Archive for August, 2008
the ruins »
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
… is wrong in all the wrong ways. The book… oh my, the book. There was so much right with the Ruins on paper and it just crumbled and mutated and vomited on celluloid. It went from dramatic, exciting and intoxicating to boring, yawn and toxic.
Sure, the acting was mediocre and the direction was blah. Fine, that’s to be expected. But the story was adapted by the fucking author? How does it get so impressively wretch? The wrong people were used in the wrong ways and the story was paced too predictably. And the end. Holy hell. I’m not getting into it, but I’ve never seen anyone try so hard to make something suck as the ending of this one.
Granted, as a movie seen without reading the book prior, it’s probably not terrible. I just had the misfortune of having expectations that were immediately taken into a dark, damp room, cinematically raped and left for dead.
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altruism abounds / haha »
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
I was totally going to impress you with all the greatness that is my generosity of late. I was going to tell you about all the stuff I’ll probably end up donating because it’s far too lame to actually sell to anyone with half a brain (still a large market there…). I was going to tell you about how I donated to Obama’s campaign though it was almost exclusively to get admittance into a show at Turf Club Wednesday. I even gave extra cash to a fundraiser after paying my share of a still-full keg that I drank 30oz from.
Your idea of me, the very mental image you’ve based all of your assumptions on would have exploded in a ball of fire and ignorance and shame. Those assumptions would be turned on their head and you’d probably fill the comments no one comments with apologies. It would all be understandable and I’d accept your cash gifts graciously, but that wouldn’t have been all.
I was going to recount my conversation with an alumni representative and how I’m giving back to the university. Then, as a matter of course, I was going to do some math about how “giving back” makes no sense while I’m still paying off the crippling tuition by working at a job I’m learning to hate.
Finally, I was going to describe in nauseating detail how this philanthropy contrasts with using stolen images for ads that aren’t approved and photoshopping stock images for intraoffice invitations. You would have been your typical enthralled selves and smiled contentedly at your knowing me and all of my karmic contrasts lucky you.
I was totally going to do it.
Then I saw the following in my feed reader and decided and I think you’ll agree it’s far more entertaining than all that: [via]
“There’s a deal!” “There’s a deal!”
news »
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
He stands next to the stone wall, stoic, silent. The unmanned television camera is five or six feet away, facing him. His eyes are closed. His arms are crossed in front of his navy blazer. He holds a microphone in one hand.
The train leaves the stop and passes him quickly. He could be thinking, outlining his to-do list for the day or the remainder of the week. He could be rehearsing his piece, word by word. Maybe it’s live and he’ll only have one attempt. (more…)
i really. really. really want one of these. »
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
I’m not known for my patience. Actually, I’m known for not having any I’m also indecisive but that’s beside the point. Waiting in line, as far as my life and anxiety are concerned, is like being repeatedly stabbed in the foot. But this is so much worse.
I found out about these water bottles [via][via] and would tear the curly tufts of hair out of a smiling infant to get my hands on one. And I know for a fact I’m not the only one. Therein lies the problem.
You may not have heard because I didn’t mention it and you consider me your primary source for current events but the world of plastic bottles was rocked to its non-biodegradable core plastic: 1000 years and still holding strong earlier this year. Apparently, drinking “spring” local already-filtered tap water filtered and bottled locally water from petroleum based toxins molded into clear containers can become… well… toxic.
So yeah. Aluminum is a pretty solid alternative right? That’s what I thought. And so did everyone else. SIGGs shut down their online store because of the demand. Here’s where I let out an under-the-breath “fuck.”
There are options, right? I mean, this is the digital age and we’re forty or fifty years from a paperless office and we’ll have universal health care and no war and all that, right? Sure. Even now I could go to REI and search their vast reserve of six choices. Thanks, one of the most popular outdoor supply centers in North America, you’ve solved my problem.
Shit no. I want to customize. Having a computer with internet access means I’ve free reign to be the selfish prick I deserve to be. I can belittle young girls anonymously on myspace, spout views and hate speech without fear of consequence eat that talk radio; no three-day suspension for bigotry here and can order all manners of filth with a dummy email and my neighbors’ address. Be sure I’ll need to find the design that most effectively reflects my diverse and layered personality onto cast aluminum.
I can only hope that the demand trails off in the cooler months and I can once again go into the SIGGs site to create my metallurgic masterpiece. Then I can drink freely knowing I’ll get some form of cancer because of what I’m drinking, not what I’m drinking it from. I’ll finally be able to once again rest easy on my cell-phone induced tumor.
If any of you can keep me posted on the site’s developments and let me know when I can get in there to customize my new eco-friendly vessel, I’d appreciate it.
persepolis »
Monday, August 25th, 2008
… is an entertaining memoir put to well-done animation. Like most Americans, I had no idea Iran had a history beyond giving us oil while hating us and Isreal. Oh, and something about them having a bomb that could hit Kansas. In any case, it was a cool look at a little dramatized history through a childhood-memory perspective.
The animation was cool and the story was fluid. It was entertaining and smart. It followed a young girl who lives before the Iranian revolution and then goes to school abroad in France. Her adult self sits among the chairs of the airport as the events are recounted.
It’s good and interesting. It’s in French, so there are subtitles, which, like you other Americans, make my head hurt but it was still fun from end to end.
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