And of course I'm going to blog about my Austin adventures, but still trying to figure out how to upload photos from a CD I burned on this newfangled laptop.
But lots of fun, wine and butterflies. And yes, those butterflies are gettin' it on.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
I peed on the corpse. Can they do, like, an ID from that?
And of course I'm going to blog about my Austin adventures, but still trying to figure out how to upload photos from a CD I burned on this newfangled laptop.
But lots of fun, wine and butterflies. And yes, those butterflies are gettin' it on.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
I can't believe you're gonna let a few little letters of the alphabet keep us apart. It is a detail! Just - look, just call me Damon, okay?
The countdown is on! Iron Man comes out this weekend, totally jazzed. Need to get the hook-up to see if I can get into a screening beforehand...
Anyhoo, what a great weekend! While I did not attend the Cinematic Titanic event due to my needing to be in Austin, the event did sell out and our tribute video was a big success.
Infact, I just have to take a moment to squee and gloat because Joel Hodgson wants a copy of the video I worked on. Totally requested a copy and everything. Yup. Hee hee. Ok, I'm done.
My friend J forgot my Mitchell poster at home (he says he felt very badly about it and got a program signed for me instead) and he immediately followed this up with the news that Joel wanted a copy.
The fuck am I going to do with a Joe Don Baker poster??
On the somewhat sad side, my name appears nowhere on the video (there aren't "credits" really) nor did it make the program, since the book was printed before J could get the names to them he needed. So none of the MST3K people were forced to read my name, which I thought would be pretty nice, but really, I guess it doesn't matter. (I say this now, though I admit I may have been a little disappointed).
But it was fun and that's the important thing. I've been investigating buying Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro for my own use, but I think they may be pricier than I think. I like and know Premiere, but I think video editing people prefer FCP. Which I should really learn anyway.
But first I need to buy San Francisco tickets for Emily's wedding! And a digital Canon Rebel. So video editing software may be on the back burner for a while. Like the way back burner.
Anyhoo, what a great weekend! While I did not attend the Cinematic Titanic event due to my needing to be in Austin, the event did sell out and our tribute video was a big success.
Infact, I just have to take a moment to squee and gloat because Joel Hodgson wants a copy of the video I worked on. Totally requested a copy and everything. Yup. Hee hee. Ok, I'm done.
My friend J forgot my Mitchell poster at home (he says he felt very badly about it and got a program signed for me instead) and he immediately followed this up with the news that Joel wanted a copy.
The fuck am I going to do with a Joe Don Baker poster??
On the somewhat sad side, my name appears nowhere on the video (there aren't "credits" really) nor did it make the program, since the book was printed before J could get the names to them he needed. So none of the MST3K people were forced to read my name, which I thought would be pretty nice, but really, I guess it doesn't matter. (I say this now, though I admit I may have been a little disappointed).
But it was fun and that's the important thing. I've been investigating buying Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro for my own use, but I think they may be pricier than I think. I like and know Premiere, but I think video editing people prefer FCP. Which I should really learn anyway.
But first I need to buy San Francisco tickets for Emily's wedding! And a digital Canon Rebel. So video editing software may be on the back burner for a while. Like the way back burner.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
You won't get anywhere by calling your boss a pimp.
I'm at home! More Japan pics! No such thing as too many.
Saturday was a great day. We started at Ueno Park, it's probably the biggest for hanami parties and it's where they keep the panda, too. (In the zoo, though).
We were there early, but not as early as some, who were saving spots for the afternoon (or late-morning) drinking and eating...
Love the sake bottles and the lack of worry that someone might steal them...
Normally you separate your trash at home as burnable and non-burnables, but there is some serious segregation going on here:
The happy orange juice both scares and amuses me.
We hit a really decent 100 yen store (they're so hit or miss) and got lots of trinkets and souvenirs for back home. Then we walked through the shopping arcade of Ueno, which lines the train tracks and took us to Akihabara, which is more Alex's side of town. It used to be electric town (and still is) but since Shinjuku and Shibuya are so competitive it's now also the place to go for manga. I would have been clueless, so I didn't try!
But in Ueno I did buy two pairs of very bitchin' shoes--one pair is red velvet and the other is black and white and hard to describe but they have a nice 40s vibe. I'll take pics one of these days.
We hit a Thai restaurant in Akihabara for lunch which was decent but not as good as I'd hoped considering it was a bit out of the way. (Not counting my also passing it the first time).
We then foolishly decided to go to Harajuku for Yoyogi Park since it was sitting time and/or beer time. Now, we'd gone earlier in the week but today was Saturday and it was prime cherry blossom time and Harajuku continues to be considered the happening place to be. And the train station proved it.
I don't have pictures, but the tunnel (which was an overpass and thank god, caged rather than walled in) to get out was packed solid all the way down to the platform. As soon as you got off the train, you had to stand in line to get out of the station. I have never seen it like that. It's a small station with two major exits, but no matter how you went, you had to shuffle along at a mouse's crawl to get out. It was actually less smothering than I expected.
We finally got out and passed up the convenience store for beer as it's a shoebox to begin with--now picture the line running outside and you'd opt for the park's gouging beer prices, too. But we finally made it to the park to people-watched and drink...
Inasmuch as I am not a dog person, this was a really cute (very excited) puppy.
Lots of picture taking, obviously.
I thought this was cute.
It was late in the afternoon and getting cooler, so we finally headed out.
And oh holy jesus, you'd better hope you don't have to wee RIGHT THAT SECOND. There are two stalls in there.
We then went to Takondanabba (which is totally fun to say) for dinner and music. This was really frustrating because Lonely Planet FUCKED UP their map of the neighborhood. They got the Italian restaurant's address WRONG (which we stumbled upon anyway) and they put the jazz club in the weirdest spot. It was all A HUGE FUCKING LIE when you got down to it and made me very bitter toward the Lonely Planet people, as little else is more frustrating than trying to find your way with a FUCKED MAP.
First we hit the Italian restaurant, which we hadn't planned on doing but it had a good reputation and the owner was very nice, even though his Japanese and Italian were apparently much better than his English (and I presume, his listening skills). Ran into some friendly ex-pats who could have been more helpful if we'd been looking for a pub, which I really loathe in Tokyo, actually. Really overpriced and usually full of annoying fuckwit apes. But anyhoo.
We attempted again to find our little jazz club, and had to ask directions (ok, more than once) and the Family Mart people win for Most Helpful People Ever, the guy even taking me out onto the street and pointing out the way to go. Turns out it's on the main street, just a few blocks from the station. Like, the easiest location ever. We would have found it faster if we had never used the map at all. (But how would you know??)
Despite the hassle, it was so totally worth it. It's a place called Jazz Spot Intro and I hope to go back each time I hit Tokyo. I think Saturday night is really the only night you know they're playing. The room is the size of a one-car garage (and then put a BAR in and a BABY GRAND PIANO. Now try to fill it with PEOPLE!) and it was already pretty full when we got there. Luckily, they were in-between sessions because if you think my Japanese-listening skills are bad, they're even worse when tested over loud music.
And I'm not saying the jukebox went off and the crickets set in upon our arrival, but it was definitely noticed. There was nowhere to sit--even sitting at the bar would have been tricky, but the owner (who runs the bar and joins in many of the sessions with his saxophone, always hanging from his neck) scurried around and all of a sudden, two people "were just leaving" and there was a table for us. I felt bad but I was also not going to argue.
I'd say there were initially about 12 people in there (and it was full) and 9 of them were there to play. The other three were girlfriends? Who knows, but it's a huge place for musicians and it was so much fun to watch and listen. Definitely really cramped--which was part of the charm (as long as you get there early--it somehow got even MORE crowded as the night went on and I was so glad we'd arrived when we did), but it was such a great experience. Everyone took turns playing music, and I was also happy to see a couple women on stage, one on flute and one on piano.
Great night, but still pissed at the Lonely Planet wanks.
Saturday was a great day. We started at Ueno Park, it's probably the biggest for hanami parties and it's where they keep the panda, too. (In the zoo, though).
We were there early, but not as early as some, who were saving spots for the afternoon (or late-morning) drinking and eating...
Love the sake bottles and the lack of worry that someone might steal them...
Normally you separate your trash at home as burnable and non-burnables, but there is some serious segregation going on here:
The happy orange juice both scares and amuses me.
We hit a really decent 100 yen store (they're so hit or miss) and got lots of trinkets and souvenirs for back home. Then we walked through the shopping arcade of Ueno, which lines the train tracks and took us to Akihabara, which is more Alex's side of town. It used to be electric town (and still is) but since Shinjuku and Shibuya are so competitive it's now also the place to go for manga. I would have been clueless, so I didn't try!
But in Ueno I did buy two pairs of very bitchin' shoes--one pair is red velvet and the other is black and white and hard to describe but they have a nice 40s vibe. I'll take pics one of these days.
We hit a Thai restaurant in Akihabara for lunch which was decent but not as good as I'd hoped considering it was a bit out of the way. (Not counting my also passing it the first time).
We then foolishly decided to go to Harajuku for Yoyogi Park since it was sitting time and/or beer time. Now, we'd gone earlier in the week but today was Saturday and it was prime cherry blossom time and Harajuku continues to be considered the happening place to be. And the train station proved it.
I don't have pictures, but the tunnel (which was an overpass and thank god, caged rather than walled in) to get out was packed solid all the way down to the platform. As soon as you got off the train, you had to stand in line to get out of the station. I have never seen it like that. It's a small station with two major exits, but no matter how you went, you had to shuffle along at a mouse's crawl to get out. It was actually less smothering than I expected.
We finally got out and passed up the convenience store for beer as it's a shoebox to begin with--now picture the line running outside and you'd opt for the park's gouging beer prices, too. But we finally made it to the park to people-watched and drink...
Inasmuch as I am not a dog person, this was a really cute (very excited) puppy.
Lots of picture taking, obviously.
I thought this was cute.
It was late in the afternoon and getting cooler, so we finally headed out.
And oh holy jesus, you'd better hope you don't have to wee RIGHT THAT SECOND. There are two stalls in there.
We then went to Takondanabba (which is totally fun to say) for dinner and music. This was really frustrating because Lonely Planet FUCKED UP their map of the neighborhood. They got the Italian restaurant's address WRONG (which we stumbled upon anyway) and they put the jazz club in the weirdest spot. It was all A HUGE FUCKING LIE when you got down to it and made me very bitter toward the Lonely Planet people, as little else is more frustrating than trying to find your way with a FUCKED MAP.
First we hit the Italian restaurant, which we hadn't planned on doing but it had a good reputation and the owner was very nice, even though his Japanese and Italian were apparently much better than his English (and I presume, his listening skills). Ran into some friendly ex-pats who could have been more helpful if we'd been looking for a pub, which I really loathe in Tokyo, actually. Really overpriced and usually full of annoying fuckwit apes. But anyhoo.
We attempted again to find our little jazz club, and had to ask directions (ok, more than once) and the Family Mart people win for Most Helpful People Ever, the guy even taking me out onto the street and pointing out the way to go. Turns out it's on the main street, just a few blocks from the station. Like, the easiest location ever. We would have found it faster if we had never used the map at all. (But how would you know??)
Despite the hassle, it was so totally worth it. It's a place called Jazz Spot Intro and I hope to go back each time I hit Tokyo. I think Saturday night is really the only night you know they're playing. The room is the size of a one-car garage (and then put a BAR in and a BABY GRAND PIANO. Now try to fill it with PEOPLE!) and it was already pretty full when we got there. Luckily, they were in-between sessions because if you think my Japanese-listening skills are bad, they're even worse when tested over loud music.
And I'm not saying the jukebox went off and the crickets set in upon our arrival, but it was definitely noticed. There was nowhere to sit--even sitting at the bar would have been tricky, but the owner (who runs the bar and joins in many of the sessions with his saxophone, always hanging from his neck) scurried around and all of a sudden, two people "were just leaving" and there was a table for us. I felt bad but I was also not going to argue.
I'd say there were initially about 12 people in there (and it was full) and 9 of them were there to play. The other three were girlfriends? Who knows, but it's a huge place for musicians and it was so much fun to watch and listen. Definitely really cramped--which was part of the charm (as long as you get there early--it somehow got even MORE crowded as the night went on and I was so glad we'd arrived when we did), but it was such a great experience. Everyone took turns playing music, and I was also happy to see a couple women on stage, one on flute and one on piano.
Great night, but still pissed at the Lonely Planet wanks.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Doesn't being Universal make it International?
I must have really wanted to edit last night, as I got off work early and had to drive by the house to pick up the videos Joe sent, hit J's house to get the converter box for digitizing, then head up to the Angelika in downtown Dallas.
But I'm really glad I did! The festival started yesterday so J was incredibly busy as things seldom go smoothly with these things (video projectors at that place are possessed, I SWEAR) which meant that I basically got to do all the editing on the piece. This has its up and down sides.
The up side? Complete creative control, woo baby! The down side? Well, it probably looks like it was edited by someone who hasn't edited in ten years. (Ok, seven). And that's not altogether my fault--I didn't have a whole lot of material, meaning the montage section probably doesn't have as many cuts as it should. Grr. Plus it still needs to get smoothed out with the finishing touches, though I do have it coming in at 22 minutes, which I think really impressed J since I wanted it to be 30 (til I learned that would just take away time from the panel).
I can't tell if I love it or if I'm embarrassed by it. On the one hand, I'm so thrilled to have been using Premiere again and I like a bunch of the cuts I did. Then another time I watched it and I was just like, oh my god. This is the most amateurish thing ever. Oh well. At least it's nearly done!
Soon I will have other things to talk about, I swear.
But I'm really glad I did! The festival started yesterday so J was incredibly busy as things seldom go smoothly with these things (video projectors at that place are possessed, I SWEAR) which meant that I basically got to do all the editing on the piece. This has its up and down sides.
The up side? Complete creative control, woo baby! The down side? Well, it probably looks like it was edited by someone who hasn't edited in ten years. (Ok, seven). And that's not altogether my fault--I didn't have a whole lot of material, meaning the montage section probably doesn't have as many cuts as it should. Grr. Plus it still needs to get smoothed out with the finishing touches, though I do have it coming in at 22 minutes, which I think really impressed J since I wanted it to be 30 (til I learned that would just take away time from the panel).
I can't tell if I love it or if I'm embarrassed by it. On the one hand, I'm so thrilled to have been using Premiere again and I like a bunch of the cuts I did. Then another time I watched it and I was just like, oh my god. This is the most amateurish thing ever. Oh well. At least it's nearly done!
Soon I will have other things to talk about, I swear.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Puppet wranglers? There weren't any puppets in this movie.
Not being terribly familiar with the show, J keeps coming up with questions to ask me. Luckily, I don't think he's too serious. But still.
Isn't commercial sign yellow? How come it went to Frank?
So the door to Joel's pod is the same as the movie theater door? (For Soultaker, the reunion episode).
So if Joel made the 'bots, how were the Mads going to communicate with him if he didn't? (Since there would be no Cambot).
So Joel was a janitor, but he made the 'bots, including Gypsy, who flies the ship? I don't think so.
What are the Mads doing on the Satellite of Love? (It was an alternate universe).
First I asked him if he listened to the theme song. ("If you're wondering how he eats and sleeps, and other science facts, just repeat to yourself, 'It's just a show, I should really just relax!'") He said yes but he still asks. Then I just slapped him.
Then I told him he can ask Joel. But that I don't want Joel to know I know him.
Isn't commercial sign yellow? How come it went to Frank?
So the door to Joel's pod is the same as the movie theater door? (For Soultaker, the reunion episode).
So if Joel made the 'bots, how were the Mads going to communicate with him if he didn't? (Since there would be no Cambot).
So Joel was a janitor, but he made the 'bots, including Gypsy, who flies the ship? I don't think so.
What are the Mads doing on the Satellite of Love? (It was an alternate universe).
First I asked him if he listened to the theme song. ("If you're wondering how he eats and sleeps, and other science facts, just repeat to yourself, 'It's just a show, I should really just relax!'") He said yes but he still asks. Then I just slapped him.
Then I told him he can ask Joel. But that I don't want Joel to know I know him.
Let's see how you like it when the lawn piddles on you!
I smell another MST3K dream coming on. Got to the theater around 2pm and just got home--it's 1:15am. Digitizing and editing takes a long ass time. And we're not really close to being done! I'd prefer it to be a 30-minute piece but it needs to be more like 20 minutes so as not to cut down on panel time.
I pulled various clips for a visual montage at the end, the intro is basically done and the theater clips are mostly assembled for the Joel films and the Mike films. Mike Nelson won't be there (that we know of) so as it stands now the Mike film clips run under four minutes and the Joel clips run around six. I think it's more than acceptable that the film segments take up half the piece, but I don't think others will agree. It's not like I'm on the bottom of the totem pole, I'm not even on the damn thing, so my opinion really isn't going too far. But so far I've been the one to do most of the clip pulling, so it's a passive power I have.
I feel kinda bad, it's pretty obvious I spent more time on the Joel clips. Not only are the Mike films running under four minutes, they don't have the variety of the first group. But I mean, come on. That's what I was given to work with--I just didn't go out of my way to get more like I did with the earlier seasons (though I would, given the time). I really wish I had the time to pull better clips altogether--these are fine but we're really missing some essentials, like the stuff I always quote. Oh well.
I have a feeling my input may kind of end here. I want to work on it tomorrow but it means going up there in the early afternoon (by which I mean 1-2pm) when I've been trying to get home to Denton for a little while! And during the week I work during the day, but J has film fest stuff at night so he needs to work on it during the day. We'll see.
I certainly like the material, but it's really nice to be playing around with video editing again, it has been a really, really long time.
Oh, and I bought a poster of Mitchell that, assuming it arrives in time, will hopefully get some autographs. (Delightfully paid for by my online writing! See, I knew that pocketful of change in my PayPal account would come in handy someday!)
I pulled various clips for a visual montage at the end, the intro is basically done and the theater clips are mostly assembled for the Joel films and the Mike films. Mike Nelson won't be there (that we know of) so as it stands now the Mike film clips run under four minutes and the Joel clips run around six. I think it's more than acceptable that the film segments take up half the piece, but I don't think others will agree. It's not like I'm on the bottom of the totem pole, I'm not even on the damn thing, so my opinion really isn't going too far. But so far I've been the one to do most of the clip pulling, so it's a passive power I have.
I feel kinda bad, it's pretty obvious I spent more time on the Joel clips. Not only are the Mike films running under four minutes, they don't have the variety of the first group. But I mean, come on. That's what I was given to work with--I just didn't go out of my way to get more like I did with the earlier seasons (though I would, given the time). I really wish I had the time to pull better clips altogether--these are fine but we're really missing some essentials, like the stuff I always quote. Oh well.
I have a feeling my input may kind of end here. I want to work on it tomorrow but it means going up there in the early afternoon (by which I mean 1-2pm) when I've been trying to get home to Denton for a little while! And during the week I work during the day, but J has film fest stuff at night so he needs to work on it during the day. We'll see.
I certainly like the material, but it's really nice to be playing around with video editing again, it has been a really, really long time.
Oh, and I bought a poster of Mitchell that, assuming it arrives in time, will hopefully get some autographs. (Delightfully paid for by my online writing! See, I knew that pocketful of change in my PayPal account would come in handy someday!)
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Deep Hurting.
Wow, thanks to my dad for this fantastic news blip about these people who sell candles that yes, smell like Jesus. You know, I'm going to stop working and playing the lottery. I'm just going to come up with the next batshit crazy Jesus fad or else start looking for Virgin Mary-shaped food to sell on ebay.
Wow, where has April gone? Next week Veloute is going to be here! That means next Tuesday is the 22nd! Like, holy shit! So exciting! Gotta save my pennies, especially for Austin and wine country! I'm actually starving right now so it hurts to think about Mangia or barbeque...might salivate all over my keyboard.
Gotta go work on the MiSTie project tonight. It's hard because I'm notating time code for the best bits from various episodes, which takes time, then at night I'm digitizing it at my friend's work. He actually wants to start editing tonight, which is luckily possible with this new-fangled digital editing, but I still don't think we have enough material to start slapping shit together. But we'll soon see.
And many, many super thanks with sprinkles on top to Cinemaslave Joe for sending me a couple extra shows we just didn't have. I recall watching the big Thanksgiving marathons (30 hours of MST3K! yeah baby!) and seeing the little documentary This is MST3K, but I never owned it. And even though MST3K: The Movie comes out on DVD in May, that doesn't do us much good NOW. Hello Macrovision VHS, right? My work friend J says he can defeat it but he'd rather just have a proper copy which hooray, Joe is a-sendin'.
And then I asked for two more I really wanted to include in the montages or just in the film-watching segments--there's one movie where Gypsy gets to sit in with the guys and another where Crow has to fight off his evil replica Timmy, a black version of Crow. Fire Maidens From Outer Space and Hercules and the Captive Women, I believe. Good stuff. It's quite bizarre and their antics continue throughout their watching the movie, which rarely happened.
I hope it all falls together well. My friend J, with whom I'm editing this, gets a little obsessed about quality (not that I'm complaining!) and I keep having to explain that the whole low-budget high-on-charm thing is part of its appeal. He originally didn't think we should have too many clips of them in the theater as it would really look crappy once thrown up on the big screen. So we got a clip and tried it and luckily, it actually looks way better than I expected. But again, I had to sort of say, "Dude. That's what this show is. We have to show as much of this as we can!" But of course we'll have plenty of the other stuff...it's just that I'm way biased.
In my viewing time, though, I just have to say I'm pretty sure Mitchell will always be my favorite. That is just the worst, oiliest and most repulsive "hero" of any movie ever. The hell was anyone thinking?
Ok, time to go play with more MST3K!
Wow, where has April gone? Next week Veloute is going to be here! That means next Tuesday is the 22nd! Like, holy shit! So exciting! Gotta save my pennies, especially for Austin and wine country! I'm actually starving right now so it hurts to think about Mangia or barbeque...might salivate all over my keyboard.
Gotta go work on the MiSTie project tonight. It's hard because I'm notating time code for the best bits from various episodes, which takes time, then at night I'm digitizing it at my friend's work. He actually wants to start editing tonight, which is luckily possible with this new-fangled digital editing, but I still don't think we have enough material to start slapping shit together. But we'll soon see.
And many, many super thanks with sprinkles on top to Cinemaslave Joe for sending me a couple extra shows we just didn't have. I recall watching the big Thanksgiving marathons (30 hours of MST3K! yeah baby!) and seeing the little documentary This is MST3K, but I never owned it. And even though MST3K: The Movie comes out on DVD in May, that doesn't do us much good NOW. Hello Macrovision VHS, right? My work friend J says he can defeat it but he'd rather just have a proper copy which hooray, Joe is a-sendin'.
And then I asked for two more I really wanted to include in the montages or just in the film-watching segments--there's one movie where Gypsy gets to sit in with the guys and another where Crow has to fight off his evil replica Timmy, a black version of Crow. Fire Maidens From Outer Space and Hercules and the Captive Women, I believe. Good stuff. It's quite bizarre and their antics continue throughout their watching the movie, which rarely happened.
I hope it all falls together well. My friend J, with whom I'm editing this, gets a little obsessed about quality (not that I'm complaining!) and I keep having to explain that the whole low-budget high-on-charm thing is part of its appeal. He originally didn't think we should have too many clips of them in the theater as it would really look crappy once thrown up on the big screen. So we got a clip and tried it and luckily, it actually looks way better than I expected. But again, I had to sort of say, "Dude. That's what this show is. We have to show as much of this as we can!" But of course we'll have plenty of the other stuff...it's just that I'm way biased.
In my viewing time, though, I just have to say I'm pretty sure Mitchell will always be my favorite. That is just the worst, oiliest and most repulsive "hero" of any movie ever. The hell was anyone thinking?
Ok, time to go play with more MST3K!
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
After all, I got a car...he got a computer!
I have been very bad about posting. But I'm really, really tired. I haven't even really gotten a chance to play with my new toy...a laptop!
D got me an early birthday present yesterday--we went laptop shopping. I was having a hard time choosing in the store, as a sexy Toshiba kinda caught my eye, but I had done more research on the Compaq so that was a much safer bet. (It was cheaper, too!) So I now have PC access again. Still love my Mac, but they are a tad pricey.
Now I just need to figure out my internet options...
What's been keeping me quite busy is something else. Most of the cast from Mystery Science Theater 3000 is coming at the end of April for a big local film festival to do a live Cinematic Titanic riffing (their new project) in addition to an MST3K panel. Should be very cool.
My friend is hugely involved with the fest and they (somewhat suddenly, considering the size of the project) asked him to throw together a tribute DVD. Well, as he has never really seen the show, guess what? I have plenty of material, and the guy in charge sent a ton over, as he's friends with the MST3K guys.
I'm really thrilled to get to work on it, and I'll go into more detail later, but I was out digitizing video until 1am last night and need to run through a ton of tapes sometime today (??) to mark down some time code for good clips. There's plenty of time, but my friend also has a shitload of other festival-related work to get on, and there's only so much equipment, you know? So no, there's not "plenty of time." Which sucks because I would like to do this really well.
So it's keeping me quite busy and I'm really fucking tired and I had nothing but MST3K dreams last night (or rather, that I was still working on organizing it).
D got me an early birthday present yesterday--we went laptop shopping. I was having a hard time choosing in the store, as a sexy Toshiba kinda caught my eye, but I had done more research on the Compaq so that was a much safer bet. (It was cheaper, too!) So I now have PC access again. Still love my Mac, but they are a tad pricey.
Now I just need to figure out my internet options...
What's been keeping me quite busy is something else. Most of the cast from Mystery Science Theater 3000 is coming at the end of April for a big local film festival to do a live Cinematic Titanic riffing (their new project) in addition to an MST3K panel. Should be very cool.
My friend is hugely involved with the fest and they (somewhat suddenly, considering the size of the project) asked him to throw together a tribute DVD. Well, as he has never really seen the show, guess what? I have plenty of material, and the guy in charge sent a ton over, as he's friends with the MST3K guys.
I'm really thrilled to get to work on it, and I'll go into more detail later, but I was out digitizing video until 1am last night and need to run through a ton of tapes sometime today (??) to mark down some time code for good clips. There's plenty of time, but my friend also has a shitload of other festival-related work to get on, and there's only so much equipment, you know? So no, there's not "plenty of time." Which sucks because I would like to do this really well.
So it's keeping me quite busy and I'm really fucking tired and I had nothing but MST3K dreams last night (or rather, that I was still working on organizing it).
I just want to get from my car to the office without being confronted by the decay of Western society!
I hate when I could leave work early and it's nearly 5. The fuck's the point? Might as well wait til 6:30. As much as I LOVE to sit in traffic. (Though some days I hate work THAT MUCH that yes, I do leave early). But I forgot the ipod today and if I have to listen to ANYMORE of the Petraeus hearings (and thanks to snarky evening TV all I can hear now is Betrayus...) I may off myself.
Anyhoo. Not at home, so I can't post the next set of pics, but in other daily drama...
Dear Mouchette & Bourdain,
First of all, I just want to say thank you for resolving the weird shit between you two. I don't know why you lost it so bad when that asshole stray came around and then decided to take it out on each other for four days, but I'm glad you've moved on. I realize you guys never really worked out that whole alpha male thing, and I'm not sure if that's what you were trying to resolve here all of a sudden, but I'm glad you stopped. You are both, quite frankly, enormous pussies (in every sense of that word).
I'm glad we did not have to spend any money trying to work out your mysterious neuroses, and for that we are much appreciative. We noticed you went from day 1 (GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS ROOM!! **I** AM IN THIS ROOM AND I WILL END YOU!!) to days 2 and 3 (some major bitchiness and lots of hissing/growling) to the 4th day of little to no acknowledgement of having had a problem in the first place. So we let you guys work it out; I can only assume you just got bored with your own snit. Way to take after your passive-aggressive mama.
Next time, please refrain from FREAKING OUT to such an extent. Four days was long enough, and I don't think your daddy quite saw as much of it as I, as we were discussing the stray and seemed to have slightly different feelings on it. I said something along the lines of, "If he comes back, I'm staking his ass up in the yard as a warning to others," to which D replied, "Damn, honey. I was just going to say I can't wait to squirt him with the new super soaker." I have a feeling we won't be able to catch him before your next big melt-down, so just keep this lesson in mind, will you?
Love,
Your Mama
PS Thanks for teaching me, by the way, that CONSTANT, CONTINUAL, UNINTERRUPTED GROWLING is a really annoying sound. I had no idea. I hope I don't hear it again anytime soon.
Anyhoo. Not at home, so I can't post the next set of pics, but in other daily drama...
Dear Mouchette & Bourdain,
First of all, I just want to say thank you for resolving the weird shit between you two. I don't know why you lost it so bad when that asshole stray came around and then decided to take it out on each other for four days, but I'm glad you've moved on. I realize you guys never really worked out that whole alpha male thing, and I'm not sure if that's what you were trying to resolve here all of a sudden, but I'm glad you stopped. You are both, quite frankly, enormous pussies (in every sense of that word).
I'm glad we did not have to spend any money trying to work out your mysterious neuroses, and for that we are much appreciative. We noticed you went from day 1 (GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS ROOM!! **I** AM IN THIS ROOM AND I WILL END YOU!!) to days 2 and 3 (some major bitchiness and lots of hissing/growling) to the 4th day of little to no acknowledgement of having had a problem in the first place. So we let you guys work it out; I can only assume you just got bored with your own snit. Way to take after your passive-aggressive mama.
Next time, please refrain from FREAKING OUT to such an extent. Four days was long enough, and I don't think your daddy quite saw as much of it as I, as we were discussing the stray and seemed to have slightly different feelings on it. I said something along the lines of, "If he comes back, I'm staking his ass up in the yard as a warning to others," to which D replied, "Damn, honey. I was just going to say I can't wait to squirt him with the new super soaker." I have a feeling we won't be able to catch him before your next big melt-down, so just keep this lesson in mind, will you?
Love,
Your Mama
PS Thanks for teaching me, by the way, that CONSTANT, CONTINUAL, UNINTERRUPTED GROWLING is a really annoying sound. I had no idea. I hope I don't hear it again anytime soon.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
And then your mother goes around the corner and she licks it up.
If I'm going to be wide awake at 4:07am, at least I stumbled onto Wil Wheaton's review of one of the top 5 worst STNG episodes, Angel One. Little long, but some great bits in there. And yeah, that episode did suck some balls, as I recall...
His blog is pretty hysterical as well...
His blog is pretty hysterical as well...
Friday, April 04, 2008
I get really turned on just looking at his wrists...
Der. I started this post ages ago and have never finished it. I have been having a real problem with insomnia since coming home, which sort of sucks balls. I sleep for a couple hours and then bam, wide awake. It also makes it very hard to wake up at a normal hour. Anyway, on to what I had previously written...
Omg. So D rented a bunch of 80s cartoons while I was in Japan. He saved a couple for me, and oh my. I recall Gummi Bears with a modicum of shame, but it's pretty bland and mind numbing, nothing special. Then there's Smurfs. The original Smurfs. That shit is messed up. But it's really badly done, too. Like Gargamel decides to freeze out the Smurf village the same day Smurfette gets a dragon? Wtf? But it would make a most excellent drinking game, that's for damn sure. Except it would be hard not to die.
And oh, Vanity Smurf is so wrong. And I'm sorry, but I was never a big fan of Papa Smurf. Old man just rubbed me the wrong way.
Anyhoo, continuing with last Friday, March 28th...
JAPAN '08, PART IV
After the morning of mind-blowing amounts of fish at a mind-blowing hour, we walked over to Shiodome, which is another new area of Tokyo that has popped up in the years since I moved. LOTS of huge skyscrapers and it's a big shopping/work area all compacted together. On our walk there, I saw this building. No idea what it is, but very cool.
And onto Shiodome. This sounds a little weird, but Tokyo isn't really all that full of skyscrapers. The buildings are definitely built UP, but it's one business on top of another on top of another. Not your traditional skyscrapers like you see here.
And it was even better to look at while in the park down the road by the Bay. Great park, except for a very persistent pigeon (no, we weren't feeding it)! Kind of reminded me of the James Woods story in Cat's Eye. (But our feet were spared).
I think that was a teahouse pictured below. We never did check it out. We had our Japanese munchies and then moved on to the subway to hit Shinjuku, since the park put us in the mood for a much bigger hanami-party park, Shinjuku-gyoen.
Stopped by my old noodle stand shop (you order your meal ticket from a vending machine and hand it to the guy, who reproduces it in minutes). It's a stand-up counter, no chairs, and was one of my favorite cheap places for comfort food on a bad day or just cold weather.
Then we hit the park, which has a big sign saying, "No Alcoholic Beverages In Park." (Kinda weird for Japan, but whatever). The first few times I brought in my beverages as surreptitiously as possible, but eventually just said fuck it, as everyone else is openly brazen about it. (I do try to be discreet since I am, after all, still a gaijin...) But I assume it's an exception for the time of year.
Lots of this:
Which is my kinda afternoon! There were a ton of kids running around, and one boy was so out of control he spilled right across my lap, right onto my beer. The chips went astray (ok, how embarrassing, you caught me eating normal Pringles, but sue me I already ate the J-snacks) and he dented the beer can in two. There was still beer in there, but not a single drop was spilt. Although I did have to finish it while it looked like this:
Cute kids, though. They were very apologetic. We offered them Pringles, but only one girl was bold enough to accept. And though I'm rarely partial to children not somehow related to me, little Japanese kids are really fucking cute.
Unless you have to teach them. Then they kind of suck sometimes.
Omg. So D rented a bunch of 80s cartoons while I was in Japan. He saved a couple for me, and oh my. I recall Gummi Bears with a modicum of shame, but it's pretty bland and mind numbing, nothing special. Then there's Smurfs. The original Smurfs. That shit is messed up. But it's really badly done, too. Like Gargamel decides to freeze out the Smurf village the same day Smurfette gets a dragon? Wtf? But it would make a most excellent drinking game, that's for damn sure. Except it would be hard not to die.
And oh, Vanity Smurf is so wrong. And I'm sorry, but I was never a big fan of Papa Smurf. Old man just rubbed me the wrong way.
Anyhoo, continuing with last Friday, March 28th...
JAPAN '08, PART IV
After the morning of mind-blowing amounts of fish at a mind-blowing hour, we walked over to Shiodome, which is another new area of Tokyo that has popped up in the years since I moved. LOTS of huge skyscrapers and it's a big shopping/work area all compacted together. On our walk there, I saw this building. No idea what it is, but very cool.
And onto Shiodome. This sounds a little weird, but Tokyo isn't really all that full of skyscrapers. The buildings are definitely built UP, but it's one business on top of another on top of another. Not your traditional skyscrapers like you see here.
And it was even better to look at while in the park down the road by the Bay. Great park, except for a very persistent pigeon (no, we weren't feeding it)! Kind of reminded me of the James Woods story in Cat's Eye. (But our feet were spared).
I think that was a teahouse pictured below. We never did check it out. We had our Japanese munchies and then moved on to the subway to hit Shinjuku, since the park put us in the mood for a much bigger hanami-party park, Shinjuku-gyoen.
Stopped by my old noodle stand shop (you order your meal ticket from a vending machine and hand it to the guy, who reproduces it in minutes). It's a stand-up counter, no chairs, and was one of my favorite cheap places for comfort food on a bad day or just cold weather.
Then we hit the park, which has a big sign saying, "No Alcoholic Beverages In Park." (Kinda weird for Japan, but whatever). The first few times I brought in my beverages as surreptitiously as possible, but eventually just said fuck it, as everyone else is openly brazen about it. (I do try to be discreet since I am, after all, still a gaijin...) But I assume it's an exception for the time of year.
Lots of this:
Which is my kinda afternoon! There were a ton of kids running around, and one boy was so out of control he spilled right across my lap, right onto my beer. The chips went astray (ok, how embarrassing, you caught me eating normal Pringles, but sue me I already ate the J-snacks) and he dented the beer can in two. There was still beer in there, but not a single drop was spilt. Although I did have to finish it while it looked like this:
Cute kids, though. They were very apologetic. We offered them Pringles, but only one girl was bold enough to accept. And though I'm rarely partial to children not somehow related to me, little Japanese kids are really fucking cute.
Unless you have to teach them. Then they kind of suck sometimes.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Do you know what that sound is, Highness? Those are the shrieking eels!
JAPAN '08 PART III
Woke up shortly after 4am (with no alarm clock, but it was our intent to get up this early anyway). If you're going to do the Tsukiji Fish Market, you want to get there around 5am for the crazy chaos. And it is kind of frightening at 5am, since you will get in someone's way and you will nearly get run over by any number of motorized carts. But we survived!
I went once with Drew in 2001 and it's my understanding they're moving the Fish Market somewhere else in 2012. Seems odd, since they're on the Bay now, but we'll see.
Once you leave the station, just follow all the people with wicker baskets and galoshes, it's an easy find.
Finding the best entrance is hard, but here's one (don't get run over...)
You can almost tell in these pics, but yes, they are alive and writhing.
More very cool things I would never want to meet in the water.
Some of my favorite close-ups...
I saw some just like these guys below in a grocery store a few days later. Would be kinda neat, if you had a clue how to cook them...
Maybe not my cup of tea...
Definitely not my cup of tea...
Maybe tasty, but very pretty.
In 2001 I didn't use my flash, just really fast film, so as to be as inconspicuous as possible. This time I just didn't care. I don't think I was bothering anyone. Except all those times I was physically in the way, but how can you not be?
Love this guy below:
There is a ton of ice around, also constantly being poured out on the ground, so watch your feet and don't wear shoes you love.
How frozen are they? This frozen:
And here are all those containers!
This was just a small part of the day, but I'll continue with Friday in the next post, otherwise it's just too long!
Woke up shortly after 4am (with no alarm clock, but it was our intent to get up this early anyway). If you're going to do the Tsukiji Fish Market, you want to get there around 5am for the crazy chaos. And it is kind of frightening at 5am, since you will get in someone's way and you will nearly get run over by any number of motorized carts. But we survived!
I went once with Drew in 2001 and it's my understanding they're moving the Fish Market somewhere else in 2012. Seems odd, since they're on the Bay now, but we'll see.
Once you leave the station, just follow all the people with wicker baskets and galoshes, it's an easy find.
Finding the best entrance is hard, but here's one (don't get run over...)
You can almost tell in these pics, but yes, they are alive and writhing.
More very cool things I would never want to meet in the water.
Some of my favorite close-ups...
I saw some just like these guys below in a grocery store a few days later. Would be kinda neat, if you had a clue how to cook them...
Maybe not my cup of tea...
Definitely not my cup of tea...
Maybe tasty, but very pretty.
In 2001 I didn't use my flash, just really fast film, so as to be as inconspicuous as possible. This time I just didn't care. I don't think I was bothering anyone. Except all those times I was physically in the way, but how can you not be?
Love this guy below:
There is a ton of ice around, also constantly being poured out on the ground, so watch your feet and don't wear shoes you love.
How frozen are they? This frozen:
And here are all those containers!
This was just a small part of the day, but I'll continue with Friday in the next post, otherwise it's just too long!
When a man is wrestling a leopard in the middle of a pond, he's in no position to run.
And you know, the jet lag has kinda been kicking my ass. It would have been fine if the cats didn't start fucking around at midnight, waking me up. We then have to split up, Bourdain and D in the spare and Mouche and I in the main. But then I'm AWAKE so I piddle around and stay up wicked late, then try to sleep til D's alarm goes off and wakes me up again. It's annoying, but I'm getting there.
And while I was up last night I was playing catch-up on some blogs and got terrified I was just programming myself for nightmares. I mean, damn, from Heather's blog about the before/after death photos (which I had zero problem with but some woman was calling her chicken shit for closing comments, wtf), Harlan's humiliation of being jailed for shoplifting and Skyler's Dad's post about the fuckwits programming flashing animation on an epilepsy site...it was terrible! My dad recently sent me a horrifying photography slideshow with narration on Chernobyl I was pretty much ready to watch at that point. (It's really great, I do recommend clicking on it, but it is...well, obviously it can be hard to watch).
But anyhoo, on to the next day in Tokyo...
JAPAN '08 PART II
We started out with breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast is quite odd, to say the least. Lots of bready things, but beware. Then there was a tub of little, cold anemic sausages, some boiled eggs and a tureen of soup that varied by the day.
(Technically, these shots are from Saturday, but we won't tell anyone). Those pretzel rolls were great, the soup was great (if not really a breakfast item, but whatever). We didn't attempt the boiled eggs til our very last morning. And we tried the sausages the very first morning, which were just as ick as you might imagine. But see that pastry guy in the back?
You gotta watch out for Japanese pastries. They'll put whatever in 'em. We automatically assumed it was some sort of cherry filling, even though I should know better, so I bite into it, horrified to taste meat. It was really just tomato filling, like a pizza type flavor, but when you're unsuspecting, you suddenly realize what strong meat qualities tomato can have...
Anyhoo. Since we had gotten up pretty early, and most shopping/eating doesn't get going til around 11am, we set off for Aoyama Cemetery, easily accessible from Roppongi Station, after taking a peek at Almond...
...where we did stop later to pick up a few gifts...they have yummy chocolates and desserts.
Trotted down to the cemetery, which is huge and lined with tons of cherry blossoms. I cannot imagine what it must cost to get buried here, it's a very shi-shi neighborhood.
The main entry...
The trees here are really something...
I assume this is a child's grave. It was remarkable how well-kept nearly each and every grave was. Each had cleaning materials nearby as well as very fresh flowers.
These are some of the simpler graves (for Aoyama), and beyond are some apartments, which must have an incredible view...
Then it was back down to Roppongi, but as it was not quite shopping time, it was time for frozen caffeine with a giant orange straw.
Roppongi is a neighborhood I had not frequented in years, as it had a really sleazy reputation. Mostly due to the fact that all the worst gaijin would congregate there to booze it up and fuck. Gas Panic is the hornet's nest, which I have never set foot in.
But it has really become much classier in the past few years, starting with Roppongi Hills in 2003. My dad sent me an article on the guy who has built and designed these new ventures, Minoru Mori, and on the one hand I don't think Tokyo needs all these shopping meccas, but it did do wonders for Roppongi, so it's hard to complain. This place had 26 million visitors pass through its doors in the first four months it was open.
The meeting area outside the buildings is full of pansies and two giant sculptures.
A spider for you! It is huge. I wish more places had GIANT WEIRD SCULPTURE--they make great landmarks for people with zero sense of direction. Like me.
We assume this is the egg sac? Those Japanese are great with details.
This isn't the best perspective shot on this rose, but it's quite tall.
Another angle...(I still can't believe how fast all this stuff went up, even if the actual planning took years).
Did some shopping there, which was kind of hit or miss. Pricey area, but some real finds, regardless. Then off to lunch, just down the street, a little Indian place called Moti's. All the embassies are right here, so my Lonely Planet book warned it got crazy at lunch (but it was fine).
Pretty damn tasty for a decent price, even if the woman working kept ignoring me and was a total cold bitch. But whatever.
After this we shopped at Almond and found a Don Quixote, the biggest tatty shop in Tokyo. Something like nine floors of stuff, just tons of stuff. Mostly good prices, I was well behaved and did not get a dress I had my eye on. (And I'm glad since I found so many shoooooes later). Just across the street was the coolest cyber cafe I'd ever been in. You could have stayed all night. But we took a few minutes to write and let everyone know yes, we had made it.
Needing to give our legs a rest, we grabbed some munchies and beer and headed to Yoyogi Park, my favorite park in Harajuku just past the Meiji Shrine.
This was my favorite spot for so many Sundays.
And it was quite sparse and peaceful that day, Thursday. We went back on Saturday and oh my holy jesus. But that's another post.
And while I was up last night I was playing catch-up on some blogs and got terrified I was just programming myself for nightmares. I mean, damn, from Heather's blog about the before/after death photos (which I had zero problem with but some woman was calling her chicken shit for closing comments, wtf), Harlan's humiliation of being jailed for shoplifting and Skyler's Dad's post about the fuckwits programming flashing animation on an epilepsy site...it was terrible! My dad recently sent me a horrifying photography slideshow with narration on Chernobyl I was pretty much ready to watch at that point. (It's really great, I do recommend clicking on it, but it is...well, obviously it can be hard to watch).
But anyhoo, on to the next day in Tokyo...
JAPAN '08 PART II
We started out with breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast is quite odd, to say the least. Lots of bready things, but beware. Then there was a tub of little, cold anemic sausages, some boiled eggs and a tureen of soup that varied by the day.
(Technically, these shots are from Saturday, but we won't tell anyone). Those pretzel rolls were great, the soup was great (if not really a breakfast item, but whatever). We didn't attempt the boiled eggs til our very last morning. And we tried the sausages the very first morning, which were just as ick as you might imagine. But see that pastry guy in the back?
You gotta watch out for Japanese pastries. They'll put whatever in 'em. We automatically assumed it was some sort of cherry filling, even though I should know better, so I bite into it, horrified to taste meat. It was really just tomato filling, like a pizza type flavor, but when you're unsuspecting, you suddenly realize what strong meat qualities tomato can have...
Anyhoo. Since we had gotten up pretty early, and most shopping/eating doesn't get going til around 11am, we set off for Aoyama Cemetery, easily accessible from Roppongi Station, after taking a peek at Almond...
...where we did stop later to pick up a few gifts...they have yummy chocolates and desserts.
Trotted down to the cemetery, which is huge and lined with tons of cherry blossoms. I cannot imagine what it must cost to get buried here, it's a very shi-shi neighborhood.
The main entry...
The trees here are really something...
I assume this is a child's grave. It was remarkable how well-kept nearly each and every grave was. Each had cleaning materials nearby as well as very fresh flowers.
These are some of the simpler graves (for Aoyama), and beyond are some apartments, which must have an incredible view...
Then it was back down to Roppongi, but as it was not quite shopping time, it was time for frozen caffeine with a giant orange straw.
Roppongi is a neighborhood I had not frequented in years, as it had a really sleazy reputation. Mostly due to the fact that all the worst gaijin would congregate there to booze it up and fuck. Gas Panic is the hornet's nest, which I have never set foot in.
But it has really become much classier in the past few years, starting with Roppongi Hills in 2003. My dad sent me an article on the guy who has built and designed these new ventures, Minoru Mori, and on the one hand I don't think Tokyo needs all these shopping meccas, but it did do wonders for Roppongi, so it's hard to complain. This place had 26 million visitors pass through its doors in the first four months it was open.
The meeting area outside the buildings is full of pansies and two giant sculptures.
A spider for you! It is huge. I wish more places had GIANT WEIRD SCULPTURE--they make great landmarks for people with zero sense of direction. Like me.
We assume this is the egg sac? Those Japanese are great with details.
This isn't the best perspective shot on this rose, but it's quite tall.
Another angle...(I still can't believe how fast all this stuff went up, even if the actual planning took years).
Did some shopping there, which was kind of hit or miss. Pricey area, but some real finds, regardless. Then off to lunch, just down the street, a little Indian place called Moti's. All the embassies are right here, so my Lonely Planet book warned it got crazy at lunch (but it was fine).
Pretty damn tasty for a decent price, even if the woman working kept ignoring me and was a total cold bitch. But whatever.
After this we shopped at Almond and found a Don Quixote, the biggest tatty shop in Tokyo. Something like nine floors of stuff, just tons of stuff. Mostly good prices, I was well behaved and did not get a dress I had my eye on. (And I'm glad since I found so many shoooooes later). Just across the street was the coolest cyber cafe I'd ever been in. You could have stayed all night. But we took a few minutes to write and let everyone know yes, we had made it.
Needing to give our legs a rest, we grabbed some munchies and beer and headed to Yoyogi Park, my favorite park in Harajuku just past the Meiji Shrine.
This was my favorite spot for so many Sundays.
And it was quite sparse and peaceful that day, Thursday. We went back on Saturday and oh my holy jesus. But that's another post.
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