Now, voyager, sail thy forth to seek and find

Da-nah-nah-NAH! Movie Review time!

The Girl Next Door (2004)
I won't get into the plot of this one, because it's not that great. It started off okay, but wasn't nearly good enough to be as long as it seemed. I'll admit it had potential, it felt almost like it could have been directed by Sofia Coppola. However, the bare breasts and handfull of juvenile jokes are not enough to make this the Teen Comedy it was (quite erroneously) marketed as. Nor are they enough to save it. Yes, the female lead (Elisha Cuthbert as Danielle) is hot, but I really only like her because she's Albertan. Emile Hirsch's portayal of Matthew was shallow and a little annoying.
(My rating - 2.5 out of 5).

Music & Lyrics (2007)
As far as rom-coms go, this was not half bad. It was funny, which I guess is important. It also wasn't too mushy, which appeals to me. The music was also fun and catchy. I was humming the tune to "Way Back Into Love" all day at work. Hugh Grant, as washed-up pop star Alex, is his usual "charmingly befuddled" self in this flick. I find he basically plays the same character in every film, but it works so I guess thats why he sticks with it. Drew Barrymore, as Sophie, is at her best since 50 First Dates (2004). And both of them are shockingly good singers.
(My Rating - 4 out of 5)

Lady Killer (1933)
Ridiculous over-acting? Check. Melodramatic music? Check. Shakey camera work, crappy cinematography and scratchy film? Check. Blatant racism, depictions of alcohol use and smoking? Check. That settles it, a perfect example of what makes these old-timey black-and-whites so effing awesome. Also a pretty good example of 30's gangster flicks. James Cagney is at his best as Dan Quiggley, a fast talking, small-time hustler with a hankerin' for pretty girls, making money, and smacking people around. Best moment? When Cagney hauls a kicking-and-screaming Mae Clark (as Myra Gale) out of his appartment by her hair. My one complaint about this film is that the leading lady (Margaret Lindsay as Lois Underwood) almost isn't leading at all. There are so many interesting and funny characters that her character is kind of buried under all the other goings-on.
(My Rating - 3.5 out of 5)

Please Believe Me (1950)
Another oldy-but-a-goody black-and-white. The ensamble cast includes Deborah Kerr and Peter Lawford (of Rat Pack and Kennedy-in-law fame). The screwball-comedy plot is simple and funny, and with some tweaking would probably even please today's audiences. To tell the truth, I was painting while I watched this so I only caught about 50% of what was on screen, but I liked what I heard.
(My Rating - 3 out of 5)

So you maybe noticed that two of these pictures are older than your parents. That's because TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is perfect background noise for working on other projects, such as the aforementioned painting. Ain't I just cultural? Watching Alexander Nevsky and painting, it just don't get more artistical. Plus, the dames in these flicks? YOWZA!

Anyways, thats all for now. Next week, a special post for Black History Month. Am I black? Nope.

P.S. The title of this post is from a poem by Walt Whitman. I got it from the 1942 film Now, Voyager starring Bette Davis. How about them eyes?

P.P.S. Still watching TCM, and Peter Lawford just knocked a dude out for taking his picture. Sweet.

Clever Title

I had planned on posting on Saturday, but ended up getting drunk in the middle of the day instead. Then today I decided to get creative, so I went and bought some acrylic paints and painted a sign for the pub that I will someday own. I also read about the American Civil War. We didn't have one of those, seems like good times though. Up next, The War of 1812, because we were actually sort of involved in that one (burned your White House down, suckas.)

On the topic of history, my new favourite video is Washington. Be warned, it's very sweary and full of references to the male anatomy, but it is effing awesome. I'm not sure who it's by, either Cox & Combs or Brad Neely. At any rate, I discovered it through B3ta. B3ta is my favourite website ever, or at least their newsletter is. They pretty much introduced me to the best parts of the Internet. Or the worst?

I don't entirely remember where I found The Do's and Don'ts With Babies, but I do know it made me laugh. Then again, when my family was passing my 4 month-old niece around the dinner table the other night, I made a joke about putting baby shavings on my meal. And that fresh cracked baby is good for your prostate. My family laughed, so I guess we're all pretty messed up.

Candidate for most hauntingly beautiful story ever, L’Inconnue de la Seine.

Candidate for WORST THING I READ TODAY (found via BoingBoing)

Candidate for the Best Google Logo Ever

The great Friends marathon is nearly finished, so maybe someday soon I'll have an album or movie review, but for now I leave you with Primitive Ways. These guys are awesome. They'll learn you how to make a bow and arrow to kill a deer, a knife to dress it, then tan its hide and make boots from the leather. So... go do that.

Rhymes with

I was very saddened to hear the news of Heath Ledger's passing. He wasn't exactly my fav'rit actor, but he had something. I won't get all wishy-washy and send my condolences to his family, nor will I speculate on the how and why. I just wanted to say I'm sad about it.



Heath Ledger
April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008

On a happier note, check this shit out! Isn't that fun? I found that at... at... hmm, I forget where. Probably Neatorama or BoingBoing, that's where I usually steal stuff from anyways. But wait, Neatorama linked to Lackadaisy Cats just a few weeks after me. Coincidence? I THINK SO!

Also, check out this collection of Cool Stuff to Stick on Your Blog, from JustSayHi.com, which seems to be an online dating site. Anyways, I figured I'd just link to the list, rather than sticking an "I SCORED THIS MANY ON A QUIZ!" in every post.

The Style

Do you like Photoshop? Do you like Steampunk? Take a gander at this. Photoshoppery and steampunkery abounds. I discovered this via BoingBoing. You know BoingBoing, right?

Also, check out the Urban Legend ER, by the same folks who made 24: The Unaired 1994 Pilot. Warning: swearyness and fake blood. Found via Neatorama.

My life is consumed by wedding plans and Friends on DVD. At least we know who we're inviting and what I'm wearing. To the wedding, not to watch Friends. "She" has yet to find a dress, we have yet to chose wedding rings, we have picked out some songs for the ceremony but need to hire pipers (if we can afford them), invitations actually need to be sent, we're supposed to be getting married in my parent's back yard but they might be moving, we've chosen an MC but haven't even asked her if she wants to yet. Gah.
We've at least chosen our wedding song (like 3 years ago when "wedding" was a bad word). "Hotel Yorba" by The White Stripes from their album White Blood Cells. Which is very good, you should check that out. Actually you should check out all their stuff. It's all good, even Get Behind Me Satan which is very... plonky.

What was I talking about? I have no idea. It's 3:00 AM for for Pete's sake.

Boring Blog Bonanza!

My dear friend Molly, of Nasty Butler fame, was kind enough to point out "adoration, adulation, affection, allegiance, amity, amorousness, appreciation, ardency, ardor, attachment," and "affection" as synonyms for "love", which had just been "affirmed". I probably should have pointed out that I hate alliteration. Absolutely.

Anyways.

"How is the writer's strike affecting you?" Well, I have to hear about it everyday, which pisses me off, because I don't care about it otherwise. But I just blogged about it, so now you have to read about it!

Well that's all I could come up with this time. So check out this new toy which I found via Neatorama. It takes some figurin', so it should keep you occupied until my next exciting post. Have fun.

Whose Tube?

Well. Um. Yeah. Okay, so I realize it's pointless to blog without anything to blog about, but if I don't try and do this regularly, I'll get out of the habit and never get back in it.

So. Um. YOUTUBE COP OUT!



What? Oh. It's Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as performed by Hurra Torpedo of Norway. I've always loved this song, and hearing it performed on kitchen appliances by hairy Norwegian men just affirmed my... love. What the hell is a synonym for love?

Muy Caliente

I really am attempting to post regularly on this blog. I'd like to share all the wikkid sweet things I find, as well as the minutiae of my life. But my fiance went and borrowed the first 3 seasons of Friends on DVD, so we're watching EVERY EPISODE (lame, I know) and eating Jalapeno flavoured pistachios. They're burning death in nut form.

So until I regain control of my life, please, enjoy this little toy. Just drag the mouse to draw. You'll figure it out. I found this via Neatorama. Which, by the way is one of my fav'rit sites EVER.

What you think about that?

Allow me to introduce Chris Leavins. He has a blog/internet TV show called Cute With Chris. He's a funny, funny man. Please enjoy this video, the first I have ever embeded for any reason, which stars Chris.

Isn't rap music HILARIOUS?! I will never be able to order at the bar again without asking for a draaaank.

Which reminds me. I was introduced to Cute with Chris via Drew and Natalie Dee. He writes the webcomic Toothpaste for Dinner, and she writes... well, Natalie Dee. Together they make Married to the Sea. They are quite awesome.

Blog Captain and the Blog of Today

No news from me, so I thought I'd just share a few of my favourite things.

Questionable Content by Jeph Jaques is my fav'rit webcomic. Indy-music nerd love dramady. I've read every episode twice. You should too, if you're into comics, just to observe the progression of his art. I don't get a lot of the music references, but I do get the toilet humour. Anyone who has read my webcomic will notice I was muchly inspired by QC.

My other favourite webcomic is A Softer World by Emily Horne and Joey Comeau. It's not exactly funny, in the general comic strip sense, but I dig it. I've actually cried over one of these strips before. I believe that she does the pictures, and he does the words.

I'd feel bad posting this without giving props (wtf?) to my favourite Canadian webcomic, Words and Pictures by Jamie Lirette and Graham Mutch. I forget who does the words and who does the pictures.

Lastly, not my favourite webcomic, (but probably the best artistically speaking), Lackadaisy by Tracey J. Butler. Anthropomorphic cats in prohibition era St. Louis. Good stuff.

Anyways, I'm being dragged to the bar to play pool, so go check those out while I lose at 8-Ball.

P.S. I saw Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow for the first time the other day. What the hell were the filmmakers thinking? It wasn't even like, ironically good, or stupid-funny. Just tripe. Utter tripe. Don't even watch it to make fun of it. Ugh. Horrible.