Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Kool-aid, of the grape persuasion

Now listening to:Amon Amarth

Enjoying some tasty corndogs and thought I'd actually post something. I know I've been slack, but I've been staying busy. Yes, mostly with WoW, but whatever. It's my party and I'll blog when I want to.

Let's see, what else have I been doing besides poping and warlocking? I watched Chinatown and, while it was ok, I didn't really get the monumental impression from it that everyone goes on about. I know it's hard to recognize the greatness of a film from a different age, but it moved really slowly. Of course, that's the case with a lot of movies from the 70s. I'm saying Meh., in spite of how awesome Jack Nicholson is and the general concensus.

I watched The Illusionist, which I thought was pretty good. I saw the twist it was going to take, but enjoyed it nonetheless. How good are Paul Giammatti and Ed Norton? Foot massage worthy, undoubtedly.

Yesterday Trip and I watched Jackass: Number 2. Now I know this is not high brow humor and I'm supposed to look down upon it, but man, I nearly laughed my nuts off. I love it when those crazy bastards do dumb shit to hurt themselves or to put people they don't really know in uncomfortable situations. Also the deleted scene with the three-legged dog being asked to fetch something that looked like his missing leg made me nearly shit my pants it was so funny. I'm saying this is filet mignon, low brow or not.

Switching gears from inane stupidity to real world documentary, I watched Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion today, which is a film about Tibetan history and how China basically invaded, took over and is now effecting a genocide on Tibetans and their culture. This is something I know a little about, since I wrote my senior thesis on the subject and it's just tragic. We all know the Chinese government sucks at human rights, this being especially true to people that aren't really Chinese (aka Tibetan).

It was really disturbing hearing the stories of some of the protesters in Tibet speak about their experiences. For example, the Buddhist nun talking about the police putting a cattle prod in her vagina is disturbing in the extreme. But nothing is going to be done, because China's economic power throughout the world is too great and human rights mean little when money enters the equation.

I'm not gonna give this a rating because while the movie was good at doing what it wanted, what it wanted was to show me how awful things are there. It succeeded and I'm appalled.


Sunday, January 28, 2007

Odin's Eye Socket

Had a nice day. Trip, Jill and I went to Greensboro for dinner at PF Chang's for Trip's BDay. Very tasty and a good time was had by all. I love me some chinese food.

It was surprisingly cold tho. I thought it was supposed to be warmer, but it wasn't. On the way home Trip and I saw some flurries and when I left his place I saw even more.

On an unrelated note, football season is nigh-done. I'm sad. Basketball is filling the airwaves and it feels so wrong. Blah.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

I'm TNT

Yeah it's been a while since I blogged, what of it? I've been busy. Sorta. Plus I had a "happy" post up and wanted to see how that felt for a while. Too many more of those and I may have to kick my own ass. Hehe.

Anyway nothing major to report, lots of Warcraft and whatnot. I need to watch my Netflix movies, but can't seem to find the time. I ran the UVa vs. NC State basketball game on the CW last night. Go Cavs! Woo, college hoops. It wasn't bad, but my tolerance for basketball is pretty low.

I also watched part of the NHL All Star game, just to see Crosby and Ovechkin play together. Then I remembered it was an All Star game and nobody really gives a shit. So I didn't watch the third period. I switched to The Naked Trucker and TBones Show, which was ok. It's got some moments (TBones fighting a bear "Cmon Bear!"). I'm not sure it has long term potential, but who knows.

Anyway it's time for work, blah.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Fucksocks! World's gone sideways

So an odd thing happened to me the other day. I was on my way to work and pulled up behind this minivan with a "Life is Good" sticker on its window. Normally this would cause me to mentally vomit and have a nice little internal rant about minivan owners and people in general. What happened this time was that I stopped and thought about it and decided that my life is going pretty good at the moment.

It was the oddest thing. I've had brief periods where I was happy for a while, but I seldom, if ever, realize it until it's over and I'm looking back. Now I can kinda sit back and enjoy it. Of course, what I'll probably actually end up doing is waiting for a cosmic kick to the balls to bring everything back to normal. (What can I say, you can't throw out 30 years of pessimism overnight because of a little good fortune.)

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Taking souls for the pleasure of it

So I'm living a digital life at the moment with The Burning Crusade (the Warcraft expansion) coming out today. I was at Walmart at midnight to pick it up with around 10 or so of my nerd brethren. There was also a pair of rednecks who couldn't wait until morning to pick up Gridiron Gang. They must worship at the church of The Rock.

But yeah, the expansion is everything a geek could want for the most part. My biggest problem is that everything is overflowing with people. It's massive carnage and you have to wait to kill the mobs you need. Pain in the ass. Ehh, whatcha gonna do. It'll die down in a week or two. Probably.

I did watch Talladega Nights while I played today and it wasn't bad. Not Will Ferrell's finest movie, but not bad. I'd say +1 chainmail. Now I must get back to warlocking.

Friday, January 12, 2007

State of dissension

Man, I just watched Keith Olberman's take on the state of the union (which you can watch here). He's not a fan. He just rips into Bush and doesn't let up. The more I watch Olberman the more I like him. Wish we had more of that a few years ago when this thing was starting. I'm getting sick of having the executive branch being completely unresponsive to the will of the people.

I know, I know I'm a liberal nutjob. But I was never a fan of this Iraq thing and it's only gotten worse. Plus these days I have even more reason to be concerned about the soldiers dying over there since my brother could be among them.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

My mind is like an orchard

Just watched The Chumscrubber and it was kind of intense. A tale about the shallow nature and self-absorption of suburban America. Basically it was about people deluding themselves about what's important and denying their basic feelings. Denying them by hyperfocusing on other things or just through drugs and alcohol. Then through that derangement of the senses they lose touch with any sort of real human contact.

The search for that type of connection is what I was trying to convey with my recent post about music, that may have failed in it's goal. Actually I'm 100% certain that I've written that type of post before, but I feel it bears repeating. Hell isn't that what art is supposed to do, encapsulate human emotion from the artist and try to convey it to his audience, whoever they may be.

Anyway, I'd say The Chumscrubber deserves a foot massage. It definitely does it's job of conveying the apathy and dread of the protaganist and the self-importance of the people around him.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

By Odin's beard

Slack day, woo. Slept in, then futzed around on my comp. for a while. Had some tasty nachos. Then I rolled over to Trip's and ran him at some of his own games. Ok, I'll conceed he nabbed me at Tony Hawk Project 8, but I schooled him at hockey and closed the night by taking Jake LaMotta and pounding him in Fight Night. You just don't mess with the Bronx Bull. It's not done.

Last night, I watched Ichi the Killer, which was interesting. It's based on a manga and is loaded with bizarre S&M concepts. Nobody does S&M like the Japanese. (Trip pointed out that maybe the Germans do, but anyone not in the Axis can't compete.) Lots of torture and gore. I'd say it's +1 chainmail, but it's definitely not for everyone.

Currently listening to this album by Scott Walker, which is unusual. I don't know that I'd recommend it. His voice is overly theatrical and it doesn't really play for me. It's supposed to be kind sad, but that silly over doing it seems to strip out a lot of emotion.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

goofy grin moments and otherwise

Now listening to: Jawbreaker

So I've been supremely slack today. Which was pleasant. Watched the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie again. It's pretty good. Worth a rewatch. I also played a bunch of WoW. Yes I'm back on the Warcraft. But I can control it this time. I'm just prepping for the new expansion, which will be out in a week. I'm looking forward to it, although I may wait a week or two to pick it up, just to bolster my finances a bit.

What else is new... hmm... I met my cousin Mike and his friend Wai for breakfast on Saturday morning, which was cool. Hope to hang with him again soon. Sunday I watched Over the Hedge and hung with Jill. Think that's about it. I've been keeping a pretty low profile.

I may watch another movie now, perhaps Chinatown or the Chumscrubber. Or perhaps I'll try to finish reading my book, Mappa Mundi.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Transfer my tragedy

Now listening to: TV on the Radio and Final Fantasy (the musician, not the game)

So I was talking the other day when I said something that made me think. I said that music is very important to me. This seems completely obvious, I'm sure. I have an enormous cd collection, talk about music constantly and immerse myself in hundreds of bands that most people will never hear of. The part that made me think is, why am I so obsessed with music? What difference does it make if I know about all the hippest new indie rock bands? Why must I sneer at Nickelback fans?

I haven't really come up with a good answer. I suppose it's centered on how music can make you escape. A few well placed chords and you can have an absolutely transcendent experience. Or perhaps it has to do with the fact that I don't really relate well to a lot of people. Music shows me that while human beings are often flawed, petty and horrible there is still something positive that can come out of humanity. That despite feeling solitary so often, there is still something in people with which I can relate.

Some of the new stuff I'm relating to of late is TV on the Radio, The Knife and Dimmu Borgir. TV on the Radio is hard to explain, it's got a lot of things going on, saxes, interesting vocals and very good lyrics. Still it's not easy to get into, the first time I listened to it I didn't really dig it. It's only after a few more times that I've gotten it and now I'm having trouble not listening to it. The single, Wolf Like Me, really shines. The Knife is an electronic act that has depth. It's not just beats and whatever, it's got some emotion in there. Dimmu Borgir is one of the bigger black metal bands out there and are kinda evil. But I like the evil, it's kind of my thing.

Ohh I'm also reading this book of Tom Waits interviews and whatnot that Kevin (and Courtney too I suppose) was gracious enough to give me for Xmas. That guy just can't stop with the great lines. It's amazing. "Watch out for Charlie Weis. That guy will sell you a rat's asshole for a wedding ring." I challenge you to top that... yeah didn't think so. The lobotomy line to your left also arrives via Waits.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

This is my rifle

Now listening to: Combichrist

Man I always forget how much I love industrial music until I throw some on. So harsh, yet I gotta love it.

One more thing I realized today that I like about my iPod is that it allows me to keep complete track of everything I listen to. That means if you want to see what I've been listening to for the past week all you gotta do is scroll to the bottom of the page and check out my cool little iTunes themed list. It used to only be a list of what I listened to while sitting at home in front of my computer, when it updates next week it'll be comprehensive.

Watched Biozombie tonight and I can't recommend it. It was supposed to be a Japanese "cult hit" but it's just not great. Couple of cute asian girls and a few select interesting moments, but far too much filler. Also the zombies are kind of lame. I'm giving it a shaq-fu rating... Gah, I gotta think of a different name for that rating, it's kind of lame. That's gonna take some thought.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Huffing kerosene

Now listening to: Big Black

I finally got some sleep, which was nice. I plan on sleeping in a bit again tomorrow, despite work. That's just how I roll. I am totally in love with my iPod. It's sooo awesome. No more toting cds around and having to switch them out all the time. Now I just load it and go. Life is sweet.

Of course, between carrying the iPod and my cell phone I am a walking communications tower of sorts. Constantly in touch with the outside world. I'm exploring the cyberpunk ideal of posthumanity. Well not really, but I'm closing in on it.

Didn't do a whole helluva lot today. Got up late, loaded a bunch of cds back onto my hard drive, went to Walmart and OfficeMax looking for a USB hub. I still need an iPod case, but may wait until after my next payday to not stress out my finances. I need to get back to my frugal days from earlier on this year.

After that I hit Trip's for a bit, then headed over to Jill's. I met her kids, which was a little scary. Kids intimidate me, what can I say? I don't want to be the horrible childhood memory that scars them for life. Well, not unless they deserve it, hehe. Anyway, I suppose it went ok.

After the kids went to bed we watched The Devil Wears Prada, which I'll be generous and give a +1 chainmail rating. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Nothing I need to see again, still Anne Hathaway is more than a little tasty.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Festival of meat: postponed

A new year is afoot and so far I'm vastly enjoying it. Spent New Year's Eve with Jill and Trip and that was fun. Today Trip and I went shopping and I could resist temptation no longer and bought an iPod. I went with the 30 gig one so I can keep a schload of stuff on there and suit my mood regardless of what it is.

I should still be saving money and paying off my credit card, but I've been pretty good. So I decided to reward myself (especially since I got a Xmas bonus.) It's pretty sweet. I've spent the evening organizing my music and putting stuff back onto my computer that I had burned to cd and taken off. Fun stuff, huh.

Shopping was fun today. Besides the iPod I picked up a new belt and some socks (exciting stuff, I know) and fought the urge to buy anything else. Trip and I had planned on going to this Brazilian restaurant where the bring huge slabs of meat by your table and saw off portions for you, all you can eat. Sadly our festival of meat was denied, as the place was locked down for the holiday. We went to this kickass chinese place instead, PF Chang's. Good stuff.

Ohh and the chick that sold me my iPod at CompUSA was a total stoner. She called me dude like 8 times and answered the phone "Yo!" twice while I was there. I asked he a question about the battery life and she had no idea what I was talking about. It would have been amusing, if it weren't so annoying.
I should probably be asleep now, as I haven't been getting too much of that lately. But I am getting better at this sleep deprivation thing. Or, at least, more accustomed to it.