If you love winners, and I know you do, then you will love this short film. It contains the highlights of the greatest champions of all time. I broke down and wept just watching it. This is truely beautiful.
I prefer to put everything on a shelf in my basement to display every cell phone, pda, hand held game, etc…. I am genetically a pack rat on my Mother’s side.
via Hackszine.com : HOWTO - scrub private data from your iPhone
if you haven’t heard already, tomorrow evening, friday, june 13th there is a short mountain singers cameo reunion at the 331 Club in Minneapolis.
start time is 9:30. if you are late you will miss it for sure as the set will be short. who knows if there will ever be another reunion.
the lineup is kevin, peter, christie, bill and danny.
the songs are coin operated, cecilianne, damn you all to hell and he out to be erased.
come share the love.
After many problems, setbacks, annoyances and a few fists full of hair being pulled out, we are back on line!
Yeah!!!!
Last night I watched Phone Booth and this morning I watched Taxi Driver. Now I have seen Taxi Driver more times than I care to admit, but it has been a while so after watching Phone Booth I was inspired to watch the real deal. I do remember that when Phone Booth was about to be released that the D.C. Sniper shootings were going on and so it was held back, and when it was finally released it was a quiet event.
The first thing that is obvious after watching Taxi Driver now is that this version of New York no longer exists. Sure there are probably the neighborhoods that no taxi driver would feel safe entering, but the New York in Taxi Driver had seediness around every corner.
Phone Booth is set in contemporary New York. The cleaned up sanitized Rudy Guiliani New York. The one where there is a Disney Store and a Starbucks and giant Billboards with celebrities. Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) reflects this world. He was created by it. You see Stu on every block in Midtown Manhattan.
Travis and Stuart are alike in their loneliness. Travis lives in his head with his psychosis where as Stuart has created this character that he lives through and is so harsh towards anyone else that it isolates him. Stuart has to be broken down in order to discover his loneliness.
It is funny how many similarities there are in these movies. Both movies have two women who are the focus between the main characters struggles. Travis has Betsy whom he wants to save from boredom and the lack of respect of her coworkers and Iris whom he wants to save from the horrible world that would subject an innocent child to such madness. Stu has Kelly, his wife whom he wants to keep from the lies he has to spin in the world he has created. He also has Pamela, the girl he thinks he has as a girlfriend who humors him because she thinks he is innocent but is oblivious to the lies he tells others about their relationship.
Travis and Stu also have male adversaries that complicate things raising the level of crisis in each persons life. In Taxi Driver it is Albert Brooks (Tom the campaign worker) and Harvey Kietels (pimp) characters who come between Travis and the women that he wants to be with or save. In Phone Booth it is Kiefer Sutherland (caller/sniper), Forest Whitaker (cop) and John Enos (strip club bouncer) who disrupt the lies between Stu and his wife and girlfriend.
Unfortunately in the end Phone Booth is not a great movie where Taxi Driver is a classic. Phone Booths problem comes form Kiefer Sutherland’s character. He may be great in the character of Jack Bauer but he seems comical as the psychopathic caller who keeps Stu in the phone booth for the duration of the movie. The character almost comes off as camp where it should have been slow, methodical and sadistic.
* Henry Krinkle (origin)
Travis: Hey, what kind of guns do you guys carry? 38s, 45s, 357 Magnums, somethin’ bigger maybe?
Agent: Look, uh, if you’re really interested, if you give me your name and address, we’ll send you all the information on how to apply. How’s that?
Travis: You will?
Agent: Sure. (The agent takes out a notepad.)
Travis: OK. Why not? My name is Henry Krinkle. K-R-I-N-K-L-E. 154 Hopper Avenue.
Agent: Hopper?
Travis: Yeah. You know like a rabbit, hip, hop. Ha, ha. Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
Agent: Is there a zip code to that Henry?
Travis: Yeah, 610452. OK?
Agent: That’s, uh, six digits.
Travis: Oh, well 61045.
Agent: OK.
Travis: I was thinking of my telephone number.
Agent: Well, I’ve got it all. Henry, we’ll get all the stuff right out to you.
Travis: Thanks alot. Hey, great. Thanks alot. Hell, Jesus. Be careful today.
Agent: Right. Will do.
Travis: You have to be careful in and around a place like this. Bye.
Therefore Repent! a post-Rapture graphic novel
by Jim Munroe, drawn by Salgood Sam
What if the religious right… are actually right?
That is the basic premise of this book. The rapture has come, all of the good folks have floated up to be with God and things are getting mighty strange. People dress in costumes as a statement against their abandonment, dogs start speaking, angels attack and everyone starts doing magic.
This is not a hooky “left-behind” book and it is anything but cheesy. The story remains odd without straying into cliche and the artwork is beautiful. Darkly illustrated with thick lines and left uncolored it sets a tone of seriousness and keeps the story from getting out of hand.
Click on Image to view full size
Here is a 60 Page preview. Wow!
Click on Image to view full size
Click on Image to view full size
the Poison Pad, a notepad novella by Dave Kunz
I have had the Poison Pad for about 7 months now and have raved about it to anyone who will listen. It is exactly the type of literature that I look for. It is unique, home made and readable.
The book consists of a xeroxed notepad that contains messages left back and forth between roommates over a period of weeks or months. The entire book is just a stack of unbound paper contained in a folded piece of cardboard and held shut with a rubber band. The second page is user manual with the following steps.
The thing that I most like here is that there is actual character development and dialog. The fact that Kunz was able to do this on scribbled notes where most writers struggle with real pages. The characters are very dysfunctional but anyone who has ever lived in a house with strangers will tell you that if they don’t talk like this then they think like this.
The book has no official website but La Mano 21 is selling it.
The story is written in graphics format by Doug Belden and Steve Thomas of the Pioneer Press.
The Pioneer Press’s comment list lambasted the school and teacher for letting down the kids and the dumbing of the education system. I got just the opposite feeling after reading the article and posted the following response.
It is amazing how uninformed or apologetic everyone commenting here is. It surprises me even further that the author of the piece says that “the genre has it’s limitations.”
Go to a book store or library and actually look at the graphic novel section. Pick up “Palestine” by Joe Sacco, “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel, “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi, or “Salamander Dream” by Hope Larson. Any and all of these will change your perspective on the genre.
The list of great graphic novels doesn’t stop at these four. There are hundreds of great examples for all ages and tastes.
Does every different medium have to justify itself based on the opinion of people who either don’t really know anything about it or don’t care for it.
I’m starting my true blogging this month in the home of most of my posts, Audubon Coffee. I’ve been at this blog for 10 years now, although it only seems like a year or 2.
Things have changed in 10 years. Blogs weren’t called blogs, they were just web pages. There was no special software, I just wrote everything in a text editor and sent it up via ftp. I really started doing this because I was doing so much formatting for other sites and really just wanted to contribute to some content.
My topics have changed too. I use to look at a lot more toys and audio gear. Now I write about comics, art, movies and politics. My political rants tend to be angrier and more sarcastic, but I think that everyone is that way now.
10 years ago I was living in an apartment, playing in a band and I had my first real income above the poverty level. Now I am in my second house, have started my own company, have a child, and have decided that I am going to live through some chronic health problems. It is all just bookends.
I’ve never really meant for this to be more that something to communicate with my friends who are all over the continent. It is working as that with a little bit of therapy thrown in for good measure.
Keep reading, commenting, linking and sharing. I will do the same.
Cheers, Billy
