Thursday, September 30, 2004

maybe stoned slackers tend to be better informed and educated

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show was on Bill O' Reilly's show recently and O'Reilly stated that his audience consisted of "stoned slackers" who "87% of which are intoxicated while they watch the show". Unfortunately for O'Reilly turns out his audience is less well informed and educated than Stewart's.

Link

hurricanes in florida are god's punishment...

For having the most retarded electoral process in the country. That's right. Retarded. Furthermore, I am starting to get a very queasy feelings about the outcome of the night of November 2nd. Don't forget to watch the Daily Show's coverage of the first presidential candidate's debate tonight.



The tabulation machines then went bananas. One Miami precinct reported a 900 per cent turnout; another showed just one ballot cast out of 1,637 registered voters.


Link

method in madness

I <3 David O. Russell. Back when he was doing "Three Kings" there were rumours about him being a particularly insane director; but the methods speak for themselves. Now there's a little publicity war going on regarding a piece in the New York Times on what it was like to be on the set of "I <3 Huckabees" - I think he comes off as a wonderfully brilliant cad.

Despite all this, I heard from someone in the know that Jon Brion had a particularly wonderful time working on this film.



Mr. Law has decided to take a role offered by Christopher Nolan ("Memento"). At a Hollywood party, Mr. Russell, a lean, muscular 46-year-old with dark, lanky hair, runs into Mr. Nolan and — in full view of the party guests — puts him in a headlock. Wrapping his arm around Mr. Nolan's neck, Mr. Russell demands that his fellow director show artistic solidarity and give up his star in order to save "Huckabees."


Link

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

i am what i would call home

I am back in the Bay Area. I am about to give notice and start moving my things into storage, and then proceed apace with a move. I have been off the radar for several reasons:

1) In the space of five days I drove from Seattle to San Francisco, the next day to Los Angeles, the day after to Las Vegas...

2) In Los Angeles I caught Death Cab's set at the Inland Invasion festival which featured mostly bands from the 80s and the lovable Christina came along and later we hooked up with Martin from Giant Robot. I caught some of Tears for Fears and Martin and I got blown away by Devo. Jumpsuits are awesome. There was a hilarious scene in Ontario, California near the venue in the hills, where all the bands were staying and at the same time a class of '84 reunion was underway. Most of the bands who had played that day had their heyday in 1984, so watching the two crowds bump into each other in the lobby was really weird. Dawn and I snuck away, unable to find a CD player, and drove around listening to the final mixes of an album which when released in March next year will become one of my favorite albums of all time.

3) Spent my first few days in Vegas ever, which made a teetotaler like me feel hungover. I went to some bizzare crossover Xbox sponsored gig featuring The Walkmen and another band whose name shall go unnoticed and who have a song actually called indie rock n roll or somesuch. The Walkmen were great. I didn't even see the other band.

Then I figured out how to disceetly take a copy of Fable for my Xbox. Have I become such a Mac zealot that stealing from Microsoft actually gives me pleasure? The rest of my Vegas stay was wonderfully decadent, but bar none the highlight that's printable was Dawn and I renting Vespas and cruisng the strip. I was worried about Dawn at first who'd never ridden a scooter and those Vespas got a little bit of pickup on em, you know? But after five minutes doing laps in a parking lot she turned into hot mod babe and tore it up. Later we rolled craps with Bobby Flay, that chump who was disgraceful as the first American on Iron Chef. Dawn asked me to roll a hard twelve and I did right then and there. Sadly Dawn has discovered that she has the ability to tell me to do things and I will do them exactly as she commands me.

Walla told me to check out the daylight room in The Venetian, which we stumbled into after midnight - a bizzare hallway replica of the canals of Venice with a surreally believable painted sky and lighting that has the exact color temperature of a mildly overcast day at 4pm. All this disorientation is phenomenal. Somehow we left our room around 11pm and wandered out and came back and it was unbelieveably 6am. Las Vegas is, I believe, a blight upon the Earth that should be eradicated. But I had one hell of a good time there and look forward to going back November 2nd, election night, for Death Cab's show.

4) So I slept 4 hours, got Dawn to the airport, and then hit the road and diverted on back highways to get back to I-5, barely awake. I must thank Fleetwood Mac for keeping me awake - Tusk and Rumours are two of the greatest albums ever. I crossed terrain in California I'd never seen before - open desert. And it was so strange to ponder who might live out here; yards comprised of dry scrub and ramshackle mobile homes and everyone seemed to own five burnt out vehicles. I helped a lady jump start her car at a gas station, someone who carried everything they owned in the cab of their pickup truck, with a duct taped window. At the gas station I went inside to get water and there was an enormous rumble and the place shook like it was going to come down. I asked the attendant what that was - "Sonic boom from the fighters up at Edwards Air Force Base". Wow. Never felt that before.

5) And then I arrived home and my car was shot and I've been sitting in my apartment for a few days going on walks and thinking and trying to figure out how to fix 10 hours of mistracked DV tape, which I did.

So I am returning to life, slowly but surely. I've needed a few days to think about a lot of things, where I'm going, what I'm doing. And everything's better now. It's funny; you get in a period in your life where after bouts of dissapointment you declare that you will care no longer, that you've reached the point where you give up and realize no one's going to come along and make things better. And then all of a sudden they do.

I am going to work on the following for the next few days: starting to edit footage for a DVD release sometime next year of a band based in Portland. Two music videos I want to shoot really badly, one of which I've done the treatment for and await feedback on. A feature idea that's very vague but both Nick and I are feeling the need to investigate ideas about isolation, violence, the small things that hold the world together and what happens when they slip out of place. Blame it on the original Dawn of the Dead, the new DVD of which is awesome. I also recommend Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind now on DVD, and Shunji Iwai's Swallowtail Butterfly which I finally snagged a copy of for myself, and I'm going to sit down this weekend and watch the 5 hour cut of Until The End of the World.

Oh also, did you know that if you have OSX 10.3 or higher and iChat A/V you can connect any DV camera to it for videophone usage? We're all going iSight crazy but I found out I didn't even need to buy one.

That's enough for now... Hope all sees everyone well.

who owns what

Nikki Finke starts off by discussing how the major networks are refusing ad buys for the DVD release of Fahrenheit 9/11; not anything that surprises me to any degree. The collosal mainstream media has a new standard in the interests of being fair: ignore anything that presents a strong viewpoint and continue to be bland. Or does it go even further? Because then she gets into which powerful media conglomerate owner is voting for whom and the results are very, very interesting, especially when it comes to ABC / Disney...



At least that wily old codger Sumner Redstone had the balls to come out this weekend and say what everyone already knows is true: “There has been comment upon my contribution to Democrats like Senator Kerry. Senator Kerry is a good man. I’ve known him for many years. But it happens that I vote for Viacom. Viacom is my life, and I do believe that a Republican administration is better for media companies than a Democratic one.”


Linky.

Friday, September 17, 2004

not home just yet

Almost. Going to L.A. and Las Vegas through Tuesday. Rollercoasters and artifical beaches, hoorah!

Friday, September 10, 2004

summer falls

This has been perhaps the best summer of my life. I used to appreciate that I could not assignate superlatives to single, individual days. I thought that the fear of holding on to one isolated good moment would perhaps make you too precious; and in doing so forget to recognize the loveliness that may subtly be there in each and every moment. But seriously, in the past few months I have...

1) Met a girl named Dawn who I really, really, really, really, really like. And in a shocking development, I think she likes me, too.
2) Started a company with Nick in addition to quitting my formerly soul leeching job. And we're even starting to get work, too.
3) Attended San Diego Comic Con with Nick. Met some really wonderful people but most of all for me, met Christina there. 'Nuff said. (arrrr.)
4) Saw Pixies play in the open air in the desert with most of the people I really care about there in attendance singing along, having just played opening slots for them, which pretty much makes this the greatest show I've ever seen.
5) Got to witness a good chunk of the recording of my favorite bands' new album; and forge what will be undoubtedly the kindest, best working relationship I could ever hope to have with a band.
6) Saw a lot of really good shows, previously documented here in bits and pieces.
7) Saw my best friend and creative partner on Nightline and put his neck out on the line for something we believe in - that this election is one of the most crucial of our adult lives.
8) Went swimming in a beautiful lake after watching falling stars in deep night away from artificial lights, sleeping in fields.

You'll be sorely missed, longish days and late setting suns.

Thursday, September 09, 2004

l'empire du mort

Best cheesy tourist experience in the world has got to be touring the catacombs of Paris. Just a peek and glimpse into the city's literal underworld is enough to make your head spin for days. Now check this out - the epilogue is a let down, but the initial setup, with proof of a truly elaborate secret society is really cool.

Link

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

doctors love women

I agree that to denigrate Bush based upon the appearance of his intelligence in public speaking is beside the point when it comes to assessing his failures. It has to do with policy, attitude, and application of that policy. But the video below seriously makes me question his grip on reality and whether or not he secretly believes he is running for Frat President of the U.S.

Bush on gynecologists.

my president

The past year I've been especially moved by speeches by Al Gore for MoveOn. Freed from the necessity of blandness all campaigners must adopt for broad televisual acceptance, he has been passionate, outraged, eloquent. A recent article in The New Yorker exemplifies the traits about him I admire.



“One consequence is that there is an emergent triumphalism among market fundamentalists that has assumed an attitude of infallibility and arrogance that has led its adherents to be dismissive and contemptuous of values that are not monetized if they don’t fit into their ideology.”

What’s missing? I asked.

“Families, the environment, communities, the beauty of life, the arts. Abraham Maslow, best known for his hierarchy of needs, had a dictum that if the only tool you use is a hammer, then every problem begins to look like a nail. Translating that into this discussion: If the only tool you use for measuring value is a price tag or monetization, then those values that are not easily monetized begin to look like they have no value. And so there’s an easy contempt, which they summon on a moment’s notice for tree-huggers or people concerned about global warming.”



Link

Monday, September 06, 2004

Where is my mind...

I'll have some pictures soon, but the Pixies show in Bend, Oregon... With The Decemberists and Death Cab for Cutie opening... Was perhaps the greatest show I've ever been to in my life. Everyone backstage was losing their shit (except for Will) and singing along and jumping up and down like it was going to go out of style. It was really, truly beautiful.