A Plethora of Filmgasm

Well, I haven't really blogged lately so let's do it! It's been very cold and I've run out of money till my paycheck Tuesday so what better reason to stay inside and blog?

First, let's post a few videos.

Here's Bush getting dissed by his political homies. It is indeed kind of sad.


Here's some ants. I told you they were cool.

I watched most of that documentary and there's some amazing cinematography.


And via John ("Don Juan") Glomer comes the trailer for The Wrestler, the new Darren Aronofsky film with Mickey Rourke.

Kind of fruity theme song but I like Aronofsky and Rourke.


Here's a hilarious Japanese ESL video I found.


Which led to this monstrosity.



I haven't watched a movie in forever. Here are my candidates for something to watch this weekend: Iron Man, Dark Knight, Get Smart, or Tropic Thunder. You tell me what's best.

Alright, I'll blog more tomorrow or something.

Old News

Great Aleister Crowley quote I just found. I would add most culture and entertainment, including the internet, to "news":

To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worth while. The natural laziness of the mind tempts one to eschew authors who demand a continuous effort of intelligence. The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter.

People tell me that they must read the papers so as to know what is going on. In the first place, they could hardly find a worse guide. Most of what is printed turns out to be false, sooner or later. Even when there is no deliberate deception, the account must, from the nature of the case, be presented without adequate reflection and must seem to possess an importance which time shows to be absurdly exaggerated; or vice versa. No event can be fairly judged without background and perspective.

Game Tester for a Day

It's the Korean "SAT" today and tomorrow so my junior high kids get out early and most of the teachers go to high schools to proctor (what a limited verb).

Me? What do I do since I don't have afternoon classes?

Thank you for asking.

I'm preparing to use board games for English practice in the class. The games available to me are limited. My co-teacher acquired Scrabble, Monopoly Jr., and The Game of Life. I played them with two other teachers this afternoon. Here are my impressions that I urge you to memorize:

Scrabble - The edition we got is the British one or something. Only a little different from American. Mainly the board is a different color and the tiles are plastic, not wood. It also has instructions in English, Korean, Chinese and Thai. It's been at least a year since I played Scrabble and I think it's a bit overrated.

Monopoly Jr. - Monopoly Jr. is shorter and simpler than Monopoly and almost 100% luck. It goes by too fast to realize you don't care what happens.

The Game of Life - These are the lessons my students will get from "Life": life is about making and spending money and filling a car with a generic family. Life is complicated and unfriendly to non-English speakers. It also has the players ending "Life" by retiring. That's not how real life ends.

Atom Age Vampire

I'm behind on my class prep but somehow I ended up looking at a trailer for a Vincent Price version of Confessions of an English Opium Eater (they take out the word "English") that doesn't look anything like the De Quincey book, and then I followed a link to this trailer.



Glomer, go watch Atom Age Vampire and tell me if it socks your rocks.

Fuck me once... sperm on you. Fuck me twice... sperm on me.(?)

Suddenly on Livejoural all my Friends page had election comments ad nauseam. My favorite, from Jess Nevins:

"A group of Black Panthers have arrived at my door and taken Henry Ian away to raise him as a Muslim Socialist Gay Communist. Just like I was told would happen!"

Email from David Byrne

I'm on David Byrne's mailing list and he sent this today:

Pardon the bulk mailing. I Can't Vote. I am an immigrant with a Green Card and, therefore, I am not eligible to vote in a federal election. FYI - I can get drafted (luckily, Daniel Berrigan burned my draft board's records) and I pay taxes, yet I cannot vote for President. On Election Day, I see my neighbors heading to the nearby elementary school to cast their ballots. The voting booth joint is a great leveler; the whole neighborhood - rich, poor, old, young, decrepit and spunky - they all turn out in one day.

But most of you can vote. What can I say? The Republicans have made us less safe than before 9/11, bankrupted this economy, started an illegal war they can't - and don't intend to - finish, removed what sympathy (after 9/11) and respect the world had for the US, and have robbed US citizens of many of their basic rights. Global warming? What's that? Science and education? Investment in our future? No, thanks - we'll stick with a good 'ole hockey mom. Ignorant, and fucking proud of it, as is always the case.

Although it looks like a shoo-in, it ain't over 'til Florida. And there are plenty of racists in this country who will vote against their own best interests. So please, get to your local elementary school, post office, town hall, or whatever, and cast your vote and make this a country we can all be proud of. We can get out of this mess, and life can be better than it is.

David Byrne
NYC

Yay

Paid off my loan. I'm out of debt. Hallelujah.

Brainstorm With Me

I have to do a one-day camp in two weeks. It's already been planned out, and I need to fill it in with ideas. There will be about 40 kids. So comment and help me with these:

1. Cooking - We will make some kind of English/American food. The thing is, we don't really have cooking equipment. Maybe we can bring in a toaster or blender. I figure we can make sandwiches, but what else...? Smoothies? Milk shakes?

2. Board Games - The kids are going to play board games that use English. Scrabble, Boggle, and Scattergories have all been confirmed. The games don't have to be so English-focused, but they should use some English (Monopoly would be okay. Hungry Hungry Hippos wouldn't.).

3. Pop Song Contest - We're gonna have some kind of karaoke (noraebang in Korea). Any good websites or software, please link.

4. Halloween Themed Party - Even though we'll be doing this on November 15, we're having a Halloween section. My idea is to have the kids bring their own costumes or we can do face painting at the school. What are some other Halloween activities or party games that are good? We'll probably do musical chairs, but I want more ideas. They don't have to be explicitly Halloween related or use English.

Those are the main things I need help on. Keep in mind these kids are like 14 years old. Any experiences or ideas please comment, thanks.