Thursday, July 29, 2004
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Double the torture.
Jon Reddick, who for some ungodly reason is a big fan of the movie "Anchorman" (and proudly possesses a 7-foot-high lobby display for the film), brought this item from digitalbits.com to our attention:
"We've got some interesting news today on upcoming DVDs thanks to Video Store magazine. The latest issue is reporting that DreamWorks' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy may arrive on DVD (later this year or early next) in two versions. Director Adam McKay believes there will be a single-disc movie only release, followed by a 2-disc special edition. Reportedly, the original cut of the film was over 4 hours long, so McKay is using the extra footage to make an entire second film, set to be called Wake Up, Ron Burgundy, that will clock in at an hour and forty minutes. Look for that to be included on the more elaborate edition."
I think I'll report Adam McKay to Anmesty International.
"We've got some interesting news today on upcoming DVDs thanks to Video Store magazine. The latest issue is reporting that DreamWorks' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy may arrive on DVD (later this year or early next) in two versions. Director Adam McKay believes there will be a single-disc movie only release, followed by a 2-disc special edition. Reportedly, the original cut of the film was over 4 hours long, so McKay is using the extra footage to make an entire second film, set to be called Wake Up, Ron Burgundy, that will clock in at an hour and forty minutes. Look for that to be included on the more elaborate edition."
I think I'll report Adam McKay to Anmesty International.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Anchored in stupidity.
Today my boss treated me and a couple dozen of my co-workers to see "Anchorman" at a local theatre. I knew going in that it would be pretty dumb, what with Will Ferrell being its star, but I was flummoxed by the unabashed, brain-anesthetizing idiocy of the film.
It purports to tell the tale of Ron Burgundy (Ferrell), a full-of-himself newsreader at a San Diego TV station in the mid-70s, and the arrival of the first female anchor (Kelly Bundy, er, Christina Applegate). Ron and his old-boy comrades are aghast at her presence and react like Spanky and Alfalfa when Darla threatened to invade the He Man Woman Haters' Club. (The Rascals, however, were funny.)
The overacting is of a caliber not seen on screen since the days predating D.W. Griffith. There are at least three scenes that are totally superfluous, such as the ridiculous streetfight among the various news crews, Ron's flute playing, and basically the whole subplot involving Ron's rival anchor. The scene where the biker dropkicks Ron's dog off a bridge was appalling rather than funny.
Among the few good points were Fred Willard as the news director, and the narration by Bill Kurtis.
The chemistry between Ferrell and Applegate is forced, unconvincing... it wants to be "Adam's Rib" or "His Girl Friday" but it isn't even close.
At least I'm glad I didn't pay to see this. (The last movie I saw in a theatre was "Road to Perdition," over two years ago.)
Pull up anchor and avoid this one.
It purports to tell the tale of Ron Burgundy (Ferrell), a full-of-himself newsreader at a San Diego TV station in the mid-70s, and the arrival of the first female anchor (Kelly Bundy, er, Christina Applegate). Ron and his old-boy comrades are aghast at her presence and react like Spanky and Alfalfa when Darla threatened to invade the He Man Woman Haters' Club. (The Rascals, however, were funny.)
The overacting is of a caliber not seen on screen since the days predating D.W. Griffith. There are at least three scenes that are totally superfluous, such as the ridiculous streetfight among the various news crews, Ron's flute playing, and basically the whole subplot involving Ron's rival anchor. The scene where the biker dropkicks Ron's dog off a bridge was appalling rather than funny.
Among the few good points were Fred Willard as the news director, and the narration by Bill Kurtis.
The chemistry between Ferrell and Applegate is forced, unconvincing... it wants to be "Adam's Rib" or "His Girl Friday" but it isn't even close.
At least I'm glad I didn't pay to see this. (The last movie I saw in a theatre was "Road to Perdition," over two years ago.)
Pull up anchor and avoid this one.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Happy birthday Carl!
My friend Carl McCaskey is having his birthday today. A lover of hot sauce, guitars (he has more than he can possibly play), all things New Orleans (especially the food and music), hockey (especially Jeff Bookbume)... he is quite the renaissance man. Wish him a happy 41st.
It's a racket.
It was my first Mother's Day without my mother. She died in March. The previous day, my car decided to die on me - and it cost me $75 to tow it to my workplace (it would have cost more than twice that to tow it home). The morning of Mother's Day, a friend found the problem and fixed it. I then drove to the city where Mom is buried, and get pulled over by a cop, who claimed I was doing 55 in a 35 zone. In truth I was slowing down as I approached downtown, but the cop was all business and would hear none of it. He did offer to test his radar gun. Angry as I was, I held my tongue as he wrote the ticket - my first speeding ticket in over 25 years.
Yesterday was my court date for the ticket. I had to be there at 10 am, a time when I am normally sound asleep. I didn't sleep till a quarter to 6 am, woke around 8:15 and left at about 8:40. It is 70 miles or so from the town in which I live to the other town. I arrived at the city hall and had to go through a metal detector (a cop confiscated my pocket knife). I entered the courtroom and we were handed out waivers to sign, stating that we knew our rights yet waived any right to an attorney. We (there were about 20 people there overall) were told that the judge would meet each defendant in chambers and the wait may be all day. I didn't have to work till 5 pm, but the news was still disheartening. Luckily, mine was the second name called.
The clerk asked me what my plea was. I explained the circumstances of the incident but she was not in the mood for stories either. She told me that if I wanted to make my case known, I would have to go to trial, on another date, and the cop would have to procure evidence, etc. Or I could plead guilty and pay the $100 fine. Wanting to get this over with, I opted for the latter, but I only had $20 in cash, and no checks. The clerk allowed me to leave and get the money.
A branch of my bank was a few blocks away. The teller was more sympathetic than anyone in city hall. Fortunately, I had enough money to cover the fine. I returned to city hall and paid, then retrieved my pocket knife and left. After a brief visit with my cousins (who took care of Mom in her last years), I had lunch.
What a sweet racket that city has.
Yesterday was my court date for the ticket. I had to be there at 10 am, a time when I am normally sound asleep. I didn't sleep till a quarter to 6 am, woke around 8:15 and left at about 8:40. It is 70 miles or so from the town in which I live to the other town. I arrived at the city hall and had to go through a metal detector (a cop confiscated my pocket knife). I entered the courtroom and we were handed out waivers to sign, stating that we knew our rights yet waived any right to an attorney. We (there were about 20 people there overall) were told that the judge would meet each defendant in chambers and the wait may be all day. I didn't have to work till 5 pm, but the news was still disheartening. Luckily, mine was the second name called.
The clerk asked me what my plea was. I explained the circumstances of the incident but she was not in the mood for stories either. She told me that if I wanted to make my case known, I would have to go to trial, on another date, and the cop would have to procure evidence, etc. Or I could plead guilty and pay the $100 fine. Wanting to get this over with, I opted for the latter, but I only had $20 in cash, and no checks. The clerk allowed me to leave and get the money.
A branch of my bank was a few blocks away. The teller was more sympathetic than anyone in city hall. Fortunately, I had enough money to cover the fine. I returned to city hall and paid, then retrieved my pocket knife and left. After a brief visit with my cousins (who took care of Mom in her last years), I had lunch.
What a sweet racket that city has.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Concert report (and Xingu update).
Last night I attended the second "Pyramid Party" - the first was in April - somewhere south of Cairo, Georgia, in an isolated field distinguished by the unique "Pyramid House." In it dwelled Chelsea Luker, Xingu's saxophonist/flute/vocalist and nothing short of lovable, and her boyfriend Rob Sipsky, frontman for Mars Retrieval Unit, and formerly of Glass. Both are moving to Portland, Oregon (Chelsea will be transferred there for her day job). As I wrote in the "A great band ..." post below, the other members of Xingu do not want to follow Chelsea to Portland. Rob told me that Xingu will take a break, and try to continue without her while they search for a replacement. In my opinion that's a very tall order.
Back to the house: I would estimate each side is 20 feet at the base, and the pyramid being about 20 feet high. The lower floor has the living room/kitchen, a small bedroom, and bathroom/laundry room/closet. The loft, accessible via a ladder, is the main bedroom, with glow-in-the-dark stars (made vivid by a black light) affixed to the ceiling/walls all the way to the apex. Partygoers toured the house and availed themselves of the bathroom and air conditioning.
I told Chelsea: "You must have a deep well of patience - I couldn't stand having a lot of people troop through my house!"
As for the music: Xingu did not perform, but I wasn't disappointed since Chelsea (as well as Tony, Xingu's keyboardist) played in a half-hour jam with musicians from the other bands that was phenomenal. Yes, half an hour of continuous music. I was a bit late and missed the first band (The Ums), but got there in time for MRU, and Chris Hall's fine drumming. Other groups included a duo called Polyester Jockstrap or something to that effect, and a Phish tribute band called Shaftey.
The last band to play was well worth the wait. Chris had been raving about Soular System and wanted me to hear them. I'm glad I did; their specialty is old school funk/soul served with a truckload of gusto. The lead vocalist kept things at a rolling boil and kept the crowd of about 50 on its feet. This band is also blessed with a three-man horn section.
Team JRC did its usual excellent job with the sound and lights - John Clark, Alan Slaughter, Ian Fritzsche, and Chris taking turns at the audio board, and Jason Jones on lights. Prior to Polyester whatever's set, Chris and John were desperately trying to find the source of an annoying hum. Chris was swapping cables and jiggling connectors, and John was punching buttons, trying to stop the hum. Finally Chris, in order to access a cable, lifted the lamp that sat atop the board - and then the humming ceased! The lamp had a transformer in its base that caused the hum.
I got acquainted with a few of the concertgoers. I brought my sketchbook along, which contains the original art for my webcomic. Those who saw it were impressed and read it thoroughly. Two of those were musicians who expressed interest in my doing artwork for them. Of course, I told them all about Whole Wheat Radio.
In the Pyramid I met Ian Weir, an artist/musician who played for me and a couple others. His instrument was a wooden box with slots cut into one side forming tabs; the tabs are struck with mallets to produce the sound. It was well played.
The concert was outdoors but the weather, apart from being warm and somewhat humid, was cooperative; it cooled down before midnight and the stars and full moon, along with a mist over the field (a combination of fog from a nearby pond, fog from the stage, and smoke from cigarettes, fireworks and chronic) made things quite ethereal. A table with plenty of free food was set up near the Pyramid, along with two kegs. I only had some sodas and cheese.
A woman young enough to be my daughter approached me midway through the evening, . She wore a button which read: "I'm NORML."
"You're eccentric, aren't you?" she asked.
"I guess."
She smiled and shook my hand. "Good to meet you. I like eccentric people, artistic people."
All I could say was "So do I."
Back to the house: I would estimate each side is 20 feet at the base, and the pyramid being about 20 feet high. The lower floor has the living room/kitchen, a small bedroom, and bathroom/laundry room/closet. The loft, accessible via a ladder, is the main bedroom, with glow-in-the-dark stars (made vivid by a black light) affixed to the ceiling/walls all the way to the apex. Partygoers toured the house and availed themselves of the bathroom and air conditioning.
I told Chelsea: "You must have a deep well of patience - I couldn't stand having a lot of people troop through my house!"
As for the music: Xingu did not perform, but I wasn't disappointed since Chelsea (as well as Tony, Xingu's keyboardist) played in a half-hour jam with musicians from the other bands that was phenomenal. Yes, half an hour of continuous music. I was a bit late and missed the first band (The Ums), but got there in time for MRU, and Chris Hall's fine drumming. Other groups included a duo called Polyester Jockstrap or something to that effect, and a Phish tribute band called Shaftey.
The last band to play was well worth the wait. Chris had been raving about Soular System and wanted me to hear them. I'm glad I did; their specialty is old school funk/soul served with a truckload of gusto. The lead vocalist kept things at a rolling boil and kept the crowd of about 50 on its feet. This band is also blessed with a three-man horn section.
Team JRC did its usual excellent job with the sound and lights - John Clark, Alan Slaughter, Ian Fritzsche, and Chris taking turns at the audio board, and Jason Jones on lights. Prior to Polyester whatever's set, Chris and John were desperately trying to find the source of an annoying hum. Chris was swapping cables and jiggling connectors, and John was punching buttons, trying to stop the hum. Finally Chris, in order to access a cable, lifted the lamp that sat atop the board - and then the humming ceased! The lamp had a transformer in its base that caused the hum.
I got acquainted with a few of the concertgoers. I brought my sketchbook along, which contains the original art for my webcomic. Those who saw it were impressed and read it thoroughly. Two of those were musicians who expressed interest in my doing artwork for them. Of course, I told them all about Whole Wheat Radio.
In the Pyramid I met Ian Weir, an artist/musician who played for me and a couple others. His instrument was a wooden box with slots cut into one side forming tabs; the tabs are struck with mallets to produce the sound. It was well played.
The concert was outdoors but the weather, apart from being warm and somewhat humid, was cooperative; it cooled down before midnight and the stars and full moon, along with a mist over the field (a combination of fog from a nearby pond, fog from the stage, and smoke from cigarettes, fireworks and chronic) made things quite ethereal. A table with plenty of free food was set up near the Pyramid, along with two kegs. I only had some sodas and cheese.
A woman young enough to be my daughter approached me midway through the evening, . She wore a button which read: "I'm NORML."
"You're eccentric, aren't you?" she asked.
"I guess."
She smiled and shook my hand. "Good to meet you. I like eccentric people, artistic people."
All I could say was "So do I."
Thursday, July 01, 2004
And now for some bad comics.
Those wacky guys, er, unique individuals at Ape-law.com take a look at comic books that were really bad - or classics of an alternative kind. Gone and Forgotten examines those comics with misbegotten concepts, bad art, bad stories, bad ideas ... you get the picture.
Spider-Man on Saturday Night Live? Superman teaming up with the Quik Bunny? Daredevil vs. gasoline vapor? It's all here.
Oh, and I still think Prez would make a better prez than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Even if he is 18.
Spider-Man on Saturday Night Live? Superman teaming up with the Quik Bunny? Daredevil vs. gasoline vapor? It's all here.
Oh, and I still think Prez would make a better prez than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Even if he is 18.
