I loved The Fast and Furious. I don’t know why exactly, but I just did. It’s not a good movie, by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s got an energy that most of today’s goofy action flicks seem to lack.

Honestly, this is Point Break for a new generation of teenagers, and is just a really fun, stupid, exploitation movie. I wanted to run out an and buy an Integra and mod the heck out of it. I don’t even *own* a car. What more could you ask for?

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So my friend is trying to get me to go see The Princess and the Warrior, and the conversation goes something like this:

Linus: Hey, you wanna go see Princess and the Warrior?
Han: Uh, no. That trailer stank… made me not want to see the movie at all.
Linus: Dude! She can turn back time! Like CHER!
Han: What?
Linus: It’s about a time traveling nurse!
Han: WHAT? That trailer had nothing to do with time traveling nurses or Cher.
Linus: I know. So you wanna go?
Han: Uh, no.

So here I am. Sitting at home. While my friend is watching Time Traveling Nurses. Just something to toss out there.

Posted in Endless Whining No Comments »

A collection of poetry and art from Leonard Cohen. Most of it was done while on his retreat to the Buddhist monastery on Mt. Baldy. My favorite piece is below, and they’re actually just his raw notes. Beautiful stuff. I can’t wait for his new album this fall.

For Those Who Greeted Me
by Leonard Cohen

You came to me this morning
And you handled me like meat.
Youd have to live alone to know
How good that feels, how sweet.
My mirror twin, my next of kin,
Id know you in my sleep.
And who but you would take me in
A thousand kisses deep?

I loved you when you opened
Like a lily to the heat.
Im just another snowman
Standing in the rain and sleet,
Who loved you with his frozen love
His second-hand physique -
With all he is, and all he was
A thousand kisses deep.

All soaked in sex, and pressed against
The limits of the sea:
I saw there were no oceans left
For scavengers like me.
We made it to the forward deck
I blessed our remnant fleet -
And then consented to be wrecked
A thousand kisses deep.

I know you had to lie to me,
I know you had to cheat.
But the Means no longer guarantee
The Virtue in Deceit.
That truth is bent, that beauty spent,
That style is obsolete -
Ever since the Holy Spirit went
A thousand kisses deep.

(So what about this Inner Light
Thats boundless and unique?
Im slouching through another night
A thousand kisses deep.)

Im turning tricks; Im getting fixed,
Im back on Boogie Street.
I tried to quit the business -
Hey, Im lazy and Im weak.
But sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go
A thousand kisses deep.

(And fragrant is the thought of you,
The file on you complete -
Except what we forgot to do
A thousand kisses deep.)

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then its done -
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if its real
A thousand kisses deep.

(I jammed with Diz and Dante -
I did not have their sweep -
But once or twice, they let me play
A thousand kisses deep.)

And Im still working with the wine,
Still dancing cheek to cheek.
The band is playing “Auld Lang Syne” -
The heart will not retreat.
And maybe I had miles to drive,
And promises to keep -
You ditch it all to stay alive
A thousand kisses deep.

And now you are the Angel Death
And now the Paraclete;
And now you are the Savior’s Breath
And now the Belsen heap.
No turning from the threat of love,
No transcendental leap -
As witnessed here in time and blood
A thousand kisses deep.

– September 21, 1998

Posted in From Blown Speakers No Comments »

I really don’t have anything to say, but Adrian Langston wanted me to put up a new entry.

So, uh… here’s the Sexiest Geek Alive Contest homepage. Being held tonight.

No, I am not entered.

Posted in Endless Whining No Comments »

Friday night was spent watching Tomb Raider. The less said about that, the better. Needless to say, it was Not Good.

Saturday was spent brewing a batch of beer at the Hamilton Gregg Brewworks in Hermosa Beach, California. Photos are available here.

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Willie Williams may be the greatest lighting director working in music today.

It seems silly for me to point out good stage lighting directors, but his set design for R.E.M.’s Up tour was probably one of my favorite stage setups ever. A big stage full of ropelight, tucked and twisted into goofy little icons of bombs and martini glasses, going on and off like some possessed Lite-Brite. Low tech, quaint and full of personality and creativity, it matched up with R.E.M.’s strange southern charm perfectly.

Willie Williams served as the lighting director for the Up tour, the Monster tour, ZooTV AND PopMart. He’s got quite the little resume going.

Posted in From Blown Speakers No Comments »

You gotta be kidding me. The lineup for Sonic Youth’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties” festival is shaping up, and I’m starting to get a bit freaked out.

Here we go: Eddie Vedder, Stereolab, Stephen Malkmus, Television, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Cat Power, Le Tigre… this is just absolutely ridiculous. I thought the Harry Smith Project was out of control, this one is just as out of control…

Hal Willmer’s also organizing a Halloween Show … I wonder who’ll show up at that?

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So after a little dim-sum yesterday, my friend Linus takes me to the “Filipino Store” for a little cross-cultural education. Filipino arts and crafts and books and all kinds of great stuff. But… BUT… their film industry takes the cake. I thought Hong Kong was messed up. Above are the best three movie covers I saw yesterday. Click on them to read the plot synopsis.

Be forewarned.

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