Ooo Burn!
August 12th, 2008 by park
Since I am on a tv-show kick, I thought I might also mention a new favorite for me now. I never take time to catch it on its regular schedule, but Burn Notice is another new series on USA. I caught most of the first season, mostly because of my appreciation for Bruce Campbell, but after watching a few, it grew on me. The cast is fantastic, and the writing is pretty sharp. Oh yeah, and if you miss McGyver, check it out. There’s alot of that feeling of inventiveness you got from that show as well. I swear, it feels like they asked G. Gordon Liddy to come be a technical advisor. (From the way I hear it, the man can kill you with a look and a paper clip.)
So yeah, great show, check it out. But it makes me think of something I have heard over and over. Alot of times you hear about celebrities and their behavior when the cameras are off. Most of it is heresay, heard it from a guy who heard it from a guy, right? Well, here’s the thing, I’ve met a bunch of them, they are pretty normal (except for maybe a coke habit or something) they just get irritated with all the retarded fanboy questions. Fair enough, after all how many times do you REALLY want someone to ask you to quote a movie you did 1000 years ago and barely remember shooting?
Well, in the past I’ve often heard some bad things said about Bruce Campbell. Now, having said that, I’ve heard some REALLY impressive stuff as well. He seems to genuinely love his fans. And he (by admission in his book) hates those who get infected with what he refers to as “the spores” of Hollywood. I have had some very reliable people tell me he was very very nice to them at book signings. And then the next book signing, he was completely asinine. Hell, everyone has a bad day right?
The thing is, I’ve often heard his reputation on the convention circuit is…less than stellar. And I have checked around with various friends in various parts of the country. It gets hard to tell if he just doesn’t want to do them anymore, or if he’s just been getting a good line on some work that happens to crop up after agreeing to go. No one seems to hold any ill-feelings, but I get the impression that no one wants to ask him out very often because of his propensity to cancel on them after they’ve made the announcement. Or worse, he isn’t terribly thrilled about signing autographs. I hope what I have heard is untrue. Or at least unfortunate circumstances.
Burn Notice is giving Bruce an exposure he isn’t used to though. They are mostly middle-aged people who enjoy a more intellectual pursuit show, but are tired of (as he put it) cop shows, damned lawyer shows or hospital shows. So it’s not sci-fi or fantasy. But I’ll say this, as an actor…he really shows off some goods in this one. Let’s hope it does better than Brisco County, and he gains a new group of fans who are at least half as devoted as his Evil-Dead fans.
I like to think I fall into that weird multi-level fanboy group. So go watch the show already, I believe it airs on Thursday nights on USA.
I guess it’s Sunny.
August 9th, 2008 by park
I wouldn’t know, never been. But from what I’ve heard, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. So I saw that the show’s pilot was conceived on like 80 bucks, and that alone made me wanna check it out. But then I thought, well how good can it be that a couple of jerks from Philly put together some lame-ass show that a network was desperate to get a “grass roots” show going for? Well, I missed it. Yeah, it’s true. I just didn’t put it on my radar seriously. And you know, once you miss the first episode, you always feel like you are missing some sort of “viewer joke” and it always leaves you only laughing nervously. Right?
Well yes and no. Thanks to Hulu.com, I love that site now, I was able to catch up on ALL the episodes. Yeah, seriously. Thanks to the internet, I no longer have to worry if I missed the pilot, or the introduction of a new character, or that “hey, why is THAT character involved suddenly?” moment. On MY schedule, I can go back and play catch up.
So here’s the thing. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is good. Granted, not for my parents. But for my generation of “hey look it’s stupid and insipid, let’s laugh” crowd it really works. Its semi-pseudo-intellectual coffee-house off-beat humor is really…nervous. It’s a very short attention span show that doesn’t really take serious issues…seriously. And to be honest, that’s its greatest asset. From abortion and dumpster babies to poor role models and heavy (I mean HEAVY) drinking and drug use, it’s all treated with a more flippant air than you will find on any television show today. It’s ballsy, altogether un-PC, and really just not terribly concerned about any sort of “social responsibility” that too many shows get hung up on.
Seriously, the new season starts soon. If you haven’t seen it before, get over to Hulu.com and check it out. Now, this ain’t Cheers folks, so leave your ethics at the door.
Autism, redux
August 3rd, 2008 by park
As anyone who knows me knows, my fiance has this gift for working with autistic children. And I wish it was her full-time career, because seriously she’s good.
At any rate, it’s brought my attention to the matter of autism in general to a little more elevation. With that in mind anytime I see something eye catching regarding it, I tend to talk about it.
http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?page_id=2
That is a link to a weblog from a woman is in her late 20’s. She has lived with autism for her entire life, and while she has other health problems, is amazing because she is non-verbal. The website (and from what I gather, her personal typer) is her doorway to communication. And boy does she communicate. It’s an amazing glimpse into the mind of an autistic person.
I suspect in the future there may be more to this. It’s like the soldier who was shot in the stomach, and the doctor fixed the wound, but left a flap and used it to study the effects of eating and such. We learned alot from that tiny window about the way the body works. I suspect the same may be happening with autism.
In fact, here’s an interesting thought. What if autism is some sort of next-stage of change for us as a race? Someone compared it to the emergence of feathers on dinosaurs. There was no real clue as to their purpose, but then sometime later, they used them to fly. *shrugs* It’s an interesting thought at least. Until next time.
Dr. Horrible!
July 19th, 2008 by park
Okay so you’ve gotta go see this now. No, seriously after the 20th it’s gone from the net forever. GO! Then come back.
Okay welcome back. AWESOME!
Pretty much that’s all I wanted to say. It frickin rocked. Sorry if you missed it.
Welcome back Mr. McCarthy!
May 31st, 2008 by park
So it seems Rachael Ray (she’s the semi-sexy girl-next door cooking show host with a sweet demeanor) is now a terrorist. When you read the article that is linked above, think about what historians refer to as “The McCarthy Era”. It was a time during the cold war when communist was synonymous with “evil”. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a communist, left wing, or a supporter of any kind of jihad. It’s the knee-jerk reaction to things that makes me worry.
Think about that. She wore a scarf. Now, it’s not that she thinks Hugo Chavez is a wonderful fella. Or that she has a picture of Stalin on her desk. Oh no. This is about the things that have come to “represent” things causing some republicans to get antsy. Look people, I’m Republican. Well on paper anyway. But the way our political system is moving I will be eating croissants and cheese in Canada if this nonsense escalates. The sad part is, things always get worse before they get better.
But if I remember correctly, back shortly after 9/11 the government told us to go about our daily business. Continue to live as we have lived. Or else the terrorists have won.
So now some e-tard has posted about Rachael wearing a scarf and we’re all ducking and covering?
Seriously people. Get a feeding tube and move into a home. None of us are the stupid. A piece of clothing does not make a person a supporter of something. Sounds to me like someone is mixing up terrorist combat tactics and gang warfare tactics.
Don’t get me wrong, I get his comments. They are reasonable. Posit the question. Ask “does this mean Rachael will be nuking her audience?!” or “I bet her microwave is a WMD!” Because honestly, do you think she’s a supporter of some splinter cell?
If it raises a flag, call the CIA. Tell them. Let Dunkin Doughnuts and Rachael sort it out THEN. But for the love of all that is holy, shut the hell up.
More Hollywood Hilarity
May 20th, 2008 by park
Anyone who knows me, knows there are three people in Hollywood today I cannot stand in broad strokes. The first is Joel Schumacher, for the Batman nipples and neon Batmobile. Seriously…no matter what else he has done or will do…seriously.
Michael Bay, because someone let him direct Transformers. And while I think Bay does a good job (I mean he’s a fantastic director), he needs to stay clear of anything that is tied to my childhood. It’s called slow-motion numnuts. Try it next time you use highly-detailed, fast moving graphics. Good stuff with the explosions though. Go blow something up…I recommend a remake of Towering Inferno…seriously it was written with you in mind. (I kid you not…)
And the infamous Uwe Ball. Uwe has yet to do ANYTHING that is productive. And yet this goat fucker keeps getting work. What the hell?! Seriously. Take any movie he’s done…and tell me something positive. You can’t can you? Cause they all what? Sucked. He’s a no talent hack who apparently has found the right formula for doing JUST enough to get more work. Well, our little euro-trash shit-head has recently made a post (he and Michael Bay have some sort of online-video love affair going on) to Michael Bay’s response to Bay being a “fucking retard”. Well this inspired the following video from Uwe:
I realize that by even talking about this I am promoting Uwe. And they say there is no such thing as bad press. I disagree. I figure somehow he’s giving up the brown-eye to the right person to keep getting work, so the best I can do it continue to spread the hate of Uwe. Cause. Seriously, he’s a lunatic. And needs to be blackballed from ever directing again.
Except animal porn. I think directing animal porn would be worse than never directing again.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!
April 30th, 2008 by park
Oh dear hearts…there is yet more to this story of learning gone wrong. Our dear friends over at the Church of Scientology , those erudite and learned people…have recently been in the news again. Yes, it’s a wonderful day when the entire population of the world turns with a glaring eye and says “Z0MG YOU PEOPLES IS QWAZY!!!!”
I don’t watch the news, as most of you probably know by now. I find the media to be too self indulgent, and without the proper borders which were instilled in my own mind when I was in journalism school. (Yeah, I learned to write gooder someplace!) But I digress. Nightline has a story worthy of the weight of a Theton…or wait…is it some other made up thing it weighs…ah hell, here’s the story pieces I found on Youtube.com
Thanks to the user Cultofscientology for posting this not six days ago.
and this is part 2:
Folks if this stuff isn’t entertaining…I don’t know how to keep you going.
Here, this talks about Tom Cruise…and you WILL smile, I promise!
Scientology, for…wtf?
April 30th, 2008 by park
Okay so the rest of you online geekoids get to sit around and absorb this viral stuff all day. The rest of us catch up a few months later. Bite me.
But since I know others, like myself, LOVE seeing idiots prove their worth…here is Tom Cruise to tell you ALL about Scientology…or…something…between the mad cackles I lost track and was too busy noticing his knuckles look like he’s developing Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Just saying. It happens. I guess all the scien…tologicating…can’t fix everything. Frickin loon.
Take ten minutes. It’ll make you grin because…no matter what is wrong with you, you aren’t this crazy. Well…maybe.
Crazy
April 8th, 2008 by park
I think I am a little crazy. If I wasn’t though, I am not sure I could take this world as much as I have.
I fear today I shamed the one man I love best. You have to understand, I love and respect my father more than any other human I can think of. And right now, I have a migraine, so just sitting here writing this down is agonizing pain. I should be laying down sleeping. But if I don’t get it out of my head, I fear it may explode.
I think perhaps I push others with my own will too much. That I try to impose on other people this need to create, to be free of the burdens of sanity and to simply fly up into the heavens without fear that our wings will turn to ash and we will plummet back to earth. And I forget, I am a bit of an oddity with others I know. Other people who have this affliction annoy the hell out of me, so I don’t group with artists and other creative thinkers much. Which leaves me in the somewhat unique position of being a free-thinker in a sea of conformists. And rather than let other people’s lives go on around them, I feel this compulsion to shove their boats and rattle their cages and scream into their lives “GET UP! DO SOMETHING MORE THAN YOU ARE!”, forgetting that everyone is simply content with their position in their lives. That they make “enough” money, or have “enough” to do.
So I push. Without care for who they are, or what they want. I fear that I will someday become the father who’s son falls in love with football only to have a father who thinks soccer is a better sport. (Which it is.) I am so intensely opinionated. And every week I have another million dollar idea. But I have not the resources, or clout or recourse with which to make it a reality. And by the time I find a way to make that idea even remotely possible, someone who has those things makes it happen.
So I push more. And without worrying that I am infringing on someone else’s reality I try to impose my own world view. And I find myself becoming that thing I hate most…an angry free-thinker who feels neglected and relegated to the fringe of society. A whining sycophantic crybaby who should be dressed in all black, sitting at Starbuck’s wondering why my mommy and daddy don’t understand me, with a knife in one hand and a latte in the other.
And then I recoil. I stare, in abject terror because I realize that whatever it was I wanted to do cannot be so important as to want to change another human being’s stance in the world. Are you satisfied with who you are? Are you done growing, changing and changing the world around you? Is that what the word “retire” means? My brain is a rush of new ideas, because I feel myself hurting on the inside, spewing out new ideas, fresh from my mental vacancies.
Perhaps I will retire as well. And become satisfied that this is all life has to offer. That the harder I work will not matter. That the more I do will not be rewarded, because the perception of the machine is too large to be overcome. Because I don’t have enough faith in myself, my skills or my own strengths to take on any Goliath.
But more than anything…I am sorry for shaming my kin. For believing for an instant that just because we are related that somehow you will want more than I do, or be more passionate about my own ideas than I would. But I thank you for listening, and at least glancing in the direction I pointed, if even for a moment to say “Yes, I see it too. And it could be glorious…but it is not for us. It is for them. Let them have it, for someday the meek shall inherit the earth.”
Is aspiring to not be the meek too much in life? I am so confused. And my head is wracked with pain, my stomach twists in a way I do not understand. And it is time to spew more than ideas from my mouth.
The greatest feeling in life is to know who you are and what your purpose is. Not understanding that, for better or for worse, is the worst. But believing you know the path and being told it is not; that is scary in a way I can no longer handle.
Why do I write this crap when I feel the worst? This whole website is supposed to be about music, and movies and cigars. Instead I drop all my mental garbage here.
Oh and I think I figured out my migraines. I think it’s simply stress. On thing, after another, after another. At first you don’t notice. Then suddenly you have a mountain of things to overcome. I need sleep. G’night.
Oh yeah, I just noticed Gnarl’s Barkley released their newest album “The Odd Couple”:
Animated Monkey
March 6th, 2008 by park
Yeah, I know it’s actually Kung Fu Panda but COME ON PEOPLE! There’s a Kung Fu Monkey involved here!!