My internal monologue needs to be shut up now and then. Any tips? I most need your suggestions when I'm trying to sleep. Other times, it just serves to drive me temporarily insane.

In other news, a revelation...until last night, I'd never seen Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, and frankly haven't watched much Hitchcock at all. I don't consider myself a "student of film", but I do appreciate good filmmaking (and really pay attention to cinematography). Fantastic film. It makes me wonder what other 'classics' that I've missed and really need to see. Anyway, interesting trivia on the imdb page.

Current Status: okay

I'm in serious need of some dumpster diving time (and/or scrap heap).

I've got some ideas, and I want to use them. The beginnings of one starts with my paintball gun!

Current Status: creative

So last saturday, I went to the organic farmers market. I just thought I'd check it out, and didn't really have any expectations other than something similar to the River Market.

But this was pretty cool. The weather was great (always a help), and all of the vegetables looked really good! Even the ones that I don't really like to eat (which is most) looked really healthy and I thought they'd probably be really appetizing to someone who liked them. I didn't intend really to buy anything (maybe cilantro if they had it), but I got some corn. I also got some recipie cards, including one for a roasted tomato and roasted garlic sauce that looked really interesting, but I'm not sure what it would be good with/on. Any ideas?

Anyway, I'm on their email newsletter, and hadn't really paid much attention to it until the past couple of weeks. This week was an interesting observation on the weather we've been having locally. (An unusually mild August).

Weather - always a popular subject.

I've got to tell you, I'm beginning to get spooked. Just when I think okay now the really, hot, humid, muggy weather will start, we have a cooling front and the days are mild and pleasant. We've had rain, but we're actually slightly up from average. Enough that I've spent almost no time watering my herbs this summer. As Joan said to me last week, this will be one of those years that 20 years down the road some old coot will remark on to his grandchildren, "I remember the summer of '04, sure was a good one! Why the tomatoes were two pounds each and the corn was so sweet."

What's even better, is the variety of the summer produce is so great. Last week was corn, green beans, wonderful tomatoes, melons, onions, bumper potato crops, leeks, old fashioned pole beans, yard-long beans, carrots, squash, winter squash, grapes, pears, eggplants (all shapes and varieties) and probably about a dozen more vegetables I forgot to mention.

If you're a sporadic market customer, this is the time to come!

And I got there late! I'm interested in what I missed and they sold out on. The weather really is being weird here.

So yeah, interesting, and some things might be a bit pricey, but I suspect that a lot of them are probably worth it. The heirloom tomatoes looked interesting to me. And all the different potatoes! I love potatoes, but never can make myself cook with them fast enough before they start to go bad. So, I didn't get any.

Maybe I'll talk myself into trying to grill some eggplant and eat it. (I've never had eggplant before in my life). I'm reading that the raspberries are being harvested now. I wonder how fresh organic raspberries taste compared to the ones in the store.

I swear, I'm not a hippie, and I'm definitely no farmer. My parents garden, but that's about as close as I typically come.

So it's real easy to focus on the crap in life.

But in one small and helpful way, I've got a positive. I have always dealt with allergies. Some have worse experiences than me, some have better.

But lately, I've had a string of not too many problems on the allergy front. I don't know if I'm growing out of them some, or if exposure to our cat has made me less sensitive to allergens, or what. (The cat, by the way, is the first cat that I've ran into that didn't set me off with allergy symptoms...at all).

Weather-wise, which would you prefer? A Kansas City summer, or a Chicago winter?

You are the king of smooth -- enough said. Take the What Pulp Fiction Character Are You? quiz.

Yeah, a rare quiz from me. I give you so much, allow me this one.

A thing called Third-Eye by drsmax.

Go here if you want a thing of your own. :)

---

Third-eye

by drsmax



What you see with your First-eye: Sunshine. Welcoming surfaces. Birthday parties. Innocence in yourself / others. Small animals. Large vegetables. Love for / from strangers. The easy breathing of children.

What you see with your Second-eye: Blood. Invert, convert, pervert, supervert, subvert. Vomit. More Blood. Gears grinding. Your ankle twisting in slow motion. Conditions and accusations. Even more blood. The ugliness of the overheard conversation. The corruption at the heart of all things. Endless fucking torrents of blood.

What you see with your Third-eye: Beauty in entropy. The visible sweetness in the flavor of pain.

What you see with your Fourth-eye: Nothing

I want to see the original, pre-americanization version of Godzilla before this. I mean, not only did they add Raymond Burr, they removed any kind of anti-nuclear commentary (including references to Hiroshima!), but Toho also chopped off the tops and bottoms of the frame and called it Cinemascope! Is this classic available in unmutilated form? (preferably with subtitles, although dubbing might be okay if the translation is good)

The psychedelic godzilla sounds interesting, and so does the 2001 version.

Here's the listing for the original 1954 Gojira. Just 10 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki! Apparently the original uncut version with new translated subtitles is in very limited theaters across the country right now. No one seems willing to say if it'll ever be released on dvd.

I guess that moving back to Missouri would mean that my vote wouldn't really count for much there either. Yay democracy. :P

Why doesn't KC just build a big honking parking garage downtown, then have some sort of mass public transit (off the normal grid) that goes only to the stadium complexes, and also to the racetrack? (And then later maybe expand from there).

Wouldn't that solve a lot of problems?

Then businesses could cater to the people that park downtown. Voila!

Current Sounds: -

I thought I should summarize a few 'weekend' events.

Thursday: Met and hung out with an old friend of tinge. Interesting cat. Hope to get to hang out with him more. Ate at Fric & Frac. Weird place.
Friday: I took care of a variety of errands that I mentioned here previously. We walked around the Plaza. Saw Anchorman. I didn't expect to like it, but it was about the funniest comedies that I've seen in a long time. People slightly younger than myself might not be quite as amused, but I have a few memories of the time that it was set. It also has a bit of oblique commentary regarding contemporary journalism, it seemed.
Saturday: Lawrence most of the day. Engaged in consumerism under the hot sun in that weird little "city". Ate buffet Indian. I love me some chicken tikka masala, even if it is a bit generic. Got tickets to see the Melvins. Ate at the "sports bar and grill" at Ameristar Casino. That was a unique experience. It has its positivies and negatives, but was overall positive with what we made of it.
Sunday: Work. Attempting motivation to clean. Appreciate most any distractions.

So sue me for my sentence fragments. I'm just in that mood.

Current Status: uncertain

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This has to be one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time...

Blixa Bargeld does 13 commercials for the german home improvement retailer Hornbach, reading from their catalogs. You can watch the clips at german music TV Viva's page here: http://www.viva.tv/blixa.php

The page is in german language, but you can either watch the clips under the banner "Die Spots anschauen" or you can download them under the banner "Die Spots zum Download".

What do you think about this whole thing? Is this art or another artist selling out?

What you wear in life is all a costume anyway, so why feel guilty about it?

Jebus, I'm scared to make one of my own...

What is with these hell states?

Current Sounds: -

Being able to admit to others what you don't know is the best way to learn.

Current Sounds: Einstürzende Neubauten - Ein Stuhl in der Hoelle

So back...several years ago (apparently released in 1996, but I have no idea what year I bought it), I picked up a cleopatra compilation named Industrial Revolution: 3rd Edition Rare & Unreleased, and heard this song, by a lil band called "Einsturzende Neubauten" (Allow me to explain later the lack of an umlaut). Yu-Gung (and as I now learn, remixed by Adrian Sherwood). I still vividly remember that song being my favorite song on the comp. I was so proud of myself when I learned how to spell the name (but never bothered remembering the correct umlauts. I mean, damn, the spelling is enough!), and had a pretty good idea of how it was pronounced.

Wha...? What happens here? Yeah, I'm an idiot. I stop digging further for them. I think soon after this, I start getting jaded with "electronic music". (I forgot to mention that the main industrial that I was aware of, prior to that, was Nine Inch Nails "Closer", which I still like, but haven't listened to in quite a while). So maybe you can see where this is going (I know I've told at least two of you, maybe one other)...

So, I fart around, wherever, musically. I don't remember the details. I did at least buy Haus Der Lüge, liked it. Never really thought a lot about it. Heard Faustmusik at a Blockbuster Music of all things. Didn't buy it, though.

Years go by, and then....I see them in concert in support of Silence Is Sexy.

Blown. Away.

I'm just going to skip over my personal feelings about the band at this moment, because I'm not sure I'll accurately describe it, plus it's late, and I'm lazy. In any case, damn damn DAMN awesome. Hell, I need to scan my photos! Geez, I remember now! Chrissy, were you not twenty-one yet? Or were you working that night or something dumb like that?

ANYway... I get that album, listen to it a few times, really like it, but....

I basically drop them. Embarrassing. Sad. Whatever the excuse is. Yet again, even with what I knew then, I more or less stopped listening to them. Dumbass.

Fast forward again, and I'm seeing them in Chicago for Perpetuum Mobile. Great great show. Didn't buy the album yet.

Man, when am I gonna learn?

So I download burn a copy (yes, not legitimately gotten...yet) of Perpetuum Mobile and Silence Is Sexy. I listen to it with the proper mindset and ears wide open.

By the second track of Perpetuum Mobile, I'm driving and the song is loud, and I start to reach for the volume to turn it down. This sets me literally giggling when I'm driving, and thinking...what a ridiculous concept! Turn down Einsturzende Neubauten? Heresy!

So, I think I've finally gotten it. Next time that I feel comfortable with some disposable income, I'm going to pay dues as a supporter, and get the dvd at least (probably the cd too, and possibly a copy of the chicago show cd before they're gone). Those are the immediate concerns. Then I can start catching up on albums.

It is kinda cool, though, that the song that first caught my attention was from so early (1983?) in their career (even if the remix I heard was not). And now I so love the most recent two albums. (Silence is Sexy feels kinda 'personal' to me, as kinda a MY album thing, although I'm more intimately familiar with others. I love driving to this one). And my favorite is currently Perpetuum Mobile, although I know that I still have a lot of territory to cover.

Tool's Aenima was really interesting too, but a much shorter story.

I've discovered that I was a noise-head and never really realized it. Thank you all for (yes, here it comes...) Prying open my third eye.

I never really recall getting too far into Freud, so this is pretty interesting to me.

( An lj-cut to hide your little eyes from a little Freud personality quiz action... )

Today in the mail, I get a letter for fundraising for the site of Walt Disney's first professional film studio in Kansas City. (See LaughoGram Studios for details of the place, just no info on the fund raiser really yet). Yeah, yeah, I know, Walt Disney Corp, forget them.

But! Disney really did start off small, independently, with young artists, and for god's sake...here in Kansas City. And the tickets are surprisingly reasonable. $25 for "Cocktails and Cartoons". Oh, and lookie here...mailed from Parkville, MO, and taking place at our new friend, Screenland. Support something that started HERE, and could actually be inspiring to contemporary artists, despite the barrage of craptaculodom of whatever conglomerate owns Disney now.

I'm not making any promises, it may not be anything as good as I'd hope, but I'll make an effort to go. It's Saturday, October 9th, from 6-9pm.



And what was old Walt and his brother on those days, anyway? Hmm?

Current Status: amused

• Zona Rosa is a crazy mecca of consumerism. And even though there are exactly zero local-appearing businesses, they actually do a good job of it. It makes me h0t that their slogan is A new direction.


• And along those lines...g'damn, Bravo! Cucina Italiana is mighty good. Friends and neighbors, I HATE [doubleplusungood!] iceberg lettuce. But I tried some bites of a ceasar salad there....and kept eating it....voluntarily. If I hadn't been being so smart about eating a proper amount of food whilst there, I would have eaten the whole damn thing that was offered to me. Pfft, and here I thought that Gambucci's was awesome. (Cupini's still holds a special place in my heart, though). Anyway, check menu prices before you go. It didn't seem crazy insane expensive, but I think we were on the lunch menu. And please don't slay me if you go on a bad night. I think Sam would appreciate this quote on their page of the Zona Rosa website!

  BRAVO has among the highest average unit sales in the industry

  
  
• I reeealllly wanna see Outfoxed. Puh puh puh pweaze? </Roger Rabbit>
  ( Just a quick quote from an article apparently in Variety.. )


• Swimming is grand.


• New discovery! Test Dept kicks me in the booty-hole. Very muchas gracias (yet again), Samuel.


• ( I'll just quote myself. Mmmm, yes, narcissism... )


• And while we're on the topic, I'm stoked about Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

I just noticed, finding the link for this journal entry, that Gambucci's is closed... Damn.


Ah well...that's the restaraunt business for you. They'd apparently even recently changed their menu to have more human portions, and have some lower carb options. I'll keep this link to the original image. I imagine before long, this'll be a broken image link, and that's okay. Hehe, but I'm saving the gif on my hard drive. You bastards! You can't take everything away from me! Damn, what the hell is up with me and italian food lately? Man, now I'm even laughing at myself because just today(?) I was mentioning how I was sorta interested in Piropos, which is...well crap, I'll just quote their website...

The taste of Argentina is very American Midwestern. The foods of its capital city Buenos Aires, are grilled meats, seafood, fresh salads and vegetables.
Argentinean dining is very cosmopolitan with a touch of Spanish, Italian, French and other ethnic foods. The food is simple, not particularly spicy, yet flavorful.

Strongly European in background and culture, Argentineans enjoy dining in a generally relaxed atmosphere where conversation and gracious dining go hand-in-hand. Piropos Restaurant, on the hill in down-town Parkville, offers a unique view, warm atmosphere and fresh foods prepared in the Argentinean style.

Honestly, though, read the review that the Pitch had about the place that I apparently read THREE YEARS AGO. And it's naughty too! Check this choice quote:

Like a seductive lover of either gender, Piropos knows how to do all the right things.

Naughty Charles Ferruzza...time to get your naughty hand slapped. But then you'd like that too much, wouldn't you? (I'll make you click the review link for another special treat. You'll get it two paragraphs in. Go ahead, you can do it...

Damn, can you say synchronicity? Serendipity? Attend an Outfoxed House Party. And lookie here! There's one on the 19th at the luscious new Screenland theater, and one [oh, this is rich] in Parkville on the 18th, which you might recall mentioned somewhere above in the Piropos links...

What the hell kind of world am I suddenly living in? The DVD is available for $9.95 plus shipping! Now!

Current Status: mistified!

John Cage is a bastard. :D

"The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason." - John Cage

That's the one that really prompted me to make this post, but this one also laid the groundwork...

"If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience." - John Cage

The funny thing is, I'm actually unfamiliar with most of John Cage's work.

Current Status: contemplative

By the way, the depiction of Spiderman in Spiderman 2 is absoultely the BEST depiction I've ever seen outside of the books (and since it's motion, it's even more impressive).

As a long-time fan of Spiderman since my childhood, I've finally gotten the Spiderman that I wanted. You really see why the titles of the books included the words "Spectacular" and "Amazing" in them. Spiderman is all about agility, being strong (but able to have his ass kicked), and the joy of being able to use the full extent of your abilities in a manner that benefits the world. And being damn good at it. (Not to mention the struggle of trying to maintain this dual identity, while dealing with the ordinary struggles of life).

And you know, Doctor Octopus was just one in a large cast of villians in the books that I enjoyed. I can't say that I'm familiar with the original character's history, but I really like his story in this one. You can really see the motivation of his character, and how he became what he did. I even like the struggle that the Green Goblin's son was having. The interaction between Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker was spot on. JJJ vs Peter Parker kicked ass too.

Hint: Sam Raimi fans will find things to really be pleased about.

So to compare to some other recent comic book movies:
Spiderman 1: Disliked. Found a few enjoyable moments.
X-Men: Pretty damn spiffy, respect for the material, done in a way that should be acceptable to fanboys with a brain, and with audiences without familiarity with the characters.
X-Men 2: Same goodwill vibe I had for x-men one. It's been a while, so I don't remember a lot of my impressions of this one.
Spiderman 2: Best comic book movie ever. (I don't know what a non-fan of the books thinks, and I almost don't care. This movie felt like it was made for ME, and gives Raimi the respect back that he lost from me on Spiderman 1.

Current Status: content

I have to mention something about the show that we went to on Sunday night. tinge, sxdrmwhr and I went to what was supposed to be a 9pm show downtown, with two or three opening bands. We show up at 10, with maybe 12-15 people there, they haven't even started setting up. Finally the opening drummer (not a band, just a drummer and a retarded indie rocker art kid holding cables and acting like he's controlling the drummer like a puppetteer), plays... And it's a good set and all, but a long waste of time building up to. But then after that, a girl makes some awesome noise (not really 'noise genre', but crazy insane electronic loudness) on a couple of machines that I should be familiar with, but am not. Good good stuff. But while this great set is going on, three of the stinkie indie kids are just off to the side talking LOUD, and just being really rude. I could see that the girl's friend looked irritated at them.

So that part's over, then another band starts. Three (four?) guitars, vocalist, small drum kit, TONS of effects pedals, costume changes, props, insanity... They're running into shit, knocking things over, being LOUD. So that's all fine and dandy, but this is a confined space, and the (now drunken) stinky indie rockers start doing some stupid moshing...poorly. Flailing around, not enough room, not enough people to contain safely, people getting dangerously close to getting hit, taking stupid flash photography. I sound like I'm whining, but it's already hot and uncomfortable, and being on a night where some of us worked that day, and worked the next day... So we leave before Metalux even starts. And Metalux's cd and vinyl are amazing.

Hmm, I see by looking at my link above that they have some Chicago dates next month... (I'm not trying to say that I attest that they're worth going to Chicago just to see, but I have to think that they'd be damn good if you were there).

Anyway, promising show, bad night for it, indie rocker kids suck just as bad as just about every other 'genre scene'. People need to not hang out with idiots. It makes you stupid, too.

In some ways, I'm more optimistic than I was. I figure, if things turn bad that fast, then they can turn good just as fast.

Current Status: sleepy

I like being eccentric.

My car repair was only $400, including the tow. Broken shifter cable. In retrospect, the clutch idea sounds silly. Small setback, but still less expensive than two car payments that I no longer am paying. Hooray for mobility again.

I want everyone's problems to be as small, or smaller than mine. tks

Current Status: uncertain
Current Sounds: apparently a fan giving out in a computer

Now that I'm officially stuck at home today, I can at least take care of some of the stuff at home that I don't want to do because normally I don't want to be at home! Hurrah! This way, I won't have that stuff hanging over me when I'd rather be going out. :)

Current Status: ditzy

"Nader wouldn't have a chance," Brodsky explained. "Kerry is cool because he has morals, something G.W. and Nader do not, but George Bush is the only one that I can see playing Beirut [aka Beer Pong] while shot-gunning a Natty Ice. So I guess I'd have to pick Bush."

Another choice quote from the same article:

"I would readily offer George W. a bid because he has shown to be the type of gentleman [who] would throw money around," Williams said. "Being an advocate for financial resource sharing, I would love to have the opportunity to take advantage of W's ineptness and squander his money."

or:

"I think I would rather have Kerry hold my feet during a keg stand because, let's face it, you need... someone responsible to do something like that," Penn junior Patrick Carroll said.

"You wouldn't want to fall and chip your teeth on the keg or something, and I could just picture 'college-era' Bush seeing a hot girl across the room and dropping everything he was doing to go talk to her," the Kappa Alpha brother said.

PhonePost 19K 0:05

(no transcription available)

I just hope that they test the alarms again soon and I'm prepared to catch that too. That sound kicks you in the head.

Home grown serial killer on the silver screen. I don't know how they consider the Westport Flea Market, Bar & Grill to be downtown, but okay. I'd think it would be more in the filmmakers interest to get that factoid right, since it's right on the edge of the local "entertainment district". That sounds a bit more horrific than our downtown, which was even LESS lively then, than it is today.

And why did the Halfway to Hollywood festival change its name to the The Kansas International Film Festival: The Festival Where You Are Already Halfway to Hollywood anyway? Man, it's hard for me to refrain from saying, "Kansas sucks". The old name was just cooler, that's all. (They're also really inconsistant with the name of the damn thing on their site). Ah well. All respect for those involved with bringing this kinda thing to the area. I'm actually more interested in seeing what happens with the new Screenland theater, though. I hope the print of Shaolin Soccer isn't the Mirimax cut. Man, reading about what they took out makes the baby jesus cry.


I think I need to turn one of my gym bag-type things into a cat bed. Our cat is a freak.

Current Status: curious