Posts

There’s a void in the blogging world. Or at least, there was up until now. The Panda Assassin. Truth in advertising. Just what it sounds like. All credit to michele blue, who found it.

So Tom DeLay had to appear at the courthouse for a mug shot last week. Now, let’s say you’re a politician in some degree of trouble, and you gotta have your mug shot taken. I’m thinking it’s not too much of a leap of brilliance to say “I better not look like a criminal in the photograph.” Or maybe that takes “a freaking political genius” (original). And maybe taking care to look good in your mug shot completely disarms one’s adversaries (original). I mean, that’s it — he looked good in his mug shot, so the trial might as well be over now. ...

Note to self: iTunes videocasting (original) plus Lisa Rein’s Daily Show clips implies things.

NBC bought the new Sorkin show. They paid a hunka hunka burning money, it’s a show about a live comedy show (c.f. SNL), and that’s most of the informational content of the article I just linked to. Anticipatory.

A note regarding Apple’s new iTunes video content (original): It’s cool to be able to download a TV episode for $1.99. Might even be the magic price point. However, what Apple has for some reason not promoted is the cost of old seasons — e.g., season one of Lost will run you around thirty-five bucks. This is somewhat cheaper than the DVDs, although quality is also lower. But from reports so far, they look just fine on — say — the new media center-oriented iMac.

Creep is pretty much your standard nouveau horror flick (see also Cabin Fever, Cube, etc.). Franka Potente is trapped in the London Underground late at night, and must flee a scary homicidal creature who kills and eats for reasons never exactly explained. It’s pared down, tense throughout, self-aware, and so forth. I left feeling sort of apathetic, though. I was scared — Christopher Smith is a dab hand with the jump scare. He’s also really good at using the well-lit Underground in contrast with dank side tunnels for effect; light is not a significator for “safe” in this movie. Perhaps in accordance with this, the monster is fully revealed about two thirds of the way through — no shadows. That worked fairly well, I thought. It means the movie was working without a net, however. ...

The Boston Fantastic Film Festival schedule (original) is out. It’s what you might call slightly heavy on the horror; they’re also showing The Muppet Movie. Intriguing contrast — since they showed Five Children and It last year, I’m assuming there’s a tradition of having a children’s movie. Hm. Thursday night looks good, with Creep and the inevitable Miike. Friday, likewise, for Marebito and R-Point. More the latter. I could miss Friday night without shedding too many tears. ...

Oh, Ann Coulter (original). It’s a great column. I mean, you get the usual “liberals are the devil” stuff which of course only coincidentally resembles the rhetoric of extremists who really would like to see liberals dead. You don’t get an Ann Coulter column without that; they don’t have anything without glossy intellectual hatred in it. But you also get the pit bull going after Bush, a fine spectacle indeed. It’s worth it for that aspect alone. Don’t stop! There’s more. ...

J. Papelbon: 4 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 2 Ks, 0.00 ERA. Nice little series for the kid. The Red Sox were flawed, they made the playoffs anyway, and they didn’t do well. Next year ought to be pretty good. It is not necessary to bring back Damon; he’ll be 33 and may well have peaked over the last four years. Thanks for the title, Johnny! The question for the off-season: who’s the ace? Schilling isn’t coming back as his old self, Clement isn’t an ace, and so on. Not a lot of great pitching on the free agent market. Burnett? I don’t think so. Morris or Mulder? Hm. Or maybe they’ll finally make the Manny trade. ...

Versions of “Shoot Out The Lights” in my music library: The original, off Shoot Out The Lights, one of the best albums ever. Linda Thompson provides backup vocals. They were months from divorcing at this point, and you can tell; Shoot Out The Lights is also one of the most voyeuristic albums ever. An acoustic version, from A Rare Thing. This album is a bootleg from the 1994 tour (August 13th, 1994, in Chapel Hill); middling quality, but good music. This is the only acoustic version I have, although I have a number of acoustic Richard Thompson albums. It’s not really an acoustic song. Then again, that’s what makes this version interesting. A version from Two Letter Words, which is the legitimate live album also from a 1994 tour. This is electric, from earlier in 1994. The X cover version from Beat The Retreat, one of two Richard Thompson tribute albums. Alas, this is X without Dave Alvin… but it doesn’t really matter, cause it’s still just about perfect. Actually, that whole album is pretty amazing; it’s a who’s who of alternative rock in 1994, with X and R.E.M. and Bob Mould and Los Lobos and David Byrne and so on. All this reminds me to pick up a copy of The World is a Wonderful Place, the other RT tribute album, which is a bunch of Brit folkies you’ve never heard of. Where was I? Oh yeah: a new Los Lobos cover, off this year’s Ride This: The Covers EP. This is a companion to their recent The Ride, on which Thompson guests. It’s the roughest-edged of them all, I think, with pained guitar and hoarse vocals. Very tasty. Bob Mould’s cover from Poison Years. This is the other version I feel somewhat guilty about owning, because Mould was none too pleased about that album — Virgin Records released it without his blessing and it doesn’t track very well as an album, even if we needed a greatest hits album from what was then a two-album solo career. However, it does have a live “Shoot Out The Lights” on it, so it’s not like I wasn’t going to buy it. Mould makes the song into even more of a dirge than it already is, with furious guitar solos. Beautiful. Finally, a live version from Watching The Dark, the big sprawling Best Of album. This version was recorded on a 1983 tour, which is not long at all after Richard and Linda divorced. The order in which I list these is the order in which iTunes happens to sort them, but I think this is the perfect way to finish: back to where it all began, shortly after the pain inherent in the song found resolution. ...