A power spike or something smacked the computer and monitor at home - they are dead. If you're reading this and have a spare PC sitting around, let me know. Gah. Not at all happy about this, as I can't afford a new machine without that job thing.

This just in from our LA Office:
THE FURRIES HAVE TAKEN IT TOO FUCKING FAR!

(Aaron, I don't know if I should thank you for the link or not.)

Through circumstances too stupid to go into, I managed to nick myself while shaving. The problem is, due to blade slippage, I cut myself about an inch below my left eye. It was bleeding a bit much for the normal toilet paper solution, so I applied an adhesive strip bandage to keep everything cool there. There's two problems. One: it's a Powerpuff Girls bandage. Two: it makes me look like Nelly, who performs what may well be the stupidest song to ever chart in this country,"Disco Duck" included.

God, I hope I can leave the house tonight without this thing on. Time to check out Episode II in IMAX because that's how we do it. (I still can't use hip-hop lingo in a convincing manner. Even if I got my "westsiiiiiide" hand sign down pat.)

My Cowboy Bebop DVDs came in the mail today and they're beautiful. It's an import set, not the Bandai release because I didn't want to cough up $120 for the set they're offering. Thanks to ebay, I got this for a neat $50, including shipping. It's 3 discs and the only real compression problems I see happen in scenes where there is fast movement - occasionally, you'll catch a glimpse of cubism kicking in, but it's never there long enough to really bother you. I may have to ask the seller of this set for a copy of the movie, which hasn't found a domestic release yet. Bah.

No new UW single in my hands as of yet. May have to kill.

So, about three hours ago, I tried to go to bed, as I have to be at the Lenox Hotel tomorrow morning at 6 to make money whilst I'm in-between real jobs. I'd showered, shaved, popped a pair of Tylenol PMs and crawled into bed with my best girl beside me. This was an unmitigated disaster. I read the final 120 pages of Auntie Mame and it's brilliantly funny while still tugging on your heartstrings in a not-at-all-sickly-sweet way. The edition Aaron sent me is the old not-quite-movie tie-in version with a cover that makes it look like I'm reading something vaguely smuttish. Somehow, I think the title character would approve.


After finishing Auntie Mame, I fussed about for a bit and picked up My Dog Skip, which took me back to being in the small southern towns of my youth. (I call Atlanta home, but only because none of you know where Newnan is.) While the first few chapters (as far as I've gotten - it's a thin thing, 120 pages at most) recall things like wandering in the woods with your dog, hanging out with your friends, and fishing with your dad, there's one thing missing from the text's depiction of the Southern Experience - a mention that it's sixty goddamn degrees in Atlanta right now while we've got homeless people freezing to death under bridges here. Not that I'm bitter, me.


Tonight's episode of Smallville was brilliant, if you care about the show but missed it. (Sunday Night Reru...er...EasyView makes it simple to catch again.) So many references made (Maggie Sawyer! Woot!), and handled with the idea of setting up future mythos for Clark instead of the "Oh, shit the boat is sinking fast, let's mention Batman a dozen times even though we can't use him!" feeling that Birds Of Prey had with its hamfisted attempts at continuity. Between this and the issue of Batman hitting the streets this week, I'm pretty keen on the DC properties at the moment, but I'm sure they'll do something to break my heart, just like shooting The Authority while it was still in the cradle.



So, to consolidate and reiterate: read Auntie Mame, watch Smallville and when the current Batman storyline Hush hits trade paperback, get that as finding issues 608-610 are going to be a pain in your ass if you don't have them already. Go and consume, my minions! Go And Consume!

God, I am such a nerd for getting started with this.

Mind you, I don't plan on stopping for a while.

Squarepusher's cover of Joy Division's epic "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is on the cover CD for the latest issue of Muzik and it's beautiful. Apparently, it's from his most recent cd Do You Know Squarepusher? and while I appreciate the demented-genius aspect that his Warp material has in spades, this different direction is quite lovely. This cover CD also features Bent doing "Dirty Mind" by Prince and Rae And Christian doing Funkadelic, among other, decent tracks. And the magazine is more readable than usual, focusing on acts like Kraftwerk, Madonna, and other dance pioneers instead of interview with inane DJs that no one will be listening to in twelve months' time.

And...new Underword single! "Dinosaur Adventure 3D" is released on the 20th. W007.

Unfortunately, "Regardless" was as boring as canned pears on a plastic school lunchtray.

(Actually, more boring - many plastic school lunchtrays were made of Melmac, which is the coolest plastic ever.)

So, Dan abused me verbally (like that's new) and pointed me to an eBay auction where Perfume Tree's album Feeler was being proferred to the masses and I got it. It's interesting, if not quite the mind-altering experience I was prepared for with his raving over it. Competently done, dark-ish ambient pop with nice programming that reminds me of Single Gun Theory on qualuudes. I'd say I was interested in hearing more from Perfume Tree, but this album is from 1998 and they appear to have changed their name to Veloce in 1999. I'm in the process of downloading their sing "Regardless"; maybe it will rock my socks off. In the meantime, while waiting for that, Mister Darren Emerson is playing records he played in Singapore or whatever the Global Underground concept is.

Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra came out this week in trade paperback and boy, am I unhappy with it. Frank Miller gave us Elektra's origin in 7 pages - Greg Rucka takes four motherfucking issues to tell a story that's about half as compelling and manages to make the whole thing seem like a Lifetime movie. I don't agree with removing the Cool Ninja Stuff from Elektra's past at all, as Cool Ninja Stuff makes the world go around. (Also, he's broken my heart with the Marvel Knights Elektra book by just going the misogynist route, which is disappointing considering how strong his female characters in both prose and comics have been in the past.)

So I figure I'll reread all the "real" Marvel Elektra stuff before the movie just to make sure I am filled with rage afterwards. Saw a clip last night on Entertainment Access Extra Hollywood Tonight or something and it was supposed to be a fight scene. After hearing Garner's Very Bad Greek Accent (ugh...) and watching how they're quick cutting the action I was filled with foreboding doom even more. The fight made Batman Forever look like a John Woo film.

Oh, Wizard magazine is still telling you all that it's going to be great, aren't they?

JK Rowling has, apparently, handed in the latest Harry Potter novel and a publication date has been announced. A friend of mine, a very clever man by the name of Robert Noyes, managed to hack into the publisher's computers and download the text. You'll find it located at http://www.spatch.net/hary.txt . Read it at your own discretion. Personally, I found the first paragraph derivative, but the rest of the text is a bold new direction for Ms. Rowling that I'd like to see more people embrace.

Finished Lord Of The Rings finally. Disappointed that it didn't end with a breakdancing battle between Frodo and Sauron's minions, because I bet Hobbits, with their low center of gravity, can tear shit up on the linoleum.

You can tell a lot about a town's reading habits from what you see in the local Salvation Army or Goodwill stores. Apparently, they only read Tom Clancy, the first part of any Star Trek three-volume crossover novel series, and Judy Blume's books in Salem, MA. (Odd, that - maybe they have a Used Book Emporium For Wicca or something.)

So, while not a productive cheap-book day, I did read a large part of Return of the King and it gets to be downright enthralling and topped that off with a viewing of the 1921 version of The Three Musketeers with Douglas Fairbanks. It's a joy, watching him leap about and wave a sword, even if the score, not done by people in the studio, but a guy with a cheap-sounding synthesizer, grated heavily. Thank god for listener-supported classical radio in the Boston area, eh?

CDs by the keyboard:

Nicolette: Let No One Live Rent Free In Your Head
Gorillaz: The G-Sides
Gentle People: Simply Faboo
Gentle People:Soundtracks for Living
Billie Holiday: Blue Billie
John Coltrane: My Favorite Things (If you've not heard his version of the title track, go find it on MP3. Go ahead. I'll wait.)
Chet Baker: The Definitive Chet Baker
Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers: A Night In Tunisia
Frank, Dean, and Sammy: Eee-o 11: The Best Of The Rat Pack

And...get ready for this...

Wu-Tang Clan: Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

God, I am so white.

I dunno who invented Diet Vanilla Coke, but I really want to kiss that man / woman / alien being on the mouth for an hour or so.


THUNDER Agents Archives came out and it's fantastic stuff. Here's the deal - Wally Wood was leaving Marvel in the mid 60s after helping to launch Daredevil and was offered the opportunity to create his own comics line at Tower, who had previously published paperback books. Boy, did he do a good job. Luminaries like Reed Crandall, Dan Adkins, Gil Kane, and Mike Sekowsky all contributed to make the lean, minimally dialogued stories fun.


Oh, Superman and Daredevil have cheap issues this week - 10 and 25 cents respectively. Not that Superman is impressive in the least - Steven Seagle chaffs me like burlap bike shorts and the art was uuuuugly. Daredevil suffered from its usual "this feels like a chapter in a big book instead of its own story and why the fuck am I buying the single issues still?" on top of "Cheap movie cash in attempt." Not that the movie looks any good. Birds Of Prey looked more convincing that what I've seen so far.


Of course, I will go see it. I love Daredevil, the character. Done properly, he's one of the most compelling comics icons out there. Frank Miller seemed to get him best, especially in The Man Without Fear and Born Again, but the movie seems to, from the trailers, be all about Look At Our Bad Fight Scenes and Man, We Miscasted Elektra Horribly. I'm more excited about The Incredible Hulk, as it doesn't look like a TV movie, the script reads well, and the toys are top-notch. Especially the Hulk gloves that give you giant green "bopping" fists that make noises.

I am an indie snob!




How indie are you? test by ridethefader

You're just too cool for school, aren't you? You're pretty narrow minded
and opinionated with regards to music (and probably most other things
as well). But you're allowed to be, because you really are better
than everyone else. You take pride in obscurity.
You probably prefer vinyl too, you elitist bitch.


(Please note that I do not normally do web quizzes, but this one amused me. I did correct the "I" in the opening to be uppercase because I am also a capitalization snob.)

Transformers thoughts follow.

The Autobots are from Cybertron, a far-distant planet. Why does Ironhide have a southern accent, then?

So, there's female Autobots. Does this mean they "interface" with the male Autobots by rubbing diodes or whatever and you get a Cuisinart?

Why the hell doesn't Megatron just shoot Starscream in the head?

This is what happens when you watch old videos instead of reading a book or something. Reading is FUNdamental. Not that I'm one to talk. I've been avoiding the last 75 pages of The Two Towers to focus on old Avengers trades like The Avengers-Defender War, the whole Celestial Madonna storyline, and that Under Seige story that doesn't feature Steven Seagal as a cook, but does have Mr. Hyde beating the living crap out of poor, British butlerly sort Jarvis.

Diamond and UPS have apparently conspired to make sure I don't get comics until tomorrow. Man alive. I took home Earth X and the latest JSA trade. The latter has been read and it's good, even if I felt like I needed a primer in major chunks of DC's continuity. Poor Hawkman.