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Born Sleepy.NUXX
Stranded at home for most of yesterday, as I discovered that Friday night, when I let my daughter pretend to be driving my parked car, she must have flipped on the high-beams, so my battery was dead Saturday night when I decided to take us out to dinner. Got a jump on Sunday night from my friend Jeff and then charged it last night with a new charger I bought. Luckily Jeff had a long extension cord to borrow, as I had to run it out of my apartment and across the sidewalk to my car, not having a garage. With a couple scary die-outs, it started fine various times today and tonight.
Watched THE WIZARD OF OZ with the kids Friday night, which they'd never seen. I was in the sun all day at a company picnic, drinking a little, and that combination and the film's own eternal power really made me weep by the end. The kids liked it, too, though at first they were concerned about the sepia-toned beginning, thinking it was a problem with the dvd. Maybe I should've waited until another viewing for my son to discover that the actors played multiple roles, but I pointed it out to him, as well as the possibility that it was all a dream, but he wasn't convinced it wasn't true.
Took another step toward becoming pop culture current by watching Disc One of THE SOPRANOS Season One. Yes, I've seen a couple episodes here and there, but I missed the first season and knew it would be something I should catch from the beginning when I got the chance. Not wanting to pay a lot of money to do so, it took my joining Netflix to get me to do it. Great stuff, right up my alley. I won't write in detail on a show everyone already knows, but the premise of Tony taking therapy suggestions and using them to solve his Mob problems is brilliant.
Tonight I watched Takashi Miike's AUDITION, a fairly straightforward thriller about the older romantic fool falling for a young girl who's not what she seems. At least, it's straightforward for the first two acts, then exhibits the shocking qualities for which Miike is known. I can take a lot, but it was starting to push my envelope.
Listening to Underworld's SECOND TOUGHEST IN THE INFANTS right now, hence the subject title. I'm not fond of a lot of techno that just goes on and on, yet these very long songs really work for me, with some of the same effect as ambient but not so yawn-inducing. After reading Alan David Doane's post recently on SPIN Magazine's 100 Best CDs or whatever at www.comicbookgalaxy.com, I realized I really needed to step in and get that guy some of this great music of the past 20 years. It might be a fool's errand, as I think he's more the type of fan to really, really love ONE cd for a whole year or more before sharing that affection for another one, but at any rate, I've been burning stuff all weekend for him, and again tonight. Some of it's on that SPIN list, but quite a bit is more recent quality discs, and some older stuff unfairly left off the list. I mean, really, Modest Mouse over New Order or Squeeze or Franz Ferdinand or Camper Van Beethoven or Massive Attack or Bauhaus, etc.? In some cases, I'm substituting as well--might as well have The Chemical Brothers singles collection before Dig Your Own Hole, or the wider-ranging Louder Than Bombs over The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead. It's fun.
Reading Jerry Stahl's I, FATTY, the pseudo-autobiography of disgraced silent comedian Fatty Arbuckle, which is excellent, as well as David Sedaris' ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY. Oddly, I bought this and DRESS YOUR FAMILY IN CORDUROY AND PLAID earlier this year and promptly loaned them to two different female friends. I just got PRETTY back and am enjoying it greatly.
Being eaten alive by fleas, I think. I bought some spray. I think they came from our former daycare provider, who watched the kids a few days a month or so ago when my ex was on vacation and I couldn't take care of them every day. Fleas are supposed to die off with no constant source of food like a pet, but I swear I have new bites every day, so I guess I'm enough for them. The line was drawn when I had a bite on my penis. That will not stand (the bite, not my penis, which stands fine). Similarly, my son had a small scratch on his, not insect-related, so that prompted me to get some Neosporin. I get very proactive once the penis gets involved.
Somewhat productive writing night. Well, I worked on the page breakdowns for Irregular Joe #5, as far as how many pages each scene would go, and unsurprisingly, I had only about 12 pages or something until I thought things through some more and found a lot more I could and should add that added more dimension to the world of the story. I thought of a way to bring the minor reporter character in again as well, but got stuck with how to get him into this secret underground location. Can't just stow him in a trunk or have him hop a fence, you know? I'll figure it out.
Watched THE WIZARD OF OZ with the kids Friday night, which they'd never seen. I was in the sun all day at a company picnic, drinking a little, and that combination and the film's own eternal power really made me weep by the end. The kids liked it, too, though at first they were concerned about the sepia-toned beginning, thinking it was a problem with the dvd. Maybe I should've waited until another viewing for my son to discover that the actors played multiple roles, but I pointed it out to him, as well as the possibility that it was all a dream, but he wasn't convinced it wasn't true.
Took another step toward becoming pop culture current by watching Disc One of THE SOPRANOS Season One. Yes, I've seen a couple episodes here and there, but I missed the first season and knew it would be something I should catch from the beginning when I got the chance. Not wanting to pay a lot of money to do so, it took my joining Netflix to get me to do it. Great stuff, right up my alley. I won't write in detail on a show everyone already knows, but the premise of Tony taking therapy suggestions and using them to solve his Mob problems is brilliant.
Tonight I watched Takashi Miike's AUDITION, a fairly straightforward thriller about the older romantic fool falling for a young girl who's not what she seems. At least, it's straightforward for the first two acts, then exhibits the shocking qualities for which Miike is known. I can take a lot, but it was starting to push my envelope.
Listening to Underworld's SECOND TOUGHEST IN THE INFANTS right now, hence the subject title. I'm not fond of a lot of techno that just goes on and on, yet these very long songs really work for me, with some of the same effect as ambient but not so yawn-inducing. After reading Alan David Doane's post recently on SPIN Magazine's 100 Best CDs or whatever at www.comicbookgalaxy.com, I realized I really needed to step in and get that guy some of this great music of the past 20 years. It might be a fool's errand, as I think he's more the type of fan to really, really love ONE cd for a whole year or more before sharing that affection for another one, but at any rate, I've been burning stuff all weekend for him, and again tonight. Some of it's on that SPIN list, but quite a bit is more recent quality discs, and some older stuff unfairly left off the list. I mean, really, Modest Mouse over New Order or Squeeze or Franz Ferdinand or Camper Van Beethoven or Massive Attack or Bauhaus, etc.? In some cases, I'm substituting as well--might as well have The Chemical Brothers singles collection before Dig Your Own Hole, or the wider-ranging Louder Than Bombs over The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead. It's fun.
Reading Jerry Stahl's I, FATTY, the pseudo-autobiography of disgraced silent comedian Fatty Arbuckle, which is excellent, as well as David Sedaris' ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY. Oddly, I bought this and DRESS YOUR FAMILY IN CORDUROY AND PLAID earlier this year and promptly loaned them to two different female friends. I just got PRETTY back and am enjoying it greatly.
Being eaten alive by fleas, I think. I bought some spray. I think they came from our former daycare provider, who watched the kids a few days a month or so ago when my ex was on vacation and I couldn't take care of them every day. Fleas are supposed to die off with no constant source of food like a pet, but I swear I have new bites every day, so I guess I'm enough for them. The line was drawn when I had a bite on my penis. That will not stand (the bite, not my penis, which stands fine). Similarly, my son had a small scratch on his, not insect-related, so that prompted me to get some Neosporin. I get very proactive once the penis gets involved.
Somewhat productive writing night. Well, I worked on the page breakdowns for Irregular Joe #5, as far as how many pages each scene would go, and unsurprisingly, I had only about 12 pages or something until I thought things through some more and found a lot more I could and should add that added more dimension to the world of the story. I thought of a way to bring the minor reporter character in again as well, but got stuck with how to get him into this secret underground location. Can't just stow him in a trunk or have him hop a fence, you know? I'll figure it out.
Posted by ChristopherAllen at 11:19 PM [Link to this post]
5 Comments:
The Singles Collection over DYOH? Blasphemy... the Singles Collection is great, but a few strange selections mar it (like, The Private Psychedelic Reel over It Began In Africa? The former doesn't work as a single nearly as well as at the end of DYOH or a live show, whereas the latter is one of their best-ever singles, unfairly slighted on the best of), whereas DYOH remains blissfully perfect. Plus, I never warmed to the albums version of Get Yourself High (prefer the Felix mix, myself).
AUDITION freaked me right the Hell out. It was the first time I've put my hands over my face and watched a movie through my fingers sionce I was eight-years old. Scary stuff.
Mason
Tim,
Good point about It Began in Africa, but I was looking at this more as a really good overview of the band rather than their best album. I presume if ADD likes it he will get the others or I'll burn them for him. I also included FLIP THE SWITCH, which is the new remix album to complement PUSH THE BUTTON.
Mason - Hands over the eyes, huh? Funny, and I don't blame you. I don't remember the last time I actually THOUGHT about getting up and turning something off because it was too intense for me. Hey, I'm wondering--is the abused-girl-comes-back-as-evil theme really common in Japanese films, manga, novels? I haven't seen enough to know for sure, but enough to ask.
Tim,
What Underworld disc would you recommend for ADD? I'm not sure I'm including ANY on this shipment (running out of discs), but I'm curious.
Chris- That's a really good question. I have no idea, but certainly AUDITION and RINGU are pretty prominent. I may be tempted to do some research...
Mason
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