The Good - Lost
I've been watching episodes of Lost that I recorded and I'm caught up on season one. This show is X-Files good and compares favorably with the best episodes from that show. The plot is interesting (40 people are stranded on a mysterious island after their plane crashes) and there are hints of larger things at work: were the people chosen to survive the crash, perhaps to atone for some past sin? What is the purpose of island and the strange monsters/animals that seem to inhabit it? The last few episodes seem to imply that the fates of the survivors are intertwined more deeply than they realize; the flashbacks to events before the crash are intriguing and infuriating. There are great conflicts as well: a recovering drug addict is faced with the temptation of a cargo of heroin; in an attempt to escape the island, some of the survivors on a raft are confronted by strange men (pirates?) who kidnap one man's son and set fire to the raft; the mysterious hatch Locke found in the jungle is finally open, but where it leads to remains to be seen. Also, it gets my vote for "how did they put this on TV:" while trying to transport old dynamite to blow open the hatch, one survivor is literally blown to bits. How this made it past TV censors amazes me.
The Bad - Rock Star INXS
I watch this show with morbid fascination - I'll admit to being a fan of INXS once upon a time and I still can and will sing along. But this show is uncomfortable to watch. First, the contestants are mostly white Americans; not all that surprising, really, but only one Australian and two Canadians made the final cut. That just seems a little odd to me, a little too American-centric. Most of the contestants are pretty people, especially the women. Don't get me wrong, they have fine voices, too, but it is embarrassing and painful to watch these pretty people try to be rock stars. Most of the women are crosses between Jewel and Lita Ford (not Runaways Lita Ford, but Lita Ford circa 1987) and last week, two made the terrible mistake of trying to rock out to...Purple Haze and Paranoid. I have never been so horrified. True there are the token "different" people: there is the Token Black Guy with Mohawk, to which comparisons to Living Color are inevitable, and the Token Overweight Cool Girl with Dreadlocks and Tattoos, who really isn't overweight but looks it when she stands next to the more TV friendly female contestants. The Beck-wannabe lost last week and for all of his awkward posing, I think I'll miss him from the show simply because he was different from the other guys. Lastly, there is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about - Michael Hutchence. No one has mentioned him yet, at least not on air, and somehow that makes this all the worse.
The Ugly - Family Guy
Let me go on the record of saying that I love Family Guy and I'm glad it's back on the air. I'm just not sure how it manages to stay on the air, because damn, it is ugly. It is South Park offensive, which is saying something considering it's on broadcast television during primetime. Don't believe me? In last week's episode:
The evil monkey that lives in Chris's closet pulled out a bag of weed and rolled a joint.
Chris and Meg both admitted they would masterbate to their mother's pictures if she became a model.
Cookie Monster (from Sesame Street) was heating up cookie dough using a spoon and a lighter like a junky in a stall in the women's restroom at a club.
Do I need to go on?
The Rocking - Best band the hipsters are already sick of:
Louis XIV - Cheeky, raunchy and fun-as-hell indie rock music that is influenced by T-Rex and 70s New York punk.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Friday, February 25, 2005
What else I like or Fun with DVR
A little less than two months ago, we ordered DVR through our cable company. Installation problems aside, it's been a brilliant service and works the way we expected. At first, we kept forgetting to use the features available - for example, pausing a TV show we were watching before running to the bathroom or fastfowarding through the commercials on recorded shows. I think it has significantly changed how we watch TV. We no longer watch whatever crap that happens to be on, for one thing. When one of us is coming home late, the other records our favorite shows to watch later. Some shows I watch only through recordings anyway.
One such show is Spaced, a British comedy that ran for a couple of seasons in the late 90s. I had never heard of Spaced before Bravo had a marathon of episodes in January. I had heard of the series' creators, Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, in backwards sort of way. When we were in London last April, posters for the movie Shaun of the Dead, which was written by and stars Simon Pegg, were everywhere. Even without knowing the star, I desperately wanted to see it, as I am fan of such films as Evil Dead and Night of the Living Dead and English humor in general. Unfortunately, it wasn't released to theatres until after we had left London, so I had to wait until the summer when it was released here in the States. But it was well worth the wait.
So I was pleasantly surprised to find out about the series, Spaced, and equally glad to have the DVR unit in order to record all the episodes. We've been working our way through them slowly, and I am frightened at how well it captures the Gen X experience in the 90s. Pegg and I are about the same age and what he writes about in the series could have come directly from my life:
- Working at a comic book store: check
- Collecting comics: check
- Playing video games: check
- Friend who wants to write/draw his own comic: check
- Friend who skateboards: check
- Club kids and "rave" culture: Oh, god help me, yes.
- Friend who is a militaty nut with guns: (Please, shoot me now) Yes.
- Obsession with the first three Star Wars movies: Absolutely
- Conversations desperately trying to create meaning in vapid pop culture: Of course.
- ...and then devolve into silly arguments about trivia: Guilty.
- Aspiring writer who never writes and has yet to be published: Yes, indeed, sir.
The premise behind the show is that two acquaintances, Tim (Pegg) and Daisy (Stevenson), are desperately in need of new apartments. Tim was thrown out by his ex-girlfriend and Daisy was living in a squat with junkies. They find a great place, but the ad specifies married couples only. So, Tim and Daisy pose as a married couple to get the apartment. Luckily, the show downplays the zany Three's Company element and instead focuses on the daily lives of the characters intertwined with pop culture references and over-the-top, wacky adventures. Besides slacker Tim, a comic book store employee and aspiring comic book artist, and Daisy, an aspiring writer/journalist, the other misfits include: Marsha (Julia Deakin), the nosy and eternally horny landlady, Brian (Mark Heap), their tortured artist neighbor, Twist (Katy Carmichael), Daisy's vain and fashion-obsessed best friend, and Mike (Nick Frost), Tim's military and gun-obsessed best friend.
Had I caught the series when it was first run, I would have been RABID for it. As it is, I am still a pretty big fan. It's very funny and clever, and although it's only a few years old, I'm surprised at the nostalgia it invokes in me. It reminds me of the Friday nights we used to spend playing D&D after hours in the comic store.
One such show is Spaced, a British comedy that ran for a couple of seasons in the late 90s. I had never heard of Spaced before Bravo had a marathon of episodes in January. I had heard of the series' creators, Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, in backwards sort of way. When we were in London last April, posters for the movie Shaun of the Dead, which was written by and stars Simon Pegg, were everywhere. Even without knowing the star, I desperately wanted to see it, as I am fan of such films as Evil Dead and Night of the Living Dead and English humor in general. Unfortunately, it wasn't released to theatres until after we had left London, so I had to wait until the summer when it was released here in the States. But it was well worth the wait.
So I was pleasantly surprised to find out about the series, Spaced, and equally glad to have the DVR unit in order to record all the episodes. We've been working our way through them slowly, and I am frightened at how well it captures the Gen X experience in the 90s. Pegg and I are about the same age and what he writes about in the series could have come directly from my life:
- Working at a comic book store: check
- Collecting comics: check
- Playing video games: check
- Friend who wants to write/draw his own comic: check
- Friend who skateboards: check
- Club kids and "rave" culture: Oh, god help me, yes.
- Friend who is a militaty nut with guns: (Please, shoot me now) Yes.
- Obsession with the first three Star Wars movies: Absolutely
- Conversations desperately trying to create meaning in vapid pop culture: Of course.
- ...and then devolve into silly arguments about trivia: Guilty.
- Aspiring writer who never writes and has yet to be published: Yes, indeed, sir.
The premise behind the show is that two acquaintances, Tim (Pegg) and Daisy (Stevenson), are desperately in need of new apartments. Tim was thrown out by his ex-girlfriend and Daisy was living in a squat with junkies. They find a great place, but the ad specifies married couples only. So, Tim and Daisy pose as a married couple to get the apartment. Luckily, the show downplays the zany Three's Company element and instead focuses on the daily lives of the characters intertwined with pop culture references and over-the-top, wacky adventures. Besides slacker Tim, a comic book store employee and aspiring comic book artist, and Daisy, an aspiring writer/journalist, the other misfits include: Marsha (Julia Deakin), the nosy and eternally horny landlady, Brian (Mark Heap), their tortured artist neighbor, Twist (Katy Carmichael), Daisy's vain and fashion-obsessed best friend, and Mike (Nick Frost), Tim's military and gun-obsessed best friend.
Had I caught the series when it was first run, I would have been RABID for it. As it is, I am still a pretty big fan. It's very funny and clever, and although it's only a few years old, I'm surprised at the nostalgia it invokes in me. It reminds me of the Friday nights we used to spend playing D&D after hours in the comic store.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
50 Book Challenge and the Viral Nature of the Internet
I belong to a lot of Yahoo Groups on a lot of different subjects: reading groups, magick groups, D&D groups, Comic Book groups, you name it. Very often, someone on a group will write, "Hey, check out this [web site/forum/service/book/group]." Of course, being a curious person, I'll have to go check out the web site/forum/service/book/group, along with anyone else who received the same email. Now, I'm not talking about the email that says something like "Ultra low prices on Viagra!" or even the annoying emails from well-meaning people who are trying to increase traffic to their web site or other Internet entity. Personally, when I find something cool online, I email people I think will care about it and might enjoy using it. Then they do they same thing, sending the information out and infecting others with the mostly benign virus of pop culture. That's what I'm talking about. There is no cure and we have been assimilated, like it or not.
So if you're here, it means you like some of the things that I like. Here's a list of things I've found that I like that therefore you might like, too:
http://bibliophil.org/default.asp
Keep track of your book collection, rate and review books, swap books, make friends with other book lovers.
http://www.hsx.com
The Hollywood Stock Exchange is an online game. You buy (pretend) stocks in real actors, films and directors and the stock values are based on real movie deals. I've been trading on the exchange for a couple of years now. I'm losing big on the Harry Potter movies, but my Keanu Reeves stock is making a killing. Who knew?
http://www.livejournal.com/community/50bookchallenge/
The 50 Book Challenge is Live Journal Community that challenges members to read 50 books in a year, which is more than 4 books per month. I'd better get on it!
Gmail and Firefox
I am a big fan of both services. Gmail is such a great free email account that I've stopped using all my other personal email accounts. I love being able to use Google to search my emails, I love having emails sorted by threads and I especially love having 1 gig of storage space for my emails.
I was skeptical of Firefox as a browser, because it was surrounded by so much hype. But after a serious virus problem on our computer, we switched and I have no regrets. It has neat add ons, like the weather updates on the bottom tool bar, keeps visited on web sites on tabs in the same window for easy reference and is just easy and convenient to use.
So if you're here, it means you like some of the things that I like. Here's a list of things I've found that I like that therefore you might like, too:
http://bibliophil.org/default.asp
Keep track of your book collection, rate and review books, swap books, make friends with other book lovers.
http://www.hsx.com
The Hollywood Stock Exchange is an online game. You buy (pretend) stocks in real actors, films and directors and the stock values are based on real movie deals. I've been trading on the exchange for a couple of years now. I'm losing big on the Harry Potter movies, but my Keanu Reeves stock is making a killing. Who knew?
http://www.livejournal.com/community/50bookchallenge/
The 50 Book Challenge is Live Journal Community that challenges members to read 50 books in a year, which is more than 4 books per month. I'd better get on it!
Gmail and Firefox
I am a big fan of both services. Gmail is such a great free email account that I've stopped using all my other personal email accounts. I love being able to use Google to search my emails, I love having emails sorted by threads and I especially love having 1 gig of storage space for my emails.
I was skeptical of Firefox as a browser, because it was surrounded by so much hype. But after a serious virus problem on our computer, we switched and I have no regrets. It has neat add ons, like the weather updates on the bottom tool bar, keeps visited on web sites on tabs in the same window for easy reference and is just easy and convenient to use.
Monday, July 28, 2003
I'm on my first big trip alone. I went to Nashville for a conference for work. I'm at Vanderbilt University which has a beautiful campus, though the weather is very, very warm and humid.
Nashville is an, uh, odd town. It's very spread out and in spots it's feel much smaller than it is. Some of the residents have been surprisingly friendly, others have been a little slow and unhelpful, but not rude like they are in Chicago. My hotel was a bad choice, since they have few amenities and are far from the college, but that was my fault for not doing more research.
Being here just underscore my need to figure out what the hell I should be doing with my life. The sessions are actually great, but I have so little interest in my job that it's difficult to work up the enthusiasm.
I miss Andy and Surly. Walking up in a strange place has been disconcerting. I have to sleep with the TV on or else I wake up at every little noise. I feel so bad about myself lately. This morning when I looked in the mirror, I saw my mother's face and overweight body. I thought about how much she hated herself, from the way she looked to her "mousy" personality and lack of adventure. I simultaneously hated her and myself. I had to tell myself that I'm not her, that she wouldn't have done half of the things I have. I also have to tell myself not to be so hard on her either. She did the best that she could, and I think that in the end she loved her life as best she could.
Nashville is an, uh, odd town. It's very spread out and in spots it's feel much smaller than it is. Some of the residents have been surprisingly friendly, others have been a little slow and unhelpful, but not rude like they are in Chicago. My hotel was a bad choice, since they have few amenities and are far from the college, but that was my fault for not doing more research.
Being here just underscore my need to figure out what the hell I should be doing with my life. The sessions are actually great, but I have so little interest in my job that it's difficult to work up the enthusiasm.
I miss Andy and Surly. Walking up in a strange place has been disconcerting. I have to sleep with the TV on or else I wake up at every little noise. I feel so bad about myself lately. This morning when I looked in the mirror, I saw my mother's face and overweight body. I thought about how much she hated herself, from the way she looked to her "mousy" personality and lack of adventure. I simultaneously hated her and myself. I had to tell myself that I'm not her, that she wouldn't have done half of the things I have. I also have to tell myself not to be so hard on her either. She did the best that she could, and I think that in the end she loved her life as best she could.
Thursday, July 24, 2003
Well, yesterday was just horrible. The dog started peeing blood and I couldn't get ahold of Andy because his cellphone was in an area with bad connection. I had to call my sister to take me to the emergency vet. I was very upset and said some very stupid things I very much regret now. I pretty much made myself sick over the whole affair, and I stayed home to watch Surly. The vet said he has a bladder infection and gave Surly antibiotics and sent us on our mery way. His seems a little better, but he's a little lethargic and isn't eating much.
Andy did get a new car last night, although I haven't seen it yet. He said that driving it home seemed like a dream, like he couldn't believe that this nice car was really his. I know he's really pleased and he was having fun playing with all the doodads they gave him, like chosing CDs to put in his CD case.
Speaking of dreams, I think I dreamt about cats last night. I vaguely remember talking to Andy (in my sleep!) about "the cat." I remember him saying, "What cat?" Then I realized I had been dreaming and told him, "Never mind."
I am tired as hell and I don't feel well at all.
Andy did get a new car last night, although I haven't seen it yet. He said that driving it home seemed like a dream, like he couldn't believe that this nice car was really his. I know he's really pleased and he was having fun playing with all the doodads they gave him, like chosing CDs to put in his CD case.
Speaking of dreams, I think I dreamt about cats last night. I vaguely remember talking to Andy (in my sleep!) about "the cat." I remember him saying, "What cat?" Then I realized I had been dreaming and told him, "Never mind."
I am tired as hell and I don't feel well at all.
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
God, what a crappy day already.
This morning it was my turn to walk the dog and I awoke to thunder and lightning. Surly, god bless him, did not push to be walked, so I was able to wait until after the rain had stopped (mostly) before taking him out. This, however, messed up my usual morning routine and I was late to work by 15 minutes.
Andy is not having a great day either. His poor car, which needs body work badly, now also has a rapidly decaying transmission. All this in a car not even five years old. And so he is contemplating a new car, although it will be yet another expense for him. I feel terrible, because I know I'm not helping much monetarily. I do wish I was making as much money as I was at my last job. I figured out last night that I would be taking home something like $400 extra a month. It's not so much that I want so many things, just that I would like to get out of debt and make more of a contribution to the household.
[OK, so I just met with my boss, and I can see a ray of hope. If we move over to another department, as she wants, I might be able to move into a web master position. Hurray! Now I just need to get into school...]
This morning it was my turn to walk the dog and I awoke to thunder and lightning. Surly, god bless him, did not push to be walked, so I was able to wait until after the rain had stopped (mostly) before taking him out. This, however, messed up my usual morning routine and I was late to work by 15 minutes.
Andy is not having a great day either. His poor car, which needs body work badly, now also has a rapidly decaying transmission. All this in a car not even five years old. And so he is contemplating a new car, although it will be yet another expense for him. I feel terrible, because I know I'm not helping much monetarily. I do wish I was making as much money as I was at my last job. I figured out last night that I would be taking home something like $400 extra a month. It's not so much that I want so many things, just that I would like to get out of debt and make more of a contribution to the household.
[OK, so I just met with my boss, and I can see a ray of hope. If we move over to another department, as she wants, I might be able to move into a web master position. Hurray! Now I just need to get into school...]
Friday, July 11, 2003
I switched my journal back to Livejournal and moved all of my entries back. As weird as this may sound, I feel weird having two journals like this and I've decided to use the Livejournal site for my personal online journal and the Blogger journal for something else, to be decided later. Part of the reason I decided to do this was because of a spoof I saw (of all things). The spoof was a blog done by a famous comic book villain done in the style of most online journals, which is whiny, teen-angsty, and full of "wry" comments about life.
Wow, I thought, online journals are for the most part, complete bullshit.
Now I know this isn't news and to be honest, I'm not really sure of the value of pouring my heart out for the entire world to see, copy, paste and send in emails as a gag to their friends. I fully realize my compulsive need to communicate and be heard. I know it's a cry for attention and acceptance. But then again, the idea that there are real people out there on the Internet reading this or any other site is almost not comprehensible to me. I read posts on messageboards or emails from strangers on lists and the very faceless impersonality of it boggles me. So to me this might as well be a private journal, because I simply can't imagine anyone reading this.
OK, so anyway, here's what's new. Andy and I are going to see the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, probably against our better judgement. The reviews we've read so far are mixed. The review on Ain't It Cool is especially worrying. Nonetheless, we are going, so I will post a review tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, the maids will be coming in the morning for the first time. Yes, Andy got frustrated with cleaning the apartment and hired maids to come twice a month. I'm not happy with this, because it seems, well, snooty, like I'm too good to clean my own house. Besides, I hate the idea of a stranger pawing through my things - it's not about stealing, although I'm worried about that vaguely, but more about feeling violated and being embarrassed that I wasn't adult enough to clean up after myself. That's weird, too, I know, because most people I know would be more than happy to have someone else clean up after them. But Andy is paying for this and it will be nice to have a super-clean house for the group to game in tomorrow.
Last bit of news for me is that I am almost finished with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and I liked it so much that I was thinking of making a d20 Modern Setting based on it.
That reminds me that the web sites are calling my name. I have so much to work on - eris404.com is OK for now (although the pictures from San Francisco need to be added), but I have chosen new colors and a new design for daggerhome.com, which sorely needs to be updated. It looks like Oneiros is on hold indefinitely, since I can't seem to get Terry interested for more than ten minutes at a time (sorry, Terry, but it's true!).
I have another D&D campaign that I will be designing and I hope to play it soon.
I've been interested in doing more visual art. I've never been a great artist, but Agnes recommended a great bug book to me. I wasn't really a fan of bugs until I met Gene and saw his collection of dead insects (that sounds creepy, doesn't it?). Anyway, a little of his enthusiasm for insects rubbed off on me and I bought this book so that I can draw insects. I hope to scan my drawings (if they're good) to use as art on the daggerhome site. I also want to take picture of the miniatures I've been painting and put those online, too. Add some glyphs or runes of some kind and the site will look much nicer. Also, Andy's digital camera could come in handy - maybe I could just take some cool pictures to use, too.
I wish I had more time to work on stuff like this.
Wow, I thought, online journals are for the most part, complete bullshit.
Now I know this isn't news and to be honest, I'm not really sure of the value of pouring my heart out for the entire world to see, copy, paste and send in emails as a gag to their friends. I fully realize my compulsive need to communicate and be heard. I know it's a cry for attention and acceptance. But then again, the idea that there are real people out there on the Internet reading this or any other site is almost not comprehensible to me. I read posts on messageboards or emails from strangers on lists and the very faceless impersonality of it boggles me. So to me this might as well be a private journal, because I simply can't imagine anyone reading this.
OK, so anyway, here's what's new. Andy and I are going to see the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, probably against our better judgement. The reviews we've read so far are mixed. The review on Ain't It Cool is especially worrying. Nonetheless, we are going, so I will post a review tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, the maids will be coming in the morning for the first time. Yes, Andy got frustrated with cleaning the apartment and hired maids to come twice a month. I'm not happy with this, because it seems, well, snooty, like I'm too good to clean my own house. Besides, I hate the idea of a stranger pawing through my things - it's not about stealing, although I'm worried about that vaguely, but more about feeling violated and being embarrassed that I wasn't adult enough to clean up after myself. That's weird, too, I know, because most people I know would be more than happy to have someone else clean up after them. But Andy is paying for this and it will be nice to have a super-clean house for the group to game in tomorrow.
Last bit of news for me is that I am almost finished with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and I liked it so much that I was thinking of making a d20 Modern Setting based on it.
That reminds me that the web sites are calling my name. I have so much to work on - eris404.com is OK for now (although the pictures from San Francisco need to be added), but I have chosen new colors and a new design for daggerhome.com, which sorely needs to be updated. It looks like Oneiros is on hold indefinitely, since I can't seem to get Terry interested for more than ten minutes at a time (sorry, Terry, but it's true!).
I have another D&D campaign that I will be designing and I hope to play it soon.
I've been interested in doing more visual art. I've never been a great artist, but Agnes recommended a great bug book to me. I wasn't really a fan of bugs until I met Gene and saw his collection of dead insects (that sounds creepy, doesn't it?). Anyway, a little of his enthusiasm for insects rubbed off on me and I bought this book so that I can draw insects. I hope to scan my drawings (if they're good) to use as art on the daggerhome site. I also want to take picture of the miniatures I've been painting and put those online, too. Add some glyphs or runes of some kind and the site will look much nicer. Also, Andy's digital camera could come in handy - maybe I could just take some cool pictures to use, too.
I wish I had more time to work on stuff like this.
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