I'm in the mood for love...SIMPLY...because you're near me!!

3.18.09
9:21pm
THAT is how powerful your sexy is!

Mere proximity encourages full turgidity!

Congrats!

Big MUNNY!

The song isn't "I'm in the mood for love, simply because you're clutching my John Johnson", NO!

We're talking lonely-inexperienced-teenage-boy-watching-his-secret-crush-buy-an-apple-from-the-cafeteria-fruit-stand reaction here!

Cannae control his self!

He cannae doot!

He cannae!!

That's what you're working with...ON A DAILY BASIS.

Shiz, niz, I'd never get anything done!

The merest hint of a reflective surface and I'd be off like pants afire!

Whoosh!

Porkchop sandwiches!

No mirrors or spoons allowed!

Done!

Now...you might (but are most likely not) be asking: Paolo, why be you so happy, eh? What deal be? Good hair day? GREAT hair day? Just how great...IS your hair today? Me want know! Me want know NOW!"

You MIGHT be thinking that.

And, let me tell you, it has nothing at all to do with my hair.

Unless you're referring to the "hair-like" axons in my brain as "hair"...which would be convoluted at best.

No, I'm not even having that great of a day, really.

Just sort of a regular type day groove.

But here's the thing...

On Sunday, Ray lent me Fallout 3, a HUGE (in the sense of width, depth and breadth) PS3 game which I have been enjoying ever since.

It takes place in a post-apocalyptic landscape etc etc.

I have also been watching Battlestar Galactica (and enjoying it) in which two main characters were boxing in a recent episode.

I have ALSO also been watching the start of the third "volume" of Heroes, in which this bald pyrokenetic showed up who reminds me of Butterbean (the redneck boxer guy).

All these components were mushed together into a tasty little botargo upon which I nibbled last night (well, this morning actually.  I played Fallout from 1 in the morning to 7ish today).

And the result?

My brain is convinced of something that is not happening and may never happen, but it has greatly improved my outlook on life.

At least temporarily.

And hey, if you're not living in the now, you're probably dead or an accountant.

I am neither, so I am happy.

Just a long, tangential romp to say just how much I dig my brain at this particular moment.

Go brain!

Go!!

And.  There's.  More.

Even though I have just recently finished the Inchoate Trilogy, I had another idea "just pop in there" like Ray (Stanz, not Zablocki) calling up the image of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man at the end of Ghostbusters.

A hell of a long time ago, I decided to try to decode an Edward Gorey piece entitled The Chinese Obelisk.

In it, birdlike creatures fly past shattered or incomplete stone structures on a grayish background with strips of cloth in their mouths.

On each piece of cloth is a word.

There are about 80 total.

The words range from the mundane (glue) to the superarchaic (imbat) to the arboreal (jequirity) to the astronomical (gegenschein) and everywhere in between.

I had copied down each of the words to find definitions because I was excited to tighten my grasp on the English language.

Then I forgot about the project utterly.

Until today.

My new project will be called "The Chinese Obelisk" and will consist of 23 short films based on 23 of the words from Gorey's piece.

While the Inchoate Trilogy was never really meant to be taken seriously in ANY way, shape or form, these will actually have something more to them.

At least I hope.

These are going to range from shorts to soundscapes to whatever I think fits the word in question.

It should keep me busy for a while.

Along with that, I laid some vocals down (that means recorded some vocals to those not "in the biz"..."the biz" meaning the entertainment industry) on Ray's (Zablocki, not Stanz) sonic gangbang the other day (the working title is "Duckernauts") and, just yesterday, I wrote full on lyrics for it.

He and I will reconvene to record them soon.

At the same session, I also recorded some lyrics I'd had written for some months for a song called "These Are Some Things".

It's all mine and, at some point, that's going to pop up on the George Washington Diarrhea myspace site.

AND, there is a certain special li'l hedgehog out there who will soon have her very own theme song, although I think ditty fits more with the music and tone of the thing.

But I don't think she even knows this journal exists so this paragraph is thus rendered moot.

TASTE the mootness.

Mmmm...mooty.

Also yesterday, my shimmering, glimmering O&O managed to Morselate the anus of the Internet and score her and I two tickets each to two dates on what is to be the last Nine Inch Nails tour for what might be a very long time.

They are touring with Jane's Addiction (which I give not a shit about) and, yes, they're calling it the NIN/JA tour.

Merch stand, here I come.

Then there's the Cake show a week before the NIN show.

Not sure I mentioned this, but I haven't seen them in OVER ten years.

I hear John McCrea has become less of a douchebag, to his fans at least.

They're playing at Terminal 5 where Chris and I saw eels on their last tour and it's a great venue.

It's strange, I always held Cake and eels on the same level of fame in my mind and the fact that they are both playing at the same place just cements that construct.

What's ALSO strange is that THREE of my favorite bands got Grammy nominations this years as well.

Rock on, synchronicity.

And speaking of which, TMBG is having their sixth in an apparently never-ending series of shows at Le Poisson Rouge (and their seventh is planned for the Saturday after the Cake show).

Not sure if I'm going.

Quite frankly, there's no one left to go with.

I've gone to four of the six thus far and had a great time at each, but I'd also been with one or more people at each one.

I'll play it by ear.

Next, the Ghostbusters video game, which is fully sanctioned by, written by and voice acted by all four of the original cast plus Walter Peck and Janine Melnitz is coming out in June and I am pretty goddamn excited.

Even more so since Ray (Zablocki, not Stanz) informed me that, because of all the hype surrounding the game (which was to replace a third movie), they are actually going to do a third Ghostbusters movie.

Normally, I would have a violently adverse reaction to this based on such brilliant let's-do-the-sequel-over-two-motherfucking-decades-after-the-last-one-came-out examples such as Indiana Jones, Star Wars and whatever other bags of shit the Hollywood childrapers are responsible for bringing us, but Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis are SO dedicated to the source material that I can't see this turning bad.

One thing though: if there is even a whisper of aliens being included in the script...I will kill Dan Akroyd and that bee stung tubster Harold Ramis with my bare, throbbing erection.

The game is being released in conjunction with the Blu Ray version of the original Ghostbusters movie.

Teh w00t.

And finally, Philip and I were jabbering the other day and stumbled upon the fact that so many (all?) Prince lyrics could be adopted as mission statements, mottos, life lessons, religious tenants etc.

Here's a handful:

"If it breaks when it bends, you'd better not put it in."

"Look up in the air! It's your guitar!"

Call (in ecstatic, zealous tones): "You could be the President!"

Response (smug, dismissive): "I'd rather be the Pope."

"We don't have to make children to make love. And we don't have to make love to have an orgasm."

"I don't want to take my clothes off...but I've got to..."

Pick and choose, combine them all or find your own: if you take His words to heart, then you will truly be His Chosen.

But you can't touch people who aren't Jehovah's Witnesses.

Or at least I think that's how it goes.

There was a Jehovah's Witness working here when I started and she wouldn't touch ANYONE unless they were also Chosen.

Or maybe she was just a bitch.

For more information about the Church of Purple, go and watch Graffiti Bridge.

It's fucking horrible, but you get to see a "spiritual" Prince.

Warning: it's creepier than "normal" Prince.

That's all.

Go in Peace, to Love and Serve the Lord.

*sigh*

3.17.09

10:50pm

Heh.

Just overheard this at tonight's security briefing:

A resident was given a sleeping pill.

He was then allowed (by the same people who gave him this sleeping pill) to go, unsupervised, to the Smoke Room (where residents can smoke cigarettes).

About a half hour after this, a visitor contacted security and informed them that, as they were leaving the building, they shared an elevator with a resident in a wheelchair who appeared to be dead.

A few minutes later, security found this resident, as asleep as a human being can be, alone in the elevator, slumped over in his chair.

He had been alone, asleep on the elevator, for fifteen minutes.

The nurses on the floor admitted to giving him the sleeping pill and then leaving him to his own devices.

And nothing will happen to them.

Fubar uber alles.

Let's Get Inchoate

3.12.09
9:03pm

Sending out a Facebook thing in regards to this, so I'll just touch on it here.
THE INCHOATE TRILOGY IS NOW UP.

All right.
Just so.
In other news, I discovered today that Gorillaz is indeed releasing a third album.
That makes me all happy n stuff because, while it isn't always the best music, it's big fun getting lost in the mythos associated with the band.
I enjoy getting caught up in mythoses.
Mythoi?
Hm.

Since I last posted, I've finished Lost District and it made my very soul tired and cold.
Way to kill the sun, Joel Lane.
I then picked up and finished Alex Garland's The Tesseract which came very, very highly recommended by one Wade, Jessica AKA Deadpool AKA The Jesseract.
Although she was unable to recount a SINGLE REASON WHY, she insisted it was an excellent, brilliant, etc. book.
It was all right.
The ending was better than the beginning and that's a shame since the ending was about 9 pages.
I don't want to sound like I'm dissing her though; I want to make it clear that when certain people recommend books to me (namely those in the book business, people I know who have the same taste as me, people I know who actually write and write well or the occasional, mythic person who embodies all three of these traits in a wonderful Simpatico Smoothie) I expect them to be nothing short of amazing.
ESPECIALLY if they actually say the book they are recommending is, in fact, amazing.
Next on the docket is Diamond Age by Stephenson (recommended by Colin).
I think there were a few others floating around out there, but I'll need to check in with my tastemakers.

Saw Watchmen on Sunday.
That Ackerman chick needs to die.
Or just stop talking, whichever.
Yes, she had great breasts and a pert little tush, but a nice set and an picturesque bottom DO NOT a good actor make.
And the three and half minute bone scene do not make up for the rest the movie in which she is clothed and talking.
So few actors have what I call the Total Package.
I think it's just me and...well, Harrison Ford and me, that's it.
Don't hate us because we're beautiful.
LOVE us because we're beautiful.
You guys gotta get ORGANIZED.
FOCUS.
Other than her loud sucking throughout, I thought they did an all right job with this thing.
Rorschach was perfect.
Comedian was perfect.
If you nail those guys, you can afford some imperfections along the way.
But god damn I hated that chick.

Saw the aforementioned Terminator trailer with the NIN song in it.
Man I love hearing Nine Inch Nails on huge goddamn speakers...

Also started watching The Boondocks and Battlestar Galactica.
Enjoying both for different reasons.

Downloaded the third "volume" of Heroes because I liked the first and second just fine.
Might wait until I get tired of BSG (or al least fatigued) before I pick it up though.
BSG has my enjoying it at the moment, so I'll be happy to leave well enough.
Alone.

Also also watched the first season of the Britcom "Peep Show".
Of course I like it and, of course, only season one (of its four or five seasons) is on DVD here in the US.
Something about the main character Mark is very familiar and depressing.
He reminds me of me, somewhat, in high school.
Very depressing.
Very.

Happened to hear GNR's 'Estranged' on my iPod earlier this week.
Say what you will about Chinese Democracy (uh, yeah, I know I said I would give it another chance, but that hasn't happened yet) but they HAD IT back in the early 90's.
That song is just so everything-you-want-in-a-GNR-song song.
The fucking things is over NINE MINUTES LONG, there's at least three guitar solos, the chord progression is exactly what it should be, Axl counts off during it, he plays piano, he sing about water imagery, death imagery and death-in-water imagery.
It's THE DEFINITION of what a Guns N Roses song should be.
AND, it has a correlation with me.
Check it out...
So, the videos for Don't Cry, November Rain and Estranged form a triptych (at least according to MTV and Axl Rose.
Estranged was the final piece of the puzzle.The third and final installment.
Know anyone else that's recently finished a third and final installment of something?
I don't know.
Just symbolic, you know?
Not really, but, you know?
Come on, COME ON!

Yesterday was quite a talky day!
Had lunch with Jade (who is Aussietastic and was able to answer my question about how Australians in general feel with regards to Flight of the Conchords (enjoyment)), had an in-depth conversation about something or other with Colin which was interrupted, in the best sense of the word, by a call from Jeannie who I spoke to for quite some time after which I ate some very nice Chinese food, only to be interrupted AGAIN, by Philip chiming in my ears.
Very talky.
Spoke again with Mme. Radbill this evening and I hope to continue doing so.
She is one of the best and falling out of touch with her is always a bummer.

Anything else of note?
Mmmm....went to a party on Saturday.
It was....a party.
The hour disappeared while I was there.
Yep.
You COULD say the party was so good that it actually distorted the time/space continuum.
Although I would probably correct you.
And call you a fucking idiot.
But, hey, that's just me, not saying I would for sure, but also not saying I wouldn't.
Or something.
Ease up, hombre.

Ah, that triggered something.
Eels has FINALLY announced the new album.
It's called "Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire" and it's coming out June 2nd.
I'm ambivalent because I'm obviously excited for the new eels, but I'm also setting myself up for disappointment because the last eels album was this incredibly beautiful double album and this is only 12 tracks.
Who knows, maybe it will be 12 tracks of pure gold.
The same thing happened when NIN announced their first album after The Fragile.
BUT E has stated that he has another full album finished, so maybe he'll drop something before four more years have passed.

Along with the new eels, there's a new Manson album in the works coming out right before Hombre Lobo.
It has most of the production team from Antichrist Superstar, one of the only great Manson albums.
Could this be a return to form?
Maybe if Manson stops drinking so much goddamn absinthe.
This is the first album written with Twiggy in about ten years as well.
If Twiggy picked anything up from Reznor while he was with NIN, then this new Manson project just might be listenable.
How cool would that be?
Manson actually returning from this ridiculous nose dive he's been in for so many years?
Yowza.

All right.
That's it.
Go watch the Inchoate Trilogy.
And feel just awful about it.

The Inchoate Trilogy Trailer

Trailer is up here-->  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WhyH91E8vE
Also, relive my worst nightmares here--> http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=PaulGuyet&view=playlists

NIN In FIlm

3.3.09

8:55pm

Warning: this post contains intense fan boy adulation for Nine Inch Nails and incessant exhortations for the reader to listen to their music.

You have been warned.

Found out Sunday that Nine Inch Nails' song "The Day The World Went Away" was going to be used in the new trailer for Terminator: Salvation.

I watched it yesterday and now I am writing this post.

Action...reaction...

The music was slightly edited here and there to make the quiet parts longer and the noisy parts more drummy (there are no drums in the original track) but it was clearly the song and it works very well with the imagery and subject matter in the trailer.

Like many people, I am planning on seeing Watchmen this weekend, and I am almost certain that this Terminator trailer was made to be placed right before it, just like the teaser was made to appear right before The Dark Knight (oh Warner Bros., you can just fuel space shuttles with your credibility right now, can't you? Will, can we get a new X-Prize in which the contestant harnesses the power of Warner Bros. credibility to make a rocket go someplace? Excellent.).

All this lead me to thinking about how effective Nine Inch Nails' music has been in pretty much every film/trailer I've seen it in.

Professionally speaking; I don't mean the "Mr. Self Destruct" video set to Fight Club footage or the "Every Day Is Exactly The Same" video set to Binding Silence footage (metaburn!!!!!1 580,000 plus hits meta burn!!!!!!1!!!!)

Ever since I heard my first Nine Inch Nails instrumental tracks on their Broken EP (the creepily suggestively titled "Pinion"-- which only works in full if you've seen the video for it, and the regrettably angstily titled "Help Me I Am In Hell"-- gasp! I'm so Goth I'm dusty...) I have enjoyed them.  It's easy to get your message across in a song with lyrics, you just say what you're trying to get across; but to express an idea or image or sentiment with only music, or in the case of Nine Inch Nails, sound? That takes talent.

On their next album, "The Downward Spiral", they had another instrumental called "A Warm Place" which was so disparate from anything NIN had done before, it shocked some people, even more so because it was sandwiched between a song called "Big Man With A Gun" in which Reznor is screaming about having a big dick and coming all over you, the listener, and "Eraser" which has about two whole minutes of Reznor screaming "kill me" over and over as his voice eventually gets swallowed by an ocean of dissonance. That's right, there was a mainstream artist in 1994 who knew the meaning of 'juxtaposition'.

Between "The Downward Spiral" and their next album which would come out five fucking years later, Reznor finally did what a lot of people wanted him to do: work on movie soundtracks.  Namely, Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" and David Lynch's "Lost Highway".  Reznor produced both soundtracks and created new music for each.  His music appears more noticeably in NBK (a different version of "A Warm Place" and "Something I Can Never Have" are used at key moments in the film and the original track, "Burn", which was actually written by Reznor AFTER he had seen the rough cut of the film, appeared in the credits) but it works in "Lost Highway" as well. The track created for "Lost Highway", "The Perfect Drug", has one of the tightest Mark Romanek directed videos ever; it's Nine Inch Nails meets Edward Gorey on absinthe.
Trent Reznor's "Driver Down" appears at the end of the movie.

Those are the only notable Reznor soundtrack moments to date, but since then, people have used Reznor's music in films and trailers to excellent effect.

Specifically the AMAZING opening credits to David Fincher's Se7en. 

I'm actually kind of glad I didn't see this in theaters, because I probably would have made some terrible pre-adolescent stew in my pants.

Moving on.

Then, Tony Scott (Ridley Scott's brother, I think) had his brief love affair with Nine Inch Nails when he used some NIN music in The Fan (sort of effective, but a bit too "the song is describing what's happening in the scene" at times) and Man On Fire (much more effective and mature; Scott blended a few different songs together in one scene where Denzel attempts suicide.  Very powerful and disturbing).

Next occasion that I'm aware of was when the instrumental "Just Like You Imagined" was used in the trailer for "300".

This song is amazing and the way t was utilized in the trailer fucking blew everyone's mind.  If only the actual movie had been better.

But whatever, this isn't about the quality of the movie.

That trailer...good lord.

And that brings us to the Terminator trailer.

If you see Watchmen any time soon, you're probably going to see this trailer.

Tell me it doesn't work.

I guess the point of all this was to ponder out loud why NIN music just works so well in films and trailers.

I suppose it's the inherent cinematic nature of Reznor's music.

Although I'm partially convinced that the concept at the heart of this ponderance is stuff happening in time with music.

Man, am I ever a sucker for that.

If it's done well.

I'm not THAT easily impressed.

Seriously.

Anyway, after their tour with Jane's Addiction this summer, NIN is going on hiatus so Reznor can do more stuff (some not Nine Inch Nails related, some not even music related), hopefully some of which will relate to scoring films.

After Reznor released "Ghosts I-IV", the 38-track, two plus hour, double instrumental album (on which one track, "IV Ghosts 34" was nominated for the Best Rock Instrumental Grammy this year), he has proven himself able to score films that don't even exist, scoring films that do should not be much more of a stretch.

And here come those exhortations:

I urge you to check out "Ghosts I-IV".

It's five dollars here.

Not all of it is gold but a lot of it is really solid.

It's beautiful, creepy, funky, vulnerable, cacophonous and a lot of other adjectives.

If all you know of Nine Inch Nails is "Head Like A Hole" and "Closer", you're going to be surprised.

and I'm writing everything down in a spiral notebook...

3.2.09
4:36pm

This is some epic shit here, folks.
I have, after FOUR YEARS of passively working on it, finished the third and final installment of my short film cycle, The Inchoate Trilogy.
It is entitled Sextodecimo, and it will appear soon on YouTube.
But there will appear first the trailer I made for the trilogy Saturday evening.
It's part annunciation, part challenge and part mind fuck.
Just like me.

I finished filming the final segment (Finale) on Saturday with Chris as my special guest cameraman.
I jumped off the roof.
At some point, I am going to start submitting the three individual films (Taken From Me, Aphotic and the new Sextodecimo) to film festivals where they will either sweep or disappear utterly; with my work, there IS no middle ground.
Middle ground is for people who makes things that people understand and enjoy.
My work doesn't need approval or actors or dialogue or lighting.
It just needs.
It needs you.
And it will have you.
Body and mind and soul.
Give yourselves over...or be taken...roughly.

the end is NOW

Just now:

Watched "Hounddog".
Downer.

This Onion Makes You Cry HAPPY Tears!!!

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2.27.09

9:44pm

So, if you can believe this, every Thursday I have a ritual:

I walk down to 85th and Lexington and pick up a copy of the Onion.

I then read it when I get back to work.

I always have a blank e-mail open, addressed to myself in case something catches my interest.

This week, there is a new feature entitled "Gateways to Geekery" and while some of it didn't float my boat (The French New Wave) and some of it was trying to float a boat that was already floating (British Sitcoms), one entry just ran right up my gangplank.

Hard.

And that runner was Glam Rock.

Personally, I've never given too much of a shit about it, but the entry said that Ziggy Stardust was a good gateway.

I love Ziggy Stardust so it stands to reason that if any of the other stuff was like Ziggy Stardust there's a fair chance that I might enjoy that as well.

Plus, it's always good to get into new (for me anyway) music.

Mostly for myself, but also so I can spare my friends from having to hear me babble on and on about the same six bands (more so than I already do).

After Ziggy they recommended Roxy Music's self titled album, The Slider by T. Rex and Brian Eno's Here Come The Warm Jets (which is a wonderfully sinister title).

Now, I know Eno from his work with Bowie on Low and later 1. Outside and I'd heard of both Roxy Music and T. Rex (mostly from Chris), but I'd never (knowingly) heard any of their own stuff, so off to the Internets I frisked!

Thus far I have only listened to the first half of Roxy Music, but I am digging the hell out of it.

Something about the overwrought sense of drama appeals to me...for some reason...

I listened to one track from T. Rex (Metal Guru) and that also seems good, but I haven't even scratched the membrane of the surface.

Along with these I picked up The Lonely Island's Incredibad, which is the guys who do "Dick In A Box","Jizz In My Pants", "Natalie's Rap" and all the other stuff that is keeping SNL afloat these days.

Some funny goddamn shit on there as well.

I recommend "Normal Guy (Interlude)".

Also, and this makes me feel like a bit of a scumbag (I'm certain Kaitlyn would support this feeling), I grabbed the War Child Present Heroes charity album.

Okay, the worst part, worse than me basically stealing a charity album supporting children displaced by war, is that it isn't very good.

The idea is big, famous bands choose a band they like/respect to do a cover of one of their songs.

So there's Peaches doing "Search & Destroy" by Iggy Pop, Scissor Sisters doing "Do The Strand" by Roxy Music, TV On The Radio doing "Heroes" by Bowie and other stuff along those lines.

And none of them are great!

Some are good, but NONE are great.

I feel bad for these kids.

Well...worse.

Just finished watching the first season of Flight of the Conchords.

I didn't really dig it at first, but the show grew on me.

And some of those Musical Moments are achingly funny.

I'M NOW GOING TO ILLEGALLY DOWNLOAD THE SECOND SEASON FROM OFF THE INTERNET.

Take that, HBO.

Needed to reshape my Netflix.

In the last delivery, I received, along with the second disc of FOTC and the remake of The Fly (really excellent, but something about Geena Davis...WAY too many teeth), The Seven Samurai.

That was in the first 20 or so movies I added to my queue three years ago.

So now:

Weeds

Big Love

Peep Show

and....some other series. 

I'm finding cable less amazing than I would have hoped.

That's probably my fault though.

I'm writing a semi-serious Lovecraft short story at Phil's urgings.

I figured, if he's a good writer, maybe he can make me a good writer by telling me what to write.

Just kidding.

I'm a great writer.

And a devil in the sack.

Not very tall though.

Diminutive.

Miniscule.

Tiny.

Dot.

I'M KIDDING AGAIN!

I'M VERY TALL!!!!

Also,Tumblr.

Or Tumbler.

Or whatever it's called.

It's YET ANOTHER PLACE TO POST A BLOG.

And, even though I hate hate hate when this happens, I may have to join it.

Not that anyone reads these.

Or not for very long anyway.

"What's he...what?! What the fuck is his deal?!"

CLICK

*sigh*

No one can handle my Truth.

Buncha weak vessels is all.

Stoked about the gifts I've made for Danielle for her Birthday.

On a scale of "1" to "10", I'd say they're "fucking amazing".

Just being honest.

"Head's up kittens, everything is bad
It's gettin' dark now, and it's the best dark I ever had"

That was on me today.

Not sure why.

Reading it.

At the moment:

Finished Cloud Atlas.

Really excellent book.

The stories inside twine together wonderfully in a way I've not seen before, either because I only read Bazooka Joe comic strips or because he's good at what he does.

I recommend it for people who like reading books.

Then I picked up Why We Suck (which was lovingly provided by one Danielle N. Stockley for mine Birthday) by Denis Leary.

Quite frankly, I was more impressed with his bile and vitriol and acid tongue when I was in 8th grade.

Not to say I'm not enjoying it, but I have to be in the mood.

Also, a book that warns you how offensive it is and guarantees that you're going to laugh "...a lot", really has to work harder than a book that's just, you know, funny.

It's that kind of posturing that makes my eye roll.

Like pep rallies or high school football.

I'd rather watch Rescue Me.

While I was darting in and out of the irascible miasma that is Why We Suck, I also picked up Snow Crash because I'd heard so much about this Neal Stephenson character, I wanted to see if he was worth it.

Oh my goodness is he.

Phil told me that I would freak out when I realized just how ahead of its time this book was and, misreading the copyright page, I did,totally, thinking that it had been written in the late 70's.

Turns out that was the date the cover image had been painted.

But, for this book to have been written in 1992 is right up there with Neuromancer and whenever that was written.

Overall, a great book, except for the PAINFULLY long library research/background information scenes.

It takes a great author to do crazy research and then pass the information subtly to the reader and that just was not the case in this book.

Whole chapters were cut and paste (or so it seems) from Stephenson's notes with the occasional "Go on", Hiro said, thrown in.

I don't care if it DID take place in some cool virtual library with a snarky hologram, it was goddamn boring and thicker than bad fudge.

But fucking Raven was the DEFINITION of badass.

Glass knives indeed.

Anyway, I just finished that yesterday and thought the ending was a bit abrupt.

I didn't need three more chapters, but maybe one.

Whatever the case, for a first book, it was tight like a duck on a drum.

Just yesterday I embarked upon Joel Lane's The Lost District, yet another literary boon from the Good Doctor Swarth.

I've just read the first three stories thus far, but I can tell this is going to be a cold and desolate ride.

Lane's settings are so bleak and monochrome that you can feel the tired, gray air emanating from these stories (I shouldn't really even call them stories; more like scenes form a worn down, broken world where things happen, sometimes, but never good things) and the rust under your fingertips as you turn the page.

Some of it actually evokes Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian and No Country For Old Men more so than The Road), but instead of the dry, scouring heat of the desert, it's the damp, dull chill of these nameless little towns and villages and districts in Britain.

Very lonely, cold stuff.

After this, one Miss Jessica Wade has provided me with The Tesseract by Alex Garland, which, if I remember correctly, is a final boss in Doom II, and, although she "can't remember anything about the book except that it's excellent and the writer is hot", I am very excited.

When book people give you books, ninety nine times out of a hundred, it's going to be the bee's knees: covered in cloying clumps of pollen.

I may also have two or three other things to be excited about coming up, but who the fuck knows until they're already over and done with?

"Not I" said the guy typing in the dark.

Not I.

Nonagon.

2.25.09

9:25pm

First off, today marks the ninth anniversary of my tenure as Happiest Man in the World.

I could be in for another nine, and then, possibly, another.

Check back in 2018 and then again 2027.

So, here's where other people in relationships aren't as cool as me and Chris: first off, they run out of stuff to do and say.

That sucks.

For them.

Secondly, one or the other or both is/are usually unable or unwilling or just afraid to express one's true feelings about one thing or another, and that leads to all typesa shit getting built up silently until one day just popping like a relationship pimple all over the rigid, tense facade and that leads to yelling and biting and punches in bunches, not hugs and pugs.

This doesn't happen in the Ball Pit of Love (that's what I call our relationship) where I've been thrashing about in ecstasy for almost the past ten years.

Thirdly, my chick is SO GODDAMN COOL!

Check this out: guy tells his girlfriend that this other chick is good looking.

Regular relationship: at best, an icy silence pervades the room; at worst, knife meets eye, blood blood blood, you'll never look at another girl again, cry cry cry.

MY gold encrusted platinum relationship: We talk together about how hot she is and how we can invite her over, drug her and have our way (together, as a couple...of rapists) with her.

Not really, but she actually encourages me not to repress my natural, human emotions!!!!

Take that, world at large!!

She's totally a super self realized woman BUT is still happy to snuggle!!

And she can cook, like, awesome food!

That's healthy!!

HEALTHY!!

And we have SO many nauseatingly cute little foibles and in jokes and whatnot that we make the Teletubbies romping with puppies look like an episode of Oz. 

One with graphic ass rape.

Honestly, this is moot.

There's no way I could explain how lucky I am or how perfect we be or how just fucking cool we are in words.

Just...be really jealous.

Don't try to comprehend the love we share, just...stagger at the sheer FORCE of it.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY NOUF!!!!!

WOOOOO!!!!

I Am Waiting For A Bus

1.29.09

7:38pm

I have had a headache for over a week.

It comes and goes, but always, it is there...eating my brain like the Conqueror Worm.

I wish it was a tumor so I could just kill myself and get it over with.

Orgasms and generic ibuprofen seem to stave it off for a while though, so.

Next.

I have been seeing these new Pepsi ads that contain the new logo.

I'd like to repeat here some of the slogans without the eye-catching and very expensive graphic design that usually accompanies them:

"Sooooooweet"

"pop pop pop"

and

"Yo"

I enjoy that the first one kind of sounds like a pig call.

Someone was given a fucktoin of money to "design" these.

Fuck you and give me some.

Finally (FINALLY) had a really great moment today.

Last night, I found out about a Battleship audition today (they are re-re-reinventing the classic plastic-pegs-in-plastic-boats game) for which they were looking for a Don LaFontaine movie trailer voice.

In case you don't know who that is...well, you obviously haven't been watching TV, movies or listening to the radio for the last fifty years.

In a nutshell, he's the guy that people are imitating when they start off a faux movie trailer by saying "in a world..."

He was one of the highest paid actors (let alone voice actors) in the world and now he's dead.

Today, I was told that I sounded just like him in the audition and that I should have a future in his area.

That, is the coolest thing anyone in the business has ever said to me.

Now if only Milton Bradley will agree with this producer and give me summa dat CHEEEEZ.

Seeing They Might Be Giants on Saturday (Jess' first TMBG concert!) and Michael Ian Black on Sunday.

And I will drink my weight in blood...I swear it...

Out.

Batman Vs. X-Men Vs. The Terrible Smell Permeating The Upper East SideVs. Misc. Etc

1.21.09

3:13 pm

Couple.

Of things.

First, got cable installed by a surly and world weary dude this morning.

Immediately wondered why.

Flipped through the assorted 350+ channels and continued to wonder why.

Got the COMPLETE Batman: The Animated Series for my Birthday.

17 discs.

109 episodes.

I've probably seen 100 of them more than three times, but goddamn it that a solid show.

I watched the first episode (with the original voice actor for Alfred...who sucked) and the nostalgia was sweet like some sweet thing I used to enjoy while watching the show.

1992.

Wow.

I have also, recently, been watching the X-Men animated series which was on around that time, but on Saturday mornings as opposed to weekday afternoons.

The X-Men show has NOT held up but the Batman show is still freaking tight as a turtle.

I think it has everything to do with the stylization of Batman.

The show doesn't feel dated because it's always in the 40's (the 40's without robots and lasers and stuff).

Also, the first Batman episode just jumps right in, no lengthy, heavy-handed introductions, whereas the X-Men show ran over and over the fact that they are mutants and hated and Rogue can't touch people and Wolverine is REALLY angry and Jean Grey can't do ANYTHING without fainting and Professor X is an asshole because he's always sending Storm into situations where her claustrophobia will cripple her and endanger the rest of the team and Gambit wants to FUCK, NOW and no one ever uses their powers to their full extent and blah blah blah.

I do enjoy the sheer volume of X-Men and random Marvel characters they'll just toss in though.  There's a cameo from Nick Fury and War Machine for Christ' sake.  That's always fun for a fan to be like, "I have seen that character in comic books!" or some other equally powerful declaration.

In fact, I actually had a dream relating to the X-Men last night... it was some sort of new animated series...all I really remember is Gambit using dice at one point and Cyclops blasting the shit out of Sinister.

There was a HUGE fight.

Pretty cool.

Quite frankly, I'm more excited about Batman than cable.

THE TELEVISION SERVICE, NOT THE MYSTERIOUS TIME TRAVELING MUTANT!!!

HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

I can see how you might have made that mistake.

Changing gears RATHER quickly (keep up children...), I watched The Boondock Saints a few nights ago for the first time in years.

That is quite a bad movie.

I mean, it's great for what it is, a massive-cock-action movie, but every moment of it tries waaay too hard to be genuine.

I'm wondering if the sequel is going to be gently mocking the original and actually strive to be a good movie, or if they are going to just try to out-cock themselves.

Apparently the writer and director (Troy "How Irish Can I Get?!" Duffy) burned all his bridges by being a douche.

As long as Willem Dafoe makes out with another gangster, I'm down.

*SHUDDER*

Next, right outside the Hospital today, I saw a snowball fight turn into a fist fight within a matter of seconds.

Jesus loves the little chiiiildren.

But I don't.

If only they exploded on impact.

That would be awesome.

POP

SPOOT

And finally, Will, I want a Google X-Prize awarded for tracking, cataloguing and eliminating the homeless/vomit/garbage smell permeating the Upper East Side.

It's like the diametric opposite of the lovely syrup smell that occasionally engulfs the city as if we are some huge, dirty pancake covered in angry, polyglot ants.

Finally for real, I have been listening to the New Pornographers today.

Their hopeless and peppy melancholy fits my woke-up-too-early-for-Mr.-Surly-the-Cable-Man mind state.

And "Stacked Crooked" might be my favorite NP song.

Think that might be it...you lucky frog you...

Chupa chupa.

1.20.09

9:20 pm

Ah, sweet, succulent resolution.

Like pulled pork for the soul.

Not really, I'm just passing this whole shit burger into someone else' hands...GOD'S.

Let go and let god.

Man that is freaky.

Like, I picture some crazy Southern Baptist mother with a car full of screaming children just taking her pudgy,  fish-belly white hands off the wheel, rolling her eyes skyward and muttering that under her breath while the car goes through the guard rail and into the ravine or river or some other geological formation starting with an 'r'.

Is a river a geological formation?

Is you is or is you ain't my baby?

And are these two gentlemen in the security office real human beings or just doing impressions of African American stereotypes from the 1920's?

I'll never ask.

SO glad I can't materialize weapons with a thought.

And speaking of materializing whatever it was I just said, tomorrow, I'm getting cable.

350+ channels, 14 of which I'll actually watch.

Welcome to the future.

Oh, also found out a little more info about my Burger King radio thing.

Apparently it is playing in two "major markets" (or so they are called on the paperwork) called Albuquerque and Flint.

Now, I have NO clue what that means, but I certainly hope this fucking thing is playing in more than just TWO cities in the fucking country.

And why Michigan and New Mexico?

My hopes are that those are the names of regions, rather than actual cities.

I also learned that They Who Program Commercials have the ability to play this one until August 2010.

And finally, I am indeed getting residuals.

In other words: cha-CHING.

Hopefully.

If my voice ends up giving children seizures or something maybe less cha-CHING than get that horrible man of the radio right this instant.

But,we'll see.

I have just eaten a burger and now I will continue reading Cloud Atlas.

One final thing, Will and Lady have set a date.

Come December 31st, 2009, I will be in another country.

AGAIN.

Holy fucking shit.

Woo hoo, Will and Lady, woo hoo, I say.

Some say it was a warning...

1.16.09

11:29am

First things first...yesterday on the train, I saw a little old Asian woman eat an entire apple in about 12 seconds.

I have no real feelings about this, but it was just impressive.

There was a slight hint of desperation under the efficient fervor though, as if someone were going to get on at the next stop and eat the apples of everyone who had them.

Or something else along those lines.

Along the lines of MTA Apple Police.

I then thought that the scene, a wizened Asian woman furiously devouring an apple, was a great symbol of something.

I don't know what though.

Maybe the Asian populace taking over New York City, but, as far as I know, that hasn't happened.

I am ill informed on such matters.

Very much so.

And I'm enjoying the cold.

I get to use ALL my big fluffy blankets with impunity.

With immunity from impunity, if you will.

I like the cold better than the hot anyway.

No matter how cold it gets, there is always a certain number of clothing, blankets, sweaters etc. that you can wrap yourself in to make yourself warm enough, but if it's too hot? You, my friend, are shut out of lick.

Also, I hate sweating unless I'm scrumping.

Hate it hate it hate it.

Sweating, not scrumping.

I like scrumping.

A lot.

Just finished reading Trainspotting.

When I first saw the movie waaaay back when, not only did I not understand two thirds of what was being said, but I didn't get why things were happening or why they were funny/emotional etc. except for the really obvious stuff (he pooped......IN THE BED!!!!).

A few months ago, I watched the movie again and understood the whole thing...except for a lot of the actual language. 

The intentions were clear just like they were clear in The Universal Language, but that accent?  Yeesh. 

So, in the book, the writer, Irvine Welsh, WRITES with the accent a lot of the time.

At first it was hilariously overwhelming, but then I got into it and just rolled with it.

The glossary at the end helped too although that was more for terms rather than normal words.

Those I had to sound out and it was fun.

Like learning to read again.

The effect was quite the opposite of finishing a Harry Potter book.

Whereas after Harry Potter and the Prancing Pumpkins or whatever, it's as if any book that isn't on the same literary level or lower is hard to read.

Not hard, but...well, sticky.

After Trainspotting though, everything seems TOO easy.

I like my brain and its sexy nooks and crannies.

Surprised to find that there is actually very little trainspotting done in the movie.

Surprised and disappointed.

Now I am reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell because both Phil and his uncle Martin raved about it over the holidays.

Glow sticks and all.

Digging it xmax so far.

Also picked up Snow Crash by this Neal Stevenson character I keep hearing people cream over.

I tried to read the Denis Leary book, but it's just not that funny.

It's way too obvious and just obnoxious for the sake of being obnoxious.

In the introduction he even says you're gonna be offended and you're gonna laugh...a lot.

Way to believe your own hype.

I think the last time I was offended by anything was an episode of South Park.

They consistent offend me and therefore make me laugh.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the hell out of Denis Leary, but I suppose his stand up/comedy stuff has lost its edge since No Cure For Cancer.

I do love me some Rescue Me though.

Mucho.

Let's get the shiny people over here and the happy people over here.

I want two lines.

Speaking of two lines...I made my Birthday playlist yesterday during a lull at work.

Ha.

Yes, during that one lull...

"White Lines" is on it.

I'm pensive about this party.

No, not true.

I'm pensive about how certain people will react and behave around each other.

Why can't we all just get along with that which Paul wants?

Less of a WWPD?

More of a WWPWMTDFH, What Would Paul Want Me To Do.For Him

Is that selfish?

Ah ah ah...remember...WWPWMTDFH...

There we go.

Seriously though, I passed out once from drinking when I did that tequila thing and it was like time travel.

I boaked, fitted myself into the bathroom corner and then BLINK B.J. was waking me up some time later to bring me home.

All in all not a bad experience.

But again, how often to people REALLY completely forget things?

Pale, pale excuse.

But, what does that indicate?

Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts.

Planning on rejoining the Club because I miss swimming.

In a clean pool.

With naked, wrinkly old men.

*SHUDDER*

Birthday Birthday Borthday.

My son is also named Bort.

Say what you will about Dunking Doughknots, but when they make (microwave) that sausage, egg and cheese on a croissant right it's fucking magic.

The indigestion is also magic.

Like a burning leprechaun dancing up and down the length of my esophagus.

Burny O'Toole.

Stompy McPain

Ouchy McFuckoff

The Prince Thing went rather well I thought.

Got to know Emily a bit better.

Got to spend some time with Kaitlyn and Christina Nongirlfriend.

Reminded of why I'm friends with them.

Still haven't seen Graffiti Bridge.

Not sure I want to.

1990 was a weird year for Prince and I don't think I know any of his shit from those years.

Lauren got me a HUGE Prince thing for Xmas/Berfday and in it there's a rare, live Prince CD.

Of the 20 or so tracks, I know about three.

I'm not a big Prince fan, but I'm a big fan of Prince, n'est pas?

Oh this shift has its ups and downs.

The ups correlate with the times when Mungo is not in the fucking office talking.

The downs correlate, strangely, when she is flapping her MASSIVE gums.

Oh to be Prince Caspian, afloat upon the waves.

She just left, and now I'm enjoying an up.

Woot.

And as far as ups go, I found out that the switchboard might be "up" shit creek without a paddle for OVER A YEAR.

Gaw bless us, evvy un.

I believe I'm through.

Some say it was a sign...

Tepid and Viscous, I Remit...

12.9.08
8:18 pm

First:

Episode TWO of the Diesel Dance Party (in which I command the dancers) has just been put up on http://www.diesel.com/.

It looks as if they are going to put up one episode per week of this six episode psychodrama.

If you want to know the definition of "fear" and "sex", you need look no further than the Diesel Dance Party, for I embody BOTH while remaining disembodied.

Only I could achieve this momentous, paradoxical feat.

Second:

I defeated BOTH the Cockmasters here at my job AND in the Nokia/AT&T Machine today.

At the job, I found a way to silence the everfucking beeping that goes on in the shitty, nonfunctioning Fire System (that, ironically, wouldn't be able to tell if the System Itself was on fire) once and for all.

But the best part is, if I want to return it to its normal (read "broken") state, I can do so with the push of a button.

Fuck you, infernal beeping!

As for the Nokia/AT&T slutbags, I found a way to send ANY SOUND FILE I WANT to my new phone, regardless of whether or not it was purchased from AT&T.

Yes, I have a NEW cell phone.

It has a camera on it.

Ah. Ah ha. Ah hahahahahahahahahaha.

Prepare for penis.

At least, moreso than usual.

Third:

I am sick.

Sick sick sick sicky sick sick.

And I blame you.

Fourth:

I have nothing to go here.

Oh wait, yes I do.

So, you've seen/heard of 2 Girls, 1 Cup (and if you haven't, feel blessed)

I was recently sent something that some might consider far worse, although personally, it wasn't as disturbing to me as 2G, 1C.

Elements of it were but...

If features a man...hm...you know...this isn't something that can be just talked about or described.

You need to see it.

This is not safe for work unless you work in Hell and even then, only if your supervisor has a sense of humor.

Finally:

I am watching a British show called Skins at the moment.

It is excellent and I recommend it.

I am also giving the new Guns 'N' Roses a more thorough listen.

Look, I was a huge fan back in the day and it took 14 years to finish, I'm going to give it more than one fucking listen.

Still at the top of my Secret Santa Joke Gift List.

Even if it IS only available as a physical release from Best Buy.

Think that may be it.

Do your Thing...lest it does You...

The new Guns 'N' Roses album...

...is not very good.

In fact, it's quite bad.

It's bad for a continuation to Use Your Illusion I and II.

It's bad for a straight up Guns 'N' Roses album.

It's bad for a straight up album.

It sounds like the year 2000 or maybe 2002.

The only surprises on it are just how bad and overwrought Axl Rose sounds.

If you are a fan of Guns N Roses, re-listen to the earlier albums and pretend this never happened.

I read a huge review in a recent Onion that gave it an A- and compared it to a unicorn amongst horses ("should we compare its beauty to that of an average horse or simply marvel at the fact that it even exists?").

I then found out that the "special guest reviewer" was a huge GNR fanboy.

It would be like asking me to objectively review a new Nine Inch Nails album.

Not possible.

To be fair though, both this reviewer and Axl Rose say you have to listen to it several times to really "get it".

Thing is: I get it.

It is sucky.

It represents fourteen years of effort and it's terrible.

That is SO depressing.

Anyway, it is my top Secret Santa Joke Gift Item this year.

So, if you and I are somehow in a Secret Santa together, and I get your name, you know what you're getting.

But you have NO IDEA what you're getting into...

Meanwhile, the first episode of the Diesel Dance Party is now online at http://www.diesel.com/.

I am only in the first episode as "the guy putting hoods on people" (you REALLY need to see this) but I'm all over the next five (that's six episodes total, friends) as "The Voice of God" or "The Dance Commander".

I made up that second one, but, believe me, it applies like mascara, bitch.

And, yet no one reads this, I continue...