one thing i like about being out of the office for an extended amt of time is returning to a pile of packages w/my name on them.
waiting for me yesterday after the xmas holiday were:
DVDs:
Once Upon a Time in the West (special edition)
Battlestar Galactica (re-release)
China Mafia War (Takashi Miike)
Graveyard of Honor (Takashi Miike)
Perfect Blue (live action)
CDs:
Psychotica - "Pandemic"
Ena - "Pink Gift"
Scarling - "Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole" EP
(the best gifts are always the ones i order for myself)
monday wasn't all good; i rec'd a citation for not having a city sticker on my car while i popped in the library to renew a book. 80 bucks. thanks.
so i own 5 of DVDTalk's top 20 DVDs of 2003. yay for me. also i've nabbed 5 titles of 10 of their top ten anime releases of the year. check the list -- there's some great stuff. unbeknownst to me (until now) there's a scheduled domestic release of Godzilla GMK and DVDTalk already has the early DVD review! i just recently picked up the region 3 import DVD and it's pretty cool 'cept Godzilla is the big bad.
I quote: "A word to parents: In this movie Godzilla is evil."
the domestic release of So Close was also reviewed and it sounds like this release isn't any better than the import i picked over the summer. however this edition retails around $20; mine cost $7. regardless, it's a damn fun flick. i highly recommend it!
oh btw, i once again smashed my previous high score on zoocube. gotta get off that game!
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Sunday, December 28, 2003
been a nice quiet weekend. not enough sleep tho. jabber came up to visit his last remaining chicago friends and brought me a couple of gifts i wasn't expecting (added to the list below). it was a nice visit -- hit sweet tomatoes for dinner and stopped in mitsuwa's asahiya bookstore where i picked up the january hyper hobby that included a miniature mechagodzilla, which is very cool!
last night watched amazing HD programming on INHD while we chatted. apparently he met a chick from romania online and plans to visit her in february. strangely enough we never spoke about it. hit mrs. v's for b-fast then jabber split to visit another friend today leaving me w/the final NFL games and plenty of catch-up reading. despite jabber living in portland i've seen plenty of him this year... esp. after the week we spent in idaho traversing the sawtooth mts last september. his seasonal visit was short this time but still good.
oh yeah, i finally beat all the silver level oceans in zoocube to reach the gold level that is crazy insane. and i crushed my previous high score in the process. back to work tomorrow. fun.
last night watched amazing HD programming on INHD while we chatted. apparently he met a chick from romania online and plans to visit her in february. strangely enough we never spoke about it. hit mrs. v's for b-fast then jabber split to visit another friend today leaving me w/the final NFL games and plenty of catch-up reading. despite jabber living in portland i've seen plenty of him this year... esp. after the week we spent in idaho traversing the sawtooth mts last september. his seasonal visit was short this time but still good.
oh yeah, i finally beat all the silver level oceans in zoocube to reach the gold level that is crazy insane. and i crushed my previous high score in the process. back to work tomorrow. fun.
Saturday, December 27, 2003
RE: xmas aftermath wrap-up
xmas day wasn't so bad over at Duck's house. she's a sweet, eccentric woman w/a multitude of shadowboxes full of tiny things spotted across the walls everywhere. she also has a "snowman" room. yep, a year-round display of her snowman collection. spent 6 hours there. i figure it's only one day of the year so what the hell... picked up past0r and hit the late show of Return of the King. very cool, if not a tad over the top, final chapter of the trilogy. look forward to the SE DVD.
here's a list of gifts one receives when no one asks for a xmas list:
microwave top cover
flannel pajama pants
gray sweater
navy sweater
beige sweater
forest green turtleneck
black fleece pullover
navy fleece pullover
box of chocolates
Boulevard Brewing sampler pack
Independent Cycle Inc. black long sleeve t-shirt
American Ironhorse Motorcycles black t-shirt
Lonestar Early Bronco Club 2004 calendar
HANA-Red "Panties on Fire" CD
Go-Torch alcohol stove & stand
Next Adventure t-shirt
interestingly enough i don't wear sweaters or turtlenecks let alone pullovers. considering i spent nearly $500 in the last month on clothes the last thing i needed was _clothes_ ...but no one asked. (can ya guess which gifts trukpro gave me?)
this year no games. no books. no dvds. no gift certs. that about sums it up. anyways, it's the thought that counts, right? ~sigh~
xmas day wasn't so bad over at Duck's house. she's a sweet, eccentric woman w/a multitude of shadowboxes full of tiny things spotted across the walls everywhere. she also has a "snowman" room. yep, a year-round display of her snowman collection. spent 6 hours there. i figure it's only one day of the year so what the hell... picked up past0r and hit the late show of Return of the King. very cool, if not a tad over the top, final chapter of the trilogy. look forward to the SE DVD.
here's a list of gifts one receives when no one asks for a xmas list:
microwave top cover
flannel pajama pants
gray sweater
navy sweater
beige sweater
forest green turtleneck
black fleece pullover
navy fleece pullover
box of chocolates
Boulevard Brewing sampler pack
Independent Cycle Inc. black long sleeve t-shirt
American Ironhorse Motorcycles black t-shirt
Lonestar Early Bronco Club 2004 calendar
HANA-Red "Panties on Fire" CD
Go-Torch alcohol stove & stand
Next Adventure t-shirt
interestingly enough i don't wear sweaters or turtlenecks let alone pullovers. considering i spent nearly $500 in the last month on clothes the last thing i needed was _clothes_ ...but no one asked. (can ya guess which gifts trukpro gave me?)
this year no games. no books. no dvds. no gift certs. that about sums it up. anyways, it's the thought that counts, right? ~sigh~
Thursday, December 25, 2003
well, it's officially xmas. yawn. rather uneventful thus far w/the abbreviated annual eve gathering @my stepbrother's. the family is divided this year all over the country for various reasons so the usual wasn't to be this year. fine by me.
at least my stepbro came thru w/the blvd brewing xmas sampler pack. i love getting microbrews as a gift. after some much needed sleep tonight the festivities kick off at Duck's pad. not looking forward to that. if you recall, she's my stepmom's batty hockey groupie friend. she's a nice woman but way too much midwestern mentality for me.
i enjoy being home w/the 'rents for the holiday but i finally finished getting my a/v rig set up. had to bolt before getting a chance to put it thru the paces. i miss my gamecube too. i was on a zoocube roll during the wee hours this morning. i will conquer the Arctic Sea soon enough. i miss my cable modem. i had to complete a couple ebay paypal transactions which took about an hour on my dad's dial-up. ugh.
mom should be home from the late service any minute now. sleep is calling.
at least my stepbro came thru w/the blvd brewing xmas sampler pack. i love getting microbrews as a gift. after some much needed sleep tonight the festivities kick off at Duck's pad. not looking forward to that. if you recall, she's my stepmom's batty hockey groupie friend. she's a nice woman but way too much midwestern mentality for me.
i enjoy being home w/the 'rents for the holiday but i finally finished getting my a/v rig set up. had to bolt before getting a chance to put it thru the paces. i miss my gamecube too. i was on a zoocube roll during the wee hours this morning. i will conquer the Arctic Sea soon enough. i miss my cable modem. i had to complete a couple ebay paypal transactions which took about an hour on my dad's dial-up. ugh.
mom should be home from the late service any minute now. sleep is calling.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
first kansas this morning then this afternoon i spent some time w/my insurance agent's assistant who i am fond of... she doesn't have a name yet. my agent is out for the week so she took care of my business... no, no happy endings but we spent so much time hangin' out in the office i was about to send up the invite until she mentioned paying off her school loans.
egh. wrong answer.
but she is cute. hmm, i'll probably be back there next week when my agent gets back in the office.
egh. wrong answer.
but she is cute. hmm, i'll probably be back there next week when my agent gets back in the office.
i turn the corner into elliot's off-broadway deli this morning and guess who's standing there waiting for her order? yep, kansas. she looks over her shoulder as i stumble in and gives the old eye contact. the moment is frozen. i'm stunned.
it's like running into a supermodel at starbucks. 'course, kansas _could_ be a supermodel. as i enter the joint i exchange the usual pleasantries with Yun (Yung? Yoen? Yong? Yon? Jong? Jueng?) and kansas gives a couple more glances over my way.
the "what's she looking at?" thought bubble appears above my head.
"she's probably wondering what a disheveled, unshaven, bloated chipmunk-head is doing in her building."
up to this point i was fairly certain she had no idea i even existed. this morning confirms that belief. but now she knows...
as sean connery would say, "the game is afoot, trebek."
it's like running into a supermodel at starbucks. 'course, kansas _could_ be a supermodel. as i enter the joint i exchange the usual pleasantries with Yun (Yung? Yoen? Yong? Yon? Jong? Jueng?) and kansas gives a couple more glances over my way.
the "what's she looking at?" thought bubble appears above my head.
"she's probably wondering what a disheveled, unshaven, bloated chipmunk-head is doing in her building."
up to this point i was fairly certain she had no idea i even existed. this morning confirms that belief. but now she knows...
as sean connery would say, "the game is afoot, trebek."
Thursday, December 18, 2003
surprise. surprise.
i'm still recovering from the company xmas party last night. i'm not sure if it was the heavy alcohol mix of wine-liquor-beer, smoking a cigar _and_ inhaling, or the 3"x3" half inch thick slab of butter i ate on a dare that did me in. probably a combination of all the above.
i wouldn't have gone in today if not for the morning meeting w/our chicago Google rep. and even that encounter was rough going. took an early lunch and chilled for a couple of hours... felt a little better.
there are "stories" from last night, in particular the near fisticuffs with a gaggle of women my wingman managed to defuse. it was tense for a while there. i won't go into details here but suffice it say i won't be going back to the bar at magnum's again. matter of fact, i'm pretty sure i'm no longer welcome there.
quote of the night:
"you haven't lived life until you've had at least one STD" - The Wizard
i'm still recovering from the company xmas party last night. i'm not sure if it was the heavy alcohol mix of wine-liquor-beer, smoking a cigar _and_ inhaling, or the 3"x3" half inch thick slab of butter i ate on a dare that did me in. probably a combination of all the above.
i wouldn't have gone in today if not for the morning meeting w/our chicago Google rep. and even that encounter was rough going. took an early lunch and chilled for a couple of hours... felt a little better.
there are "stories" from last night, in particular the near fisticuffs with a gaggle of women my wingman managed to defuse. it was tense for a while there. i won't go into details here but suffice it say i won't be going back to the bar at magnum's again. matter of fact, i'm pretty sure i'm no longer welcome there.
quote of the night:
"you haven't lived life until you've had at least one STD" - The Wizard
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Monday, December 15, 2003
humorous end of day ICQ dialogue w/pAT...
pAT (04:32 PM) :
On another topic, I watched the first episode of that 2-episode Battle Of The Planets mini DVD. I had forgotten how bad the Sandy Frank version was. Truly painful. I also forgot that Casey Kasem did Jason's voice. I hate that fucker.
slickstakk (04:35 PM) :
hahaha! i wonder if i've seen that version? bring that by next time. i wanna check that out. in related other topic news, i started watching that Battlestar Galactica miniseries last night. call me easily impressed, but i dig it immensely.
pAT (04:35 PM) :
I'm glad. I discussed that with the other resident geek here and we agreed we weren't THAT nostalgic for BG.
slickstakk (04:40 PM) :
probably the best thing about new series is that it makes no apologies for the utter and complete loss of human life in cold, calculating Cylon ways. that's probably the most impressive aspect of it. sure there's the melodrama but when the Cylons drop the hammer, there is no mercy. and it is catastrophic. this is far and away not old school Galactica...
pAT (04:42 PM) :
Oh! I thought you meant you had started watching the classic series you bought. So how do you like the new one in spite of the massive changes?
slickstakk (04:44 PM) :
yes, i like it immensely for the reasons above: the Cylons are pure and evil dicks that kill every human in sight w/no remorse. natch, they are machines.
pAT (04:46 PM) :
I guess we won't be seeing the Enemy Mine-type episode with Starbuck and the Cylon trapped on the snow planet.
slickstakk (04:47 PM) :
which is aped from the "Gorn" star trek episode!
pAT (04:49 PM) :
Which one is that?
slickstakk (04:49 PM) :
where Kirk and the reptilian Gorn are trapped on a barren planet left to fight to the death.
slickstakk (04:50 PM) :
it's probably one of my fav ST eps.
slickstakk (04:52 PM) :
i'd love to have a nice 12" figure of Gorn!
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/mas_assets/large/8403.jpg
pAT (04:52 PM) :
Yeah, but in that one they were forced by a superior alien race. I really don't see the similarity. Sure Kirk and the Gorn cooperate at the end but I'd say that's really not the same as that BG episode or Enemy Mine.
pAT (04:53 PM) :
yes, thank you. I know what a Gorn looks like.
slickstakk (04:57 PM) :
haha! well, you did ask which one was that when i said "Gorn" episode, the only ep in which he appeared. i think Galactica used the same idea, stick the best gunslinger/pilot on the planet w/the equilivant Cylon... and Enemy Mine was the same idea w/a different twist. not that the Star Trek version was an original idea. just looking at it from a sci-fi POV. man, we're facking geeks.
pAT (05:04 PM) :
You think that's bad, one of the guys here came over the other day and asked what that movie was with the blond being chased by an albino that also starred a comedian who was dead. I immediately knew he was talking about Foul Play with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase but I wasn't sure if the comedian he was referring to was Billy Barty who had a bit-part but whom I wouldn't really consider a comedian. Turns out he was referring to Dudly Moore who also had a bit part but I couldn't think of his name and had to look it up on IMDb.
slickstakk (05:06 PM) :
that was a good movie!
pAT (05:07 PM) :
Kojak! Bang Bang!
pAT (04:32 PM) :
On another topic, I watched the first episode of that 2-episode Battle Of The Planets mini DVD. I had forgotten how bad the Sandy Frank version was. Truly painful. I also forgot that Casey Kasem did Jason's voice. I hate that fucker.
slickstakk (04:35 PM) :
hahaha! i wonder if i've seen that version? bring that by next time. i wanna check that out. in related other topic news, i started watching that Battlestar Galactica miniseries last night. call me easily impressed, but i dig it immensely.
pAT (04:35 PM) :
I'm glad. I discussed that with the other resident geek here and we agreed we weren't THAT nostalgic for BG.
slickstakk (04:40 PM) :
probably the best thing about new series is that it makes no apologies for the utter and complete loss of human life in cold, calculating Cylon ways. that's probably the most impressive aspect of it. sure there's the melodrama but when the Cylons drop the hammer, there is no mercy. and it is catastrophic. this is far and away not old school Galactica...
pAT (04:42 PM) :
Oh! I thought you meant you had started watching the classic series you bought. So how do you like the new one in spite of the massive changes?
slickstakk (04:44 PM) :
yes, i like it immensely for the reasons above: the Cylons are pure and evil dicks that kill every human in sight w/no remorse. natch, they are machines.
pAT (04:46 PM) :
I guess we won't be seeing the Enemy Mine-type episode with Starbuck and the Cylon trapped on the snow planet.
slickstakk (04:47 PM) :
which is aped from the "Gorn" star trek episode!
pAT (04:49 PM) :
Which one is that?
slickstakk (04:49 PM) :
where Kirk and the reptilian Gorn are trapped on a barren planet left to fight to the death.
slickstakk (04:50 PM) :
it's probably one of my fav ST eps.
slickstakk (04:52 PM) :
i'd love to have a nice 12" figure of Gorn!
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/mas_assets/large/8403.jpg
pAT (04:52 PM) :
Yeah, but in that one they were forced by a superior alien race. I really don't see the similarity. Sure Kirk and the Gorn cooperate at the end but I'd say that's really not the same as that BG episode or Enemy Mine.
pAT (04:53 PM) :
yes, thank you. I know what a Gorn looks like.
slickstakk (04:57 PM) :
haha! well, you did ask which one was that when i said "Gorn" episode, the only ep in which he appeared. i think Galactica used the same idea, stick the best gunslinger/pilot on the planet w/the equilivant Cylon... and Enemy Mine was the same idea w/a different twist. not that the Star Trek version was an original idea. just looking at it from a sci-fi POV. man, we're facking geeks.
pAT (05:04 PM) :
You think that's bad, one of the guys here came over the other day and asked what that movie was with the blond being chased by an albino that also starred a comedian who was dead. I immediately knew he was talking about Foul Play with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase but I wasn't sure if the comedian he was referring to was Billy Barty who had a bit-part but whom I wouldn't really consider a comedian. Turns out he was referring to Dudly Moore who also had a bit part but I couldn't think of his name and had to look it up on IMDb.
slickstakk (05:06 PM) :
that was a good movie!
pAT (05:07 PM) :
Kojak! Bang Bang!
today i had the misfortune of crossing paths with too-much-cologne man on the stairs in my office building. the stink stuck on me and inhabited the stairway area -- when i returned over an hour later, it was still there looming. just thinking about it now is nauseating me.
i saw kansas leave for lunch. at this point i figure i'm only a few degrees away from stalker mode on this one. i'm crazy about that grrl.
The Creature arrived today and this is easily the most gorgeous figure i've seen from sideshow. and the packaging is so beautiful i almost don't wanna remove the poor guy. my digital eyes dvd order also made an appearance and apparently someone drove their car over the box b/c the plastic cases were crushed and shattered into tiny pieces. the DVDs inside appear to be okay at first glance but the cases are totally unusable. i'm going to snap some shots and see if DE will replace the cases. one is a 3-disc case too... ruined.
i'm too tired to be here today. i just hope i'm rested for the xmas party wednesday evening. ah, MNF tonite. couch dozing. here's to a dolphins victory.
i saw kansas leave for lunch. at this point i figure i'm only a few degrees away from stalker mode on this one. i'm crazy about that grrl.
The Creature arrived today and this is easily the most gorgeous figure i've seen from sideshow. and the packaging is so beautiful i almost don't wanna remove the poor guy. my digital eyes dvd order also made an appearance and apparently someone drove their car over the box b/c the plastic cases were crushed and shattered into tiny pieces. the DVDs inside appear to be okay at first glance but the cases are totally unusable. i'm going to snap some shots and see if DE will replace the cases. one is a 3-disc case too... ruined.
i'm too tired to be here today. i just hope i'm rested for the xmas party wednesday evening. ah, MNF tonite. couch dozing. here's to a dolphins victory.
Sunday, December 14, 2003
pretty much a throwaway day -- considering i spent a lot of it dozing on the couch while football played on the widescreen. that's what happens when stakk doesn't bag until 6am or so. hey the bears won again! yay for rex grossman. wanted to hit champs to take in that dallas/washington game but too tired and too cold out. brrrrrr.
between 4am & 5-ish something this morning, i demolished my previous zoocube high score. in huge fashion. and that was w/o playing for a week nor trying. yes, i am proud. spent the evening working on my dad's car wash site while watchin' the Red Dwarf 2 dvd set. so far i'm pleased w/how the site is turning out, considering i haven't designed a site in years and had to learn things all over.
just ordered another 100 DVDr blanks and fired up a frozen cheese pizza. this is what happens when one doesn't leave the apt all day. oh yeah, i found an "awful" little present in my inbox tonite. i laughed loudly at that one! spice, you kill me. been having a helluva time d/l torrent of gungrave ep01. after watchin' fansub of 06, i really wanna check that series out from the beginning. i believe it's scheduled for a '04 domestic release.
have i mentioned that i'm still freaked that webmama stopped by chimptalk yesterday? besides the embarrassment, i have no clue how to respond. suggestions?
pizza's done.
between 4am & 5-ish something this morning, i demolished my previous zoocube high score. in huge fashion. and that was w/o playing for a week nor trying. yes, i am proud. spent the evening working on my dad's car wash site while watchin' the Red Dwarf 2 dvd set. so far i'm pleased w/how the site is turning out, considering i haven't designed a site in years and had to learn things all over.
just ordered another 100 DVDr blanks and fired up a frozen cheese pizza. this is what happens when one doesn't leave the apt all day. oh yeah, i found an "awful" little present in my inbox tonite. i laughed loudly at that one! spice, you kill me. been having a helluva time d/l torrent of gungrave ep01. after watchin' fansub of 06, i really wanna check that series out from the beginning. i believe it's scheduled for a '04 domestic release.
have i mentioned that i'm still freaked that webmama stopped by chimptalk yesterday? besides the embarrassment, i have no clue how to respond. suggestions?
pizza's done.
man, i _really_ need to get that new tungsten pronto.
so i go to the *good* BB tonite to use my free monthly rewards rental coupon before it expires on the 15th. as i've mentioned before, i intended to rent Gen-Y Cops eventually since my ghetto BB "lost" their copy when i was on that month-long rental binge...
1st, i can't locate it on the shelf. ask the kid to look it up. nothing. wtf? so i scan the action section from the beginning... and the dvd turns up, in the J's -- "jackie chan presents the Gen Y Cops" ugh. their system is so effed up.
so i take it home and fire it up while i'm sorting thru all my latest purchases... and immediately i recognize the flick. i've seen this before! and maybe i own it? ...but it's not listed in my database? but i have seen it! when, i dunno. movie channel maybe? but it scares me b/c until tonite i was under the complete impression that i had never seen this movie.
i'm sure this is just the beginning as more junk enters my mind and my mind continues to age. i really need to get my head around my compulsive obsessiveness. agh... i look forward to next weekend already.
btw, Gen-Y Cops is silly stupid. but Maggie Q is still smokin'.
pAT, have you watched that Naked Weapon flick i loaned you?
so i go to the *good* BB tonite to use my free monthly rewards rental coupon before it expires on the 15th. as i've mentioned before, i intended to rent Gen-Y Cops eventually since my ghetto BB "lost" their copy when i was on that month-long rental binge...
1st, i can't locate it on the shelf. ask the kid to look it up. nothing. wtf? so i scan the action section from the beginning... and the dvd turns up, in the J's -- "jackie chan presents the Gen Y Cops" ugh. their system is so effed up.
so i take it home and fire it up while i'm sorting thru all my latest purchases... and immediately i recognize the flick. i've seen this before! and maybe i own it? ...but it's not listed in my database? but i have seen it! when, i dunno. movie channel maybe? but it scares me b/c until tonite i was under the complete impression that i had never seen this movie.
i'm sure this is just the beginning as more junk enters my mind and my mind continues to age. i really need to get my head around my compulsive obsessiveness. agh... i look forward to next weekend already.
btw, Gen-Y Cops is silly stupid. but Maggie Q is still smokin'.
pAT, have you watched that Naked Weapon flick i loaned you?
Saturday, December 13, 2003
left the apt around 2:50PM to catch the 3:45 matinee of Bad Santa out @streets. traffic wasn't bad - didn't take as long as expected to get out there and find parking in the holiday congestion so i scoped some sales at carsons w/plans to head back after the flick.
flick was great. profane as all hell and irrevocably offensive. i laughed loudly during a few moments as did most of the sparse "older" set watching w/me. i was happy for that. it's not often you'll find a flick as coarse as Bad Santa on the big screen. thanks to all who told me i _had_ to see it.
walked out into chicago's 1st snowfall and headed to carsons where i proceeded to spend nearly $200 on sale clothes. half i needed -- dress clothes of which i no longer have (until now) -- the other half were just crazy insane deals. sorry, i'm just not one to pass on $12.49 RuffHewn longsleeves (normally $36!).
so from there to tower records to peruse the magazines. bad move. picked up $40 in mags. christ, when am i gonna read all these?! also grabbed the bondage dorothy from mcfarlane's twisted land of oz. and i didn't have to pay $20 for this one!
flounder called while i was there. guess he was just leaving the same area and on the way home w/a new gamecube and 3 games in tow. he sez he picked up THUG used at BB. if so, he'll love that game.
now onto IKEA where i ended up closin' the place. i'm surprised they still close at 10PM during the season. only nabbed a few items as i was there mainly to check some things for new shelf possibilities. grabbed a couple 50 cent dogs on the way out and still hit the 10pc meal on the way home. ugh. ran over to the cool BB near me to use my free rental coupon before it expired and made it in just before midnight. i'm cashed.
flick was great. profane as all hell and irrevocably offensive. i laughed loudly during a few moments as did most of the sparse "older" set watching w/me. i was happy for that. it's not often you'll find a flick as coarse as Bad Santa on the big screen. thanks to all who told me i _had_ to see it.
walked out into chicago's 1st snowfall and headed to carsons where i proceeded to spend nearly $200 on sale clothes. half i needed -- dress clothes of which i no longer have (until now) -- the other half were just crazy insane deals. sorry, i'm just not one to pass on $12.49 RuffHewn longsleeves (normally $36!).
so from there to tower records to peruse the magazines. bad move. picked up $40 in mags. christ, when am i gonna read all these?! also grabbed the bondage dorothy from mcfarlane's twisted land of oz. and i didn't have to pay $20 for this one!
flounder called while i was there. guess he was just leaving the same area and on the way home w/a new gamecube and 3 games in tow. he sez he picked up THUG used at BB. if so, he'll love that game.
now onto IKEA where i ended up closin' the place. i'm surprised they still close at 10PM during the season. only nabbed a few items as i was there mainly to check some things for new shelf possibilities. grabbed a couple 50 cent dogs on the way out and still hit the 10pc meal on the way home. ugh. ran over to the cool BB near me to use my free rental coupon before it expired and made it in just before midnight. i'm cashed.
Friday, December 12, 2003
let's review. my bulk order of poster frames finally arrived while i was hob-knobbing @mccormick during the SES conference so tonite i made the effort to place all the corresponding posters/art in said frames.
i'm talking about four 27x40 movie posters, a 24x36 movie poster, five 11x17 original comic art pages/prints, and a 16x20 frame for 2 8x11 prints. these are FrameUSA frames you usually find in the stores but for a fraction of the price, i.e. a 11x17 @$4.15/pc. i wish i add the bucks for _nice_ framing jobs but been there done that and it's effing expensive. even the DIY jobbies. but for the low price, i think these will do for the time being and look decent.
now i gotta get all these up on the walls. that should prove to be an event by itself.
i did a sick thing this morning and placed a $177 order from YesAsia.com. five japanese toy mags for $62 + $13 s&h (i later discovered). along w/those -- and my original reason for being at YesAsia -- i finally ordered the 12" Kerberos Panzer Cop -- the Yamato Shop version -- for the bargain price of $102 w/free s&h. yes, this is the "Jin-Roh" cop.
how the Yamato Protect Gear ver. is different than the other 6 or 7 versions i'm not exactly certain since i've yet to see one of these incredible figures in person. there was a domestic release of this figure at the beginning of the year for around $75 but it sold out w/in a month. i totally missed the boat. the previous more expensive versions were long sold out before the US version. another option was the Japanese TRU exclusive for around $160+s&h but i kept passing on that one.
check out all the various releases of this amazing figure at the bottom of this page. some of these originally went for 100s of dollars and were extremely limited. if i was of money, a millionaire type, i'd be buying up most of the figures on that ArtofToy.com page... or hunting down those that are technically no longer available and probably going for $1000s on the secondary market now. it's a sick hobby for rich toygeeks.
A3 did fine on letterman tonite w/the standard "all on black" -- commendable. finally killed that finale of average joe and i knew that idiot would pick the stupid pretty boy over the way cool adam. that clown that she picked has almost as much depth as the 3rd finger on my right hand. man, i'm tired.
i'm talking about four 27x40 movie posters, a 24x36 movie poster, five 11x17 original comic art pages/prints, and a 16x20 frame for 2 8x11 prints. these are FrameUSA frames you usually find in the stores but for a fraction of the price, i.e. a 11x17 @$4.15/pc. i wish i add the bucks for _nice_ framing jobs but been there done that and it's effing expensive. even the DIY jobbies. but for the low price, i think these will do for the time being and look decent.
now i gotta get all these up on the walls. that should prove to be an event by itself.
i did a sick thing this morning and placed a $177 order from YesAsia.com. five japanese toy mags for $62 + $13 s&h (i later discovered). along w/those -- and my original reason for being at YesAsia -- i finally ordered the 12" Kerberos Panzer Cop -- the Yamato Shop version -- for the bargain price of $102 w/free s&h. yes, this is the "Jin-Roh" cop.
how the Yamato Protect Gear ver. is different than the other 6 or 7 versions i'm not exactly certain since i've yet to see one of these incredible figures in person. there was a domestic release of this figure at the beginning of the year for around $75 but it sold out w/in a month. i totally missed the boat. the previous more expensive versions were long sold out before the US version. another option was the Japanese TRU exclusive for around $160+s&h but i kept passing on that one.
check out all the various releases of this amazing figure at the bottom of this page. some of these originally went for 100s of dollars and were extremely limited. if i was of money, a millionaire type, i'd be buying up most of the figures on that ArtofToy.com page... or hunting down those that are technically no longer available and probably going for $1000s on the secondary market now. it's a sick hobby for rich toygeeks.
A3 did fine on letterman tonite w/the standard "all on black" -- commendable. finally killed that finale of average joe and i knew that idiot would pick the stupid pretty boy over the way cool adam. that clown that she picked has almost as much depth as the 3rd finger on my right hand. man, i'm tired.
Thursday, December 11, 2003
made the mistake of taking Milwaukee Ave home from lincolnshire tonight around 11:30...
Our Lady of Guadalupe Festival of the Five Continents of the World
...kicked off @maryville this evening (corner of central/milw) and it was clusterphuck of the five continents of the world. yep, i passed on the Procession of the Holy Eucharist...
believe it or not, i'm still feeling the funk of the alcohol haze which started early evening tuesday and cont'd until around 3am this morning. why i am surprised? this latest binge was almost equal to that 4 day bender w/flounder & spice last month.
tues ended with extreme gluttony for my part @Marche but rather fun dining between B Squared and Sweet B plus a few clients. after devouring my lamb shank and finishing Sweet B's ribeye and an amazing dessert i was beyond uncomfortable -- nearly at crisis level. when i finally woke up the next morning i was stiff as a board from sleeping in the same position for 8 hrs.
once i became mobile i headed back down to mccormick place for another day @SES and more cocktails. Overture are biggest in the business and it's nice to be strategic partners w/them as they know how to entertain. after SEMPO's cocktail party, we hit Overture's mixer then shuttled over to GoToast's open bar @Bar Louie Dearborn Station. that was sick fun esp. with the overly friendly, inebriated Web Mama making the rounds. i love that woman.
by the end of last night/this morning, i almost didn't get my car out of the mccormick parking garage -- the entire joint was gated off! gettin' up this morning was rough going. and i'm still feeling it... i'll be glad when the week is over. and to think the Overture party resumes when i fly out to Pasadena next month to hang w/them for a few days. agh, those guys can drink.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Festival of the Five Continents of the World
...kicked off @maryville this evening (corner of central/milw) and it was clusterphuck of the five continents of the world. yep, i passed on the Procession of the Holy Eucharist...
believe it or not, i'm still feeling the funk of the alcohol haze which started early evening tuesday and cont'd until around 3am this morning. why i am surprised? this latest binge was almost equal to that 4 day bender w/flounder & spice last month.
tues ended with extreme gluttony for my part @Marche but rather fun dining between B Squared and Sweet B plus a few clients. after devouring my lamb shank and finishing Sweet B's ribeye and an amazing dessert i was beyond uncomfortable -- nearly at crisis level. when i finally woke up the next morning i was stiff as a board from sleeping in the same position for 8 hrs.
once i became mobile i headed back down to mccormick place for another day @SES and more cocktails. Overture are biggest in the business and it's nice to be strategic partners w/them as they know how to entertain. after SEMPO's cocktail party, we hit Overture's mixer then shuttled over to GoToast's open bar @Bar Louie Dearborn Station. that was sick fun esp. with the overly friendly, inebriated Web Mama making the rounds. i love that woman.
by the end of last night/this morning, i almost didn't get my car out of the mccormick parking garage -- the entire joint was gated off! gettin' up this morning was rough going. and i'm still feeling it... i'll be glad when the week is over. and to think the Overture party resumes when i fly out to Pasadena next month to hang w/them for a few days. agh, those guys can drink.
Sunday, December 07, 2003
interesting weekend. quite the learning experience as well... let's start at the beginning, shall we? Friday: ended up staying at the office until 8PM working on that same massive ticket broker project. ugh. it's immense and i will be relieved when my participation is completed. grabbed grub on the way home, ate, and crashed... yep. no crapple. :/ --on top of that, we have 2 sick ppl in my immediate office and i'm deathly afraid of viral infection, esp. when my immunity's down from lack of sleep. so i slept. and slept. ah nice rest. 'cept fer waking up in the middle of night wide awake! ack.
so... zoocube. got the highest score ever. then i decide whether i should travel to gurnee mills at 8AM saturday. nah, back to sleep. nice sleep. had a weird dream that i hooked up w/linda cohn (yes, the sportscenter anchor) only she looked like rena sofer (most recently of coupling -- she was great in The Chronicles). did i mention that she also had tendrils growing out from the bottom of her feet and shoulders? anyways, it was a cool dream in a weird way.
so my shopping trip aborted i decided to stay inside and work on putting together my rig. that was a pain in the ass. not only have i still not figured out my widescreen entirely nor my Pannie XP30 dvd player, learning to use my new Yamaha a/v receiver is like learning a 2nd language! it's ridiculous. also learned my dvd player cannot be multi-region hacked only chipped so that was a bummer.
had to quit that since i ran into a wall when i realized i didn't have enough cables. so i got online and started d/l bittorrent fansubbed anime. it still amazes how far advanced the fansubbing community has become. it's certainly a high-tech cottage industry yet i still don't see where they get the resources ($$$) to do this. bittorrent is hellishly cool tho for fansubs. oh yeah, came close to breaking my all-time score on zoocube, and i wasn't even trying.
so today arrives and stakk decides to brave the cold and clueless by heading up to gurnee mills. i left during the Bears/Packers game hoping for less traffic and shoppers. and it wasn't bad. still plenty of folks out doing their thing but bearable. picked up another pair of black Bed-Stu shoes only these are mids and instead of costing $60 (on sale) these were marked down to $20! w00t. at the Borders outlet i bought 6 new manga books@$3 each that normally go for $10-$12/pc (i.e. Tomie!). got 4 more jeans and 4 more BR boxers. then sat in the line to leave almost as long as i was inside the joint!
hit worstbuy on the way home to get some more component cables, a digital optical, and some banana plugs. came home to some exciting michael vick football and more bittorrent d/l. as i worked on my rig. after bouncing back and forth between manuals i finally got my dvd player to play thru my rec'r w/video & audio. damn. this is a learning process...
so... zoocube. got the highest score ever. then i decide whether i should travel to gurnee mills at 8AM saturday. nah, back to sleep. nice sleep. had a weird dream that i hooked up w/linda cohn (yes, the sportscenter anchor) only she looked like rena sofer (most recently of coupling -- she was great in The Chronicles). did i mention that she also had tendrils growing out from the bottom of her feet and shoulders? anyways, it was a cool dream in a weird way.
so my shopping trip aborted i decided to stay inside and work on putting together my rig. that was a pain in the ass. not only have i still not figured out my widescreen entirely nor my Pannie XP30 dvd player, learning to use my new Yamaha a/v receiver is like learning a 2nd language! it's ridiculous. also learned my dvd player cannot be multi-region hacked only chipped so that was a bummer.
had to quit that since i ran into a wall when i realized i didn't have enough cables. so i got online and started d/l bittorrent fansubbed anime. it still amazes how far advanced the fansubbing community has become. it's certainly a high-tech cottage industry yet i still don't see where they get the resources ($$$) to do this. bittorrent is hellishly cool tho for fansubs. oh yeah, came close to breaking my all-time score on zoocube, and i wasn't even trying.
so today arrives and stakk decides to brave the cold and clueless by heading up to gurnee mills. i left during the Bears/Packers game hoping for less traffic and shoppers. and it wasn't bad. still plenty of folks out doing their thing but bearable. picked up another pair of black Bed-Stu shoes only these are mids and instead of costing $60 (on sale) these were marked down to $20! w00t. at the Borders outlet i bought 6 new manga books@$3 each that normally go for $10-$12/pc (i.e. Tomie!). got 4 more jeans and 4 more BR boxers. then sat in the line to leave almost as long as i was inside the joint!
hit worstbuy on the way home to get some more component cables, a digital optical, and some banana plugs. came home to some exciting michael vick football and more bittorrent d/l. as i worked on my rig. after bouncing back and forth between manuals i finally got my dvd player to play thru my rec'r w/video & audio. damn. this is a learning process...
Friday, December 05, 2003
so last night... er, this morning i was up zoocubing until 5:14AM. advanced 2 more levels to a crazy insane level (Arctic Ocean) where a new animal pipeline opens beneath the cube. and the animals are flyin' in. but i killed my high scores w/some new techniques i learned. sweet stuff. like you care, right?
did get about 3hr sleep. started watching The Good, Bad & The Ugly dvd last night... such a classic. looks like no speakers today. but my region 3 godzilla dvds arrived and a $15 cert for Ballbuster Video. can always use that.
i'm gettin' crushed at work but at least being busy makes the time fly... next week we have a trade at mccormick place. that should be interesting. it feels like my eyes are about to fall out of my head... crapple looks doubtful tonight.
okay, off to see my realtor. yep, he still calls me.
did get about 3hr sleep. started watching The Good, Bad & The Ugly dvd last night... such a classic. looks like no speakers today. but my region 3 godzilla dvds arrived and a $15 cert for Ballbuster Video. can always use that.
i'm gettin' crushed at work but at least being busy makes the time fly... next week we have a trade at mccormick place. that should be interesting. it feels like my eyes are about to fall out of my head... crapple looks doubtful tonight.
okay, off to see my realtor. yep, he still calls me.
Thursday, December 04, 2003
hey kids, it's thursday and stakk didn't sleep last night. yeah, i know, so what else is new, right? ok, so i watched Funny Face (killer audrey hepburn flick -- man, is she smokin' in that) then settled into Mario Sunshine for an hour afterwhich i mainlined ZooCube until 4-sometime. attempted sleep to no avail so i went to the 'net for some authoring research around 6am.
came in early and back to grind. gettin' back to work after my extended holiday wasn't so bad b/c i'm working on a massive project that involves 5 team members. it's a ticket broker and i'm responsible for concerts and theatre. it's tedious monkey work but doesn't require much thinking, which is exactly what i needed this week.
my region 3 godzilla dvds still haven't arrived from HK. that concerns me. my bulk picture frame order still hasn't arrived. that concerns me. however, my cambridge satellites and subwoofer have shipped! sweet jesus if they arrive by the weekend. doubtful.
update: trukpro & dogs made it back safe & sound in a short 19hrs straight thru. sis & baby are doing well. and i'm still looking for my next fix of ZooCube.
back to the wheel...
came in early and back to grind. gettin' back to work after my extended holiday wasn't so bad b/c i'm working on a massive project that involves 5 team members. it's a ticket broker and i'm responsible for concerts and theatre. it's tedious monkey work but doesn't require much thinking, which is exactly what i needed this week.
my region 3 godzilla dvds still haven't arrived from HK. that concerns me. my bulk picture frame order still hasn't arrived. that concerns me. however, my cambridge satellites and subwoofer have shipped! sweet jesus if they arrive by the weekend. doubtful.
update: trukpro & dogs made it back safe & sound in a short 19hrs straight thru. sis & baby are doing well. and i'm still looking for my next fix of ZooCube.
back to the wheel...
Monday, December 01, 2003
whew. nice to be home... finally. i suppose i miss being home much more when i have so many new shiny toys to play with... and a solid (re: fast) 'net connection.
sunday was warm... all the way around. after a Bears win, visit @my stepbrother's to see his new Argo, and some minor shopping excursions, we capped the evening by taking my mom to the Machine Shed for dinner for her b-day. her friend, Duck, invited herself to join us... oh, thank you. Duck epitomizes the stereotypical midwestern mindset of which i have such little tolerance. listening to her is like hearing scratching fingernails on a blackboard.
this morning trukpro & i got our things together and split. it was sad to see the dogs one last time -- Sixx, Lucy, Chopper, and the little guy Shelby. by the next time i see the kids again, Shelby won't be a "little" guy any longer... he's only 3 mos old now and we expect him to become a big dog soon. those dogs are awesome. i miss them already.
the 2.5hr drive returning home always seems like the longest... ugh. i was killin' to be back. of course, ain't nothing compared to trukpro who is still on road back to new mexico at the moment. i feel for him. i'll be less anxious when i hear from him... esp. since he's travelling on cash only and no ID.
on the way back to chicago i got the call -- twice -- that there's another new member in our family. my stepsister had a healthy baby girl this morning! her first. it's big news for reasons i won't go into.
after returning i made the mistake of visiting ABT electronics to scope a new a/v rec'r -- ended up walking out w/an open box Yamaha 6.1 model $105 off the $399 price. sure i was looking for a new rec'r but wasn't expecting to nail one down so soon. damn, i had to get out there... almost was sold on a $650 Bose surround system. yikes. advice: avoid doing a comparison listening w/the Bose and any other speaker system. the difference is sick.
agh, fightin' the sleeps all night. i must retire. back to work tomorrow. fun.
sunday was warm... all the way around. after a Bears win, visit @my stepbrother's to see his new Argo, and some minor shopping excursions, we capped the evening by taking my mom to the Machine Shed for dinner for her b-day. her friend, Duck, invited herself to join us... oh, thank you. Duck epitomizes the stereotypical midwestern mindset of which i have such little tolerance. listening to her is like hearing scratching fingernails on a blackboard.
this morning trukpro & i got our things together and split. it was sad to see the dogs one last time -- Sixx, Lucy, Chopper, and the little guy Shelby. by the next time i see the kids again, Shelby won't be a "little" guy any longer... he's only 3 mos old now and we expect him to become a big dog soon. those dogs are awesome. i miss them already.
the 2.5hr drive returning home always seems like the longest... ugh. i was killin' to be back. of course, ain't nothing compared to trukpro who is still on road back to new mexico at the moment. i feel for him. i'll be less anxious when i hear from him... esp. since he's travelling on cash only and no ID.
on the way back to chicago i got the call -- twice -- that there's another new member in our family. my stepsister had a healthy baby girl this morning! her first. it's big news for reasons i won't go into.
after returning i made the mistake of visiting ABT electronics to scope a new a/v rec'r -- ended up walking out w/an open box Yamaha 6.1 model $105 off the $399 price. sure i was looking for a new rec'r but wasn't expecting to nail one down so soon. damn, i had to get out there... almost was sold on a $650 Bose surround system. yikes. advice: avoid doing a comparison listening w/the Bose and any other speaker system. the difference is sick.
agh, fightin' the sleeps all night. i must retire. back to work tomorrow. fun.
Saturday, November 29, 2003
RE:cap
turkey day: trukpro arrives at 6AM after a 18hr drive from ABQ. not bad. i had only been sleeping for a couple hours but had to get up to see the "kids" -- his 4 dogs along for the trip. after a few more zzz hrs, dinner commenced. my mom's friends come over... dogs are excited. don't remember a lot about all that 'cept one of my mom's friends calling Hillary Clinton a bitch and then sayin' "i know it's thanksgiving but i really wish i had a sniper rifle to take that bitch out." wtf?
soon more family arrived. got to test drive the new F150 crewcab that my stepbrother drove over. my nephew, an 18yr old freshie marine, told us how drunk he was the night before on cheap booze b/c "the marines don't pay shit." then went on to throw f-bombs left and right around family & friends. guess it's ok b/c he's a marine, dammit. after two hearty dinners, i treat trukpro, past0r & sally to the Kill Bill v1 late show at the budget theater. that was cool 'cept for the morons behind us talking the entire time. yeah, everyone enjoyed the flick as i knew they would. discovered that trukpro lost his wallet...
...so we spent black friday looking for said wallet. no luck. avoided any retail exposure which was nice. last night trukpro & i ended up taking the van & dogs up to chicago to pick up my speakers. dogs freaked when they got to my apt. that wasn't cool so we split right away... at least i didn't have to drive. got back to my 'rents place around 1AM and i stayed up 'til 4 on the Gamecube.
today was nothing special. finally got my car washed at my dad's station. nice nap and another homecooked meal. very good. i've been eating well. wanted to go out tonight but w/no ID for trukpro that idea was squashed. so just an evening home w/the 'rents. past0r & sally came over to visit for a bit and watch the dogs entertain. so far the holiday's been mellow... just hangin' w/trukpro and his funny dogs.
turkey day: trukpro arrives at 6AM after a 18hr drive from ABQ. not bad. i had only been sleeping for a couple hours but had to get up to see the "kids" -- his 4 dogs along for the trip. after a few more zzz hrs, dinner commenced. my mom's friends come over... dogs are excited. don't remember a lot about all that 'cept one of my mom's friends calling Hillary Clinton a bitch and then sayin' "i know it's thanksgiving but i really wish i had a sniper rifle to take that bitch out." wtf?
soon more family arrived. got to test drive the new F150 crewcab that my stepbrother drove over. my nephew, an 18yr old freshie marine, told us how drunk he was the night before on cheap booze b/c "the marines don't pay shit." then went on to throw f-bombs left and right around family & friends. guess it's ok b/c he's a marine, dammit. after two hearty dinners, i treat trukpro, past0r & sally to the Kill Bill v1 late show at the budget theater. that was cool 'cept for the morons behind us talking the entire time. yeah, everyone enjoyed the flick as i knew they would. discovered that trukpro lost his wallet...
...so we spent black friday looking for said wallet. no luck. avoided any retail exposure which was nice. last night trukpro & i ended up taking the van & dogs up to chicago to pick up my speakers. dogs freaked when they got to my apt. that wasn't cool so we split right away... at least i didn't have to drive. got back to my 'rents place around 1AM and i stayed up 'til 4 on the Gamecube.
today was nothing special. finally got my car washed at my dad's station. nice nap and another homecooked meal. very good. i've been eating well. wanted to go out tonight but w/no ID for trukpro that idea was squashed. so just an evening home w/the 'rents. past0r & sally came over to visit for a bit and watch the dogs entertain. so far the holiday's been mellow... just hangin' w/trukpro and his funny dogs.
Thursday, November 27, 2003
RE: Black Wednesday
"I fight authority, authority always wins"
so i head home for the holiday (t'giving) fighting traffic all the way -- 80-90mph/2.5hrs and still somehow avoided any run-in w/the numerous law along the way! planned a night out w/past0r -- upon picking me up he tells me about getting pulled over on the trip back to the QCs from chicago -- not for speeding (cops were out in force!) -- for not having a front license plate on his non-descript camry. also turns out his registration had not been renewed since May! so he rec'd citation + mandatory court appearance.
i'm like, "wha?! you should've told me and i would've driven tonight -- the night that cops are on full alert: black wednesday" this was right as we were passing a local cruiser. sure enuff, the cruiser pulls out and dogs us. cherries on, we pull over. past0r delivers the "guess what? i already rec'd a ticket" spiel and the cop gives us the "is that so" attitude then sez, "does your passenger have ID?" great. so he gets a written warning on top of the previous ticket. and this is all before we hit the first bar. the night is shaping up!
so less than a mile later we enter Bent River Brewing Company... turns out to be a typical midwestern joint lack of any notable diversity -- incl. the folk duo performing folk covers of pop tunes. agh. i don't think i'll be able to listen to gabriel's "in your eyes" ever again. couple of stouts later we bolt for the District.
yes, it's promising as there's several bars within a block. we head to Blue Cat and it's a decent college crowd but not packed. breathing room indeed. so a couple more drinks -- damn, JD&Coke + Bud Light = $5.25: one of the few upsides of returning to our hometown! cool conversation & warm toasty feeling... i'm killin' for a smoke. give up our chairs to a heather locklear look-a-like (only taller) and her cute asian friend. potential until Johnny Crewcut cuts in... what a nutball. that's fine. time to bail anyways...
took a route less-frequented by law enforcement and found our way back to the Valley. next up: turkey talk... and the anticipated arrival of trukpro -- after a 2 year hiatus! should be good.
btw, my dad's dial-up is a friggin' drag!
/out
"I fight authority, authority always wins"
so i head home for the holiday (t'giving) fighting traffic all the way -- 80-90mph/2.5hrs and still somehow avoided any run-in w/the numerous law along the way! planned a night out w/past0r -- upon picking me up he tells me about getting pulled over on the trip back to the QCs from chicago -- not for speeding (cops were out in force!) -- for not having a front license plate on his non-descript camry. also turns out his registration had not been renewed since May! so he rec'd citation + mandatory court appearance.
i'm like, "wha?! you should've told me and i would've driven tonight -- the night that cops are on full alert: black wednesday" this was right as we were passing a local cruiser. sure enuff, the cruiser pulls out and dogs us. cherries on, we pull over. past0r delivers the "guess what? i already rec'd a ticket" spiel and the cop gives us the "is that so" attitude then sez, "does your passenger have ID?" great. so he gets a written warning on top of the previous ticket. and this is all before we hit the first bar. the night is shaping up!
so less than a mile later we enter Bent River Brewing Company... turns out to be a typical midwestern joint lack of any notable diversity -- incl. the folk duo performing folk covers of pop tunes. agh. i don't think i'll be able to listen to gabriel's "in your eyes" ever again. couple of stouts later we bolt for the District.
yes, it's promising as there's several bars within a block. we head to Blue Cat and it's a decent college crowd but not packed. breathing room indeed. so a couple more drinks -- damn, JD&Coke + Bud Light = $5.25: one of the few upsides of returning to our hometown! cool conversation & warm toasty feeling... i'm killin' for a smoke. give up our chairs to a heather locklear look-a-like (only taller) and her cute asian friend. potential until Johnny Crewcut cuts in... what a nutball. that's fine. time to bail anyways...
took a route less-frequented by law enforcement and found our way back to the Valley. next up: turkey talk... and the anticipated arrival of trukpro -- after a 2 year hiatus! should be good.
btw, my dad's dial-up is a friggin' drag!
/out
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
what a night... sleep deprivation caught up w/me and i've been struggling to stay awake the entire evening. the chipolte steak burrito didn't help matters... felt like i was with child most of the night.
finished off some dvds and arranging dvd/vhs on my new shelves while watching the dubbed ver. of Night on the Galactic Railroad. such a dreamy anime that probably wasn't helping me stay awake. but damn, i love that flick.
so next joe millionaire finally wrapped last night. thank bloody hell. but he didn't pick cat! grrrr. average joe continues to roll. agh. what i love about the summer: no tv. due to my lack of sleep i won't be watching disc 2 of LotR:FotR SE tonite. ah well. rec'd Ju-on: The Grudge dvd today. nothing getting the third in the series before seeing the first 2 movies.
toyzz.com order also arrived today. 12" Gatchaman G3 Princess figure is awesome. sweet deal @$13.99 (originally like $60 or something i've heard). The smaller BotP Voltar figure is "ok" but nothing special. the dark angel mini-mate is also nothing to write home about. lastly the lithograph was effed up prolly due to crummy packing. jerks. still can't complain @$25 for all of it w/s&h.
now i gotta figure out how i can scrape up some cash for Ultraman Jack.
finished off some dvds and arranging dvd/vhs on my new shelves while watching the dubbed ver. of Night on the Galactic Railroad. such a dreamy anime that probably wasn't helping me stay awake. but damn, i love that flick.
so next joe millionaire finally wrapped last night. thank bloody hell. but he didn't pick cat! grrrr. average joe continues to roll. agh. what i love about the summer: no tv. due to my lack of sleep i won't be watching disc 2 of LotR:FotR SE tonite. ah well. rec'd Ju-on: The Grudge dvd today. nothing getting the third in the series before seeing the first 2 movies.
toyzz.com order also arrived today. 12" Gatchaman G3 Princess figure is awesome. sweet deal @$13.99 (originally like $60 or something i've heard). The smaller BotP Voltar figure is "ok" but nothing special. the dark angel mini-mate is also nothing to write home about. lastly the lithograph was effed up prolly due to crummy packing. jerks. still can't complain @$25 for all of it w/s&h.
now i gotta figure out how i can scrape up some cash for Ultraman Jack.
last day of the week is finally here! yeehaw. yes, i am stoked to not have to return to this office for an entire week. that's really the best part of this time of the year for me; lots of days off. right now it's all about getting thru today...
finished the 1st disc of LotR:FotR SE last night/this morning. i've decided that the flick is worthy of a "10" @IMDb instead of the "9" i originally gave it. i'll watch disc 2 tonight. friday, i hooked up my LD player via s-video and the picture is surprisingly pretty crappy! i watched SW:ESB and it was akin to VCD quality. actually a little worse. But Yoda still rules. Boba Fett rocks. Han is great. and Vader is a badass, "apology accepted." however it will be weird to watch the original trilogy after Lucas wraps the final prequel. i'm curious to see the bridge between the 2 sets of movies.
(blog title does say "movie minutia" right?)
started watching Night of the Galactic Railroad again this morning around 3AM. that is such a rich anime and so easy to chill to. but it's 2 hrs long. so i forced myself to stop watching so i could read more of the Quatermain novella in the back of the LXG trade. i'll cap that tonight as well.
in 2 days trukpro will be home for the first time in 2 years! that's retarded. ok, i have some work to do.
finished the 1st disc of LotR:FotR SE last night/this morning. i've decided that the flick is worthy of a "10" @IMDb instead of the "9" i originally gave it. i'll watch disc 2 tonight. friday, i hooked up my LD player via s-video and the picture is surprisingly pretty crappy! i watched SW:ESB and it was akin to VCD quality. actually a little worse. But Yoda still rules. Boba Fett rocks. Han is great. and Vader is a badass, "apology accepted." however it will be weird to watch the original trilogy after Lucas wraps the final prequel. i'm curious to see the bridge between the 2 sets of movies.
(blog title does say "movie minutia" right?)
started watching Night of the Galactic Railroad again this morning around 3AM. that is such a rich anime and so easy to chill to. but it's 2 hrs long. so i forced myself to stop watching so i could read more of the Quatermain novella in the back of the LXG trade. i'll cap that tonight as well.
in 2 days trukpro will be home for the first time in 2 years! that's retarded. ok, i have some work to do.
Monday, November 24, 2003
Sunday, November 23, 2003
funny weekend. didn't leave my apt once and didn't even step outside today. friends over last night making dinner and conversation so i spent the day slaving on my place to make the kitchen functional again. was a good evening and took in a couple of flicks on my new dvd player. very nice!
today i caught up on more sleep and took in some NFL games. wow, the Bears actually beat a decent team. i built some shelves tonight for more dvd storage. that was cool. when i finished those i worked on the most ridiculous dreadful work assignment i have ever participated in since i've been working at my current employer (that's 5+ years, folks). some will know what i'm referring to, some won't. that's fine. let's just say that there are some clearly delusional ppl in the midst of my company. well, one anyways.
haven't really spent anytime with my rig like i planned. having never had a RPTV widescreen or progressive scan dvd player, i have nothing to compare to. the HDTV reception for the handful of HD channels available is exceptional. And the LotR Two Towers SE dvd has the best clarity i've ever seen in a dvd to date; the picture is stunning w/my setup. overall i'm very pleased. can't wait to learn more about it and how to use it!
today i caught up on more sleep and took in some NFL games. wow, the Bears actually beat a decent team. i built some shelves tonight for more dvd storage. that was cool. when i finished those i worked on the most ridiculous dreadful work assignment i have ever participated in since i've been working at my current employer (that's 5+ years, folks). some will know what i'm referring to, some won't. that's fine. let's just say that there are some clearly delusional ppl in the midst of my company. well, one anyways.
haven't really spent anytime with my rig like i planned. having never had a RPTV widescreen or progressive scan dvd player, i have nothing to compare to. the HDTV reception for the handful of HD channels available is exceptional. And the LotR Two Towers SE dvd has the best clarity i've ever seen in a dvd to date; the picture is stunning w/my setup. overall i'm very pleased. can't wait to learn more about it and how to use it!
Friday, November 21, 2003
so it's been a crazy week... short on posts, i know. thanks, flounder, for pointing that out. what can i say? new dvd player arrived yesterday so i spent the night deciphering my manuals to figure out what the story was. don't laugh, i'm new to progressive scan and digital projection.
comcast showed up today smack dab in the middle of the 1-5PM suggested timeslot. i love cable companies. so i got the HD cable receiver installed and running. on the way out, cable guy grabs the remote and sez, "oh yeah, one last thing," as he clicks to MTV. "For all these channels..." his voice trails as the station appears. "huh, you shouldn't be receiving this channel under the basic plan," as he proceeds to click thru the stations, "yeah, all of these. I'll have to clip the cable outside before I take off."
so, right. i was paying 10 bucks for basic and getting the full compliment of cable channels. hey, their mistake. had a feeling that party would be squashed today.. and it was. so after this and that, i ended up signin' on for the HBO silver package 4-month special for $34.95/month. ~sigh~
the HD channels look incredible. and i learned why worstbuy features WTTWHD Chicago on all the floor models: it's the best HD channel going! none of the other HD channels look nearly as good as WTTW. so the weekend will be spent figuring out how to work the rig. still so much to learn... i heard my RPTV has PIP. heh. soon... very soon.
started watching the 2nd disc of LotR2Towers SE last night... wow.
comcast showed up today smack dab in the middle of the 1-5PM suggested timeslot. i love cable companies. so i got the HD cable receiver installed and running. on the way out, cable guy grabs the remote and sez, "oh yeah, one last thing," as he clicks to MTV. "For all these channels..." his voice trails as the station appears. "huh, you shouldn't be receiving this channel under the basic plan," as he proceeds to click thru the stations, "yeah, all of these. I'll have to clip the cable outside before I take off."
so, right. i was paying 10 bucks for basic and getting the full compliment of cable channels. hey, their mistake. had a feeling that party would be squashed today.. and it was. so after this and that, i ended up signin' on for the HBO silver package 4-month special for $34.95/month. ~sigh~
the HD channels look incredible. and i learned why worstbuy features WTTWHD Chicago on all the floor models: it's the best HD channel going! none of the other HD channels look nearly as good as WTTW. so the weekend will be spent figuring out how to work the rig. still so much to learn... i heard my RPTV has PIP. heh. soon... very soon.
started watching the 2nd disc of LotR2Towers SE last night... wow.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
did I mentioned that @5:30 this morning I was eating a bowl of Zesty Butter popcorn, drinking a Harpoon ESB and reading my RPTV manual? that's right. I didn't sleep last night... tried to crash @4AM but after an hour of tossin' and turnin' I gave up and got up.
Bonus: it's been a full-on, cowboy-up day here at the office. like non-stop fire and brimstone, face in the flames... at least it's kept me awake this long.
I am tired. I am leaving early. I am going to hit... the... wall... soon...........
Bonus: it's been a full-on, cowboy-up day here at the office. like non-stop fire and brimstone, face in the flames... at least it's kept me awake this long.
I am tired. I am leaving early. I am going to hit... the... wall... soon...........
RE: sundry thoughts
How good is matrix: revolutions? ticket sales dropped 66% in only its 2nd weekend. "The studio is shrugging off Revolutions' plummet in the U.S. and continues to trumpet the film's $310 million worldwide gross." I'm sure they are.
Scary Movie 3 is the 23rd movie to cross the 100mil threshold this year. scary indeed.
Around the World in 80 Days is posed to become the next Cannonball Run franchise.
Do we need another Looney Toons movie? Better question: do we really need Brendan Fraser? I didn't think so.
I found a used copy of B.Monkey (featuring Asia Argento) in my apt. I haven't seen this b/c I am under the impression there are no monkeys in this movie.
How good is matrix: revolutions? ticket sales dropped 66% in only its 2nd weekend. "The studio is shrugging off Revolutions' plummet in the U.S. and continues to trumpet the film's $310 million worldwide gross." I'm sure they are.
Scary Movie 3 is the 23rd movie to cross the 100mil threshold this year. scary indeed.
Around the World in 80 Days is posed to become the next Cannonball Run franchise.
Do we need another Looney Toons movie? Better question: do we really need Brendan Fraser? I didn't think so.
I found a used copy of B.Monkey (featuring Asia Argento) in my apt. I haven't seen this b/c I am under the impression there are no monkeys in this movie.
RPTV arrived today. it's retarded. and i have a box the size of a small room sitting in my apt. ETA on my prog.scan dvd player is friday. ~fingers crossed~
filmthreat posted this year's frigid 50. couldn't agree more w/local diss #35. i'm also fond of #45 (if "mom & pop" stores weren't already out of business).
band of the day: The Moon-Rays. local flavor of creepy exotica and 60s spy rock (they did the theme song for WGN's creature feature show).
filmthreat posted this year's frigid 50. couldn't agree more w/local diss #35. i'm also fond of #45 (if "mom & pop" stores weren't already out of business).
band of the day: The Moon-Rays. local flavor of creepy exotica and 60s spy rock (they did the theme song for WGN's creature feature show).
Sunday, November 16, 2003
busy weekend cleanin' up the joint for the arrival of my new visual jams tomorrow afternoon. worstbuy called so the game is on. i will say, all this cleaning and reinventing my apt is burning me out. i should sleep well tonite. but we all know how that goes...
made a leap and paid top price for the killer DVD player @ebay. that scares me... sending a stranger a lot of money. you've heard the horror stories. i don't wanna become the next one.
i'm tired... and sorry i missed flounder's metal spin at streetside tonite. esp. if he used my playlist suggestions. damn that would've been fun...
made a leap and paid top price for the killer DVD player @ebay. that scares me... sending a stranger a lot of money. you've heard the horror stories. i don't wanna become the next one.
i'm tired... and sorry i missed flounder's metal spin at streetside tonite. esp. if he used my playlist suggestions. damn that would've been fun...
Friday, November 14, 2003
having the afternoon off was nice. really nice. caught matrix: revolutions w/past0r & sally (who didn't even see reloaded, mind you). afterwards treated them to killer dinner & drinks @pete miller's. very nice afternoon.
fought the traffic home and napped. napped & napped. got up around 9 and left to buy a new widescreen tv. man, the buggers @worstbuy don't know up from down sometimes. hopefully if they did it right i should have my new RPTV arriving sometime monday. we'll see. nothing like dropping a couple k on a new screen to enlighten the evening. i guess i won't be happy until it's actually here.
fought the traffic home and napped. napped & napped. got up around 9 and left to buy a new widescreen tv. man, the buggers @worstbuy don't know up from down sometimes. hopefully if they did it right i should have my new RPTV arriving sometime monday. we'll see. nothing like dropping a couple k on a new screen to enlighten the evening. i guess i won't be happy until it's actually here.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
didn't get any sleep last night and ended up twisting my neck outta sorts. fun not being able to move my head to the right.
day was dismal. worked my @ss off from beginning to end... and the dark dread to come never came. postponed until tomorrow. more fun.
after my delightful call to comcast i've re-thought my TV plans... looks like i'm going back to square one.
flounder finally saw Kill Bill v1 last night and quickly proclaimed it the best movie he saw this year. whatever. he only went to 5 movies i think (and he thought Pirates of the Caribbean was fantastic).
anyway he asked if the chick that plays Go Go Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama) in the flick is the same psycho chick from Battle Royale. "yes, flounder, she is." he of course was all giddy about this... and now wants to borrow my BR DVD again. ~sigh~
anyway, another incentive to see the flick... see the psycho chick from BR in another movie! yeah, ok. sure. hopefully i'm going back for a 2nd helping this friday with past0r who doesn't want to see it. but agreed if i pay. yay!
/done and dried.
day was dismal. worked my @ss off from beginning to end... and the dark dread to come never came. postponed until tomorrow. more fun.
after my delightful call to comcast i've re-thought my TV plans... looks like i'm going back to square one.
flounder finally saw Kill Bill v1 last night and quickly proclaimed it the best movie he saw this year. whatever. he only went to 5 movies i think (and he thought Pirates of the Caribbean was fantastic).
anyway he asked if the chick that plays Go Go Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama) in the flick is the same psycho chick from Battle Royale. "yes, flounder, she is." he of course was all giddy about this... and now wants to borrow my BR DVD again. ~sigh~
anyway, another incentive to see the flick... see the psycho chick from BR in another movie! yeah, ok. sure. hopefully i'm going back for a 2nd helping this friday with past0r who doesn't want to see it. but agreed if i pay. yay!
/done and dried.
RE: "try to sigh/try to fly"
story of my night... nothing like spending the twilight hours working on a "dreadful" supervisor assignment. sometimes being just a worker bee has its benefits.
spice, it was never this bad...
the upside of not going to see the Genitorturers/HuG show @Oasis tonight was the next joe millionaire marathon i'm wrapping right now. yep, 5 hours spent below stupidity. no wonder this show is a turd. but cat is smokin'... damn.
waitasecond, did i just say that i skipped the gens/hug show for a joe millionaire marathon? ugh. do i have to go to work tomorrow?
"I don't know why I want to fly"
story of my night... nothing like spending the twilight hours working on a "dreadful" supervisor assignment. sometimes being just a worker bee has its benefits.
spice, it was never this bad...
the upside of not going to see the Genitorturers/HuG show @Oasis tonight was the next joe millionaire marathon i'm wrapping right now. yep, 5 hours spent below stupidity. no wonder this show is a turd. but cat is smokin'... damn.
waitasecond, did i just say that i skipped the gens/hug show for a joe millionaire marathon? ugh. do i have to go to work tomorrow?
"I don't know why I want to fly"
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
window shopping for widescreens is ridiculous. i think i've found my match but off to abt to drool some more. HDTV is a given... but built-in vs. receiver req. is another issue.
the real deal is DLP... hells yeah.
btw, i'm trying to wrangle the monster dvd player at ebay. doubtful i'll score. ah well.
the real deal is DLP... hells yeah.
btw, i'm trying to wrangle the monster dvd player at ebay. doubtful i'll score. ah well.
wow, Sound::Lounge has been picking up lately. can barely keep up w/the posts/reviews. lots of cool japanese grooves to check out [note to self: order the new puffy cd already!].
looks like culturedose is back up. did anyone even notice it was down?
i saw this press release for my company. i better sit down.
i still have no interest in touching another alcoholic beverage. i could make it all the way to t'giving before i drink again.
have i mentioned how much i hate giving employee reviews?
looks like culturedose is back up. did anyone even notice it was down?
i saw this press release for my company. i better sit down.
i still have no interest in touching another alcoholic beverage. i could make it all the way to t'giving before i drink again.
have i mentioned how much i hate giving employee reviews?
Monday, November 10, 2003
monday was a wash... I was sick all day. I'm gettin' too old for consecutive benders. flounder was fine today... 'cept for those bleeding gums. ah to be a kid again.
so I'm out a tellie since pAT picked mine up yesterday and lugged it to its new home in Champaign. my 19" midgetvision still holds up surprisingly well but this won't do. started the search for a replacement and I don't know what direction to go. so many choices. so much money.
part of me wants to unload and get *nice* widescreen but another side of me sez, "don't get out of control." ah well. I'm off to window shop tomorrow.
damn, the eagles won tonight. I'm done w/spice's dvds. I'm so backlogged on taped shows to watch. man, I need a tivo. props to flounder for adding comments functionality to my blog. I'm slow when it comes this.
I must go now.
Sunday, November 09, 2003
right. so tonight was so retarded.
i meet flounder in line at the Dimmu show @HoB and he skips outta line only to go to the end with me. dude, it works the other way around.
so we hook up w/4th Month behind the bar and she comps us drinks straight away. that works. i split for the head and return to find flounder gone. 4th month tells me he will return. so Bodom goes on w/a blistering tune and flounder misses it... why? b/c he's getting a Dimmu shirt. doh! do that when Nevermore is on.... NOT BODOM.
4th month is entirely cool... she makes some evil 1-sided Beam and Cokes for me... I'm telling ya, drinking 3 (beyond the first JD&coke) was like drinkin' six... or nine. whatever. i was trashed. way smoked.
so by 4 tunes into Dimmu i'm ready to kill it. and it's like 9:15pm. wtf? yeah that's what happens when you kick the party on thursday and don't stop. i barely remember pAT lifting my tellie today or pickin' up my shortie vision from my brother in Deerfield.
i came home to midget-vision and was stunned. i already miss my big console... hope it finds a good home in Champaign. now i gotta snatch a widescreen. yes.
with any luck, my group hug will show up within the week. damn revealing, ain't it?
btw, 4th month is cool. tight w/killer ink. i love it. she got something in common w/spice & stakk... work by Tim Biedron at Deluxe. nice!
ok, i'm retarded right now. must go.
Saturday, November 08, 2003
ok, friday night was a gas... Ween was excellent and the aftershow antics with spice were awesome.
sadly, i'm in no position in my current state to recap what went on. hopefully when i'm fully recovered i will be able to provide some juicy details on the night that just wrapped...
right now, i'm in need of some serious bag time.
Friday, November 07, 2003
ok, so it started around 10:30PM....
first up, The Rapture@the metro. cool show... as good as it could be w/The Rapture. a decent warm-up for the night to follow...
second up, Smartbar w/Tommie Sunshine. really fun time w/flounder and his fille du jour, Nikko (sp?). The coolest part of the evening was Luke Jenner, the lead singer/guitarist for The Rapture, taking turns DJing. and he was good! call me impressed but it was an unexpected yet pleasant turn of events... and thru-out all of this, i was obsessed w/the honker!
flounder mentioned that thick chick in the soccer shirt was giving me an eye. no time for that nonsense.
flounder and his maiden split at the 2:30AM mark... as i stood steadfast sucking down my final JD&coke. after all, i was there to dance, Dance, DANCE... but the evening slowed w/o the flounder camaraderie so after finishing off his leftover Red Bull and whatever, i bailed a half hour later. but not before a brief chat w/Luke Jenner. i don't think he heard me and i certainly couldn't hear him but the point was made: he rocks.
next up: Ween@The Vic. Spice to join the party. the journey continues...
Thursday, November 06, 2003
RE: Clerks The Animated Series - Uncensored
just finished a marathon viewing of the Clerks animated series... ok, so not really marathon-like since there's only 6 episodes. right now i'm listening to the commentary as i write.
ok, it's not terribly great but entertaining nonetheless. i had seen the original 2 episodes when they aired and previewed a few others years ago during a Kevin Smith panel at Wizard World.
after watching all the eps, i am rather surprised this was picked up by a major network (ABC). of course, the commentary explains how this came to be but overall the series is loaded with gay/racist jokes and in general plenty of offensive material. not that i mind but it's weird to think this was created to air on a major network. i think the obsession with the gay thing is probably the strangest aspect of the whole thing. it's like a running theme thru-out.
as racy as Clerks TAS is it still tends to fall flat b/c it feels like they take it right to edge but never step over. i get this but the eps suffer for it, IMO. that said, it's still a cute series recommended for all Smith fans, esp. for the commentary which is probably more interesting.
RE: Wednesday night tellie
The OC? bah. Taped Smallville and Angel. if i'm lucky i'll have the time to watch next week.
Enterprise was cool tonight but the thing w/episodes like that one, when it's all over it's like much ado about nothing. no consequences. nothing. it never happened. ah well.
put that in your crack pipe and smoke it. =)
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
RE: day after halloween... PART 1
ok, so i was busy flying emails back n forth that i didn't get a chance to recap saturday. ... sorry in advance for my excessively LONG initial post.
in reverse order, my final stop was yet another Blockbuster, this time in north Skokie (next to that ridiculous upscale Old Orchard outdoor mall). this has to be the best BB i've ever been to... it was sickening to see the sheer number of titles and types of titles, things i'd never find in the stores nearest me. i was rhapsodizing over their Foreign section when i noticed i was really in the Drama section (the expanse of foreign titles greatly outweighs the "normal" titles)! and they don't just have 1 DVD of each title; most titles have two copies at least (eg. 2 copies of "Emperor's Shadow" and "Shanghai Triad"). The horror section reminded me of my last visit to Facets. This BB is indeed catering to the local area (wilmette) where patrons leave their Lexus running while they shop for rentals. I cannot imagine the freedom pass here. Sadly it's too far from me!
Before that, stopped in EBX at Old Orchard for used games. surprisingly nothing of great interest there. then stopped in the vacated Museum Store that now is the temp home for the KBtoys Outlet (xmas time only) and picked up Godzilla Destroy All Monsters (gamecube) for $15 and a Ronin Warrior figure for $3. trip to Old Orchard not wasted after all... just had to put up w/the mindless richie rich teenagers running rampant. go moto!
before traveling north on Skokie Blvd, I hit the Blockbuster in Lincolnwood where the whole place is run by frazzled middle-aged women. They were actually zinging verbal barbs at each other about who worked the longest w/o a break. this was amusing. Nothing of great interest here but i did pick up "Cubix: Robots for Everyone: Showdown" for $7. This was a very nice BB (way better than mine -- mine is ghetto. the worst BB in the NW burbs).
[dinner at Long John Silver, it's digusting but i like it. a lot.]
visited the Lincolnwood mall specifically to check the EBGames store. But went into Suncoast first and walked out with a Sideshow Toys Dr. No figure for $7.49 and a very cool looking new Spawn Series 24 statue, er.. figure. still tons of Micronauts series 2 on the wall. I look forward to the clearancing of these en masse. nothing notable in EBGames. time for dinner.
RE: PART 2: Kill Bill v1 - not your typical Tarantino flick. But a refreshing change of pace.
And firstly, went to the 3:50PM $4.50 showing of Kill Bill vol 1 @Village Crossing in Skokie/Niles. I was late due to being held up at the long lines and slow service at my ghetto BB (any BB should be avoided on Saturday). So when i walked into the theater during the Matrix trailer I realized how the reserved seat thing would've been nice. the room was packed so i had to settle for an end seat in the 3rd stinking row. wasn't great but still better than any IMAX viewing.
ok, i won't go into a lot of details about KBv1 other than to say it's by far and away my favorite Tarantino flick (which isn't saying much since he's only made 4 movies). i know there's been the resistance to pay for half a movie when it should've been released as 1 long flick a la LotR. i'm still pissed by this decision mainly b/c it came from Quentin and it sets a horrible, horrible precedent. all that said, if i had paid full admission, i still would've thought i got more than i paid for. there's a good chance i will see it again before it leaves the theater.
of the 30 movies i've seen at the theater this year, i'd put KBv1 in the top 2 or 3.
RE: the violence/gore issue. after seeing the movie, i realize where this "criticism" comes from... from those critics/viewers that don't normally watch violent/gore flicks. yes, there is a fair share of both but nothing more than any other similar film of its ilk. i.e. on par w/Battle Royale or any anime for that matter. and the violence is so hyper/ultra-violent it's comical. anyone who had a problem with this (that TMQ guy, Pat) obviously isn't tuned in. and honestly, the violence/gore were merely silly subtext to me. the robust and rich qualities come from everything but the fighting/violence. those fighting scenes are fun due to the characters within but i think it's safe to say that we've all seen plenty of HK Wo-Ping fight choreography that it doesn't impress us anymore. by "us", i'm talking about a couple of friends specifically... not the moviegoers in general that ogle the screen at these overused fight sequences lifted right out of the shaw bros. stable, circa '75, and rehashed countless times since. then again, at least Q tossed the love out to them at the getgo. very nice touch.
The style, soundtrack and still scenes really make this one for me. as well as dialogue, of course, which is terrific. 10 minutes into the feature, I was already thinking how wonderful it will be to curl up on the couch and watch this on a cold wintery day. it has that kind of "warming" quality... the kind that you want to go on for hours and hours. i wish the movie was longer... it was like opening a present only to find another present inside and so on, the feeling of being pleasantly surprised with each new chapter of the story. i smiled constantly thru-out the viewing.
ok, so that's my take. if anyone i know gets a chance to see it i will be curious to hear their reactions. who knows, they may end up hating the flick. i hope not but it's always possible. However i do recommend seeing it on the big screen, free if possible, if not then the cheapest matinee. it is worth more than that but the delivering the movie in 2 parts peeves me to no end. ah well. please go see it... i need someone to discuss it with that is tuned in.
ok, off to Lincolnwood Mall...
/recap
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)