a broken lull.

blah. | music

the mtv video music awards were all over tv tonight. and, as you can gather from the title of this post, i didn't think much of it. of course i ended up watching most of the goddamn thing anyway just to see if something good would gonna happen or to catch chris rock's little comments. but aside from justin winning for the beautiful "cry me a river" or missy actually racking up awards left and right for "work it" (and rightly taking timbaland up with them to give him his props), nothing really happened. 50 cent and eminem were the expected winners of the night and thus, as it is with every year, we are left with a bunch of lame scripted nomination intros between "celebs" that have albums or movies coming out in the next month (btw, september 23rd is gonna be loaded with music releases). we didn't learn anything new - aside for the fact that britney still can't sing live (who the fuck thought of putting her up against live christina, for christ's sake?) and that a lesbian kiss can actually be passé and the least controversial thing you can do on television (who'da thought?).

ps. oh yeah, and to cap things off, metallica does a medley for mtv's 20 years on the air. it contains snippets of exactly 4 songs. yeah, you read that right - 4 songs. and that's including last year's "seven nation army" by the white stripes.
that's a pretty well-rounded medley, wouldn't ya say?

oh, and then they go into their new single with all the blandness only they can muster.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:21 PM |

uh... damn, dude. | politics

thanks to demisemiblog (via atrios):

'My relationship to power and authority is that I'm all for it,' he once explained. 'People need somebody to watch over them.... Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave.'

arnold schwarzenegger

Posted by Anonymous | 3:09 PM |

one big god damned letdown. | music

outkast's fucking double-album speakerboxx/the love below is not coming out today. no it's not.
it's been pushed back to september 23 2003.

oh well. i'll have to do without it, i guess. there's nothing i can do.
but i was so looking forward to this one way more than any other releases these past couple of months.

my day was so built around getting the damn thing. i'm fuckin' pissed.
i'm trying hard not to fall into spending mode now that i won't have my outkast today. wish me luck :)

Posted by Anonymous | 11:11 AM |

enough with this ethnic thing. | racism

ethnic doesn't mean anything. not in the way it's used nowadays anyway.

"Rocket-propelled grenades were fired at statues of two Turkomen heroes as ethnic fighting spread to the northern city of Kirkuk (...)."

i'm only using this line as an example of the rampant racism that is still alive in this day and age of supposed open-minded people. we are so civilized. and yet, blacks, latinos, asians, and indians are still labeled ethnic minorities every time they appear on tv in north america.

but damn, are you white? then you too are part of an ethnic culture. open your eyes.
but the way this comes across is that there is the good majority -- the whites -- and then there are those 'ethnics' that live in that part of the city. you know what i mean.

ethnic minorities. ethnic festivals. ethnic clothing. etc.
those are all labels given to "Non-Whites". am i the only who sees it this way? it's been bugging me for years.

so, i'm just hoping some people will notice it the next time it comes up in an article or on tv.

btw, i'm a white boy. this only comes out of frustration against a still very unfair society. i'm just hoping to open a couple of people's eyes on this.

ps. i'd also like to include religious wars in this little rant. every time a "muslim" attacks someone, it's always a religious jihad. never just a 'normal' attack on someone. being a muslim now means being a terrorist. but when President Bush, who told the world on more than one occasion that God told him to strike down Iraq, attacks a country, it's never about religion or is he ever labeled an extremist. nope. because he is christian and christianity is well-liked, understood, and tolerated in our parts of the world. so it is the norm. but we're lazy and hypocrites. we don't wanna acknowledge that someone else might have a different way of looking at life than we do. not in such an arrogant society as our western world. when one of those "darkies" does it all the way at the other end of the world it's a jihad. it has to be. because they're crazy religious fanatics, you know.

and they must be stopped.
no, we are not killers. no. we are "liberators".

btw -- "thou shalt not kill."
apparently, Bush doesn't listen to everything God has to say to him.

rant done.
i hope :)

Posted by Anonymous | 4:15 PM |

"how does it feel...?" | movies

you'll have to shoot me right now but i never realized "Blue Monday" was a New Order song. i mean, i kinda had to know - i've seen the title mentioned every time i check a New Order site out - but i don't remember ever hearing the original version or putting two and two together. but all of that came crashing in tonight as i was watching Michael Winterbottom's (i wouldn't want that name) 24 Hour Party People.

i knew nothing of the Factory label or Tony Wilson other than what i heard when the movie began gaining production speed a year or two ago. i was clueless around those years as far as music goes (i was also between the ages of 2 and 8).

so i went into the film with no idea or stories about that period other than Ian Curtis killed himself. so i went in mostly blank. and i enjoyed the film. i really did.
Steve Coogan gives one hell of a performance in this movie. he's so good it's creepy.

also, i really dug the way the script was written, how the story was told by Tony himself, talking directly to the camera as if he was reporting allof this directly to us. which he is. really cool device. and yes it takes you out of the movie but the style fits the spanning narrative. i thought it was bloody brilliant.

the music is great -- with an amazing nod to Moby during the birth of rave culture in Manchester (even though he had nothing to do with it at the time; but it was still a very cool moment in the film for me).

that's it. i don't have too much to say about it other than the fact that i thoroughly enjoyed it.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:07 AM |

"i found a place where we could boogie." | politics

counterspin central has a nice entry about the U.S. asking other nations to send in their troops to help clean up the mess after they were given the big U.S. middle finger earlier this year.

"(...) anyone sending their young men and women into harm's way would want them under competent military leadership provided by the U.S."
Colin Powell

thought you knew what "competent" meant?


oh, something i've been meaning to blog out a few weeks ago. but it came up once again yesterday so here goes:
in the past few weeks we've heard that Al-Qaeda might be preparing a 9/11-style attack on the United States. yet, the terror alert level has been stuck at yellow/elevated for months now. why is that? if it's so god damned important as another 9/11 wouldn't you think the White House would be making the terror alert more serious than this? i mean, we've been up to orange more than a couple of times earlier this year and no attacks have occured on U.S. soil. and it's not like the administration's trying to hide this possibility, they're the ones who got the news out. so why hasn't their precious terror alert reflected this most serious of possiblities?

i found one likely answer: George's month-long vacation. i think that by now we know pretty much that august is the month-of-the-King so we're not surprised every year when the White House announces Bush is going to Crawford. rants against this practice dwindle down pretty much with every year. so he's safe. but don't rock the boat by going all-out and making it official by raising the terror alert to orange or even red. oh no. don't do that. the King is sleeping.

ps. Al-Qaeda's busiest time of the year? august to november.
yep.

Posted by Anonymous | 9:36 AM |

run, baby, run | music | movies

woohoo!! after reading a quote about schwarzenegger running for governor from the incredibly amazing shirley on bartcop, i asked around and learned that shirley's been updating her journal again!!!. go to it and make it a habit, dammit.

well, i finally watched lost in la mancha last night and although it was fun and extremely cool to see terry gilliam, there just wasn't enough stuff in the film for me. too brief, not enough meat. but -- the salman rushdie interview/conversation with terry (on disc two) is priceless. go to it.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:33 AM |

fish in a barrel | me

the neptunes' new album is actually not a compilation like i thought it would be. looks like all brand new songs to me. and it's coming out this tuesday!!

also coming out really really soon is the new outkast double-album speakerboxxx: the love below.
make sure you get the parental advisory/bonus dvd editions of both these sure-to-be fine albums.

i rented and watched william friedkin's the hunted tonight and it went by as quickly as that. i'll never watch that film again. even benicio seems weirdly out of sync in that film; but the good thing about the film is tommy lee jones. never thought i'd be saying that (natural born killers aside).

Posted by Anonymous | 10:01 PM |

meanwhile, at the bar, a drunkard muses. | me

i caught the breaking news on tv about the power outage in toronto, ottawa, new york, detroit, cleveland, etc. seeing all those people walking out on the streets, having to walk to get home. it made me think about Stephen King's The Stand, the part in new york. everyone who's read will know what i'm talking about. the tunnel.

speaking about the King - here's some news i had absolutely no idea about:

Stephen to write for Entertainment Weekly
Stephen King will join Entertainment Weekly as a columnist, beginning with the August 8 issue. Appearing on the magazine's back page, King's commentary will examine various facets of pop culture. The column will appear once a month, alternating with the magazine's current back page, "Stupid Questions with..." This is the first time since his college days that King has penned a regular column.
Posted: 31 July 2003

yesterday at work all i could think about was my day off today and how i would rent Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses. after a few initial scares this morning telling me we didn't have it up here, i finally managed to snag myself a copy at the video store. hallelujah.

fyi - the Montreal Radiohead show is starting in 22 hours and 16 minutes...
anybody else going?

Posted by Anonymous | 6:51 PM |

good morning, albatross. | me

well, i just realized it must have been quite a few days since i last blogged myself. shit. i don't have the energy (right now?).
but here goes for blogging's sake:

went to ottawa last weekend for the family gathering. it was extra nice. only my brother (who's out west) wasn't able to make it. saw cousins, aunts, and uncles i hadn't seen in quite a long time. it felt great. it felt like i had a real family i really belong to (closer to me i have my mom and her boyfriend). and my cousin is just the most beautiful girl you'll ever see. true.
apparently, my siblings felt the same way about not being able to do things together more often and are semi-planning stuff for our common future. cool.

my 15-minute record runner shopping spree resulted in the following:

arab strap - monday night at the hug & pint
calla - televise
el-p - fantastic damage
four tet - rounds
iron & wine - the creek drank the cradle
mogwai - happy songs for happy people

extra nice.
i had more hip hop albums on my list but they didn't have them. seems their hip hop section was kinda small compared to what i remembered it was.
i had to leave some albums there. it was getting a bit crazy. but how many times do i go down to ottawa anyway? had to do it for myself.

in other me news -- the fucking Radiohead show is in two days!!! i just really realized this this morning. lol. insane.

rentadvd.ca status -- i've been really excited about them lately, going in to check which films they sent me, etc (btw, they now have forums up. extra cool). so here's what i'm about to receive from them:

the life and death of colonel blimp
stranger than paradise
lost in la mancha

can't wait.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:22 AM |

"extreme ways are back again." | life

george w bush's hotmail account.
too funny.

well, after missing the fedex guy by about 25 minutes yesterday, he actually managed to come by this morning, before i leave for the weekend, and give me my radiohead tickets. this is cool 'cause i can give my friend her tickets this weekend so we won't have to scramble to catch each other the day of the show.

well, as i've mentioned before, i'm leaving for the weekend. i'll be in ottawa.
family and then a quick cd-shopping spree before i come back sunday.
i'll tell you all about it when i come back, i'm sure. have agreat weekend and don't drink too much.

also, happy birthday, k!!

Posted by Anonymous | 10:45 AM |

"they sing to the darkest night." | music

well, now we know what Spymob look like.
whoa, who knew they'd released an album - back in in 1996, no less.

looking through the Spymob site:

Pharrell Williams, however, had it all mapped out. The visionary Neptunes producer foresaw endless possibilities after hearing Spymob’s much-buzzed-about demo. “They reminded me of the music I grew up with,” he says. “Their songs sounded like Steely Dan crossed with the Meters and Prince and it just blew me away.” Williams sang Spymob’s praises to his attorney, who, unbeknownst to him, already represented the band. Meetings ensued, ideas were exchanged and excitement built as Williams told Spymob drummer Eric Fawcett, “I’m gonna blow Spymob up. Everyone is gonna know who you are.”

oh, and how right he was. the first thing i did after hearing the N*E*R*D album was looking up who the fuck played those instruments. true. that band is tight.

and here's some amazingly unexpected good news for Clipse fans out there:

"On October 7, you can expect Clipse's title TBD to issue in 2CD Limited Edition w/ bonus DVD"

actually, according to the VA Clipse site, the album is to be entitled "Hell Hath No Fury".

Posted by Anonymous | 10:12 AM |

my tv usually needs an enema | tv

but not tonight.
look what music tap has unearthed for all our viewing glory:

Next available is a 9p showing of Pepsi Smash on WB. Artists are Clipse, Maroon 5, and The Neptunes. On CBS's Late show w/ David Letterman is Clipse and The Neptunes.

for those who, like me, don't get the wb, you can catch pepsi smash on some fox stations at 10pm.
oops. here's the official pepsi smash lineup for tonight: Staind, Jason Mraz, Maroon5, Pharrell of The Neptunes, Mya. no sign of Clipse but maybe they just didn't bother mentioning them since pharrell's light was shining too bright for them.
and 'clipse and the neptunes' on letterman is actually 'Pharrell performs with Clipse'.
i'm still gonna watch, though.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:05 PM |

"'cause love is for fools." | life | politics

okay. i know not too many come here on a regular basis but i just need to get this out.

seems every fucker's argument now for keeping marriage exclusive to good ole heterosexuals is for the children. i don't really care about religious weddings but as far as civil unions are concerned i think they should be legal for everyone. here are some arguments:

1. i've never heard a thing about making children in wedding vows -- in fact, there's not one mention of kids in general christian vows. it's all about the love and devotion between the man and the woman.
2. sterile people should not be able to marry.
3. wife-beaters shouldn't be able to keep their marriage 'cause that's not a really good environment to raise a family. ditto alcoholics and drug addicts.
4. cheaters shouldn't be allowed to stay in a married relationship (i never heard the republicans say clinton's marriage was no longer legal).
5. old people shouldn't get, or stay, married. as soon as your kids go out on their own, you've done your duty, now get divorced.
6. orphans should stay orphans and stop bothering us about adopting them.
7. all the legal benefits of marriage should be reserved for couples with children.
8. gay people are not pedophiles - they like men or women (as you do), not children.
9. as you can see from the subtitle of this blog - love is all that matters. not sex, you fuck.
10. religious weddings and civil unions are two different things. civil unions offer benefits.
11. church and state should never cross paths (much less 'elect' a faith-based president).


ps. i do believe bush's coming out against gay marriage did not just accidentally coincide with a bunch of crap that was being (successfully) hurled at him (9/11 report, the continuing crapfest in iraq, ...). right now he's being semi-successful. but i do believe that the crap in iraq is just too unimaginable that it will be alive and kicking by the time this ban on gay marriage thing blows over. i mean, bushco's only trying to control the media spin here, i don't see them trying to make things right with the iraq situation (outside of just policing the damn thing to hell).

pps. shit. i know the church is old school but the inclusion of this "I will live first unto our God and then unto you, loving you, obeying you, caring for you and ever seeking to please you." is mindboggling since it's not in the man's vows - at all. the man's vows includes "leadership". lol. yep. someone needs to redo those vows.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:51 AM |

all the way to reno (you're gonna be a star) | music

okay. i need your help, folks.
this coming friday i'm going down to ottawa for a family gathering thing. but before we come back i've asked my mom if we could stop by my favorite record store - record runner in downtown ottawa.
so, like last time i'm making a list up of stuff i've been looking for but haven't been able to get my hands on these past few months.
here's my current list: cody chesnutt, rolling stones (abkco remasters), king geedorah, timbaland & magoo, four tet (rounds), mogwai (happy songs), gza, dizzee rascal (if i can find the import; when's it getting released over here??).

did i miss something? tell me what you'd get and why (and what the band sounds like, to give me an idea).
thanks :)

Posted by Anonymous | 11:20 AM |

cracked actor. | politics

counterspin central - caring about human rights.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:54 PM |

uh...........................................................is anyone paying attention? | politics

i may be a bit late on this but i didn't hear one single thing about it in the blog world circles i haunt - which is pretty astounding since this is some amazingly explosive shit.

the lovely susan at suburban guerrilla reports on the surprising msnbc :: 9-11 hijackers: a saudi money trail?
now, before you go back to look at other blogs for some real news, go read the thing. this is not about the 28 pages. it goes a little deeper than what i'm used to reading on the matter.

i'm gonna use the quotes susan used in her entry to let you see what kind of stuff we could be dealing with here:

"Sources familiar with the evidence say the payments—amounting to about $3,500 a month—came from an account at Washington’s Riggs Bank in the name of Princess Haifa Al-Faisal, the wife of Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and the daughter of the late Saudi King Faisal. After Al Bayoumi left the country in July 2001—two months before the September 11 terror attacks—payments for roughly the same amount began flowing every month to Osama Basnan, a close associate of Al Bayoumi’s who also befriended the hijackers."

The CEO of the Riggs Bank is Jonathan Bush, the president's uncle. The bank was cited recently for violating money-laundering laws.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:26 AM |