Who wants to come to the Canterbury tonight for some Chaucerian revelry?
World’s oldest mum' defends her decision
Is it sad that all week I have been looking forward to mine and Faye's new tradition of “Trashy TV Thursday” wherein we get stoney baloney and watch The O.C. and Tru Calling? I hope not because it is one of my few relaxing joys in life right now. (Most of my other joys being highly stressful. Especially filmmaking. Who's crackpot idea was it for me to become a filmmaker? Oh yeah…mine. Doh!)
Anyway, we all know about The O.C. But for the TRUly uninitiated (gack), Tru Calling is one of the most poorly written, poorly acted and horrifically produced hour-long dramas ever to have made it to a second season. I know it's on Fox but jesus CHRIST it's bad. Laughably so. And it probably won't be making it to a 3rd season. So here is a short list of reasons why you should be watching now (preferably under the influence of some substance or another).
1) Zach Galifianakis. He is one of the funniest “alternative” comedians out there. But his IMDB resume does not reflect that at all. If you've seen his stand-up or Comedy Central special, you become one of the initiated few who can actually smell the bitterness, embarrassment and resentment coming off of him through the cathode tube and into your nostrils. Hilarious!
2) Eliza Dushku's “acting”. For those of you who only saw Dushku's acting on Buffy/Angel, you might thing she's not that bad. You are wrong. She is horrible. She's constantly making these weird faces when she's trying to look “concerned” or “scared” or “serious” and she smiles one of the most disingenuous smiles I have ever seen. But her character is supposed to be PROtagonist. She also has a tendency to look like she's flirting with people whom she really shouldn't be (and probably isn't) flirting with. People like the girl who she was supposed to save last week and her brother. And when she IS supposed to have chemistry with another character, it's SO awkward. Hilarious again!
3) Jason Priestly! Yes, THE Jason Priestly!! The Canadian wonder who captured our hearts on 90210 and has been doing indie films since then. Well, they obviously aren't paying the billz anymore. So now he's EVIL! And it's awesome. Best of all, you can sometimes actually SEE the chord that's attached to the phone with which he is phoning in his performance. Unimaginably funny.
So PLEASE watch Tru Calling before it's too late. Because it's really not worth the price of a rental. But it's definitely worth having on while you kill a few brain cells.
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Urge to kill rising…
Correct me if I'm wrong but if you're the director(s) of a movie, doesn't that mean that you make the final decisions about things related to YOUR movie? I don't know. If I'm wrong maybe that explains what happened to Tim Burton.
Happy Happy
I just wanted to share one of my favorite daily visits. I especially love the picture of the kitten that he wants.
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This review bothers me. It’s a review of the new SCTV and Kids in the Hall DVD’s by Sean Nelson. I don’t know why I’m surprised that someone from The Stranger doesn’t like something. I guess it’s because that particular author has expressed a love for Mr. Show in the past. So I only assumed that he would appreciate the genius of the Kids in The Hall as well. I can’t speak for SCTV. I honestly never saw more than clips of that show (on clips shows about comedy). But I CAN defend my favorite 5 comedians from Canada. I realize that Mr. Show is the greatest (and most timeless) social and political commentary that America has in the way of comedy. But sometimes you need a little light-hearted abstraction in your sketch shows. The Kids in the Hall are that for me. And occasionally they WERE kind of dark. (Especially anything that Bruce McCulloch did). So maybe the Chicken Lady got a little old by the third sketch. But you can’t deny Dave Foley’s performance in the first one (particularly his delivery of the line “A beer” in response to the question “Can I get you a beer or would you rather just drink out of the toilet?”). You can’t deny the genius of “sarcastic guy” or the fun of “Daves I know”. Bruce’s troubled teenager character is hilarious and accurate (at least for any girl who was friends with a burnout guy in high school). And what about the Nutty Bunnies? Or Police Department? Or ANY of Bruce McCulloch’s monologues ( “That’s America” especially). Sure, you can mention all the most popular sketches and dismiss them as being played out or unimaginative. But that’s the nature of ANYTHING that can be called “the most popular”. It’s the lesser known gems that I love. Maybe it’s because I never stopped watching Kids in the Hall. I watched the reruns on Comedy Central and then I watched my tapes of those reruns. Seeing the guys live at the Paramount a few years ago was a highlight of my show-going career. I laughed heartily at material both old and new. Maybe they didn't have the biting, unforgiving humor of Mr. Show. But they certainly had a charm all their own. Maybe the work they’ve done since has been embarrassingly awful (with the exception of Bruce McCulloch’s brilliant first album) but there was a time when they were a refreshing voice in alternative comedy. And I’m glad I’m not too much of a bitter old hipster to appreciate that.
New 'Marathon Mice’ outrun rodent peers
Remember this newsletter that I posted about a while back? The one which is put out quarterly by one of the partners of the company I work for? The one which sounds like the ravings of a mad man? Well, the new “marketing specialist” in our office has just read the letter and despite all the rambling about mosquitoes and taxi cabs, the thing she feels makes it a bad letter that she keeps harping on is the fact that he used the word “ubiquitous”. She claims that this word, which she pronounces “ubiquious” is not only a word that she has never heard before, but also one that “people just wouldn't use in normal conversation”. Maybe so, because we live in an anti-intellectual society. But don't you want your investment adviser to be able to craft a sentence better in writing than in “normal conversation”? Apparently, she'd prefer the letter say something like “Dude, the market is rad!”. I can't wait to see what she churns out for the company.
aborigine kirov allegoric
I just finished watching season 1 of Carnivale on DVD last night. I want more!! (Even though the “behind the scenes documentary was L.A.M.E.)
Here's a question: Why is the DVD $60 if there's only 10 episodes and, like, ONE special feature? And why are these 10 episodes on 6 DVD's? These people need to talk to Joss Whedon's people about how to package a TV series DVD. I really want to watch the series again but I have to return it to the library and I can't afford a $60 DVD!
do you remember how you were
PICTURES!!
So the pictures from this past weekend's Jai Thai Karaoke excursion are up. Looking at them, I remembered a few other funny details from the night including the fact that when Dom sang “The Rainbow Connection”, the DJ made him hold stuffed animals. Also, I remembered this morning that we had decided that the male equivalent of “Show us your tits” is “show us your balls” and we shouted it at a few people who were singing. I'm pretty sure it was only shouted at people we knew. PRETTY sure.
Please enjoy pictures from Faye's Housewarming as well (including fun with P.B.R.).
The blast from the past vault includes pictures from Elyse's and Gene's housewarming (that the Stranger crashed and the Bobcats rocked). AND here's some really cool photos from karaoke at the Bus Stop . We were in rare form that night. (And by rare, I mean off our nuts).
See also:
Adam and Eva's Wedding .
PS: If you are having trouble with the picture links, try copying them and pasting them into your browser. Booyah.
finicky headquarter
WEEKEND RECAP
Friday
Faye had her long-awaited housewarming party. And warm we did. We managed to pack a good 15 people in there and we drank and spoke of porn and ate bread with cheese. I felt like an adult, I did. This part should probably be longer but frankly, I drank a lot of champagne that night and all I remember is that I had a good time. And that “Heat of the Moment” is one of the BEST songs to listen to when you’re drunk.
Saturday
Faye and I finally took our director photos for the press packs that we will send out along with our festival submissions for Snow Day. We have been pouring over this item on our to-do list for a long time because every picture we have of ourselves is either too silly (taken when drinking or hanging out) or just not very good pictures (if taken when we actually ARE directing). So we staged some artsy fartsy pictures of us at Volunteer park. Two rolls of film’s worth. We took pictures of us smiling and not smiling. Looking at the camera and looking off into the distance. Sitting on stares and standing in interesting doorways. Hopefully there will be SOMETHING cool in there because damnit if this isn’t one of those needlessly complicated situations! We need pictures that are both professional and original. Pictures that both represent who we are and don’t freak people out…We’ll see what we get I guess. After we took about a roll and a half of us being directory, we needed to finish the roll. So there are the inevitable pictures of me pretending that I’m a hobo and that various things found around the park were my penis. Um…how old are we?
Later, we had a brief writer’s meeting and then met people at Jai Thai for dinner and to check out the new Saturday karaoke situation. We were joined by various people coming and going throughout the night but most people got to witness the splendor that was Anne, the man with breasts who was either a pre-op tranny who didn’t bother with makeup or a man who was trying out drag for the night but didn’t really understand the concept. Either way, he/she was very nice and high-fived everybody as they left the stage. She/he also played an inflatable guitar and danced for most of the evening. We were also served by an extremely drunk waiter who kept sitting down with us when he took our order and then would engage in conversation with us and forget what he was doing. To expedite the process, we started ordering more than one drink at a time. The karaoke selection itself, being from the same DJ who works at the Wild Rose, was INCREDIBLE! Butt rock, classic rock, alternative and show tunes. Anything and everything a chap can unload and sing is in that book. Furthermore, there weren’t THAT many people in the bar at any given time so we each got to sing an average of three songs! Some might find the eclectic company to be off-putting. Being a veteran of El Toro in Tacoma, I found it comforting. Needless to say, I will definitely be a repeat visitor to Jai Thai karaoke! Song highlights include Faye singing “The Heat of the Moment” (the unofficial theme song for last weekend), Anne singing (period), and a personal highlight of mine is getting to sing “Skid Row” from Little Shop of Horrors with Chris and Dom.
Sunday
I spent the morning watching Carnivắle, which is a show that I am quickly becoming obsessed with. Like I NEED another one of those. Then I did some home-yoga and got ready to go see Sin City.
I went in with low expectations based on, well, ALL of Robert Rodriguez’s other films. While they are typically entertaining and ultraviolent (good) they are also typically full of laughable dialogue and uninspired music. Well, Sin City is the cream of the crop in terms of ultraviolence. I was giddy with amputations and throat slitting and paintball-esque blood flying everywhere. I was also giddy with a new crush on Clive Owen who is the slickest thing in grease and leather that I have seen in a long time. The dialogue was cheesy but it was perfect for the nouveau-noir cinematography. What a fun film! Even with the presence of Brittney Murphy and Jessica Alba and with some of the most irritating line readings ever from Alexis Bledel, it was still fun! After it was over, we stayed in the theatre and counted how many times Robert Rodriguez’s name appeared in the credits. The answer is 7. Hello, Narcissus? My name is Robert Rodriguez. I will give you a run for your money. Also, you killed my father. Actually, we think he may have thrown some aliases in there as well. Regardless, I had a blast. Also, the Cinerama is responsible in no small part for the fun we had. Any movie is automatically enhanced by that big beautiful screen and those cushy seats. Even Garden State.
I kinda wanna go see Sin City again…
soul leaps momentarily into
This morning I realized that a LOT of people live in a vaguely Groundhog Day-like existence. This came to me this morning when I was walking my usual 5-block route from the bus stop to my office. The guy who sits outside of Rite Aid and tries to sell you cookies? Check. The young man with the Ricki-From-American-Beauty hat who works in my building and always catches up with my route two blocks from our destination? Check. The little girl with the backpack and her mother who stand on the kitty-corner from the library waiting for something (a bus, the father? I never find out)? Check. The man in the big red coat who sells Real Change outside my building? Check. If my make the 7:45 bus, I see these people every morning at the same moments without fail. On my way home, it’s a similar story. The bald Goth (I really want to know where he works) who is perpetually on his mobile gets on the 5:05 #10 bus with me every day. Our bus driver is a surly (but funny) black man who takes shit from no-one. In a way, knowing I will see these things every day is comforting. I feel a vague connection to all these people, knowing that even though we are in somewhat of a daily rut, we are in it together. In another way, I find the whole thing creepy and off-putting.
Regardless, when I leave this job, I will have to work my way into a different routine. Wonder who I’ll meet then…
Effed by the Wind 