Prepare yourself for geekiness...

      I finally got myself a copy of "Elektra: Assassin" last night. I already loved the work of Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz, but now I love 'em even more. Why didn't I read this sooner? Well, I have been looking for my own copy for a couple of months. It isn't the most readily-stocked graphic novel.

      The Television without Pity boards have been a little slow since the season finales hit, so I decided to visit the "Harley & Ivy" board on the DC official site. I now realize that I've been taking the intelligent, well-written posts on TWoP for granted. Those comic geeks are just all over the place. You'd think all of their keyboards were missing 'backspace' keys. I read through what's currently available at Toog's blog this morning. It's in English, but he's French. The English isn't perfect and he throws French words in occasionally, but I had a much easier time figuring out what he was writing about than people whose primary language I assume to be English. Stupid fanboys think they're so hot. Don't even know how to type or edit.

FYI: This was supposed to be posted yesterday. PC issues got in the way.

Apple sounds too common.

      I forgot to mention yesterday that I found a dress for Shana's wedding on Sunday. It's silky and not red, and is just the kind of poufy-skirted, drape-necked thing that looks good on me. I look forward to shoe/purse/wrap shopping. I already have the jewelry. Givenchy is just too faboo!

      Also, I just checked on a "Kelly Blue Book" online thing about Mr. Car. Seems he's worth about as much as I owe on him. That makes me feel better. I still need to fix the windsheild, though, but that shouldn't cost much more than $50-70. And I need to buy a new oil filter for the oil change this weekend. I'll miss him. snif!

      "Astonishing X-Men" by Joss Whedon has already been out and I only just remembered it. I'll have to stop by the comic shop on my way to KUCI this evening.

      We're voting on the new General Manager tonight. I'm running against Ardem and Dach. It should be fun. At least I won't be too unhappy should I not win. I wouldn't mind losing to Ardem or Dach. I think each of the candidates would make a pretty good GM. I hope I win, though! Duh, or I wouldn't be running.

Various Tidbits from a Long Weekend

      Fave spam/virus subject line for today: "meet teen assholes tonight volvo".

      I totally agree with TWoP's Strega on this point: Hamilton lectures Angel, "You cannot beat me. I am a part of them. The Wolf, Ram, and Hart. Their strength flows through my veins. My blood is filled with their ancient power." Can I just say once more how much I love how Adam Baldwin delivers these lines? He's so matter-of-fact about it instead of being all mwah-ha-ha. Also, he's extremely tall. And looks good in a suit. And where were we?

Architecture as weaponry       Much of Joss Whedon's work seems to have an architectural center. Sure, every story has to have a location, but when Joss goes through all that trouble to destroy each set when he's done with it, it makes me wonder. Even with "Firefly," it's all about the ship they live on. I think the movie's gonna be titled "Serenity," even, furthering the emphasis on the ship. Not just any firefly, their firefly.
      Buffy gives Anne a chance to re-start her life with an apartment. When Buffy graduates high school, she blows up the campus. When Buffy's at an emotional low, her basement floods. Angel establishes a new 'family' for himself by buying a hotel with enough rooms for the whole cast to live together. When the First Evil returns to Sunnydale it is pretty much incarnated in the high school. When the Buffy series is over, Sunnydale is swallowed up in a crater. When the Angel series is over, the last scene is back at the alley behind their old hotel. I was expecting the Wolfram & Hart offices to get blown-up.
      What really got me to thinking about the use of architecture in the Mutant Enemy universe have been all the complaints about throwing people into walls on Angel this past season. Both the bad guys and the good guys were constantly getting beat down with the architecture on Angel. Is it ME's way of letting the architecture get back at the people for blowing so much of it up? Or is it just to mirror the "good guys'" acquiescence to the corporate powers and their evil ways. If you can't beat 'em, use 'em as your own weapon.
      I was really hoping that Illyria was going to blow up the WR&H building. She almost did even before the finale, but the good guys sucked her destructive power away. Maybe Joss feels impotent in his storytelling. Or maybe he's given up on bucking the quasi-network system and doesn't care to blow up sets anymore. Illyria was our hope, but she was cut short and sucked dry. So sad.

      Movies I saw this weekend: Melvin Goes to Dinner, I Capture the Castle, Saved!, and Funny Lady.
      Melvin included a great short film on the DVD about a one man film fest. Those guys are too funny. The actual feature was funny as well, had a better plot than I expected, and didn't squick me out as much as I'd expected, either. Highly recommended if you can handle comedy that isn't like a sitcom.
      I'm glad I didn't see I Capture the Castle in the theatre, as I was debating when it came out and I was bored. It is a good romance, though. The cast can act, the plot's a bit predictable, and there're comedy and snazzy early 20th century fashions throughout. Recommended for those who feel guilty about having seen every romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant, Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts. It'll alleviate your guilt while appeasing your baser appetites.
      Regarding Saved!: Coffee and Cigarettes was consistently funnier, and Mean Girls was less heavy-handed. Worth renting, unless you're in love with any of the lead actors, in which case see it a.s.a.p.
      I only rented Funny Lady because I'm still on my Roddy McDowall kick. I've never seen Funny Girl and don't plan to. I'm just not a Barbara fan. So I spent most of the time fastforwarding through the music videos and predictable love interest dialogue. Mr. McDowall doesn't get nearly enough screen time, but when he's there I'm happy. He's believably funny and expressive. For die hard fans of the stars only.

      Found is currently my very favorite magazine ever. It's a collection of found documents (letters, photos, lists, etc.) as well as a few articles on other found art. Trying to understand a document's context and working to fit it into a larger narrative whole is fascinating. I had the skip the section on spider bites, though, as I'm a squeamish wimp. I highly recommend Found magazine. I got issue #3 at Borders in Costa Mesa last week.

      Many people at the office look extra pale today. I think they may have done the same thing with their extra day off that I did: nothing.

      I finally finished reading Smallville: City by Devin Grayson. She writes well. I'm tempted to start reading "Nightwing" because of her, and I don't like that character at all. The HoYay! was all over the place, but it just had to end with Blahna. I suspect that was a contractual obligation. Anyways, the author did a great job of capturing the best parts of the tv show (aside from Blahna. Ick!) and translating them onto the page. I'm guessing she's a SV fan. Or, at the very least, a fan of pretty boys; and who isn't? I also enjoyed that she explained where the story fits in the show's chronology. Agent Green is a great one-shot character. It's not often that a one-shot baddie on Smallville gets to develop beyond sprouting gills or something. Lots of goodness for fans of the Clex.

      I caught a little of Dead Man on IFC this weekend. I've always loved that movie, but hardly anyone I know has even heard of it. I noticed that it's directed by Jim Jarmusch, whose most recent release is Coffee and Cigarettes. I think it is safe to say that I am a JJ fan. That guy's so funny.

      I just did something incredibly stupid. While listening to a voice mail message, I began to respond and was hurt to hear the person on the other end just hang up on me. Then I remembered it was a recorded message. Silly me!

Every Sunday, a new playlist! (Unless I have a sub. Not this week!)
Listen online! kuci.org

Artist . Song . Album . New Release?
1. Joel Frahm with Brad Mehldau . Round Midnight #1 . Don't Explain . NR
2. Greyboy . Bronson w/ Mainflo . Soul Mosaic . NR
3. Intuit . The Journey: Pt. 2 Planet Birth . Intuit . NR

4. Kyoto Jazz Massive . Kudu [Eddie Henderson] . Blue Note Revisited . NR
5. Daedelus . Taking Wing . Of Snowdonia . NR

6. Kraftwerk . Francois K Aero Mix . Aerodynamik . NR
7. GusGus . Desire . Attention

8. United State of Electronica . Vamos a la Playa . United State of Electronica . NR
9. Filter Science . Darkness Falls (Joey Beltram Rmx) . Driven comp. . NR
10. Chib . Soo . Moco . NR

11. Lutz Glandien . Into a Better Room . Lost In Rooms . NR
12. Loscil . Cloister . First Narrows . NR

13. Keith Fullerton Whitman . Rhodes Viola Multiple . Antithesis . NR

14. Charalambides . Stroke . Joy Shapes . NR
15. Secret Mommy . An Apple a Day Keeps the Mac Voice Away . Mammal Class . NR

16. Pan Sonic . Gravity . Kesto . NR
17. !!! . Instinct . Lab Remix Series Vol. 2 . NR

Yellow jacket:yellow tumbleR

...so I'm gonna leave you
And I'd like you to leave me to leave you
But lover, believe me
It isn't because I don't need you
(You know I don't need you)
All I wanted was to be wanted
But you're drowning me deep
In your need to be needed
L'la. La la la, la la la la, l'la.

      Macaulay Culkin was on "Larry King Live" last night to promote his new movie Saved! If you get the chance to watch a repeat of it this weekend or read a transcript of the interview, I recommend it. Naturally, the people phoning-in questions had more intelligent things to say than the host. It was a successful interview on MC's part, as he came off as a cool, funny, intelligent kind of guy whom I would probably enjoy hanging out with.
      One of my favorite moments was when LK asked MC about the wild tabloid stories about him. MC basically said that they were all lies and gave an example. His lawyer (I think) had called him asking if he was "still there" because CNN had just notified the lawyer (I think) of MC's death by drug overdose. LK just moved right along to his next question. I couldn't tell whether he was trying to ignore the CNN dig, or if it was another instance of LK not paying attention to the interview he's in the middle of conducting. Funny stuff.
      Whenever I see an ad for Saved! I am reminded of a Momus song of the same name. But, y'know, they're both about Christianity, so I figured it was a coincidence. On "LKL" last night, they aired some clips from the film. In one, MC's character seems to paraphrase another Momus song--"I Want You But I Don't Need You"--in conversation. It could easily be another coincidence, but I now suspect that one (or both) of the film's writers is a Momus fan.
      I'll have to see it after my show this weekend to try to discern whether there is true Momus fandom involved or I'm just being OCD. Also, with his hair all bleach blonde in the movie, MC reminds me of an old classmate, Dan Noble. I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it.

Lycopene? Because we like you!

      I bought this fairly new Vertigo comic yesterday called something like "Faith in Frankie". It's pretty good so far. Cutely drawn and kind of metaphysical, if that's the word I want.

Sleepiness continues...

      I got home from LA around 1am. I should be home and able to lie down within three hours. That'll be nice.

      The photos from Sunday's TWoP Con are now available on-line. Some of them turned out quite nicely. I would, though, like to make the excuse that I'm still getting used to my Flashy camera. I'm sure I'll continue to make that excuse until it becomes obsolete and I buy another.

      I was in LA for the West Memphis Three fund raiser at the Improv. The asparagus was undercooked, but the performers were v. entertaining. All of the seats were good. We (Brooke and I) were especially close to the stage due to putting up with undercooked asparagus and all. When the person sitting in front of me wasn't leaning the wrong way I could see everything clearly. There were anti-Irvine jokes, anti-DJ jokes, anti-Bush jokes, anti-fertility therapy jokes. Loads of fun!
      Tenacious D, naturally, stole the show. They really are the most crowd-pleasing performers I've ever seen live. I felt envious of Darcy, 'cause she got hugs from the D. Lucky girl.
      There were many celebrities attending the event as well. That mostly just got on my nerves as people wouldn't get the fuck out of my way so I could use the restroom. I wanted to shout, "He's just [random celebrity]! Quit drooling and let me pee!" but I restrained myself. Also, Stanley Tucci is smaller than I expected.
      I don't know whether the entire staff of the Improv are aspiring comics, but they wouldn't stop trying to be funny. Their funny wasn't much good and felt tired and old. I decided that it must be their flair for working at a comedy club.

A Sleepy, Busy Day

Let's update the database
Daily from our laptops
Using new vaporware
Palm deathtop

      Last night: a walk to buy chocolate chips and brown sugar (with a stop for videos along the way: Fright Night, Fright Night II and Bride of Chucky); polenta, spinach and halibut for dinner; watching some of "Fright Night" over dinner (fun cast. I mostly just fast-forwarded to watch Roddy McDowall, though, as he's my current obsession since last week); baking choc-oat-cran cookies for the KUCI fund drive bake sale; cropping and re-sizing the photos from Sunday; and to bed.

      Mom is slightly disturbed by the fact that the cat has been eating cat food. V. odd, as she usually holds out for left-over people food. It's about time, says I.

      This morning: slept-in 30min due to late night cookie baking and imaging; uploaded a zip file of what I thought were cropped and re-sized images (and turned out to be original Mac-only images, sigh), and rushed to KUCI to drop off cookies; got to work a little early; noticed image file mistake; got call from Mom saying that my cookies were left in the office and not taken to the bake sale (they'll be having another on Thursday, so I can't get too upset); bought Lord Love a Duck DVD online; went over schedule for coming months and noticed just how busy my life gets; feel tired and regret lack of bedding in my grey cube.

      Ooo! And Melissa's in town. We're soul mates, but she lives in Colorado now. And she liked my fund drive flyer cartoon without even knowing I'd produced it; further evidence of previously stated soul mate status.

Happy about weekday names

...one more rung down that black ladder every day.
One more floor down the elevator to oblivion. What fun.
But the singularly awful one is being born.

      The AD TWoP Con yesterday was pleasantly fun. Everyone showed up and we got along well and there weren't too many awkward silences after introductions were made. It was nice to know that I could talk to anyone in the group and they'd probably not hate me and think I was a complete freak. Good times. Photos are off the camera and on the hard drive, and I will make it my goal this evening to get them online for posting tomorrow. I promise.
      Also, those fellow Arrested Development fans are just such cool people. They're funny and polite and easy to get along with. Best of all, many liked the idea of getting together in Orange County some time to visit the original banana stands and some other Newport Beach landmarks. That'd make a shorter drive for me, and I enjoy visiting Balboa Island, so I'm all for it. I love the Internet!

      Brooke gave me many books for my birthday, so now I have even more to read. That's good. I began reading The Man Who was Thursday while in LA. Much goodness so far. Although the main plot isn't incredibly ground-breaking, it made me think that Mutant Enemy may have been inspired by it for the final Angel plot with the Black Thorn people. There certainly wasn't much forethought in those last few episodes.
      The way Angel explained his plan sounded like however the writers explained the plot. "Well, we killed Fred, but we don't have time to develop Illyria. We need to use Fred's death for the good of the overall arc. Let's pretend that Angel had something to do with Fred's death, 'cause that would've been really evil of him. Also, the way we've dealt with culpability for Fred's death just didn't include enough explosions and breaking-down of doors. This'll be far more fun and self-indulgent and should keep the fans in a good mood until the Firefly movie hits theatres."
      Seriously, Angel actually said something like, "I needed Fred's death to count for something, to use it for the greater good." Too bad Joss didn't get that G.K. Chesterton-style plot inspiration until he was told the show was cancelled.

      Saturday night, Brooke and I saw Coffee and Cigarettes. I hadn't even known that it was screening in LA yet. The ads just pimp the fact that Bill Murray's in it, but it's full of lots of entertaining celebrities. For instance, Cate Blanchett in a dark messy wig reminds me of J.K. Rowling. And sometimes Alfred Molina (happy birthday!) really needs a hug. It's a v. funny movie and I highly recommend it. Oh, and in the last vignette, the man on the right hand side of the screen reminded me of Andy Warhol, if Andy had lived so long and wound up working some dull job.

      Friday, I caught the last hour of Lord Love a Duck starring Roddy McDowall and Tuesday Weld. Mom and I watched it together years ago, not knowing anything about it other than the title, which still makes no sense. We found it very amusing, but couldn't tell right away how sincere it was meant to be. By the end we figured that it must be a dark, satirical kind of film. So watching it again with that in mind made it far funnier, but since I missed the beginning and have a crap memory I'm a little lost as to how the relationship between the leads came to be. It's an odd relationship.
      The whole movie's v. v. funny, and I recommend it if you enjoy satire. It is available on DVD, 'cause I looked for it at the Virgin Megastore in WeHo on Saturday. There was a card for it in the rack, but no actual discs, so it was just sold-out. I'll be stopping by Borders on the way home this evening.

Oh please!

      If Chloe is actually dead, I will not watch Smallville anymore. Less Michael Rosenbaum viewing, but also less frustratingly poor narrative fiction and more free time.

      KUCI's annual fund drive began today at noon. If you love me you'll make a tax-deductible donation for a lovely premium of your choice!

      Jason Forrest