Egg salad

Just ate some mac n cheese from the cafe at work today and was good, but that not point. Point is that mac n cheese came with a make-it-yourself side salad from the salad bar that was delish x2. I really need to start putting hard boiled eggs on my salads at home cuz dern they's good. Second only to raisins, dig.

INXS

So I just watched the finale of Rockstar INXS, the reality show to find the new singer of INXS. The show was great, but the winner, JD Fortune, stinks. Too bad. No INXS for me. Not that I am a crazy wild INXS fan or anything, but I do like them. They were actually one of my favourite bands when I was a teen. I used to listed to "Listen Like Theives" over and over again while moving our massive "lawn", singing at the top of my lungs as I rode the mower, confident that my cooning would be enveloped by the roar of the engine. I used to imagine that I was at an INXS concert and that Michael Hutchence was so enraptured with my singing that he pulled me up to join him on stage. Ahh, the memories. Memories I can relive by watching my INXS live DVD.

So when this new show came along I gave it a chance, despite its unfortunate choice of hosts (note to producers - next time think credibility and see your ratings rise!) And I liked it. One of the best aspects of the show was the 'behind the scenes' episode that aired every Sunday night -- a show that got moved from ABC to VH1 from some unannounced reason. I got to like some of the singers, and hate others.

The last 4 singers were all ok, with 2 standouts, Suzie McNeil, and Marty Casey. Of course, neither of these singers won, the prize instead going to a generic rocker who emulated Michael more than the rest. Makes sense I suppose for the band, but not my bag. Too bad -- guess I have to find something else to find to mow the lawn to.

(Like the new Tegan and Sara, hint, hint.) (And by hint, hint, I don't mean I want it, I mean I have it, and so should you.) (And JD was the singer I hated most, by the way.)

Project Greenlight

So I was flipping around the TV dial a month an a half ago or so, and came across a show that caught my interest, specifically because it seemed to be a direct rip-off of another show I like. Actually, that's not entirely true. In fact, I lied not once, but twice my intro sentance. Nice! First, I wasn't flipping through the TV dial. Besides the fact that my TV doesn't have a dial, since I have Tivo, I never "flip" anymore. 90% of the time I just watch something off of TiVo; the other 10% I look through Tivo's guide to see what is on. So, I wasn't flipping -- I believe what happened was I turned on the TV, and this show was on. That happens (random stations on) because TiVo is constantly changing the channel to record different things. Rarely is the TV on the last station you were watching. In this case the station was Bravo.

The second lie is the fact that the show caught my interest. I guess that's not completely a lie, but I actually said "What's this? A rip off of antoher show that I like and will name soon? This new show sucks!" So my "interest" was more "disgust" than interest.

In any case, this show appeared to be a documentary on the making of a movie ala project Greenlight on HBO, a show I watched the first two seasons of and loved immensely. I watch a couple of minutes then turned it off in my previously mentioined, and well established, disgust.

Then, a week or so later, I turn on the TV to find that TiVo had once again turned to Bravo, and was once again prompting me to watch this new show. This time however TiVo had wisened and decided that rather than intice me with the show itself it would instead lure me in with a promo. And what did my eyes and ears behold but words that startled and warmed my heart at the same time: "Project Greenlight, now on Bravo"! Holy Batman, Robin! This copycat show was infact the original! One of my favorite shows jumping ship and leaving me behind! My poor TiVo all ready to record the right show on the wrong channel! (Note to TiVo -- send people a message when their shows have changed stations!)

Needless to say, I updated TiVo and have now watched the entire new season of Project Greenlight thus far.... and loved it! I actually think the people on the show are better this year, although the show itself seems to be going faster than usual (shorter season?). The premise of the show is that there is a contest where they pick a screenplay to make into a movie, and a director to direct said movie, from all of the people who submitted their work to the contest. The screenplay this year is a horror flick, and the writers are pretty interesting; one goofy and annoying, the other seems pretty cool. The director, however, is the real star of the show. In a suprising move they selected the more timid of all the finalists, who also happened to be the most talented. He is a super nice guy who has trouble verbalizing his ideas in certain situations, namely, when uncomfortable. Which makes for interesting TV when his crew can't figure out what he wants them to do. I think one of the reasons I am drawn to the director is because I am a lot like him in the sense that I too have trouble getting the words out when I am in a strange or new situation, or dealing with new people. It always takes me a bit of time to read a person and to become familiar enough with them to be able to interact comfortably. Pain in the ass really, but what you gonna do? The director seems to be the same way, and has become more comfortable as the series has progressed.

So that's it. If you have Bravo start watching. If you have TiVo get programming. Go find out how movies are made, and how people work together in stressful circumstances.

April Previews Picks

Howza 'bout a new feature? Howza 'bout something other than TV for a change? Howza 'bout comics? Howza 'bout you bet?

Yes, this is the first in what I hope to be a long line of entries regarding the latest and greatest in the world o' comics.

First the history.

I've been reading comics since... hm, must have been around freshman year of high school, but I could be mistaken. I started collecting comics along with my brother Scott. Whenever possible we would head off to Gnu Books in Ajax Ontario, or to the Book Between in Oshawa to check out the latest in the world of superheroes. Fast forward to college. Around this time my interest became more focused on music and such, and my comic collecting waned. Post college, and after getting a job and some loot, I started picking up books here and there. Mostly filling in gaps in my collection from quarter bins and various Graphic Novels. Along the way my brother and I always made it to the annual Chicago Comicon, but neither of us really kept up to date on the current trends.

Fast forward to... I dunno, more recently. More recently the industry has seemed to have hopped on the Graphic Novel bandwagon, so there's tons of great stuff I've been picking up. So much so in fact (and fueled by the discount deals available on the internet) I've begun to peruse the latest comics listed in Previews each month.

So without any further ado, here are my April Picks:

NEIL GAIMANS NEVERWHERE #1 - I have the book, I have the DVD set, I might as well get the comic (plus it's only $0.75 at DCBS).

WE 3 TP - Heard good things about this... we'll see. Cyborg animals or something. Written by Grant Morrison who did Animal Man, so there you go.

CONCRETE VOL 1 DEPTHS TP - A cheap collection of early Concrete comics. A no brainer. Did I mention that my Concrete watercolor I got for ridiculously cheap online is one of my prized possessions? Cuz it is.

HOUSE OF M #1 - again, $0.75. Marvel's next big thing I gather. I think by Brian Bendis who I don't really like as a writer (yes, I prefer his art, even though he's made his fortune off of the writing.)

LIFE AND TIMES OF SCROOGE MCDUCK TP - Oh, yeah... a new collection of Don Rosa Scrooge McDuck comics. I haven't ever read these but can't wait.

AEIOU GN - Pick of the month! The third of the Jeffery Brown
"girlfriend" trilogy. Genius! The first two volumes are Clumsy and Unlikely. Jeffery's work is scribbly and honest, and sometimes I like him and sometimes I want to punch him in the face. Mostly the former. My only complaint is that sometimes he comes off like a braggart, even if he is bragging about self-deprecating things. Kind of like being show-offy about how lazy you are. Not that Jeff's lazy. And not that I won't get this. I will. I love this stuff. It's my pick of the month, remember?

STREET ANGEL VOL 1 TP - Heard good things and liked the preview I read online. Getting it due to the hype. Sucka.

MARGES LITTLE LULU TP #2 - I used to like Richie Rich, Little Lulu and Little Dot comics so I figure I'll enjoy this collection of original comics put out by Dark Horse Comics (following in Fantagraphics Peanuts steps?). There are 4 of these out now, I'm starting with #2 cuz it was cheaper than #1 and I'm a #1 cheapskate. Now where are the Richie Rich tpb's? Seriously! Let's get with it people - it's Richie Rich, he's very popular! They made a couple of movies for pete's sake! Get with the program! Cummon Fantagraphics! Cummon Dark Horse! Cummon Image! Get it on!

That's it. See you next month.

Fight Reality TV

I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but have been preoccupied with the birth of my Daughter (something else I have been meaning to write about)...

There are two television shows on currently, that I watch, that, while different, are very much alike.

The shows are the Contender, on NBC, and The Ultimate Fighter, on Spike TV.

Both are similar in that they are both "reality" shows about fighting, Boxing, in the case of the Contender, and Mixed Martial Arts, in the case of the Ultimate Fighter. On both, a group of fighters are competing against one another to attain money and fight contracts, or somthing to that effect. They are different in that one is a huge prodution starring a huge movie celebrity, and the other is a low(er) budget production, with no celebrities other that those in the world of Ultimate Fighting.

I've watched both programs religiously since they began. The Ulitmate Fighter (UF) beat the Contender to the air waves by two months, so by the time the Contender premeire I was already fully ensconced in UF.

A bit of history first -- I've never really been a huge fan of Ultimate fighting, or Mixed Martial Arts, as it is know. I watched a few UFC videos years back, but never thought it more than a exercise in violence for the sake of violence. Then I watched the documentary "The Smashing Machine," which is the story of a MMA fighter named Mark Kerr. That documentary, which I consider to be one of the top 5 of all time, let me see that while the sport may be violent, at its heart it is just regular people just trying to get by. It also showed me that the sport had advanced to the point of "sport" reather than just violence. There were more rules now to protect the fighters, ala boxing. Actually, the documentary made me miss some of the old violence that was allowed, but that was just the power of the movie.

Fast forward a couple of years. When I saw that there was going to be an Ultimate Fighting reality show I immediately thought of the Smashing Machine, and knew I had to watch it. I went in with huge expectations, and am happy to say I was not let down. The show is a great mix of stories of the fighters and their thoughts and lives, and of straight on fighting. Top notch all the way.

Then the Contender appeared. My expectations, being set by the Ultimate Fighter were high, and... I was unfortunately let down. Not that the Contender is a bad show, Ultimate Fighter just does it all much better. I should also point out that there was another boxing show on eariler in the year, which I assume died an early death. I should also point out that I find it humorous that everyone was comparing these two shows, to determine which would come out on top, when in reality the unknown black horse would trump them both.

First the similarities:
On both shows there are two teams that compete. The winning team gets to chose a person on their team who will fight the opponent of their choice from the opposing team. At the end of the show they show the fight. The loser goes home. On both shows fighters have had to leave due to medical reasons, and elliminated players were chosen to return.

The differences:
On Ultimate Fighter each team is led by one of the top 2 light heavyweights in the UFC. Awesome. On the Contender, i'm not sure who the team leads are, I don't think there are any. On UF the lead coaches give advice and provide opinions on the fighters and the developing story.

On Ultimate Fighter they show the entire fight at the end of the show. The fight is in the facility where the fighters train and the audience consists of people involved with the show, and three judges. On the Contender, the fight is in a huge venue with packed house and the whole package. Unlike the UF, they only show a "highlights" version of the fight, with added sound effects!

This pretty much illustrates the main difference between the two shows -- the Contender is like a movie, the UF is more concentrated on the fighters and the fighting.

Interestingly, while the Contender does focus more on the 'movie' factor to drive stories, the story lines in UF are actually much more compelling. The likeable fighters are more likeable, the hateable fighters are more hateable, and I overall care more about the Ultimate fighters than I do the Contenders. After an episode of the UF I feel like I know the fighters who have fought. After the Contender I feel I have been given a few minor glimpses into their lives.

Not that the Contender approach doesn't have its merits -- some of the fights have been great, and some of the stories very inspirational. But the UF is just more real.

One other major difference that puts UF ahead once again is the fact that on the UF all of the fighters live in the same house, so that we are able to see the evolving relastionships between the fighters. On the Contender I feel like we see the fighters in their natural environment occasionally, but I don't have a real feel for any of the fighters, or feel that there is any story developing.

So hurrah for UF, for beating goliath. Kudos to all.

Actually, extra Kudos to the UFC president Dana White, who appears on the show, for (I assume) comming up with the show. Not only is it exposing UFC to a wider audience, but the main fight on the next UFC PPV is none other than a fight between the two coaches on the show - Chuck Lidell and Randy Couture, both awesome fighters! Talk about hugh publicity! Nice!

In the end, I'm still going to watch both shows, but I'll only be buying The Ultimate Fighter on DVD (if the extras make it worth seeing again.)

Juggling con't

Well, they bumped 4 of the Juggling shows to Feb 2 because of tennis... what's wrong with people? And when are the new shows going to show up on Tivo? Grr...

Juggling

Woo-hoo! Juggling competition on ESPN2 Jan 27-28! Woo-hoo! Now I become depressed at my pitifully amateur juggling abilities...

World Juggling Federation

Carson and Love, Actually

First off, I don't know why people are so confused, or off put by the fact that the Johnny Carson dvd's are selling like hotcakes now that he's passed. Make perfect sense to me - Johnny dies, it's in the news, people go "oh, poor Johnny (how old was he?) I loved his show, I wonder if it's out on DVD? Oh, look, it is!"... and hotcakes are born.

I actually wouldn't mind seeing them DVD's myself come to think of it. I never really watched his show (don't watch any of the current batch either,) but I'm sure I'd enjoy a best of. Time to hit the library I guess, well, after the death rush that is...

Second, just thought I'd recommend a movie I watched last night called "Love Actually". It was probably pretty popular when it came out... lets see... $60 million, not bad. I Tivo'd it in Nov and finally got around to watching it last night. Actually, love, I began watching it on Sunday, then decided to watch another installment last night (no, not the best method of watching a movie, I admit, in fact probably the worst, but I've been short for time lately and poor Tivo is jammed to the gills...) So I begin watching the movie, with plans to turn it off and head to bed in half an hour. An hour and fifteen minutes later I think to look at the clock and notice the time. Yikes! Way past my bedtime. Apparently I had gotten so engrossed in the movie that I did not realize the passage of time, nor did I have the inclination to glance at the clock. Now that's an endorsement if I ever heard one! At this point there was only 20 minutes or so left in the film so of course I watched it all. And loved it.

No, it wasn't perfect, but it was quite lovely. And chock-full of stars! Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley, Tim from The Office (Martin Freeman), etc. That's a lot of star power.

Um, good stories, and written, apparently by the guy who did Four Weddings and a Funeral, a bunch of Rowan Atkinson stuff (Bean, Blackadder), and some other brit goodies. All the stories are about love and relationships, both sad and heartwarming. Quite a bit of swearing and some mild nudity for those who care; nothing shocking or obscene, just adult. I recommend. And that 11 year old kid was super. Go kids!

More TV

I've started watching the TV show "House" recently (since in re-runs it doesn't conflict with other shows) and must say it's quite good. Hugh Laurie's character is great. Now on with the Alias, man.

Canadian Idol

OK, more TV stuff. I know I watch too much TV, too bad.

Recently I downloaded, and watched, the entire second season of Canadian Idol. Yup, all 34 episodes. And I loved it.

Here's the thing:

Even though the Idol franchise represents much of what I hate about the music industry, it also represents much of what I love about life.

You see, while the whole point of the show is to deliver some big name pop album and superstar, the stars of the show themselves are just some kids with dreams, and that's what makes it great. Seeing these kids go from no-name nobodies with stars in their eyes during tryouts, to bona fide celebs is an exciting experience to watch. And, unlike some other reality type shows, at least these kids are getting famous off of at least some modicum of talent; in some cases a lot of modicums!

Case in point -- the top 3 singers on this seasons Canadian Idol's were all quite talented. And quite varied -- one, a teen crooner kid, one, a goofy pop-punk rock kid, and one, a jazzy folk singer. Actually, the top 6 all had more musical talent than is typically seen on these shows, as was evident in one episode where the top 6 all performed a Gordon Lightfoot medley (Canadian Idol, dig) for which the Idols not only contributed the singing, but also the music! Yes, the Idols themselves played the instruments for the performance. Quite amazing, really.

But most of all, watching Canadian Idol brought back al of my memories of growing up in Canada, and seeing all of the wonderful people there made me jealous of what a wonderful nation it really is.

In comparison to American Idol -- production wise the US version is slicker, but the Canadian version has way more heart, and better judges to boot. On the Canadian version there are 4 judges, one a Simon type (who does not come off as a clone), one a female pop/rock singer (who actually has an opinion and who actually criticizes), and two music producer types, both opinionated (and neither of which say "dawg" every two seconds). The host is better, too, and the son of a former Prime Minister even. The Canadian version also has a comic relief guy, for variety. Very nice.

Eh.

And in terms of watching a copy off the internet, all I can say is if they released it on DVD I'd buy it, but until then I'll takes what I can get. Personally I'd rather watch it live (more anticipation), but video does have the advantage of being able to fast forward past all of the stinky singers (and there were a few... actually most besides the top 3 were pretty lousy). Plus, I'll definitely buy 2 of the top 3's CD's if they ever come out... and I'll give the winner's a listen too -- especially if there's a Gordon Lightfoot song on it.

Weiner schnitzel

I don't know if it's old age or what, but certain things seem to be slipping my mind recently. Actually, things have been slipping my mind for the past couple of years. My theory is that life expectancy used to be only 35 give or take, so that in reality I have reached old age. Much like the "wall" long distance runners must break through to continue their run, I think 35 is like the "wall" you have to break through in order to obtain your "second wind" in life, which will take you till 50 or 60 or something, I have no idea when the next wall hits, as I am but I mere child.

But, yes, a child at his first round of old age. And as one of the elderly, me mind ain't what it used to be. One thing I have specifically noticed, something that seems to be increasing in frequency, is my habit of not zipping up my fly after using the bathroom. I dunno what it is -- I go to the bathroom, I wash up, I leave the bathroom, and I enter the world... totally exposed. Well, not totally, I do wear boxers, but still. Luckily, because of this, I have also gotten into the habit of verifying my state of zipp'ed ness, so my reign of indecency typically doesn't make it more than a few steps passed the bathroom door, where I question aloud my sanity: "what the hell?" And ponder my mental deterioration.

Either that or I'm just an exhibitionist at heart and never realized it.

TV

I tend to be a bit of a TV freak... always have been. Not being the most social person in the world, I guess it makes sense. Fact is I like to be entertained. Sure I like being entertained by real life humans, but real life humans require feedback from me, which I often find difficult. Plus, if the TV starts to bore me I can just change the channel, which is awkward to do in real life. But enough of that; before I delve too deeply into my neuroses let me get to the crux of this post... I love TV, and as such will now share with you some of my favorite hidden gems.

These are the shows that have kept me entertained all summer, when network TV takes a breather. And by damn, some of these shows rank much higher than their more mainstream ilk:

1) Trailer Park Boys, BBC America. A current Canadian cable show (think the Canadian version of HBO or Showtime) being broadcast in the States by BBCA, TPB is currently my favourite show on the tube. Trailer Park Boys is about two 30 something guys living in a trailer park (surprise. surprise), and trying to survive the daily grind of life. Of course their daily life is hep full of drinking, and drug dealing, and robbery, but daily life nonetheless. The whole show is seen through the camera of a team of filmmakers documenting the lives of these individuals in the park, so we often see the characters talking directly to the camera in mock-documentary style. The trailer park boys and their co-horts are for the most part bumbling idiots, but are also quite indearing in a odd sort of way. In the end this show is really about the interactions between people, and is terribly funny. It's also completely full of profanity, and as such isn't for those who don't like the swears.

BBCA is currently airing the 2nd season. The first 3 seasons are available on DVD from Canada censor free. I own them, but have yet to watch them all. The commentaries I've seen thus far are really good (1).

Oh yeah, Bubbles rules!

2) Da Ali G show, HBO. Ali G is a white homeboy style character done by Sasha Baron Cohen, who also does 2 other characters on the show, the hilarious Borat, and the other guy whose name evades me. This show has seemed to have popped, so I'm not going to talk it up much. Respekt. I've also watched the Ali G movie that came out in the UK -- is was OK, but not up to par with the HBO show.

3) Chef!, BBC America. BBC America rules this year -- there are 4-5 shows on it that I watch regularly. Chef is one of them. Chef is a show about a Chef at a French restaurant, played by comedian Lenny Henry (who is married to Dawn French apparently). Pretty much the Chef character yells at and berates his staff every episode quite hilariously. Lenny Bruce is great. For some unknown reason this show isn't out on DVD, but there are 2 videotapes available. The show itself is from 95 or so. Highly recommended.

4) Monk, USA. I think Monk is pretty big so I won't go into it. For those who haven't watched it, it's a comedy/mystery show about an obsessive-compulsive detective. The only down side is that the seasons are too short and a couple stories were a bit implausible. Other than that, ace. Bitty Schram and Tony Shaloob rock.

That's it for now. Next time - My Hero!

HDTV

Recently I took the plunge into the brave new world of HDTV. Despite the cable guy arriving 2.5 hours late (thanks much,) and being relativly incompentant, everything is great. The picture is sensational, and I cannot wait until everything is HD. The only bummer part is the Olympics -- I was looking forward to watching the games in HD, but unfortunately NBC-HD only shows the previous days events in HD (in seemingly random order) and does not do a simulcast with regular NBC... what's up with that? Thanks for nothing NBC, or close to nothing anyway.

Lo and behold, I suck

Cuz I never write you see... was the same when I had a fanzine - "when are you gonna put out a new issue?" was all I ever heard. Which, I suppose, is better than "why the hell are you putting out another issue?"...

Speaking of fanzines, I do one day hope to put some of my old stuff up on my page, I just haven't gotten around to it yet (lo these many years). Someday I swear.

But for now it's this journal, which I never update.

The past month or so has been very hectic, you see, as my wife and I have been supro busy moving out of our old house and into our new. We moved a week and a half ago and are still being intimidated by the mounds of boxes surrounding us; don't know where I'm going to put a lot of this stuff to be honest with you. And this place is larger than my last! Just gotta start loading up shelves I guess.

And most of the stuff is mine, so I can't blame my wife. DVD's, CD's, video tapes, books, comics, toys, action figures... man I gots some stuff! And it's all mine!

I'm into possessions you see -- I know most think it best to be minimalistic and not into earthly possessions, but they haven't seen my STUFF! My stuff is the heart of me; it represents all that I stand for, all that I admire, all that makes me happy to be alive. And that, my friend, takes up space.

Like my Jimmy Osmond doll, that takes up space.
Or my NEW Leaping Lanny Poffo book, that takes up space.
Or my 100 some odd graphic novels, they take up space.
Or my Flaming Carrot statue, that takes up space.

And on, and on.

So yes, I suck, and I need to be less lazy, and stop making up so many excuses about everything, but not until I finish unpacking, which at this rate will take approximately 15.87 years.

Nuts about Peanuts

Not the edible kind -- the Schultz kind, you know - Sparky's work.

Truth is I've never really liked the Peanuts comic strip. I love the cartoon version they play on TV at Christmas, but the daily strip never really appealed to me the way, say, a Calvin and Hobbes did. I always respected the comic, and liked the characters, but the strips just didn't move me.

But, if there's one thing I like, it's origins, and the evolution of things -- especially when it comes to pop culture. One of my favorite "historical" comic strip books is Gary Larson's Prehistory of the Far Side, which has early versions of Far Side strips, and general info on the creative process behind Larson's work (as well as some hilarious rejected, or never submitted, comics). So when 2 new books about Peanuts came out I jumped on them. Or, rather, jumped on one of them, and plan to jump on the other as soon as it is released.

The first book is not a Peanuts book per say, but rather a collection of the pre-cursor to Peanuts - "L'il Folks". L'il Folks was a comic Schultz produced before Peanuts. It, like it's progeny, stars a bunch of little kids, and a dog that became Snoopy. In fact, in the book we find several L'il Folks panels presented next to the Peanuts strips they became years later, along with explanations of each strips. Great stuff. The book is only available at the Schultz Museum and has already sold out once.

The second book is upcoming the first collection of Peanuts strips from Fantagraphics that should be available everywhere: The Complete Peanuts: 1950-1952. It will include all strips from 1950-1952 in chronological order, and should make a nice follow up to L'il Folks. Fantagraphics is planning on publishing 25 volumes -- all of Schultz Peanuts strips I believe. Seth, of Palookaville fame, designed this volume, so it should be a sight to behold.

Why do I love these types of books? I guess because it gives me a glimpse into the artistic process, enabling me to see how things evolved over time. I also really like early works of creators -- I feel that a person's early work is more raw and immediate -- less polished and less mass-media friendly, which for me makes it more personal and real. While often not a creators best work, I think their first work is often their most interesting -- capturing the creative explosion that erupted from their brains when they first conceived their creations, and wanted to unleash them to the world at large.

I know from some of my own work, that early versions, while often utterly embarrasing and horrible to behold, contain some of the most immaculate of gems. I'm sure Schultz felt the same derision about some of his early strips; luckily most readers won't feel the same way.

On to the reading!

Ebert

I've always liked Roger Ebert -- mostly because we seem to share the same taste in movies. He also seems like a good guy. Today I read his review of a new movie "Osama", about a woman living in Taliban ruled Afghanistan. The movie is about how horrifically the Taliban treated women, and one woman's attempts to life a normal life. Roger gave the movie 3.5 stars. Sounds good -- probably not easy to watch, but necessary.

I was struck by the last paragraph in his review, which read:
"In this country Janet Jackson bares a breast and causes a silly scandal. The Taliban would have stoned her to death. If you put these things into context, the Jackson case begins to look like an affirmation of Western civilization."

Which is probably, if not definitely, the most intelligent thing I've read regarding the Janet Jackson incident. Kind of puts it in a new perspective, no?

Movie Day

Was feeling sick Monday (Feb 16) and decided to take the opportunity to watch some of the seemingly infinite supply of movies currently being stored (and overwritten) on my beloved Tivo... see, I am one of those people with a serious love/hate relationship with a little electronic box - actually, more of a love/annoyance relationship. I read an article about it once, or rather, about "us" - the Tivo junkies, and the stress our most precious device causes us. The article pointed out how the Tivo was touted to be the great black (box) hope, allowing people to "time-shift" TV - play their favorite show when ever they wanted, freeing them from the evil TV scheduling empire that loves to put our favorite shows all on the same night (jerks). However, the article pointed out, what has happened, is that rather than be FREED from our TV's, we are now becoming SLAVE to our Tivo's.. and you know what? It's true! And you know what else? We love it! See what happens is that Tivo gives you too many options, and too many features! Feature rich I tell you! Tivo has enabled dopes like me to search out every little movie I might ever have an interest in, and record it on one unit that requires no tapes, and no manual intervention. Heck, I don't even have to know what's being recorded. What dopes like me, or more specifically, I, have done, is to give Tivo a list of every Movie I would ever like to see and told it to record them if ever they appear on the TV dial. Additionally, I have instructed my Tivo to show me a list of all movies that are going to be on the next month starring my favorite big screen stars, or directed by my favorite movie moguls.

So, day after day, week after week, my Tivo does it's duty and records me more movies than I could ever hope to watch. And what does this ever-growing (and re-writing) pile of unwatched movies cause? That's right - STRESS! But not too much really... I make sure Tivo keeps what I one day hope to watch, and allow the deletion of things I care less about (and wondered why where recorded in the first place), and yes, ever once in a while find time to watch some of the damned things...

Which brings me to Monday... Monday I had a whole day with nothing to do but lay on the couch feeling sorry for myself, so I seized the opportunity to get down and dirty with my Tivo.

Here's what I watched:
Independent Lens (PBS) - WHY CAN’T WE BE A FAMILY AGAIN?: This is a new (I think) PBS series that features a short film every week. This week's was about these two kids living with their grandmother as their mother goes in and out a rehab. It was good, but sad since the Mom will never go clean, you can tell. Kids seemed smart though. I recommend Tivoing this series.

Driver 23: A documentary about the singer of a metal band called "Dark Horse.” This guy's dream is to be a big rock star, but probably lacks talent. This movie documents his efforts to get his band going (2 members leave) and to record a CD in his homemade basement studio. The singer, Dan, is on medication for being bipolar or something, and likes to create things, mostly but duct taping them together it appears (including his cigars). One of his creations is his workout machine, which consists of a milk crate full of concrete blocks attached to a series of pulleys. Nice. I enjoyed the movie - it reminded me of American Movie, but not near as good. One big flaw -- they end the movie with Dan recording his album (like a year and a half into it), but never tell us how it ends! What the heck! I was expecting some explanations to pop up in the screen "Dan finished the album 8 months later" etc. But nothing. Oh well. Tivo gave this 1.5 stars, I give it 2.5 (3 if not for the lack of a conclusion). I should also point out that movies like this make me very nervous that I am also just a hopeless dreamer with no real notable talent and no chance of succeeding at anything creative, but I try not to let those feelings stop me for too long :)

Update: I just found out there is a second movie to this entitled "Atlas Moth"... off to the Tivo I go!

Das Experiment: German film about a scientific study of prisons. Scientists create a fake prison with volunteers who play the part of the prisoners and security guards for 2 weeks. The whole project gets out of hand and violence is the result. I liked it! After the movie I looked on the net and found that this movie was inspired by an actual experiment called the "Stanford Prison Experiment" done at Stanford University in 1971 (http://www.prisonexp.org/) The movie follows the real story pretty much to the point where the real study was cancelled (6 days in). The movie then continues the story and explores what would have happened it the study had continued, and if the study took place in a movie where unrealistic event are allowed to happen. I liked it! If you get a change, check out the link to the real study... it creeps me out that the behaviours of the students changed so dramatically so quickly -- e.g. the prisoners rebelled on the 2nd day, and the guards got very brutal and authoritarian. Wild. At then end, I think 3 of the kids had physiological breakdowns, and the guards turned truly brutal. It's amazing to see how people change so quickly when put in a new environment. I've seen this to a smaller extent when playing games, or working on projects. I've been involved in some team building exercises at work where the regular work roles between people completely disappear as they get drawn into the game. Soon they take on the roles enforced by the game to the point where the games rules become the reality in which they are now living. This is what happened in the fake jail -- to them it became a real jail to the point where they felt that there was no escape, even though their imprisonment was voluntary. And the guards took their roles so seriously they actually abused the prisoners, even though in the real world, they were no different from the prisoners, and this was just an experiment. Fascinating stuff. I had never heard about this experiment before. I blame my education, or maybe I just skipped that class. Oh well. Thanks to Das Experiment now I know. The movie itself was good, although there were several subplots, I wish they had explored more (e.g. the woman), and some of the guard’s behaviour I found had to swallow. They got more evil than seems possible - even if you were so into the role I imagine you would still realize laws apply to you. Nevertheless, good, nonetheless.


With a Friend Like Harry - Sheesh, why'd I have to watch so many movies? This one was French. It's about a guy and his family who run into an old schoolmate. The schoolmate turns out to be a nut job. The movie was good, but kind of long.

I think I watched another movie but I can't remember what it was... that's enough anyways...

Just another test :)

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