i don't like what i think i see

personal

• welcome to moustacheville, population me! the friday before mom got back i started to grow my lip hair, and only my lip hair. beards just aren't my thing. i'll be humble and admit it doesn't look astounding, but i am deeply committed to this hair caterpillar. so no pictures yet, but when it's a bit more proud, it'll be in full effect.
  
• i've been quite sick the last few weeks, with a viral infection and other things. first of all, this puts me in a tight spot at work, leaving me with only 3 sick days until next april, without a written warning. but most of all, i've been miserable the whole time. fevers, up and down, muscle aches, head aches, neck stiffness to where i couldn't turn my head. i say this all not to complain, but to make it clear how sick i was, and to contrast it with how healthy i am usually. i'm trying to ride it out, but it may be the longest i've ever been sick.
  
• work has been slow, and i find myself a bit bored. it's not really anyone's fault, but the days have been mostly slow. also, i had a semi-evaluation. i've always found i like criticism more than positive feedback, so they go pretty easily. also, i'm not married to the job, so my pride isn't hurt.
• spent the labor day weekend with adrienne, and we were super active. we tried to get tickets to "Hair" in central park (failed), met some folks in line, went to the met (for a superhero exhibit, no less), went to soho for some shopping, watched American Teen, went drinking. the next day we spent wandering queens (passing a massive street fair and a sculpture park). it was hellaciously hot the entire time
  

political

• obama. the name basically sums it up. i watched some of the DNC, which we know is a big commercial (and apparently as locked down as the RNC in NYC 4 years ago), but the end, that was the key. i had the pleasure to see him in person a few months back at the hartford civic center (fuck anyone who calls it the XL Center). he was great, and i finally understood the energy that was traveling around the country.
• so the speech. by now, most people have forgotten it for the palin madness, but i think it still bears mentioning. i could gush and say it was amazing, which it was. but more importantly, i think it distills who obama is as a person and candidate. i don't mean that to be hyperbole, but the man spent months crafting it, so it better be fairly clear about who he is. he's enigmatic, both in a sexy, mysterious way and a frustrating, distant way. he's the best of both political worlds, the liberal core and politics with the strong conservative language. he's passionate, in the way only a person who has a wide perspective can be angry. he can be clear about policy but still miss the simplifications that modern politics have made de rigeur.
  
• how did this all effect me? i was moved, and unlike the rest of my media consumption, i actually paid attention. it had the desired effect, if you'll excuse the overused words, making me hope for change. it made me hope that barack obama will be president.
• all that other shit? beauty queens, lies, press blackouts, and piggies? who cares? it's not real. watch the swing state polls, then add on a point or two for black, latino, and young voters. optimistic? maybe, but i refuse to start freaking out all over again.
  

cinematic

• kiss kiss bang bang is a success story of the modern noir. downey and kilmer yuck it up in modern LA. this is definitely the beginning of downey's comeback. also, like i've said before, i'm literally flabbergasted by twists and surprises, and this movie has it in spades. (check out brick if you're looking for more great noir)
  
• i was a little worried about hamlet 2 before seeing it, to be honest. don't get me wrong, i love steve coogan to death, but with a writer from south park, i was a little anxious that it would go off the deep end. it almost did, but the tight rein the film had on the crazy horse was sufficient to make the film a fun run.
  
• to be succinct, american teen was a very long and well-produced episode of mtv's true life. good, but nothing ground breaking.
  
• michael moore may be controversial, but damned if he can't pull your heartstrings. sicko is basically what you expect: sob story, sob story, canada is awesome, sob story, sob story, france is awesome, and so on. now, i wear my bleeding heart on my sleeve, so this stuff gets to me, and that's the intention.
• here's a trailer i found for humboldt county, looks fun and includes fairuza balk, who's on my top ten list of beautiful people in the world.
  
  

musical

• i got suckered into paste magazine (you know, they offer a free issue, you don't bother canceling it). it's an extremely hipster-centric publication, where i am mostly lost in the new artists and erudite references. does it mean i'm dumb or just old? or both? anyway, here's a track from their recent sampler cd (one each month, which is pretty kick-ass).
• also, i finally re-downloaded all the yacht rock tracks i lost. if you don't know yacht rock, it's possibly the best thing the internet has produced. i put the first episode below. trust me, watch it. also, it kindled my love of steely dan. here's one of their tracks from the show. also, here's an episode.
  
  

internets

• found this at the haagendazs website. important but also entertaining. everything the internet should be.
  
• also, you probably have noticed the new trend of wordle word diagrams. here's one i made from the doobie brothers' hit, "takin' it to the streets."

comics

• today's selection is a great satire of the current state of the industrial-military complex. Army@Love is a mix of Iraq, sex, and crazy. check it out here.
  

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put on a slow, dumb show for you

personal

• being in the same house with just my brother has been actually fairly pleasant. even though we swear at each other a bit too much, we actually get along really well. he's done everything i've asked (though some chores take longer to get done than others), and he was very important to getting the bbq done. he may not do much in general, but he's a credible young man. he even came to a bbq at eleni's house, and he acted very mature and helped there too. mom gets back on tuesday, dad next tuesday (he's taken an extra long vacation).
  
• the bbq was a phenomenal success, from what i can gather. i had a bit of an anxiety attack in the days leading up to the saturday, with the idea quickly approaching that i would have to feed 18 people. but thankfully, it went fine, with a little help from my neighbor john (who taught me some grill tricks), and of course, eleni and ben, who came early to help.
  
• guests included the TFA'ers (pete, megan, and a surprise appearance by ryan), my ex liz (who was doing a tour of new england from canada), my former canvasser max, curt, sarah krill and her ilk (former hall mates) and my former co-worker matt lord. awesome.
• the next morning we had pancakes and watched pineapple express, which i review below. all in all, exhausting, but well worth it.
  
• next event: the 7th annual pre-thanksgiving-extravaganza, november 27th. be there!
  

cinematic

• pineapple express was, to be frank, like a beautiful shotgun blast. action-packed, scattershot, and impactful all over. a lot's been made of the budding (pun intended) bromance between seth and james, and i definitely like that part of the movie. but really, the insane action scenes where you realize that the guys are high off their gourds make you suspend disbelief to the nth degree. and danny mcbride, rising star, is one of the best actors in the whole thing, which is saying a lot.
  
• tropic thunder was equally jaw-dropping, but for a whole different set of reasons. let's just get it out the way - robert downey jr. performs his ass for this film. nuff said. otherwise, the plot rolls down the crazy hill pretty fast, and everyone involved has the same commitment (including danny mcbride, again) to the joke.
  
• also, i finally got around to buying hot fuzz (ten bucks at borders). it remains a fantastic film, for all the right reasons. here's a little best-of.
  
  

musical

• went to the grizzly bear/ new pornographers show in noho last thursday with curt. it was the first show where i felt comfortable to sit the whole show. it was definitely great music, but i didn't feel obligated to get up and rock out. maybe it's a sign of my age.
  
• but both bands were great. grizzly bear is sort of an ethereal extension of the rock bands of the 50's, you know, earth angel and such. and AC Newman and the new pornographers were just rocking. he can belt out a tune with the best of them. they played a variety of old and new stuff, and it was engrossing.
• today's track: NERD featuring Santo Gold and Julian Casablanca (of Strokes fame). you may recognize it from the recent converse commercial, which just goes to show how far commercials have advanced music-wise. listen here.
  

literature

• started two books this week. "on beauty" is by zadie smith, who wrote the amazing "white teeth," which was turned into a great PBS mini-series. her writing centers on interracial couples and their children, and the intellectual versus the religious. good, but this next book isn't grabbing me, yet at least.
• doesn't this cover kick ass? chabon is at it again, after "the yiddish policeman's union," he ventures into non-fiction. i grabbed it as soon as saw it, and only read the summary as soon as i got home. i don't care if it had been about fungi, i still would have got it. i believe in this guy unconditionally.
  

comics

• today's selection is another look at how real human beings cope with superheroes. stormwatch was a far-reaching UN superhero team, and PHD (post human division) is a check on that power, with humans ready to take on those with enormous powers with just their wits and bare hands. also, the art is by doug mahnke, who's one of my favorites. he's very visceral. check it out here.
  

the difference i'm feeling

personal

• it seems like i'm having consistently fun weekends. this is, of course, thanks to my friends, who seem to indulge me on a regular basis. of course, i also happen to make a great pancake, so it works out for both parties.
• mark, from curtis' house, had a birthday party last saturday, and needless to say, i don't remember much of it. the funnier part of the story is how we got there. well, more specifically, how we didn't get there. the thursday before i had spent the night at ben's for beers with him and alex at my new favorite bar, spigot (great beer selection, darts, mellow atmosphere, mix of old folks and college kids). so while i was there, i invited him to the party. the same day i had to drive my mother to the airport, and we left the airport ready to go to curtis'. eleni suddenly calls, as she went to philly for the weekend. because of a combination of factors, she was miserable and wanted to come home. ben had me take him home so he could give her directions, wait for her, etc. i headed back up, then ben called, explaining that eleni couldn't find transportation out of philly (blackouts and expensive trains), so could i turn around and get him? dutifully, i did, and we had a great time, and it only took an extra 50 miles of driving.
  
• speaking of mom leaving, for the next two weeks it's just me and my brother, as my parents are both in poland for the last half of the summer. i'm really hoping they enjoy themselves and don't fight too much. they just had a family reunion yesterday (paternal side) with 40 people, and my father's cousin, who happens to be an archbishop (he even said a mass for them). so far, so good on the brother front. he seems to be doing his part around the house and respecting my limited authority. i even took him to a party eleni had in the middle of the week, and he didn't make an ass of himself.
• saturday i spent with dave and antek at connecticon, the anime/web comic/sci-fi convention in hartford. and yes, it was as crazy as it sounds. people in costumes, video games, star trek actors, a godzilla marathon. it was a sensory overload of the best variety. dave and i also had some beers, some sushi, and hiked sunday morning. he's always a lot of fun to have around.

music

• finally downloaded the new hood internet mix tape, and it's pretty fun. here's a highlight.
• despite adam's luke warm reception of it, i just picked up the new dr. dog album, fate. it is phenomenal, and while it harkens back to the beatles and the like (who doesn't?), it has its own flavor, and just goes places you don't expect. what the hell, here's the whole album.
  

cinematic

• stepbrothers was completely insane. and i don't mean that in a fun, "wasn't that wacky" fashion, but i mean, in all seriousness, that every person in the film is apeshit nuts. it is clown-falling-down-a flight-of-stairs funny. oh look, here they are right now.
  
  
• the british indie kinky boots was on BBC sunday, so i sat down and watched. pretty standard plot (blue collar, small town folks are down on the luck, raise money through quirky source, in this case, transvestite boots), but it's charming, and i love chiwetel ejiofor, who you might recognize from a lot of great movies (serenity, love actually). he is super versatile.
  
• and another funny note, i found this great re-cut trailer for superbad. well played, internet.
  
  

comics

• if you love kung-fu, pulp fiction heroes, and secret mountain cities, look no further than matt fraction's immortal iron fist. fraction has to be one of the best up and coming writers in comics today, and this material is fun and action-packed. check it out.
  

i used to think that was sensible

personal

• two fun weekends behind me. first, went to curtis' on a bit of whim. it was a fairly typical night of drinking and laughing, but quick note - less 17 year-olds this time. now, don't get me wrong, i think it's hilarious that curtis' house is where the local kids go to get drunk (not to mention how much i envy them in retrospect), it's just nice to hang out with people my own age. we also had breakfast and swam in the browning pond for a while. i'll be up there again this weekend and we're all going to six flags the weekend after. curt-o-rama!
• this previous weekend i spent with eleni and ben at their family's rental in eastham on the cape. tres relaxing. we were joined by her sister christina, her boyfriend greg, eleni's parents, their friends jim and janet, and three dogs. so yeah, it was a full house. we spent a bunch of time on the beach (played polish horseshoes, which i hadn't known about), ate generously, and watched some movies. i even taught the older folks my favorite game, guillotine. ben and eleni are a joy to hang out, and they compliment each other fairly well.
• tracie left this week to train the new campus organizers. so it's sad, but i know she's excited to finish the canvass and get back to kicking ass on campus. we spent last night bowling with her canvassers, who were basically the same as any canvass office that i've been in.
• finally started working out with some kind of motivation. i used to go to the gym with little to no zest or desire to really work out. so i went on lifehacker, (one of my favorite websites, by the way) and found a bunch a diy workouts and reasonable ways to get fit. also, if anyone is interested, join me on on traineo to keep track of it all.
  
• my bbq is fast approaching. have you rsvp'd? it will be spectacular. everything made from scratch, mojitos and margaritas, games, and a pancake breakfast and movie in the morning.
  

cinematic

• i watched persepolis on dvd with my mom last week. it was a little more dramatic than i was expecting, but it is beautifully drawn, and gives a real human perspective to the iranian experience. also, fairly funny.
  
• the dark knight. it is hard to describe what this film did to me. the closest analogy i can draw is being on a cliff in the dark. you know you could walk off the edge, but you have no idea when it will happen. the whole film makes you wonder what will happen next, and heath ledger is the cause of it all. he makes you understand what it is to be crazy. it is unlike any superhero film i have ever seen.
  
• on the lighter side of things, there was also mamma mia! honestly, i am a sucker for musicals, ABBA, and colin firth. bang! all three! it is a sappy, sloppy, shining masterpiece of a movie, and if you're not heartless, you might get something out of it.

musical

• obviously, i've been listening to the Mamma Mia soundtrack constantly, so obviously, you have to listen to one of the tracks. this one's with amanda seyfried, who you may know as the idiot from Mean Girls.
• also, started listening to Stay Positive by The Hold Steady (saw it on insound, one of my favorite music sites). i have to say, it's growing on me. his voice in particular has this strange rumble to it. check out adam's site for a track and review.
  

comics

• this week i'm featuring the rough and tumble world of the modern indian reservation in Scalped. the tail of a young native returning to his mother's reservation, where crime holds sway, and the protagonist has too many allegiances. download here.

everyone gets an autographed picture

personal

• tracie and i spent three weekends ago on a day journey. after her frantic morning of payroll and data entry (which is no small task on the canvass), we went to the new britain museum of american art. it's a museum three blocks from my house, and throughout my childhood, i would go every so often, and it was quite small. but now it's a serious contender, with known artists and great formatting. my favorite is sol lewitt, who i found out was a hometown boy of new britain. great. after that, kung fu panda (described below). and after that, i taught tracie how to play darts at a nice little bar on prospect. a good day for both of us.
• the 'rents drove off to maine these last two weeks, so i've spent most of my time alone in the house. which is nice in its solitary way. i guess it speaks to where i want to be and where i actually am. right now, as always, my family and i are a sort of confederacy, where our bonds are strong and important, but our individuality is just as important to our survival as a family. elbow room is so key, but knowing that the others are around is important, too. otherwise, i'm made a bit of a mess of the place, but it'll be clean when they get back.
  
• it was ben's birthday two weekends ago. as a running gag, eleni wanted to plan a surprise party that would surprise me also. unfortunately, curt accidently let the cat out of the bag. still, it was a lot of fun, and i drank a bit, of course. later the next day we watched wall-e together, an i bid eleni adieu for almost an entire month, since she'll be with her family at home and the cape. sad.
• also stopped by ben's for an evening to watch some baseball and the john adams mini series. we call it "man month."
  
• i went to maine myself for a few days. on the way, i stopped by at harris and meredith's house. harris is my dear friend from all the way back to my second semester at umass, my first pirg organizer, and always a nice honest presence in my life. we spent the evening drinking and talking, and heidi, my director in maine three years back, stopped by as well. afterwards, i spent most my time in the house we rent every summer laying around and listening to music. really listening, which is a bit odd for me. but relaxing.

dorsal

• had to mention this: toe shoes. ben, an avid runner, mentioned these while we were discussing how awesome it is to be barefoot (i used to walk around barefoot in college, unsafe but fun). vibram makes a shoe that adapts to the natural efficiency of your toes and feet. i will buy these. oh yes, i will buy them.

cinematic

• 6 movies and a mini-series this week! kabang!
• kung fu panda was just touching. the famous actors give an air of presence to a fun story, well animated (slow motion scenes to rival any john woo). and jack black was just spot-on. i especially liked the jailer rhinos.
  
• definitely maybe. i caught this on dvd at eleni's, and it's from the producers of love actually, which i've seen about 15 times, so while this was not as good, it was certainly charming, and i love ryan reynolds, with his pausing speech and care free confidence. and the leading ladies were a treat.
  
• while i was getting that dvd, i picked up control, the ian curtis biopic. for those you who don't know, his band joy division is possibly one of the most influential bands of the late 20th century. and the film's pretty good, too.
  
  
• pixar's new one, wall-e, was a tear-jerker. the simplest love story wrapped in a sever satire of our american excess, all with robots. the main song is down below.
  
• i rewatched the holiday on encore at home, and it is as sentimental as they get, but who am i to say no to jude law, kate winslet, and jack black? (though i do have the where-with-all to avoid cameron diaz)
  
• my brother and i watched get smart in maine on a saturday, and it was good, solid fun. it's a fairly positive film, though i bit anachronistic, what with the bourne identity and terrorism. but, most of all, i loved alan arkin doing his walken-esque dry wit in a strange tone kind of thing.
  
• i've finished two discs of the new hbo john adams miniseries. phenomenal. paul giamatti conjures up the kind of driven, honest man that mccollough's book describes, and laura linney is great as always. and a cameo (as hancock) by justin theroux, who may be the most handsome man in the world.
  
• god! i watch a lot.
  

musical

• while i was making a mix for ben's party i quickly realized that a) i wish i could make more mixes in general, b) my mixes are usually pretty dance and hip hop heavy, and c) i make mixes mostly for myself. so occasionally (like at said party) they go over well, but often, they fall flat. doesn't change my mind, though.
• my favorite "new" albums are lupe fiasco's the cool and the national's boxer. i put "new" in quotations because they're both a year old, but living in connecticut, i'm a bit behind. the cool is especially good because it's a rap album that makes sense. and boxer is great because it's got those deep tones that settle you and the lyrics that lift you a bit. here's one from lupe.
  
• the credit sequence at the end of wall-e featured a new peter gabriel track. i happen to love his work, though less so as he fell into the quagmire that is modern "world" music. who's supposed to listen to that stuff? aliens who are trying to get a sense of our planet? listen to this.
  

comics

• today's entry is darwyn cook's look at the dc universe through the socio-political lens of the 60's. the real 60's, with indochine involvement and red scare and civil rights battles. of course, the superhero part is a little less real, but not dramatically. also, the art, as you can see, is great. download part one here.
  

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chew bubblegum and kick ass

personal

• i've been having a series of nightmares recently, most involving a serious loss of motor function in public settings, like a rapid onset of parkinson's or cerebral palsy. also, there's been a few involving a race of mind control/ hive consciousness villains. now, if i was some sort of amateur psychologist, i'd say it was some sort of issue with my lack of control.
• i find myself fitting in at work, joking and getting along with people. this is nice, but also ventures into that realm of that american sensibility; work and friendship overlapping. so it makes me commit to the job (which i plan to work at for about a year and a half), and it's interesting to throw myself into something again, after 5 years of pirg.
  
• spent a great weekend up in groveland, ma with dave. we generally geeked out. incredible hulk on friday night, and the bugaboo creek steakhouse afterwards. am i wrong that the franchise family restaurant is a crime against nature? the artificial kitschness, the overpriced, oversized portions, and the surly staff, all topped off by a talking buffalo head (not kidding).
• then, saturday, we headed to the beach in salisbury, with a quick stop in new hampshire for some comics. the water was cold, and it was windy, but it was still nice to go to the beach. afterwards, arcade games galore. one in particular, metal slug, just happens to be my favorite arcade game of all time (i spent an entire summer in poland trying to beat it, to no avail). here's a classic yelling ad for the game.
• eleni's moved into a new house, really near work, so she was nice enough to let me stay the night in her spacious guest room. it's a really nice place, and i'll probably be holding my famous pre-thanksgiving there.
• oh by the way- adrienne agreed to marry dan while she was in israel. holy shit!
  

music

• this week i've listened to one of my favorite albums again, Surrender by the Chemical Brothers. now, i know that house music is an aquired taste, but every now and then, it's fun to crank the stereo and just get lost in a synthetic beat. and the brothers happen to be good at it. check out my favorite spring song, the sunshine underground.
  

cinematic

• the incredible hulk was a real blast, with the same kind of knowable tension that iron man had. by that i mean the plot is fairly obvious: hulk gets mad, army comes after him, hulk smash army monster. but the stuff inbetween, whether it's tim blake nelson as the mad scientist, or tim roth as the villain, it's all together good.
• re-watched lars and the real girl with eleni and ben. i may have said it already, but i truly believe ryan gosling is the marlon brando of our generation. this is just another example. lars is sweet without falling in the trap of many bad indie movies where quirkiness replaces character. check it out.
  

comics

• today's entry is a revamp of the classic adventuring strongman, Tom Strong. now archaeology, nazis, and fistfights are all fun, but this book goes a step further. snake gods, alternate versions of the hero, and a steam robot are only some of the fun to come in this book. download here.
  

that's the life i covet

personal

• i've been thinking a little bit more about my job, and it struck me how much death is involved. i go over wills and last testaments on a regular basis, and every other day, i literally have to record someone's death in my database. people die in the same building i work in. now, this doesn't freak me out or anything, and perhaps it's the lack of freaking out that is, in fact, freaking me out. death is a logistical part of my job, not emotional or personal, or even hands-on like an EMT. it's simply something i have to take into consideration.
• three fun weekends behind me, with the usual suspects. tracie and i went to see indiana jones, and spent an entire evening pontificating on our current and former pirg lifestyles. our conclusion? none in particular, but it was good to find a middle ground. however relieved i may be after leaving the job, there is a big part that still has faith in what pirg means, if the methodology and leadership might be going in a different direction.
• invited eleni, tracie, and ben over for memorial day barbeque, and my parents made a big to-do about it, and it came out really nice. didn't actually barbeque, though, as it was much easier to broil everything. quick note for anyone who lives in the northeast, i'll be holding a blow out barbeque in august.
• went to nyc to visit adrienne and dan. we went to see sex and the city amongst an arena of astoria 17 year olds, squealing and "ooh"-ing at every single scene. we then proceeded to get ridiculous the next day, roaming the city, with little aim or goal. but we did finish the day at dan's comedy show, which was pretty funny. all in all, a great weekend.

music

• listened to a few things this past month. most of all, the sweeney todd soundtrack, with johnny depp and helena bonham carter (tim burton's persona nepotism). because i'm a sucker for show tunes (surprise!), i was singing them all month. here's my favorite. also, the new portishead is basically what you'd expect from a bunch of depressing 40 year-old technoheads. good.

cinematic

• first, the indy sequel to end all indy sequels (well, not really). a good, fun movie, but nothing earth shattering. blanchett was the most fun, but ford was in good form. i've always been a big fan of shia laboeuf, all the way back to the even stevens days. he's a very reasonable young man, unlike every other douche in LA. read the GQ article if you don't believe me. though he does fairly wasted in the photos.
  
• sex and the city. as good as thought. in other words, passable. there are some great and indulgent moments (the cock shot, for instance), but mostly, it's the cliches you expect. one note, charlotte has zero conflict in this movie. seriously.
  
• also, i'm a huge palahniuk fan. he's got to be one of the most evocative authors of our generation. now comes a fairly faithful interpretation of his book, choke. check it out.
  
  

comics

• dragons, a los angeles trapped in hell, and a big-ass psychic fish, and hey, that guy that was on buffy! yes, following the huge success of buffy season 8 comes angel season 6 (aka "after the fall"). if you've ever watched the series finale of angel, you know that our vampire pal brought some serious hurt to the bad guys, and payback's a bitch. read it here.
  

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