Aquaman

So I downloaded it last week off iTunes, and I watched it finally this morning on the way into work. And although I don’t want to go on about it too much, cause it really wasn’t very exciting. I definitely understand why Aquaman was left in the dust during the WB, UPN merger (READ). I’m not a huge Aquaman fanboy or anything to begin with (WIKI), but I do read JLA, and I can understand the potential in the character. I think it was Geoff Johns who I heard say in an interview once that he thought Aquaman was a great character only no one has ever found a way to write him well, or at least consistently well. But honestly folks, he talks to fishes, what kind of a super power is that?! OK, ok, I kid… but really most people (my age) probably know Aquaman from the Superfriends cartoon, and even though he has been written somewhat better (darker, more conflicted) over the past few years in the comics, and even his appearances on the JLA / JLU cartoons have been pretty cool. It’s been a tough road for him to leave the bright orange and scaled shirt and the green tights behind. I mean can you really picture him NOT riding a dolphin, with that goofy California surfer-boy smile? The character is just lame, as unfortunate as it is, he just kind of sucks.

So really I probably shouldn’t have been expecting much from the Aquaman live action tv show. If you don’t know this was a show in the vein of Smallville created actually by the same guys that would follow Arthur Curry (aka Aquaman) as he discovered his true destiny ‘Under da Sea… do do do do…. Under da sea… cause life is better down where its wetter, take it from me…” ok stop. Sorry. That just came out. I apologize. They only ever made a pilot but it sets up the series thusly: our hero Arthur, discovers he is the secret prince of Atlantis who must under the watchful tutelage of Ving Rhames learn all about his people, and culture in order to reclaim the throne and free his people from the terrors of the deep (in the comics this would probably be his evil half brother– Ocean Master, or the nefarious Black Manta). Also we establish some baddies for the show; namely the mysterious undersea people who in this episode oare represented by a hot Siren chick, and the human government who are investigating the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle.

The thing is, the pilot plays out like a poor man’s Smallville, which is also a tragically flawed show, yes there are moments or scenes here and there Some of the characters have nice simple pieces (like Lou Diamond Phillips at the beginning), or the scene where a 10 year old Arthur wakes up after a plane crash in the water atop the back of a surfaced whale. These are nice scenes yes, but there is so much crap here too. Ving Rhames, I love the guy, but he just doesn’t sell the premise, the Siren baddie is totally ridiculous, Arthurs boss… WTF?! How come he just brushed off the fact that he is like a superhuman in the water until now. Why the hell doesn’t anything and anyone’s motivation really make sense when you think about it. And most of all, the main actor Justin Hartley just doesn’t cut it. He doesn’t have the presence, or the charisma to pull this show off. I mean this guy is supposed to be the prince of Atlantis?! No way.

Originally they had cast another actor Will Toale as Aquaman (which was also at one time called Mercy Reef) but I don't thin that really would've helped the situation. I just think this show wasn't meant to be, despite the resounding, if embarassing cultural impact of Aquaman.

I suppose it might’ve gotten better given time, but it won’t get that chance now, and maybe that’s just for the best. Aquaman I rate you 4 soggy dolphins, out of 10.

SF Marathon - 5K

This weekend I ran a 5km as part of the SF Marathon. I'm really not at the level where I could even remotely think about doing the marathon, however I enjoy running a lot, and have been doing it since I quit smoking just over a year ago. I can pretty comfortably run for 35-45 mins, and my goal is to get to a stage where I could do a half marathon. Still 6 miles versus 13 miles is a big difference. :)

That said I finished the 5K in pretty good time, I also placed 71st overall!!! Hooray for me.

http://runraceresults.com/Event.asp?ID=RCLF2006

San Francisco Marathon - 5K

bib: 31017
Name: Geoff Chapman
Gender: M
Age: 28
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Place Overall: 71 out of 897
Men: 49 out of 315
M Open: 0 of 0
Age Grade: 53.01% Place 152
FINISH: 23:50 pace 7:41
Chip Time: 23:50
Gun Time 23:50

Seriously everyone, that's like me running basically my fastest the whole time. I don't even usually go that fast at the gym. Ok, that's all for now. Lates.

I <3 Kitler

Holy crap this is just about the funniest thing I've ever seen! A webpage dedicated to photos of "Cats that Look Like Hitler" you won't believe your eyes. for real this is hilarious!!!

http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/

Click on Best Kitlers for the greatest Nazi cats ever.

Comic Con Roundup pt2

A couple more things I've gleaned from reading about comic con that I thought I should share with you. Although admittedly this post might not be that interesting as I've already shared what I consider to be the most important info. So let's just see what else is there...

Well Daniel Craig confirmed that he's down for another James Bond film. That'll make number 22 in the franchise. I hope the new one's good, but I have some serious reservations...

Bryan Singer is still committed to a 2009 Superman returns sequel, and says the villain will be an alien. My vote goes to Brainiac, and NOT Doomsday. And if the rumblings are right it looks like Brainiac is the more likely candidate.

Guillermo Del Toro is looking for a home for Hellboy 2, apparently the move from Sony to Paramount is not locked down. And although the script is done and has creator Mike Mignola's approval they're still shopping it around.

Steve Sansweet head of Lucasfilm's Fan Relations said that the Star Wars Clone Wars animated series... the new animated series, not the ultra cool one from Gendy Tartakovsky, will hit the airwaves sometime in 2008, and suggested that the long promised live action series should be good to go by 2010... So friggin long with everything Star Wars.

I have to tell you The Henson company is one of the most interesting groups I've ever really heard of. I mean they do sooo much, and a lot of it is super cool, and even more of it you'll never hear of. At their panel at comic con they had Lisa Henson alongside the likes of Gendy Tartakovsky talking about his upcoming Film, The Power of the Dark Crystal (IMDB). Yes that's right, if you haven't heard of it yet, you have now. They're doing a sequel to The Dark Crystal. Check out the teaser poster to the left. Although it follows some of the same characters its really just another story set in the same universe as the first film. They also talked about something that sounds totally hilarious: Pupper Up! Jim Henson's Puppet Improv! - For Adults Only. Because really, adult puppet humor is awesome. Oh and they mentioned in passing that they are a long way off, but still starting to develop a Fraggle Rock movie!


A picture of Topher Grace as Eddie Brock aka Venom from Spider-Man 3 hit the web too I really can stand the pic though so I'm not going to post it here. You can find it at the Official site HERE. Just click on Enter - Desktop - Wallpaper (#2 I think). I'm honestly expecting Venom to look good, but I just feel that specific picture is very ugly and shouldn't be used for promotion.

Have you guys heard about this Hot Fuzz movie yet? It's the same guys who brought us Shaun of the Dead and centers around two fairly inept policemen. I suspect it will be hilarious, as really everything with Simon Pegg should be. I'll have to check out the vidcast they've been doing on it. Try to learn more... read more on Comingsson.net HERE.

Oh here's one more tidbit for you, the X-Men 3 DVD will have a whopping 21 deleted scenes and 3 alternate endings!

Man there's really a lot more but that's all I think I'm going to get into here. Most of the other things I read online were more about people's impressions of panels, etc. There's more and more film news at the cons every year. I guess that's just how it goes. Next year I definitely plan to attend. If you're still interested go check out Ain't it Cool News, or Latino Review, or of course Superhero Hype!. I wasn't very impressed with CHUD. But hey, you can't win 'em all. And while I haven't listened yet, I expect the coverage of especially the comic book side of things to be up to the usual standards of excellence from the Comic Geek Speak podcast guys.

That's definitely all from me for now. I hope everyone else had a good weekend. Later :)

Comic Con Roundup pt1

So I have a bunch more comic con updates that came in over the weekend. There's really waaay too much to get a handle on, so here are just some of the things that caught my attention. Oh and in case anyone missed it, below my Crappy Camping Adventure post is a quick update no the new JJ Abrams Trek film, alongside the brand new teaser poster for it.

As for news there's tons, but first I wanted to just pay my respects to a great character actor named Mako who died on Saturday. He was a fine actor, over his 40 years in the industry he earned an Oscar nomination for his turn in The Sand Pebbles which I'm assuming is where he met Steve McQueen (who he actually eulogized). He was also known as the founder of America's first Asian-American theater company. And he was in a ton of tv shows and films. You might remember him best as the old wizard in Conan the Barbarian, but to me he will always be the voice of Aku, the Shape-shifting Master of Evil from perhaps the greatest cartoon series ever: Samurai Jack. On Friday he was announced as the voice to Master Splinter in the new Ninja Turtles film, and then early Saturday morning he passed due to esophageal lung cancer. Check out Mako's IMDB page HERE. He will be missed...

Moving onto a bit more upbeat news. There were a number of film announcements at Comic con. One that I haven't mentioned yet is of course Iron Man (WIKI). That's right, its finally coming to the big screen. Jon Favreau is directing, and no stars have been attached yet. Favs has officially said that the villain will be The Mandarin, and that the suit while its design is NOT locked down yet, will be more like a floating arsenal than some incarnations of the character. In fact he likened it to War Machine. The teaser poster for the film which was just revealed is obviously the picture right beside here. A few years ago Tom Cruise was really campaigning for this film, but I hope he doesn't get it. I'd much rather see someone without such a big "Celebrity" personality in the lead. Keep up on the film over at SupeheroHype!

Apparently there is also a new Iron Man cartoon in the works. Like the upcoming Fantastic Four cartoon (starts in Sept) the Iron Man toon will be a complimentary series, and not a direct tie to the film. That's cool I guess.

Speaking of cartoons, the Official website for the new Hellboy animated films is online and man it is totally badass check it HERE. On the site you'll find info on both of the upcoming direct to dvd titles: Sword of Storms, and Blood and Iron. There's an awesome trailer for the first film, as well as wallpaper etc. I am honestly getting very excited by this project.

Next Fantastic Four. Tim Story is working hard, with particular zeal on Dr Doom. Personally I don't care. Doom is great and all, but these comic book films are running into trouble by just trying to keep the same villains for every incarnation. I mean is there a reason every X-Men film had Magneto in it?! I love Ian McKellan, and magneto is a great villain, but WTF. The X-Men have tons of great badguys. Maybe there's not quite as many for the FF, but they've already announced that they're going with Galactus and the Silver Surfer. Galactus EATS PLANETS, do they really think they need another villain??? Anyhow, check out Story's Blog, and you can suggest a subtitle for the film. My vote "Fantastic Four 2: Electric Bugaloo" then tag it with "Who knew that surfers could dance?!" So then the film could be like a disco dance off for the fate of the world. hehe...

Time for me to go eat something... but I'll be back with more later on...

My Crappy Camping Adventure

So my camping trip this weekend was pretty much a complete failure. Sometimes things just don't work out the way you'd like I guess. Firstly it was probably the hottest weekend of the year. I'd guesstimate around 110 degrees. Erica and I went with my parents which should've been fun. I mean I don't get too much time to do things like go camping with them, so this was going to be one of maybe only 2 trips this summer. We decided to ride up in their car, actually it's a pickup, one of those nice new big ones. And although the pickup bed is quite large we started out the trip by being squished into a cramped back seat (one of those bench seats) where I couldn't move my legs. Not a good sign. Then we started to drive down to Fremont Peak State Park. A small park but we went there with a purpose in mind; which I'll get into in a second.

Of course my parents being my parents they talked, bickered and talked even more the entire way down. My parents, really my entire family like to talk, a lot. We don't really fight ever, but we bicker. That aside though, we can really just ramble on about most anything totally oblivious to anything around us. It's a bit disconcerting for people. At least I know that every girlfriend of mine, and boyfriend of my sisters, has always had trouble dealing with my parents talking. Its not like that bad or anything, they're very friendly people, they just don't stop talking. And everyone talks over one another pretty much all the time. Outsiders coming into the situation for the first time find it hard, because they might be hearing 3 different conversations at once. The thing is, we don't really expect people to listen to everything we say, AND its perfectly acceptable to interrupt each other. I know I do it all the time. Anyhow, that's the situation Erica had to endure for the trip. I was actually a bit tired so I wasn't talking too much, but my parents as usual went on and on about the most mundane of topics. I mean really, why on earth would Erica care about how my moms personal trainers daughter married this man who wasn't any good to her, and then she had to move to Vallejo.... Exactly, it doesn't matter and she shouldn't care. I feel bad for her sometimes putting up with my family...

As an unfortunate stroke, the truck had its ABS light on for most of the trip, and although the brakes seemed fine, my dad was concerned about the mountain road up to the Fremont Peak. So we stopped at San Juan Bautista and really almost turned around to go home. That might've been a better idea though as the rest of our trip didn't turn out to be super fun. Of course that had a lot to do with the staggering heat. We did have one very nice experience over the weekend doing a short walk around the very pleasant Mission at San Juan Batista. It's a beautiful old building with a really amazing garden. According to the brochure it was actually built by "the happy hands of the converted indiginous peoples". I'm so sure they were all 'willing' participants in the construction. I mean that's such a bald faced lie that it's funny that they even tried to say it. Anyhow, after the mission tour we stopped at a gas station and realized that the ABS light had gone off, so we proceeded to head up the peak to into the state park.

The heat was just unrelenting, but we managed a short walk. Maybe I'll have a picture I can throw in here sometime down the road. Although I forgot my camera at home, my dad had his. Anyhow, we walked a bit, but really couldn't go far because of the heat. I was also unreasonably concerned about mountain lions. But that's just my head playing with me. :)

That evenings plan was the entire reason we wanted to go there in the first place, the Fremont Peak Observatory was hosting a public viewing night. They have a big telescope up top and host these nights once or twice a month where they give you a talk about the sky at that time of year and then let everyone look at the stars through a real telescope. Kinda nerdy, but still kind of fun, I mean I've never used a 'real' telescope before. Two things about the show bugged me though. Firstly, they had some intern from a community college giving the presentation, and he was a complete idiot. I mean for real, he was awful. Like what kind of person, who I assume is at least moderately interested in astronomy, can't even get the number of planets in our solar system right?! I don't claim to be some science nerd of anything, but really if you're interested in planets and stars, you might've, I mean just maybe might've heard that they officially found a tenth planet in our system (Sedna). Secondly though when we finally got to have a look through the big telescope, I have to say, I wasn't very impressed. I mean sure Jupiter looked bigger, but man I was hoping for like Hubble Telescope quality here. This was like, barely bigger. Quite disappointing. I'm can't imagine how boring it must be to do that as a living.

So with the heat and the depressing evening at the observatory behind us we decided to just pack it in, and go to bed. Which was fine. The heat made sleep welcome. And this was comfortable car camping, I mean we had an air mattress, so we weren't exactly roughing it.

In the wee hours of the morning though I had a bit of a rude awakening. Flies. I hate flies. In a way they're worse than mosquitoes, because I can respect mosquitoes. With them its like a hunt, sometimes they win, sometimes I do, but flies.... I mean what the hell is the point of a fly? They are literally there just to bug you; it makes me all crazy like. Anyhow, the flies got in the tent, and decided to make my morning hell. I would wake up kill like 5 of em, then go back to bed, and wake up 10 minutes later to kill 5 more. We have a rip in the netting at the entrance, that will definitely be fixed by our next trip. So finally I said screw it, and just got up. But it sure wasn't any better outside the tent. In fact, it was way worse; and I mean WAY worse. It was like out of some god awful made for tv sci fi channel film, Attack of the Flies. I was like eating them and getting them in my eyes there were so many.

We decided to take off pretty much immediately, which was apparently what a lot of other campers did too, because by the time we left, which was like 9am half the camp was deserted. Anyhow, we left our crappy camping adventure for back home, having not really seen anything of any interest whatsoever, and really being far to hot to enjoy even the hint of dried and yellow wilderness. When we got back to my parents house in San Mateo where we'd left the car it was much better. And my mom decided to take me out shopping, which I think was actually my birthday present from last month. New clothes are good. Very happy making. And I finally finally got myself a jean jacket. So now I can play out all my wildest 80s fantasies in the correct attire. I'll post a photo of it sometime soon.

And that was that, the end of another weekend. Work friggin sucks, as usual, hopefully I'll get something better sorted out soon. But probably not if I spend all my time blogging. hehe. I'd actually better head out now. Lotsa stuff to do. Ok just kidding there, but I do have all that comic con stuff to read up on. Talk later kids.

Oh and thank you for commenting Laura, Kelly, and Angie. You're all superstars and although I find it slightly depressing that no one in my 'real life' who reads this commented, but I guess that's the nature of Internet. Kelly I might have to take you up on your offer to educate me in the ways of blogging. I mean I've been writing for a few years now, but actually blogging for a community is different. I hardly have any focus here, and my writing style isn't even remotely structured... I'll give it a while and think about it though. I'm having a bit of trouble deciding whether I want like everyone to read my blog, or no one to. You know what I mean? Anyhow, thanks for indulging me, all 3 of you still reading. Talk later.

Trek

J.J. Abrams talked about his new Star Trek film. Read the Variety article HERE.

He's planning on doing the whole MI:III treatment to it. Is this a good idea or a horrible one?
And who could honestly pull off a young Kirk???

My take. Yes its a good idea although I would've been fine to see the franchise take a breather for a few years, I understand why the money grubbing Hollywood types won't ever let that happen. And Abrams is a good choice to shake things up. The film, or potentially series of films, will focus on a young Kirk, Spock, and McCoy at Starfleeet. I think they should go for total unknowns for the roles. Anyone else have thoughts?

back tomorrow

K, well there's been some more great Comic-con news, but I'm heading off camping for tonight, so I'll hit the blog up again Sunday. In the meantime though, you'll have to centens yourself with the amazing full trailer for Darren Aronofsky's new film The Fountain.

Oh and they thankfully announced that the voice for Optimus Prime in Michael Bay's Transformers film will remain the only true Optimus Peter Cullen. That's the same guy from the cartoon.

I'd better head out now. Talk to you all on Sunday. And thanks to those who posted comments. Bye :)

Comments?

I kinda wonder if I'm like living in a vacuum here. I KNOW that some people are reading this blog... and I've been writing it for what like a month and a half now. I've got around 45 posts, and yet NOT A SINGLE COMMENT?!

What's up with that?

If you are reading this, and you see something interesting, please leave me a comment on the blog. I don't know how else to put it. I'd like some feedback. I get comments from people on it in other forms, via IM or email, but why not just put it on the blog. It might encourage others to do the same. Laura, dear sweet Laura, even sent me an awesome email with a bunch of thoughts. Please, just put it on the blog...

Fist 3 people to leave a comment win a prize.

Comic Con preview

Well the San Diego Comic-Con starts tomorrow (Official), and I am very excited. I love the con, and REALLY wish I was there this year. The show open officially tomorrow morning, but there was something of a preshow today and certain pieces of news and photographic evidence are already turning up on the web. I'm going to make an attempt to gather the juiciest and/or most interesting pieces of news (at least to me) and put together a con round-up for my next podcast. But this seems like as good a place as any to get my thoughts in order before that happens.

So first things first, there are a few pieces of film news that must be mentioned.

Latino Review, which is a very good insider movie news site claims to have as scoop from a very trusted source that the role of the Joker in the sequel to Batman Begins was officially offered to Heath Ledger yesterday. Read it HERE.

I'm actually ok with this I think, not that I think its a perfect choice, but I really like Ledger, and I think he's got some great acting chops when working with the right director. And really, Christopher Nolan is a great director. So I say if this pans out; let's trust him on it.

The sequel to Hulk has a director now, his name is Louis LeTerrier (IMDB) of the Transporter films fame. The sequel to the Hulk, entitled The Incredible Hulk (WIKI) and will be something of a reboot for the franchise that everyone feels got off on something of the wrong foot. I'm not sure if Eric Bana will be coming back as Bruce Banner, although I sure hope so. More info should be announced over the next few days. Read all about this story at Superhero Hype!

The guys over at Vanity Fair (I believe I heard) were the ones to break this story apparently a bit earlier than planned. Frank Miller, famed comic book writer and artist (I truly hate most of his art) will script and direct the iconic comic book character The Spirit to the big screen. He will first work with Robert Rodriguez though, on the next Sin City film (maybe two films if they go ahead with the back to back shooting that's been rumored). He is currently working on Post for his epic Spartan period war film 300. Anyhow, you can read about this also on the Hype!

Check out this awesome poster for the still slightly under the radar film Pan's Labyrinth coming to theaters this Christmas time. Everyone attending the Con can get a copy of this poster. Check out the art, etc. for this truly creepy awesome looking new Spanish film from Guillermo Del Toro HERE. And for the teaser trailer check HERE. I wouldn't be surprised if we see more from this film by the end of the weekend...

Speaking of sweet new trailers hitting the web Check it out everyone. Its finally here. Our first real look at the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all CG film coming out next year (IMDB). Check the Trailer on Apple.com HERE. I have to say I like it. Although I guess I might've preferred it being a bit darker I understand that they would want this to appeal to a mass audience, especially with the success of the current cartoon on FOX. The turtles look somehow a bit weird to me though, and maybe that's just because I'm not used to an all CG design. I will say the one thing that looks like its done really right in this trailer is how the turtles move. That was very sweet. hmm. I think I need to reflect on this a bit more before passing any judgment. Oh actually I just saw that they apparently already did the press conference on this flick. Mako is voicing Splinter!!! That's very very good. Peter Laird, the creator of the turtles, was very involved in the process. The story will fit in the previous films continuity (wow I'd better rewatch those). The villain will NOT be the Shredder. Check out this story Ain't It Cool News for more info on the Press conference and the 4 individual character one sheet posters.

Oh man, and you guys have to check out this spectacular trailer for Children of Men right HERE. This is a new sci fi film by Alfonso Curon starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore, and well, it just looks really great.

Holy crap! Talk about great new trailers this film has me blindsided. I'd only even heard of it for the first time like a week ago. Check out this trailer for Renaissance HERE. Where the hell did this film even come from?! WOW!!!

At the panel for the new James Franco WWI film Flyboys, producer extraordinaire Dean Devlin apparently said that Stargate 2 and 3 films are in the pipeline still! These are apparently direct continuations of the original film and not the series. Crazy eh?

Doug Jones, who plays the creature in Pan's Labyrinth, at least in CG form (a la Anthony Serkis as Gollum) all but confirmed that he is indeed in talks to do the mocap work for The Silver Surfer in the new Fantastic Four film.

Quint did a nice write up on the Del Toro panel over at AICN. Check it HERE

Ok, I HAVE to go to bed now. Its way friggin late. I'm sure there will be like tons of new stuff tomorrow. I'll try to continue gathering it all up here. So if you trust me not to miss anything, stay tuned :) Later.

my train hit someone!

On my train coming into work today, someone was hit crossing the tracks. I didn't see anything, but we stopped the train and they made the announcement saying there was a fatality. 'Cuase really when you get hit by a train, you're almost definately dead. BUT when they went out the guy was apparently still alive, so instead of calling the coroner (which apparently can take hours) they called an ambulance. Then the San Mateo Police Department came and took a statement from the Engineer. After only a 45 minutes or so delay we finally got back on our way. I didn't see what the front of the train looked like, but I'd imagine it wasn't too pretty. This was the bullet train, and we were going Very fast. Anyhow, it was definately an experience. I pretty much just sat back and waited, I was glad to hear that the guy survived, but I wasn't going to get overly emotional about it. There was one woman near me though who was getting pretty pissy about the sitch. She asked the train people twice is we could get off. I think she was late for a meeting or something. And the Caltrain staff were just like 'no, we can't let you off or do anything until we're cleared from the police.' the woman was an idiot. That's kinda bitchy eh?

So I'm at work now, but that was my morning commute. Kinda crazy.

EUReKA

So I checked out the pilot to the new Sci Fi Channel original series EUReKA last night and while I definitely wasn't floored, I will say that the show could definitely develop into something decent. In a nutshell its about a US Marshall, Jack Carter (why do all these protagonists have such cliched names?) who while driving his angsty runaway teenager daughter back home from across the country, gets stuck in the apparently sleepy little town of Eureka. Of course Eureka isn't you're average small town, it's really a specially planned top-secret community of scientists who are doing research for the betterment of mankind (or is it the US government?) and creating super advanced machines while exploring technologies of the future. One of these earth-shattering (literally) experiments has of course gone awry and now its up to the local sheriffs department to solve the crime. Of course they'll need the help of US Marshall Jack Carter, and the plucky Department of Defense hottie Allison Blake. It's Men in Black meets Northern Exposure without quite as much funny as MIB and not quite as much heart as NE. That said; I enjoyed it alright. I feel somehow like I've already seen this show before, somewhere.... maybe its just not that original. Anyhow, I'll check out another episode or two before passing any final judgment, everyone is likeable enough, and the set up is good. I just hope that after a few warm up episodes they can deliver something I haven't seen a million times before.

Check out the shows official website HERE.
Thank goodness for Sci Fi and their excellent policy of reairing recent shows. If you missed it the Eureka pilot will be reaired again this Sunday (the 23rd), and again on Monday before the new episode on Tuesday.

Zune

So I’ve spent some of my morning reading up on the Zune. That’s the name (at least for now) for Microsoft’s new handheld media device, that has the “potential” or so people claim to crush the iPod. I have my doubts as to whether that’s true, or really even possible at the moment, but it’s definitely an interesting device. You might know the device under its original code name the Argo. Here’s a pic of it:



I got a lot of my info on this from Engadget which is a pretty fantastic website. Check out this story from Engadget for their run down on the rumored details. That’s right; nothing is official yet… HERE is the original article that turned me onto the player. And then HERE is the news from yesterday that provided a bunch more info. Check them out they are short articles. I’ll wait. Or even better, if you want the full run down go listen to the latest installment of the Engadget Podcast (#82 - yes they’re finally back!). These guys KNOW what they’re talking about, so listen up.

Based on the rumored specs and what I’ve gleaned from Internet The Zune will be pretty cool, but maybe not as cool as the perhaps-a-little-too-much-in-fantasyland new “true” iPod video (READ) Truth is, non of these details are Official yet. The big features of the Zune, wireless download, which includes a social LAN potential, meaning I can trade songs with my buddy on the fly (who theoretically might need another Zune but hopefully can have any networked device). A song will be available for trade 10 times. The Engadget guys likened this to the functionality of the MusicGremlin which is currently just a first generation device but has some potential, read a good review of it over at MP3.com right HERE. On the negative side for the Zune though, rumor has it that every song will have to have the PlaySafe (I think it’s called) DRM tag. EVERY song. That’s right, no support for unencoded MP3?! Is that for real? My friend Devon and I were speculating that maybe they just need to do this as some kind of token gesture for their partners. Obviously URGE or Vongo don’t want their potentially semi-exclusive (at the moment) material supplanted by people illegally file sharing. But MS is definitely not going to win the market share if they don’t and ultimately I think that if they say for example were to release the Zune with this DRM law easily circumvented, hackable as it were, then it would be fine. Power-users will hack their Zune, and keep using bit-torrents for file sharing, and everyone else won’t care and will suck it up and use the URGE music store. It works for Apple and iTunes, so why not MS?

The really big thing about Microsoft releasing a device like this though, and this is something that really only MS could do, is that they can integrate it with their other products. In fact, if the rumors are true, then this could essentially be the centerpiece (or at least the portable piece) of you new and fully integrated line of MS hard and software. It will be running a (most likely modified) version of Pocket Media Center, so it will work with your PC, as long as your running XP. It will definitely incorporate their new Live Anywhere Platform (READ) which MS has said will be incorporated into next-gen smart phones, and is already tied into the XBOX Live service. So what their building isn’t just a single device, but a link in a chain; a family of devices, some new, some old. The Engadget guys compared this functionality somewhat to the new Gigabeat S and it’s style (it also runs on the portable media center OS). Check out this interesting video product review over at CNET HERE.

The Zune will, of course, has to work well with its other friends. If you’ve seen the Beta for the new Windows Media Player 11, then you’ll know exactly what direction MS is thinking their going. Check it HERE. Looking at WMP11 is of course, like exploring a prelude to the style we can expect to see from MS Vista. So you can expect more integration there. What about URGEVongo? Apple is rumored to be announcing a film distribution/rental agreement through the iTunes music store, at their upcoming press conference on Aug 8th. I think that’s the Worldwide Developers Conference. Word is that the Zune will support Sirius, and incorporate a local FM tuner. What terrestrial, and satellite radio together?! As a podcaster that makes me nervous… haha. Anyhow, There are a lot of ‘other’ partners in the mix here. This confluence of media is exciting yes, but its also really tricky and hard to keep track of. I’ve been waiting my entire life for a single ultimate device that will actually do everything I want (which is quite a lot). Does it look like the Zune is going there? No not really. But it sure is interesting, and MS can definitely give Apple a run for their money. Considering how they’ve reportedly subsidized the XBOX over the years I wouldn’t be surprised to see MS make a ‘long term’ serious play for this ever growing media market. The least we can hope is that it will at encourage Everyone to step up their game a bit, and move me one step closer to my universal media device.

Frustrated at nothing... or maybe its myself.

Sometimes I feel like life is just designed to frustrate me. I don’t know what it is, other than my own stupidness, but really I get just so aggravated trying to make everything work out just right. When it doesn’t I get just,….. arrrrgh. I know, I know. Nothing I’m fucking rambling about even makes sense. That’s fine. I keep this blog to firstly rant and rave about all my internet and movie geekyness, but also, I want there to be a personal element to this blog. I don’t want to be faceless, I want to feel like someone is fucking reading this. I want to be Hawsome. Am I really that self-indulgent? Yes. Probably. I don’t know. Fuck

I mean does it matter even if I make sense? Sometimes I don’t think so. And then when I do write something honest, people ask me if I’m ok? Am I ok? I mean really? Are you serious? Are you ok? It's life that’s screwed up man, not me…

And there’s nothing even going on to work me up, you know. Its all bullshit. I was listening to The Bitterest Pill podcast today. If you don’t know it go check it out. I was listening to episode #82, and Dan is leaving the show for a bit. I got it. I really did. Don’t look at me like that, just go listen to his show. It's actually real. He’s been struggling with some censorship issues; self-censorship, social censorship, problems with his family, his wife… it's screwed up. A few episodes ago he was talking about this article he’d read; I think it was in Wired. Doesn’t matter, anyhow it was an article on “the top 10 reasons why your blog sucks” and the main reason. Number fucking 1 with a bullet, "your not willing to go the distance, to sacrifice, and tell the truth and alienate your work, you job, your friends or family. Why is that?

Why is it that everyone can think something but as soon as you say it its screwed up? And you’re a bastard for voicing everyones secret thoughts!? It doesn’t make sense to me. Never did.

I wrote Dan an email like seriously, one of those epic, heartfelt, “Hey man you don’t know me BUT…” emails dig? It was a really serious thing and pretty difficult for me to write honestly. And just when I finished, what should happen? I click Send, and uh oh - Server Error; Try Again? Fuck. No Internet connection. Back, Back… but it's too late, Back only takes you to the Yahoo login page. And just like that: it’s gone. So god damned frustrating.

Then I got into a conversation with my mom, 'cause I’m staying at my parents house tonight, about my sister. I love her, I really do, but I feel a bit frustrated by her sometimes; and I don’t think she even knows it. Well, I’m not sure if I gave her this blog address… she might know it now. Jeez, people, no. I’m not about to say some stupid crap about my sister, she is really way on the whole an awesome amazing person. I’m just frustrated with her travel plans. And mostly that’s my fault. Basically she’s coming down from Vancouver to visit, theoretically both me and my parents. Unfortunately she’s also coming for a “real” vacation. Not just a family vacation. And yes, you know as well as I do that there’s a difference. Ugh, I JUST had this conversation, I don’t want to have it again. Basically I’m just a bit pissed off at myself for canceling plans for next weekend so that we can hang out with her. Cat if you’re reading this sorry. I don’t mean that to sound harsh, or be ANY kind of reflection on you. I love you. And I want to hang out with you. I think I’m just frustrated by the fact that sometimes I feel like my entire Calendar, my entire life feels prescribed to me by other people. Or honestly worse than that, by myself, but without ANY room to move. I also think that maybe when you (or anyone) comes to visit they should do one or the other; either family time, or personal “real” vacation time. Mixing the two gets complicated. I know I will have fun hanging out with you, but I wish it didn’t have to be on your schedule. Especially because it was last minute. And seriously calm down. I realize that it is completely MY fault. And E and I CAN do what we want. I’m not trying to put blame on you, I’m sorry I know it sounds like I am. God damnit, do you see how things just can’t come out right here?

It's hot here tonight, I hate staying down the peninsula when its so hot. The city is much nicer. Cooler, even with the damned fog. I feel like I’m completely struggling with words here. Nothing even makes sense. NO I’m not ok. Of course not. But Fuck leave it alone; I’m not breaking here, I’ll call you if I am. Seriously. This is just me, my neurosis, and a keyboard. Fantastic isn’t it…

Screw it. I need to go watch some tv or something. Turn off. Maybe have a beer. Even though I feel more like going for a run. Beer, then sleep is better, or at least more “appropriate”. I’ll be cool in the morning.

Here's a song I really like. although I guess technically it is about recognizing the Lies around us, not everything has to have some deep meaning. Sheesh...

The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)

Sleeping is giving in,
no matter what the time is.
Sleeping is giving in,
so lift those heavy eyelids.

People say that you'll die
faster than without water.
But we know it's just a lie,
scare your son, scare your daughter.

People say that your dreams
are the only things that save ya.
Come on baby in our dreams,
we can live our misbehavior.

Every time you close your eyes
Lies, Lies! 

Jericho this Fall

So there's a new show coming out this fall on CBS that has me decidedly intrigued. The show is called Jericho, and it stars the younger not quite as pretty Johnny Depp look alike Skeet Ulrich. Basically as far as I can tell it follows the life of Jake Green (Ulrich) as he returns home from who knows where to his sleepy little town of Jericho. Before escaping the rather uncomfortable homecoming Jake is confronted with a mysterious cataclysm. Explosions rock the sky, and 'apparently' both Denver and Atlanta have been blown off the map. All radio signals are blanked out, and information is sparse in the isolated town. Tensions begin to rise as no one really knows the what, why, or how things are happening, but mysteries upon mysteries start building up and Jake must confront his dark past and find a place for himself in the brave new world.

At least that's how I would write it :)

Check out the official show site with a very interesting trailer HERE
Also, I like to keep an eye on tv.com for their coverage. You can find that HERE

I love shows like this, and you can count on me to be watching come September 20th (8pm). But after the unfortunate cancellation last season of both Surface and Invasion (which I loved), is there really room for something like this? I hope it's good, or at least good enough to last for enough episodes so everyone gets a chance to check it out.

Beatmania

Hey all, just back from camping, which was very fun. I did a 13 mile hike that was great. Now its Monday, and back to work as usual. Lame :( I did however get my hands on a very cool game. Beatmania from Konami. These are the same people behind Dance Dance Revolution and Karaoke Revolution. Beatmania is a DJ simulator, and it came complete with a peripheral controller for scratching. I played through the training levels and tried out a few songs, and Man it's tough. After awhile I did realize that the trick of it is definitely to let yourself get caught up into the beat of the song. Beatmania is a pretty good name for the game actually. The easiest way to play is to just go with the rhythm and follow the beat. I'd totally recommend you check this game out if you get a chance. It's actually in the arcades too. The controls may seem pretty tricky to get a handle on at first, but I'd say within 30 minutes or so I had at least the basics of gameplay down. Check out the controller.

on my radar

The Summer's only half over, but a lot of the big tentpole movies have already come and gone. August films are never as action heavy on the whole as June or Julys. While we're still awaiting some films with big popcorn potential like Snakes on a Plane the August films tend to bleed into more thoughtful thrillers or suspense fare. And that’s fine by me. Really, in my opinion the late summer early fall is actually the best time of year for films. Yes you still have some of the big summer throwbacks, Miami Vice, or Talledega Nights which I love but you also start getting films that start having better plots too. Not that all of these films fall into that "better plot category" but here are some films that I've got on my radar for the upcoming while (basically the second week of August until the first week of October)...

08/18

The Illusionist - a turn of the century magician (Ed Norton) uses his prowess to win the heart of a woman far above his social standing (Jessica Biel). Costars Paul Giamatti. (might not be as good as the other magician film coming in late October The Prestige with Hugh Jackman and Chrisitan Bale) - IMDB, Trailer

08/25
Beerfest - a comedy about two guys who go to Germany and join Team USA for a super secret underground international beer drinking competition. Brought to you by Broken Lizard (Super Troopers) - Official and Trailer - release Aug

09/01
This Film is Not Yet Rated - I hope you've heard of this one. It's a documentary on the MPAA. I hope it exposes those jackasses for the jackasses they really are. It's generated a fair bit of press so far, from the MPAA giving it an NC-17 rating, to the MPAA being busted on actually pirating rough cut copies of the documentary for distribution to their branch offices so they know not to help the guy when he shows up asking questions - IMDB

09/01
Crank - Jason Stratham stars as a hitman who awakens to be told that he has been poisoned. He has one hour to live, but he can stave off the poison if he keep his adrenaline pumping. So what does he do? Why he goes on a good old fashioned killing spree. It's all about revenge. Besides its got to be better than Transporter 2. IMDB, Trailer

09/08
Pathfinder - Karl Urban plays the grown up version of a Viking boy abandoned in America circa the 12th century who was saved and raised by Native Americans to be their warrior champion. As a man he must defend his tribe against the very Vikings who abandoned him. IMDB, Trailer

09/15
The Last Kiss - coming of age romantic drama starring Zach Braff. I doubt it'll be as good as Garden State but the trailer is really interesting. Trailer

09/22
Fearless - Let Li claims this will be his LAST action film ever. Is it true??? I doubt it, but it still looks good. Not Hero good, but good. co-stars Michelle Yeoh. IMDB, Trailer

09/29
School for Scoundrels - Billy Bob and John Header both star as guys trying for the same girl in a class. Honestly I wouldn't care what the plot was, I think this will be hilarious. IMDB

10/13
The Fountain - Darren Aronofsky made this passion project by pulling a lot of strings. It’s a sci fi starring Hugh Jackman as three different men in three different times, all searching for the fabled fountain of youth. The trailer is totally wacked out, and while this could be a flop, I'm very interested in it. And just look at the art direction of the trailer. From what I've seen It reminds me of classic Heinlein-style storytelling. IMDB, Trailer

There are so many other ones that I didn't even mention too. Like Hollywoodland, Flyboys, Accepted, How to Eat Fried Worms, Children of Men, and Sunshine to name a few. It's amazing how many good films are getting made. I really love it :) Hopefully these pan out and really are as good and fun as I'm hoping they will be. After The Fountain is around the time where we get a lot of into full blown dramas and the start of the Oscar release season. With of course the exception of the early All the Kings Men, and the later Babel. Ultimately we're really just going to have to wait and see what's what as we move into this really fun fall movie season. But these films might give you a start on the best, or at least most intriguing, of the upcoming crop.

I'm off camping this weekend, should be a great time off in the Redwoods. Have a great weekend. And if you're down with my podcast, Devon and I are planning a surprise early episode on Sunday afternoon. Till then, later.

Spider-Man 3 teaser poster

Its a lenticular poster, changing from the red to the black costume as you walk by it. I think it looks awesome. I'd definately like to see it in person. Word is that movie theaters should be getting it either today, or first thing next week.

Unboomed

Did you see that Amanda Congdon is gone from Rocketboom?! It's crazy! She's like the most famous video blogger ever. And Rocketboom, no matter how good, seriously won't be the same as it was before. Its a pretty fucked up situation which you can read all about on her Blog Amanda Unboomed. Check out the entry entitled "For the Record" to get the sordid details on her departure....

Snakes on a Music Video

Starship Cobra - Snakes on a Plane (Bring it)
The soundtrack drops on Aug 15th.
Snakes on Amazon

Tracks include:
1. Cobra Starship - Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)
2. Panic! at the Disco - The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage (Tommie Sunshine Brooklyn Fire Remix)
3. The Academy Is - Black Mamba (Teddybears Remix)
4. Cee Lo Green Ophidiophobia
5. All-American Rejects - Can't Take It (El Camino Prom Wagon Mix)
6. The Sounds - Queen Of Apology (Patrick Stump Remix)
7. Fall Out Boy - Of All The Gin Joints In All The World (Tommie Sunshines Brooklyn Fire Retouch)
8. Gym Class Heroes - New Friend Request (Hi-Tek Remix)
9. The Bronx - Around The Horn (Louis XIV Remix)
10. Armor For Sleep - Remember To Feel Real (Machine Shop Remix)
11. The Hush Sound - Wine Red (Tommie Sunshines Brooklyn Fire Retouch)
12. Jack's Mannequin - Bruised (Remix)
13. Coheed & Cambria - Wake Up (Acoustic)
14. Donavon Frankenreiter - Lovely Day
15. Michael Franti & Spearhead - Hey Now Now
16. Trevor Rabin - Snakes On A Plane - The Theme

Wow! what a group of alt-pop and teen rock superstars we've got here. I can't say I'm bugged by that. I mean did you see that Ark video I blogged about a few days ago. Totally gay. I mean glam.... anywho it looks like a cool soundtrack.

On this past weekend I was in the Borders downtown and I saw the official novilization of SoaP. I was extremely tempted to read it, and even paged through the first 10 or so. It looks great. Maybe I'll get it, then I can be the first "in the know" on the greatest movie ever of this summer.

Oh and that girl in the video is hot. in a kinda dirty way. dontcha think?

Blade: The Series

So I've been watching Blade: The Series from Spike for the past two weeks. If you haven't heard this is an hour long tv show that follows the continuing adventures of your favorite vampire hunter and mine, from the fairly popular film series starring Wesley Snipes; Blade.

Check out the www.blademovies.com fansite and the Spike official page for more info. You'll have to go through the Spike page (damn non-linkable Flash sites) to find their Blade sub page, but it looks like they have some interesting behind the scenes stuff there.

Of course the show doesn't star Snipes; instead they got the Raptor (that's a new word I just made up combining Rapper and Actor; keep saying it and spread the love...) Sticky Fingaz; billed on the show for some kind of attempt at credibility as Kirk "Sticky" Jones. IMDB. I kid here, but I really shouldn't because he honestly is pretty damn good as Blade. I just find it funny that he’s tryin’ to go legit. haha.

Anyhow, I have to say I'm enjoying the show so far, if you liked the film series check it out. I actually haven't watched either of them on tv either. I went and downloaded them off iTunes, and if you're at all interested you should go do the same. Why you ask? Well they've got the Pilot up for FREE. Exactly, go check it out. It may be kind of silly yes, but really it's no worse than a James Bond film. And the action is pretty good. Also its cable, so you'll get the occasional swear word or steamy scene to spice things up :) We'll see if they can keep me interested throughout the season, and if I continue to watch it on my ipod, for $1.99 a pop, but at least from these first 2 episodes I will definitely recommend it.

PS - ooooh sorry, just checked and iTunes isn't offering the Pilot for free anymore. It's $1.99 like all the rest. But still I'l say check it out. Espeicially the Pilot (which is an hour and a half actually). I think it's still worth it. Later.

Optimus Prime

Ok so I'll try to make this as concise as possible although I've been looking at this stuff for quite a bit now. Late last night AICN (Aint it Cool News ran a story showing a leaked picture of the vehicle form of Optimus Prime from the new Transformers movie. The picture like every single other pic from leaked from the set of the new TF movie was removed. If you'll recall I had posted some pics of Bumblebee a while ago. These pics were also taken down. Its a bit worrisome that Michael Bay (director) and the Spielberg (exec producer) camp are being so tight lipped on this thing. I'll reserve judgment or further worrying until after the San Diego International Comic-Con later this month (weekend of the 21st) where they should finally reveal more info, as they do have a panel scheduled; and theoretically we'll get some official pics from the film. But I can't help but be a bit worried at the lack of engagement with the fans. This isn't just any movie... its' TRANSFORMERS. Fans are not going to put up with a lot of crap.

Here's the AICN story where you can read Harry express his concerns for the film. Or read asshole talkbackers on the comment board rant. man they like never shut up. - READ

That said, I do have the Optimus picture for you. It's just his vehicle form but fanboys the net over are either wetting themselves with excitement or cursing Michael Bay. Here's the pic.

If you're not familiar with Optimus Prime he is the leader of the Autobots. Check out his really extensive WIKI for more. Basically he's the main good guy in the story, and overall pretty damn cool.

Now of course comes the controversy. Yes Optimus is still the cab of a big rig, but as far as I can tell it’s his color scheme that has people pissed. He is "supposed" to be a classic primary blue and red color. I assume most people would remember his look fairly well from the 80s cartoon series. Well, that look is considered Generation 1. And THAT is what the fanboys want. I however, while I am a big TF fan don't really care if they want to change things around some. so what he's got a flame paint scheme, its reddish, and as far as I see the rest of him is a nice dark blue. Optimus has in fact had a number of different changes in his look before and people didn't get all pissy about it. Check out some of these variations (on his vehicle form) that I found on internet, the first one even really looks a lot like the movie version:

So looking at these pics it's kind of interesting to see how the character has been reinterpreted over the years. And people also need to remember, you don't own the right to say how this character should look. I mean hell, aside from Hasbro, the friggin cartoon isn't even American. If anyone, any culture should get a say in which look is adopted it should be them. And what about all the various cartoon looks? What about the comics? There were successful versions of TF comics from Marvel, Devil's Due, and Dreamwave, which one of those is right?! I can get kinda fanboy about things, but I'll tell you someone slap me if I ever get pissed off that someone is adapting a story for a new medium and I start to bitch about changes. Thats why its an adaptation. And changes CAN be good. Case in point, my favorite version of Optimus:

Actually this is just one of my two favorite Optimus toys. This is the Transtech Optimus Primal toy that was a follow up toy line to the Beast Wars cartoon. My actual favorite version of Optimus is probably the cartoon Beast Wars season 2 transmetal version, or the Dreamwave G1 comic book version. Of course I can't seem to find a good picture of either of those. So whatever. Basically I'm saying there have been lots of different versions of the character. The version above for example while looking far more humanized in robot form, actually transforms into a Silverback Gorilla, albeit a gorilla covered in futuristic metal armor. People who like to bitch about this crap should realize that change can only expand the mythos. And if you don't believe that it can be done, just go watch the Beast Wars and Beast Machines television series made by Mainframe Entertainment. BW WIKI, D.D.D., Netflix. Maybe my favorite cartoon of all time. And you guys know how much I like cartoons.

Anyhow, my point is let's reserve judgment people, at least until we see a bit more. I know Michael Bay has a less than stellar track record (IMDB), but I'm hopeful. There have been some IMO good reports so far about this film. Check out this other AICN article where Quint did a set visit HERE, and you can stay on top of all the official news at Superhero Hype! HERE.

Finally check out this video on You Tube. It's a production diary or behind the scenes preview kinda thing for the new TF movie. I wouldn't be surprised if they screen this at Comic-Con. Note that a lot if not all of those images of the bots are from other places (eg the dancing bot is from a series of commercials for the new Cirton C4: one, two). I don't know if some of them are production sketches and/or mock ups but it seems that way. The video gets interesting about halfway through when Spielberg shows up. Check it HERE.

Ok, that’s like a lot of TF crap for one day; I'm done now. Can you tell I'm excited by the film yet? Cause I am. Anyhow, I'll definitely chime in with my comments as more info becomes available. Talk to you all later.

Not bad I guess

So I applied to 4 different jobs today. That was fairly productive. The best one was a production job with Current TV, but I sure don't want to let myself get excited by any of the positions. Actually its funny that the production one is the most interesting as over the past year or two I've really shifted my focus of interest from production over towards media marketing, or promotions. Ah well. The best thing for me to do now, is to try to just chill out, and avoid any stupid anxiety bullshit.

Then tomorrow look for more jobs. Its way to easy to just not do that, and once again I'll be where I was two posts ago. better run now, gotta catch the shuttle home. Lates.

The Ark - One of Us is Gonna Die Young

http://www.thearkworld.com/

My 'Problem'

Applying for jobs is really tough for me. I mean, anyone who knows me, knows that I really am not happy with my job. I sit around all day doing monkey work. It's depressing. I mean ultimately its a fine Joe job, in fact its a very fine Joe job. Great benefits, decent enough salary to live on. However I for one reason or another feel that maybe, just maybe I should be doing something better with my life... I don't' know how much to go into here, because this is really a very large subject with me. And its already pretty damn late at night; so I think I'll just explain my "problem" and then go away.

Basically the deal is that I find the prospect of thinking about my "career" so fantastically depressing that I prefer to live obliviously to it. Ignore it and just try to be happy. I also sometimes do this with regards top my money (or lack thereof). But with the job. Basically I hate my job, and I find it so disheartening to think about that fact that I choose to not think about it. I can spend hours, no strike that, days and days not thinking about my job. Its amazing. I mean did you think I was bloggin from home?! Needless to say, there are a lot of distractions for me, not the least of which is that my job does in fact have work to do sometimes. Its almost invariably make work, or non thinking repetitive data entry or the like, but it can be time consuming. Anyways, I've found ways to entertain myself quite a lot, while still doing my job . Mostly involving my good friend Internet. So, here we come to the crux of my problem, I don't think about my job, and then eventually of course I do. I mean I have to, everyone does. Some days I wake up and I want to just scream because it's so frustrating and I feel so powerless. And invariably what happens. I realize, hey I'm 28 now, I still don't have a career started. I'm answering the phones for a living... I've been on a "stepping stone" job that for a number of reasons that are for the most part totally circumstantial hasn't stepped me to anywhere for TWO years now. I have like almost zero money saved, and a fantastic girlfriend who is trying so hard to be supportive and is finding it so frustrating dealing with my bullshit that I just don't know how to help her because I am not living up to my potential (and not that she'd judge me ever) but in my eyes, yes for her dammit, but for ME most importantly. aaaaarrrgggh!

It's like I feel totally out of control of the situation sometimes, and I don't know what to do because the weight of it all is so mind numbingly crushing and sometimes yeah I wake up on the wrong side of my life and realize all of this stuff and think to myself 'man, how much fun you had last week, when you didn't give a shit about being responsible, or being an adult.' And I don't want to avoid it, I don't want to NOT do anything, I don't want to make myself into a victim, or tell myself that there is anyone at fault except me and my god damned crazy making brain, but it hard, its really damn hard not to feel like you are totally impotent sometimes.

So what do I do, usually I start ignoring my problems again. Some people get motivated when they realize that they are lost in a situation, that things are out of their control; but I have pretty much never felt really in control of my world. And that's fine; I mean that's how I've lived, and wanted to live my life. I am easy-going by nature, and pretty fun lovin, positive in attitude to this day; for real. I find it crushing and oppressive, and I find a way to just turn it off. Because I don't want to deal with it. And that in a nutshell is my problem... Because guess what happens the next time I wake up and realize that I don't have shit organized, and my life all of a sudden feels like its completely spiraling out of control? I can't stop thinking about how last time I thought about this I didn't do anything to fix it, and the problem has gotten all the worse if simply for the wasted passage of time.

I think I live waaaaay to much in the extremes. Maybe I have some kind of like chemical imbalance. I kinda think that I might, or at the least a bit of A.D.D. Because this kind of cyclical self-destructive behavior is completely unhealthy, and I have no clue why I can't seem to get out of it. Erica, my girlfriend is amazing, she is so helpful, she always tries to be supportive, and not pushy. And she is; I mean I don't think she realizes how helpful she is, and that if I ever seem upset when she suggests I check out some job posting she has found for me, it's not ever out of spite or bitterness, or any crap like that. Its because I have all of a sudden slipped down the pity slide into my own personal hollow self-obsessed world of my own ineffectual misery. A truly unpleasant experience, that I can't help but on sometimes, express outwardly.

On the occasion that I do in fact manage to get my head together long enough to say, apply for a new job for example, which, and lets be honest here, happens maybe once every month (or really for one session every month). I allow myself to feel so good on that single act of doing something, I mean DOING anything productive. That I put all my energies into that one thing, that one piece of hope and I say, 'well that's it then I've finally dug myself out cause once I get this job everything will work itself straight'. And fuck man, maybe it will but I've never gotten the job so I really would know. As soon as I allow myself to feel that smallest bit of honest appreciation for myself, I cling, I really cling on for good. And what happens next? I get so drained, so exhausted clinging so desperately onto my one small hope that I allow myself to slide into blissful unawareness again.

Its not apathy, and I'm not afraid to do work. I think, I hope... Maybe I'm just stuck in a rut. Maybe its really not my fault , and maybe the worlds just laughing at me for being such a schmuck. I sure as hell know that I'm a little too emotional for my own good; but the screwy thing, or at least one of the many screwy things, is that I can realize all this. That I see all this, and I know that I have this totally fucked up anxiety. So if I can speak it, I mean right here I'm telling it to like everyone, why the fuck can't I exercise it?!

I think I need more help. Or else maybe I just need a good job....

A Step Too Far

You know what it's like when you go a step too far trying to make Internet work the way you want it to. That's pretty much how I feel right now. I' m pretty fed up with Flickr, and all the nonsense. But the most annoying part is that after all that stupid testing... and really you don't know the half of it, because I deleted like 20 other posts that were screwed up test posts, I ended up having to just reset the entire Flickr "Blog This" function.

I really should probably learn some coding before trying to screw around with things so much. sigh... It's just frustrating. So next time I do a Flickr photo blog post I'll probably have to tweak in both programs. And of course I'll do it. I'm way too anal about making things look nice not to. It;s just frustrating and annoying, and yes I know I already said that, but I had it sorted out somehow, had it all working mostly the way I wanted, and now I don't........

One step forward, two steps back. Internet is a harsh mistress.

ps - Is it just me or does it look like now Flixter is having problems showing the pictures in that little Java window. man... this sux.

Final Flickr test

Dr Who 02
An unforgiving but very fun game.

So I think I've got the layout set right, now my only issue is that I don't think I can adjust the formatting of this blog entry from Flickr. So the question remains, if I have to go into Blogger to set this stuff anyhow, why should I even use the "Blog This" function in Flickr...

Other than I guess I'll have to go to Flickr anyhow to pick up the proper photo URL... and I'll get that snazzy description etc, that is templated below each pic... ah damnit. I guess I'll have to stick with it. Although for regular photos (ie not mine) I may just keep blogging them as I have been. That is, down, then uploading them onto Blogger itself. But I guess thats limited too. argh, Where is my seemlessly integrated app that can do all of tyhe online crap together. Its annoying that it just doesn't exist yet. Cause trying to make all these programs work well together can be like pulling teeth, and it still never works the way you want. Not really.

PS - Well, Strike what I worte above I figured out how to adjust the formatting through Flickr. I just needed the right coding. So I guess maybe it isn't so bad. Although, I still keep wanting to call it Flixter by mistake. The sidebar flash badge as they call it, will link to all my public photos. Thanks for your indulgence... Later.

PPS - note to self - < align="justify">< style="font-size:85%;">content< /font >

Yet Another Flickr Test

Point Blank 01

Bare with me people.. A few things I cant seem to do through Flickr include formatting this writing here... which is annoying. I guess I'll have to go into Blogger afterall to change the extremely simple things like text size, and justification. That's annoying. I think I've got the link sorted out right, but man, what a stupid page it takes you too. Like If I want to show off my photo set I'd say the easiest view to do that in is a slideshow. Yet if you click on this picture here it will take you to an almost illegible Flickr page that while yes it does include two different links to a slideshow of either all my public photos or the pics fromk this set, they are tiny and super hard to find. Whats up with this. I mean Flickr is a popular site, with a very nicely integrated flash slideshow. Why aren't they showing it off?! Anyhow, I'd better post this to see how it looks...

PS - well I've already had to fix it like 3 times just so the test doesn't screw up the look of my blog entirely. One more try with a new post, then I'm done swear.

Flickr Test

Star Trek and Tommy
Originally uploaded by -Chappy-.

This is another sort of test post. Sorry bout these kids. I've got this Flickr thing going, and am trying to figure it out. The functionality seems a bit stiffled, but then again I'm trying to get it to interact smoothly with a another company's application (Blogger).

If you look down the sidebar you'll see a flash thing leading you to my Flicker Page, but I'm not really happy with it all. And the more I try to play around with the code the less I seem to understand. Stupid Java.... Anyhow this post is being written actually from my Flickr Page not Blogger. I have a feeling it won't be as good...

Oh well, you can't have everything I guess.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

CA Extreme

So I'm about to go all nerdy on you Be warned... This past weekend I went with my buddy Jan to the California Extreme '06. In a nutshell it is a Classic Arcade Game and Pinball Machine Convention. And before you start judging me get a load of how much fun I had. Seriously, think about it. The show was a convention for people who love classic pinball and arcade games to come together with their personal collections and make all these great games available for everyone to polay and enjoy for a weekend. It was actually super fun. It's not about vendors trying to sell you things like a lot of conventions, or any kind of big, flashy austentatiousness, its just about the games. And they had a lot, like maybe two hundred, different arcade games and pinball machines there.

I've just finally gotten myself a Flickr page but unfortunately I can't see to get the flash Flickr badge to work in the blog So here's a link to the pics: California Extreme '06

Above are some pics from the day. I went last year with my friend Joey but even more so this year I had a really fantastic time. It basically was one big hall with games everywhere. There were maybe 3 or 4 different vendors along one wall, yup that was it :) And then everything else was just playtime. All the games were on Free Play and you just payed an entry fee for the convention. We paid $30 for a one day pass. It was $50 for the whole weekend. And spent literally like 8 hours in there playing games. By the end I was pretty bug-eyed, but I still had a super fun time.

Favorites of the day included the pinball games - Elvira: Scared Stiff, Creature From the Black Lagoon, Doctor Who, Terminator 2, Star Trek: TNG, World Cup Soccer, and Tommy. Favorite arcade games: Point Break, Top Skater, Gorf, and The Irritating Maze...

You can see more about the annual show on their website: http://www.caextreme.org/

That's all for me now. Check the photos though, they're pretty fun :)

An Unhappy End

So being the supremely cultured person that I am, Erica and I have season theater tickets to the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) here in San Fran. Generally its a very good theater, in fact it's probably considered the premiere theater in the city. Even though it doesn't get the big musicals (those go to the Orpheon), or the smaller, new, and edgy stuff (those go to the Berkeley rep) It does get most of the Broadway run plays, and a number of big names pass through the set each season. So like I said, Erica and I are extremely cultured and have season tickets to the ACT.

Our last play for the season was last night, but I'll tell you the truth. It was kinda crap. Sorry, lets not dance about it, it wasn't kinda at all, it was really just total crap. The play was called A Happy End, a musical melodrama, with lyrics by Bertholt Brecht, and music by Kurt Weill. But it couldn't have been crappier if it was written by a tone deaf goldfish. (cause goldfish cant hear well). A gangster musical, it was maybe slightly worse than the old Disney film Newsies.

When you make a musical you should try to actually come up with some decent songs. I mean Little Shop of Horrors, now that's a musical, or Jesus Christ Superstar, or Tommy, those are musicals... but this was just utter garbage. E and I walked out at the intermission. Very disappointing.

PS - Yes I know all my examples are of movie musicals, and yes I've seen my share of live musicals too. I just like those examples; get over it.

PPS - Did you know that they are making (or at least planning to make) a movie version of like my favorite musical in the last 5 years? It's true - WICKED.

Hollywoodland

So with all the Superman news about lately there's a new film coming out in September (on the 8th I believe) called Hollywoodland. It tells a dramatized version (meaning it's based on a true story) of the investigation into the suspicious death of George Reeves, who was the actor first to portray the role of Superman. It stars Ben Affleck as George Reeves, and Adrian Brody as Louis Simo the detective charged with investigating the death, which may or may not have been foul play. It costars Diane Lane, and Bob Hoskins. I'm not saying right yet that I'm actually excited by this film, but it is very intriguing. I really like pretty much everything I've seen Adrian Brody in, and the story itself is very interesting.

Check out the trailer which just hit the web today right HERE
As the official site isn't up yet you can read something about the film on the WIKI

I was surprised to learn that Hollywood was indeed originally called Hollywoodland, or at least the big famous sign used to read that. Also, I'll say I think Affleck is a good choice for a role like this; I honestly believe he has talent, it's just he needs a good story or director to bring it out of him. Anyhow, check the trailer and let me know what you think.

Oh and one more note. Warner was apparently adamant, to the point of threatening legal action that there are no trademark infringements in this film. So no S-shield on Supes chest no red cape (I think they changed the hue). And of course that's the reason this film is not entitled Superman, or some variation thereof. Total dick move if you ask me. They should've been the ones behind the film from the start. Hollywood politics are really lame.