back
to neckdeep
l
Friday - May 31 - 7:14pm l
I
got home a few hours ago from my first day into a 2+ month contract as
an Art Director at a huge dot com company. Seems like a very cool place
to work. I'm hoping this will turn into a full time job.
We're off this weekend to Clearlake in Tahoe for my birthday which is
on Sunday. I'm old.
l Thursday - May 30 - 10:45am l
This
guy is a real Simpsons super-fan. Check out the part at the bottom
about the tattoo.
"What is weirdest Simpsons collectible you have bought?
The weirdest is not something bought so to speak, it is a full back tattoo
of over 40 Simpsons characters that I have been working on and will eventually
take up almost my entire back. The nice thing about that is that there
is always room to add."
Damn...that is hardcore.
The site I found this piece on, Simpsons
Folder, is pretty damn cool (although the type is screwed up in my
Mac Explorer browser). Props for putting together a well designed fan
site. I have always wanted to create a proper Milhouse site, but I guess
I'm not THAT much of a nerd.
l Wednesday - May 29 - 8:49am l
Last
night, 10:42pm...my cell phone rings:
Me: "Hello."
Girl on the phone: "Hi...are you the guy looking
for Hives tickets?"
"Yeah! That's me..."
"Well, I'm going to make your night."
"OK?"
"So why do you want to go?"
" (pause) To the show?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I listen to them a lot (?). My friend in Sweden told me about
their live show, so I was visiting their Swedish site for info and missed
the tour dates posted on their US site. I suppose I'm a big fan?"
"What are you willing to do for a ticket?"
"(Very, very long pause) Uh...well, I guess I'd pay over face value
for the ticket? Is that what you mean? I could meet you anywhere in the
city to pick it up?"
"How about a meeting and a beer?"
" Uh...I guess so...um, what?"
" (Very quickly) Well here's my number, XXX-XXXX.
Call me tomorrow at 10am if you are interested."
"Right...thanks."
My CraigsList posting was under
tickets and not personals...really. I actually double checked.
l Tuesday - May 28 - 10:13am l
If
you have a kid under 4 years old, do the world a favor and DON'T bring
him/her to a movie theater. Having a two year old running through the
isles and screaming last night was enough to make me want to strangle
the 'parents'. We ALL paid money to see this film...it's not your fucking
living room. It's not the kid's fault...IT'S YOURS. Idiots.
I have not been at all successful in obtaining Hives
tickets for Wednesday at Slims. Someone...have mercy.
One last note...a huge congratulations to my brother
for getting engaged this weekend.
Watch for BOTH our weddings next spring/summer.
l Sunday - May 26 - 4:23pm l
I've
been quite busy, designing and creating a website for a friend that will
launch soon. Not much else to report...yet.
One quick note: two of my favorite comedies are being released on DVD
June 11th, Real
Genius and UHF.
Buy them both.
l Thursday - May 23 - 9:43am l
My
sad attempt
at trying to get tickets to the sold out Hives
show at Slim's next week (May 29th). Come on CraigsList, don't let me
down.
l Wednesday - May 22 - 6:29pm l
Will
Ferrell left
Saturday Night Live this past week after seven amazing years. The
man is a genius...let's hope he goes the direction of Bill
Murray and not Tim Meadows.
l Tuesday - May 21 - 12:59pm l
"Rock
n' roll's most controversial band ever The
Sex Pistols will bring anarchy back to the UK for a one-off show at
the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on 27th July". Buy your
tickets here.
Really.
l
11:59am l
This is the best
article I've seen reviewing both George Lucas' film making and Episode
II. I couldn't agree more.
l
8:57am l
This
is the greatest and best video in the world...A
Tribute. The D do it again.
This link is a Real Video version which is terrible. Suffer through a
morning of Mtv and catch this video...it's pure genius.
On a related note, Orange County is released
June 18 on DVD.
l Monday - May 20 - 9:07am l
For
those of you not impressed by Episode II, I give you the preview for Lord
of The Rings : The Two Towers. (This is a 19.8mg Quicktime so be careful...oh,
and it's filmed off a movie screen as well...but it's worth it) watch
and learn Mr. Lucas. Do the fans a favor and consider Peter Jackson for
director of Episode III.
l Friday - May 17 - 10:32am l
Last
night at 7pm at the Coronet
Theater in SF I finally saw Star Wars Episode II - Attack of the Clones.
If I had to give it a grade...I would say C.
Two main things negative things: the characters, and the environments.
Characters:
I don't know why Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford were so good as Luke and
Han...but they were. They could say silly ass comments about 'gundars'
and 'parseks' and seem believable and likable (maybe at age 8 I was looked
past it). This is quite a feat in these movies, and I'm seeing that now.
The character of Anakin is like cardboard on the screen. I just don't
care very much about him. It’s similar with most of the other characters.
Both the love scenes and a few dramatic scenes got big laughs in the theater.
Not good. I think George Lucas' directing is pretty poor. One exception
is Natalie Portman. Not only is she
beautiful (OK, she's hot…super HOT), but she is also a pretty
good actor.
Environments:
The original Star Wars and Empire were limited by special effects and
budgets...but they looked good that way. The weathered space look was
great and it worked. These environments now are too much in that context.
It's a good thing if you're watching this film as a stand alone (meaning
without the context of the previous films), but it's impossible to see
this as a time BEFORE Star Wars and Empire. Super complex backgrounds
and details...it just doesn't look like the original Star Wars design.
I found this very hard to get past. This also goes for the new 'digital'
Yoda. He makes this movie in many ways, but looks AWFUL to me. Better
than Episode I Yoda, but still not Empire Yoda. I have to say the puppet
is still the best, screw CGI and ILM.
Still, it was better than Episode I and worth seeing (maybe a few times)
for a variety of reasons.
The battles were amazing. The last 45 minutes of battle scenes are just
stunning. Watching the Yoda fight is too much, that’s all I’ll
say. As mentioned, Natalie Portman alone is worth the price of admission.
Technically it's unbelievable. The effects are really good. It’s
like a showpiece for ILM more than anything.
Also keep in mind this review was written after just one viewing. My feelings
may shift after a few more screenings. We’ll see.
Sorry for the length of this post...but IT IS Star Wars after all.
l Wednesday - May 15 - 8:04am l
Various
crap...
- The
NCAA ditches leather balls. I might have to start watching basketball...pretty
great that they did this for animal rights reasons alone.
- I'm rocking the Ben Folds B-Sides CD. So damn
good. I'll say it again, the guy is a genius.
- I have access to a copy of Episode
II and haven't watched it yet...I'll wait until tomorrow night at
7pm. I guess I'm just not excited enough to jump the gun.
- "You ruined everything...ruiner! My sister likes you."
- The 4.9 earthquake
on Monday knocked over my Pee
Wee Herman doll and my Jay
action figure. The dog started barking. That's it.
- The idea of designing a website that's only 5K
seems like quite a challenge. I may give it a shot...I've got nothing
else to do
- I hate not having a job...
l Tuesday - May 14 - 5:05pm l
Mike
Watt and Ian MacKaye discussing the finer points of web
design? Amazingly enough...yes.
l Monday - May 13 - 7:32pm l
The
Hives are pretty cool. Swedish boys in tight suits that sort of sound
like Iggy meets garage rock. They are fun. Sure to cause a firestorm in
the Redshifter comment boards.
They are signed to Burning Heart,
a sub-label of the large punk 'indie?' Epitaph.
You know what? I don't care. Dillinger Escape Plan are putting out an
EP on Epitaph in August, and lord knows I'll buy that.
All this label crap is taken a step further in the new Punk
Planet featuring an article on Vagrant
Records entitled: The Rocky Rise of Vagrant Records. It's an interesting
article I guess.
l Saturday - May 11 - 6:15pm l
On
Friday morning, while walking the dog, I witnessed the end of my block
get completely destroyed by front-end loaders. It was pretty crazy to
see the old post office, and five other building get leveled to the ground
in a matter of hours. I went and got the camera and here's
the result. It will be sad to see a shoe repair shop owner operated
since 1940 get replaced by a condo. That's SF for you.
Try to catch The Salton
Sea before it leaves theaters. I saw it on Friday and was blown away.
An amazing performance by Val Kilmer, and a terrific story. Screw Spider-Man
and Episode II, this is my film of the year so far.
l Thursday - May 9 - 7:09pm l
The
Suicide Girls site features
incredibly cute girls AND great design. I wouldn't call it porn...and
neither do they. Love those girls with tattoos...
l
8:49am l
The system DOESN'T WORK.
Last night I went to San Francisco City Hall along with 1,000 other dog
owners and supporters to once again show that the majority is AGAINST
the new dog park policy of eliminating park access and instead creating
small 'fenced in' pens. Over 2,700 letters were received on the matter,
and it was 4/1 AGAINST the policy. I
am amazed and enraged that it was passed anyway, with a vote of 6-0.
How the hell is anyone supposed to believe in government, or the political
system in any way? I sure as hell don't.
Screw them. Good luck enforcing this law because, like so many others,
I plan on breaking it on a daily basis. I'm sorry...but when the masses
are ignored no one wins.
l Wednesday - May 8 - 9:39am l
I've
been spending all my time at BK's
comment boards as well as being pretty sick...hence the lack of updates.
Last night the Promise Ring were
in town and Jess and I went over to Slim's to check them out.
We were greeted by a large tour bus in front of the small club, it's engine
running loudly to power the 27" television that could be seen playing
through the blackened windows. Yup, it's an all new TPR kids...hold on
to your black rimmed glasses and tighten your Converse Chucks. I was surprised
by how much I enjoyed the Weakerthans
set. Indie meets country but very heartfelt and catchy. My brother gave
me one of their CDs a while back and I never gave it much of a chance.
I'm going to give it another shot. After their encore (?) a number of
roadies began to set up for TPR. After tuning all the guitars, setting
out towels, then waters...we all waited. Not really sure why, but the
3/4 full house all sat for about 15 minutes. When they did hit the stage
their new songs sounded pretty good. They threw in some old songs as well,
and everyone went nuts. It was a pretty good show. Not TPR I really loved
a few years ago...but OK.
One thing that really got under my skin...enough with the guitar changing
between almost every song. They swapped guitars more often than Van Halen.
I understand electric to accoustic...but three electric guitars each?
I tried to look past the tour bus and the rock star 'wait' before the
show, but this was pushing it. I heard comments about this from at least
three other groups of people standing near me, so I wasn't the only one.
I'm looking forward to Friday night metal.
l Saturday - May 4 - 9:41am l
I
stand corrected.
The crappy 'Hero' song from Spider-Man is not by Creed. It's performed
by Chad Kroeger (from Nickelback) and Josey Scott (from Saliva). So, in
a way it's worse, as these guys actually WANT to sound like Creed but
aren't.
Two other notes on the Spidey
soundtrack.
One: I'm so bummed that Kerry King from Slayer would lower himself
and play with the horrible Sum 41 on the awful, awful 'What We're All
About' track. Come on Kerry, it worked with the Beastie Boys but this
is totally degrading. You're the guitar player for SLAYER!
You have
tattoos on your head and used to wear nail
spiked wrist armor! Angel of Death? Hell Awaits?! You should be kicking
their asses not playing with them. Two: Attention all rock critics
and drooling fan boys in skinny 80's ties: The Strokes have a song on
this soundtrack. Would Iggy or Lou Reed allow a song of theirs on a lame-ass
major Hollywood soundtrack? Hell no. The Strokes are not Lou Reed or Iggy
Pop. Remember that.
And for the record...Iggy is on the Dogtown and Z-Boys
soundtrack. You're damn right...
l Friday - May 3 - 1:29pm l
Spider-Man
was really good. Tobey Maguire really nailed the role. As far as a superhero
movie, it was one of the best I've seen. It was typical big Hollywood,
but in this case it worked OK. Danny Elfman's music was a good addition...but
screw that crappy Creed song.
That being said, if you can only check out ONE movie this weekend, go
see Dogtown and Z-Boys. I was
lucky enough to see it a few months back at a premier and it's by far
my favorite film of the year. Yeah, I'm a skateboarder...but even non-skaters
will be into it. I'm going to see it tonight for the fourth time. Craig
Stecyk and Glen E. Friedman are two of my life long heros...actually almost
everyone in this movie is great. Go see it already.
l Thursday - May 2 - 9:54am l
Someone
visited my site after it popped up in their Yahoo search for 'Platnium
Fubu'! They must have gotten this
page. You gotta love the internet.
l
7:43am l
I
received this email this morning:
>Hey great web site- I'm Micheal Rotman- Director of Starwait.com
- just wanted to let you know that Starwait is not liningup.coms project-
it's a separate thing. The guys at liningup have been awesome to us-but
it's independent from them-just wanted to let you know. Thanks again for
the feature. We really appreciate it.<
Sorry about that guys...be safe out there.
May the force be with you. (I had to say it)
l Wednesday - May 1 - 2:48pm l
That
damn top image was driving me crazy...the shape of the space was hard
to deal with. I'll be updating the new image location at the top every
so often. It also adds a bit of color. Shown now is the corner of the
shelf in my living room.
l 9:23am l
The
other night I watched Starwoids,
a documentary by Film Threat that
followed the saga of the people waiting in line for Episode I in L.A.
in 1999. It got me thinking about when I spent the night for tickets in
Oakland that May a few years back. The event of waiting and meeting people
was actually more fun than the movie itself (although it took me a while
to admit that). In 15 days Episode
II will open, and I'll be there...first show. Although I won't sleep
out for tickets.
Check out Liningup.net for updates
on this years line at Grauman's Chinese Theater, and watch their REALITY
show Star Wait, filmed on location
in the line. The first episode was pretty good.
I'm actually getting stoked for Episode II now. Oh yeah, I already have
my Spider-Man ticket.
Nerd.
