Lazy stinkin' bastards

All sleeping at 4 am...wusses! Why aren't you all up and online keeping me company in my insomniac state? Huh?

Geez. I can't believe you people.

Movie shorts on the intarweb

It's a little old, but the talk of movie making reminded me of this.

I like the guy who plays Speed Racer/Reed Spacer.

Biting my forked tongue just causes more injury.

Sorry about my nasties tonight.

Victoria...

Ooh, my second post in one day. I think I deserve a prize.


The Victoria trip seems to be disintegrating. Again. Eva, Corinne and Grae can't make it. Miyuki and Christian are in. Anybody else want in? If not (with no disrespect to the parents-to-be), then I may call it off, so that I can do other important things like get a much-needed haircut, and possibly contract colon cancer as Owen suggests. Would anybody be *really* interested in coming over another weekend, namely the weekend after, or maybe the 17th?

Cameos aplenty...

Dawn of the Dead
Tinseltown, 9:35 Friday
All are expected.


I just watched the original for the first time, and while I wasn't as impressed as I'd hoped, it definitely whetted my appetite for the remake. People who can confirm they'll be there, let me know and I'll pick up tix for ya. I guess I'll be the line-up bitch this time. Anybody who wants to be my new bestest friend can wait with me.

ZA-TO-FUCKING-I-CHI

Zatoichi (click the link, it's the best music and flash; I would refresh it to see it again and listen to "Festivo" over and over) will be screened at the Clubhouse on Saturday night.

You know, Zatoichi! My favourite movie of 2003, Zatoichi! The blind samurai. Beat Takeshi!

Try to be here around 7pm. Dinner arrangements for those wanting to eat on Commercial can be arranged in the comment box below.

Get excited!

Because it needed to be made.

Go Crazy.

Meh...

Being stranded in Port Coquitlam sounded like a great idea in my head... now I'm stuck out here and bored out of my brain. Yet still I must return to this remote office at 8 AM every day this week. Work sucks... somebody fix it!

weekend in victoria

so has anyone bothered to work out the details for our little adventure to ransack paul's pad and plant all sorts of embarassing treasures for his roommate(s) to find? I'll bring the gay porn... wait, he's probably already got that. I'll bring the midget porn...

paul is on the mainland this week, correct? I was under the impression we'd be heading over to the island saturday morning, probably the first boat over. I'm heading up there friday night after work, should get there around 7pm. a late dinner somewhere would be keen.

corinne had mentioned busing out to the ferry terminal for a mere $3, as opposed to me leaving my precious piece o' shit car to be vandalised and/or pay for parking. has anyone figured out which bus we need to take and when it leaves? please tell me we don't need to get up at 4am...

are there any other fun things we'll need? paul mentioned a distinct lack of blankets awhile back (yeesh, and _I_ catch hell for not owning a slotted spoon?)...

please provide details, somebody. looking forward to terrorising an entirely new chunk of land that I've never been to. oh, and who all is going, anyway? and what are the arrangements for return fare? I'd prefer to be back to the clubhouse by 7, just so I can drive back to seattle and get to bed at a reasonable hour...

Family Games Night

Every second Saturday of the month, due to the popularity of last night, I've decided the Clubhouse is going to do a monthly games night.

The next one will be Easter weekend's Saturday. Venue will be based on its popularity.

Because Corinne's so very susceptible to peer pressure...

Corinne's opposed to babies on principle, and of course she's entitled to disavow spawning. But the rest of us should be entitled to hold a party soon (at Corinne's house) to celebrate the imminent arrival of Miyuki and Christian's implausible little bundle of doom and despair. So I'm starting an online petition to promote this shindig, to see how much damage seventeen dead nazis can do to a fetus when consumed the tiny mommy-to-be. All in favor, comment or be forced to babysit this hellspawn once the dark day arrives...

THE MARCH D.O.S. SCHEDULE ESCAPES B.J.'S BRAIN!!!!

Many apologies for this two week late schedule. I wanted to program so much and ya know there are only so many Tuesdays. Thanks for your patience. This Tuesday is a little strange because you all get to vote for your double-bill and the contenders are;

TUESDAY MAR.16
(my birthday incidentally. the line to shower me with gifts and sexual favors begins at the couch.)

With the Dawn of the Dead remake coming out Friday why not start with the film that started it all.

7pm - Night of the Living Dead [1968]: Yes the original George A. Romero classic. Ummm synopsis? THE DEAD RISE!

9pm - Return of the Living Dead [1985]: The not quite sequel from one of the creators of ALIEN and in this one....um...THE DEAD RISE IN AN AMUSING MANNER!

or

7pm - FLESH + BLOOD [1985]: "In a savage time, torn between two rivals she fought for survival with the only weapon she had... herself." The tagline to Paul Verhoeven's first English language film. Probably the most realistic medieval movie I've ever seen. It's awesome. It's got Rutger Hauer as a mercenary out for retribution and a whole lot of nude Jennifer Jason Leigh shaved to look like a pre-pubescent girl. I love Verhoeven.

9pm - Aguirre, Wrath of God [1973]: Werner Herzog directs this film of 16th century Spanish expedition in the search of El Dorado. Unlike the Dreamworks animated film there'll be decapitations and hostile tribesmen (and maybe some ladies).

Those two are your choices. I'll be happy with either. If we go with the Dead movies I highly recommend borrowing Flesh + Blood from me. Nick has first dibs.

TUESDAY MAR.23

How about some primer for Kill Bill vol. 2.

7pm - TATTOOED HITMAN [1974]: Bunta Sugawara plays Tattooed Hit Man -- let's call him THM -- and he's hit some bad days. First, an apparently routine hit triggers one of the worst mob wars in history, leaving him caught in the middle. If that's not enough, his protege (sort of Robin to THM's Batman) decides the hit man life lacks pizazz so he takes up with drug dealers. THM ain't too happy about any of this but there's worse to come.

9pm - GAME OF DEATH [1978]: Written, directed, produced and starring Bruce Lee...at least the last 20 minutes or so. Poor Lee died before finishing the film and six years later someone got another actor to play Lee using a cardboard cut out of his head and put it on the replacement actor's head (well through a mirror) "A true vision ruined", "turmoil", "insulting", "a joke", "load of crap". You decide.

TUESDAY MAR. 30

This week is kinda programmed by Sinister Sam (hey I only know like one person I can name drop)

7pm - CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST [1980]: "One of the top ten highest grossing films of all time in Japan". Documentary crew goes missing in cannibal country another crew goes looking for 'em. Hmmm I think I see where this is going.

9pm - DR BUTCHER MD (aka ZOMBI HOLOCAUST) [1980] - Mad Scientist living on cannibal infested island using the inhabitants to turn these flesh eating cannibals into.....ehhh flesh eating zombies. Those familiar with Fulci's ZOMBIE will recognize many of the sets because it's the same sets.

Well that's it till April where Mariko will deliver a prompt schedule of cinema goodies

On a News Kick

Marge Writes to Abby

In Monday's Dear Abby column someone replicated an episode out of The Simpsons. Read the letter and response here.

I Would Have Not Guessed Penticton

"Repent, repent, fornicators". If this doesn't draw attention to mental health cut backs (no pun intended, although I like it) I can't imagine what will.

Only Reason To Have Future Children

I can't imagine why anyone would be opposed to genetic engineering. I would kill to have a glowing demon baby. But for now we'll have to settle for bugs.

And we're part of the minority.

After having my own blog for a while and wanting to keep it interesting daily, I started the Last Time (because statistically if everyone posts once a week or so, we should have 20 posts a week; not really so, but it is more updated than most).

Everyone Who Has Any Sense of Civic Duty Must Go

Practicing Democracy

Tonight, at Kat's recommendation, Rachael and I headed up to the Croatian Cultural Centre and watched/performed/participated in this interactive play and forum.

The play runs 25 minutes. Six actors portray life on Vancouver street and in the East End. Some gritty but very human stories about six people at the end of the system. It sounds a lot darker than it is.

After the play is finished, the actors reset to the beginning and perform the half dozen or so scenes again. This time audience members will yell "Stop" and take an actors place to change the path of the play (for that scene).

After each scene, the audience is asked for policy solutions. The best part? This is actually going to City Hall. A lawyer is presnt and recording all the suggestions and ideas presented. A report is being made and will hit Vancouver city hall's desks in order to make policies. And this just adds to my belief that your city's elections are more important than your provincial and most certainly your federal.

I acted in two scenes. And I ROCKED. I won over a couple characters with my sweetness and charm.

Pooping a webpage.

Pamplemousse makes it to the intarweb.

" I for One Welcome our Robotic Exoskeloton Overlords"

Found this via metafilter. Fucking wicked. First step towards a bunch of mecha.


(To be fair, I didn't think up the joke title, it was one of the metafilter comments I found most amusing.)

Of Human Entrails and Higher Education

Of Human Entrails

Quite frankly, this is why I should just swear off meat altogether. But bacon is so good. You can't make bacon from human meat. Pork sausage, yes.

Of Higher Education

Probably some of the most excellent news to come from the USA in a long time. Hopefully this trend with spread as everyone tends to watch Harvard.

AT LONG LONG LAST!!!!

Loyal D.o.S. devotees, this is the week you have been waiting for. After months of waiting patiently, we your gentle hosts BJ & Mariko will be able to host the Vancouver premier of...



Bubba Ho-tep [2002]!!!!!!!! (No, really)

Tuesday March 9 (tomorrow)
7:30 ish (but don't use this as an excuse to be late as you will be disappointed)

As this was a last minute program change (we just got the screening DVD in today), there is no second film programmed, but we may have surprises to follow.

It is very important that you R.S.V.P. as the seats are likely to fill up quickly and remember to bring money for the pop-fund.

~cheers,
meeko

Krispy Kreme Dosen't Deliver (At Least Not Anymore)

so here's what happened:

Thursday March 4: get a flyer in the mail at work advertising the Donught Delivery Service. we get a pool together at work and decide to order a dozen original glazed for the next day.

Friday March 5: get a call from a very panicked guy apologizing because he had no idea his service would be so popular (apparently he already had over 200 orders), but he promises to get us our dozen on Monday instead.

Monday March 8: get an email from the Doughnut Delivery Service explaining that Krispy Kreme has asked him to cease and desist. apparently he is in negotiations with the owners of the Delta store, but in the meantime, we are flat out of luck.

the moral of the story? if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

We're going to have to make a decision

I vote "Ladykillers".

The other option for the March 26th, opening weekend is "Jersey Girl".

Final option:
"Jersey Girl" Matinee
"Ladykillers" Evening.

Other votes?
_________________________________

Also of note:

April 2 brings "Hellboy" and "Envy". "Envy" can wait.

April 16 is "Kill Bill Vol. 2" and "The Punisher". "The Punisher" will have to wait.

There will be a break from major releases (of any interest) until June, where we will have "The Prisoner of Azkaban" (ooooooh yeah), "The Stepford Wives: The Musical", "Sky Captain" and a limited run of "Before Sunset".

Gerhards Wake

There are several people lurking around here who asked me to send them this info, so I thought I'd post it here in case I missed any of them.

"Let's Gather for Gerhard!"

This past December, we all lost a most valued and beloved
friend, whether you knew him as Gerry Stevens, or Gerhard Kendal
of Westmoreland. His passing has left a very large void in many
lives, and it was his wish that we all gather after he'd gone,
not to mourn his death, but to rejoice in his life. In
fulfillment of this wish, we will indeed gather -- to remember
our friend, to share stories of his life, deeds and adventures, and
to show our support of his family he had to leave behind.

Date: March 13th, 2004
Place: Shriner's Hall, 3550 Wayburne Dr., Burnaby
Opens: 2 pm
Closes: 11 pm
Site Fee: By donation

Please note, this is NOT an official SCA or NSCA sanctioned
event. Wearing garb is optional, not mandatory, as this
gathering is for Gerry's mundane friends and family, as well as
Gerhard's SCA friends and family. Since this is not an
"official" event, all expenses for this gathering are being paid
by Nancy / Amanda. Therefore, after the site hall has been paid
for, any funds left over will be going into a fund for her to use for
future moving costs, etc. as needed.

There will be a cash bar, local drinking laws apply, so bring ID.

"Finger food" style snack contributions cheerfully accepted.

E-mail me at tir-righ-chatelaine@antir.sca.org if you need more info.

'80s Gaming Nostalgia

This is one of the most impressive things I've stumbled upon in the last while. The old Super Mario Bros. story is given an unbelievably epic treatment in these Flash cartoons. And, it's a lot better than the Bob Hoskins/John Leguizamo movie they made 11 years back.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Emails ARE so GONE

For some reason...

Hotmail has eliminated all my email addresses (except for those I don't use).

Care to drop me an email from your most used address?

Please include Birthdate, most recent mailing address and phone number. Because I stupidly rely on technology to be my memory.

Otherwise, there will be no Clubhouse events.

My Art

If you go here you can look at what I do during class.

Krispy Kreme Delivers!!

ok, so it's $12 CDN a dozen (original glazed or assorted, your choice), but they accept cash, cc or paypal and bring them right to your door. delivery available between 7:30 am & 4:00 pm. order before 5 pm for next day delivery.

doughnutdelivery@dccnet.com or call 604-765-6850

The Passion of the Christ

I just didn't care about the characters.

I can see how the Xians would. I just couldn't get into it. Humoured myself with thoughts of "cult leader" to pass the hours.

Not enough gore to celebrate it. Either that, or it comes back to the "didn't care too much about Jesus suffering".

I did like the androgeneous devil. And the midget baby. Yeah, midget babies rule. The demonic children summed my opinion up nicely. I did appreciate the Judas-death scene.

And while I liked Toby's post about C. Hitchens's article (on Paul's blog), the version we get to see is not as anti-semetic as I was expecting from the write-up.

I dance like an encephalitic monkey...

I'll be in Vancouver (more or less) between March 14th (or so) and March 21st(ish). Anybody wanna go to 80s night at the Caprice on Tuesday the 16th? Possibly preceded by wings specials at the Trap and Gill?


I know I'm posting about this waaaay too early, but I don't want any excuses. I haven't been to an 80's night since before Luv-A-Fair closed down.


By the way, I've now officially been assigned to work with the BC Liberals, specifically Karn Manhas in Coquitlam. Ye may hate me for now working for the dark side, but know that I'll be back and forth, probably spending a couple more full weeks in Vancouver.

Public Service Announcement

I don't usually post here about movies, but I feel sufficiently strongly about this one to try to tell anyone who missed my incessant complaints during the Night of Neo-Nazi Infamy:


Don't see The Passion of the Christ, under any circumstances. I mean it! Most offensively bad movie (in a non-fun way) I've seen in a very long time.

Tonight's D.o.S. Schedule

Hi All.

Now, we don't have a full schedule for March yet (because it's BJ's month and he's not that organized), but we did manage to work out what's screening tomorrow:

Tuesday March 02
Commentary night
7pm: Conan the Barbarian [1982] -- John Milus and Arnold Schwarzenegger get drunk off their asses and Ah-Nold redundantly describes the action and talks about boobies.

9pm: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [1998] -- Apparently the producers had to lock Hunter S. Thompson in the screening room to get him to watch the thing. The part where he calls Benicio Del Toro on the phone and talks to his answering machine alone is worth the price of admission.

As usual, please RSVP if you can so we can keep a handle on the numbers and bring money for the pop fund.

See ya there,

~meeko

I am not a Neo-Nazi

Nor am I a white supremacist, despite wearing symbols associated with them at the party this passed Saturday. Were you offended by this act? If you were, please read Christian's blog entry stating the Nazi-esque theme of the party and chalk my offensiveness as a willingness to support my friend in his endeavor to get a fresh start now that his divorce is final. To those of you who did not know in advance the theme of this party and were offended: I'm sorry that things weren't explained to you beforehand, and I hope my explanation after the fact has prevented you from assuming that I am a blatant and proud racist.

Everyone else: I had fun, and I hope you did too. Don;t take things so seriously. You know how offensive some of us are, and most of the time, you revel in it. Also, Graeme has a point in the post below, so read it too.

Dr. Strangelove or:How I Stopped Worryingand Learned to Love the Bum

In the last few weeks, I have noticed a silly trend. When the boys of the group get together and continually harass each other, their lady-friends seem to feel obligated to leap to the defense of their tormented boyfriends, as if the insults were somehow directed personally and meant to harm. My question is this: Is it because you think that the insults are in fact personal, or rather because your boyfriends whine to you about how much it hurts them? Either which way, people need to realize that we all like each other. We are not in the business of attempting to hurt each other. Sodomy jokes, and jabs are just that: jokes and jabs. Lighten the fuck up. Even those most affected participate and reciprocate in this (minimally) witty reparte. There is no need to get on the defensive. Not to reenforce stereotypes but, the saying is true: "Boys will be boys." Questioning eachother's cock-size, threats of cockpunches, and the questioning of sexual preference are just part of the continual pissing contest that we are constantly partaking of.

Starsky & Hutch

Friday, March 5. 9/10pm showing in Burnaby.

Happy Birthday Owen!

I think you know the song. Let's all hum it together:

hmmmmmhmmm hmmmhmmm hmmm hmmmmmmmmmmhmmm
hmmmhmmm hmmmhmmmm hmmm hmmmmmmm

Doughnuts in Canada

Krispy Kreme in Delta and we're part of the already hooked lot.

Mmmm warm, fresh doughnuts.

D.o.S. Reminder....

Hey!

A big thank you to everyone who dared trundle down to the Dufferin Sat. night for some birthday Karaoke. I'm sorry more people didn't get a chance to sing, and for the fact that I had to leave early to go pass out/puke/pass out. But I trust that most people had fun and weren't too traumatized (I'm extra sorry Bob).

So, now that you're all recovered and stuff:
Feb 24/04 (Owen's B-day)

7pm: Twins Effect -- Vampires, Canto-Pop, Kung-Fu and Jackie Chan. Goofy fun to be sure.

9pm: Happiness of the Katakuris -- Claymation, Zombies, Musical Numbers & Miike. More goofy-sick fun.

RSVP, bring pop moneys and get ready to have fun.

And don't forget the first Annual D.o.S. Oscar Party this Sunday at 5pm!

I'm becoming very upset

"WHO Says the Bible Is Literally True?

A majority of Americans believe the Holy Bible is literally true and not just a book of stories that are meant to be interpreted as symbolic lessons, reports The Washington Times of a recent ABC News poll of 1,011 adults.
61 percent believe the story of the creation of the Earth in seven days as told in the book of Genesis is literally true.
60 percent believe in the story of Noah's ark, the global flood, and God's covenant to never destroy the Earth again.
64 percent believe that Moses really did part the Red Sea so the Jews could escape their Egyptian captors.

"These are surprising and reassuring figures, a positive sign in a postmodern world that seemed bent on erasing faith from the public square in recent years," the Rev. Charles Nalls, a priest with the Catholic-Anglican church, told The Times. "This poll tells me that America is reading the Bible more than we thought. There had been a tendency to decry or discount Bible literacy among the faithful."

However, the levels of literal belief in these three Bible stories differ among various Christian groups:
Mainline Protestants: 75 percent believe in the story of creation, 79 percent in the Red Sea account, and 73 percent in Noah and the Ark.
Evangelical Protestants: 87 percent believe in the creation story, 91 percent in the Red Sea, and 87 percent in Noah.
Roman Catholics: 51 percent think the story of the creation is literally true, while 50 percent believe in the Red Sea story and 44 percent in the flood.

This may be the most interesting finding of all: Among those who said they had "no religion," 25 percent still believe in the creation story, almost a third believe in Moses and the Red Sea, and 29 percent believe in Noah and the Ark.

Here are some other fun facts to know and tell that are culled from two different Harris Polls taken in 2003. Among Christians in the United States:
93 percent believe in miracles.
95 percent believe in heaven.
93 percent in the Virgin Birth of Christ.
96 percent in Christ's Resurrection.
42 percent believe God is a male.
1 percent believe God is female.
38 percent believe God has no gender.
11 percent believe God is both genders."

This is what Mariko's homepage offered me. Polls on how many of the "faithful" populate our brothers and sisters from the south. Christian this is shameful.

Happy Birthday To You!

It's Mariko's 25er today, and I thought I would publicly inform her that I wish her well today and the rest of the year (we'll schedule something for next year's well-wishing).

::Confetti goes here::

A Word Now From Our Sponsors

Our Friend Christine writes:

greetings and solicitations. i would like to invite you all to an art fete on Monday, Mar. 8 (aka IWD). the venue is a laundromat on Davie called, "The Clothesline". it's located at 1070 Davie and the fete will be from 6-9pm. there will be live music and dead art. i hope this entices people to come. feel free to bring a load of laundry to wash.
thank you for your attention. sincerely, christine gibson.
ps. if you have any questions or requests feel free to give me a call (604) 683-1364. or email me: meta_moment@yahoo.com

red dwarf fire sale

since I have put myself considerably more into debt by ordering the first four seasons of red dwarf on dvd, and I don't have enough room of my shelves anyway, I've decided to make my red dwarf vhs tapes available to you, my adoring public.

the tapes cost $20 US each, and feature three episodes per "byte," two bytes completing a full season. if anyone is interested, I'll let you have them for $20 a season (two tapes) of your funny money. act now, and I'll give you a one time only price of $50 cdn for all eight tapes comprising the first four seasons.

keep only those you like, but fat chance getting a refund on any you don't. seasons 5 through 8 will be made available periodically (as the dvds are released and I buy them), and will be made available for $20 cdn per season. collect all eight seasons, complete your set today!

willing to negotiate price discounts in exchange for sexual favours. bob or paul must pay a 20% "bob or paul" tax. if bob or paul try to haggle discounts in return for sexual favours, an additional fee of $50 and several cockpunches will be added to the final tab.

thank you, drive through.

Rampant consumerism

It seems vaguely unfair that I don't already own this.

How Good is Your T.A.?

And by T.A. I mean Treat Appreciation.

I ask this because the one and only Dustin Diamond is appearing at Yuk Yuk's Downtown from March 4 - 6. Tickets are $20, but I have one 2 for 1 pass if anyone else would consider ponying up another $10.

Let me know.

P.S. You're all coming to my birthday party Saturday right? 8pm - Den of Sin (call for directions) 10pm - The Dufferin Karaoke lounge (if you skip the pre-drink and head down to the Duff on your own, don't panic if we're not there yet. We're on our way).

audio pseudo friends

ok

Sat. Feb. 28th
start 9 pm end 10 pm (one hour only)
706 Clarke Drive (pretty close to the clubhouse)

Audio Pseudo Friends
is Bob, Tea, Borris and Karen
ok
so the thing is...
this is the same night as The Day of Freedom for Christian Rapp.

The man of honor has given us his blessing and we hope to see all your friendly faces for our first live set ever!

Please respond to this here to get a plan of action happening.
love you all,
Karen

oh and there's no booze at the event so you have to get tanked up somewhere else first

Bubba Ho-tep on permanent Hiatus?!?!

Oh well, the DVD comes out on MGM discs May 25th.

In the meantime, I plan to catch 21 grams, Mystic River and The Triplets of Belleville to fill in the void...

-Duke
==============================

Hello,

We do not have an opening date for this film. We still may open it at a
later
date or the distributor is deciding on giving the film to another theatre.
We
too do not have much information from the distributor.

Agnes Ng
Assistant Manager
Tinseltown Theatre
Cinemark Inc.

Think He's Heard of Operation Clambake?

Probably one of the scariest sites on the web, I thought it was just the one page, but no. It's been going on for four months.

Propaganda or actual devotee?

To All of You Romantics Out There

Suckers.

Denzel, but No Jude

The remake is difficult to picture. The money went to Denzel's salary from the looks of things.

Dropping a Line on My Peeps.

Hey Kids,

Just hought I share a couple links and an abservation or two.

Jewschool: Look for the article about France banning religious articles in the classroom. I'm not sure I agree on this; I don't mind freedom of religion and this is definately an infringement on freedom of expression (based on religious beliefs).

Tokidoki: Art. I used it for avatars over Halloween, but it's just come back into style. Style, I say.

Observations:

I overheard a girl talking about Average Joe in the hallways here. She was happy that some guy got kicked off because he had some sort of facial hair that was ugly. Perhaps she didn't understand the "subtleties" of this program, but all the guys are supposed to be unattractive, nerdy, flawed, etc.. You are supposed to like them as people from the inside. Shouldn't we be hoping the schemeing jerk gets voted off? Or that the total sullen, no-confidence, weenie got kicked off? Bah.


When MrEff burns a CD over its load level my discman can't read past a certain track without selecting and playing each track individually. So, that's been frustrating.

how would YOU interpret this?

she says:

"Hey.

I'm not happy with the way things are between us. We can barely be civil to
each other. That doesn't feel good.

However, I also don't think we're ready to be friends right now, or to sit
down and talk about anything. But I hope that at some point in the future we
can be there. Let me know if you feel like you get to that point.

That's all I wanted to say."


this is totally out of the blue. anyone want to wager that her boyfriend realised what a nutter is and dropped her like a crying baby? can't imagine why else she'd want to talk to me after all the crap in the past six months. lard knows I have nothing to say to her...

day of release festivities.

I had an epiphany last night. and it was by far the most genius notion I have ever had. it was a beautiful, religious experience.

I had fully planned to get totally trashed for my parole, and was making arrangements for a catsitter and/or permanent home for dear saku, in case of acute alcohol poisoning. I mentioned that I'd be getting bombed on the weekend.

a chorus of angels singing. it was beautiful.

there's this thing about me an alcohol. we don't get along. I have too much, and I either puke or pass out. or both. neither of which is conducive to me getting more drunk than I ever have been before. and yet, the previous record of drunkeness by yours truly came by way of demon semen, the unholy concoction known as a jägerbomb. jägermeister and red bull. it gets you fucked up AND hyper. and I've never known anyone to get sick from them, myself included. last time, I had eight jägerbombs, three dead nazis (see below), a shitload of other booze, a hit of nitrous and was feeling great. I was drunk for 36 hours and awake the entire time. it was awesome.

the great thing about jägerbombs is the military feel you get, the camaradie and cadence and carnage and other words beginnign with c. but while that's well and good for normal drunken debauchery, this warrants an added twist. I only plan to get divorced three, maybe four times in my life. and as this is my maiden voyage into divorcehood, it must be EXTRA special. and thus, I have developed a game. the details need to be worked out, which is where you all come in. but the general concept is this:

we bomb england, and the rest of western europe. to oblivion. the third reich will rise again. and it will be good.

I need to recruit a squadron of jägerbombers. I can promise you victory. I can promise you a good time.

the more bombers we have, the better. runs will be conducted every fifteen minutes exactly. I'll need a volunteer to keep close eye on the clock (as we'll be too drunk to synchronise watches), and who can yowl a good air raid siren for up to a minute prior to every strafing run.

I need an artist. I'd like to conscript owen. I need a large cartoonish map of western europe, with targets denoted by silly cartoons and stereotypes. there should be at least ten potential targets, ascending both in difficulty to succeed and absurdity. for instance, bombing the hell out of liverpool and thus negating the demonic influence of the beatles on western culture would be a good start. we're nazis, damn it. and we'll need little stickies of some sort to place over the target after they have been destroyed. the map of carnage should be beautiful. I can picture it all in my head, but couldn't draw it to save my life.

I need medals. lots and lots of medals. these can be little cardboard cutouts, I don't care. the idea is, every bomber gets a medal for each successful mission. this is both a way of keeping score, and for looking cool, especially if we got out afterwards. there will be promotions. each succesful mission will result in a promotion to a new and higher rank. the winner of this game is he or she who completes the most missions, and will be thereby rewarded with title of führer. if anyone has a kaiser helmet to donate for the evening, that would be an awesome reward. also, leather aviator caps would really help with the mood. any prop that would add to the ambience, really.

every bomber will be requires to complete six missions for their tour of duty. additional missions will result in added accolades, promotions and possible sexual rewards. particularly dangerous missions, such as dropping double payloads (downing two bombs on one mission) will also be rewarded accordingly. there are several kinks to be worked out in the scoring system.

speaking in a german accent, while not required, would be quite helpful for the mood. and we must all be really mean to rachael, for she is the enemy. okay, not really. but we can still be mean to bob, 'cos well, he's bob.

an additional twist for this game is to punish the survivors (it'll speed the game along as well). every time one of our comrades in arms falls in battle (ie, pukes, passes out, or just quits because they're a giant pussy), the survivors must drink to their memory with a dead nazi (half jäger, half rumplemintz).

I am willing to bear an immense financial burden to get this to go off without a hitch. I will provide two cases of red bull energy drink, two fifths of jägermeister and a fifth of rumplemintz, if I can assemble a squadron of at least eight bombers. I will require assistance for all of the props and extras I've mentioned, as well as further ideas for punsihments/rewards and tweaking of rules. those who do not want to participate in the drinking can still be a part of the game, playing roles other than german luftwaffe.

we will need innocent victims to represent potential targets. props would be helpful here. we need a winston churchill. I volunteer bob, just because he's such a good bitch for all occasions.

do realise, we WILL rewrite history on that fateful night, and the nazis will prove victorious. this could very well be the greatest party/drinking game EVER. I expect nothing less.

(note: no jews were hurt in the writing of this post.)

Love and Hearts

Christian's Party of Release

Saturday February 28, 2004
8:00pm
Clubhouse Fairgrounds

Christian has some great ideas for making sure everyone has a good time (and climb the ranks of absurdity), and I let him post them here.

I'll be emailing a reminder out to everyone.

Good ol' pagan holidays...

Hope everyone's enjoying their Lupercalia festivities, and has procured the necessary sacrificial dog and goats to show their affection to their sweetie. If anyone knows where I can acquire a male wolf whose still-warm heart I may offer as a truly authentic valentine, please let me know.


On a less Roman note, I'm thinking of seeing Fog of War tomorrow, around 12:00 at Tinseltown. Mind-expanding goodness (or so I'm told) by the legendary Errol Morris, and it probably won't aggravate me like The Corporation did. Any interest in making it a group excursion?

put 'em on the glass!

hey folks, sir mixalot is playing a show in bellingham friday, april 23. would anyone be keen on going? I could head up there for the weekend after the show...

I've never seen him live, and not even sure he's doing rap anymore, but he's playing in a hotel lounge, so it's gotta be sweet...

who's with me?

Moving day!

Well, I have a new apartment in North Burnaby. My roommate and I take possession on the 21st of this month.

So if any of you out there have a pickup/van or just feel you might otherwise be of assistance in my quest to change residences, please drop me a line.

Tomorrow night at the D.o.S.

Yo.

7pm: Stepford Wives [1975]: Joanne and Walter move to Stepford, where everything is perfect and all the wives are subservient. Joanne (Katherine Ross) is an amateur photographer (see, she has interests outside the home) and is more liberal minded so she suspects something is up. Little does she realize that the men of Stepford have been replacing her friends, one by one, with ROBOTS!!

9pm: Valley of the Dolls [1967]: Again, those expecting a Russ Meyer boob fest are going to be disappointed, but that doesn't mean they should miss this epic classic of girl trash. Patty Duke and Sharon Tate are featured in the story of three friends' rise to fame, one as a model, one as a star on Broadway and one as an actress in B-movies; and their subsequent messy falls. Also features one of the best lines in cinema history: "All I know how to do is take my clothes off".

As usual RSVP please (!) and bring money for the pop fund if you have it.

~meeko

BUBBA HO-TEP REMINDER

Just a reminder, Bubba Ho-Tep opens at Tinseltown this Friday, February 13th. Tickets supposedly go on sale today, though I'm waiting to hear back from the box office online, as they don't list movies opening Friday until the day before. Hopefully I don't have to trek out to the theatre after hours...

*EDIT*

I just received this from Tinseltown:

Hello Mike,

Unfortuantley, we are still not scheduled to open this film.

Todd

What the hell?

Application Mania

I am applying to a student sponsorship at this and the 2005 Urban semester at this.
Wooohooo the fun of finding academic letters of reference and writing goal statements.

day of release plans?

okay guys, we need to brainstorm some ideas for my day of release. my thinking is since a divorce is something you only do a few times in a lifetime, it should be something a bit more unusual than a straight party. plus, the likelihood of me staying conscious increases if we're out on the town.

getting started at a central location would be helpful from a financial standpoint (would anyone care to host the launch pad?), but moving on to a club or something could be fun. are there any good 80's clubs up there? if I get drunk enough I just may be inclined to strut my funky stuff...

oh, i almost forgot...

4) Sunday Feb 29/04: First Annual D.o.S. Oscar Party. Starts around 5pm for all the pre-show dress nonsense. Formal attire, prizes awarded to whoever guesses the most winners in the major catagories, a Jack Valenti drinking game...

And save your self-righteous true-art tirades. We know it dosen't mean anything (except that Harvey Weinstein knows how to grease palms). It's just fun to watch. So there.

Amendments/Announcements

Okay kiddies, time to get out the 'ol red marker and update those new daytimers of yours':

1) Due to the fact that the person who originally requested Party Monster night can't make it on the night originally proposed (I'm talking to you Bob), that event has been moved to Sunday Feb 15 starting at 7pm-ish and running 'til about 9:30/10pm. Please let me know if you can make it (again, I'm talking to you Bob) or if we'll need to reschedule yet again.

2) For those of you not going to see Bubba Ho Tep on Friday Feb 13, the Beejster, I and a couple others will be trundling down to the Tinseltown to catch it Sat night (the 14th) and then zippin' over to the Brickyard to catch The Evaporators (they were on the cover of last week's Georgia Straight, well, Nardward was anyway). It's sure to be a nice antidote to your usual Valentine's Day, so if you've had your fill of Candy & Flowers come join us for some good old fashioned nonsensical punk.

3) Official Mariko/Owen B-day plans (I've included Owen by default since his B-day is the day after mine. He may have his own plans, I don't know you'll have to ask him):
Sat Feb 21-- 8pm: Pre-Drink Party at the D.o.S. -- BYOB, donations of shooters for the birthday boy & girl greatly appreciated.
10pm-ish: Karaoke at the Duff. Again, donations of B-day shooters greatly appreciated.

I think that's it for now. Email or call me to RSVP.

In which I announce a get-together...

My buddies Jim, Aaron and Sean make something of a hobby of throwing big theme parties at a rented hall near Metrotown. They're a blast, so I'm putting out the invite for their pre-Valentine's gig on Saturday the 7th. It's gonna be a big crowd, lots of fun folks, DJ, etc. I think they're doing the place up in an Arabian theme, complete with belly dancer (my friend Mara). I'm going, and anybody who wants to have a great time or just to see me embarrass myself in some unforeseen way should get in.


Coz' it's a rented place, you gotta buy a ticket for 10 bucks, but it's worth it, and they have a bar with $2 drinks. It's cheap, it's fun as hell. Let me know if you're intererested...

My Neighbours Had To Increase the Volume Because My Teeth Were Grinding So Hard

Dear Shirley Bond,

This evening, on Global's story about the protests downtown, you stated that students need to remember that 70-80% of their education is funded by the government.

And I think you need to remember who the government is supposed to be: The people of British Columbia.

By raising tuition fees and increasing the cost of post-secondary education you put education out of reach for most British Columbians.

There is no question that a post secondary education opens greater doors to the future. By making education available to only those whose parents can afford to send them there the divide between the haves and have nots is increased significantly. The implications of limiting the liberty of your citizens through making gains inaccessible is staggering.

I would like to attend law school, but I won't be able to in this lifetime as my studies will cease with this fall's latest planned increase. With a student loan debt of $20,000 I will return to the lower paying jobs available and attempt to pay off my loan in time.

Thank you for reminding me that my 80% of my tax dollars are supporting your children through school,

Corinne

From Eva's Blog

Advanced Big 30 Personality Test Results Sociability ||||||||||||||||||||| 66% Gregariousness |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Assertiveness |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Activity Level |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Excitement-Seeking |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Enthusiasm |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 82% Extroversion |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Trust |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Morality ||||||||||||||||||||| 66% Altruism |||||||||||||||||||||||| 78% Cooperation ||||||||||||||| 46% Modesty |||||||||||||||||| 54% Sympathy |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Friendliness ||||||||||||||||||||| 65% Competence ||||||||||||||||||||| 66% Neatness ||||||||||||||| 42% Dutifulness |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Achievement ||||||||||||||||||||| 62% Self-Discipline ||||||||||||||||||||| 62% Cautiousness |||||||||||||||||| 58% Orderliness |||||||||||||||||| 60% Anxiety ||||||||||||||| 46% Anger ||||||||| 30% Depression ||||||||| 22% Self-Consciousness ||||||||||||||| 50% Impulsiveness ||||||||| 22% Vulnerability |||||||||||| 34% Emotional Stability ||||||||||||||||||||| 66% Imagination |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Artistic Interests |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Emotionality |||||||||||||||||| 54% Adventurousness |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 82% Intellect |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 90% Liberalism |||||||||||||||||| 58% Openmindedness |||||||||||||||||||||||| 72%

Take Free Advanced Big 30 Personality Test

Why they didn't Bold the "Intellect" at 90%... I don't know. Many things had higher percentage than the ones they liked to emphasis.

A weekend of lost dignity...

Anybody who wants to see more of Drunken Red-faced Paul is invited to my place in Victoria, the weekend of March 5th-7th. There will be much foolish merriment and general havoc-wreaking. I'm eager to see how much damage we can inflict on this small town. Why so early do I post, you ask? 'Tis my next free weekend, and I gotta secure it against the slavers at the Legislature. I have couch and floor space enough for 6 people or so, more if they're super friendly. More details to come...

Happy Birthday to Me

Ahem.

So long and thanks for all the rum!

Thanks to all who made the Januween celebration such a blast! Although we forgot to countdown the new month and I forgot to destroy Gareth at twister (he must have balked after my yoga demonstration), it looks like a great time was had by all. Despite rum punch and rum balls, my coordination was strong enough to win a few rounds of darts and I finally got to appreciate the bay view window as it was intended to be...an atrium amid the stars...

But enough of that, who got caught on camera? Find out here.

Commentary provided by the photographer(s). I had no idea anybody appreciated my gluts so much...

Duke

Tech Support: Corinne Speaking

"How do I get it to show up?"
"What?"
"The thing."
"Uh..."
"I can't get the thing up"

**walk over. turn on the power. walk away**

Scariest family nomination

Moooooo.

The Eagerly Anticipated Febuary Schedule for the D.o.S.

Here it is kiddies, so quit yer whining...

Tuesday Feb 3:
SATAN!! (Special guest in attendance)
7pm -- The Devil Rides Out [1968]: Watch Christopher Lee (Sarumon from LoTR) take a break from the capes and the stalking to play a good guy (!) and kick some Satanic ass!! Watch him run, watch him punch... watch a guy with a goat's head on his noggin' do... something. A Hammer Films production.
9pm: Flavia the Heretic [1974]: More good ol' nun-ploitation, this time based on a true story and executed in true sleazy Eurotrash fashion. Those who caught "Alucarda" at last year's Cinemuerte should not miss this.

Tuesday Feb 10:
'60's Literary Girl's Trash
7pm: The Stepford Wives [1975]: Just in time for the big budget Nicole Kidman remake. If you don't know what it's about then you should probably read more.
9pm: The Valley of the Dolls [1967]: Not to be confused with the Russ Meyer/Roger Ebert collaboration "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" (sorry Beej) this is trashy soap opera drama at it's best. And if you did get confused, then you should probably read more.

Tuesday Feb 17:
Just Because You're Paranoid...
7pm: The Manchurian Candidate [1962]: Again programmed to usurp the big budget remake coming this summer (much to Meeko's horror as this is one of her all time faves). Brilliant black and white photography highlights the creepy tale of Korean War vets brainwashed into become sleeper agent assassins. With startling parallels to the Bobby Kennedy assassination and the fact that it was pulled from circulation by Frank Sinatra (who stars as well as produced) in 1963 following the JFK assassination) the film's ability to chill still resonates all these years later. And if that doesn't freak you out, then Angela Lansbury (one scene, you'll know it when you see it) certainly will. Also, this movie justifies John Frankenheimer's status as one of the Great American Directors. "Reindeer Games" and "Ronin" never happened.... just keep repeating....
9pm: The Parallax View [1974]: Treading on similar paranoid territory this time helmed by Alan J. Pacula ("All the President's Men") and staring Warren Beatty and Hume Cronyn.

Tuesday Feb 24:
Over the Top Asian Trash (in honour of Owen's Birth)
7pm: Twins Effect [2003]: When American pop stars cross over into movies we get trite bullshit like "Crossroads" and "A Walk to Remember". When Asian pop stars make movies they star as kung-fu fighting, wire-flying, ass kicking vampire slayers. Featuring the Canto-Pop sensation The Twins and Jackie Chan in a humourous cameo.
9pm: Happiness of the Katakuris [2001]: If the words "Miike", "musical" and "dancing zombies" don't mean anything to you, you obviously have no soul.

Also on the burner for this month:
Feb 8 (Sunday) -- Party Monster Sometime in the evening (exact time to be agreed on later) we will be screening both the original documentary (60 mins) and the dramatization (both by the same writer/directors) featuring Seth Green and Macaulay Culkin (yes, the one and only) in his big screen return.
Feb 21 (Saturday, subject to change) -- Meeko's b-day karaoke!! "It's my party and I'll sing if i want to." At the Duff. Possible rising of "liquid courage" at my place beforehand. Details to follow.

That's all for now. As always suggestions and comments more than welcome.

~meeko

Dank, grim, depressing...

Anybody up for seeing Mystic River Saturday afternoon at Tinseltown? I'm in town for the weekend and wanna catch a decent flick.


Truth be told, I was hoping to see something a little less bleak, since the only movies I watched this week were Monster's Ball and Bringing Out the Dead, but dammit, there's just nothing good out that isn't depressing as hell. And I can't bring myself to see Chasing Liberty a fourth time...

Water for Water

I was catching up on my news today and came across this article in which UBC students are noticing that their water foutains are going away.

The school claims that they can't afford to repair the fountains, some said the water was tainted, but I think that the Coke theory is the strongest that I've heard. Even when I read the headline "Student asks why UBC cut off drinking fountains" I had already assumed Coke would be a focus. Last semester an instructor here made mention about Coke complaining to the school about the water fountains here being "competition" and that was against their contract. Our school cried "bullshit" (apparently, and the fountains are still here).

And it all boils down to lack of government funding to our post-secondary institutions. These contracts should never have to be made, but I'm all for losing my water fountain priviledges as long as I can afford to attend school. Should it be a choice between water and education?

Real Sin at the D.o.S.

i shouldn't even really need to remind you about this week's program because you should all have it circled in red on your calendars since we are showing:

7pm: Switchblade Sisters [1975] -- From Jack Hill, writer director of "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown" comes this girl-gang grindhouse expoitation camp fest. Described on IMDB as "kind of like The Warriors meets Fast Times at Ridgemont High meets L7". Presented by QT's Rolling Thunder Pictures.

9pm: They Call Her One Eye a.k.a. "Thiller" [1974] -- The direct inspiration for Daryl Hannah's character in Kill Bil. Christina Lindberg is Frigga, the ex-hooker on a murderous rampage against her former tricks, and the people who kidnapped her into sexual slavery. Extremely graphic and relentless, this film will be presented in the original un-cut print that was banned in it's native Sweden (!). *WARNING* The only uncut print currently available is entirely in Swedish with NO SUBTITLES. The story is relatively easy to follow (it's a revenge movie), so this shouldn't be a problem; but people who complain "this isn't English!" will be sumarily punched in the arm and banished outside. Also, this film is XXX porn so those with more delicate sensibilities should stay home.*WARNING*

RSVPs are always apreciated, especially since THEY CALL HER ONE EYE was suggested by a number of the regulars. Pop fund in effect (if you don't want Pepsi, let me know), and call if you need directions.

~meeko

K

This weekend Kat took me out to "K" because Adam worked on it and, quite frankly, I like theatre despite my inability to get out to many shows.

In "K", we view a very stylized view of Kafka's last days/memories. A Danish production, brought over here by the same company using local actors, stage hands, etc.

First and foremost, this play reminded me heavily of a piece I wrote in Directing/Scriptwriting 12 years ago. I wrote this pretentious art-fuck piece about a girl having a dream about her father climbing a ladder, falling off of it into a black hole and eventually finding the devil and having some interaction there. I thought it was the most contrived piece of writing I've put to paper. Somehow, it was praised by my then theatre instructor. ...?...

The acting was by and large impressive. James Long is on stage performing the whole time in a monologue that is interupted by "visions" or reality. A 90 minute presentation is not an easy feat and on closing night he had his part down pat. I think one of my favourite aspects of theatre is that they can fuck up and that would be super cool. There were moments where I questioned the pacing of the dialogue (too great of a gap, punchline delivered a little off) but there were no sightly errors in the acting. The blocking wasn't all the way there. Several times actors were turned away while speaking their dialogue and often moments where expressions/physical responses were lost from actors looking away from the audience. One Ensemble member wandered off out of context at one point.

Aesthetically, it was awesome. The audience walked in to an open stage with only a huge wall of silver filing cabinet drawers. That's it. The wall is designed with a closet, a set of double doors, four windows, and a row of drawer handles sturdy enough to carry Long up the wall. The double doors release Kafka's hospital bed which provides the focus of the show. With the use of projectors, lighting and dry ice I had missed a few moments of stage transformation through distraction.

And now onto the plot of "K". While a storyline was there, I definately felt as though it was a poetic play with symbolisms that I couldn't get for the life of me (such as "Why are they walking backwards? All the time?"). I'll admit ignorance and stupidity when it came to understanding the intent of many of the overt symbolisms. I take great pride in my bullshiting skills with analyzing print materials, but on stage I've got no clue. I recognized Lilith's importance early on, why everyone was walking around "aimlessly", and some of the other small symbolic charcters. Perhaps I needed to read the stage directions. Anyone who had seen it care to explain a few things? Why was the assistant doctor repeating/echoing the words of everyone else? Why were they walking backwards? Why was the doctor acting like a broken record?

Arbitrary score of 864. Thanks for taking me Kat, and I still owe you for the ticket.

Leisure Town

I keep telling Graeme about Leisure Town, the BEST WEBCOMIC EVAR. Usually, I'm complaining about how it no longer exists. BUT! I found a mirror site at http://www.steamerbean.com/leisuretown/

My personal favorites are A Comedy Crisis and Winter Pageant; but Q.A. Confidential stands alone as the mature work of a modern master, a shining beacon of truth and light in our otherwise meaningless lives.

And I thought I was going to get some work done today...

Guess the Arcade Game Logo

Linky linky.

I got 16 out of 26.

Stupid Graeme

I'm so fucking bad a procrastinator. I just wasted two hours that I should have used to mark papers to watch "Ronin." While moderately entertaining, I'm gonna have to make up that time sometime, and that's running thin as of late. I did get some of that done, but not as much as I wanted to.



At least I got the reading that I needed done.




And the car chase is a little overrated. Nowhere near as good as the "French Connection."

Travis in Vancouver

My favouritist Tim has an extra ticket to Travis on Thursday. <3 And he thought of me. So I thought I would brag.

This Week at the D.o.S...

Hey kids!

This week it's back to the classics:

7pm: THE THIRD MAN [1949] (not to be confused in any way with last month's "THE FOURTH MAN") -- Based on a script by Graham Greene this superb noir set in war torn Vienna stars Orson Wells and Joseph Cotton. That in itself should be enough to recomend it, but let's not forget the amazing twists and turns of the plot and the gorgeous black and white cinematography. Essential viewing for anyone claiming to be a fan of film and films.

9pm: THE LADY VANISHES [1938]: Hitchcock's second to last British film starts off as a comedy of manners and slowly evolves into the one of the twisty-turny yarns we've come to expect from ol' Hitch as a little old lady goes missing from a train...

Please pass this on to anyone you think would be interested if you know they don't already receive this mailer. If you are on the list and you want off, just let me know. Bring money for the pop fund and if you have suggestions for beverages let me know, otherwise you get Pepsi. RSVP if you can (it helps us keep track of numbers) and call if you need directions.

~meeko

Since I'm not just R's yes-housemother...

Here's my take on Friday night's Grrrrl's Riot.

Activities
- Drastic hair changes be it color or style or cut. As much or as little crazy as you want it.

-Lots, I mean llllllllots o' Chocolate (cake,puddin',cupcakes,bars) and if yer allergic, "Just say no!" pamphlets will be available.

-Will be attempting Truth or Dare but wimpy girly rules may be applied to either truths and/or dares so that no one (read me) ends up cryin' her little sorority eyes out before ten pm.

-Winding down to sleepwear, stuffed animals and low volumed movies to provide heaps of gab time to catch up on the past years events or current excitments or any notions that enter our gorgeous (note drastic hair changes above) little heads.


so some last minute notes to the loverly ladies i'll see tomorrow:

if you have an all time favorite movie that only a group of females could really, deeply appreciate on the same level you do and it is on VHS please please know you are safe to share it with us and bring it to show

if you have slippers, sleep stuff and something pink - good things to bring

if you want things special for your hair like a certain dye color bring that too. i just have the bleach.

fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun ya good....

Girl's Night Update

Now that I have just remembered that Girl's night is tomorrow, I should give "the girls" some more information. We are telling people to show up around 8pm. Bring sleeping stuff and something to drink if you want.
My friend Jackie, from Toronto, who has just started her Ph.D. at UBC will be there.
The Girl's Nights Activities are apparently "Top Secret" which probably means Karen doesn't know.
See you there.

And guys don't bother trying to peak in the windows, listening to a bunch of girls griping about you isn't as exciting as it's made to seem in the movies.

JANUWEEN PARTY

Date: Saturday, January 31st
Time: 7:00pm onwards
Location: The Boiler Room(TM)
Theme: Stupid bets and alcoholic consequences-ween

RSVP for directions at this email: boilroom@lycos.com
(sort of the new events email for upcoming stuff)

Bad beer and Incan Chocolate compliments of The Boiler Room(TM) and our Sobakan counterpart, straight outta Peru.

Previous excuses to get a bunch of rowdies together (prior to the 'ween excuse) include:

* Ang's housewarming
* "Corinne was right all along about women"
* Duke vs. the Sun
* "No more alcohol ever" -- or at least no 154 proof rum...

Duke

Peter Pan: That Movie

1:55pm screening on Wednesday at Tinseltown.

Grae's Birthday

Board games it is.

Denny's North Road by Lougheed Mall
9pm
Friday January 30th

Bring change for coffee.
I'll get us a booth.

Your Friendly Weekly D.o.S. Reminder

hey kids,

Just wanted to advise you of tomorrow's screenings: "Oh those wacky Christians!"

7pm: Hell House -- In case you missed it at the viff, we will be screening the amazing, eye opening documentary on the original "Hell House" -- a Halloween scarehouse operated by a Christian Church in the southern US. Graphic and gory, each of the "scary" scenarios are meant to teach you about "God's Love", but the basic hypocrosy will more likely leave you scratching your head or shaking it in shame. Perhapse the scariest thing of all is that these events are now immitated by churches all over the world, including several in the lowermainland. Expertly filmed in a largely non-judgemental maner this movie is nothing short of a must see.


9pm: God Told Me To -- The title refers to the explanation given by the various culprits of a series of seemingly motiveless killings all over New York City. Then things get really weird. And Andy Kaufman is in it. From cult legend Larry Cohen (Q the Winged Serpent).

Let us know if you can make it or not. Guests are of course more than welcome, but a heads up would be nice. Pop fund in effect and I'm pretty sure it's not going to snow, so you'd better have a good excuse...

~meeko

Bubba Ho-tep Update

Currently it is booked for at least a one week engagement starting on 2/13. Tickets will be available 4 days in advance, online at www.cinemark.com or at the theatre, Tinseltown.

All the people I've spoken to are shooting for the 13th, for the obvious reason of a prior engagement on the 14th.

- Duke

Since I don’t want to just be MrEff’s yes-man:

Dear Puke,

The anti-war movement is not a collective. Honest to god, it’s not. They do not choose to participate under a collective banner. A poltical group posts up flyers, web pages, hand outs to get the masses (anyone) to attend a rally based on the issue that they are concerned with (be it anti-war sentiments or Free Peltier). No one claims a right to this group that collects en masse at a rally. These political organizers don’t distance themselves from the wackies because they are open to others ideas, thoughts and opinions. When you create an open rally, you invite anyone with like or opposing interests. Why should an organizer take any credit or blame for the action of anyone in attendance?
Protests, rallies, whatever you want to call them are not “working” as you feel they should in that they don’t stop the war. I think that these protests, rallies, etc. have more than one purpose. Sure, if a whole bunch of people physically say somewhere and it stopped war all over the world that would be swell, but that doesn’t happen. What does happen is that 100 people find a place to stand and voice their opinion. They invite everyone. People listen, people learn. The audience and support for an idea expands over time. Look at the WTO. Do you believe that most people would even care if it weren’t for protesters? Now you have Jane Smith, anchorwoman, running a story about why people destroyed Seattle’s downtown. When there is dissent and upheaval it makes for good 6:05 news.

The grassroots political groups need to pick their battles, and they do. I’m sure they are very sorry about not being able to hold a rally every hour of every day for every human-suffering world event that is horrible and caused by wealthy bastards. If they don’t fight all of them it does not mean that the causes they do choose are somehow less worthy of our attention.

As far as the removal of Saddam, there are other options. Ideally, yes, you create a huge domestic opposition. Realistically, you hire a sharp shooter or four, pin the blame on the guy in the warehouse who ran into a movie theatre and there never was a grassy knoll. Honestly. You don’t send off all the physically able citizens aged 18 to 34 into a pit of death to kill anyone aged 0-125 over there. Innocent people get killed in wars. Innocent children get raised in wars. Innocent children growing up in violence become violent adults. You’re setting up for future wars when you teach societies that this is the only way to solve conflicts.

Just because someone opposes Saddam and opposes war but does not have a brilliant underplayed solution doesn’t mean that they are somehow wrong. I just came up with one very sketchy alternative to the removal of Saddam without war (the whole grassy knoll). Am I all of a sudden right about opposing both war and Saddam?

The status quo on Iraq a year ago = not good. The status quo 5 years ago = not good. The status quo now = not good. What’s different is that with the removal of Saddam there are prospects for the future. People are still dying on a regular basis of unnatural causes, just now there are Americans in the mix and the numbers per day are probably up.

“Most members of the movement argue that they take to the streets in favor of the voiceless people of the countries involved; they seem instead to be arguing against any American military action.”

I don’t think those two are separate issues entirely. If American military action is taken what effect does that have on the voiceless population?

I think there is a difference between violent interventions such as war (that an anti-war movement is likely to dislike) and political interventions. Some interventions are worse than other. Going down the line we have War being the worst for all parties, All Sanctions being horrible for the citizens of the punished country, Trade Sanctions will hurt the businesses (in turn the citizens, in turn the economy, in turn the state) but at a high cost for all parties if the export is important, Opposition Campaigns (in this case unhappening—in many cases where regimes need to be removed), Political intervention with Human Rights trials from the UN and so on and so forth (but we know the limitations of the UN) and finally Humanitarian aid such as citizen empowerment programs. It’s like giving an 11 year old the talk about the birds and the bees. Sure it’s intervention, but it’s good intervention.

There is nothing moral about a country getting violent when other options can be made available for a lot less of the costs of both finances and lives. You rape comparison is false as we can call an authority to prevent it. The world stage has no one at this time (and if we did it would be Revelations, baby).

If you get to the UN make the tools of political upheaval an army of sharp shooters.

Just because some one doesn’t believe war to be the answer and does not have an answer of their own does not mean that they are doing a disservice or are magically wrong. It’s not unlike telling an anti-abortionist that protesting doesn’t work and that they should somehow rise to government with that platform to change that law. Not everyone has the desire to enter politics in a very real way.

request

folks, if I'm ever doing something REALLY stupid and am trying to justify it somehow that's total bullshit, PLEASE call me on it. it really bugs me when friendship takes precendence over honesty. if you're a real friend, you'll be honest, for my own good. if I'm doing something that's not cool, call me to the mat on it. I'd gladly do the same for you.

we now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast...

An Open Letter to Blue.

Your open letter to the anti-war movement reeks of ignorance and does you a disservice. For readers as at home, I do not plan on quoting it, so if you can't follow along, tough cookies. You will find a link here. (You may need to scroll down).

To sum up the gist of your letter:

The anti-war movement is deserving of outrage because:

a) They have not been successful
b) When they have been moderately successful, they have supported regimes that have caused horrible atrocities
c) They haven't protested all of the other wars or lobbied for outside intervention in them.


You argument rests on one obviously contentious assumption: That the anti-war protestors are all the same, and that none of them did in fact protest the wars that you mentioned. A fact I find quite hard to believe. Despite the fact that you seem to think that the anti-war movement is comprised entirely of people that are completely ignorant of world affairs. This seems like an obviously false assumption. The hard left (much of whom comprise the so-called anti-war movement) tend to be fairly knowledgeable about what's going on in the world, quite often more so than your average Joe. Making gross generalizations about a movement so big as the anti-war movement doesn't seem fair.

This being said I have a bone to pick with each of your "arguments."

a) This argument is ridiculous. It makes no sense to criticize a protest movement for not having been able to effect the changes that they are trying to bring about. That's like criticizing someone trying to escape imprisonment for not having been able too. The goal that they have set themselves is quite a difficult one to obtain, what with deeply entrenched conservative and military powers.

b) Here, you are effectively saying something akin to Bush and "If you are not against us, you're supporting terrorism." Simply because someone does not support interventionist policies does not mean that they support the regimes that intervention has been considered for. The anti-war movement doesn't think that war is the right way to bring about the needed change. By and large the anti-war movement are probably more eager to bring about some change in these countries for the better, tan people who support military intervention as they quite often have a better idea of what's going on in countries like that (think Amnesty International and its work to this regard). They just don't think that violence is the right way to go about it. How horrible of them!

c) You give an in depth list of wars that you say that haven't been properly protested by the anti-war movement. First of all, I'm not sure that you have you facts right. I have no evidence that the anti-war movement has not been active in any protest of these wars. Secondly, you argue that they should have protested for intervention in these wars when this goes against exactly what they believe in: they actively fight against interventionist thinking. Thirdly, even if it were the case that they didn't protest these (a few of which occurred well before a lot them were even born) it seems really strange of you to suggest that protesting is useless, but also that they should have been protesting. Not to mention the fact that it really does make more sense to protest your own government's actions as you have a greater chance of effecting change. Finally, you should direct more of your outrage against yourself for having been just as much an accomplice in tacit support for all of these wars too.

Today's Big Fish Screening

Has been moved to the 9:30pm show at Granville 7 (Cineplex Odeon).

I'm back.

you bastards just wouldn't let me take a vacation, so I'm writing on my page again. I hope you're all happy. I assure you it has nothing to do with my exhibitionist nature or my need to share "my story" to gain acceptance or anything like that...

BJ, you're right.

Having just watched Chasing Amy once again, Jason Lee is definately someone I would go gay for.

SFU Philosophy Stuff

For those interested:


Daniel Dennett
==============
Philosopher and cognitive scientist from Tufts University,
Massachusetts
Recent books include "Freedom Evolves" and "Darwin's Dangerous Idea"

Dennett will give two different talks at SFU:

"Explaining the 'magic' of consciousness"
-----------------------------------------
Friday Jan 16, 7:30pm, SFU Harbour Centre (Koerner Lecture series in
Graduate Liberal Studies)

Just as many people don't want stage magic explained to them--it spoils
the mystery--many people resist explanations of consciousness that show
it to be less miraculous than it first appears. A good theory of
consciousness must confront this distorting attitude head on. Dennett
will present some examples of how aspects of consciousness can be
explained without any magic.
(NOTE: talk is free but call 604-291-5100 or email
mary-jane_clapton@sfu.ca to reserve seat)

"Freedom Evolves"
-----------------
Monday Jan 19, 4:30pm, SFU Burnaby C9001

Traditionally, people have thought that human free will--being able to
act or not act as we choose, "of our own free will"--was threatened by
the prospect of determinism in physics. Dennett claims that biology,
not physics (or metaphysics!), holds the key to both free will and
political freedom. Freedom can best be understood as a biological
phenomena that has evolved and is still evolving, according to
Darwinian natural selection. (No reservations necessary)


Dennett's pretty cool and he kind of looks like Santa.

Burtony goodness...

After a centuries-long absence, I'm returning to Vancouver for a weekend. I'll be mounting an expedition to Big Fish, most likely 3:30 Saturday at the Granville 7. Who's in?

BUBBA HO-TEP IS COOOOMING TO TOWN!

B-H-T is screening in Vancouver! Check it out!!!

February 13
LOS ANGELES, CA - New Beverly Cinema
VANCOUVER, BC (Canada) - Tinseltown 12

A little less conversation, this movie is second to none!

Don't make me use my stuff on you! See the trailer.

BUBBAHOTEP.COM

p.s. Somebody tell Trevorrrrrrrrrrrr!

Since I've Officially Started "Surfing" Again

Though this might make someone's day.

Chariots of Fire

Yesterday, in the snow addled Vancouver, I took a bus after registering (waitlisted for 1.5, the .5 I probably won't take) across the Second Narrows. Was it condensation that was creating an indoor cloud or was it smoke? Either which way, we had to shuffle to the front of the bus and pull off the road to safety. The bus driver was the same guy who drove the bus that burnt to a crisp going up to SFU. He swore he wasn't jinxed and told us how we ended up with the bus with smokiness and no visibility through the windows: his last one was a newer low level bus, but the farebox was broken (not uncommon) so he got the leftovers of a very old bus.

So yeah, I felt kinda woozy leaving the bus, but it may have been my 4 hours of registration hell without food.

death cab for christian

I need help.

I just bought the entire library of death cab for cutie. in the translatlanticism album there was a little flyer for barsuk records including a 15% off promotional code. I liked the album (and postal service, as I mentioned) so I figured I'd go buy a couple more.

well, they have a package. everything DCfC has ever released, save translatlanticism, for $50 US. free shipping. 15% off. why buy the three LPs when I could get three EPs thrown in for ten bucks more?

this is bad. I was fine in my little hole, not knowing about new music, content with my current collection. now my ears have been opened to "indie" bands and it's like high school all over again, being bombarded by local bands, only this time they're actually good.

I guess now I'll have to go check out the shins and decemberists, and see if they're as good as everyone says they are. any other recommendations? I don't need to eat. might as well spend all of my money on music.

even considering picking up a lot of these on vinyl. which would require buying a turntable. just seems kinda cool to have shit on vinyl. granted, that bandwagon is waaaaaaaay gone already, and I'd be just a tad late, but what else do I have to do?

Invitations...

As you'll soon hear in greater detail, I have a place in Victoria now, a lovely 2BR in downtown with a frequently absent roommate. Anybody wanna come visit, Seattle-road-trip style? I will, of course, inform the interested when the roomie is likely to leave town, and then we can do a circuit of the movie theatres within walking distance (3 of them!!!) and drink ourselves blind amid the flytraps (of which I'll speak more soon). Come over![he says, voice quivering with desperation]! But not this coming weekend, when I'll be on the mainland. That would just be silly.

Snow

It is going to snow tomorrow.

moo

More Top Tens

Top 10 Movies of 2003

10. Cabin Fever
09. Matrix: Reloaded
08. James Ellroy's Feast of Death
07. Lost in Translation
06. Legend of Suriyotai
05. Spellbound
04. 28 Days Later
03. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
02. A Tale of Two Sisters
01. Kill Bill Volume 1

Top 10 IndieRock/Electronic Albums

10) The Shins "Chutes Too Narrow"
9) Four Tet "Rounds"
8) Broken Social Scene "You Forgot It in People"
7) Prefuse 73 "One Word Extinguisher"
6) M83 "Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts"
5) The Books "The Lemon of Pink"
4) the Unicorns "Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?"
3) TManitoba "Up in Flames"
2) Postal Service "Give Up"
1) The Weakerthans "Reconstruction Site"

Top 5 Guys I would Go Gay for:
5) Henrik Sedin
4) Daniel Sedin
3) Ryan Phillippe
2) Ben Affleck
1) Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio

Top 5 Overall CDs:

5) Alkaline Trio "Good Mourning"
4) The Weakerthans "Reconstruction Site"
3) Rise Against "Revolutions per Minute"
2) Non-Prophets "Hope"
1) Thrice "The Artist and the Ambulance"


Please note, the overall CD ratings may run counter to the categorical ratings, as I have had some time to reflect since making the original few categories. Also, 3 Movies included on my top ten movie list were actually seen at the very beginning of 2004, but I don't give a fuck, I'm gonna put them in there anyways.

moobies.

not sure if there's anything comparable up north, but I've enrolled with netflix. we'll see how it works. you pay a flat rate of $20 a month, and you can rent as many dvds as you want through the mail. you can have up to three out at a time, and when you return one they ship another out. all postage is prepaid and everything, so it sounds like an interesting deal. if you can watch the movies and return them within a day, you can actually end up renting a lot of movies for around a buck a day. they don't have much of the really obscure stuff, but they do have damn near everything you'd find at your typical blockbuster type rental place, and then a little extra.

the downside is you don't get much time to watch them. sure, you can hold onto them as long as you like (no late fees), but you don't get any more until you return them. to make it economically viable, I imagine you'd need a turnaround of 48 hours or less per flick (plus the 1-3 days for postage each way).

anyway, we'll see how it works. I've got 58 movies queued up and ready to go. I'll be enjoying my hermitage by watching a shitload of movies, it would appear.