i don't often get requests for this specific t-shirt:

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeffrey Montano [mailto:choklit_cow@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 2:25 AM
Subject: Question about a LeShirt

Hey, I was wondering if there is anyway I could still purchase the "Motel 666 Welcomes Spooky Kids to Dayton" Reprint, Leshirt? I was unable to attend aswell and would'ev loved to have been there, so I honestly NEED this shirt, so please consider selling me one, but Thank You either way, please contact me back at this email adress, whether you can or not.

Thanks for your time

SINcerly, Mosh

see, i do get "normal" email too:

-----Original Message-----
From: Ray Bostic
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 2:43 PM
Subject: Beartooth mountains

Hi,
I saw some of your pictures from the Beartooth Mountains.
I am going to be in the Yellowstone area in late June 2005.
I was wondering if you would suggest a couple of day hikes in
the Beartooth Mountains.

Thank you,
Ray

the following gem showed up late last night in my work inbox. "id stab u?" clever.

-----Original Message-----
From: JaMeS marshall [mailto:id_stab_u @ yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 11:37 PM
Subject: t-trihs

dude fuck.......dude you still sell them manson shirts???fuck i want a couple goddamn tshirts.......email me back please regarding real nice shirts........

today another fan emails:

From: Alex Castillo
Subject: Loudness

Amigo mi nombre es Alex Castillo, soy de Guatemala, y tengo algunos albunes que eh comprado de este maravilloso grupo Loudness, unicamente tengo el Tunder y el devil soldier, pero quisiera tener todos los discos si es posible me gustaria saber si tu puedes darme copia de los mp3 que tengas de ellos preferiblemente si son los albunes completos aqui en guatemala es una mierda pq no hay muchos lugares a los cuales llegar y encontrar grupos de esta maravillosa calidad me gustaria saber como podriamos hacer para que me des copia aunque sea de unos cuantos albunes pq es un maravilloso grupo y me encantaria tenerlo en mi coleccion personal, pues soy rockero de corazon y colecciono musica no para venderla ni nada por el estilo sino para gozar de lo mejor de lo mejor, como loudness, gracias y espero poder allar en vos una respuesta a mis plegarias orale brother hasta pronto.

[loosely translated: Friend, my name is Alex Castle, I am of Guatemala, and I have some albums that I bought of this wonderful group Loudness. I only have "Thunder" and "Devil Soldier", but it wanted to have all discs if it is possible. I would like to know to me if you can give me copy of mp3 that you have preferably of them if they are albums complete. Here in Guatemala is shit. There are not many places to which to arrive and to find groups of this wonderful quality. I would like to know how to me like we should to do so that of copies to me although he is of a few albums. This is a wonderful group and enchanting to have it in my personal collection, then I am a rocker of the heart and I collect music does not stop to sell it nor nothing of the sort but to enjoy the best thing of the best thing, like Loudness. Thanks and I hope to be able to receive an answer to my spoken prayer to my brother very soon.]

i enjoy Apple riffing like the iProduct thing and this: The Apple Store Of The Future.

another fan emails me today:

From: antonio augusto cesar junior
Subject: Fantastic Musicians and Band

Good morning, Friends from Loudness Band, my name is
Antonio Augusto Cesar Junior, I live in Brazil, in the
middle of a jungle, the Amazon Forest, at State of
Pará, so if you take a look at the map, at north of
Brazil, Belém is the capital. So I´m sorry by bothering
you, but I love your sounds, the way you play your
musics, all the instruments very well played, that´s
because I love your musics very much, mainly
Progressive Rock, Pop Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal,
Punk, everything that means rock. Please, if you can do
me a favor, so this is important to me, you could send
to me a PROMO CD from your musics, the way you play
your songs is really fantastic, please, if you can do
this to me, so if you give me the permission to play
your songs in a FM Station here in my city, ok, if you
don´t give me the right to do it, believe me I won´t
play. I don´t lend my cd´s to anybody I keep them at
my bedroom, only to me hear them. I´m 41 years old, but
I love music,this is very important to me. I really
thank you if you can do this dream to become true, if
don´t, is a great pleasure to write an e-mail to a
great band. Thanks again and God blesses you in your
musician life. My address is Rua São Francisco 833.
Bairro Batista Campos, CEP 66023530. Belém Pará Brazil.

instead of choosing the obvious theater flick over the weekend, i went somewhat out of my way to attend a big screen viewing of Masamune Shirow's Appleseed, the loose remake of the '88 OVA. i can't really compare the two since it's been at least 5 years since i've seen the OVA and i remember dozing off while i was watching. anyways, this new and improved Appleseed, based on Shirow's (Ghost in the Shell/Intron Depot) manga, was indeed the visual treat the trailers would have you believe and definitely theater worthy...

and i won't bother stepping on the soap box about my disdain for CGI integration into traditional cell animation b/c i think this is the direction for most anime studios, in this case Digital Frontier, so there's no use bitching about it. besides Blue Submarine, i think the first time i recall CGI and cell merging in a feature presentation was in Metropolis. i didn't like it then and i don't care for it now. CGI has reached a point of realism that makes it appear as tho cartoon characters are running around interacting w/the real world a la Roger Rabbit. the latter example i can understand but for anime it's slightly jarring. ok, so i did toe the soap box. gomen nasai.

anyways, Appleseed The Movie was pretty cool albeit familiar - Shirow's future here poses machine-created man versus man, a twist on the man versus machine future - but i've come to accept that anime/manga future so it's no longer surprising to watch yet another iteration of it unfold on the big screen. Appleseed was a fun flick but nothing terribly deep or convoluted as Osamu Tezuka's work, which isn't a downside just an observation.

at the point when i thought Appleseed was headed down convolution road, it took an upturn towards mecha-ville, with high action laced between calmer spots of exposition. i was entertained thru-out and definitely recommend catching it on the big screen in your area (assuming it's playing in your area). it might not be quite as good on the small screen but probably decent enough - Appleseed is akin to one large PS2 cutscene (ANN gives it favorable ratings so far). the real downside for me was that it was presented w/the English dub! WTF?! it's in extremely limited release and they serve up the English dub?! very fucking annoying.

hot off the wire: "In limited release, Geneon Entertainment's Appleseed, an animé import featuring the kick-ass warrior heroine of a futuristic society, zapped in at 31 sites, averaged $2,539 for $78,718."

so yeah, i skipped Elektra even tho i did want to see it. i don't think my ticket would've mattered much since it tanked in a big way. i attribute that to the poor reviews and Garner's "illness" which left her off the pub-circuit leading up to the flick. i say "illness" b/c i wonder if she bailed on the promotion run after the initial reviews started trickling in? then again, Halle did go gangbusters pubbing Catwoman. i'll try to squeeze in Elektra next weekend along w/the Assault on Precinct 13 remake (that didn't need to be remade).

and since this is my first official post of 2005 there is some housekeeping in order... catching up, we like to say. year kicked off w/a better than usual new years spent @Ron's (Capt'n Satan) playing party games the whole fam while sipping the hard stuff. warm and cozy fun. then alotta bowl games w/kev of which only the Iowa and Michigan games were worth a hoot. then the semi-huge year-end news that my employer is being acquired by a rival company, one whom i hate, is followed in the first week of the new year with news of impending lay-offs. ah, wonderful. so that deal went down last week and we lost 3 - but none of mine.

thanks to a last minute save i was able to keep my dept intact and throw someone else in front of the bus. yeah. that sucks but like a mother wolf i gotta protect my cubs. fortunately the layoffs had hardly an impact and things are moving forward, hopefully in the right direction. doubtful but w/o hope we have nothing (yes, i am fervently watching the new Battlestar Galactica series). Happy New Year!