a broken lull.

help Tiga make the world's Top 100 DJs 2005 list.

Posted by Anonymous | 5:17 PM |

i am so thankful to have gotten Bell ExpressVu this summer (thank you, roommate). one of the benefits, or the greatest benefit, has been stumbling across fascinating new artists via MuchVibe. most of them independent canadian artists. not that i was doubting it but we've got exceptionally solid talent up here! thank you, MuchVibe, for bringing me all this crazy new talent and being more than proud about our heritage.

for starters:

Reign, who's Guilty Party had me floored. his album's coming out next year.
Classified, man. his Maritimes anthem had me glued to the screen everytime it ran.
War Party. of course. it's an obvious choice but it's still brilliant rap.

Pharrell has a solo album coming out November 11 ???!
shit. hopefully Chad is there too. i mean, don't get me wrong, i like Pharrell, but hopefully this isn't the work of a greedy suit or agent.

this is it. my brother supposedly left for the airport this morning to come visit us for 10 days :) he's been living in Whistler and now Banff for the past, oh, 5-6 years now. my mother went and visited him once with her boyfriend but my brother's the one who comes always down. not as much as we'd like to, about every 18 months, but it's expensive so not complaints there. but yeah, so he's visiting!!! it seems as though the last time was maybe even two years ago. i forget. anyway. but this time, we've been planning it behind our mother's back :) she has absolutely no idea he's coming over. i'm gonna go pick him up in Montreal tomorrow (he's spending tonight at a friend's house) and we'll go straight to my mom's. she may have a seizure. will let you all know :) ta!

Posted by Anonymous | 8:30 AM |

what a funny day today was. first off, we had the best weather ever -- windy rainstorm all day until mid-afternoon. i love grey days. especially when i have the day off (i'm still on vacation :) today i'd planned on running some errands but since it was raining horizontally i decided to stay inside. i did a major cleaning job on the apartment. my brother's coming to visit for a week this weekend (he'll spend his time here and at my mom's place) and i wanted to make it right for him. only the bathtub, shower, and bathroom counter remain to be cleaned. that'll be tomorrow. i also took down my ac and cleaned out the window panes. it felt great to have my window again (since i wake up late i'd put cardboards up to block the light out and it stayed that way for most of the summer). then the rain died down and i pushed myself out the door. and guess what? i got myself a new pair of jeans [ that's the site for the store; my pair aren't there, though, for some reason ]. i'm very happy and proud about that. it was time for a new pair but i hate shopping for clothes on my own, especially without a girl present. but i went anyway, knowing i'd love to have them to pick up my brother and for the ex's arrival from europe next week. i also wanna surprise my work friends next week and go have dinner with them and bring my brother :) i'd also take the ex with me (she also works there) and since they haven't seen her for the past three weeks they'll be doubly excited :) and i wanna go to work with non-drabby work clothes :) and i must say, i'm very happy about the pair i got. i even got the saleswoman to tell me which of the two sizes i was thinking about looked better :P the only thing i couldn't find was a black shirt to go with the jeans but i just realized that i got a cool Threadless order that'll actually do the trick just fine, and it just shipped this week. hopefully it gets here early next week (anyone know how long it takes to get to Canada?).

oh, and because i had half an hour to kill before picking up the jeans (they had to take off about an inch or two on the bottom of each leg) i dropped by Future Shop, noticed that they had the new Sigur Ros album and picked it up for a cool $12.99.

when i got home i installed the shade i bought for my window. i'm a bit tired but the roommate just left to spend the night at his girlfriend's so i might take advantage of this and pop in a movie later on. oh, and i loss faith in Will & Grace early last season. i even went so far as to not caring about missing it and it quickly left my usual tv schedule. but i'm recording tonight's Live Season Premiere. at least that should be good fun.

so that was my day :)
how was yours?

Posted by Anonymous | 8:14 PM |

did you catch Viggo Mortensen on The Daily Show last night?
he was unexpectedly quietly absurd. but there's one thing he mentioned at the end of the interview that was just one of the sweetest things ever. check it out. (and Stephen Colbert?? cute and touching.)

ohmyfrickingod!!! DeLay Is Indicted and Forced to Step Down as Majority Leader !!!
wow. mark this date down, boys and girls. this is surprising, to say the fucking least. just...wow.
tonight's Daily Show, after the initial shock, should be fun :)
Abstract Nixon |

Melissa Auf der Maur will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Montreal's famed [ hip/chic/whorish/run-down/abandoned ] rue St-Laurent this weekend. (hey, i might will be in Montreal to pick up my brother saturday. [not downtown, though. about 15 minutes away, which is just too far for me to feel the excitement of the celebration. at least i'll be nearby. hey, aren't the cool bands also in town for the Montreal Pop?? oh. shit. yeah. ---what?? Nas will be there???? fuck. friday night, for those interested.])

Posted by Anonymous | 11:46 AM |

good morning. see that time stamp? yep. i was up at 8:30. early enough for me to miss the roommate leaving by only 45 minutes but still witness the lights he'd left on in the kitchen again (::shakes head:: i swear he'll never learn).

i see that they are a bunch of great new releases coming up: today -- Ryan Adams, Blackalicious, Elbow, and Wolf Parade (why doesn't Future Shop carry them?). well, i might might swing by Archambault today. i haven't been there in ages because FS always has better prices, but today's releases have Amazon.ca prices on them.

and next week? it only gets worse: Fiona Apple, Broken Social Scene (2cd Limited Edition available at FS), Franz Ferdinand, the north american releases of The Go! Team's Thunder, Lightning, Strike (with two bonus tracks) and The (International) Noise Conspiracy's Armed Love, new Ladytron and Metric, Trina's album finally get released!, and a new Twista! (with help from Scott Storch, Kanye, Timbaland, and The Neptunes, for christ's sake) (for some weird reason, the two rap albums are very expensive on Amazon.ca even though they're released on major labels. [psst - Archambault has both Twista's and Trina's albums for $12.99 each -- fuck you, Amazon.]).

aw. i love me some Eric Bana.
great pics of him on the set of Munich, Spielberg's 1972 Olympics terrorist attack flick (i'll say it here because everyone always fails to mention that the film co-stars the wonderful and talented Marie-Josée Croze).

6:47 PM

well, this afternoon it was too beautiful a day not to go outside so i went running. decided to change my route again so i cut through the walking paths in the woods nearby. it was nice. a bit more cross-country than i'm used to but fun. (the air is fresher in the woods than on the streets right beside it.)

i also ran some errands and got me the following:

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights (no mention of it anywhere on the FS website but the store had it for $12.99)
ELBOW - LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD (advertised at $11.99 on the site; nowhere to be found at the store ...until i found the only copy in the E section. i was giddy since i'd also forgotten -and was frustratingly trying to figure out- what that second album i wanted was :)
WOLF PARADE - APOLOGIES TO THE QUEEN MARY

9:34 PM

Nate, you are the man!
definitely King Geek for a Day - but sooo worth it.
FAZED |

this one is also from FAZED (just discovering this site. btw, can you tell i have nothing better to do than check out video sites?):
Coyote. try not to shit your pants. here's a followup.

Posted by Anonymous | 8:46 AM |

need any more proof they're one of the world's cutest couples?

btw: they're still in Edmonton :)

Posted by Anonymous | 2:42 PM |

i woke up nice and early today. you know what my plan/wish was for my vacation? to go to bed at a reasonable time (10-ish would be great) and wake up early in the morning. get a nice, healthy schedule going (also eating well, which i'm already doing, and a tighter running routine). because i come home from work late each night, i go to bed extra late. (can't go to bed as soon as i get home from work. it can't be done. you're still a bit wired up.) i know i can be a morning person. my work schedule just doesn't permit it. well, my first day after not working and here i am :) i woke up around 8:30 this morning. i was exhausted yesterday evening, and the roommate and his girlfriend took the living room to watch a movie i did not care to see (The Longest Yard remake), so i spent a couple of hours on the computer. after a while there's really nothing more you can do so i went to bed around 10 pm :) very happy about that. it's looking good.

Posted by Anonymous | 9:19 AM |

what the hell??
stingrays, man. motherfucking stingrays.
GorillaMask.net |

Posted by Anonymous | 7:17 PM |

oh, here you go. now shut the fuck up, will you?

[ ps. Tim, even though you wrote about it yesterday, this is so not directed at you. i just couldn't believe the hellish, breakneck speed the story was getting. ]

thanks to the band for setting the record straight. for some reason this break news (from august, for christ's sake) had recently taken a life of its own and was out of control in a matter of hours. doesn't anybody understand taking a breather anymore? you try touring for 18 months straight and come back and tell me about love, flowers, and shit. we'll see what kind of shape you're in by then.

oh. and i'm on vacation ;)
as of now. and for the next two fucking sweet weeks.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:17 AM |

shit. news just keeps coming and it seems there's just no way of keeping up. but since it's Tarantino and i didn't get the full story yesterday (why doesn't everyone link the whole interview when Quentin speaks? the man rarely talks when he's not promoting stuff). he's Tarantino talking about a lot of shit - including bits on Inglorious, Sin City 2, and the Vega Brothers movie. enjoy.

wow. last night's Survivor was heartbreaking. i was shocked and saddened to see Morgan leave. (shocked, i tell you. i sat there literally stunned as the votes were being counted out.) but the great news is that i'm finally getting into the series, thanks to last night's thrilling episode. the Tug of War was gripping beyond belief. i want an entire episode devoted to that, and i wanna play it. fun fun fun!!

hopefully Kitchen Confidential can pick up the slack. that was a promising but lackluster episode at best. even though i loved Bradley Cooper in Alias, the first episode didn't really show if he and his character had the ability to carry the show. it was an intro episode anyway so they show us the world we will follow (were we to continue watching, that is). always an iffy premise. so i'll give it more time. but -- the reason i would hang on to watch the show would be Owain Yeoman as the roguish Steven. he was something fresh on a nervous network premiere. hopefully this show will find its gears.

3:28 PM

well. i spent the afternoon between DVD Rebuilder, eating and watching tv, and going outside to sand out the rust, prime and paint on mycar. i was only doing a small part on the back of my car to test things out. well, the paint did run a bit and i couldn't sand it all down to perfection, but i was happy with it ... until i took the tapes off and saw that the paint was darker than my car's and made it look like a redneck had done the job. i was pissed. not at the guy who sold me the paint, he took the right number down, but at myself. also, my car's original paint fades when it's not waxed (but when it's waxed, it's beautiful). although i took most of the afternoon to do it, i do feel i rushed it a bit. the weather wasn't perfect; it was windy, but i had to do it today because, after tomorrow, it's rain and clouds for the rest of the week. next time i'm going to my mom's house and doing it in her garage. i should do better in there. but -- it was my first time. there's always a first, isn't there? i guess that should comfort me :) i took my shower because i have to leave for work in an hour. but you know what? i just checked out the car from my apartment, and it's not as bad as it looked before :) i have to give the paint some time to dry, don't i? yay. at least that's that. plus, most of the rust won't build as fast as it was going before. i haven't looked it up close yet but i'm happier with it than i was half an hour ago :) yay for that. as for the bigger parts i'll have to sand down - anyone wanna give me a couple hundred bucks so i can do it the easy way? ;) i'll check out some sanders (is that a word?) before doing the real job. my puny sandpaper and feeble hands weren't up for the big job.

Posted by Anonymous | 9:49 AM |

as always when i plan on doing stuff that's a little out of the ordinary for myself, i'm feeling a bit lazy today and would love nothing more than to just relax and sit on my ass all day. lol. but i do need to get myself up and go get the paint and primer i need for my car today because if i don't do it now, i'll never do it. speaking of which, check out my Friendster Horoscope [ gotta sign in ] for today:

You're feeling less born to be wild and more born to be mild. You're not sick -- you simply need a change of pace is all. Respect your body and your mind and give them what they're asking for -- a day off -- and don't force yourself into going at a breakneck pace simply because it's what you think you should be doing. After all, like any kind of high-performance equipment, you need lots of maintenance and care in order to keep running.

and you know what? i'd actually taken today off! :D
horoscopes rock.

my day just got better. Twitch posts about Besson's smaller Angel-A film he secretly shot over the summer with Jamel Debbouze. i've been a fan of his for a few years now and i can't wait to see him in a Besson film. not that he needs the attention (he's a star in France) but hopefully this will get even more people to notice his talent. and if you understand french, please check out Jamel's site. the intro alone is worth it :) love him.

5:24 PM

well, i actually did go out and get the paint and primers for my car :) happy about that. the sky was clouding up, though, this afternoon (rain tonight) so i didn't chance it and will do the actual work some other, more perfect day. i wanna do this right.

this is fascinating. i'm learning to work with DVD Rebuilder. i've been using DVDShrink since forever, and it's been an amazing friend, but i read about Rebuilder being a greater alternative for quality and i just had to look it up. i knew it was more complicated than Shrink (i'd recently tried one of these processes where you need several different programs to make one dvd but dropped it after a while) but today i seem to be in a different state of mind. and a day off is the perfect day to do this kind of thing :)

enjoy your evenings.
i shall watch a dvd in the comfort of my living room -- whether the roommate and his girlfriend are here or at her place, that is. he's here right now but i have a feeling she'll call him up soon enough and they'll go to her place. have fun! :)

one last thing. the perfect couple, Brad and Angelina [ scroll halfway down ], cool people that they are, go to the West Edmonton Mall. CTV apparently has footage of it but their site doesn't wanna show it to me. hopefully you'll have better luck. ah, goldenfiddle comes through with better pictures.

11:00 PM

well, it's late already and i'm nowhere near watching a movie right now. been on the phone and working with DVD Rebuilder most of the evening. the roommate did go to his girlfriend's, though, so i'll probably end up watching a movie nonetheless.

i've never watched more than a minute or two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer while channel surfing, but fans of the show have one hell of a cover to look forward to when The Chosen Collection (the complete series box set containing 40 discs!!!) comes out November 15th.

psst: the Sin City Extended Edition comes out December 13th.

oh yeah. 24 will now premiere a week later than expected - Jan 15-16 2006.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:40 AM |

hi :) i came back from work early tonight. the roommate and his girlfriend were sleeping here and the night was nice so i went out jogging for a while. i even tried a different route. it felt great. and it's truly amazing to run at night. i decided the time would be perfect to break Coral Egan's My Favorite Distraction. it's a great record to run under the moonlight to. bass-y jazz that Coral keeps playful, interesting, and light, but an unabashed sadness weaves in and out of each song, making her work fascinating and personal (this is not mor, radio-friendly jazz). this is a definite artist--intriguing and down-to-earth.

Tarantino opens up some more about his next two films [ Grindhouse, with Robert Rodriguez, and Inglorious Bastards ].
and, in the same article, some Fletch hope i hadn't put together (thank you, Kevin Smith).

arrested Development was outstanding! i hadn't realized how much i'd missed them. soooo happy they're back. (how come they're the only ones doing this kind of smart and funny tv?) they didn't miss a fucking beat.

and, if i remember correctly-- Happy Birthday, mr. King, Stephen.

9:56 PM

well, shit. just jared just got too good not to post about this morning. Interview magazine has an Incredible! lineup for Oct '05. the mag sports one of the most inept and ugliest covers ever, but thank god the content is riveting.

Anne Hathaway by Angelina Jolie
Zhang Ziyi by Natalie Portman
Jon Bon Jovi by Jay-Z
Kanye West by Fiona Apple

[ You don't understand. I hold you higher than Lauryn Hill in my eyes. ]

10:52 AM

RICKY GERVAIS will be on The Daily Show tonight!!! i cannot wait to see him on the show. hilarity should ensue, i promise you that. great, great news. (is he gonna pimp his Simpsons episode? ah, no. it is scheduled to air in February 2006.)

2:50 PM

Maggie wins Big Brother 6. oh well. (btw, i was rooting for Ivette but, girl, being yourself is not reason enough to ask people for $500,000. this is a game where you have to compete.)
but--i can't wait to get a Big Brother All-Stars!!! (Kaysar, Janelle, and James have their names written on that shortlist.) damn i didn't think i'd get so emotional seeing all the Jedis together again :D (did you see James leap to hug Kaysar???) bring it on, bitches. give me the rumoured Michael and Kaysar Amazing Race if you're not doing the all-stars next year. in the meantime, i'm definitely gonna miss my little Jedis...

1:45 AM (Thursday)

i got tomorrow, thursday, off, bitches! and i'm gonna spend the afternoon (hopefully) polishing the rust off my car (it's started showing in some spots and it's getting ugly) and repainting it. i got some great pointers from a lot people. very much appreciated as this is a first for me. but tomorrow is gonna be a great day.

the flames of BB6 are dying down quickly. but a check on 6togo's website reveals some great stuff -- Howie, Rachel, Sarah, and James interview with TheFishbowl.com (no idea either), a fucking harsh interview with Maggie courtesy of RealityTVTalk, and a Kaysar chat transcript with BB fan JokersUpdates.

KAYSAR_BB6 : The only other reality TV shows I will convider doing are Amazing Race or the BB Allstars
Jokerette : so you were approached for all stars?
KAYSAR_BB6 : All I can say is that someone very high of the corperate ladder at CBS has asked me already

so the rumours were founded?? it makes very happy that CBS is already considering the BB All Stars. maybe next year after all? hopefully. (once again - Janelle, James, and Kaysar. thanks :)

Posted by Anonymous | 2:09 AM |

oh my god (i seem to say that often these days). Rosario Dawson, love of my life (second only to Angelina), is not doing much to betray my interests lately -- she's gonna star in a film Tarantino is executive-producing called Killshot and be in Clerks 2 !! true leftfield casting for the latter. Killshot will be directed by Shakespeare in Love's John Madden, it is based on an Elmore Leonard novel and will star Diane Lane, Thomas Jane, Mickey Rourke and Johnny Knoxville. wow. every single one of those actors is a favorite of mine (Knoxville as a person--haven't seen much of his acting but it will come).

first off, Lizzie Grubman is ugly. butt ugly. second, avert your precious little eyes, my friends. NSFW.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:55 AM |

this review of Mike Leigh's Naked from Criterion makes me happy and relieved i ordered it. i was happy, but not sure. it was part of the huge Criterion Fall Lineup where i was gonna buy up practically everything they put out because of the stellar quality of the releases (but i also spent a lot of cash yesterday so i'm gonna have to be patient for the next few weeks :) and although i was gonna buy Naked, it wasn't necessarily at the top of my list either this fall. but i am happy :)

btw, i'm still trying to find a DTS track to test my improved system out with (i checked out the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, and it was nice [mostly talking, though], but it might also have been the newfound clarity. wow. even with Hellboy's DD5.1 track i heard the difference! my Denon was good, but this is incredible), so if you've got any ideas, let me know (but don't say Private Ryan; i don't feel like watching that anytime soon, and i want a more recent film). i've noticed that DTS is not that common after all. i thought i was missing out on most releases but it's definitely not that widespread yet (even though most theater releases have DTS tracks).

Tim's beautiful Garbage show roundup (Sept 15 in Vegas or Sept 17 in Devore, CA?).
(i still wish he'd add comments to his blog.)
shit. makes me yearn for the show i got last spring. from what i've been hearing, these kinds of shows have been more the rule than the exception from the band this year. feels like someone's lit a fire under their asses. and it's working beautifully. i can't wait to see them again.

Switchfoot's Tim Foreman tells you how to work around their Sony disc's Copy Protection. only heard of the band (the ex is a fan), never got into their sound if i heard their material, but i thought this was seriously commendable and inspiring coming from someone signed to a monolithic corporation like Sony. not a lot of bands would even attempt something like this.

2:14 PM

ohmygod. a couple of weeks ago my work partner and i got into '80s tv shows and movies. he mentioned Stuart Gordon's Robot Jox as being his all-time worst film. i fucking remembered that film!! i never saw it but it was always mentioned in Fangoria or Starlog (blowing your mind right now, aren't i?). but i remember having such a crush on that film. it looked so fricking cool. it might be total crap but it looked damn cool to me as a kid. as soon as i got home i checked it out online but it was only available on a crappy vhs tape. but today Zip made my day -- Robot Jox is coming to dvd in two weeks!!! (ha--for $10.47, too :P)

huh? throw away those expensive imports!! Muse's Origin of Symmetry is coming out in North America tomorrow!
boy, that was quick.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:45 AM |

i'm now the proud owner of the harman/kardon AVR 135 DD EX6.1/DTS ES6.1 receiver. i'm gonna stop harrassing you with it now (probably one or two small posts about how cool it looks and how great it sounds ;) man it's been a long time since i've wanted this one. ooh, and i got the very last one, i think! there wasn't even a demo out. i've got a great afternoon ahead of me. i'm gonna take out my old Denon, store it in its box--and then the fun begins :)

wtf??? Arrested Development is on Monday nights now??? FUCK. how could they fuck up such a sweet Sunday Night Lineup?
8 PM. Season Premiere is tomorrow night.

7:20 PM

"damn penguins."
that's all i'm gonna say.
watch tonight's Family Guy. it's back to freaking classic mode :) sweet.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:13 PM |

i'm disappointed about BB. Ivette has redeemed herself (a bit) in my eyes over the last couple of weeks. she is playing with her heart. but i was extremely sad to see Janelle leave last night. she was the best player in that house (with James and Kaysar). and now we're left with two Siths. i want Ivette to win it. and she definitely has a shot because she's been winning a lot lately (with some help from Maggie) and her family really needs it. Maggie--she's a hateful bitch who can't pull off being humble. she looked fake during the entire show last night. hateful bitch. and she hasn't shown too much leadership during the last month. she's just been sitting on her fat ass and trying to get in between her followers and any hamster who would wanna talk to them. she wasn't even a good cult leader these past few weeks. so i'm not so sure anymore about her winning the whole thing. i want Ivette to win. and i don't feel it's the lesser of two evils this year (à-la-Jun and Alison).

HOLY SHIT. the Harman/Kardon (DD EX6.1, but more importantly DTS ES6.1) receiver i've had my eye on for the past two years, that has never come down from its $699 price tag, not even when everything else in the store was on sale, is now $499 this week!!! fuck. what do i do? holy shit. my ass has also been fantasizing about a widescreen tv as my next big purchase. what do i do? do i go for this instead? argh. will see this week. this is great news.

oh shit--Future Shop has 24/36-month no interest financing. i forgot about that. that's almost nothing on $500. anyone can tell me anything they know about this plan? i know it's an easy plan but any details or experience would be helpful (like, can i pay it up before the lease is over, etc). i'm gonna swing by the store on my way to the ex-roommate's in a few minutes to pick up the flyer and read the fine print. i'm seriously considering buying the harman/kardon tomorrow :) let me know.

12:41 AM (Sunday)

whew. just got home from a long day. it was really nice, but long. i got a huge throbbing headache now :) i spent the day at the ex-roommate's. this afternoon we ran some errands, watched last night's BB (loved Sarah's homemade t-shirt), and cooked a lot of food. we waited and waited for her boyfriend to get home from work. at 8 he finally did and we ate, talked, did dishes, and watched Ong-bak (it's definitely reveals its tediousness more on second viewing and the fights do lose a lot of their initial impacts; but i was glad to see it in Thai this time). all in all, it was a great day well spent. i enjoyed it tremendously.

the roommate had his surprise birthday party but only one of his friend is here now (they're watching Final Fantasy VII, which the roommate watched this week :) obviously, he loved it).

oh, i'm almost 100% sold on the harman/kardon AVR 135. first off--look at that bad boy. i mean, come on. second--DTS. and it's a harman/kardon. not to be neglected are the numerous optical inputs. see, my Denon only has one optical input, and the DVD player's got that one. but my father's 15 year old Denon CD player, which is built like a tank and delivers crystal clear audio (like they don't make them anymore), has an optical output, but i was never able to use it. now, with this receiver, i'll be able to hear my cd's in their true digital format. i'll give you an update tomorrow but it's in the serious stage now. but i won't be using the Future Shop financing. even though it would've been very helpful because i'd be living on a tight budget for the next week-and-a-half if i paid in cash, it seemed like a hassle to get accepted (if i read it right i have to get a FS credit card). but on my way home tonight i figured out a way--pay most of the $575 in cash (leaving myself some money to live with), put the rest on my credit card and pay that off with my next pay in two weeks. i hate going to my already loaded credit card but i'll be putting a very small amount on it (which i can really pay off in two weeks). problem (almost perfectly) solved :) talk to you tomorrow.

have a good night :)

1:11 AM (Sunday)

huge correction: i just did my budget for the next month or so. i shuffled some bills around ...and i can actually pay it all off in cash tomorrow! wow. i'm amazed because things looked tight but i was rather easily able to change some stuff around to more convenient dates and i won't be as tight as i thought i would. now, the only hurdle against tomorrow being an amazing day will be the roommate -- if they're spending the evening here or not :) i want to be able to enjoy my system to its fullest by watching a film on my own. lol :) (wow--i'll have to be mindful of DTS tracks now.) ooh, and i forgot to mention that the DVD player i upgraded to this past spring was an harman/kardon--with the exact same sleek design :) my bookshelves will be looking good :)

Posted by Anonymous | 10:30 AM |

it's friday!! finally. it felt like the week was just inching along like a fucking snail. urgh. well, here's Jon Heder reprising his roles as Napoleon Dynamite with hilarious results. oh yeah--it's vs Bill Gates :)
The Movie Blog |

is 24: The Game ready now?
i couldn't find an official site and the only release dates i could find were Fall 2005, or 1/1/2006, which i think is a fake retailer's date anyway. shit, CNET's also got the Jan 1 2006 date. we'll see soon enough if that pans out.

ooh--i almost got the Flashback edition of Dazed and Confused the other week (even though the cover looked crappy) as part of a 2/$30 sale at HMV. glad i didn't. you can put this one in the Serious Rumour folder.

Bowie/Arcade Fire gig pics.
stereogum |

What If... a new CBS Reality Show. apply if you're up for it.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:19 AM |

oh hell yeah -- according to mighty goddess Elfie/Queen Helen, Garbage are not gonna add any new dates to their current tour -but- there is gonna be a new tour to support a new album. (whether that album is new material or a greatest hits is up for speculation, but this is still great news! the band is not dead :)

tried to find the new Paul McCartney/Nigel Godrich album at Future Shop but they were seemingly out.

news on the ex-ex: she called me up this week to ask me if i'd be here this weekend. see, she is gonna come down after all but it's gonna be with a friend (male) to dance friday night at her old club and see her friends. she wanted to know if she could swing by and say hi. i said i'd probably be busy (which is true, but also very convenient because i'd moved on since she backed out of our plans to spend a week together). yesterday i got an email from her asking me if she and her friend could spend the night here friday night if they couldn't drive back home right away--her sleeping arrangements: her friend on the couch in the living room and her in my bedroom. yeah, right. lol :) i would've gone for it a few weeks ago but not now. and especially if she's gonna drive off the next morning. how frustrating would that be? ha. maybe when she has more time for me and we've planned it out more.

have a nice (soggy) day :)

Posted by Anonymous | 12:34 PM |

RIZE
David LaChapelle, 2005 | USA

8.0
this is a phenomenal film--charming, witty, spiritual, touching, and intensely emotional. i'm not one to go for hype but this is just a singular film. no one, but no one, could've made this film the way it is. David LaChapelle has an eye for movement that is breathtaking. he captured every ounce of sweat from these kids and was able to communicate the energy to the audience--in fucking spades!! but don't be fooled--this is not merely a dance movie. it's got more complex emotions at play. it's a generous piece of work and a fascinating study of the suppressed and exploited. in more ways than one, the film is an expression of the people. LaChapelle captures it beautifully. our little fashion photographer is evidently one gifted motherfucker. be warned: this film is not a fluke--the man knows what he's fucking doing. a lot of the credit must also go to the kids appearing in the flick. they're simply astounding--letting us into their tight-knit society and generously sharing their experience. the expression of their humanity is stirring and engaging, and David LaChapelle does touch the sublime throughout most of the film. i am not afraid to say that. he backs it up. (i felt it faltered a bit towards the end but not enough to piss on the sublime beauty of what LaChapelle was going for.) just watch it and enjoy. it'll make you laugh, cry, and move all at the same fucking time. hallelujah.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:45 AM |

morning, bitches! :)
the final days in the Big Brother house are always draining, both for the players and the fans, if only because you're down to only four people (some of which really can't stand each other so no talking, and if there is some, it's the excruciating rehashing of dead horses) and events are practically non-existent until the Final Three Competitions at the end of the week. so, to keep themselves from going crazy, the BB crew is having fun with the hammies. a lot of fun. and the houseguests are really enjoying it. it's cute.

1:17 PM

finally got my DVDPacific order. i average about three weeks shipping with them but although i really always want them right now i can live with that because they've got great prices. although, Amazon.ca has competitive prices on a few upcoming Criterion titles--not all of them because a couple are still idiotically priced at $46, but a few are shockingly neck-and-neck with DVDPacific's awesome prices. i just put in an order with Amazon for two that are coming out next week--ps. Criterion's Fall Lineup is CR-AZY. i will get almost all of their releases from now 'till xmas. but here's what i gots today:

LE NOTTI BIANCHE (THE CRITERION COLLECTION) Luchino Visconti, 1957
AU HASARD BALTHAZAR (THE CRITERION COLLECTION) Robert Bresson, 1966
HARAKIRI (THE CRITERION COLLECTION, 2 DISCS) Masaki Kobayashi, 1962

Posted by Anonymous | 10:39 AM |

couldn't let this go by--tonight's feeds are some of the most heartwarming, end-of-the-game talks. i'm actually warming up to April real fast now!! read if you're a BB fan. this is incredible.

7:02 PM

wow. i'm exhausted. woke up a good hour earlier than expected. the ex-roommate was gonna call me up to get ready to go pick some apples today with her boyfriend and a friend of hers. not only was i barely awake when i met up with them, but the new girl wasn't all that fun to begin with. she and the ex-roommate went into snide remarks and being condescending behind the families' backs at the orchard. poor, snobby taste. i hated. but the apples looked good, the sun was out but it wasn't hot and we each got baked apple pies. yum. but now i have a headache to go along with my exhaustion. the roommate and his girlfriend are spending the evening here (but they were due after 3 days at her place) so tv or dvd's are out of the question for me (they're watching Star Académie. yeah...). i think i'll use the opportunity to go lie down for a bit and listen to my iPod. btw, the ex left yesterday for her 3-week trip through Europe. i knew i'd miss her but it kinda hit me a bit harder than expected last night as i was going to bed. i'm gonna be okay but i was just surprised with how much she meant to my daily life. that's it :)

the Fall TV Season is finally upon us with the first (and probably only) Great Season Premieres Night!! too bad Arrested Development is being pushed back to next week to make room for the premiere of The War at Home. (btw, stop fucking with us, Fox. that show ain't gonna play anyway. put it on monday night at 9:30 and get it over with already) but no hard feelings 'cause Fox drew us one amazing lineup for tonight:

8:00 The Simpsons
8:30
9:00 Family Guy
9:30 American Dad!

Posted by Anonymous | 2:38 AM |

REDEU-AI | aka Red Eye
Kim Dong-bin, 2005 | South Korea

6.0
Kim Dong-bin's Redeu-ai is a tepid tale of a midnight train's last run. but apparently, because of a crash that happened almost two decades earlier, the train has been haunted. and because this is the train's last run (or maybe the conductor's?), its ghostly inhabitants wanna try to communicate with the living one last time. the scares in this flick are practically non-existent and the atmosphere reminded me more of a shot-on-video flick than with the usually scary Korean horror films i'm used to. it's not to say that this is a bad film--but it quickly becomes apparent that it is a bland one. there are a few genuinely good ideas that are somewhat creepy, but nothing more. it's a little inoffensive horror flick. as with all Korean horror flicks, though, there is a human side to the story and that's actually one of the sides of the film i particularly reacted to. the actors all do a great job with the parts they're given and these performances are actually what sustained my waning interest through the second part of this mild movie (especially Shin-yeong Jang, as Oh Mi-sun, whom i'd love to see more of). the beginning of the film does set a nice tone with the pounding grey rain and the awaiting late-night travelers coming into the te

Posted by Anonymous | 1:32 AM |

would you believe me if i told you i haven't been online today? nope. just let my torrents download and that's it. i've been running errands and went walking in the woods with the ex all afternoon 'cause she's leaving monday for a 3-week trip across Europe (France, Switzerland, Germany, ...). but she's leaving tonight to join the friend she's going with so this was the last time she could see me. i'm gonna miss her a bit because we talk every single day but it's gonna be fun for her. the more i thought about it the more i'd love to go. damn. and i watched Boudu sauvé des eaux the other day, which is set at the Institut de France and on the Pont des Arts (the Criterion set also has a fascinating interactive map of Paris on the disc, relating the history of various areas of the city); and there's a damn stratling coincidence right there as i'm also currently reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, which, everyone knows, who's most famous location is the Louvre -- which sits at the end of the Pont des Arts, mere feet from the cool Boudu location :) i asked the ex to take some pics of the beautiful cast-iron pedestrian bridge for me.

don't forget--Big Brother is at 10 pm tonight.

forgot to mention--i got this 16x Memorex 100-DVD+R spindle at Future Shop for $39.99. on sale this week. weirdly enough, the 50-disc spindle is also $39.99. i almost got ripped off but the cashier told me about the 100-disc set when i noticed the mistake on the 50 one. thank you.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:16 PM |

JANEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
i love my Janey Doll :)
couldn't have happened at a better time. Final Three next week and she can compete in the HOH, which should be the big endurance competition. Go, Go, Janey!!

Posted by Anonymous | 3:52 AM |

gotta run to get some groceries. but first:

there's a new film festival in town and it's called the New Montreal FilmFest! i've never heard a thing about it until i saw an article on Twitch this morning. i even thought they were talking about the doomed Montreal Film Festival and even did a semi-lenghty write-up about it. why the (semi) excitement this morning? well, the new festival was able to snatch the world premiere of Tony Scott's troubled Domino to close the festival. not a huge film, i don't think, but definitely a big catch for the festival. congratulations to festival pro Alain Simard (Montreal Jazz Fest and the Francofolies), Moritz de Hadeln and their team (which look like a great mix of Montreal cultural sponsors and real artists [ Robert Lepage! ]). this festival looks like a great alternative to the ill-fated Montreal Film Fest. goddamn--Claude Lelouch is heading the Jury. these guys are good. here's the Complete Listing [pdf file].

Posted by Anonymous | 11:54 AM |

starting a new day.
lately i've been feeling rather link-y. so expect today's post to be update a few time throughout the day. dunno how the day will actually unfold, news-wise, but hopefully i get a few interesting bits in when it's all over. i hope you enjoy.

Tori covers Karma Police [ live in Rochester Hills, MI, August 28 2005 ].

not a girl, not yet Maria Schriver: Hilary (Duff) is now a scary stick figure! her recent fight against physical well-being has officially entered the sad Hollywood delusional stage. (in other jarring celebrities-i-never-thought-would-go-this-route news: you got screwed, Andie MacDowell...)

Jedi Janey is hands down the coolest little hammie. not only for that quote, which made me laugh out loud, but last night's episode of BB showed just how brilliant our girl is. she singlehandedly puts all the Nerd Herd to shame. with two hands tied behind her back. the girl am smart. ooh, i just ran across this interview -- James is a fricking God! although i wasn't for it at the time, it woulda been glorious had he and Janey actually teamed up for the final stretch of the game! here's the full TV Guide interview.

Hurricane Katrina--damage control. don't look at your calendar; it's definitely still 1984 and the Bush White House is trying to run its show.

Kevin Smith gives us a peek into his real life by way of (lotsa) pics of his house. worth it if you're a fan. unrestricted intimate access. urgh--he's gonna appear on Joey. ah, but he and Mewes will be back on Degrassi this year so that kinda makes up for it, actually.

2:09 AM (Thursday)

everyone's blogging about it: Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPod today. and it looks damn cute. (and the headphones plug in at the bottom? genius!)

lockdown on Katrina: the National Guard are under orders to turn away all media from the hurricane aftermath and its rescue efforts (re: no dead bodies on the air).

Posted by Anonymous | 2:39 AM |

FUCK!! there's a new Thomas Harris book coming out about Hannibal ?? i was reading this article about a Young Hannibal movie that's gonna start filming soon and couldn't believe they'd do this (well, after what Ratner did to Red Dragon i wasn't that surprised with what they could come up with next to splurge on the series). but then i saw Anthony Hopkins would provide narration. i was like, wtf? dude's desperate for some money (ditto my thoughts on him doing Ratner's Red Dragon, btw). but no, Thomas Harris has apparently finished another Lecter book and it's coming out November 29th (ah, okay. he's actually not rushing it that much [although i would like to see him writing about something other than Lecter now] that would seem about right since Red Dragon came out in '99). but the title? Behind the Mask. just ...urgh.

why the fuck do i need a password to get onto Roger Avary's site now?

Barbara Bush can't keep her mouth shut. (see last paragraph for a great mind at work.)
Daily Kos |

Snakes on a Plane. no need to say more :) let todd from tremble.com run with it for you.

the new season of Family Guy is already upon us!!! starts this sunday. tune in or you're an ass.

bits of Kaysar's shoot on The Young & the Restless. (how fucking hot does he look right there, uh? fuck.)

Criterion makes it official by getting one last November title in and announcing the first December set. Criterion fans, start drooling:

PICKPOCKET Robert Bresson, 1959
SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER! François Truffaut, 1960 (2 discs)

Posted by Anonymous | 11:49 AM |

HAUTE TENSION | aka High Tension; Switchblade Romance
Alexandre Aja, 2003. France

7.5
this was the tightest, creepiest, most suspenseful piece of modern filmmaking i have seen in recent years. it was refreshing to see a (relatively) new filmmaker handle such a badly overdone genre like this one with so much skill and ease. it's one brilliantly-conducted mood piece. the story is deceptively simple, but you won't notice or even care because your heart will be pumping so much blood through your body. i cannot tell you how much i got into this film. i really dug it and followed it around. and everywhere it went it made fucking sense and had me right there. it'd been a while since i'd experienced something as tense and real as this. Aja put me in those situation with disarming ease. it was nightmarish. but then--they had to add that moronic twist ending ... and it fucking ruined the movie for me. it did. it was devastating to see such a well-crafted little movie lose its entire credibility that quickly. it was disheartening. if only they didn't have to have that unnecessary motherfucker blindsiding us. (you had us in the palm of your motherfucking hand!!) too bad because (and i'll gladly repeat) they had such a perfect little piece of filmmaking (to which i'd easily give a 9-9.5). but don't let that deter you. see it for the atmosphere and enjoy the genuinely sweet ride. Alexandre Aja shows us he's a motherfucking master right here.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:30 AM |

i haven't followed the media much these past few weeks. i get glimpses here and there, and read all about the major events, but i'm not up-to-date on this stuff. i'm not gonna say much about Hurricane Katrina because it's been hashed and rehashed, and mostly because words can rarely do justice to a catastrophe of this magnitude. i've only just recently begun hearing about the utter desolation and despair of the people of New Orleans. i wanted to look it up this weekend to be able to understand the depth of the tragedy. i found the following piece a few minutes ago on Cupie Spew--well before my search ever started--and it sent chills down my spine. and as simple as that, i got it.

and frankly, the level of apathy exhibited by this administration is beyond disgusting. it is horrible, inhuman -- and heartless.

and while we're on the subject -- Kanye takes his head out of his media-loving ass long enough to impress the fuck outta me.

9:44 PM

oh, bitch--the media is back on the people's side! with a vengeance. (and it feels gooooood.)
Cupie |

Posted by Anonymous | 12:40 AM |

yep. i'm back already. i blogged all day yesterday but even though it can look like a waste, the day off did wonders for me. so today's friday, which means new films at the movie theaters. we've got original language films--Ingmar Bergman's Sarabande, March of the Penguins, The Edukators, Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers, and Jean-Marc Vallée's C.R.A.Z.Y.. films of no interest to me--The Transporter 2 and The Brothers Grimm (ie. until the Weinsteins release a Gilliam Director's Cut, that is).

the ex is supposed to go down to Montreal sunday. maybe spend the day there, before getting her roommate back home later that night. she seemed to hint that i could come along but i've not asked her about it yet. i'm looking at the film listings. the Cinéma du Parc seems to have some interesting films on. i didn't know that The Constant Gardener (which looked like a sappy movie, got immediately bumped up a huge notch to compelling when i learned that it was based on a John Le Carré novel) was directed by City of God's Fernando Meirelles. now there's one film i wouldn't mind seeing. plus, the critics have been fantastic. i'm baffled to see it (seemingly) being slept on.

12:55 PM

oh my god. i thought the Mystery Guest Julie mentioned in last night's Big Brother might be Kaysar (how perfect would that have been?) ...but it's really not.

2:50 PM

more lightsaber goodness from last night.
btw, the feeds are off until after tomorrow night's show (veto comp, hoh comp, nominations). there's also a new plot twist involved they don't want spoiled.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:25 AM |

Jane Campion chooses her ten favorite Criterion films. they're releasing her 1990, 158-minute epic An Angel at my Table September 20 2005.

i need some help. i've been trying to get the album pics on the right to show the title attribute on mouseover in Mozilla. the browser is supposed to do this with title tags (and i can do it with a site like roachfriend--mouseover the site title at the top) but somehow can't do it with my own. (fyi, it does work in IE for me.)

what am i up to today? took the day off :) yep. i was due yesterday but both the work partner and i went in anyway. talked about doing it today. both of us :) so i got some errands to run (swinging by Future Shop to get the Coral disc scanned for the right price). probably with the ex. and finally catching a film. the ex-ex sent me an email last night regarding her spending a week here at the end of the month. it seems she just got back with her cheating ex sooner rather than later... yeah. he was on a short leach when he got back from his trip a couple of weeks ago. they weren't going out so it was cool that she was coming down here. but now--not so much. oh, she's still coming, but she informed that sleeping in the same bed was out of the question now. don't know what to say. of course i was heartbroken when i read that. i mean, it was automatic that we were gonna sleep in the same bed. we're like that when we're together. it was at least gonna be a sort of romantic getaway for both of us. so now i've gotta see her but hold back on the temptations. she told me the temptation would also be there for her. at least i got that much. lol. but i'm not gonna press her. i respect her decision too much for that. but it still sucks to see her but not be able to cuddle up. that's all i wanted to say :) i felt like shit when i read that email last night, though :) but today's a new day and i'm gonna manage the best i can :)

GREAT NEWS to help heal my little wounded self--my brother just informed me that he's coming at the end of the month! (*he lives out west and his last visit goes back a good year or two.) and i can so get him at the airport 'cause i'll still be on vacation then! we're so not telling our mother :P she'll freak out when i bring him over. (see? the ying and the yang--one thing goes down, another one comes up. i love it!)

5:39 PM

back from my errands with the ex. got The Coral's The Invisible Invasion (one copy left of the two i'd seen tuesday and the $11.99 sticker was on this time) and i found The New Pornographers' Twin Cinema at HMV. they also had a bunch of cool 2/$30 and 3/$30 discs but i always came up one short. there were two Death Cab EP's (3/$30) and the Bright Eyes' Fevers & Mirrors (2/$30). i'm determined to go back at some point and find the missing discs to this sale. ooh--the ex wanted to look for shoes. i'm also due for a new pair but i never thought to look for one today. but then my eyes came across a pair that i simply fell for on-sight. that never happens to me with shoes. but these Geox were worth the money. sadly, the only pic i could find of them are on the Geox site but the image doesn't do justice to the leathery feel of the shoes and the site emphasizes the technology too much. i wanted some comfortable sneakers that still looked classy enough. i am happy to report that these are it :)

oh, got a phone call the ex-ex as soon as i got back home. she's not coming. ah. she talked to her father about it and he was like, are you crazy??? lol. her relationship with her boyfriend is fragile enough as it is to risk coming to stay with me for a week. and her confidence in him is not strong enough so that she could leave in peace and not stress about it, or miss him like crazy, over a full week. but you know what? that's almost the best option for us. i'm actually okay with this. it would've been awkward and frustrating enough spending a week together. next time. i'm taking this rather well, i think :) have a good evening.

7:40 PM

found my Mozilla bug! :)
just had to turn on the Show Tooltips feature in Edit > Preferences > Appearance. yay!!

12:13 AM (Friday)

i just got one thing to say ... lightsabers. sweet!
just watched Big Brother. happy as hell Howie got HOH. was afraid he'd choked again. plus, it's down to pairs now so it was critical they broke one of the others before they broke Janelle and Howie up. also, i never thought it could be possible but BJenn seems to be an even bigger bitch when she's not playing BB! wow. (here's me punching you in throat, Jenn.)

1:12 PM

Bishop's Centennial Theatre has finally released the Fall Movie schedule. i forgot i caught most of the big summer movies this year, though, so not much for me to see this time. but Me and You and Everyone We Know and The Edukators are definite surprise selections. here's the Kids Movie Series.

and with that, i bid you a fine goodnight. (and can you tell i had the entire day off? ;)

Posted by Anonymous | 12:19 PM |