermind behind FoxSnooz's fair and balanced strategy) had sat down with him and donated a sizable amount toward climate change research.

Thanks to Joe for the headzup and OneGoodMove for the quality heavy lifting!

Keep on keepin on~

2001 VW beetle for sale

A volleyball bud is leaving town all too soon and is looking to sell his little green bug before he departs... Interested? Know anyone who might be? Please pass the info or this post along.


Keep on beepin on~

Saturday, September 23, 2006

proof of Grodd...?

And speaking of monkeys...

Now, wait a second. To whom do human beings typically acknowledge or assign the love of bananas? Now why would the big guy set up bananas to be so perfectly suited for humans but have them be so beloved by monkeys? Perhaps Lucy's baby could tell us...?

I wonder how that dude would explain the slippery banana peel thing (he says the *outside* of the packaging is "non-slip" or something)? Part of odgay's plan?

Who in the world, in history, ever actually slipped on one? Did some old-timey someone need to get his vaudeville partner to fall on his bum and was eating a banana while writing the sketch? He just *decides* it's gonna be slip-n-slidey and everyone just buys it? Like pine or lemon scent being the aromatic sign for clean?

Oh hey. Looking back at the last post and a few clicks off... If you'd like to have a go at your very own demotivator, check out Despair's motivator (de)generator! =)

Keep on keepin on~

Friday, September 22, 2006

funny cuz it's true...

Well, *mostly* funny... =)

My memory's going swiss cheese in my old age, but I do believe that it was Zorknapp who first pointed me to "Awesome" some time ago. Not quite as crisp as Despair's demotivationals, but among them I think you'll find a couple with perfect pitch.

Keep on keepin on~

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

like Michael Bolton in OFFICE SPACE...

Talk about nail on the head! Or perhaps it ought to be IN the head...

Yes, that's definitely Seth Green, but that other guy, rockin out behind Al... Is that? Donnie Osmond?!

Oh, Yoda! The STAR WARS holiday special! I've got a bootleg VHS copy, SOMEwhere. In a yet-to-be-located-and-unpacked box, under similar boxes, no doubt. Man, that is some F'd up fried far, far away trippin there, that is. You've got Maude, Norton, Jefferson Starship, Chewie's Wookie family, some terrible greenscreened dance numbers, and Life Day.

Ah, but in all space fairness, it *was* an awesome HEAVY METALlic debut for everyone's favoritest bounty hunter in the galaxy, Boba Fett!

Y'know, BEFORE you had to collect and send in Kenner STAR WARS toy proofs of purchase to get his action figure and it had the rocket that would fire out of his backpack, or at least it DID—until some stupid kid shot his backpack rocket into his mouth and choked on it...

Idiot.

Holy frickin frack! The tubes of the internet DO have EVERYTHING!

Thanks to Jessie* for directing me to this Weird Al brilliance. =)

Keep on geekin on~

* And for cluing me in to the source material - "Riding Dirty" by Chamillionaire (featuring Krayzie Bone).

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Aye, me parrot concurs...

Avast!

Didn't make it to any piratey festivities this evening. I ended up getting myself home to tackle some domestic chores and shopping errands with my housemates.

Housemates. Ick. That's so unReality, no? Hrmm... Roommates? Condomates? Ick. NOT "condomates." Sounds like some kind of prophylactic novelty accessory you'd find at Spencers.

I suppose a hyphen would fix that. Condo-mates.

I'll stick w roommates.

Well, shopping got started later than we planned, which meant dinner happened even later, and by the time I'd sat down to watch some DEAD LIKE ME with my chicken teriyaki roll-up from a cafe around the corner, it was too late (and okay, maybe a little too rainy) to get myself over to the Brattle for some YELLOWBEARD piratey fun. O well.

Still, I tried to pirate it up where I could, sometimes a little bit after the fact, dropping in an Arrr or Matey, like, 10 seconds after finishing a sentence. =)

Jessie kindly reminded me to throw some scurvy Arrrrs into our chat.

I corrected Rowan when he was directing In to make a right turn - "Starrrbirrd!" (Starboard's right and port's left, right? I mean, correct?)

In, Rowan, and I talked a little "What if?" about the Intelligent Design discussion that went on at the Brattle this evening, wondering if some early arrivals for YELLOWBEARD might get into it (it IS Cambridge, after all)...

"Avast, sawbones! And what would this here Intelligent Design have to say about my hook for a hand? Arrrr!"

Only, y'know, in native Pirate.

The only pirate I spotted all day was working the register at Trader Joe's. That doesn't surprise anyone, does it? He was pirate hatted and Jolly Roger T-shirted up, and I heard him throw an Arrr at a departing customer. That's some good crack. I wish I'd made myself stop in at the Garment District for something Seahawk-worthy in the way of an eyepatch or parrot prop. Nuts.

Ahoy, keep on keepin' on~

Boston locals, keep your eye on the Brattle for news and listings for their Fantastic Film Festival in October. In its first three years it's delivered JU-ON, ONG BAK, APPLESEED, and INFERNAL AFFAIRS, to name just a few.

Famous Jewish Sports Stars... *

It's the last thing anyone who knows me would expect—a plug for a baseball clip. Of course you realize, this is gonna have something a bit Extra...

Dennis Leary and Lenny Clarke (together of RESCUE ME) step up to the mikes for some guest commentary at a Red Sox game broadcast, bringing with them some very thoughtful political insight. It IS somewhat dated now, but hey, memory games are good for the brain, right?

=)

I pulled this from one of Jenn's posts.

Keep on keepin on~

* See AIRPLANE! =)

Monday, September 18, 2006

TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY @ Brattle & Coolidge Tomorrow!

Avast! Both the Brattle and Coolidge Corner theaters have got special programming and admission offers in honor of International (as far as any of you know =) Talk Like A Pirate Day tomorrow! I don't know that I'll be free to hit the earlier Coolidge showtimes, but I'm hoping to make that 10pm YELLOWBEARD, Arrrrr!

Keep on keepin on~

Thursday, September 14, 2006

FREE emotional content! - Kung Fu flicks & kicks by the Chinatown gate!

Free martial arts and Chinese language films screened under the stars in Chinatown! Check out Chinatown's "Films At The Gate" series tonight thru Sunday night (started last night, but I spaced on it : P). Also, on Saturday, a live performance/program from the Bow Sim Mark school, followed by a "mystery movie" starring the school's master's son, Donnie Yen (of HERO, IRON MONKEY, and LEGEND OF WOLF)!

Alas, with my workload and weekend plans, I'm probably not going to make a screening until Sunday night, but I can't complain about "only" being able to see ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 2! =) It's got a brilliant Jet Li vs. Donnie Yen duel. I saw this for the first time back in college at the MFA as part of a new east Asian film series and it was a revelation. As with HARDBOILED at the Brattle, I felt the axis of the planet tilt as my mind soaked in non-Hollywood/HK film greatness.

I highly recommend the entire ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series with Jet Li (and even the one without him), as well as his FONG SAI YUK films. They are charming and kinetic joy.

Many thanks to Eric B. for giving me the headzup on this series!

Keep on keepin on~

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Pon Farther, "Closer"

F that fan fictional b.s. Check this $hit out...


Many many thanks to Jess for beaming me to this (Kirk / Spock x NIN) gen-gen-gen-geynio-gen-genius...

*beep*

Keep Pon keepin on~

Hot-Roddicus Supersonicus | Eatibus Anythingus


If you happen to be in Korea over the next few weeks, do, check out Hyungkoo Lee's fastastic archeology in the Animatus exhibit (two specimens from monument valley shown above).

Thanks to Jessie for the left turn at Albuquerque =)

Keep on keepin on, doc~

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

if I was in NYC this week...

I'd get tix for...

THE HOST, one of many films I'd want to catch, playing at the New York Film Festival

"Once More With Feeling" at the Buffy The Vampire Slayer Sing-A-Long happening at the IFC Center. (The Sing-A-Long was first born at screenings at the Coolidge Corner theater in Brookline!)

And, y'know what? I just came across this in the IFC listings that came up while looking for BUFFY, but I'd definitely check out AL FRANKEN: GOD SPOKE.

I'm just sayin... =)

Keep on keepin on~

RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES


This movie made me want to hug my dad. =)

Mr. Tanaka and his son Ken-Ichi haven't spoken to one another in ten years. Now, Ken-Ichi is ill, confined to the hospital for tests, and when he hears his father has come to Tokyo to see him, he stubbornly refuses to let him. By nature a stoic man, not accustomed to expressing his emotions, Mr. Tanaka seeks a way to reach out to his son. He finds it when he learns of Ken's passion for and study of Chinese Mask Opera. A year ago Ken-Ichi travelled to a mountain village in China to film a great player of these traditional Chinese musicals, and promised to return in a year to film him performing the opera "Riding Alone For Thousands Of Miles." With his son unable to fulfill that promise, pops Tanaka decides to leave his Japanese fishing town home to fly to China, travel its mountain roads, and film the performance himself.

The journey and the task prove to be more difficult than anyone could have expected. When apparently impossible obstacles arise, including the language barrier, Tanaka refuses to be turned back, enlisting the aid of a colorful collection of interpreters, bureaucrats, and villagers. In quiet moments, he realizes that he is retracing his son's path in China, facing the same solitude, challenges, and experiences Ken-Ichi would have encountered, and through them, feels closer to his son than he has in many years. It *is* sad that he must go so far to make contact with his son, but the voyage makes for a sweet, beautiful film that is populated with kindhearted characters, set against some magnificent vistas, and will surprise you with the power of some simple thoughtful moments of human connection and reflection.

God, I hope my teary-eyed soft touch talk isn't doing more harm than good here. Is there a better quick pitch for it...? Hrmmm...

Okay, how about... It's like LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (which you really must see, too!), only subtitled, in a different order, and sort of flipped... diagonally.

Or... It's KINda like if Matt Ward's "Chinese Translation" was a movie... That sorta works...

Oh, oh, I know! I told Rowan this when we were talking about the film—It's like Takeshi Kitano's KIKUJIRO (the movie's *way* better than the hokey voiceover in the trailer), only, without the gangsters, violence, and pedophiles. Yeah, that's the ticket!

=)

RIDING ALONE is currently playing at the Kendall (the last night is this Thursday) and West Newton cinemas.

It will make you wish you had an estranged father who lives in a Japanese fisherman's town, just so you could hug him.

Keep on keepin on~

Monday, September 11, 2006

Where's IDIOCRACY?


You know Mike Judge, right? OFFICE SPACE? KING OF THE HILL? BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD? He does Good, I tell you hwhat.

Well, okay. Sometimes, it's Chaotic Good.

His latest work, a feature film called IDIOCRACY, was recently released. Now, where might I look to find out about it...?

Hrmmm... Not here...
or here...

Say, it's a Fox release, I'll bet there's something here!

Gosh, nope. But thank goodness I can find out more about MY SUPER EX and JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE.

Y'know, every frickin Fox flick this summer has wanted to be my mySpace friend... Dayumn... This can't be an official page, can it? Sweet tunes, but oh, the page makes me a very bit sad...

Hey, there's a little bit of something here...

Ah! Of course! I should've checked with the wiki-geeks first thing! There's a bit of back-story on the evident smothering/non-promotion of the film, too.

Apparently, IDIOCRACY opened on September 1... SOMEwhere... Maybe someone who's seen it could give me a clue...

WTF?

Keep on keepin on~
--------------------------------------
A few dozen clicks later, I found a couple more write-ups... in the Chicago Sun-Times and an Associated Press article, complete with theories on why it's not being sold. No east coast venues? And NO FRICKIN TRAILER?!

Y'know, Fox didn't hafta completely ignore New England as part of their non-campaign. They could've had it play at the Boston Film Festival and gotten the same buzz.

Bleah.

what film festival?

Try and google "boston film festival" and see if you can find anything out about the films that are playing or the filmmakers attending...

Yeah. Not so much, eh?

A Boston Herald article link shows up, but every time I try to get to it, I get an error message. Sometime over the weekend I did find a selective write-up of festival picks in the Boston Phoenix online...

Ahhh... I *just* tried the Herald link again and it works!

Hrmm...Pretty frickin thin...

*sigh*

JESUS CAMP will be out October 6. THE LAST KISS should be in wide release pretty soon. JAM gets compared to CRASH... That might be worth checking out. I think RENAISSANCE is the only thing that looks interesting enough that I'll make an effort (besides the documentaries SAINT OF 9/11, GROUND TRUTH, and DELIVER US FROM EVIL, but I may just not be in the right mood/mind to check them out), even if it's supposed to be out in another week anyhow.

That's something that's been pretty annoying about recent years' BFFs. That the timing works out that their "bigger" pictures end up being in wide release just a week or three after their festival screening.

Am I beating up on the festival too much? Bleah. Perhaps. I have to admit I may be guilty of redirecting some aggravation at having to call off beach volleyballing earlier today, after arriving at the beach to find the inconvenient truth determined to give us a miserable day for playing.

Not a bad day for picturesque blue sky, puffy clouds snaps, tho...

The wind carries Rowan off the court...

Jacky and company huddle for warmth...

Keri's had about enough...

*sigh*

Keep on keepin on~

Friday, September 08, 2006

do these guys hate movies?

Who is this festival for? Maybe it's just me, dodging/missing a lot of mainstream flicks of late, but did anyone else know that today was the first day of the Boston Film Festival? I only got a clue earlier this week when I was clicking thru Fandango checking out listings and came across HOMIE SPUMONI (BFF) at the Boston Common.

BFF, WTF? In this case, definitely not best friends forever.

And if you check out the site, the film descriptions are still "coming soon." (As of noon on opening day.)

They drop the names of Sundance, Venice, and Telluride in their promo copy. Not having travelled for any fests besides Ottawa for animation, would I be out of line saying that comparisons to those film festivals seem like serious stretches?

Maybe there's another level to it all that is appreciated by industry folk? Or for all the people that make the party pics page in the Improper, y'know? But apparently not the average Bostonian, native or student, with 20 bucks in his pocket, not averse to soaking in some culture, and if it happens to allow for snacking in air conditioned comfort and stadium seating, all the better.

Bleah.

Keep on keepin on~
----------------------------
After scanning all the options in the pulldown menu for the schedule, the only picture I recognize by title is JESUS CAMP, which I do want to see. There are a few others that look good based on star and director power, but I don't know anything about the content of the films. I see Clu Gulager as a star of the movie VIC... Isn't that the dad of the guy who "won" PROJECT GREENLIGHT last year? He got to direct the horror flick, FEAST? Funky.

Well, I'll try and grab a catalog of atoms at the theater, since the bits one isn't available online. The theater is a short walk from the office, so maybe I can hit a few of these, once I get a handle on what they're about.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Libretto ex Mortis...?


Keep on keepin on~

scenes from the last couple weeks...

We got ourselves a U-Haul truck on the 22nd to move all our big ticket items to the new place. We ended up doing two trips with it to move all the furniture that wouldn't fit or collapse down to fit in my Saturn. We couldn't get a Comcast technician to the new place until the 31st, so, with work being as busy as it was, I decided to plan on being in the old place, wired and set up to work, until then. That meant that my bedroom was still pretty much unmoved after returning the truck. I was keeping my desk, futon, and tv set up until the end of August.

Here Rowan and In and I admire our very excellent U-Haul Tetris skills...

Gotta love warning signs...

The view outside the Cambridge U-Haul depot. Note James Tiberius in the front window. Judging by the sun-sapped desaturation of his typically robust complexion, he's been in the window a While. Why? He's James frickin Kirk! He doesn't need a reason!

On August 26, I finished up THE LONG GOODBYE. I'd read it once earlier in the year, but when I came across this particular copy of the book (Elliot Gould as Philip Marlowe?! Wack! I'm gonna hafta watch that sometime), I ended up starting it up again. I picked it up at one of the random little Cambridge book drops I've encountered in the neighborhood. The one I like to call "the giving tree stump."

On the streets that cross from Harvard Street (or is it Road?) to Mass Ave are the remnants of trees. I suppose in their prime, they must've been growing into the roadway or causing some sort of trouble for public works or whatnot and needed to be cut down. Well, apparently the city got some artisans to do a bit of architectural and detail work on the stumps, carving out these really gorgeous chairs, or thrones, from what remained. They call to my mind the idea of a "high seat," a perch that affords a view of the entire cosmos for this Norse god or his Greek or Roman equivalent.

The Giving Tree Stump...

Anyhow, in my pedestrian commuter travels, I've discovered that Cambridge locals have taken to leaving giveaway items on these seats, usually books. THE LONG GOODBYE is the first one I ever picked up. Now I feel like I should return to one of these drops and leave a book, y'know? Circle of life, dude...

See the bookybooks?

The receipt for the book was tucked into its pages when I picked it up. It turns out the day I finished the book was one year to the day since the book was purchased at the Brattle Book Shop, which is just a block over from my office in Downtown Crossing. Kooky, no?

I'd been keeping a receipt from an order of chicken teriyaki, no vegetables, from Sakkio in the Corner Mall food court as my bookmark. I got that receipt on the day that I started GOODBYE. I was holding on to it as a record of when I began the book again. Unfortunately, I lost it to a gust of subway wind at the Park Street T stop a couple days before finishing the book, and so don't have it to help me figure how long it took me to polish off the black and white candy that is Raymond Chandler's LONG GOODBYE. Such delicious reading. =)

In the process of packing myself up, I managed to purge a few dozen videotapes out of my collection of Stuff. Many of them were recordings of TV shows or dupes of films and those went into the trash. A few were actual purchased VHS tapes of films and were still in very playable shape. I thought of making these a donation to the stump, but the particular days that I was sifting thru videos were a bit rainy and wet.

Sad, thinking of the books that get caught in the rain...

At the time I was doing a couple of last laundry loads of towels and such and realized that the laundry room in our apartment building had an unofficial book/magazine exchange going—I could leave my videos there!

And so...
I did.

That's QUICK CHANGE on the end there, which I *just* picked up on dvd. A damn smart little robbery picture. Some of Bill Murray's best work, and supported by a kickass cast of then-not-so-well-knowns, including Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub. It's like AFTER HOURS if it was a heist film.

Also in the collection is Regis's workout tape. I wonder who will pick that one up. Back when I was first looking for animation work in the early 90s, I went and bought short commercial VHS tapes at the dollar store to use for my short student reel. One short film, really, my final animation project, entitled, "Spanghew," which means to throw, esp. a frog, from the end of a stick. Anyhow, I'd tape over the copy protection tab and record over whatever was on the commercial tape with my dopey little film, then send or present this tape as my reel, complete with kitsch/fried packaging!

Also uncovered in the process of packing and moving... my @world Pippin! I won this disowned bastard child of Apple and Bandai in a giveaway by the Gadget Guru on AOL back in 1996. Frickin frackin a decade ago! Anyhow, I'd never once unpacked it and plugged it in. I just never got around to it. When I won it, I was living in a basement studio apartment in Back Bay and just didn't have the room to set it up in the bricked up fireplace with my TV. In the apartments I lived in after that, well, I moved it in its box, unopened, and it was just easier to keep it stored that way. It lived with me, undisturbed, in... Let's see... Coolidge Street, Haskell Street, Blake Street, Bolton Street, Broadway... six places. Wack.

Well, I'd mentioned that I had this freak of late 90s tech development to Applehead Jeff some years ago, and made a promise that he'd be able to play with it one day. Well, no day like Tuesday, right? I had some other bits of hardware that Jeff had generously lent to me as part of his lifesaving measures for my old Titanium, so I was planning on dropping by anyhow...

That's the Pippin giving Jeff the lowdown on its ancient (but damn prescient) console control pad. It comes with a 14.4 modem, an online account (sadly, 10 years defunct now) with @world, a 4x CD-ROM drive, a keyboard, a touchpad, and game controllers. Designfemme has a great blog entry covering the highlights of the opening this time capsule.

And speaking of historical Apple tech...

A snapshot of my Mac SE FD/HD sitting on top of the "pizza box" Performa 450 (equivalent to the LC III) in the downstairs off of our new place.

The weekend ended up being a washout for beaching, thanks to Ernesto's passive aggressive temper. But Labor Day itself, altho a bit schizophrenic about whether it wanted to rain or not, turned out to be pretty fine for some grass King & Queen vball action in Arlington...

*sigh*

Just there in the bottom left of the picture I think you can see the shadow of the hole that I stepped into and sprained my ankle in. Bleah. I'd just won my first game of the day (after four losses, bleah), with partner Jen, was walking back to my seat, cleaning off my glasses, when the ground disappeared under my right foot. As I tumbled forward, I muttered to myself, "Feckin super." I went as much as I could with the fall, to keep my weight off the foot, but I didn't catch myself soon enough. I heard-felt a definite *pop* Feck. And thusly was my ankle turned.

Of course, it didn't stop me from playing out the rest of the day, ankle wrapped in a brace (thanks to BK for letting me strongarm him into handing over the brace =).

Keep on keepin on~

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

happy sad sweet goosebumps...


One of those instances when the video makes a wonderful song even wonderfuller... "Chinese Translation," by M. Ward.

Thanks so much to my sis for passing along this Goodness.

Keep on keepin on~

Sunday, September 03, 2006

He knows what you did last summer...

WWJD... at summer camp?

Thanks to Joe for passing along new of this documentary rapture.

Keep on keepin on~

Friday, September 01, 2006

movin, still movin...

It's 2am and I'm in my bedroom at my new home. I just finished another pack-and-move-run about a half hour ago. Got four in today. Well, three and a half. There was one in the middle of the day to go get some network hardware so that I could get online from here and do work.

Bleah.

SO frickin tired. Not allowed to sleep yet, tho. I've gotta finish up some files for a project. We're supposed to post final files tomorrow. When I've been here today—between moving runs from the old place, and while waiting for Comcast to wire us and for two furniture deliveries (In's out of town and Rowan just got back this afternoon, so I had to be here to sign and whatnot)—I've been working.

Once Ramon from Comcast hooked us up, I had to get crackin on the workywork. Ramon, by the way, was very focused on the job, but was cool with answering some of my pesky questions.

Are you supposed to tip the cable guy? What about delivery guys, who have to move big slabs of furniture...?

Once Ramon split, I had about an hour until I was supposed to expect a delivery. They gave a window, y'know? 12.30 to 4 or something.

Man, my fingertips feel... dry? Crunchy, a bit. I can feel the whorls as I rub them with my thumb. And so many hangnails, bleah! What is it I'm missing if I get hangnails? That's a vitamin thing, right? Probably something in green veggies. Or perhaps something that diet soda leeches out of me.

Anyhow, once the cable modem was up and running here, I went back to the old place to pick up enough of the network to set up wireless and get my laptop online so that I could jam on that workywork.

It was kinda nuts. I was telling Jessie via IM just a dozen minutes or so after I successfully got set up here and could check my work email and all... My bedroom was like that warehouse at the end of RAIDERS where they forklift away the Ark, y'know? But out of this cardboard, wood, and laundry basket labyrinth, I cleared enough room to assemble a desk, roll in a chair, make a path to my bed, and get online.

I realized that once I had a place to sleep and could get myself connected, almost all motivation for unpacking the rest of my stuff evaporated.

Allright, can't go on and on here.

I will add one more thing.

In the room that I'm calling my "office"—currently filled with assorted U-haul moving boxes, comic book boxes, some of which are actually holding comics, and lots of bins of wires and hardware—is a box with my miniature "talking" Psyduck. I know this because somewhere along the way, from my old room to this office, it was switched on. It's a little plastic Psyduck that "quacks" in reaction to loud sounds in the environment. So, I drop a box on another box in the office and I hear - Weah weah WEAH, Weah weah WEAH~

Poor Psyduck.

Keep on keepin on~