This is the comic that I built
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Ignore me please

Allow me to introduce you to Levi Levi.  He is a private detective, but really he'll do just about any odd job and if you throw him something he won't do, he'll find you the guy/girl who will. 

Levi has been hanging around in my head and sketch book for a little while waiting for his chance to provide me some respite from the very long comic project I've been working on.  His segments will be relatively brief and offer a world of variation.  For months now, and completely unlike me, I have been so focused on my extra long/involved project that I didn't need to use him, but it just so happens I felt the need last weekend and have a few pics and pages done already.  

I have given him his own blog/rss feed thingy because it was the easiest way to present a page with those neat previous/next entry links without having to create pages from scratch.   I'm thinking I will post new pages for him here too when I get them in, but I'm not resolved on how I'm going to do it.

I'm actually kind of nervous.  Though I bought into the free website fad long long ago and eventually started renting ad free space and a domain for my artwork and craftiness and ever expanding list of projects and ideas, this one feels completely new and unexplored.  Hope you like it in any case.

Another Cinderella Story: almost an awesome teen movie
Mood:  happy
Topic: Oh So Shiny

The DVR is both a blessing and a curse for me.  It allows me to catch shows I am genuinely interested in without having to chain myself to the TV.  It enables me to program my own viewing even more than I did when I would routinely put in a movie to avoid TV programming.  And it helps me catch shows and movies that I would have never seen because my passing curiosity was never enough for me to try and catch it when it aired.  Warner Bros.  Another Cinderella Story is one such movie.  I would have never seen this without a DVR.  That said, I do like a lot of teen movies.  I'm not really sure why I do, and I don't like all of them, but.....you get it, right?  

I pushed play on a lark late one night to peruse the thing and see if it had anything to offer.  And once Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins from Ginger Snaps appeared on the screen, I was committed to the rest of the movie.  I first became acquainted with Isabelle and Perkins from the Ginger Snaps movies.  Werewolves, more than vampires I think, have a cheezy and unfortunate movie history.  Ginger Snaps got it right for me.  Not to say that there isn't enough fuel in the three movies for some robust geek debates, but I was satisfied, and entertained, and happy.  And I was even more happy to see the two actresses who played the sisters in Ginger Snaps playing the evil pseudo step sisters in Another Cinderella Story.  If they were only given more time on screen!  

Unfortunately their parts didn't even have the meat of the adversary role in the film and they primarily occupied a comedy relief position in a movie that was kind of comedy all over.   The rest of the film was kind of cookie cutter, pretty teen drama, with the added bonus of semi-musical, attitude-heavy dance routines.

Anyway.....'sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters.  never had to have a chaperon no sir.  I'm here to keep my eye on her......'

Sweet Charity
Mood:  cool
Topic: Seriously

If The Music Man is a clever, albeit doily covered, soda shop/tea room of great musicals then Sweet Charity is a smokey, red-velvet covered after-hours club.  

I have to admit, before I met my husband, I knew very little about the crazy creative force that was Bob Fosse.  I knew what I liked, but it never occured to me to dig into it and rip from its bowels what would be the shared essence of other things, similar things, I might like just as much.  I was a late bloomer musically too--about the only creative product I was completely up on until college was visual art.

Knowing a little more, now, about the personalities that mold any one creation, its easy for me to see that Sweet Charity reeks of Bob Fosse's sweat, and genius, and insanity, and it is lovely for it.   I'm not big on heavy video posts, but I cannot help myself here.  I'd rather watch these than continue to rattle on about it, so that's what you get to do too. 

 

Sammy Davis Jr. and the "Rythm of Life"

My favorite number -- "Big Spender"

"Rich Man's Frug"

"There's got to be something better than this"

 

Bento Beat Box
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: The Blue Hearts
Topic: Oh So Shiny

 

Every morning I turn on the TV while I'm getting ready.  First for the Weather channel (which is really unneccissary in Summer as every day is exaclty the same!) and then to a music video channel.  I can't say why I started TV-ing my mornings, I'm not all that addicted to the box; and I remember, long ago, I used to wake up with a stereo and music.  Anyway, the music video channels have become my only link to popular music in my radio-less existence.  I am far too used to finding stuff online now and have developed a strange and exclusionary music persona.  While I like discovering the random Ting Tings' "That's Not My Name" and Honey Honey's "Little Toy Gun,"  there is only so much Theory of a Dead Man, and 'lil Wayne I can take (no offense--just personal taste).  Well, wouldn't you know it, my incomplete salvation was at hand!  Hiding in a free-on-demand channel in my digital cable was Bento Beat Box on Anime Network.  This half hour show is like a mini music video channel for Japanese Rock brought to you by JRock Revolution. 

So, ah, I'm not going to say that Rock in Japan isn't just more of the same done different--music 's like that all over the globe, but the fact that it is done different is refreshing in its own right.  I'm also not going to say that it's not necissary at all to understand the lyrics in order to get all you can out of a song 'cause there is a lot of beautiful poetry in music, but really there are several popular songs supposedly in English that no one understands.  I am going to say that even people without my strange and exclusionary musical persona could really enjoy the show.  And now that I said all that I'm gonna whine, because I don't actually get the Anime Network as a channel and I really want to, and my free-on-demand doesn't update but once a month so I only have access to one measly episode.  For those of you without my particular obstacles--go and discover some music, boost its ratings and all!

Noises Off
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Seriously

There are movies in my collection that are both so good and so not mentally taxing that I can run to them every time TV programming pisses me off.  This is a lot.  And so, these movies get watched a lot--and that's how good they are, as I never get tired of them.  One such is Noises Off!.  It is the story of the stage production of something called "Nothing On," which is full of sardines and telephones and doors.  My only ever roomate, ex-roomate, wonderful friend can't stand this movie because she said it was too spot on (or something like that, she'll probably deny everything).  I've never worked in theater myself, so I couldn't say though I have worked in artist spaces--which are just as flaky--and been in the small and buzzing enclosed spaces of a working theater production, so.....The characters in Noises Off! are the amalgamated caricatures of theater.  At least I hope they are amalgamated caricatures, and amplified.  It would be like walking around in a cartoon if one were surrounded by people like this.  Walking around in a cartoon might seem cool at first, but I have a feeling it would drive everyone to lunacy(like Who Framed Roger Rabbit right?)--that's why cartoons are so fun to watch and not live.  That's why Noises Off! is so much fun to watch.

A few random, closing thoughts:  I wish Christopher Reeves had done more comedy.  Carol Burnett is and always will be the bomb.  I miss John Ritter.

Bavadoom at Doomed Moviethon
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Seriously

 

After gallons of work and heartache (I know, I watched) the much asked after Bavadoom is complete and offered up spread-eagled like on that paramount of horror movie obsession sites:  DoomedMoviethon.com.  From the Cinema Somnambulist (child and successor of DoomedMovieBlog):

"The moviethon consisted of 17 Mario Bava films watched in a little under 54 hours. While it was not as insane as Argentophobia and it wasn't nearly as drunken as Doomed Fulci-thon, my Mario Bava moviethon was a whole hell of a lot of fun."

Moonlight
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Seriously

While everyone is in a tizzy about Twilight and True Blood, I have been watching a completely different vampire drama and enjoying it very much, thank you.  Rerunning on the SciFi channel right now, Moonlight is the classic vampire detective set up.  Those of you who read The Vampire Files by P.N. Elrod will know what I'm talking about.  While I have little to no interest in current SciFi shows I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the re-runs that pop up.  This is how I discovered The Dresden Files, which I later bought;  I will most likely buy Moonlight as well.  

Of course, since its a re-run, perhaps all those Twilight and True Blood fanatics tuned in when it was new.  I am behind the times--it happens a lot where TV is concerned.  Moonlight offers up all the angsty, I-don't-want-to-be-a-vampire sentiment without getting too whiny; it has action, sexual/romantic tension, flashbacks, vampiric psuedo science, alternate history and a damn handsome leading couple.  And while it may not be the most nourishing TV sustenance, it isn't complete junkfood--at least I don't feel dirty watching it.  It's kind of like vitamin enfused softdrinks, that way.  If you want to give it a try you can view clips on CBS.com.   

The Great Book list and the only book I ever read twice, so far
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: "Taboo" - LM.C
Topic: Ignore me please

So, I've hinted before, but have I really told you the whole story about the Great Book list?  A year or so ago I got the remarkable and ordinary idea of keeping a list of all the books I read.  Only, this list would have all the books I've already read in it too.  I wasn't satisfied with the idea of just starting from where I was now because it wouldn't be fair to all those awesome books I could remember reading.  Then, I figured that I should attempt to track down all the books I could only remember whiffs of, because I couldn't possibly let them fall through the cracks.  

So I started with the easy stuff, the stuff that touched me deeply enough that I didn't have to verify title and author; and then I scoured public school reading lists to cover all those things that I read because they were assigned to me.  You see, I didn't start skimming and cliff's notes cheating until college, so I can actually say I read all that primary school stuff.  And then finally I was left with the whiffs:  a blue haired girl here, and a computer generated rock star there, a wizard on the cover and something about a wooden sword, some aliens, and the magical world of Florida. 

And then I lost the list.  I forgot about making back-ups and blindly relied on a web server out there somewhere.  This resulted in a minor breakdown and the ruining of my day as well as the promise that I was not going to do all that crap again.  My angry resolve lasted about two weeks when I started scratching my list together once more.

Eventually my list became complete sans one small puzzle piece--the young adult romance boom of the 80s.  My grandmother, for some reason, had no objections to mass consumption of nutritionless YA romance, but she wouldn't let me read sci-fi/fantasy while I stayed with her;  I mean, she gave me Riders of the Purple Sage to read in lieu of Dragonriders of Pern.  But that's another story.

The story for today is about the only book I ever read twice.  Being a person who remembers way too much of the books I read to revisit them very soon, I only have one of these on my list right now:  Her Majesty's Wizard by Christopher Stasheff.   That said, the Great Book list has brought up some titles that I want to try reading again now that more time has passed.  I just grabbed up a copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel at a swap recently and am looking forward to fattening my memories on it. 

Back to Her Majesty's Wizard, I can honestly not say why I could read this book, of all books, more than once in a two year time period.  I can only recall bits and pieces of the story now that impressed me:  the strange way the main character bridged the divide between reality (in a coffee shop, I think) and a completely fantasy world, making soldiers out of teeth, sexual tension, a dragon--that's it.  Before you ask why I'm writing about it if I can't remember much--it's 'cause it's the only book I ever read it twice!  Which means it is totally awesome, and once I get my hands on the book box in my Mom's storage unit where my copy is (of course I kept it) I'm going to read it a third time. 

Death Note: manga, anime, movie, movie, movie, movie
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Seriously

Hmmmm, I'm finding it hard to begin.  Death Note is a hugely popular manga and anime series internationally(US offical anime site).  So popular, in fact, that it's become a muse of sorts for a killer in Belgium.  Recently the internets have been buzzing with the news that  Warner has aquired the rights to make an American live action movie based on the story. 

Anybody who's been reading my ramblings for a while now will, no doubt, have stumbled across my crazy rant about Hollywood xenophobia.  So it appears that regardless of how amazingly easy it is becoming to get my grubby little paws on overseas movies, meaning, to me, that I am far from the only grubby paw person out there, most of our media consuming population is still unable to read subtitles, unwilling to accept the small cultural quirks that make their way into movies made elsewhere, and completely fine with being fed the same uninspired, uncreative regurgitated mess that is our current 'Now Showing' list at the movies.  The second of the Japanese live action Death Note films is available through netflix and has recently visited my house.  Both it and the first one are awesome, in my opinion, and need no reworking.  I hope for the best, but I am thoroughly rankled.   

Linda Linda Linda
Mood:  happy
Topic: Oh So Shiny

Last night I watched an awesome movie:   Linda Linda Linda.  About the half hazard construction of a band for the school festival after a key member of the original group is taken out of action.  The new group will be a cover band for The Blue Hearts--a late 80s punk band. 

I found the, sometimes very raw, look at highschool life fascinating.  The humor is dryer than anything I've ever encountered in famous-for-being-dry British humor and the faulty language interaction between the Korean exchange student and the rest of the group is priceless.  

Oh!  And the dream sequence!  One of those real enough to trick you into thinking the movie had just jumped the shark a bit until the Ramones show up and my husband says--"this has got to be a dream."  I initially thought it was moving too slow to take but a little hanging in there paid off in spades of spades.  

The Blue Hearts cover band Paran Maum even had a PV for "Linda Linda:"

 

Ginger drink
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: "Qui Sommes Nous" - Olivia Ruiz
Topic: Seriously
I finally got to the Asian market round here for some goodies and I couldn't pass up talking about this amazing drink.  Gold Kili's Instant Ginger drink is like hot, slightly creamier ginger beer.  I love ginger beer.  I love the strange difficulty I have drinking it when the carbonation forces the face smacking spice into my nasal cavity.  I love the warmth and the weird non-sweat that happens to my face.  Ah, its good.  And somehow, this instant ginger drink is even better!  Lacking carbonation, but consumed hot/warm, this drink is amazing!  I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn't have an unsubstantiated hate of ginger (you know who you are) to drink this drink.  Bonus for those who like something invigorating but are cutting down their stimulants--this is caffeine free.

Hatsune Miku
Mood:  cheeky
Topic: Hmmm?

So, has anyone read Little Heroes by Norman Spinrad?  It keeps coming up in my head ever since I searched and searched for the title with only a couple of measly plot points in order to add it to my awesome list of every book I'd ever read.  I found the title, and now that I know what it is I am constantly reminded of the whole creating a virtual rock star--completely synthesized voice and music with a cg representation of a person.  Of course, in the book it was marketed as a real person, but Hatsune Miku is the virtual rock star in real life real now.  Über poppy and high pitched, the music is actually kind of fun, and becoming more and more popular.  She is the first character released with the vocaloid 2 series vocal synthesizing program. 

 

 

 

 

 

iGoogle geekdom
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Love Psychedelico
Topic: Ignore me please

Alright.  I've talked about iGoogle customization before and I'm gonna do it again.  I've got a couple of tabs in my iGoogle and change out the headers and themes about as often as I change out my desktop background.  I was searching through the newest additions today to find some options and realized that perhaps I should share (seeing as Google has yet to have any kind of subject indexing and poor, if at all functional, keyword search).  

So, following is a selection of themes I was drawn to today--I love the xXxHolic art (number 2) so I would even put up with the image coming out short on both sides.  All of these are yummy!

Oh yes!  and Samantha Brown (prev) has a set of iGoogle themes too!

Yellow Beard
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Oh So Shiny
I have fond memories of Yellowbeard from early on in my childhood.  It stood among movies like Rock and Rule, Young Frankenstein, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Zorro the Gay Blade, and Heavy Metal as fantastical depictions from the world of adulthood and inside jokes.  Upon revisit after a long absence, I can say it is slower paced than I remember and slightly more staged, terribly dry and absolutely wonderful--just like I remembered.  Given the reviews I caught glimpses of while looking around for it, I understand that it is far from everyone's cup of tea.  Originally marketed as the "greatest comedy cast ever assembled for a movie," perhaps it attracted the wrong kind of expectations from its audience.  It is a strange mix of comic style that blends the British dryness of Monte Python and the utter silliness of Cheech and Chong.  Whatever the reason for its initial flop, I am happy I have it in my DVD collection.

Online TV: thoughts first, where to get it second
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Seriously

I read an article once about how we have ceased creating new words for concepts in lieu of retrofitting old ideas to new innovations.  The article had to do with the concept of e-Books and how the book is really only a vessel for content.  Before we had the book the very same content was held in a codex or scroll, so, since the online environment is a new vessel--we should come up with a new name.  My husband says the author had too much time on his hands to resort to obsessing over something like that.  I can't say I don't agree with him, but its a very interesting point.  Take, for example, online TV:  the television is really just a vessel the same way that the book is, but with today's mirror world online the things that exist there are not given their own life entirely.  It's like ebooks and online TV are so named and will always be named this way because they are tied like a shadow to their counterparts in the real world--wherever that is.

Anyway, that was a big paragraph for a thoughtful meander.  I haven't done much online TV watching myself besides short videos here and there, but I am warming to the idea more and more, especially as my at home office situation gets more and more comfortable.  One day, I will have my living room TV hooked into a server that gets me full access to files and internet and such in a TV viewing style, and when I do, this list of where to score TV online will really come in handy.

Beyond the über popular worlds of  YouTube, Yahoo video, Google video (question:  since Google encompasses YouTube now, why are these still separate?), and the all Japanese Nico Nico Douga (there's a pretty cool introduction to Nico Nico Douga on MetaGold) lives sites dedicated to content more along the lines one might find on TV.  These are what I found:

• Hulu -- could this be self-explanatory?  Everyone in the world, it seems, has been here before me.  But, there is a lot of English language programming--stuff that is very traditionally TV channel oriented and movies galore.
• Yubby seems to be more an aggregator where you can mine video sites in order to create custom content channels.  Check out the Bob Ross channel, man!
• Crunchyroll -- fresh news on Crunchyroll is that Kadokawa Pictures USA has teamed up to bring their Japanese Horror anthology and the Tomie series online (Japanator).  Subtitles here!
• NFBA (National Film Board of Canada) hosts documentaries, animation and alternative dramas online.  
• MySoju offers daytime dramas and movies from Korea, Japan, and Taiwan--and a plus--all of them I've tried are subtitled.   
• AnimeNetwork Online has some programming online for all the poor folks (like me) who live in states that don't get the channel.
• FUNimation Online chanel also has anime programming available to watch onlnie.  
• PBS programs have recently begun hosting entire sets of their series online.  Did you miss the last NOVA?  Well, catch it here. 
• Free Culture TV and Yes We're Open:  free movies, music videos, and TV using MIRO (Boing Boing).  This is untried for me, so if you know about MIRO give a hollar.
• Danny Choo talks up Fresh Verse for streaming Japanese programming.  I have not tested this yet myself and he says the programming is pretty sporatic.  
• Keyhole TV for Japanese programming requires downloading a player, but gets rave reviews online.
• Livestation also requires viewers to download a player and touts channels from France, the UK, Russia, and more.
• TV Online has channels from many countries that will play directly through the player you already use--at least it does on Windows Media Player.  My tiny little comlaint:  what's with the constant sound?
• TVChannelsFree also has channels from all over the world.   Looks like they all play in an embedded player.
• Beeline TV also plays through your media player.  Why is Rod Stewart on German music TV?
• ChannelChooser plays through an embedded player as well and has channels from all over the world.
• wwitv also plays through an embedded player and offers world selection.
• inner-live with embedded player and world selection