Punk Is Dead, Long Live the Punk

So what if the Sex Pistols were always something of a one trick pony. It's still a fun fucking trick.

Extra, Extra, Nick Cave Writes Wacked-Out Script

"I feel at around 18 or 19 my interests were formed in some way. They're pretty much the same to this day; you just have to find different ways to articulate it."

Nick Cave writes an Australian western. After his treatment of Gladiator II didn't go over too well:

"... it was so completely unacceptable they didn't even ask me to do rewrites," says Cave, with a kind of amused pride. "It wasn't makeable." Why not? "I wanted to write an anti-war film and use Gladiator as a raging war machine. He died in the first one so he comes back as the eternal warrior. It ended up in Vietnam and the Pentagon." He shrugs his spindly shoulders. "It was just this really wacked-out script."

Word Cloud

Courtesy of Snapshirts:

The Next Thing To Drive Me Nuts

Debate over gay adoption.

Reason ran a good story on this a few months back:

Charlie was one of 23 foster children Skahen and Smith have taken in since 1999. The two boys they're now looking after have been with them for years, and Smith and Skahen would like to adopt them, to spare them the prospect of who-knows-how-many desultory transitions from foster family to foster family.

But in Florida, thanks to orange juice pitchwoman Anita Bryant's 1977 "Save the Children" campaign, the Department of Children and Families' adoption forms carry a pair of "yes" and "no" check boxes - page 5, part II, section G - below the statements "I am a homosexual" and "I am a bisexual." Check "yes" to either and you're ineligible to adopt. The law, as its sponsor explained shortly after it passed, was meant to alert gays that "we wish you'd go back into the closet."

Thanks to this law, Skahen and Smith can log on to the Department of Children and Families' Web site and find a photograph and description of their older boy, on offer to any nice heterosexual couple who'd like to take him away from his family.

Poll Finds Readiness for Female US President

How about we drop the "female" issue right now and just focus on getting a "good" president?

I'm all for encouraging more women to be involved in politics. After all, Liberia elected a female leader before the U.S. has, not to mention a dozen other nations, and some of them did it decades ago. But why endorse a female candidate just because she's female? I would vote for a man who represented my views over Hilary Clinton in a heartbeat. And while I would be willing to hear what Rice could say if she ever found her own voice, she hasn't done it yet. Also, I'm somewhat mystified why there is so much debate and surveying over the presidential potential of two women who haven't even come close to announcing they're even going to run.

Bottom line? Let's forget about shoving whatever woman is currently in political prominence into the Oval Office and focus more on involving young women and girls in the political process from the beginning. That way women will develop naturally into appropriate candidates, just as men do.

A Scanner Darkly

Trailer for Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly ... definitely looking forward to see the animation style introduced in Waking Life used again, and with more deliberation and restraint. The cast is a little flaky, as far as I'm concerned, although I suppose there is the actual animation to make up for Keanu Reeves's possible lack of it.

Quick defense of my Keanu-disdain - it's not so much that I think he's incapable of good acting. I liked him a lot in My Own Private Idaho. The issue is that he hasn't really done a damn thing since that even tried to approach that, as if he figured out he didn't have to actually act to get more money and fame - in fact, that could be a detriment towards it. (And just because I'm a computer geek doesn't mean I automatically worship The Matrix. I really, really dislike it greatly.) Anyway, here's hoping that returning to a noted independent director and interesting feature will bring out a decent performance in Reeves.

Something else I'd like to complain snobbishly about - it's also good to see more experimentation with the film medium as a medium. Not that I want to see substance traded for gimmicks - but at the same time I don't think that in independent film lately there's been as much interest in technology and innovation as it seems there could be, given the tools readily avaialble. Of course it's possible that I'm just missing the films that are doing this, since it's a bit difficult to keep up on the scene isolated in rural Ohio. But I like seeing the type of things Linklater's doing with this film anyway.

The Truth Revealed

The Occasional Diary Entries of German Director Werner Herzog:

Dear Diary: Calisthenics, shower, and breakfast. Then I water the garden because it is dry. After the water I put fertilizer into the soil. I feel the flowers growing stronger the more I talk to them. Accidentally with my trowel I kill a flower. The world is chaos. I am unsuccessful at crying.

Batman Update

The Onion checks in on Batman vs. bin Laden.

New Favorite Blog

Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi has a blog. And it's full of sweet pictures and possible show ideas - including a kickass girl cartoon in the works:

... we do want to know from all the girl cartoon fans in the world whether you would like to see a show that looks like this! ... I'm sure you are tired of all the namby pamby, talk-down-to-you types of purple and pink shows where all the girls look exactly the same and all they think about is combing their hair and sharing all their material wealth with friends and getting along.

I never watched R & S much (didn't have cable when it was on, and never caught up on it), but I realize now I should, because I really like this guy's work and voice.

I Confess

I just bought a new PC, installed WinXP on it. I already own an Apple iBook. Yes, it's true. I'm now officially bi ... platform.

In related news, my online promiscuity is 7.89%. Come on, people, we can do better than that. I'm practically virginal. What do I have to do to drum up more unsafe searches?

Anyway, I bought the PC for work-related stuff, but a nice side benefit is computer games. Everyone send me their WoW info so I can find you when I get started this coming week.

Clean Sweep

So at first I thought this sounded like a cool idea. A "checklist of 100 items which, when completed, give one complete personal freedom." Then it depressed me because right now I can honestly check off about three. And then it depressed me even more because there are items on there I didn't even know were important. Such as, do I really have to wear well-made sunglasses in order to have a stable, fulfilled life?

Anyway, I estimate by the time I would manange to complete this list, my infant daughter would be graduating high school. Maybe I should edit it and tailor it to my circumstances. I think Calvin said it best - the key to self-esteem is to lower the expectations to the point where they're already met.

I'm going to go out and buy a good pair of sunglasses. Then my life will be perfect.

Australia - What a Place

I just thought it was important for everyone to know that there is in existence "an illustrated guide to car sex, featuring positions such as the 'Backseat Monsoon.'" I'll give you three guesses as to what it's called.

But the best part is the writer's innovative marketing strategy:

"We're planning something for a drive-in in Dandenong - it holds 850 cars and we're hoping to stage a world-record attempt in-car love-in," he said.

We Should Have Thought of This Years Ago

Frank Miller and Batman are taking on al-Qaida. I think it's safe to say al-Qaida doesn't have a chance.

Quantum Mechanic Bananas

An interesting thought experiment. It may make one's head hurt just a bit.

Gay Rights in World of Warcraft

You know, I kind of wish things like MMPORPGs were around when I was fourteen. Immersing yourself into a fantastic world is so much easier when the world is pre-constructed and populated, instead of relying on one's own construction abilities and materials like books and fan fiction. (Oh yes, it happened and I'll admit it. But I won't go into details. And I hereby remind the one person who knows the details that I have the dirt on you too.)

Anyway, I continue to be fascinated by the complexity of games like WoW. Especially when stories like the debates over gay rights within the game pop up. Someone got reprimanded by the administration for being openly GLBT-friendly, then after a strong backlash among gamers, received an apology. What interests me the most is quotes like this:

Blizzard defended itself by saying that information about players' real lives can lead to harassment in the game and its warning was only intended to limit such harassment.

Where are the lines between the real lives and the fantasy ones? Are games like these just an escape from the real world or a focused reflection of it? Should there be more elements of reality in such games, or should there be a greater distance between the two?

Or should games that involve so many people, ideas, and communication be treated as a example of how to handle real world situations? After all, this story of responsible protest against something unjust produced the desired results. If only reality were so simple.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Spread the love.

Next Comes Nosferatu

What in the world is going on with director Werner Herzog lately? First a crazed fan shoots him during an interview, which he calmly continues as if nothing had occurred, then he just happens to be around Lauren Canyon when Joaquin Phoenix crashes his car, and pulls Phoenix from the wreckage. And then just disappears. Is his human guise finally faltering or what?

By the way, the shooting incident inspired the quote of the month: "It was not a significant bullet. I am not afraid."

Filmhead Stuff

Taken from Wim Wenders's 50 Golden Filmmaking Rules:

Film can reveal the invisible, but you must be willing to let it show.

Reality TV Babbling

So, yes, I did in fact become a complete Project Runway junkie during season two. I only got hooked on the first season during the post-series marathons, so while I was looking forward to the next season, I had no idea I would get so invovled. But, alas, I nearly shed tears when little Andrae left a couple of weeks ago.

My favorite, however, is becoming Diana, even though she left weeks ago. I thought she was cute and funny and kind of dorky, all of which are plusses in my book. But I didn't like her conceptual fashion tricks as much as some of the others' sleeker styles (and by the way, I'm convinced Chloe's going to pull out the win, especially after seeing the Fashion Week collections online). Anyway, then I read and thought some more about her, and decided she's simulaneously taking on two tasks near and dear to my heart: breaking down the geek stereotype and combining technology with art. Her fashion designs are conceptual, often mathematical and gadget-inclined. By injecting this kind of sensibility into fashion, she's making a pretty interesting statement, and creating a new image of a fashion designer. And a new image of a geek girl. I dig that.

And her Fashion Nerd buttons are adorable. I totally have one on the way.

Mathematical Art

A gallery of equations.

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

All of the Valentine's Day specials the television stations run. The endless marathons of lovey-dovey, gushy, sappy and otherwise indigestible movies, serial episodes and commercials. You know why this doesn't make any sense? Because what do you think all the losers like me who don't have anything to do on Valentine's Day are doing instead? SITTING AT HOME WATCHING TV. If you're into Valentine's Day, you're not sitting at home watching TV. And if you are, Valentine's Day is the last thing you want to hear about - unless you honestly want to kill yourself and then I guess 17 straight movies about beautiful young women who have funny, exciting dalliances with gorgeous men is just the ticket.

And the worst offenders are all the "women's" channels, Lifetime, Oxygen and so forth and so on. If they really cared about us, they would run a 72-hour block of movies about women doing shit on their own. Like that one with Lauren Holly where she catches her husband cheating and gathers the dirt on him herself and shoots at him when he tries to come home. That one kicked ass.

JenUpdate, Thorough Edition

So I've been really bad at blogging lately because 1) life has been insane, and 2) I'm getting a new layout together and I'm kinda over this one, so I tend to neglect the entire site until I get the new one uploaded - but because life is insane, I haven't got it finished yet. But that's my weekend project, so things should be back on track in a couple of days.

A quick rundown on daily events for those who want to know that sort of thing: I'm still chilling in the home situation with baby girl and her father. Baby girl is doing wonderfully. She is now a rolling fiend and is all over the place. I have just begun doing some website programming work for a web marketing company, which brings in some income as well as opens up some new experience and contacts, so yay for that. I'm also redoubling efforts to get my own design website up and running, and starting to work on some volunteer websites to build up my portfolio. There's a couple of other internet projects I have in mind, but I'll dish on those once my current projects are under control. I won't be starting up with classes again until summer, and I haven't yet decided for sure where I'm going to be taking them. In the meantime, I'm taking a few online, non-credit courses through KSU to learn some new programming languages, computer graphics and video game creation.

Oh - and I will soon be beginning my new hobby of amatuer modeling. I have a photography session in the works, and will be in at least one runway show for a local alternative clothing store around April. Also in April is my appointment for my first tattoo by a fabulous artist in Dover, who will be inking a blue phoenix on my upper back. Rest assured there will be pictures galore of both undertakings.

All in all, status good. I'm getting myself back on track from the complete upheaval I've undergone in the past year or so - a different track, I guess, but it will all work out eventually. And I promise - new website in a couple of days.

The Return

I return to the world of blogging with an article about Cookie Monster and death metal. It seemed appropriate.