a broken lull.

i'm now the proud owner of an harman/kardon DVD 22 :D

they had two boxes left high up on the shelves. $299. done.
also, i can try it out - Future Shop has a 30-day money-back guarantee, so i'm not scared of it not working out for me.
i got all nervous on my way there. i did do the right thing, though. i'll get the iPod in the coming year. i needed this more right now. i can't wait to plug it all up and check it out :)

i also had the two-disc set for John Cassavetes' Faces (The Criterion Collection) waiting for me in the mailbox, along with the Stars' Set Yourself on Fire from mymusic :)

also, today's the first day of a string of days off work for me.
so, yeah, today's a good day :)

| 6:47 pm |

the picture quality is stunning ... whoa.

of course i popped in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Special Extended Edition to judge the quality, i had to, and it was gorgeous, breathtaking, but i'll also have to test it out with less stellar material to be able to judge just how much cleaner the picture is. at least i noticed it right away. a good sign :) amazing. another thing, and i totally forgot about this because i was wrapped up in thinking about being able to play dvd-/+rw discs -- there were more than a few discs my old JVC player wouldn't play (let alone get bogged down by minor scratches my PS2 could easily play through), most notably some of my dear Criterions -- The Last Temptation of Christ, Do the Right Thing, and Seven Samurai. i got all excited when i realized i'd be able to watch them on my system and not have to limit myself to playing them on my PS2 with the tv speakers serving as the audio output.

i started tweaking the picture a bit with the Digital Video Essentials disc but the advantage was clear from the start -- the picture is so clean, it's crazy.

what prompted me to want to upgrade my player was when i watched The Office on the ex-roommate's new-but-cheap Samsung player last week and seeing how clean it all looked compared to my (really good) 6 year-old JVC. that gave me the kick i needed. this (kinda cheap) purchase just pushed the idea of upgrading the tv by a few years, that's for sure.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:12 PM |

i'm gonna buy the harman/kardon DVD 22. now. lol :) it's the one i want.
i've been looking and reading up on the iPod all day and although it's really cool i think i can wait a bit on it. the dvd player is the one i'd get more excited about on a daily basis :)

hopefully my Future Shop has it in stock.
wish me luck.

back in a bit :)

Posted by Anonymous | 1:47 PM |

Morgan's Online DVD Rental Guide is back up!!! i couldn't be happier about this as they've been off for a while now so i didn't have the online dvd rental outlet i used to get :) good to see them back.

still thinking about the iPod. last week i had my mind set on getting a new dvd player. i might need that more than an iPod (am i fuckin' nuts?? i know).

Posted by Anonymous | 1:20 AM |

here are my Favorite Films i saw in '04. i could have listed a lot of great films i really enjoyed this year (i owe a lot of thanks to online renting) but i'm keeping it to the ones that stick out the most when i think back in this fine year of '04. so, in no particular order:

Maria Full of Grace Joshua Marston, 2004
i didn't know a thing about the story so i wasn't expecting anything. i was taken along for the ride. really enjoyable film.

Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore, 2004
in my eyes this is still the most important film of the year. if you didn't see this film, you're an idiot. period.

Shaun of the Dead Edgar Wright, 2004
funny, hilarious, smart. i've been having a hard time trying to describe this film to friends as it's not really a parody or a spoof because the story and characters take place in the 'real' world (as much as zombie can exist, that is).

Pickup on South Street Samuel Fuller, 1953, The Criterion Collection
one of the coolest, slickest films i've seen. this one film made me a Sam Fuller fan.

Stray Dog Akira Kurosawa, 1949, The Criterion Collection
the goddamn heat. an amazing film. and you got Kurosawa and Mifune together. how can you not love that? and it's the first time i was so gung-ho on buying a disc after i'd rented it.

Super Size Me Morgan Spurlock, 2004
i saw this film on my own (and ended up being the only one in the whole theater) on a sunny june saturday afternoon. that film, more than any other in recent memory, has had such a deep and real impact on my life, it's scary. now i still occasionally eat fast food but you can't compare it to my pre-Super Size Me days. i wasn't there everyday, but i'd say once or twice a week. and it's not only fast food, junk food, even though i knew it wasn't good for me, was my main drug of choice. Morgan Spurlock gave me a nice kick in the ass. and for that, i owe him a huge thank you.

Dogville Lars von Trier, 2003
i was enthralled when i saw this film. close to three hours and i think i only got out of it for about five minutes during the second act. i guess i was in the right frame of mind when i saw it.

George Washington David Gordon Green, 2000, The Criterion Collection
incredibly moving and heartfelt movie. the kids are so genuine. i gotta remember to rent All the Real Girls.

Throne of Blood Akira Kurosawa, 1957, The Criterion Collection
again - bought it after renting it. kurosawa is a genius. amazing -- amazing -- final scene.

The Incredibles Brad Bird, 2004
okay but not great first 15 minutes but then it just picks up and never lets go. fun, fun, fun. (the only downside - sam jackson's character, who was a more than thoroughly unnecessary.)

The Five Obstructions Lars von Trier, Jørgen Leth, 2003
an endlessly fascinating experiment in art. thoroughly enjoyable for Lars, or art, fans.

and a special mention:

The Wire (The Complete First Season) David Simon, 2002
so much fun. i love how the story and characters are stretched over an entire season and not much is resolved after each episode. smart and highly entertaining.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:17 AM |

a coworker/friend of mine told me last week that he'd bought an iPod. the fucker :) it was earlier this year when i first started to be really into the idea of owning an iPod. it would replace my old minidisc player (which i would not jog with) and could be used to get to sleep and wake up in the morning. but then i found out that my computer wasn't compatible with it so i nixed the idea.this fall i got a brand new computer. that replaced my initial excitement for the iPod, i'd put that idea in the back with all the others. but when my friend told me about his iPod i got all excited again. someone i knew actually owned one. i know people have iPod, but in trendy New York or hip bloggers. tonight i noticed the white ear buds sticking out of his shirt so i ran to him and asked him to show it to me :) it's beautiful. granted it's only a supped-up walkman, but damn if i wouldn't have fun with it. but then, the spark that ignited everything happened -- i got $300-worth of gift money this weekend... :) and the iPods -- the 20G iPods -- are $400 ... :) yep. he also told me about the iTrip Transmitter that enables you to listen to your iPod selections in your car (i don't have a tape deck anymore so no tape adapter for me). le sigh.

i'm not rushing into it but i'll definitely be thinking about it for the next couple of days. really think about it.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:25 PM |

the ex is coming over this evening. it seems we've been talking on the phone a lot more now that we're not together anymore. it's weird. sometimes it feels like we're in pre-relationship mode, courting one another. she called me up this afternoon from work and asked me what i was doing tonight. i told her i was looking forward to watching a film or two i'd rented. she told me she'd like to watch them with me. okay. so i'm picking her up at 6. we'll pick up some food and come straight home after (i'll ask her if she wants to take a walk outside - the streets are beautiful, light snow covering everything - then we'll most probably watch Wong Kar-Wai's As Tears Go By). but i'm not sure if it's such a good idea. i mean, it won't hurt. i'm not likely to get sucked back into that relationship 'cause i know (now) why we broke up in the first place (and it's getting clearer by the day. finally). and i don't think she's getting any ideas either. she even mentioned she's going back home afterwards. so everything's alright. but it does feel like we're kinda courting each other, feeling each other out. there's definitely some affection on my end of things. it's like we left the post-relationship portion and somehow are finding ourselves in the run-up to one. it's weird. and very cool how i'm able to clearly see this while it happens. i will not get sucked back into a relationship with her anytime soon, don't worry about that. i'm just realizing how all of this felt as i was driving home from my mom's place last night.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:47 PM |

nix that last item for now - most of the cd's i wanted (indie stuff) were, as usual, unavailable so i didn't check out. i checked back tonight and Future Shop had taken their prices back up. dunno if they'll go back down tomorrow, though, for the official boxing day.

i did, however, put in an excellent order over at mymusic.com -- Xiu Xiu's Fabulous Muscles, Panda Bear's Young Prayer, and the Stars' Set Yourself on Fire. hopefully they'll have all of them available for shipping next week.

i was browsing through the Future Shop Boxing Day deals and stumbled upon the Harman/Kardon DVD 22, a progressive scan dvd player. so far it looks good -- really good, in fact. (and i love the sleek look. take a look at the bigger pictures, they're worth it. i love the blue readouts.) i'm looking an upgrade in picture quality - my JVC player is doing a good job but there's definitely room for improvement. i would love a clearer picture. and the player's over 6 years old by now. the new player has to have component video, optical digital out for sound, and be able to play dvd-/+rw's, for christ's sake (mine is incredibly picky. i haven't found a brand it will work with and i don't feel like going through every fucking brand out there). this one seems to be a definite winner, though. and at a reasonable price, to boot. i was able to catch a few comments on the web but i wanted to know if anybody has anything to say about this player. huge thanks.

btw, today i spent the afternoon with the ex-roommate and exchanged gifts, then i went to my mother's house with her boyfriend's daughters (one single, the other with a bf and three cute kids). it was nice. i was a bit tired by dinner time but it was cool. (the ex was roaming around my brain a fair bit but i was able to enjoy my day nonetheless.) so gifts today included:

Rufus Wainwright - Want One (the only one i missed out on - but definitely loved), a cordless phone, a (lame?) Chess/Checkers set, a Swiffer box (ha), and lots of money -- more than i'm used to receiving from my mom :)

Posted by Anonymous | 10:39 PM |

Future Shop is already having its online Boxing Day sale -- all cd's $14.99 or less! i thought this would only be in stores but apparently not. (Nas' 2cd Street Disciple is also $14.99.) go to it.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:26 AM |

now's the time to wish you all a merry christmas.

i don't care much about it. never really have before. as a kid, i got gifts and occasionally went to midnight mass but that was it. i never really thought about it back but it never had much to do with religion. i'm not a cynic, i like making gifts for loved ones and celebrating, but i guess it's more about the celebration than the love of christ (ha!).

to everyone else -- enjoy the holidays if you have 'em.

cheers to everyone :)

Posted by Anonymous | 2:36 PM |

The Criterion Collection does it again. March '05 will be one busy month for Criterion lovers.
eight new films have just been announced:

The River Jean Renoir, 1951
L'eclisse Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962. 2 discs.
Young Törless Volker Schlöndorff, 1966
The Sword of Doom Kihachi Okamoto, 1966
Jules et Jim François Truffaut, 1962. 2 discs (of course).
Andrzej Wajda: Three War Films:
A Generation Andrzej Wajda, 1955
Kanal Andrzej Wajda, 1957
Ashes and Diamonds Andrzej Wajda, 1958

Posted by Anonymous | 2:42 AM |

Maria Full of Grace
Joshua Marston, 2004

9.5
a harrowing tale, masterfully told by writer-director Joshua Marston. he's one hell of a filmmaker, and i'll definitely be watching out for him. he steals such subtle and effective moments from his actors, it's amazing to watch. and it's not hard-hitting moments peppered from time to time. no. the film's got such a natural feel to it that you feel like you're watching this girl's life. although every actor seems to have been perfectly cast for their characters (seriously), Catalina Sandino Moreno and Orlando Tobon are the two standouts, both giving exquisite performances. this movie was such a pleasure to watch.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:54 PM |

Fox just gave 24 a four-hour season premiere extravaganza:

sunday january 9th, 8-10 pm
monday january 10th, 8-10 pm

it will then go back to its regular timeslot of monday nights at 9 pm.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:16 PM |

how do you get over an ex?

seriously. i still catch myself going outta my mind a little and it's fucking torture. granted it's not as bad as the weekend we left each other but i'm still finding myself missing her. i don't wanna forget her completely because i go on with our friendship. but it seems i'm taking a long fucking time getting over her. i was doing okay late last week (pre-party time). but yesterday was kinda awful. the department i'm doing at work is ideal for getting wrapped up in your own thoughts and that wasn't cool at all. it's only been a week since we broke, but still, we were together for a month and a half, for fuck's sake. one of the reasons i wasn't feeling it was that i didn't feel too intense a connection between the two of us. i finally went out running this morning. the streets are filled with crushed snow and it felt good. i guess what would calm me down would be to know what she is feeling right now, about us. she seems quite mum about it. she lets me talk about it and kinda agrees, but either she's always like this and not opening up much or she's keeping things inside because she doesn't wanna share them with me (right now). she's outta town until tomorrow night and i won't be seeing her before wednesday evening. that gives us some space. but i'll definitely be asking her (again) what she thinks of the situation and how we're going about it.

comments, thoughts, and experiences would definitely be appreciated :) thanks.

ps. at least i was able to talk to the ex-ex last night about my situation (again - she was there for me last weekend when i broke up with the girlfriend. i left work early last night because i was slightly going out of my mind and my shit was done. i was also hoping i'd be able to get in touch with her (the ex-ex. she lives three hours away from here). she was also going through some personal stuff of her own so we were able to be there for each other for an hour.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:54 PM |

what's that about residual something-something when a relationship ends? yeah, well, last night i found out i wasn't immune to it. it was our work xmas party. a short two-hour affair at the end of our shift with food and gifts. the ex wasn't working but, like most of the good people, she was gonna come. and she did. as soon as i saw her enter and sit at a table, i was painfully aware for most of the evening of where she was the whole time (two tables behind me). for some reason i was uncomfortable. i dunno, residual jealousy because i didn't have her anymore and it would've been nice? something like that. i looked in her direction twice but i never caught her looking at me so i stopped. i didn't wanna be the lone idiot longing while the other one doesn't care. the room was crowded so everyone spent the entire time talking among their tablemates and having a good time. as soon as the two hours were up we left. that's when i passed behind the ex and rubbed the back of her arm and gave her a smile. she smiled back but nothing more. i was like, wtf? am i the only one who, after a fucking week, still cares about the other one? fuck it. i waited for a friend outside the room while everyone was walking out and she was also left waiting and talked to a few people passing by. we didn't speak. somehow, a few minutes later, after not being to say a nice goodbye, she was also in the same elevator as i was. she might need a ride home. i offered. somehow i ended up helping her out with the gifts she'd won and giving her a ride home. we seemed normal again and talked. i told her i'd felt uncomfortable at the party because, clearly, i was still mourning our relationship. she was nice and, when i left her apartment (took the gifts inside for her), i gave her two hugs and she looked touched. next time i wanna ask her where she's at right now because she wasn't talking much. i'm not over her yet and i don't think she is either but i wanna keep the communication open between us. i'm not into playing games or having to draw people's thoughts out. the ride home, a godsend, was nice, though, and put a nice cap to the weird party.

Posted by Anonymous | 9:04 AM |

it's friday morning so i was checking out the new movie releases around town when i stumbled upon this:

we have Jean-Pierre Jeunet's A Very Long Engagement !! i'd totally forgotten this was coming out this month. wow. that's quite an unexpected bit of news. i just called the ex-roommate to see if we can go monday or tuesday evening. she can't right now but she wants to work something out.

that's fucking awesome news. fuck yeah :)

correction: actually, it's coming out next wednesday ... lol.
oh well. it's still great news that we're getting it - and in french, of course. the news is too great to be down about not seeing it right now.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:48 AM |

even though i went to bed at 4 am and just got up - it's 10 now - i feel refreshed! last night i called the ex from work (we ran into each other as i was starting my shift and she was leaving. she looked tired, eyes kinda red. not doing as well as she'd told me, as she thought, anyway. that kinda relieved me a bit :) that i wasn't that easy (a fucking day) to get over). she was already on the phone so she told me to call her back when i got off work. i did and we ended up talking for, and it didn't feel that way at all, 90 fucking minutes. things went well. we talked about nothing and everything, we even managed to talk seriously about our relationship. it felt really good to be able to talk to her about it. we're gonna be good friends and i'm relieved she's gonna be okay. so this morning i'm waking up feeling lighter for it :) it does feel as though i exorcised most of my guilt and doubts last night. it feels great.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:12 AM |

it's been emotional morning.

all weekend-long i was under the guilt/doubt spell of whether or not i'd done the right thing by ending my relationship with the girlfriend. thankfully, the ex-roommate spent saturday afternoon with me and got me to drive over and spend most of yesterday with her. that was nice. it took me out of my head for while. but after i got home i was once again confronted by the guilt. i watched some tv, talked to the roommate on the phone. i finally wrote to my ex-ex, who's been one of my friends for the past few years, about leaving my girlfriend and feeling fucked over it. oh yeah, and i kept checking, like i've been doing all weekend-long, if i had any new messages on my answering machine. i just wanted her, the ex, to call back so i could talk to her and see how she was doing. later on last night the phone rang and it was the ex-ex! it had been a while since we last spoke and it felt nice to hear her voice. we actually talked for over two hours on the phone. lol :) she helped me out some. this morning i woke up and could still only think of the ex, though, so i went out and took a walk in the snowy white streets to clear my mind. it didn't help. all i was going through was what i'd tell the ex about our breakup and how i'd love to remain friends, etc. anyway. cut to: just now -- she called :D she even said she tried calling last night and stopped trying at midnight. doh! that's when the ex-ex and i cut our conversation. damn. but yeah. she's actually doing real well. she says she was torn up saturday but yesterday was mostly fine. that sucks. lol. it looks as though i'm more torn up about it than her :) but that's okay. i'm glad she's doing well. she wanted to know if we'd keep in touch. i said of course! :) i'm glad she wants to remain friends. i told her she could call me up anytime. she told me the same. so we're gonna be okay. i'm not done going over it, the reasons for wanting to breakup got murky after a while, but that phone call relieved me a bit. it feels nice to know she's doing okay and still wants to talk to me :)

that's it.

| 2:38 pm |

oh my god.
sorry Mark but Zip just upped the fucking ante on Netflix coming to Canada next year. they've been off all morning, upgrading to the promised new features, and boy are they plentiful and the new look is brilliant. i'm seriously impressed.

np: lil jon & the east side boyz - crunk juice

Posted by Anonymous | 11:13 AM |

i ended my girlfriend and i's relationship this morning.

therefore i feel like shit today. even though it had been nagging me for so long, i'd been feeling we weren't made for each other, not being on the same wavelength a lot of the time, feeling we weren't at the same place in our lives (i'm six years older), not feeling particularly excited about her coming over or thinking about her when we weren't with each other -- right now, i'm feeling depressed. i know it was the right thing to do. i couldn't go on for months not being in love; and even if i'd never tell her i loved her if i wasn't feeling it, i'd kinda be lying to her, or at the very least, leading her on by staying with her. and i didn't wanna do that. i didn't wanna drag it out. she's too good a girl to be treated that way. i felt kinda relieved when i told her, like i finally got the last ounce of courage i needed to wake up. but i hated doing it. i hate hurting people i love. i was talking to the ex-roommate later on and i just burst into fucking tears. it tore me up. i had a girlfriend. and she was really good to me - she was actually the sweetest girl i've ever gone out with. right now, i fucking miss her. but it's the usual "fuck - did i do the right thing??!" bit. i do believe we're better off as friends than lovers (and i'm gonna put my whole trust into that fucking belief). she kinda saw it coming and kinda agreed that we'll be better off in the long run, but she was still torn up about it (duh). i hate doing this. but it was the right thing to do (right?). i unburdened myself a little this morning, and i was actually looking forward to having my little life back. but it still sucks. i already miss her.

i know i'll be alright but it's fucking tearing me up inside.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:32 PM |

i was looking up info on Walter Salles and i found two films on his 2005 slate:

1. he just completed shooting on the remake to Hideo Nakata's Dark Water (i wasn't even aware who the director was on that film) with, among others, Jennifer Connelly, Pete Postlethwaite, Tim Roth, and Dougray Scott.

2. he has started pre-production on his segment for an anthology about cinematic Paris entitled Paris, je t'aime - with a directors' list that's terribly exciting (to name a few) - Ethan & Joel Coen, Mike Figgis, Jean-Luc Godard, Michel Gondry, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mamoru Oshii, Walter Salles, and Tom Tykwer.

Posted by Anonymous | 5:21 PM |

took a shower. i should get some laundry done and clean up the apartment. the girlfriend is supposed to come over later today to take care of my ailing little self :) she's working tomorrow but not sunday so we decided we'd go to Ikea in montreal as we're both fans and are in a desperate fix for some good stuff. we're also gonna drop by one of friends. while i'm at it, i'm also looking up movie showtimes in montreal - the first place i checked out was the AMC Forum (former home of the ex-glorious Montreal Canadiens) and what a lineup they have; here are the ones i'm seriously interested in (all in their original languages):

Brad Anderson's The Machinist
Walter Salles' The Motorcycle Diaries
Marc Forster's Finding Neverland
David O. Russell's I ♥ Huckabees

dunno about the girlfriend but i have to chose only one movie to see among all of these brilliant-looking films.

np: constantines - shine a light

Posted by Anonymous | 2:58 PM |

i'm feeling a bit under the weather this morning. i think i managed to break the cold from overriding my system last night. thank god. but my stomach still feels weird. i'm considering calling in sick to work tonight. this'll be a short newsbites edition:

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Special Extended DVD Edition) only $34.99 at Future Shop! amazing price (they're usually selling them at the lowest price of $37.99).

the uk international Batman teaser poster is outstanding.

Pantera's Dimebag Darrell was shot dead at a show.

and this is too insanely great -- Colin Farrell will guest star on an episode of Scrubs next month :) i hope they're not fucking with us.

Michael Stipe on Radiohead fans:

…at a Radiohead show in New York at the Beacon Theatre. It was a televised thing, and they had sold tickets for $2. The entire place was filled with fanatic Radiohead fans. Typically at a Radiohead show, everyone sings along to every song; they know every lyric. Sometimes you can’t even hear Thom Yorke’s voice over the din of the audience. But this night, when they walked onstage and started playing the first song, the audience was quiet, reverential. No one was singing along to any of the songs. It wasn’t until they played the song “No Surprises” that says “the government, they don’t speak for us.” And on that line, every single person in that room shouted out “the government, they don’t speak for us!” and on the next line of the lyric, they were dead quiet again. I was there with a group of people, including Q-Tip, and I looked over and Tip, and his mouth was hanging open. And I was like, “Did that just happen?” and he just nodded his head yes.
| at ease |

i actually called in sick this morning -- after i actually got sick. urgh. not a good thing to go through. it'd been a while since my body last did that to me. fucker.

i didn't know Colin Farrell's guest shot on Scrubs was a super secret thing. according to Zach Braff the episode's already been shot.

Posted by Anonymous | 9:00 AM |

today it's 24 (The Complete Third Season) Day!
now go get your set.

i didn't know this but there's also a 24 soundtrack out today. it's Sean Callery's excellent mood music. (no hint of the soundtrack on amazon.ca, though.)

24 timeslot change alert!!!
the Fox site mentions the two-hour season premiere will air sunday january 6 at 8pm (or after the wild card game - great... thank god i'm not working that evening. it will surely be delayed by half an hour or so). but then it states that the episode 2 will air in its new time period - monday january 10 at 9pm.

update, december 8, 10:07 am: Kiefer will appear on the new season of Family Guy (spring '05) to spoof our beloved Jack Bauer :)

Posted by Anonymous | 1:05 PM |

Shaun of the Dead
Edgar Wright, 2004

8.5
wow. what a refreshingly smart, funny, and incredibly entertaining film that was! i know, i know. nothing new to report. but i just wanted to share my thoughts. a friend lent me a copy of the film. i wanted to mess around with my new dvd-rom player but had nothing to put on. i started checking out how the controls worked with this film but i ended up watching the whole damn thing on my 17" monitor while sitting straight on my not-too-comfortable chair. the film is funny. that's all i can say. and it's coming to (region 1) dvd december 21 so make sure you rent it. a bloody good time - no pun intended (and watch out for some cool surprises). btw, Simon Pegg, who plays Shaun and who co-wrote the script, must be commanded for his performance and a great script. and, Edgar Wright keeps things flowing really smoothly for what is essentially a zombie flick with nothing new to bring to the table. it definitely fooled me.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:55 PM |

it's working! i just burned my first dvd -- well, the first working one, that is. i burned a coaster just before that thanks to my computer going into sleep mode -- but, i burned my first working dvd. but that's not the best part. the most exciting part is that it works in my fussy JVC XV-D701 player !!! that player is not supposed to read dvd-r/rw's, but some people --a minute part of the community-- have had some small succcesses burning discs that worked in their player. so today, to try out my burner and test out various discs for the player, i got a bunch of different blanks. the Memorex DVD+R is the one that worked for me (i tried the Verbatim DVD-R and it doesn't work for my player) even though i kinda misread the comments on that particular disc. i was hoping, after buying them, that it could work. so that's it. one of my first tries and i got a compatible dvd medium to work with :) (i used DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink (anyone know how to bypass DVD Shrink if the entire thing can already fit onto a single disc? i could only get Decrypter to burn by making an image with Shrink first; then it used Decrypter to burn the whole thing)). i popped both the copy and the original in one after the other to see if there were any noticeable differences in the image quality - i couldn't find any. a side-by-side comparison with a more recent disc (i burned 1972's Lone Wolf and Cub - Sword of Vengeance) would truly calm my nerves on the subject. speaking of which - i didn't have to do any compression to fit the disc onto the blank - does this mean i got the full image quality that was present on the original disc? logic would say yes but i'm new to dvd burning so i assume nothing.

btw, girlfriend news: she managed to get me to talk about not being in full blown love yet (and she's not in love yet either, btw, which i kinda dug since we really don't know each other too well yet). strangely enough i've felt a calm and an openness for the past two days :) and i'm actually feeling myself digging having ::her:: as a girlfriend , really digging trying to build something with her (instead of just having a girlfriend). and just like that, perspectives have switched.

btw, the new computer is working fabulously well, thank you very much :D i'm loving the ease with which i'm using loads of programs at once and how fast it is compared to what i'd been working with for the past few years. i don't regret a single thing about it.

Posted by Anonymous | 8:51 PM |

The Criterion Collection are at it again -- a mere few weeks after announcing their exciting january releases. this time they've announced their february lineup, and let me tell you, as much as the january stuff looked good, this is outright delicious!

La commare secca (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1962)
Thieves' Highway (Jules Dassin, 1949)
Night and the City (Jules Dassin, 1950)
Tout va bien (Jean-Luc Godard & Jean-Pierre Gorin, 1972)
My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991) (double-disc set)

and number 176 is missing, so there might be a sixth set coming in february.
i'm definitely excited about the two new Dassin releases.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:26 AM |

all afternoon long i cleaned up the other side of what became our computer room. now that the roommate has moved out, some of her shit is left on that other wall. i don't mind it. the apartment would be unbearably bare if she'd taken all of it in one day. but i wanted to move the old computer to that wall so i could still burn some programs off of it and shit. so i did that. then i moved the computer to its new spot. thank god i took the day off work. by 7 pm, i had my new computer pretty much set up :) it's now running smoothly. i've worked out most of the kinks to make it my own. as promised, and for those who still care at this late hour, here are my comp's details:

Dell Dimension 8400

- Pentium® 4 Processor 540 with HT Technology (3.40GHz, 800 FSB, 1MB)
- Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
- 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (2x512M)
- 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
- 17 in 1704FP Ultrasharp™ Digital Flat Panel Display
- 128MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon™ X300 SE
- Sound Blaster® Live! 24-bit ADVANCED HD™ Audio
- Dell® Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard
- NEC 16x DVD-ROM Drive (ND-3450A)
- Samsung 16x DVD+/-RW w/double layer write capability (SD-616E)
- Dell A425 Speakers w/Subwoofer

i'd forgotten about the Sub. that was a nice surprise to find when i opened up the box. i also noticed the amazing differences between my two monitors. my old one sure seems like a piece of shit now :) i'm still getting used to the new keyboard. the delete and end buttons are not where my fingers used to find them. and i've also noticed the upgrade in speed is somewhat dazzling for a P2 user like me. it used to take all day to turn on and off my computer. not with this one. all in all, i'm really pleased with this system. truly pleased. i was like a kid on christmas eve all day. lol. i'll start fooling around with the dvd burner this weekend. that's when the real fun will start.

have a good night.
i'm going to bed :)

Posted by Anonymous | 1:12 AM |