passerbye's Xanga

The alpha and the omega

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:38:54 GMT

Ok, I'm serious this time. I'm moving on. This will be my final post on Xanga. I will be blogging on Wordpress from now on, which I signed up for back in February but neglected. I made a header for it and everything, so I have to use it now. Since hearing Bobby's little blurb about the Scream's new album (see previous post), I haven't been able to get it out of my head. I thought it would make such a wonderful title to something. So naturally, I stole it. I'll let my Xanga remain active for a little while longer for redirecting purposes. See you on the other side.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Mon, 26 May 2008 18:09:02 GMT

Amidst the excitement in the last few months over new musical endeavors by all of my favorite bands - The Verve, My Bloody Valentine, Portishead, and Spiritualized - I don't know how Primal Scream managed to slip under my radar. Their new album is out in late July! I couldn't possibly imagine it disappointing me as much as the new Spiritualized has. The new Scream album, titled Beautiful Future, is described inscrutably by Bobby as "bubblegum and razorblades." The first single is "Can't Go Back" and as far as I can tell, Bobby's description seems pretty apt. Check out that synth action!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Sun, 25 May 2008 16:51:06 GMT

Hope everyone is having a splendid Memorial Day weekend. I made no plans for it except to just sleep in and be a couch potato for the three days off.

So I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night and despite mixed reactions, I actually quite liked it. Nobody I knew seemed to like the whole alien/sci-fi angle the film took with the plot, but I enjoyed it. It seemed to follow the tradition of pulpy comic book heroes that get into grand adventures fighting anyone from communists to martians. Indiana Jones has always been that type of fictional figure since Raiders of the Lost Ark. I think people that are turned off by the whole aliens thing is because they haven't familiarized themselves with the tradition that Indiana Jones comes from. From that angle, the film totally works for me. The sci-fi angle never dominates the film. Indy doesn't fight martians. He's still the same archaeological hero he's always been in the whole franchise, only this time he finds himself in a much grander adventure. If this is the start of a new trilogy of Indiana Jones movies (think of the last three as the first), then I think it started in fine fashion. The only thing that really bothered me about the film was the ending. I don't want to spoil anything, but to me the ending reminded me too much of the ending to the first X-Files movie. If you've seen both, then you know what I mean. But I recommend the film.

Attached to Indiana Jones was the first trailer and first glimpse of David Fincher's film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Brad Pitt plays the titular character, and I have to say I found myself getting goosebumps over it when I saw it. It looks whimsical and kind of Tim Burton-esque. The story is about Benjamin Button who ages backwards. It's one of Fitzgerald's more fantasy-driven stories and I remember only reading a chapter of the novella once, which I will definitely resume reading. Sucks that we'll have to wait until December to watch the film. I will post the trailer once it's official online.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Sun, 18 May 2008 20:02:17 GMT

I consider this a real concentrated effort on my part to design a nice looking website. I would never have done so if my friend hadn't asked me, not even one for myself. I suppose I might do one for myself one day, which would more or less be just a glorified blog. My friend's site, however, is actually more than that. She's taking off as a writer now while I'm still a slacker hack wannabe. That's okay. If I ever get just one piece published, even if it's in Reader's Digest, I'd die a grateful person. But until then, I gotta get back to writing essays for friends for money.

Tell me what you think of the website. And while you're there, check out some of my friend's excerpts from her book and tell her what you think as well.

Whoa

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:08:13 GMT

justice stress (official video)
by 75_prod

I know there's a socio-economical message in there somewhere, but my feeble little mind won't let me process anything but wondering where the hell I can get one of those jackets. Amidst all the many crappy music videos that still get made today (even though music videos nowadays practically have one foot in the grave), it's nice to see something really great. Reminds me of The Warriors. I imagine whoever dumb enough to remake that film should take a nice long look at this video. It would be insulting to call this merely a music video as it clearly aspires to be something more akin to a short film. At once urgent and a call-to-arms for expressive artists everywhere. Oh, and then there's Justice! Love the part when they steal the car and turn on the radio. Yeah, I get sick of it too!

Grand Theft Auto IV tidbit: Justice's "Waters of Nazareth" is featured in the game on the electro-choc radio station. Pretty cool.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Sun, 11 May 2008 03:27:38 GMT

My Bloody Valentine. Thursday, October 2nd at the Santa Monica Civic Center. Got a pair of tix today. Fortunately, I got paid yesterday and could afford it. Ok, well, not really but fuck it. I still can't believe it's happened. It'll be 16 years since they last played a show when they begin their comeback tour in June, and 17 years since their last album! If they never make another album, it doesn't really matter. It's all down hill when you've made one of the best records of the 90's. Hell, one of the best records ever. I'm so excited.

As I mentioned to Bernard, I'm afraid we might go deaf after the show. Their shows apparently have been legendary due to the ear-shattering noise they generate. I read somewhere that every member of the band is partially deaf because of it. Don't know if that's true or just a joke.

My second new toy

Fri, 09 May 2008 00:23:37 GMT

I walk into my room today after coming home from work to find a skateboard lying in the corner. My sister and her boyfriend actually got me one for my birthday. I didn't know if she was being serious when she told me they were going to get me one, but just having one in my room again brings back old memories of when I was 15. It feels somewhat comforting actually. I feel like a kid again.

My new toy

Thu, 08 May 2008 02:12:12 GMT

As of this post, I am writing from my newly purchased laptop. It's one of these, built to my specifications. Though my desktop still runs like a champ (most of the time), I thought a ten-year old computer might be just a tad outdated even if it runs better now than it ever did when I first bought it. But with newer software with ballooning system requirements as the current norm, I just needed an upgrade. Instead of another desktop, I decided on a laptop for portability, energy-efficiency, silence, and the fact that laptops are just plain badass. Plus, I REALLY wanted to use my LCD monitor for my Xbox 360, which I did. And now I know why these next-gen consoles were made for high def screens. My goodness. I'm never playing a console on standard def ever again. Well, time for a little GTA IV before bedtime. A little tidbit about GTA IV. For the first time in a GTA game, I found myself actually following the rules of the road. Why? The cars look so damn nice, I don't want even a single scratch on them. And that's just one of the gazillion little things that make IV pretty damn unique.

Two much?

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:21:02 GMT

From the latest Dark Knight trailer: two revealing shots of Dent/Two-Face. That looks like gasoline that Dent has half his face on in the first shot. And in the second, a profile of Dent's better half, but you can still see a little bit of the scarred part on the other. There's a leaked pic running rampant across the net as of today of a concept image of Two-Face. Some say it's real, some say it's only an early conception and not the finalized look. I don't want to link to it, but I'll say this about it: Please let the final look be somewhat close it!! Judging by what Eckhart revealed about his character in a recent L.A. Times article, Two-Face will be absolutely sick-looking. I'm getting goosebumps! Ok, back to watching the trailer AGAIN.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Sun, 04 May 2008 16:08:50 GMT

Saw Iron Man on Thursday night and what's fun about watching a comic book movie early is that you get the comic book fans out in full force. You know who they are when they cheer at the very mention of "S.H.I.E.L.D." or even the early War Machine armor, and especially the bit after the credits. Though I don't follow the Iron Man/Avengers comics very closely, the nods within the movie of something greater on the horizon is pretty cool. I mean, who wouldn't want to see those references come to fruition? The movie itself was great. It's definitely up there alongside Spider-Man 2 and X-Men 2. Though not as "weighty" as something like Batman Begins, Iron Man is pretty much the perfect summer comic book flick - fun, flashy, exciting, and heartfelt.

And speaking of Batman, the loudest crowd reaction actually came with the new Dark Knight trailer, which is online today. You just get the feeling this movie is going to be massive. The trailer gives off that impression. There's that sense of gravitas, even in the trailer, that separates the new Batman franchise from all of its comic book movie brethren.