Podcast Demo "Houses"

I was bored and had something to say, and nobody was around. Listen to my tired ramblings by clicking the title to this post (should work should work should work).

If you want to be helpful, lemme know if it sounds all right. I was kinda just flying on whim. Totally unscripted, completely random.

This link will also work if the above doesn't.

http://www.archive.org/details/LitrockPodcastDemoHouses_279

High School Reunion

So this morning I load up facebook and see that there's a group to plan next May's 5 year High School reunion for me.

Needless to say, reactions were mixed here in Lit Rock land.

On the one hand, I'm inherently against rights of passage. I barely put up with graduation, and that was mainly due to parental pressure. The idea of voluntarily caring about a suppose 'right of passage' is so foreign to me that my head instantly starts spinning a little.

On the other hand, I'm kind of amused at the idea. I had fun in high school. It wasn't great, but it was amusing.

No matter what the reaction, I'm having a hard time grasping the fact that five years have passed since then. My how time flies, y'know?

Giving further, more serious thought to the idea, I'm really at a loss. Five years isn't really a lot of time. One would argue ten years isn't really a lot of time. Most of these people who will show up are just getting out of college or going to grad school, and ... really, nothing much changes until you get out of college (everyone in college can bitch to me about how that's not true but talk to me a few years after you're in the real world and we'll talk again kthx).

So there isn't any time for all the real appealing features of high school reunions to take place--people breeding, failing, surprising success stories, the beauties getting skanky and the late bloomers becoming awesome.

I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I want to see some train wrecks. That's half the reason I'd ever go to one of these. Then again, maybe I could get back into touch with people who dropped off my radar. Decisions, decisions.

Stupid people and social events. Seriously.

Jesus Christ, he's still alive!

Not Jesus, mind you. He's dead. Has been for ... oh, 1975 years.

Nah, I'm talking about me. Not a savior, not even a good guy, I can turn wine into vinegar and try to stay away from water because I don't like swimming. But I am alive, and I am here to once again make an entry. A good one? Ha, not hardly. I don't have enough to say to make a good post, but I'm sure I'll fill this with enough inane errata and meaningless life updates to make people glad I'm not filling my blog with this shit on a regular basis.

So lately (other than being sick [yeah, I know, I'm sick a lot] and just in the past few days feeling 100%) I've fallen back into my gaming habit. It comes and goes, and right now it's here. Hardcore. Obsession of choice these days? Blue Dragon. I've dropped an embarassing amount of time into it in the past week and a half. Thankfully, I'm almost done, so I can move on to more sane activities. But it's been a crazy week and a half. It reminds me of junior high, when I spent all summer gaming. Those were the days, those carefree lazy days, when all I needed was a spikey-haired protagonist with a big sword repeatedly killing waves of enemies for minimal gains to make me happy.

Not anymore. No way, Jose (unrelated to Jesus). No, now I demand ... well, no, it's the same shit, different disk. But now it has achievements. That's gotta count for something, right? Certainly it's motivated me to drop ridiculous amounts of time into the damn thing.

In other news, I think I might have mentioned I have a netflix account. Because I'm a movie person, I'm serious about my netflix. And I'd like friends. So if you read this, have netflix, and aren't my friend on there yet, feel free to add me. I'll mostly just judge you based on your ratings and queue, not tell you that I think I'm better than you, and look over what you've seen to find stuff I've seen to rate because I'm too lazy to try to remember and rate them individually.

Good times

Speaking of films--good god (related to Jesus, if you believe those Christian folk) it's been a crazy movie season, hasn't it? One weekend after another, stuff I needed to see. I might as well go ahead with the obligitory "What I watched and what I thought of it" but instead of listing everything I'll just point out the three I enjoyed the most and maybe a bit of why

1. Speed Racer

The fact that nobody saw this film is, quite frankly, fucking embarassing. It's still the best thing I saw all year (so far). It's absolutely fantastic. What should have been a train wreck turned into a thing of beauty. It's very experimental, at times edging towards impressionism and abstraction. And it works. I don't know how, I just sit down and enjoy the damn thing. But it's worth it

So when it comes out on DVD, put it on your netflix queue and watch it (or better yet buy it so the Wachowski's can stop crying) so I'll respect you again.

2. Wanted

It's stupid. Yes, I'll admit, it's very stupid.

It's also very, very stylish. And I'm the kind of guy who appreciates a film that doesn't mess around when it comes to being cool

I have nothing else to say here. Watch the trailer. If you don't think it looks cool ... well, then I can't talk to you any more. And guess what? The best stuff isn't even in the trailer.

3. Wall-E

Lots has been said about this one lately, because those right-wing crazies are calling it leftist propaganda. You wanna know why? Because they'd be happy to have us all floating in chairs all day, oblivious to the world around us.

Wall-E is probably going to turn out to be Pixar's dark horse film. It's not really for kids. They know they have an adult demographic, and I really think they played to that this time. There are some surprising subtexts here, and plenty of the typical Pixar touches that add up to make the film something special.

If you have the attention span of a newt, you might find it a slow-starter. It's certainly a lot less funny and a lot more competant as a film than some of their films. But it is, without a doubt, worth seeing.

Today is the day Hellboy 2: The Golden Army comes out. I have to tell you, I'm crazy excited for this one. Hellboy was great. This one almost HAS to be better in probably every way. That's just how it goes

Though, needless to say, my excitement is somewhat overshadowed by something coming out next week. Hehe.

(Lies. I'm really hoping for earth-shatteringly influential, but again ... modesty is a virtue and I need all the help I can get.)

Um ... let's see. Anything else?

Oh yes. My friend Sarah writes really good movies but nobody reads her scripts for her. I think we should all give a collective 'aww' and if you have free time annoy her to do something with her scripts so we can have movie versions in our theatres before we're all collecting social security.

And maybe, if you have free time, see if you can't pry her screenplay draft out of her greedy fingers. I'm totally not running this by her, so she could say no to total strangers, but the thought would likely flatter her and I do what I can. Not to mention you'll get to see her squirm as she fights warring impulses to show her work to people and to be protective of where it goes, all the while trying to turn you down gently in her overly-nice way.

Speaking of readers, Kris got around to reading MS this past weekend, making my failure rate on people I can rely on somewhat less embarassing. Too bad she already had a free pass, since my books aren't anywhere close to her typical reading habits. Especially a novel as full of navel-gazing art-house sensibility as MS.

That said, her opinions were solid, even if she maybe wasn't super keen on the book. Which is fine. She suffers for having known the author longer than is healthy for anyone.

Speaking of, my vacation to see said Kris is coming up, so I'll be going on hiatus from August 6th to the 10th to soak up the rays (more like the rain, since it's monsoon season there) in hot and desert-like Tucson. Should be a gas. Or something.

Expect me to get wasted, wander off into the desert, and be eaten by scorpions. Or something similarly grisly.

Of course, given how often I update this blog, nobody would have noticed my absence anyway. But ... I figure advance notice is a good idea, regardless.

And I'm done. Now let's see how long it takes me to give a shit and do this again. Bets? Winner gets a free drink of their choice*!

*Drink of choice limited to one beverage purchased under $10 by me at a time convenient by me at a location of my choosing. Offer not valid for those living out of the United States, unless they come back here to claim their prize. One play per customer, one winner will be chosen, not all who play will win (unless only one lucky bastard plays). Prize can not be redeemed for cash. In the event of a tie, I'll pick whoever catches my fancy at that moment.