Entertainment Report

      I sent Brooke her copy of 1602 #8 on Thursday via FedEx three day shipping. The last time I used FedEx to send something to Brooke in Hollywood, it was routed from Irvine to LA to Tennessee to LA to Hollywood. I figured that the extra trip to Tennessee was a mistake and didn't want to cause any trouble about it, particularly due to the fact that there wasn't any huge rush for Brooke to get her copy of 1602 #7 (although she may disagree with me on that). But it happened again this week! I just had to write to FedEx about it. It's just such an inefficient waste of resources! First class mail can get a package around SoCal overnight baring any delays such as the Christmas rush, so this is simply wrong. It is so wrong that it should be illegal. It would be immoral for me to not complain.

      I paid my bills late for the first time. It was only Macy's and Express, and they were only a few days late, but I'm disappointed in my self. I'd like to blame taxes, a jury duty notice, car registration renewal and the new KUCI quarter for my late bill paying. Just so you know.

      Michelle will be in town today, at 3pm. She and Mom and I will most likely go to that Italian place on Balboa that I mentioned here last week. Michelle's so fun.

      Writing of fun, Glark at TWoP confirmed that the first season of Arrested Development will be available on DVD relatively soon. I can't wait to give it to people to force them to become addicted like me. Most of my friends already like it, though, so I shouldn't have to give too much $$ to Fox Home Video.

      Young Adam was good. The older couple sitting to my right kept chattering through all the good parts, saying things such as, "Oh! He's in trouble now!" Then one of them fell asleep towards the end. Older people really aren't any more well-behaved at theatre-going than younger people. Older people usually don't bring small children into R-rated films, though, so that's nice. (I really don't think The Cell or Once Upon a Time in Mexico work as family friendly entertainment.)
      Anyways, Young Adam is compelling and pretty well-plotted (in a non-linear way), and there isn't a war or a serial killer, so I recommend it. I still don't get what the title has to do with anything, though. Maybe the narration of the book explains it better, but it just doesn't work for me based on this film. Also, the director did some interesting things that didn't make me hate him.
      Sometimes, when directors try too hard, it makes me hate 'em. Just a little. Such as that guy who directed Daredevil. Like M. Night Shyamalan, he was trying way too hard to let the audience know that he went to film school and knows how to make art. Okay, I'm not entirely certain that Mr Johnson went to film school, but even if he didn't you can tell he wanted to and at least got as close as he could to attending film school. Vincent Gallo pisses me off the most with that kind of thing. If something looks cool and is cinematically groundbreaking but bogs down the picture and kills the plot and confuses characterization, then don't do it! I don't care how cool and 'the new Orson Welles' you think you are. Welles did new, groundbreaking stuff that actually made his movies better; told the story better. Welles was not the type to randomly throw cinematic devices in just because no one had done it before. He knew how to tell a story.

      Alex Ross is such a geek. I love his work. He's very skilled and talented and all, and a great big geek. Just thought you should know.

Here's today's playlist
Listen online at kuci.org!

Quantum Foam 10a-12p Sunday April 18, 2004

Artist . Song . Album . New Release?
1. Harvie S . Curved Corners . Texas Rumba . NR
2. Greyboy . Got to Be a Love . Soul Mosaic . NR
3. Jeremy Ellis . Chameleon (edit) [Herbie Hancock] . Rewind!3 . NR

4. Joel Frahm with Brad Mehldau . Get Happy . Don't Explain . NR
5. Kaufman ~ Gertz ~ Bergonzi . Fool Hardy . Dreaming Out Loud . NR

6. David S. Ware String Ensemble . THREADS . THREADS . NR
7. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake . Leap Forward . back together again . NR

8. Momus . Nobody . 20 Vodka Jellies
9. Lucky Pierre . Fan-Dance . Tracks for Horses . NR
10. Matthew Dear . Huffing Stuff . Leave Luck to Heaven . NR

-11. Ty . Groovement . Upwards . NR
+12. Dangermouse . Moment of Clarity . The Grey Album . NR

13. Sound Providers . Autumns Evening Breeze . An Evening with the Sound Providers . NR
14. Hangar 18 . Beatslope (El-P Remix) . Definitive Jux Presents III . NR
15. John Reuben . Re-Record . Professional Rapper . NR
16. Murs 3:16 . Trevor an' Them . the 9th edition . NR
17. Switch Stance . Imperfect . Making Cents . NR

18. Beans . Composition in Void . Now, Soon, Someday . NR
-19. Ill Bill . Green Lantern Freestyle . Howie Made Me Do It . NR

20. Slow Train Soul . Illegal Cargo (reprise) . Illegal Cargo . NR
21. Daedelus . Telling Meaning . of snowdonia . NR

22. Phoenix . If I Ever Feel Better . Erlend Oye DJ-Kicks . NR
23. AGF . Contemporary Westernized . Westernization Completed . NR
24. Mochipet . Barry White vs. The White Stripes vs. White Lion . Combat . NR
25. Kick Squad . Slow-Mo . The Peng Fables Vol*1 - Songs of the SoulSoother . NR

Oh, I can't think of a title.

      Wayzgoose got rained out yesterday. I was all ready to DJ, too. Like, quality DJing and everything. No where near beatmatching turntablists or anything, cuz I have no such skills; but some good CD player mixing. Oh well. I guess Wayzgoose can't be on the hottest day of the year all the time.

      The CDs that arrive at the station sometimes have extra information that isn't included on the retail copies of discs. It's useful, with suggested tracks that'd work well on radio, warnings about naughty language, comparisions with other artists and whatnot.
      Now some of them have begun tauting the fact that the album is unavailable on the iTunes music store. I love this backlash. I love that enough people are aware of how the iTunes music store is just an extension of RIAA/big music label theivery to make it a point of pride to not participate.
      These anti-iTunes music store artists know what they're doing. Not only do they set themselves up as being anti-corporate indie to draw in listeners who are in the same camp, by not participating in the iTunes music store they actually are working against that corporate theivery system. Yay for non-iTunes music store artists! (I still love my iTunes software, though. It's so useful for organizing my perfectly legal digital music collection!)

      Mom and I saw Connie and Carla yesterday. It was fun, but seriously, Nia V was the worst part of the film. Rita Wilson should re-think working with her anymore. It can be tough to break-off a relationship, but Nia V just isn't as faboo as she'd like to think. Maybe if she speaks another person's lines it'd work better, but I loved all of the other performances. Toni Colette, David Duchovny, Debbie Reynolds and everybody else were great. They were funny and real and entertaining. Nia V just hams her way through the whole thing. She needs to learn some subtlety from her love interest.
      I plan to see Ewan McGregor get all nakey today in Young Adam. That should make me happy, even with the film's depressing plot and tone and all. If I don't support sexy Scotsmen, who will?

Not much here. Link away for content.

      Aren't wigs fun? I want to buy one, but they aren't cheap and I don't really have much use for them. But they're fun. Must resist.
      Anyways, this wig seller has a wig with "Chloe quality!" (see touched-up photo below)
I just love Chloe on Smallville. I'm not wild about her hair styles, but I am proud that she has reached the 'wig' level of fame. Chloe is now among the ranks of Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, David Bowie and Cher. She didn't even have to make music during the 1970s. Chloe is a Super Star!

      There are people who, when they are not doing something useful (such as working or going to the market), spend the rest of their time re-capping their life to anyone within earshot. I don't like being within earshot of such people. When I do discuss my own life with other people, I try to focus on the interesting bits, like when a sitcom story editor buys me dessert. I seriously doubt that anyone would give a damn about a search for just the right bathroom waste bin. I don't even give a damn about my own search for just the right bathroom waste bin. That's the boring part of my life that I prefer not to dwell on. On reflection, though, this does explain why some people choose to commit suicide. I prefer fantasy, cuz it's cast with attractive actors.

      Brooke says she got to help Jack White purchase a copy of Ghost World. Lucky girl!

      I think WebJay is pretty cool. I forget where I found the link, but it's a lot of fun. You can make playlists of mp3 URLs for anyone to enjoy. Some look pretty lame, as they are just collections of tunes from a single site, such as a record label. Like I couldn't just browse through a label's site on my own. I haven't actually downloaded any of the music yet, but the below lists look interesting to me:

Society 78s from Stalin-era USSR

Mother Russia and the Satellites
(wow, a pair!)

Best of 2003 HFM (Hindi Film Music)

Medieval Musics

medieval cuts: choice bits from 'medieval musics' playlist (oh, how PoMo!)

server room: just you and 150 CPU fans

griot
Hmm, I just made a list of playlists. Boy, I sure know how to waste time! Yay for procrastination. Yay.

      I finally noticed that Billy Boyd's official site has finally been updated. I am delighted to learn that he will be providing the voice of the title character (the 'Seed,' not 'Chucky') in Seed of Chucky (featuring Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, and John Waters as "Sleazy Tabloid Paparazzo"!). I don't really like the changes to the site, though.
      I'm glad for the updates, but the site's design looks so cold and millennial. It already feels a bit dated, even though it just went up a month or two ago. The old design was a bit heavy and not organized the way I like, but it had a good personality. There were fun b&w photos of BB doing silly things on stage and whatnot, and the dominant color was a solid red. Now the professional photo shoot images are all air-brushed and male-model-moody; and the colors are soft grey and pale blue and silvery, like a new Mac. It makes me think that the update was designed about three years ago and didn't get executed until now due to time constraints. It's kind of like painfully trendy architecture: When it was designed it was totally hip, but by the time construction is complete, it's so five years ago!

Posted by rachelcrane at 1:43 PM PDT

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Angsty comics bad. Funny comics good.

      I got a new idea yesterday. Mom liked it, but then, she loves me. I know that someone could make money off of it, I'm just not sure whether that's me. I'm currently at the stage during which I'm slightly worried that I won't actually use the idea. That would be especially sad, because I think the idea would help many people, including me. It's really more selfish than anything, but I think other people would like it as well.

      Steve Sherlock was not at the hip-hop class last night. Teri said I use my thighs rather than my back better than my classmates. Physical therapy has its uses. Sadly, I will have to stop attending the class, because it really doesn't fit in with my new schedule. My body cannot handle staying awake on a work-out buzz past 10pm and then waking up at 5am. Ah well. I guess that's what the trial period's for.

      My taxes are officially in the mail, as is Brooke's 1602 package. The end of the series was highly satisfying. I've never cared much for Cap or Thor, but the whole thing worked very well. Plus, the possibility that it'll cross into the regular run of Marvel comics is interesting. Of course, Cap's explanation of his time traveling mostly just reminded me of plots relating to Lex Luthor. That decreased the impact. I am really interested in seeing what happens further in this '1602' world, though. The interaction between Magneto and Prof X was far more compelling than anything I've recently read for those characters in the main continuity.
      I still haven't found a new comic series that I need to read. I've always followed the Batman Adventure/cartoon books. The re-start of 'New Mutants' is okay, but I'm not wild about it. I miss 'Bad Girls.' It was only a mini-series from the start, but it was really fun. Most of the comics on the stands don't look all that fun. They mostly look angsty and violent. I just don't want that in my life right now. 'Super Hero Happy Hour' looked promising, but I didn't like the way it was written. You know, by a guy who writes women like they're guys with boobs. Not too appealing.
      Where are all the happy, funny, carefree comics that aren't braindead? At the very least, something along the lines of Saki would be nice. It's doesn't have to be all that happy and carefree. I really just want funny. That's why I watched Buffy originally; cuz it's funny. Ah well. I'll stick with Wodehouse novels for now.

Laundry after training, then movie curls

      I did take photos last night, and I did upload them but now the server says the files cannot be opened because they contain errors. I will try to fix 'em tonight and get them up here tomorrow. Plus, I'm just sad that the picture I took of Ann, Ani & Ardem didn't come out at all. I need to spend more time learning how to use my camera.

      Meeting trainees last night was fun. There weren't quite as many people as we were expecting, but I think that's because we changed locations and confused everybody. I wish I'd thought of that back when I was training director.
      I got to listen to Ann & Ani gossip about people I don't know at all. I love hearing gossip about strangers. It's so exciting and mysterious. Stranger gossip makes me feel less guilty than gossip about people I do know, too.
      Further Tuesday night goodness was getting to see Herbert. He'll be working at the health booth at Wayzgoose so he should have plenty of time to chat with me this Saturday.

      I managed to mostly stick to my new schedule this morning, despite staying up too late for training and laundry. Tonight it's back to 24hr fitness for that hip-hop class with Steve Sherlock again. That Teri lady is totally gonna kick my ass again, too. At least she's funny and was nice to me after last week's class. It's fun to hear her pick on skinny teenagers for having no muscles. That makes me feel better about having no muscles because I'm so flabby. Skinny people are wimpy weaklings, too!

      Regina's being so helpful with the TWoP Con next month. She even knows another shooting location from this past Sunday's episode! Now I just have to find a place that'll sell me a couple dozen whistles cheap. And I am definitely going to get that invite out to Mitch Hurwitz today. I'm sure those people are aware of our Con, what with their forum lurking, but invites are always nice.

      Y'know what's nice about seeing the same movie repeatedly on digital cable? The chance to really notice the details. In LOTR2, everyone has such great hair. Shampoo ad kind of hair. The hobbits especially, with their cherubic curls bouncing around when they move their heads.
      Watching Billy Boyd's hair move while he's riding that tree-bot always reminds me of Madeleine Stowe's blonde wig at the end of 12 Monkeys. I just love the way her curls wiggle a bit as she shakes her head in slow motion. Terry Gilliam's so cool!

I love being questionably phrased
you clearly love it too.

      Michelle isn't in town this week; she's in town next week. She and Mom seem to have miscommunicated. It gave the family time to play a game of Yatzee last night. I won with 250 points (Mom got 242, though) because I was the only person to get a Yatzee. Yatzee!

      I have finally caught up on Momus' Click Opera. Just as I finished reading what was his last post, I noticed that he'd updated the blog today. So nice of him to give me something new to read, as well as new songs to listen to and possibly play at Wayzgoose this Saturday. I think I'll try to find some more songs in my iTunes library to follow his 'spring is here!' theme, as it is the spring fair.
      I also used the wonders of PayPal to send money to Momus. If you couldn't tell from recent posts, I've been enjoying his music quite a bit lately. Also, I never actually paid for any of it in CD form, so PayPal helped me feel like the kind of good person who subverts record companies to give money directly to talented artists. That body squeeze you're feeling? That's me hugging the Internet.

      KUCI Training begins tonight. Please meet at the station around 7pm should you read this soon and feel a need to be KUCI Trained. Ani will be there! Yay for Ani! Maybe I'll get to see her co-host, Ann, as well. Yay for Ann!
      I brought my camera along as well, so there may be some new images up here soon. Please refain from holding your breath.

      I changed my schedule this morning. I did not wake at 6am, go back to sleep until 6:20am, and then rush to get on the freeway before 7:15am to barely make it to work on time as I usually do. I instead woke at 5am, cuddled with my blankets until 5:03am, got up to dance around my room to iPod earbuds (Yay for Stereo Total, Avenue D and Future Bible Heroes!), shower, dress, eat both an Eggo and Rice Krispies for breakfast, get on the freeway a few minutes after 7am, get to work early, and read some more about Jeeves and Bertie in the car before clocking-in.
      I do not know whether I will be able to survive this schedule much longer, particularly with the earlier bed time, but I'll try. I certainly was in a better and more awake mood after my shower. And Avenue D in the morning really is a great way to start the day. The continuing education lunch on diabetes pumps today is more motivation to exercise regularly.

      The last issue of 1602 comes out tomorrow! Yay for Neil Gaiman! I have to send a copy to Brooke, cuz I'm her dealer when it comes to comics. I'll also be sending her music and buttons. Shh! I'm not sure whether anyone (such as Brooke) is reading this blog, but it would be nice for the buttons at the very least to be a surprise. Yay for buttons and Yay for Brooke!

Violet...lavender...eggshell.

      I just noticed how generally unhappy and disaffected towards my current employment I am. It didn't take long to realize why. I spent yesterday completing KUCI's spring quarter program guide, doing graphic design. I love doing graphic design. I do not love administrative assisting. I don't yet hate it, but there is no spark of love or even crush. I hadn't noticed just how complacent and accepting of my current job I am. I even love the people at KUCI when I'm not doing graphic design for the station. Not all the people, but I have only a tiny bit of love for the people at the office. blah.
      I'm almost caught-up with Momus' Click Opera. I'm at mid-March, close to the present. But being vicariously arty through Momus just isn't enough today. It's fun and thought-provoking and all of those other attractive arty things, but not quite enough for today.
      Today I am in a funk, and not one of those exciting, booty-shaking ones, either. I need a new job. I want to run away from this building and never come back. But I won't. Of course I won't. But I feel it. I'm enjoying this life as much as I can, but there's scant to enjoy.
      Perhaps I will willingly slip back into the off-white suburban world tomorrow without a peep. Or maybe I'll get off my ass for once. I wouldn't take bets on the latter, though.
      I should quell these thoughts and look optimistically towards what I can do to make myself happier and more fulfilled and all that, but not today. I'm too far down for today. I'll settle for not getting myself fired today.

Get lost if you tell me you love me, when it's all for my scottish lips.
Why don't you tell me you love me for stuff that's a bit more important than this?
Tell me you love me in spirit.
Tell me you love me in soul or you love me in mind
Even if it's a lie, and when I reply look me deep in the eye.
Please try to look the other way.
Just be sure that your gaze never slips
Down to my scottish lips

      Oh, and this blog can only do standard time. It has decided to ignore daylight savings time. I will not change my time zone just because this blog was programmed in Arizona. Just so you know.

Evils and Easter and whatnot

      For months now, I've been haunted by an animated vision of a small creature sewing buttons on a person's eyes. It reminds me of Neil Gaiman's book Coraline. When I first saw it I thought, "They took that from Coraline! I wonder if Neil knows?"
      But then I kind of forgot about it for a few days. When I recalled the image again, I couldn't remember where I'd seen it. Had I dreamed it? I hadn't read Coraline in a while, but that sort of thing stays with me, so I had resigned myself to believing that I had dreamed it. I was sad that there was not, in fact, an animated reference to Coraline out in the world somewhere.
      Last night, Fox lead up to the latest episode of Arrested Development with three episodes of The Simpsons, one of which involves Homer taking his children and Rod and Tod Flanders to a horror movie called "The Redeadening." In it, Lenny plays a gardener who is attacked by a possessed doll. The doll sews buttons over Lenny's eyes!
      I was again creeped out by the whole thing, but happy that I had at last found the animated Coraline reference for which I'd been searching. Now, I know that with the amount of time it takes to produce animation, there's a slim chance that it was a Coraline reference. But from here that's what it feels like. Now I know and I hope that this time I will remember where that frightening sequence is from.

      Easter was good. I got a cute little egg-shaped tin covered in SpongeBob images. In one, SpongeBob is dressed in a white rabbit costume. It makes him look like an old Apple II computer with bunny ears; all boxy and white and with a big yellow nose and everything. Just like the Apple II!

      Wayzgoose is this Saturday, so I have to get a fun yet family-friendly playlist together out of the music I already have. Michelle's in town today, so we're having dinner with her at Ciao, Mom's favorite Italian restaurant on Balboa Island. And I still haven't found time to do my taxes, naturally. I forsee much stress in the near future.
      I completed the spring program guide, though. And only one week into the new quarter! I'm dropping it off for Kevin after work, and then he can take it to the printer and all will be well.

      Mom says she invited three teenage girls to visit for a couple of days later this week. That'll make things interesting.

      I rented Party Monster over the weekend. It was pretty fun. And gruesome. The cute orange junky kitty did not survive, sadly. I think he went in his sleep, though, so at least there's that.
      I haven't seen all that many movies about druggies, but that seems to be necessary to the story. Trainspotting, for example, has the dead baby. And in an other episode of The Simpsons, Chief Wiggum takes the kids through a museum of criminals. One of the displays shows hippy drug addicts getting ready to eat a baby sandwich. It's far more comical in that instance, but furthers my point. I don't recall any children or animals dying of neglect or whatever in Requiem for a Dream. I have seen it only once, though, so I may have blocked that out.

      I was reminded of how unhappy movies that silently re-write Shakespeare make me in the car this morning, but I don't have time to complain about that right now. Perhaps I'll find time tomorrow morning, when I'm not wrambling on about disturbing Simpsons images.

      Ta!

Here is today's playlist
Listen online at kuci.org!

Quantum Foam 10a-12p Sunday April 11, 2004

Artist . Song . Album . New Release?
1. Chromeo . Destination: Overdrive . She's In Control . NR
2. Kid 606 . PowerBookFiend . Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You . NR
3. Various Artists . /// (sickmix) . Zod Sampler Volume 02 . NR
4. Lithops . Play Through . Scrypt . NR

5. Doofgoblin . Bells and Allusions . Album RL . NR
6. Henry Flynt . Free Alto . Raga Electric . NR
7. Fog . Cockeyed Cookie Pusher . Hummer . NR

8. Minotaur Shock . Big Light . Tracks for Horses . NR
9. Elan . Zebra . The Deluge of Soundtracks and Other Voices from the World's Silent Majority . NR

10. The Rurals . True . The Peng Fables Vol* 1 - Songs of the SoulSoother . NR
10b. John Plays Special . So Familiar . The Peng Fables Vol* 1 - Songs of the SoulSoother . NR
11. Nice Nice . Nein . "Chrome" . NR

12. Matthew Dear . In Unbending . Leave Luck to Heaven . NR
13. Lederhosen Lucil . Sigh About This . Tales from the Pantry . NR
14. Momus . Handheld . Folktronic
15. Mixel Pixel . Oh! The Summer People . Rainbow Panda . NR

16. Plej . Song . Electronic Music from the Swedish Leftcoast . NR
17. Sondre Lerche . Counter Spark . Two Way Monologue . NR
18. Beanfield . Vertigoheel . Seek . NR

19. Ammon Contact . Super Eagles & Black Stars . Sounds Like Everything . NR
20. Federico Aubelle . Mona . GranHotelBuenosAires . NR
21. Jazzelicious . Bolero (Ravel) . Masterworks Reworked . NR
22. Savath & Savalas . Um Girassol da Cor de Seu Cabelo . Apropa't . NR

23. Secret Mommy . An Apple a Day Keeps the Mac Voice Away . Mammal Class . NR
24. Telefon Tel Aviv . Nothing is Worth Losing That . Map of What is Effortless . NR
25. Diplo . Don't Fall . Zentertainment 2004 . NR . comp.
26. Greyboy . Genevieve (Quantic Remix) . Soul Mosaic . NR
27. Paolo Fedreghini . Please Don't Leave (Sahib Shihab) . Rewind!3 . NR . comp.