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3:00 snapshot #1570
Mar. 18th, 2014 07:25 pm
On Sunday we cuddled on the couch and watched World War Z.
Music of 2012
Dec. 28th, 2012 09:46 pmSo I was sure that They Might be Giants put out a record this year but it turns out that Join Us actually came out in 2011. You can't fault me however, because TMBG have been producing and installing quality melodies since 1983, and in 2012 they DID release a live album. Also I saw them live in 2012. This isn't a great song so much as it's a great experience:
(Spoiler alert: The people always win. Poor apes.)
Speaking of live shows I went to this year, I was here, and this is the first time I ever heard this song.
I also saw my favorite live act, Firewater, this year, touring on the release of International Orange.
I didn't like the album as much as The Golden Hour (which I gave a mild review when it came out, but it's turned into one of my favorite records). Firewater combines dark contemplative bar rock with insanely upbeat traditional music from the east and near east. That was the worst description ever, so please just listen to some of it and love it or not.
The opening act for Firewater in Boston was a group I'd never heard of called The Skeleton Key, touring on a new album called Gravity is the Enemy. This turns out to be my favorite new album of the year. Bass-heavy art rock with a junkyard percussionist, full of weird deliberately off-key bits and stop and start Helmet-like rhythms, Alexis can't really stand it, so I'll have to listen while she's out of the room.
Also definitely see them live, dance near the front of the stage, but watch for flying metal bits.
Speaking of flying metal bits--what? No that was a horrible idea for a seque. Anyway, there's a new Soundgarden record out this year and while I've heard some criticism that they're not as edgy as they were in the early 90's, who is? Also I love "Jesus Christ Pose" but it's hard to kick back with, know what I mean? On the other hand I keep listening and relistening to their new song "Halfway There."
Also this year there was new music from the greatest hip hop act of all time, Public Enemy. In case you missed it, here's the song that became the theme for the London Paralympics:
And finally, for fans of 60's throwback garage zombie music, here's my friend's new band's theme song, The Unlivin' Dead:
(Spoiler alert: The people always win. Poor apes.)
Speaking of live shows I went to this year, I was here, and this is the first time I ever heard this song.
I also saw my favorite live act, Firewater, this year, touring on the release of International Orange.
I didn't like the album as much as The Golden Hour (which I gave a mild review when it came out, but it's turned into one of my favorite records). Firewater combines dark contemplative bar rock with insanely upbeat traditional music from the east and near east. That was the worst description ever, so please just listen to some of it and love it or not.
The opening act for Firewater in Boston was a group I'd never heard of called The Skeleton Key, touring on a new album called Gravity is the Enemy. This turns out to be my favorite new album of the year. Bass-heavy art rock with a junkyard percussionist, full of weird deliberately off-key bits and stop and start Helmet-like rhythms, Alexis can't really stand it, so I'll have to listen while she's out of the room.
Also definitely see them live, dance near the front of the stage, but watch for flying metal bits.
Speaking of flying metal bits--what? No that was a horrible idea for a seque. Anyway, there's a new Soundgarden record out this year and while I've heard some criticism that they're not as edgy as they were in the early 90's, who is? Also I love "Jesus Christ Pose" but it's hard to kick back with, know what I mean? On the other hand I keep listening and relistening to their new song "Halfway There."
Also this year there was new music from the greatest hip hop act of all time, Public Enemy. In case you missed it, here's the song that became the theme for the London Paralympics:
And finally, for fans of 60's throwback garage zombie music, here's my friend's new band's theme song, The Unlivin' Dead:
Urban nature horror movie questions
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:48 pmPossibly this post better belongs at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
soylent_screen , but since my questions have to do with urban nature, as represented in this film, I decided to ask them here. My questions have to do with the most recent adaptation of I Am Legend starring Will Smith which came out last year. I'm not planning on discussing how good it is as an adaptation of the novel (which seems to be a point of criticism) nor do I wish to compare it to other film adaptations (The Last Man on Earth 1964, Omega Man 1971, 28 Days Later 2002). My questions are slightly spoilery, so I'm putting them behind a cut.
( Read more... )
soylent_screen , but since my questions have to do with urban nature, as represented in this film, I decided to ask them here. My questions have to do with the most recent adaptation of I Am Legend starring Will Smith which came out last year. I'm not planning on discussing how good it is as an adaptation of the novel (which seems to be a point of criticism) nor do I wish to compare it to other film adaptations (The Last Man on Earth 1964, Omega Man 1971, 28 Days Later 2002). My questions are slightly spoilery, so I'm putting them behind a cut.( Read more... )
Jury Duty Random
Feb. 16th, 2008 06:15 pmMy jury (the one I'm on) is still deliberating, so I can't talk about the case at all. Here's some other items of interest (or not):
The Norfolk county court staff, without exception so far, is courteous, cheerful, and patient. A bit of a change from Suffolk County (Boston).
The juror's instruction video is narrated by a judge in a high position in the state (I forget which). She is clearly an articulate and intelligent woman who happens to have an Elmer Fudd speech impediment. Being in a room with 160 other people all keeping a straight face while thinking of "Mawwiage," or "Welease Bwian!" was weirdly entertaining.
The large courtroom where they winnowed down the potential jurors (based on criteria such as "Do you already believe that the defendant is guilty?" and "Do you have any appointments that can't be rescheduled?") happened to be the room in which the Sacco and Vanzetti trial took place.
The judge presiding on 'my' case keeps drinking from a tiki mug. It's probably just water or coffee, but it's fun to imagine that she's drinking a Mai Tai or a Bahama mama during testimony. God knows I wish I was.
There are several good options for lunch and breakfast in Dedham Square, including the High Street Grill, and Giuseppe's (which, despite its name and Italian decor appears to be run by Brazilians). Stop by if you happen to be impaneled, arraigned, indicted, or subpoenaed.
I've spent the enormous amounts of downtime reading "World War Z," which my brother (brush_rat) sent me, and which I refused to take into my house (on account of the clutter). It's pretty awesome, if you're into zombies. Now Rebecca is reading it, and loving it.
I'll tell more about the case when it's over (which will hopefully be soon).
The Norfolk county court staff, without exception so far, is courteous, cheerful, and patient. A bit of a change from Suffolk County (Boston).
The juror's instruction video is narrated by a judge in a high position in the state (I forget which). She is clearly an articulate and intelligent woman who happens to have an Elmer Fudd speech impediment. Being in a room with 160 other people all keeping a straight face while thinking of "Mawwiage," or "Welease Bwian!" was weirdly entertaining.
The large courtroom where they winnowed down the potential jurors (based on criteria such as "Do you already believe that the defendant is guilty?" and "Do you have any appointments that can't be rescheduled?") happened to be the room in which the Sacco and Vanzetti trial took place.
The judge presiding on 'my' case keeps drinking from a tiki mug. It's probably just water or coffee, but it's fun to imagine that she's drinking a Mai Tai or a Bahama mama during testimony. God knows I wish I was.
There are several good options for lunch and breakfast in Dedham Square, including the High Street Grill, and Giuseppe's (which, despite its name and Italian decor appears to be run by Brazilians). Stop by if you happen to be impaneled, arraigned, indicted, or subpoenaed.
I've spent the enormous amounts of downtime reading "World War Z," which my brother (
brush_rat) sent me, and which I refused to take into my house (on account of the clutter). It's pretty awesome, if you're into zombies. Now Rebecca is reading it, and loving it.I'll tell more about the case when it's over (which will hopefully be soon).
New Soylent Screen Up!
Feb. 11th, 2008 09:50 pmCall me a sentimental old romantic, but in honor of Valentine's Day, I reviewed Slither (2006). It's the most self-conscious horror movie since Snakes on a Plane, deliberately designed to be an homage to the horror/sci-fi movies of the 80's. Brain slugs from outer space turn people into zombies, and Nathan Fillion is there too. Read my review at Blood Blade and Thruster.
Our Urban Nature Walk yesterday was great. We walked around Jamaica Pond, and despite a dearth of binoculars, saw and discussed a dozen or so bird species, including one I'd never seen before (and without binoculars I originally IDed as a cedar waxwing). The white squirrel made an appearance, and one of the new participants identified a hedge as American bittersweet, a plant I knew existed but hadn't experienced. Naturally, Alexis took a bunch of great pictures, and if you haven't seen them yet, what's wrong with you? I mean, here they are. The same new participant told us of the burry man, a tradition I think we need to start up in the States.
We saw Grindhouse: Planet Terror this weekend. I enjoyed it, but I have a secret to confess: I'm tired of zombies. Yes, it's true. I think after Black Sheep I reached my limit, and yet I still have about 50 zombie movies in my Netflix queue. 28 Weeks Later and Fido are coming up soon, and I'm really looking forward to them, but after that I have to take a zombie break. Anyway, Planet Terror was generally well made, had some scary parts in the beginning, had a LOT of splatter gore effects (side note: I'm a very squeamish movie goer--I find convincing scenes of someone in pain very hard to take--but zombie movie gore doesn't gross me out for some reason) with squib packs that seemed to have a quart of goo in each burst. The cgi effects were mostly well-hidden. It just kind of goes on and on after a while (I don't know if this is a problem with Planet Terror or a symptom of my greater zombie fatigue) and wore out its welcome with me.
The guy behind BBT requested that I review Marquis, a movie co-written by the artistic designer behind Fantastic Planet which seems to be about the Marquis de Sade in prison having conversations with his penis, which is an animated character in the film. It hasn't been released on dvd yet, and out-of-print vhs copies cost between 15 and 60 dollars. If anyone has a copy they'd like to lend me, that would be most convenient. At this point, however, I think I need to watch something unfreaky to recombobulate myself a bit.
Last night was the first in many where I had vivid dreams that were NOT work anxiety dreams, at least not obviously. I've put more subconscious time into that than any other I've had. I should punch in when I go into REM sleep.
I vow every year to do no shopping of any kind between Thanksgiving and New Years to avoid the horror of the holidays, especially pumped in musical dreck, and every year I have to buy groceries and other stuff. The bell-ringer in front of my supermarket managed to clang her clanger in a slightly less annoying way than usual. Or maybe I'm mellowing out with age. I'll try not to rain on everyone's glitter-coated poinsettia parade, but I have some advice: RELAX. Don't work yourselves up into a yuletide frenzy, you Santa-ists. It happens every year, it's all festivities and ugly sweaters and singing ornaments and eggnog and forced cheer and meeting with friends and loved ones and blinking lights andhuman sacrifice claymation and cinnamon and menorahs and dreidels and wrapping paper and bows and awkward parties at work and dancing around explicit religious references at school and construction paper stars and butter cookies and BAM it's January and you're stuck with 2 to 5 more months of dark and cold and sleet and no public festivals except the Superbowl and Valentines Day. Except for you Australians. Do they have "the holidays" in Australia? And if so, WHY? Do you import Norway Spruces and spray them with artificial snow? Does Santa arrive wearing surfing shorts? Do you roast kangaroo nuts on an open fire? I digress. (I love you Australians, and I'm jealous of your upside-down seasons.) All I mean is, if you celebrate some kind of late December thing, don't burn yourself out, don't take it too seriously, despite what Old Navy and the diamond merchants (oh yeah, a 5000 dollar rock is a good gift) and the santa-hatted androids on TV would have you think, IT'S NOT VERY IMPORTANT. Some people don't celebrate any kind of holiday in December. Maybe I'll watch more zombie movies.
We saw Grindhouse: Planet Terror this weekend. I enjoyed it, but I have a secret to confess: I'm tired of zombies. Yes, it's true. I think after Black Sheep I reached my limit, and yet I still have about 50 zombie movies in my Netflix queue. 28 Weeks Later and Fido are coming up soon, and I'm really looking forward to them, but after that I have to take a zombie break. Anyway, Planet Terror was generally well made, had some scary parts in the beginning, had a LOT of splatter gore effects (side note: I'm a very squeamish movie goer--I find convincing scenes of someone in pain very hard to take--but zombie movie gore doesn't gross me out for some reason) with squib packs that seemed to have a quart of goo in each burst. The cgi effects were mostly well-hidden. It just kind of goes on and on after a while (I don't know if this is a problem with Planet Terror or a symptom of my greater zombie fatigue) and wore out its welcome with me.
The guy behind BBT requested that I review Marquis, a movie co-written by the artistic designer behind Fantastic Planet which seems to be about the Marquis de Sade in prison having conversations with his penis, which is an animated character in the film. It hasn't been released on dvd yet, and out-of-print vhs copies cost between 15 and 60 dollars. If anyone has a copy they'd like to lend me, that would be most convenient. At this point, however, I think I need to watch something unfreaky to recombobulate myself a bit.
Last night was the first in many where I had vivid dreams that were NOT work anxiety dreams, at least not obviously. I've put more subconscious time into that than any other I've had. I should punch in when I go into REM sleep.
I vow every year to do no shopping of any kind between Thanksgiving and New Years to avoid the horror of the holidays, especially pumped in musical dreck, and every year I have to buy groceries and other stuff. The bell-ringer in front of my supermarket managed to clang her clanger in a slightly less annoying way than usual. Or maybe I'm mellowing out with age. I'll try not to rain on everyone's glitter-coated poinsettia parade, but I have some advice: RELAX. Don't work yourselves up into a yuletide frenzy, you Santa-ists. It happens every year, it's all festivities and ugly sweaters and singing ornaments and eggnog and forced cheer and meeting with friends and loved ones and blinking lights and
Soylent Screen presents: Dead Heist
Aug. 27th, 2007 08:32 pmFour young men living the thug life plan one big heist to escape the street, or at least make life a little easier. They choose a small town bank to hit, but there’s one big problem. Wouldn’t you know it? The town is in the path of the zombie invasion.
Read the rest at Blood Blade and Thruster!
Read the rest at Blood Blade and Thruster!
366 Urgan Species: The Walking Dead
Jun. 13th, 2007 07:50 pm
Photo by
potentialtoburn366 Urgan Species: The Walking Dead
Homo moribundus
As you undoubtedly have noticed by now, the recently dead have come back to life, and are feeding on the living. Why this should be so is still a matter for some speculation: perhaps there is an extraterrestrial cause such as debris from a nearby comet, or maybe something escaped from one of the germ warfare labs at Boston University. We may even have to open to the possibility that there simply is no more room in Hell. Whatever the cause, these fascinating creatures are worthy of our attention. Groaning and uttering guttural moans without any respiration is itself quite noteworthy. Despite all digestive processes having stopped, they still have a taste for the brains, meat, and innards of living humans. And these amazing animals reproduce not through courtship, mating, or even parthenogenesis, but through the act of killing. Zombieism can therefore be seen to be a kind of virus.
Though they appear to be slavering automatons, zombies seem to have dim memories of where they went when they walked among the living. This means that the streets, the shopping malls, and even your favorite pub are riddled with the things, though those of us who like city parks have it pretty easy. There are mostly the zombie dog walkers, who helplessly stagger about as their canines playfully tug on their intestines and eat their hands and feet. The city parks also have old Asian zombies (easily dispatched) and the animated corpses of drunks and junkies, which can hardly be distinguished from their pre-Z-day appearance and behavior. Best observed from a distance, we must learn to appreciate our newest additions to urban fauna, for it seems that they are here to stay.
Spooked myself
Apr. 10th, 2007 06:28 amWoke up at 4:00 a.m. from a zombie dream. I don't remember any details, I just remember looking at the clock and thinking "why did I do that to myself?" (The only time I can remember a horror movie actually causing nightmares the remake of Dawn of the Dead, which I watched right after the Katrina disaster--I had nightmares for about a week.) Against expectations, I managed to get back to sleep until the alarm went off.
I went right into a dream that took place at work; of course, it didn't look like it, but it felt like it. One of the biggest differences was a big mountain on the horizon, over which loomed ominous clouds. The place was crowded, and there was must discussion about the oncoming storm. Suddenly the mountain shook and a black cloud rapidly formed over it. We all realized that a volcanic eruption was underway. I ran inside with a coworker and we both began frantically searching the internet for news. Nobody seemed to know how close the volcano was, and how much danger we might be in, but darkness began to envelop us. The last image I saw before waking up (on tv?) was of cars near Boston knocked by a shock wave into water. I woke up frustrated that I couldn't find out more about the volcano.
It bears explaining that I have a copy of The Great International Disaster Book in my bathroom, and I've been reading bits of it every day. There are no volcanoes in eastern Massachusetts to my knowledge.
I went right into a dream that took place at work; of course, it didn't look like it, but it felt like it. One of the biggest differences was a big mountain on the horizon, over which loomed ominous clouds. The place was crowded, and there was must discussion about the oncoming storm. Suddenly the mountain shook and a black cloud rapidly formed over it. We all realized that a volcanic eruption was underway. I ran inside with a coworker and we both began frantically searching the internet for news. Nobody seemed to know how close the volcano was, and how much danger we might be in, but darkness began to envelop us. The last image I saw before waking up (on tv?) was of cars near Boston knocked by a shock wave into water. I woke up frustrated that I couldn't find out more about the volcano.
It bears explaining that I have a copy of The Great International Disaster Book in my bathroom, and I've been reading bits of it every day. There are no volcanoes in eastern Massachusetts to my knowledge.
