tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124830722024-03-09T02:43:52.719+09:00Ninja-tekTO ALL THOSE WHO LEAD MONOTONOUS LIVES IN THE HOPE THAT THEY MAY EXPERIENCE AT SECOND HAND THE DELIGHTS AND DANGERS OF ADVENTURECutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.comBlogger248125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-31876428800012234382009-06-22T17:54:00.006+09:002009-06-22T20:22:24.752+09:00Last Post<a href="http://cutup.livejournal.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:180%;" >CLICK HERE FOR MY NEW (OLD) HOME ON LIVEJOURNAL WHERE I'LL DO MY BLOGGING FROM NOW ON.</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">And so this is my last post. (ominous)<br /><br />The last few days have been some of my best here, saying goodbye and seeing people I've accumulated over the year. Korea's okay. I wouldn't want to live here long term. It's a good place to visit, just not work.<br /><br />Now I've got to finish packing.<br /><br />I'll pick up the blogging thing again real soon.<br /><br />Think of me and wish me safe passage in crossing the vast ocean.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-48534849602739780842009-06-22T10:22:00.005+09:002009-06-22T10:46:17.428+09:00Bogart<span style="font-size:130%;"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3316/3648325661_ea415b8651.jpg?v=0" /><br /><br />Know what I've watched a lot of this year? Humphrey Bogart films. Here's how I rate what I've watched or rewatched this year:<br /><br />1930<br />Up the River - D+<br /><br />1936<br />The Petrified Forest - C+<br /><br />1937<br />Black Legion - C<br />Dead End - C+<br /><br />1938<br />Angels With Dirty Faces - C<br />The Oklahoma Kid - C<br /><br />1939<br />The Roaring Twenties - B<br /><br />1940<br />They Drive By Night - B<br /><br />1941<br />High Sierra - B-<br />The Maltese Falcon - B+<br /><br />1942<br />Across the Pacific - B+<br />Casablanca - A<br /><br />1943<br />Sahara - B<br /><br />1944<br />To Have and Have Not - A-<br /><br />1945<br />Conflict - C+<br /><br />1946<br />The Big Sleep - B+<br /><br />1947<br />Dead Reckoning - B+<br />Dark Passage - A-<br /><br />1948<br />The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - A+<br />Key Largo - A<br /><br />1950<br />In a Lonely Place - B<br /><br />1951<br />The Enforcer - C+<br />Sirocco - B+<br />The African Queen - B<br /><br />1954<br />The Caine Mutiny - B-<br />Sabrina - C<br /><br />I'd like to see the rest of his films and read a good bio.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-78174080065216770112009-06-22T06:17:00.002+09:002009-06-22T06:19:46.507+09:00I Can Almost See America From Here<span style="font-size:130%;"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3318/3648413162_296fa5f734.jpg?v=0" /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3307/3648418232_8b835ea0a4.jpg?v=0" /><br /><br />Went up to the roof of my building for a final view of drab-colored apartment blocks and the New York Wedding Hall. It's my last full day in Korea!<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-19175452479759724492009-06-21T09:12:00.002+09:002009-06-21T09:19:53.525+09:00Ray Bradbury: "Fuck the Internets"<span style="font-size:130%;"><i>The Internet? Don't get him started. 'The Internet is a big distraction,' Mr. Bradbury barked... 'Yahoo called me eight weeks ago,' he said, voice rising. 'They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? "To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet." It's distracting. It's meaningless; it's not real. It's in the air somewhere.'"</i></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-20045496241243313962009-06-19T23:19:00.004+09:002009-06-19T23:26:29.622+09:00The Long Goodbye<span style="font-size:130%;">Is it over, really? Am I really done? Can I go home now?<br /><br />I'm kind of drunk from dinner with the co-workers. But it won't seem to hit home that I don't have to go to work again. I'm sure it will kick in in a few days.<br /><br />Last night I watched <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000069HZU?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000069HZU"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Long Goodbye</span></a>, a weird Raymond Chandler story that Robert Altman moved into the 1970s and changed the ending for. Every shot has the camera moving, supposedly.<br /><br />Ha ha.</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" > The Long Goodbye</span><span style="font-size:130%;">. Funny, that.</span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-38769782152852736882009-06-14T19:43:00.005+09:002009-06-14T20:02:10.633+09:00It's the Final Countdown<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tt_ro2aerQg&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tt_ro2aerQg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />Well, tomorrow I start my last week of work. When it's over we begin a new chapter in the Ninja-tek Chronicles.<br /><br />Did I say a new chapter? I mean a whole new <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">volume</span>! If this were a software update it wouldn't be like 4.0034 - it would be an entire new number with a zero behind it.<br /><br />Ninja-tek 1.0 was from my birth to about the 7th grade. This was a period of vague innocence.<br /><br />Ninja-tek 2.0 was from 7th grade to moving out of my parent's house in 2001. This was a period of useless schooling and war against the world.<br /><br />Ninja-tek 3.0 was from 2001 to the present. This was a period of lots of struggle and stupid jobs.<br /><br />But on Friday...<br /><br />Ninja-tek 4.0!!!!!!!#@$!!#$@#$@!#<br /><br />Can't you feel the excitement?<br /><br />I could try to define Ninja-tek 4.0 but I think I'd rather let it speak for itself and continue the tradition of overblown Ninja-tek rhetoric.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-21250449089288845082009-06-12T20:56:00.002+09:002009-06-12T21:00:35.677+09:00Your Daily WTF<span style="font-size:130%;">I skimmed this article at first not realizing it was from the Onion:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_terminator_movie_brings_j_d">"Besides setting the literary community abuzz, Salinger's decision to come out of seclusion has allowed scholars access to his massive archive of unpublished work for the first time. So far, critics have examined three never-before-seen novels, eight novellas, and more than two dozen short stories—all of which appear to be Terminator fan fiction."</a></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-17906215503888980182009-06-10T21:33:00.001+09:002009-06-10T21:35:16.199+09:00Update<span style="font-size:130%;">Seven more days of work!!!!!!<br /><br />There, I blogged.<br /><br />Man, I can do anything right now. But I can't do everything. Figuring where to live is complicated.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-10340256162268401222009-05-21T20:58:00.003+09:002009-05-21T21:15:34.559+09:00Random<span style="font-size:130%;">I've been looking at a few old issues of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beano"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Beano</span></a>, a weekly British comic book that's been running since 1938 (which most Americans have never heard of).<br /><br />Anyway, the bizarre thing about the comic is one of the regular features, Dennis the Menace. It's NOT the Dennis the Menace we Americans know. So you think, maybe someone ripped somebody's idea off. But get this: the two characters debuted independently (i.e. unrelated creators) in their respective countries just <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">3 days apart</span>. Hella weird.<br /><br />Anyway, Britsh comics and advertisements are different.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2437/3551432360_d42ac916c9.jpg?v=0" /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/3550638825_2bd80cd781.jpg?v=0" /><br /><br />And this is a great quote I haven't thought of in years but which came back to me yesterday:<br /><br />"If you want to be successful in life, everything you do must be an act of patricide. You must always kill the father. Every song you sing, every sentence you write, every leaf you rake must kill the father. Every act from the most august to the most banal must be patricidal if you hope to live freely and unencumbered. Even when shaving— each whisker you shave off is your father's head. And if you're using a twin blade—the first blade cuts off the father's head and as the father's neck snaps back it's cleanly lopped off by the second blade."<br /><br />--from “My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist”, by Mark Leyner<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-26985561611855002822009-05-19T19:03:00.010+09:002009-05-19T21:39:04.443+09:001910<span style="font-size:130%;">I've read the latest </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >League of Extraordinary Gentlemen</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> book, <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603090002?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1603090002">Volume 3: Century, #1: 1910</a>. I don't read comics in Korea because I don't like reading on the computer, but for this I made an exception.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603090002?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1603090002"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2475/3545069695_8105e741aa.jpg?v=0" /></a><br /><br />This latest story is pretty good - better than <a style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401203078?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1401203078">The Black Dossier</a>, but not as good as the first two volumes. I'm looking forward to the 1969 and 2009 books, even if the story's gotten a bit muddied by including just about every fantasy narrative <span style="font-style: italic;">ever</span>, as well as fictions that aren't specifically fantasy-oriented. Virginia Woolf's Orlando has gotten a larger role with each book, and that's one of the primary texts I haven't gotten around to yet. Trying to keep up with all the intersecting media is a bit of a challenge, but that gives us something to do as we wait years for Moore and O'Neill to complete each issue, and to get the <span style="font-style: italic;">essential </span>sources isn't that difficult. Aside from characters from previous volumes - mainly from Dracula, H. Rider Haggard's Allan Quatermain books, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, the Sherlock Holmes mythos, and the aforementioned Orlando - this book's primary inspiration comes from Brecht and Weill's </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Threepenny Opera</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> and Somerset Maugham's <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Magician</span>, which I'm only passingly familiar with. Knowing the sources helps, but part of the enjoyment comes in rereading and realizing who all these people are, and every time I read it I recognize something new.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2464/3545671326_a7b0d79863.jpg?v=0" /><br /><br />Throwing in references to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Cat's Cradle</span> or <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Story of O </span>for the sake of references is of course a bit pretentious, but Moore usually goes beyond this to make the characters his own and breathe new life into them. The throwaway stuff for the annotations is more like ornamentation, and when Moore focuses on telling a good story he always comes through. A lot of this volume felt like setup for the 1969 and 2009 volumes (this one is set in 1910). This issue is really about Captain Nemo's daughter and it's quite touching and disturbing, if a tad predictable.<br /><br />And Kevin O'Neill's art is always incredible. He's got a huge collection of his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603090231?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1603090231">Marshal Law</a> stories coming out that looks awesome.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-77952099736917906472009-05-15T18:33:00.004+09:002009-05-15T19:28:43.097+09:00Someone Twisting a Knife in Your Back<span style="font-size:130%;">I'm giving <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029358GM?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0029358GM"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Wilco (The Album)</span></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> my third listen and loving it. My favorite band this decade.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029358GM?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0029358GM"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2332/3533352202_c03943b4c0.jpg?v=0" /></a>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-81865908087538741432009-05-14T19:49:00.005+09:002009-05-14T19:59:10.112+09:00Predictably Irrational<span style="font-size:130%;">Maybe minimal blogging while in ghost ship mode as I wrap up my teaching (five more weeks).<br /><br />Here's a great book I listened to, similar to </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Kluge</span><span style="font-size:130%;">.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061854549?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0061854549"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2199/3530923946_c4c721a91c.jpg?v=0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061854549?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0061854549">Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=4353-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061854549" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;" border="0" width="1" height="1" /><br /><br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-18296889366483236732009-05-07T19:19:00.003+09:002009-05-08T18:06:23.144+09:00The Limits of Control<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090506/REVIEWS/905069987/-1/RSS">Ebert totally dissed the new Jim Jarmusch movie, <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Limits of Control</span>.</a> I still want to see it, but I'm sorry it's getting such bad reviews. I really liked that last Jarmusch movie with Bill Murray, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BX8R10?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000BX8R10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Broken Flowers</span></a>.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-54352458645314115672009-05-05T17:44:00.004+09:002009-05-05T17:50:44.966+09:00The Jolly Banker<span style="font-size:130%;">There's a <a href="http://beta.wilcoworld.net/guthrie/index.php">new Wilco song up for free download</a> (written by Woody Guthrie). It's not on their forthcoming album and sounds more Guthrie-esque than Wilco-esque.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-21087407938570127002009-05-04T22:35:00.005+09:002009-05-10T18:12:56.919+09:00The Awakening<span style="font-size:130%;">4-day weekend spent on bullet trains, buses, and ships traveling all the way to a small island off the south coast of Korea with a co-worker and her family. Also went to two temples and a green tea farm. Off the clock, it reminds me of how life once was, how it will be again, but upleveled a thousandfold once I'm done here. I'm gonna move back to Livejournal when I finish in Korea to hermetically seal it. It's good to travel and get out of routine.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3360/3501176376_e4c9836be0.jpg?v=0" /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3600/3500353553_b481a7ba25.jpg?v=0" /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/3501169960_89d1934243.jpg?v=0" /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3414/3500353215_2d471f6bcc.jpg?v=0" /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3637/3500353067_a9b4f91e21.jpg?v=0" /><br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-69254137041136481032009-04-28T19:38:00.002+09:002009-04-28T19:45:03.087+09:00Together Through Life<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VNB56I?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001VNB56I"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3390/3482221707_03ac2109f4.jpg?v=0" /></a><br /><br />New Bob Dylan with the fruity-cake-make title <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VNB56I?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001VNB56I"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Together Through Life</span></a>. It sounds like his last two albums with more accordion and Southwest feel. It's okay music. Kind of background music. But let's face it. With titles like "It's All Good," Dylan will never again capture the lyrical and musical intensity he once had.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-31568583815835578712009-04-25T17:34:00.002+09:002009-04-25T18:04:02.646+09:00Going to California<span style="font-size:130%;">Well, my school got my plane ticket for the day after I finish work. It looks like I'll be back in California on June 23rd.</span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-10934596796496783672009-04-22T18:34:00.004+09:002009-04-22T18:43:02.401+09:00Final 40<span style="font-size:130%;">In two months I'm done working - June 22. Forty more days of teaching. It seems to go slower and slower, and even this late in the game I think about leaving. I won't, but I still want to escape the schedule, the office, the noise of kids. When I get back to USA I want to do increasing periods of time without eating animal products and using computers.<br /><br />June 22. 22. 2222222222222222<br /><br />I swear I've been hovering in space at this moment in time forever like <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Groundhog Day</span>.<br /><br />June 22. C'mon, c'mon.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-50423667894159163012009-04-20T19:59:00.003+09:002009-04-20T20:14:24.871+09:00J.G. Ballard<span style="font-size:130%;">I haven't read enough of him to offer a comprehensive opinion, but what I have read by J.G. Ballard (mainly short stories from the 60s and 70s), I liked. I've had a few of his audiobooks lingering on my computer for months, and I still haven't gotten around to seeing <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Crash </span>(the 1996 Cronenberg one based on Ballard's novel, not the recent and more famous film that's completely unrelated), but now I feel I suddenly have incentive.<br /><br />His voice and energy influenced the entire ethos of punk literature, informing and infecting the possibilities of speculative fiction. His dissection of narrative, his bizarre mind, will be missed. What has come down to us from writers like Michael Moorcock, Harlan Ellison, William Burroughs, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore and others would surely be different without Ballard.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312278446?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0312278446"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3602/3459249456_134b111881.jpg?v=0" /></a><br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-80379160464084917262009-04-19T19:55:00.008+09:002009-04-20T18:49:46.489+09:00Reading<span style="font-size:130%;">Here's some reading material. First:<br /><a href="http://www.addictivethoughts.com/2009/04/18/interview-jonathan-ke-quan-short-round-from-indiana-jones/"><br />Glomer's Exclusive Interview with Jonathan Ke Quan (Short Round from <span style="font-style: italic;">Indiana Jones</span> and the only Asian in <span style="font-style: italic;">Goonies</span>)</a><br />Glomer* proves once again that he's on top of all the news. (*Glomer = J.U.)<br /><br />Then:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.animationarchive.org/2009/04/cartooning-james-montgomery-flaggs.html">Montgomery Flagg's Nervy Nat comics</a><br />Weird early comics from the creator of the "I Want You" Uncle Sam Poster. Click them to supersize... they're peculiar.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-5094987310048066062009-04-17T20:00:00.003+09:002009-04-17T20:03:51.456+09:00Restroked<span style="font-size:130%;">I don't know why but I love this rescoring of the opening of <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Different Strokes</span>. It just makes me laugh.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Kr-e3qGQ884&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Kr-e3qGQ884&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-70155915123579779122009-04-12T07:14:00.005+09:002009-04-16T19:00:06.132+09:00Beatles Remastered<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0025KVLTM?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0025KVLTM"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3599/3431641198_4cfe57673a.jpg?v=0" /></a><br /><br />Kind of amazing the Beatles catalog hasn't been properly remastered and the same discs have essentially been out there for 22 years. But on September 9, 2009 they get properly done - all their albums remastered. About time.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-91440749696382852022009-04-08T12:18:00.003+09:002009-04-08T12:34:10.785+09:00Death Proof<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000R7HY0K?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B000R7HY0K"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3560/3422344941_361bc15422.jpg?v=0" /></a><br /><br />I watched Tarantino's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000R7HY0K?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B000R7HY0K"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Death Proof</span></a> again. It's a really weird movie. It's both poorly done and incredibly calculated. All the sloppiness is actually intentional and the editing is incredibly <span style="font-style: italic;">weird</span>. The characters and dialogue feel like a 70s Marvel comic, and Tarantino almost self-parodies the characters by creating two groups of woman who are initially indistinguishable cliches. Ultraviolent with laughable plot twists, and Kurt Russell alternates between creepy psychopath and pathetic geezer. Overall, I like it - even with all of Tarantino's fetishes. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Kill Bill</span> and <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Pulp Fiction</span> may be the only thing I like better by him. And it's infinitely better than the other Grindhouse movie, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Planet Terror</span>. I initially saw them together in theaters, which makes for a too long movie experience.<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000R7HY0K?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B000R7HY0K"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Death Proof</span></a> on its own is just right.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-63987616289419315522009-04-06T18:47:00.007+09:002009-04-07T06:58:46.753+09:006 Things<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FFJYA2?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000FFJYA2" id="static_img_preview"><img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51IoXUs8B0L._SL160_.jpg" id="static_preview_img" border="0" /></a></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FFJYAC?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000FFJYAC" id="static_img_preview"><img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41aEqBkjkoL._SL160_.jpg" id="static_preview_img" border="0" /></a></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FFJYAM?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000FFJYAM" id="static_img_preview"><img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41H5uihGg3L._SL160_.jpg" id="static_preview_img" border="0" /></a></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001RTP48Q?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001RTP48Q" id="static_img_preview"><img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/318iYcLsm9L._SL160_.jpg" id="static_preview_img" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008BNTH?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00008BNTH" id="static_img_preview"><img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41HC75ZS9PL._SL160_.jpg" id="static_preview_img" border="0" /></a></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156455726X?ie=UTF8&tag=4353-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=156455726X" id="static_img_preview"><img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51PZS3Z5J9L._SL160_.jpg" id="static_preview_img" border="0" /></a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Here's six things I liked in the past week. <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Big Sleep</span> has an overcomplicated confusing plot but brilliant sets and actors. Kind of like a David Lynch movie if he'd been working in the 40s. <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Dark Passage</span> is my favorite Bogart movie so far. It may just be the shooting locations because every two minutes I was thinking, "I know exactly where that is in San Francisco!" and unlike many cities, SF still looks very similar to how it looked 60 years ago. I think the story and actors are also pretty amazing. <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Key Largo</span> is also awesome, more Bogart and Bacall, but also with Edward G. Robinson, whose ominousness as a villain completely overshadows the antagonists in the other films. I've been binging on Bogart (and now Bacall) and finally see his greatness.<br /><br />Then the new Pet Shop Boys, a Jam compilation, and a breathing program by Andrew Weil, one of my favorite health authors. All goodish.<br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12483072.post-26789915847045503122009-04-05T10:38:00.003+09:002009-04-05T14:54:21.429+09:00Life Inc.<embed src="http://blip.tv/play/gshV99lNhrwN" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="450" height="275"></embed> <span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />Douglas Rushkoff has a lot of interesting ideas about local currencies and the current state of the economy. But I don't expect his ideas to take. Who knows. Here's his article <a href="http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/economy/hacking-economy"><span style="font-style: italic;">Hacking the Economy</span></a>.<br /><br />And here's his new book ~<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400066891/4353-20"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3643/3413488860_fcd49fbe89_o.gif" /><br /><br />Life Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back</a><br /></span>Cutuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16683158012279780514noreply@blogger.com3