Unmitigated, Unadulterated, Immutable Truth

The Last Samurai

Fri, 12 Dec 2003 19:32:47 GMT

Woah. That was the first word that came out of my mouth as I aimlessly stumbled out of this motion picture, followed closely by "Now that's a movie!" It took less than five minutes for me to be absolutely engulfed in the mastery that is this film with almost every single element of the movie-making process connecting on virtually every level from the acting to the action to the story, the pacing, the music, the emotional resonance, the character development, the cinematography, the beginning, the ending...the fuckin' everything! The film manages to entertain, but it also tells a tale of how the old school mentality of truth, honor and respect have gone out the window, only to be replaced by the dehumanization effects of technology, the arms race and the segregation of the world community. None of that is outlined, of course, but it's there, right under the film's gorgeous surface which is not only coated with the wondrous beauty of the Japanese countryside and time period, but its authenticity, look, feel and atmosphere as well. That surface appeal is doubled-up by its strength of characters, all of whom are developed to the point that tears bottled up my eyeballs during several of the film's more emotional sequences. That's right, I cried like a B and I was proud of it! Tom Cruise leads the pack, once again, with yet another engaging performance in which he doesn't just "play Tom", the man who put the cock in cocky, but a wounded, imperfect soul who had all but given up on life, only to be forced inside a place that re-ignited his lost spirit.

The film is brilliant in that way because it allows us, the "imperfect audience members", to connect our own tainted dreams, hopes and ambitions to Cruise's journey through the higher mindedness of the Samurai. And speaking of the Samurai...am I the only one who wants to become one after watching this movie? Wow, talk about an amazing transformation and outlook on life. I always believed that much of that Zen stuff was just plain double-talk, but this film is amazing in both its depth of character interaction and preciseness of dialogue, through which great thought and resonance is placed upon every scene, every word and every action sequence. To that end, consider how almost every person who perished in this film affected me emotionally, during even its most violent scenarios. It's also to note that if actor Ken Watanabe, playing the all-powerful Katsumoto, doesn't receive an Oscar nomination for his part in this film, consider me to be the uncle of a monkey. And did I mention the film's intense and pointed musical score? Yup, Hans Zimmer is back with yet another perfect addition to the film's many strengths and a rousing score that was still buzzing in my head as I washed away the tears of the characters gone by. And before I forgot about one of the film's greatest attributes, consider its all-out sword-fighting, arrow-flinging and ass-kicking battle scenes, all of which rival any other action scene from any film this year (which is saying quite a bit) and are pretty gosh-darn brutal to boot. And did you know that the film has ninjas too? Hand to God! In fact, the ninja/samurai head-to-head is about as bloody and furious as they get. Loved it all. Phew. But there's more, folks...

The film's also got a surprising amount of humor too. Most of it has to do with Cruise's character being caught inside a world about which he knows very little ("I'll call you Bob"), but it's funny, even poignant at times. The film's deeper message about a man's honor is its most important checkpoint though and as we live through the characters, we ultimately feel what they feel, and as the end closes in on them, we're right in there...up close and personal. Add that to a subtle, yet extremely effective, amorous angle between Cruise and Asian actress Koyuki (which develpos int nothing more than a light peck, which was brillaint, but you sense that their is something more), yet another engaging relationship between Cruise and the kids about town and you pretty much have all of the elements that one requires from your every day top-notch epic, up to and including a powerful conclusion. Sold yet? I hope so because it's really one of the best movies of the year and definitely deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Props to Tom Cruise, for once again, choosing an amazing film in which to take part, director Ed Zwick for putting it all together. To be completely honest, there is so much about his movie that I cannot explain. There is this ethos that lives in every Samurai that it hard to understand, and it makes me wonder if I have something that is worth dying for as they did. Right now, I would say no, and it toubles me. No movie has done this to me in a long time. This movie touches your very core, especially that last charge of the Samurai right at the Gatling guns. And as through the dying words of the Last Smaurai, this movie is very close to being, "Perfect."

A

TURN OFF THE FUCKIN RADIO: Real Hip Hop, A Mix

Thu, 11 Dec 2003 16:51:58 GMT

If you're tired of coming home to have your little brother blastin Ludacris and Ja Rule on "Jamin" 94.5 like I am, I suggest slipping them this for christmas, like I am. God I HATE Ja Rule.

01.Gang Starr - Take it Personal
02.Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown
03.Del tha Funkee Homosapien - The Wacky World of Rapid Transit
04.De La Soul - Potholes in my Lawn
05.Freestyle Fellowship - My Fantasy
06.A Tribe Called Quest - 1nce Again
07.Souls of Mischief - That's When Ya Lost
08.Stetasonic - Talkin' All That Jazz
09.The Roots - Ain't Sayin' Nothin' New
10.Aceyalone - The Guidelines
11.Dr. Octagon - No Awareness
12.NWA - Fuck Tha Police
13.Aesop Rock - Abandon All Hope
14.GZA/ODB/Inspectah Deck - Duel of the Iron Mic
15.RJD2/Copywrite - June
16.Non-Prophets - New Word Order
17.The Roots - The Ultimate

Wed, 10 Dec 2003 22:06:51 GMT

It's a sad day in Scotland

Up and Coming

Wed, 10 Dec 2003 05:20:00 GMT

Shows that I want to go to as of right now this vacation:

Friday, December 19, 2003
American Analog Set, The Album Leaf, Shenzhou 5
@ T.T. the Bear's Place
10 Brookline St.
Cambridge, MA
9:00 pm $10

Saturday (or Sunday), December 20 (21), 2003
Piebald, Cave In, Apollo Sunshine
@ Old Town Hall
Main Street
Andover, MA
$10

Saturday, December 27, 2003
- Downstairs:
HATEBREED, SICK OF IT ALL, Chimaira, AGNOSTIC FRONT, MADBALL, STRETCH ARMSTRONG, Sworn Enemy, Cannae
- Upstairs:
WITH HONOR, Full Blown Chaos, Subzero, RINGWORM, To the Grave, Love Is Red, The Autumn Offering (From Florida, just signed to Stillborn)
15 bands - $20 tix, first 300 paid get a free CD compilation
@ The Worcester Palladium
Worcester, MA

Thats's a lot of SICK hardcore! I can think of one person (McKendry, but that's just a wild guess) who might want to go. Leave one if you want to go to any of these.

Anyway, not much to do before finals. Im done the 17th. Gettin the christmas tree this weekend.

This is a cool thing...

Mon, 08 Dec 2003 05:17:33 GMT

Afterlife as an Angel by childdoll
Your Name
Astrological Sign
Angel Type	Angel of Vengence
Wing Color	Pink
Heavenly Weapon	Axe

Created with quill18's MemeGen!

Allright. I'm an angel of vengence. I have an axe. That's badass. But how am I supposed to strike fear in the hearts of the wicked with pink wings?!?!? Oh, IM NOT THROUGH WITH YOU YET, YAHWEH!

OH...well look who thinks he's clever Dan!

Mon, 08 Dec 2003 03:39:36 GMT

Anyway, this was a pretty crazy. The first big smow storm of '03 is the biggest snow storm in December EVER and Saturday was the one of the biggest one day snowfall totals ever. Wakefield got 27 inches.

So Friday was pretty fun. Went over to Emmanuel to hang out with Pete, Mikey was there. We played NHL 97 on Genesis. That was intense. I lost, and my only goal was scored by Mikey on himself, but it was still fun. Then it started snowing so I left before it got too bad. Funny people near the cask 'n flagon. They were really drunk. They threw a snowball at me. Completely missed. So I threw back, hit the guy in the head. He got totally pissed. Left before things got too bad. Couldn't stop laughing the whole way back.

Saturday, I decided to go home. I don't know why. I had some things I wanted to do, like get a haircut. So on the way to North Station, every time the Green Line stopped at a station, the power would turn off and people started freaking out. Some guy yelled really loud, "WEHN WILL THIS STOP!!!" Of course, I started laughing, and he got mad. So a trip that usually takes and hour took almost 3. I got off the train in Wakefield, stepping into like a foot of snow with my shoes. That sucked. Walked home. Coming down my street as I turned on to it were the "little punks" as I called them back in the day, all about 5 years younger than me and all rEtaRRded. So I thinking, "If they throw a snowball at me, punks are gonna die." They walk by without a glance, so I thought I was OK. THUMP. Right in the back. So I turn around and run after them, quickly making a snowball. I threw. Missed. Shook my fist at them. They ran away. This story wasn't as cool as I thought. Got home. Watched football with my dad. Mom wouldn't stop talking to me. Watched a bunch of movies. Wow. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is amazing. Enter The Dragon is badass. Queen of the Damned is the suck. I mean I love Vampire movies, but there's only do much I can do with a movie that has Disturbed in its soundtrack.

Sunday I proceded to shovel. A whole lot. Now I remember why I didn't want to go home. So I watched with envy as all "technologically advanced' neighbors used their snowblowers and plows and bobcats and whatever contraption they used to move smow in minutes. My shoveling was measured in hours. When my neighbor got out of his bobcat I yelled "OH...look who thinks he's clever Dan!" I love Homestar references I make in everyday life. Obviously. he didn't get it, but it was still funny. Trust me. My car was sacrificed cause we just ran out of places to put snow. It is now a giant snowbank. I wish I had some pictures. There was just a lot of fucking snow. Its pretty amazing.

Class at 9 tommorow. My brother has no school. I hate him.

oH yeah. Anything cool going on this week???

ALLRIGHT ALREADY!!

Thu, 04 Dec 2003 07:01:56 GMT

So im finally doing this to set the record sratight!
I know no asked, but I still feel like doing it!

Homestar Characters Ranked as Favo(u)rites (cause Im so British):

1.) Strong Sad. Whenever hes in it, im laughing histerically.
2.) Homestar Runner. The last answering machine. Listen, Laugh. I was so happy to hear someone trash Marzipan! "Having to put up with you is like...having to put up with gawbage!"
3.) The Cheat. Animations. The Cheats a millionare!
4.) Strong Mad. And now, Srtong Mad forgets his favo(u)rites!
5.) Strong Bad. Self Exlplanitory.
6.) Homsar. Randomness
7.) Pom Pom. Mack it.
8.) Bubs. He can say some funny things, others that arent.
9.) The Poopsmith. I understand the humor, but most of the time im not laughing
10.) The King of Town. His voice is kinda funny...
11.) Coach Z. He just pisses me off sometimes...
12.) Marzipan. Marzipan sux...

Cold hands touching my face...

Thu, 04 Dec 2003 06:39:06 GMT

Well, the Show at Avalon was really good. Big Thank YOU to Gray Bouchard and his uncles who were in The Blue Cloyster Cult for the ticket!!!! So I walked from West to Kenmore @ 630. Man its so cold. i couldnt feel my face or my groins! "This is a song for poeple who call themselves freaks and wierdos. I can relate to that. This is for the losers!" Man, shut the fuck up. Switchfoot just made we want to stab my ears. Uh! So enough about that. Brand New was allright, but the punks yelling stuff made it pretty funny. I thought what the lead singer from Brand New said was pretty impressive. You paid guys, and it helps them out, so why would they really care, giving that most of the people there were actually having a good time. Im mean, as much as you HAAAAAATE the band that's on stage, there not getting off cause you and three of your freinds start giving them the finger. But I guess punks will be punks. Rancid rocked my face. Talk about craaaaaaaazy circel pits! GIVE EM THE BOOT, THE ROOTS, THE RADICALS! GIVE EM THE BOOT, YOU KNOW IM A RADICAL! So fucking awesome! Matt Freeman, so amazing. Seriously, why is a guy so talented playing in a punk band? Beats me. No class till 1 tommorow!! SLEEP IN!

Gee. Thanks for sub catergorizing it.

Wed, 03 Dec 2003 07:10:15 GMT

You're Generally Indie. There's nothing wrong with
this. You like music all over the map and
aren't adversed to listening to some Top 40
here and there. You just know to comment that
The Neptunes are the best producers around
right now. You don't feel the need to debate
constantly with other music geeks, because you
know that Pavement were the best band of the
90s.

You Know Yer Indie. Let's Sub-Categorize.
brought to you by Quizilla

But it is true.

CHRISTMAS LIST

Wed, 03 Dec 2003 01:51:58 GMT

again, im really bandwagon

1.) Digital Camera(oh, the Internet will never be the same!)
2.) MONEY (CMON GRANPA!!!)
3.) FIFA 2004 for ps2
4.) Polo shirts (short and long sleeve) and sweaters
5.) The Stanley Kubrick Collection on DVD (im not getting it, but mabey at lesat a few...)
6.) The Sean Connery Bond Collection on DVD

Its kinda short, but I know Im getting lots of clothes, which is always cool, especially when I pick it out. My mom can get some really wird stuff. I usually tell my sister to stop her when she knows its something Ill hate. It helps out alot.

It snowed today. It was pretty cool. But just walking around I couldn't feel my face. It was windy and cold. Snow is cool when I dont have to move it around and it messes up things, like school.

still rather lonesome

Mon, 01 Dec 2003 00:55:47 GMT

Well, I wish I could say that the filthy beginning to my thanksgiving break finished just as good. And by filthy, I mean awesome! But Friday night, after my last post, I got a massive migraine, and foolishly decided to go to the movies with my cousins. We saw Elf, and while still being funny, the whole experience was pretty much the suck because of my head pain. So, my head is pounding like crazy driving home to the point where I'm missing streets and get us completely lost. So I tell my brother that he's gonna have to drive. He just got his liscence like a week ago, and he went ahead to hit like 3 curbs. So I tell him to pull over to call my father so he can pick us up. At that point, I can't take it anymore and I jump out of the car and puke all over the place. Man, it got on my Pumas so I had to throw them away, and now Im back with my conspanks that I wore like all of senior year that I found in the back of my car. I can't believe that I didn't throw them away. The funny thing is that this guy came out of his house and was looking at me. So I managed to blubber, "Im sorry" at him like 5 times before he got in his car and drove away. Wow. Who brought the dick? He didn't even come over to see if I was OK. I guess he thought I was drunk or something. So that was the end of a miserable day. Saturday was allright. Felt better anyway, even if nothing really happened. So that night i went with my father and uncle to see The Missing. I know, I went to the movies the previous night and threw up all over my pumas, but I felt pretty good, and decided to go. I was pretty good, though I was bored a lot throughout it. So I get home, and we have have this "birthday party" for my cousin. Anyway, he gets like five DVDs and some other stuff. One of the DVDs was Sleeping Beauty. If his parents dont realize hes gay after this, they'll never know. Don't get me wrong, I like Sleeping Beauty a lot. Malificent is such an evil biatch. The most badass Disney villain. So Sunday. Woke up to say goodbye to cousins. Watched the Pats play. Like WOAH! What a game. Came back Boston, now im here.

The Missing: B

Back At School

All the dirt comes out during the holidays!!!!!!!!

Fri, 28 Nov 2003 20:16:33 GMT

This Thanksgiving was awesome!!! Man, turkey, potatoes, and dirty secrets! So anyways, I was with my sister and all my little cousins, handin' out some virtual beatdowns on the ps2. Anyway, my sister and I go over to my neighbors house to say hi, and we get talkin about the crazy things we used to do as kids. So they start talkin about all the times the parents of our neighborhood have gotten samshed. Then they start talkin about one of my neighbors. Apparently he smokes pot all the time, and deals to all the parents in the neighborhood!!! My GOD!! My parents possibly get ripped on a regular basis!!! THATS AWESOME!!! So anyways, i get kicked out of my room anytime we have company over, so I have to sleep in my brothers room. So me, my cousin Alex, and my brother are up all night talkin. So my cousin's gay and my brother, at age 16, is an alcoholic. JAHHEEESUSSS!

Crazy goodness,

see yall soon

My spoon IS too big

Sun, 23 Nov 2003 05:16:32 GMT

You are spoon guy. You should have planned ahead
buddy, or packed a bigger lunch.

which rejected character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I can die happy, for I am the spoon guy. Funniest part of the rejected cartoons.
I wouldnt have minded being the banana (I am a BANANA!), or the HIYO!!!!!!!!!! guys. They make me laugh too.

So I went to Coheed, Thrice, and Thursday. It was a good show. Coheed was good despite the ubershort six song set. Ah, the negatives of being the opening act. Thrice blew my balls, and in all the wrong ways. I saw them at Warped Tour and thought they sucked. I thought that mabey if I heard some more of their songs, being that thy had a longer set, I might be swayed. I thought wrong. Thursday was awesome. They were better when I saw them in Worcester in July, but this was still a pretty awesome set. Was it me or did the lead singer pull a Conor (he spells it SOOO wrong) Oberest and let out a little cry. That kinda threw me off. Im all for emotional hardcore, but the hardcore is in there for a reason. You can't cry! You gotta pound your fist into some fucker face!! The Co&Ca shirt that I got is wicked hardcore, with the skulls and all. Its badass, but I dunno if it really suits them. I was kind of a reaction buy. I was at the merch table and I was like..."Hmmmm...what to buy, what to buy....OH MAN THATS SO BADASS!!!" Another thing. Why are the guys at the merch table at all these shows balck? I find it kinda funny, but hey that's just me.

Connor, what do you have against the balck guys at the merch table?
ALLRIGHT!

WOW

Sat, 22 Nov 2003 07:29:38 GMT

It's that simple.

Friday was an incredible day. Mostly becuase of the Saves The Day show, but there were other things.

Got a sweet new hoodie.

Then the show, and yes, I brought my dancin shoes!!! It was awesome. Moneen was pretty good. What made them infinitely cooler is as follows:
a) being crazy
b) black gutiarist with dreads
c) the leadsinger climbing up into the rafter during Taking Back Sunday
d) playing football w/ TBS during Freakish
e) the leadsinger dancing around in that pink thing during STD's cover of Hey Ya (SO FUCKIN GOOD!!!)Got Chris a little excited...haha
Need I say more?

So TBS...eh. They put on a good show. Moshed it up with dunb kids who can't dance. Whatever. They just...don't excite me, but its always fun dancin!!!

Saves The Day. So Good. Great set list. The good songs off of the new albums, plenty of old goodies, even Jessie and My Whetstone (weird not acoustic). Then they came back out for the Encore. And they played Cars & Calories, Hey Ya, started playing Whole Lotta Love by Led Zep as a joke, and then This is not an Exit. Just Incredible.

So after that we went to Casey, Pete, Gray, and Chritine went to Burrito Max. Then I went over to Emmanuel and watched Upright Citizens Brigade with Pete and Casey.

This is the next awesome thing about Friday. UCB!! Comic Genious. It's seriously one of the funniest shows ever. It has some great skits, and some even funnier lines.

"And if anyone needs work on their golf game, its you!"
"ALLRIGHT!"

"Hey Daniel"
"shuup"
"Ill tell you to shut up!!"

HAHA...you should all watch it sometime. It will truly leave you in tears from laughing so hard.

Wrting A Paper Playlist

Fri, 21 Nov 2003 01:37:09 GMT

Man...I should seriously be typing somewhere else...

1. Rainer Maria - Tinfoil
2. Pinback - Lyon
3. Piebald - Grace Kelly With Wings
4. Bad Brains - Sailin' On
5. Anthrax - Caught in a Mosh
6. Radiohead - Blow Out
7. Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight Tonight
8. Pinback - Microtonic Wave
9. Pretty Girls Make Graves - Sad Girls Por Vida
10. Run DMC - Run's House
11. A Tribe Called Quest - Sucka Nigga
12. Saves The Day - Jodie
13. Sonic Youth - Silver Rocket
14. Sparta - Collapse
15. Metallica - Jump in the Fire
16. Stabbing Westward - Save Yourself (Remember this song!!??)
17. Mars Volta - Cicatriz ESP
18. The Streets - Weak Become Heroes
19. Violent Femmes - American Music
20. Sunny Day Real Estate - 47
21. Madball - Ready To Fight
22. Q and Not U - Soft Pyramids
23. Lifetime - Knives Bats New Tats
24. Snoop Dogg - Gin & Juice
25. Built to Spill - Car
26. Breaking Pangaea - Suspended
27. Archers of Loaf - Wrong
28. Beulah - Score From Augusta

Chew on that for a little...
Now, to the paper...for real...

Week = couldn't go any slower

Wed, 19 Nov 2003 01:23:59 GMT

AH!

Aw man, Im tired. I was up waaaay to late last night. I really can't wait until this week is over. I have one thing down, three to go. It can't wait for the break, even if it really isn't all that long. After Thursday I'm going to breathe a big sigh of relief. That's when I have my oral presentation. I don't know what it is about it, but I almost always start to calm up in things like that. I don't know why. Weird. Anyway, this weekend is going to also be wierd. It'll be fun going to both the shows, and mabey Gray's play (I don't know what time it is @, but if I do go it'll probably be on Sunday). So that'll be cool.

MOVIE:
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

It has a lot of good parts. The battles were pretty good. I'm a big fan of director Peter Weir (Witness, Dead Poets Society). A lot of the dialougue was dry ("You have more chances of finding an honest man in Parliament" Paaleaaaaze!) and full of old time British Nautical terms that i'm assuming made sense. This movie wasn't Weir's best, but it certainly wasn't a let down (Truman Show).

B-

Well, Ive gots to go,
Connor

This may possibly could happen.....

Tue, 18 Nov 2003 00:08:16 GMT

A DEADLY INVASION!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! BEES!!!!
Sweet Jesus!!

Beat This Mothafuckas!

Mon, 17 Nov 2003 15:53:22 GMT

I did it in 8</big></b> seconds.
I deserved an A+!!
Take the How Dexterous Are You? Quiz!!

This was so skill...

Fri, 14 Nov 2003 22:13:13 GMT

I seem to be stuck. I'm seriously tired of all these hollow relationships that I've been forming with people. I don't think I've made an honest friend since I've arrived here. Sure I'm friendly with people. We exchange hellos. But fuck, this just makes me so depressed. I want someone I can eat a meal with every night. To have a fucking conversation. Mabey I'm not trying hard enough. I don't understand it sometimes.

SO MUCH WORK!

Wed, 12 Nov 2003 07:38:04 GMT

Until Thanksgiving, I am totally swamped with work, yet I can't get myself to start any of it. Downloaded Sleepy Hollow on to my comp. Johnny Depp is hilarious as Ichabod crane. And the movie is just fuckin badass...Chritopher Walken, all crazy 'n shit!

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....that's pretty much that. Sucks for the kids who are beggin all over lj communities for tiks to see Saves The Day and Thursday/Coheed (Three bands @ the 2 shows that I like). Gottem a while ago @ The Paradise. Its so cool having that like right next to my dorm. Cause they occaisionally have rockin shows (like Guided by Voices and Ted Leo) and you can pay in cash for shows @ Axis and Avalon. And that's what I need, cause I aint got not credit card to buy online.

I dont like Pringles Salt and Vinegar potato chips (as if they make other things). Its not salty and vinegary enough for my taste. Either Cape Cod or Lays for me please.

I really dont feel like writing out big reviews for the last couple of movies that I saw. So Ill just be brief.
The Martix Revolutions: C
Elf: B
Sunset Boulevard: A+ (Im ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille) UH! So CREEPY! So Good!

Connor

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 14:23:41 GMT

So the Blink show last night was a bit of a let down. Now Im not a huge fan, but their first two records are kind of a guilty pleasure. Plus I wwent for free, so why not? Well, Bubba Sparxxx might be one reason. And Blink's set was short and sucky. Way too many new songs. Only one song off either of the first two albums.

Oh, well. More good times this weekend.

Connor

Hey, Poopsmith! Did you give me bum candy?

Mon, 03 Nov 2003 06:28:23 GMT

Haha.

So the weekend went down pretty well. Fun times Halloween night. Hanging with freinds, watching Nightmare on Elm Street and Sleepy Hollow, then having to walk back to BU from Emmanuel @ 2:30 AM. UH! That sucked, but its really not that far. The only problem was that we had to go by at least five bars with hordes of drunkeness pouring out. Why do people always dress up in the same costumes every year?. Wow, your a pimp? AH, YAH DUDE! Awesome, a playboy bunny. *giggle* Im hot right? Totally. So that was that. Got home late, woke up late. Took the train home.

Walking home from the train stop by myself had me thinking a lot, especailly about the past. Im only 18, yet I miss my youth so much. I miss riding my bike around the block for hours, being pissed that my mom made me wear a helmet. I miss throwing my little brother out of the tree in our backyard into a humungous pile of leaves, then hed start crying, and I'd be in SO much trouble. I miss good Nickolodeon. I miss my neighborhood friends that I used to play cops and robbers on smow days, then we'd always have to save some kid who was dumb and tried to hide on the frozen lake behind my house and fell through the ice.

But I'm glad its Autumn. My favorite season, by far.

So had some laughs and fun with my parents and little bro. Hes turing into Ralph Cramden. The 21st Century bigot and mysoginist. He seriously needs to think before he talks. My sister is in Florida again! Christ, she's down there like every month. So anyway, after everyone went to bed, I found myself not very tired, so I decided to head back into the game room. When I got back there I realized that my ps2 was in my dorm. An awful predicament, indeed. My source of movies and video games gone. Frowny Face. So I was about to go to bed, with nothing better to do, when I opened my closet, and there it was. Nintendo 64. There aren't too may great things that I can say about it, but one of the games that I didn't sell ( along with the system, just for nostalgia sake, like why people still have there original nintendos, which is WAY cooler than N64, but I wasnt very smart with my early systems and traded them in, thinking nothing of it) was Orcarina of Time. So I busted it out and started a new game. I beat the child Link part in about 2 hours, and I realized how fucking awesome the game was! Wow, that came out in '98. 5 Years ago. I was only 13? Crazy...
Doesnt seem that long ago.

Oh Crap my mom today! She made me rake! What the shit? One bummer about the leaves in autumn: they fall.

So I think the big thing that is plaguing me right now is that I really don't have enough to do. School takes up a decent amount of time, but nothing overwhelming. I don't know enough people here. I don't bother to get to know people when I should. My floor sucks! Not only does it reek like ass, but (with certain exception) the people are madd lame. Shows are always amazing, but they don't happen often enough. I need to fall into to something here, cause this nothingness is the suck. Im always gald when I do get to hang out with people, but it never happens enough. I havent found good friends here that I can hang out with all the time. My roommate is well...dorky, which isn't a bad thing, its just, we don't really talk, and he puts Penny Arcade comics on our door! Im going to make Rich 706 ten times cooler. That is my goal and quest. And he will not foil my plan...

So anyway, I've been subtle about this before, but I dont care anymore:
Leave me some comments. They make me feel good and I don't get enough of them.:)

Connor

Bubba Ho-Tep

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 21:31:20 GMT

The original fact that drew my attention to this movie: Bruce Campbell, of Evil Dead fame, many of you probably know this well (maybe a little too well), was playing the main lead. Anyway, we went over to the Kendall Square Theater in Cambridge, the only place in the general area where any theater was showing it. Its a cool little theater over there. A lot less crowded than Boston Common, less expensive, and cozy. Clearly though, the experience at the Common is just a lot better.

As for the film. Here's a little summary for the plot. Elvis Presley is NOT dead. Earlier in life, he switched places with an Elvis impersonator, Sebastian Haff, after becoming disenchanted with the fame that went with rock'n'roll. Well, Sebastian liked drugs a little too much, and he died before they were able to switch back. So, Elvis is stuck the rest of his life as an impersonator of himself. He breaks his hip in an act and by the beginning of the main tale, he's 72, living in an east Texas resthome, and has a growth on his "pecker." So people in the resthome start dieing, and not from oldage. With the help of Jack, a black man who thinks that he's JFK ("They dyed me this color!") and convinced that Lyndon Johnson is still trying to kill him, they figure out that an ancient Egyptian mummy is stalking the residents of the resthome to steal their souls. Together, they decide they cannot let this "Bubba Ho-Tep" devour the souls of their friends.

Bruce Campbell had Elvis down cold. He is seriously one of the most underrated actors around. The themes presented in the movie were also very interesting. Death, Old Age, Courage; all of these came into play at some point. Another thing that was intersting were the "What Ifs?" that Elvis kept asking himself in inner monologues. Questions about his wife, his daughter, his fame, the end result of it all. All questions that presented Elvis as a brooding nostalgic, and it worked well, especailly with Campbell doing the work. While being so serious for such a freaky topic (something that was metioned many times by our group), there were also some teriffic offbeat humor. Ossie Davis also gives a captivating preformance as Jack Kennedy.

Director Don Coscarelli, of Phantasm fame, I think did a pretty good job of handling such an absurd topic and making the viewer belive that, "Yeah, these guys are alive and this is actually happening to them." There were some incredible shots, like the hall scene. There's an editing trick, where they keep showing the people that come in and out of Elvis's room at high speed. At fist I didn't like it. I thought it really didn't suit the movie well, but then I realized that the theme of old age, this feeling of "Where has my life gone?" makes this completely appropriate. He can feel the remaining days of his life slipping by him in fast forward.

This movie was good, better than I first thought. Certainly not one of the best ever, but fun and dark. The originality of this film alone makes it worth your while to check out some time. In the end, it ranks up there as a badass Bruce Campbell film.
"Never fuck with the King."

B+

Thu, 30 Oct 2003 22:59:24 GMT

http://www.liquidgeneration.com/quiz/images/spiderman.jpg
To link it (the actual code):

Thu, 30 Oct 2003 06:18:32 GMT

~ EDWARD SCISSORHANDS ~
You're beautiful, shy, and deep. People wonder why
you don't talk more, but you simply sit back
and listen to their horrible stupidity and
figure there's no reason to talk in the first
place. Aside from that, you love beautiful
things and want to escape from your reality.

What TIM BURTON Movie Are You?
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