september29th

While loafing around the house this afternoon I saw that Reality Bites was on Encore HD.  I hadn’t seen this movie since it originally came out on VHS but I wanted to tune in and watch it again because I thought a friend of mine said that it was a better movie than Singles.

I called her a few minutes after the movie ended and she informed me that she didn’t think that Reality Bites was better than Singles…  In fact she said that she was quite sure that Reality Bites didn’t hold up as well as Singles these days.

While I was happy to hear that she shared the same feelings about the two movies… I couldn’t help but think that there may be someone out there thinking that Reality Bites is better than Singles.

A.) the Singles Soundtrack is a 1000 times better.

B.) the cameos in Singles were casted well before grunge took off…    Reality Bites on the other hand - cashes in on some terrible in the moment cameos.   Look no further than the MTV “Real World” appearance of Perch.  (LA Season)

C.) they censored the Violent Fems song near the end of the movie…  WTF?

D.) can anyone argue that the cast Reality Bites was better?

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Ran across some song selections for the game Rock Band 2….   below are my thoughts.

2000’s - Have to say that I was a lot happier with the Contemporary song selectioni in the first Rock Band…  this one sorta reeks of payola.   I say this only  because I find it hard to believe that their development team has someone who’s enthused to included a song by Disturbed.

Things I wished they changed up.

Interpol - PDA,  while the song stands out on their debut - I think a better selection would have been “The New”.  It’s a deeper cut on the record…  Carlos D. has some incredible bass lines in it - it also has some solid drum and guitar parts too.

Guns N’ Roses - Shackler’s Revenge,  I’ve gone out of my way to not hear anything rumored to be on Chinese Democracy…  sorta upset that they didn’t select something from their vault.

Jimmy Eat World -The Middle,  I can think of 4 other songs on Bleed American that I’d rather have than this one…  people in their early 30’s may hang themselves when they hear themselves singling the lyrics to this song out loud for the first time in maybe 8 years.

Mastodon - Colony of Birchmen -  I’m very happy to see Mastodon get a nod.

Modest Mouse - Float On,  I’m a bigger fan of their earlier work… if they couldn’t score something from their early days they could have selected anything from their Moon and Antarctica album and I would have been happy.  Paper Thin Walls would have been my selection.

Omissions -  So I’m totally shocked that Built to Spill hasn’t gotten any love yet.  Doug Martsch is a fucking BEAST on guitar…   I would have gladly taken anything off their latest effort - You in Reverse. 

1990’s

The obvious :  Better song selections could have been made for the following bands : Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Beastie Boys and Foo Fighters.

Happy to see : Dinosaur Jr., Bikini Kill and Nirvana’s - Drain You  on this effort.   I hope they don’t fuck with Andy Wallace’s mix for Drain You tho’.

Omissions : Alanis and Judas Priest should have their songs stripped from here so that they could allow something better on it.

1980s

The obvious : How did “Touch of Grey” not get selected by the Greateful Dead?   It’s their only song to actually CHART in the fucking 80’s.

Happy to see : The REPLACEMENTS - get some love!  They also have a fabulous track on the game.  Sonic Youth skimps in with a safe classic.

Omissions :  I may be alone on this one…  but Motorhead’s Ace of Spades was included in the first Guitar Hero and that’s where it should remain.  It got the obvious nod the first time around because its harder, heavier and harrier than anything you can think of.

1970’s and 60’s

The Good :  Talking Heads - Psycho Killer.  Hands down - the best track in the 70’s I think.

the Bad :  Lots of good artists - but the song selection seems a little weak.  you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think they randomly selected these tracks after looking at a playlist for some 70’s rock station in Cleveland.

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So on my way out to lunch today I had a bird take a shit on me.

I’m told that this is a sign of good luck…  seeing how today was a bit of a shitty one (pun intended) I’m of the opinion that it means nothing but trouble.

On the bright side - my dear friend Chivo rolled into town and I’m feeling a million times better now.  We’re kicking back and watching a DVD called “In Bruges“.

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Continuing my streak of free movies from the Red Box and my insistence to continue renting films that will disappoint me to no end..  I decided to check out the movie Vantage Point.

Going into the movie I received 2 reviews from friends…  One was a hearty endorsement and the other was a warning to avoid it at all costs.

My expectations were really low for this one and I emerged happy to have seen it so that I can finally discuss it with my co-worker.   It was however a very bad film and I wouldn’t go out of my way to sit though a single extra frame of it for the rest of my life.

If you’ve rented everything that seems at all interesting from your local video rental place/red box - then pick it up.

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While flying through RSS feed news articles the other day my heart nearly leapt out of my chest when I saw this image.

For a split second I thought that my favorite college band (Braid) was getting together to release some new material.

Turns out that there’s a puzzle game coming out on the XBOX 360 called BRAID.  

While there was no chance of the game having a connection to my favorite band Braid.  I kept my fingers crossed and looked up as much information as possible about the game development…   

The game has received some favorable reviews and it appears to be coming out pretty soon.  I’m tempted to pick it up to see if maybe a Braid song appears on one of the levels.

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So with the exception of one rental…  I managed to sit though a stack of terrible DVD rentals.   Here’s a quick review on what you should stay away from at all costs.

Harold and Kumar : Escape Guantanamo Bay - So my expectations for this was a little higher than it should have been…  their first Movie - Harold and Kumar go to White Castle is a class B-Movie in my book and I’d watch it more often if I didn’t get the crave for sliders when I watch it.   HKEGB -sorta picks up after the first movie and the two get profiled as terrorists on their way to Amsterdam.  The film has a number of really good crude jokes in it but their isn’t enough of em to make it a worthwhile recommendation.

Talk To Her - OK… so this rental was amazing.  It may possibly one of the best movies I’ve seen come out in the past 20 years.   If you haven’t seen this, I recommend it highly.   It’s a little hard to describe but its well thought out and there’s a number of performances in it that will make you glad you rented it.

21 - Despite having an awesome premise….  Kids from MIT take Vegas down with mad mental card counting skills, the film manages to make the entire thing a joke.

I want someone to Eat Cheese With - Fell pray to a clever trailer for this movie after renting a movie called Flakes earlier in the week.  The premise to this movie is a little miss leading.  Avoid it at all costs

You Kill Me - I recall seeing the trailer for this when I went to see the movie ONCE last summer.  It stars Sir Ben Kingsly and he play’s the roll of a hitman whose a recovering alcoholic.   He does the predictable thing in this one and phones it in….  which is a shame because this movie could have been a lot better had he taken it somewhere.

Flakes - Saw this movie mainly because of Zooey Deschanel…  its not particularly good and its not exactly terrible.  I’m pretty sure it will only make you wish that your city had a Cereal Bar in it.  I recommend this to anyone with a thing for Zooey also.

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If you happen to be living in the greater Detroit (Michigan) area and have little to do this weekend…   I recommend checking out  Motor City Shakedown 4th Gear.

It’s the 4th scooter rally put on by the Rovers SC.

I haven’t attended a MCShakedown since the very first one and I nearly missed that one because I had tentative plans to move back to Texas that August.   

Anyhoo, they’re going to raffle away an amazing scooter.  Visit this website for more details.

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Ever follow an actor through terrible movie choices in hopes of seeing them shine in something that maybe everyone around you has missed out on?

I pretty much do this for two actors.   1.) Is Philip S. Hoffman.  2.) James McAvoy

I got introduced to McAvoy after seeing Bright Young Things and then sorta went out of my way to see him in just about anything I could find him in.   One of my favorite movies he was in was Starter for 10.

But I digress…  I spent my Sunday afternoon watching Penelope.  A film about a girl is having to cope with a family curse involving her face looking like a pig.

Enter James McAvoy who can sorta see past this but can’t commit to her because he doesn’t have the ability to brake the curse.

It sorta takes a predictable turn near the end of the movie and if it wasn’t for an interesting soundtrack I think I would have turned it off midway through the movie.

Its not bad for a “bad movie”.   The soundtrack is pretty good…  and it has a little charm to it.

The BAD MOVIE I wanna see most right now is the House Bunny!

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So… we had a devil’s haircut of sorts yesterday.   Took both my dog (Elliot) and my sister’s dog Coco into a local groomer to get their hair~did.

They’ve groomed both dogs before so dropping them off and picking them up is pretty smooth.  The toughest part is really the drop off… Elliot tends to shy away from strangers and the groomers can give you a disapproving lecture about not brushing Elliot’s coat out more often.

Prior to leaving the groomer I was asked what type of haircut Coco would need.  I replied with “a Pomeranian one?” to which I got a disapproving stare.  I was told that they would trim and balance some lengthier sections so that her coat was even.

Fast forward to 9:20PM last night and I get a hysterical sister and weeping parents at my doorstep.   It took about 45 minutes to sorta calm everyone down so that I could find out what happened….   In short, my sister refused to pay for the botched haircut and she begged that they call the cops on her.

High drama indeed.   My sisters dog is in better spirits today.  We spent a few minutes outside this afternoon to get in a little sun and so that I could take a snapshot.

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Attended my first ever Dignowity pushcart derby last night… I can’t express how much fun I had at this event. I was moved by the incredible attendance and it was also great seeing a number of locals I’ve become aquatinted with in the past 12 months.

Spoke to a few local scooterists last night and it looks like we’re going to get very serious about entering a pushcart for 2009.

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