Wall Crawlers, Proto Punks, and Ominous Poker Hands

- I had the opportunity to see Spider-man 3 last week, and I would say that, for the most part, I enjoyed it. It seemed to me that they tried to cram too much into the movie. The various plot lines could have easily fleshed out two separate movies. If you’ve seen the first two installments of the Spider-man franchise, you might as well go see this one. I ended up seeing a bootleg of the movie a few days after seeing it in the theater, but I would advise against downloading this one. Not for the reasons the MPAA and the various copyright holders would put forth, but simply because the bootlegs out right now don’t do this movie justice. Since Spider-man spends a good deal of time wearing a black costume in this flick, you really want to see a quality version, be that the theatrical print or the eventual DVD.

- I generally make it a rule that I don’t take my work home with me. And seeing that I work at a landfill, that hasn’t been a hard rule to follow. But last week a resident came in and I noticed he had a box of LPs on his passenger seat. He said I was welcome to have any of the records. You’d be surprised how many offer to let you have the things they are prepared to throw away, but that’s a topic for another day. So after thumbing through his various Foreigner and Journey albums, I managed to score a few choice LPs. I got Alice Cooper’s “Billion Dollar Babies,” The Cars’ “Panorama,” Elvis Costello’s “Trust,” and the piece de resistance the New York Dolls’ “Too Much Too Soon.” I never thought I’d come across a vintage Dolls LP, seeing as they probably didn’t sell many of them back in the day. But, as the old saying goes: one man’s trash...

- I played a lot of poker this past week. And while I did pretty well, I was alarmed when I got a Dead Man’s Hand. For the unfamiliar, a Dead Man’s Hand is a two pair poker hand, aces and eights. The hand is so named because it is widely reported to be the hand Wild Bill Hickok was playing before he was shot. The hand is a popular cliche in many old western films, wherein a character, usually a villain, will get a Dead Man’s Hand shortly before being killed in a violent confrontation. And though I have not been killed in a gunfight in the days since getting the ominous hand, I have been watching my back.

Chester After 24 Hours

Like many great things, vacations don't last forever. Mine came to an end yesterday morning as I packed up my car and drove back to Chester.

Now, as far as cities go, I like Fredericton. It's not too big and it's not too small. And I think I managed to take advantage of just about everything the city had to offer while I was there. I saw just about everyone I was hoping to see, I bought some cool records, I visited nearly every pawn shop on the city's south side, and I even caught a rock show before I left.

I've been back home for about twenty-four hours now and I feel like crap. Not because I have to go to work tomorrow, but because I caught a cold or something towards the end of my vacation. So, as good as Fredericton and its people were to me, they still managed to give me the plague.

So that's all for now kiddies.

Fredericton After 24 Hours

I got into Fredericton yesterday around three. The sun was shining and I saw plenty of hippies in the streets, so I knew I was back in a University town.

After meeting up with my gracious hosts, I went to one of my favorite spots in Fredericton, Backstreet Records. I picked up a David Byrne album, the new Spaceblood CD, and a copy of Roger Corman's The Man with X-Ray Eyes.

Later on, my hosts hosted a birthday party for one of their friends (and yes, I know, that's a lot of simultaneous hosting). In the midst of all the conversation and dollar store decorations, I was introduced to a drink called "the spirit of America." The tasty beverage involves a deceptive amount of gin, so I have to suspect that it could easily lead to one's undoing.

In order to somewhat remedy my hangover this morning, I took my hosts out for breakfast at Fred's Pancake House. Fred's is a truck stop style restaurant on the outer edge of the city. You can always count on two things at Fred's: surly waitresses and bottomless coffee. Even now, some two hours after the fact, I can still feel my breakfast working its magic on me.

So that's pretty much what I've done with the last 24 hours. I hope this week will conintue to provide good food, good friends and good times. And while I'd like to say that I'm going to post regular updates as the week unfolds, the fact remains, I am on vacation. So I'm not going to promise anything.

I'm Starting To Hate This Whole Blog Thing

Whenever I boot up Internet Explorer this page comes up. So each and every time I go on the net, I'm reminded that I haven't updated my blog in forever. And frankly, I'm getting sick of it. I had a lot more enthusiasm for blogging when I started. These days, when I think of something to write about, I'm pained by the thought of putting the time into posting something I can be relatively happy with. So here's the deal cats and kittens, don't expect much. I'm abandoning a few of my favorite parts of the blog, though I doubt anyone will notice/care. I'm going to keep posting, but all future posts are likely to be half-assed.

And now for something relatively different:

- The White Stripes will be putting out a new album this summer. Icky Thump will be released on June 19th. For more information, consult any music blog.

- Kurt Vonnegut has passed away. The author died yesterday as a result of brain injuries he suffered from a recent fall. While I haven't read many of Vonnegut's works, I have to say that Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the greatest books I have ever read.

- This past weekend was April 6th, a day that has a lot of meaning for me. Not only was it a good friend's birthday (for which he had a kick ass party) but it was also a day of celebration for anyone who has ever lived in Harrington Hall. Harrington, one of the residence buildings on campus at St. Thomas University, has maintained the tradition of April 6th Day celebrations for a number of years. While the origins of the occasion are somewhat unknown, the celebration of the day remains an annual fixture on campus. Though I have not lived in Harrington since 2001, I cannot help but think back to those days every April 6th. So, in the midst of a friend's birthday celebration this past weekend, I pulled another former Harrington resident aside and toasted the house. A tradition that I expect I will observe for many years to come.

And that's about all I can think of for now.

Oh Yeah, I'm Supposed To Post Stuff

Hey kids. Sorry about the massive delay since my last blog entry. I guess I don't have any real good excuse for not writing. So, I'll just get on with it then...

- I met Jonathan Torrens at work about two weeks ago. Yes, one of the former hosts of Street Cents and current stars of Trailer Park Boys. He was very polite and we had a short conversation about Street Cents.

- I'm still very hooked on Facebook. I've only been on it for a few weeks, but I'm still finding friends I haven't talked to in years. Unlike MySpace, there's something to look forward to every time I log on.

- One of my new favorite shows is a Japanese cartoon called Death Note. I haven't really been in to anime since I was in high school, but I'm definitely enjoying this show. I won't really bother explaining the concept of the show, you can find that on wikipedia. Personally, one of the things I like most about the show is how endlessly complicated it gets with every episode.

- The new Modest Mouse album comes out this Tuesday, March 20th. I'm pretty stoked to get this one, as I've been a fan of the band for a few years now. Don't just download this one kids, go to your friendly neighborhood record store (or, god forbid, the mall) and buy the CD. If you actually purchase the album they just might be able to make another one.

"Love You So Much It Makes Me Sick"

Here's an unsettling fact: if Kurt Cobain were still alive today, he would have just turned forty. Even though this April will mark the thirteenth anniversay of of his death, I still find it hard to believe that so much time has passed since then. Now, I'm not one of those people who say that they were into Nirvana before they got super popular. In fact, I jumped on the Nirvana bandwagon pretty late in the game. I remember getting the Nevermind casette (remember casettes?) from Trevor Eisner sometime in '93. I listened to the band faithfully from '93 until sometime around '96. After that, it would be another four or five years until a Nirvana album would find its way into my stereo again. I have Cory Mott to thank for my revitalized interest in the band. Think back to the musical landscape of 2000-2001. Limp Bizkit and wave after wave of nu-metal clones saturated radio and music television. At the time, I was nineteen and living in residence at St. Thomas University. My roommate was the aforementioned Cory Mott, a man with an electric guitar, a copy of Bleach and the unwavering desire to party until he could party no more. The other guys living in our wing of the residence (the historic Harrington Hall) must have hated us. You could almost set your clock to our foolishness. Friday evening would only be setting in and we would crank In Utero as loud as we cared to crank it. With beers in hand, we would rock out until the proctors made us stop. The music of Nirvana was as much a part of my university experience as anything or anyone else.

So happy belated birthday to you, Kurt. And thanks for the memories.

A Few Goodies

There are a few little things I thought I'd write about today. None of which really merit their own post, so bear with me.

Facebook
Apparently, Myspace is totally last week. The kids today are all over Facebook and I can kinda see why. As far as basic setups go, Facebook is kinda like Myspace except without all the ads and crap. I probably have around 500 Myspace friends and I might talk to three of them. Whereas on Facebook I might only have 20 friends, but I would actually want to keep in contact with all of them.

Internet Talk Radio
I hate real talk radio, but for some reason I've been listening to a lot of internet talk radio recently. So far my attention has been split between two programs on very opposite sides of the content spectrum. NPR, which takes a very intelligent and informative aproach to internet talk radio and DEADPIT.COM which is essentially just the rantings of two Kentucky based horror fanatics.

Ecto-1
One of my childhood obsessions is up for sale. According to various internet news sources, one of the cars used in the original Ghostbusters movie is up for sale. The price tag on this must-own vehicle is only $150,000, which is a bargain when you consider the fact that the lights and siren still work.

"No More Singing In The Woods"

I picked up my first new CD of 2007 tonight, Julie Doiron's "Woke Myself Up." This is the first album of Julie's that I've ever heard, so I can't compare it to the rest of her solo material, but I have to say that it's a pretty good album in general. I was prompted to pick up this disc after I heard that Julie has her old Eric's Trip bandmates backing her up on this one. I thought they might only be on a track or two, but I was pleased to find out that they're pretty much on every track. You can definitely hear the ole Trip on some songs. So, anyone who's a fan of Eric's Trip should run out and pick up this album. It's not like a new Eric's Trip album, but it's probably as close as we'll ever get.

And for good measure, here's a video for a song off the album called "No More."

Must See TV, No Really!

Not since Arrested Development have I been this excited about something on TV. Kids, I'm talking about Robot Chicken, my new favorite show. Created in part by Seth Green, Robot Chicken uses toys and the miracle of stop-motion animation to make brilliant nuggets of twisted satire. While the show hits a broad range of targets, my favorite pieces tend to be the send-ups of classic 80s cartoons and culture.

Season one is available on DVD, season two is available on the net, and season three will apparently be starting before too long. You can check out YouTube for a variety of clips and full episodes. I couldn't decide on a clip to add to this blog entry, so I went with one of the first I could find. Enjoy.

"Life Moves Pretty Fast."

Well, another holiday season has come and gone. I'm sure, by now, all you loyal readers have shaken off the last remnants of your holiday hangovers and have gotten back to work/school/whatever. Since I haven't been the best blogger these last few months, I'm gonna take this opportunity to recap a few things that have happened to me over the holidays.

Christmas
Christmas started a little earlier than usual for me this year. My sister and her husband came down a week before the big day, so we exchanged a few gifts early. As for C-Day itself, I certainly can't complain about the haul this year. I got a new flat screen computer monitor (which I haven't hooked up yet), a few choice DVDs (hello, Dracula 75th Anniversay Edition), a couple of books, and lots of other odds and ends.

When I was a kid, we used to get a stocking full of little goodies to prep us for the main stuff under the tree. As time went by and Christmas became less about getting toys, the stockings got bigger and bigger. It's progressed to the point where I find myself faced with a large garbage bag sized sack of stuff. While the sack itself has trumped a plethora of other gifts, I can't complain about unwrapping a few dozen little things versus a couple of bigger items.

Boxing Week Madness
Some people wait all year long to snap up the deals during boxing week madness. Me, I just use it as an excuse to buy a whole lot more stuff than I would during a normal week. Allow me to highlight what I picked up at Wal-Mart:

2/$5

Gamera: The Ultimate Collection
For the princely sum of $2.50 plus tax I netted myself a three pack of Gamera flicks. For those of you not in the know (and I'll assume that's most of you out there), Gamera was a giant nuclear powered turtle that alternately destroyed and saved Tokyo. Much like other Japenese giant rubber suited monster movies (kaiju films to you movie nerds out there), Gamera movies are an acquired taste.

Jack Nicholson - Cult Classics
This set features three early Nicholson flicks from his pre-Easy Rider era. I bought this set primarily because it has the original Little Shop of Horrors on it. I might have paid upwards of $5 for that movie alone.

2/$20

Bullitt
No matter what anyone tells you, the best car chase ever committed to film comes from this movie. Fuck The Fast and the Furious, fuck Gone in Sixty seconds, fuck all those CGI enhanced wannabes. This movie has the grandaddy of all car chases. You shouldn't even be allowed to have an opinion on movie car chases if you haven't seen this flick.

True Romance
It's Quentin Tarantino and yet it's not Quentin Tarantino. Highlights from this movie include Christian Slater taking a prostitute to a Sonny Chiba film festival and Bronson Pinchot (aka Balki Bartokomous) getting busted with a burst bag of coke all over himself.

Some Kind of Wonderful
I haven't seen this one yet, but it has two things going for it right off the bat: it was written by John Hughes and it's got Eric Stoltz in it. Apparently, the movie is more or less a remake of Pretty in Pink but with the gender roles reversed.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Is there anyone out there who hasn't seen this movie yet?

THX 1138
George Lucas' pre-Star Wars sci-fi epic. I haven't seen this one yet, but seeing as it's an early 70s sci fi flick, I imagine it's long, slow, and somewhat boring. But what kind of a movie geek would I be if I didn't have this flick in my collection?

Forrest Gump
Only ten bucks for Gump? Not too shabby. For me, this movie is all about Gary Sinise as Lieutenant Dan.

The best deal of the day - $3.33

Cobra
These days, Stallone might be trying to revitalize his acting career but if you go back twenty years you can find a few movies that almost killed that career. One such movie was Cobra. The origins of this movie lie in what would become Beverly Hills Cop. You might not know it, but Stallone was the first choice for Beverly Hills Cop, but his involvement never got past the development stage. You see, Stallone had all these "great ideas" for Beverly Hills Cop. So many "great ideas" that he thought he could make a much better movie on his own. So, he wrote the screenplay for what would become Cobra. And I guess I don't have to tell you which movie ended up being more successfull.


(It wasn't Cobra.)

New Year's
The thing I probably miss the most about when I was living in New Brunswick are the good friends I made while I was there. Good folks I only get to see once or twice a year now. So, when the opportunity came up to go to a New Year's Eve party in Moncton, I did everything I could to make it happen. The party, hosted by the lovely Danielle Pellerin, boasted an ample assortment of good friends and Moncton hipsters. I believe a good time was had by all. I know, by the time my head hit the pillow at 5 am, I had had about as much of a good time as I was capable of having.

And that, my friends, was probably more than what you wanted to know about my Holidays. Until next time...

Merry Christmas, Yo

"Me, I Want A Hula Hoop"

It's only just the beginning of December and Christmas music is already all over the radio. Now, I don't mean to shit on all Christmas music, but I think we can all agree that 99% of the yuletide tunes out there suck big time. So in the spirit of not being a total grinch this year, I present my top five Christmas songs.

5. Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
I love the guitar on this track. Now, you might not immediately know what song I'm talking about here, but trust me, you know this song. Just think of any Christmas-y type movie made in the last fifteen years or so. This is usually the song playing during the traditional of montage of holiday hijinks.

4. The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)
Sure, it's a novelty song, but just try and deny that you know every lyric by heart. I suspect that every parent has a deep seeded hatred for not just this track, but the whole Chipmunks phenomenon. Though I feel bad for kids growing up with the Chipmunks these days, because they'll never know the childish joy of listening to the old LPs. When you're a kid, the only thing that's more fun that listening to the Chipmunks is listening to them at various unintended speeds on your record player. If you play this track at 78 rpm and you're bound to give someone a seizure.

3. The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
I think the Beach Boys are part of my musical DNA. Both my first casette and CD were Beach Boys collections. When they come out with music in neural implant form, I'll be sure to pick up Pet Sounds before anything else. Now, I like this track for a variety of reasons (not just because I think there's a hidden satanic message in it). Back in their heyday, the Boys put out several albums a year. So you can just picture a scenario wherein Brian Wilson and the gang are sitting around some big conference table with the execs from Capital Records. "Um, Brian, we love all these surf tracks, but, uh.... Do you think you could make a Christmas album?"

2. Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmas Time
Paul is probably my favorite living Beatle (sorry Ringo), mostly because his post-Beatles material is the only stuff I can stand. Now, I have no idea when this track came out or what was Paul's motivation for making a Christmas song with probably the single most bizarre synth riff you've ever heard, but it's still one hell of a good Christmas song. Expect to hear this on the radio and in the shopping malls aproximately 4000 times before December 25th.

1. Run DMC - Christmas In Hollis
As if there was any doubt that this track would be number one on my list. If you haven't heard this song, download it NOW. It is the only Christmas song you will need to hear this year. Just imagine a vintage mid-to-late-80s rap song complete with Christmas samples. The Reverend Run starts it all off by telling the story of how he found Santa's wallet and returned it to him, only to receive a fat wad of cash for his good natured efforts. After that DMC schools us all on what a proper Christmas in Hollis entails. Complete with a list of all the fine foods that Mom will be cooking for the big festive meal.

And since it's just not enough to tell you how great a song this is, I present the vintage video for Christmas in Hollis:

30 Shopping Days Left

I can't believe it's almost Christmas. Wasn't it just Halloween or something?

I've got most of my Christmas shopping done, but I still expect another mall trip or two will be required in the near future. I'm not looking forward to fighting my way through various malls and Wal-Marts for those last minute gifts.

As much as I love seeing those clips on the news of people running over top of one another and getting in fist fights over the year's top items, I actually hate to be in midst of such situations. I guess that's schadenfreude for you.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

On a completely unrelated note, Guns n Roses played in Halifax last week. I didn't go for a variety of reasons. Thankfully, though, someone was good enough to post on Youtube what would have been my favorite moment from the show. For your viewing pleasure, I present Bubbles and Axl Rose singing "Liquor and Whores."

"Such Heroic Nonsense!"

Apparently, Transformers: The Movie has just been given a 20th anniversary special edition DVD release. While the geek in me is giddy with anticipation, my inner-cynic can't help but see this as a cash-in opportunity/cross-promotion for the upcoming live action Transformers movie. But rest assured cats and kittens, I'll have my grubby paws on this DVD as soon as I can find it.

If you grew up in the eighties and you haven't yet seen Transformers: The Movie, shame on you. It's the kind of movie that couldn't be made today. Not just because kids these days won't watch any cartoon that isn't 110% Japanese, but simply because of the sheer number of deaths in the movie. Heck, within the first thirty minutes Optimus Prime bites the big one. Can you imagine what kids went through at the theatre during this? There they were, five or six years old, having just witnessed the dramatic demise of the guy on their pajamas.

On of my favorite things about the movie is that it featured Orson Welles as Unicron. Apparently, Orson hated the movie, but I can't really blame him. Can you imagine what it would have been like to have started your career in the greatest movie ever made and ended it playing a talking killer planet?

***BONUS***

There's plenty that could be said about what you're going to see here, but I don't want to spoil the magic.

Brown Leafed Vertigo

Things I did not do this month:
1. Write Chuck Palahniuk some fan mail. (I did just get a copy of Invisible Monsters though.)
2. Watch a buttload of horror movies in celebration of Halloween. (And I seriously have buttloads of horror movies.)
3. Keep the blog up to date. (Sorry blog fans.)
4. Win ten million dollars. (Publishers Clearing House can suck my arse.)
5. Think of a clever thing for #5. (Sorry list fans.)

Things I did do this month:
1. Went to a Halloween party this past weekend. (Dressed as a hobo.)
2. Got a flat tire. (Today.)
3. Got trained to handle and dispose of Household Hazardous Waste.
4. Picked up a copy of the new Maltese Falcon Special Edition DVD.
5. Read an awesome book about B-Movie king Roger Corman called How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime. (Recommended reading for any movie geek.)

"Send Me A Postcard."

Chuck Norris movie review #5: Invasion U.S.A.

Plot: Chuck Norris is a retired CIA agent living on the bayou with his pet armadillo when a group of communists decide to invade the United States. Chuck is hesitant to get involved until the commies kill his native-american-fanboat-driving buddy. Then all hell breaks loose as our hero single handedly takes on the entire communist insurgency. Those pinko bastards had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

How you can tell this movie was made in 1985: All the C's are there: cold war politics, communism, cocaine, and Chuck Norris.

Best depiction of communists as soulless killing machines: We start with a nice establishing shot of a quiet suburb, straight out of Anytown, USA. Some neighborhood kids are playing football in the street (despite the fact that it's night), some teens are making out in a Trans Am (that dude is totally gonna score), and a nice, white, Christian, nuclear family are decorating a tree on their front lawn (well, actually Dad and the kids are decorating, Mom's in the kitchen cooking supper). Suddenly, a non-descript truck pulls up and a couple of commies with rocket launchers start blowing up houses. In the span of thirty seconds, the commies blown up five or six houses and then take off. No one in these houses had anything to do with the rest of the movie. They were simply there to appear to be wholesome and then appear to be on fire.

Quammy's favorite scene: It's Christmas time in Miami (or wherever this movie is supposed to take place) so the commies decide to start some shit in a shopping mall. Chuck Norris, hip to their plan, drives his pickup truck into the mall (literally) and starts kicking some ass. This leads to a major shoot-'em-up and then to a truck chase through the mall.

Now, ever since I was a kid and saw the Blues Brothers movie for the first time, I've always wanted to drive a vehicle inside a shopping complex. Whenever I see a show car in a mall, I dream about being the guy driving it around inside the building. If I ever direct a movie it will have a vehicle-inside-a-mall sequence.

R.I.P. Six Pack

I'm not much of a drinker. That is not to suggest that I don't drink. It's just that I can't drink very much (or very well, depending on how you look at it). It was typical for me to pick up a six pack before heading out to a party. That way, I'd have enough beers to catch a buzz and appear to be social, but not enough to find myself puking behind a boat house (hello, 24th birthday).

But those days are over now. It was recently announced that the almighty NSLC is going to discontinue the sale of six packs in their stores. My local liquor store hasn't had six packs in stock since the end of August. I just assumed that they were out of stock after a vigorous race week, since Chester folk love their booze so much. But no, the six pack has been pulled from the market.

So what does this mean? Well, for most of you, nothing. You can probably hold your booze and/or you didn't buy six packs in the first place. For me, it means that I'm gonna have to pony up the other four dollars every week or so and pick up an eight pack. Which means that I will get drunker than I usually tend to, which can only spell disaster for the few people who will hang out with me on the weekends.

Rest in peace noble six pack, we hardly knew ye.

"Bill Groundhog-Day, Ghostbustin'-Ass Murray!"

Today was Bill Murray's 56th birthday. I'm of the opinion that Bill Murray is one of today's greatest living actors. The movies he's done in that past few years have totally surpassed the work he did twenty years ago (most of which remain classic to this day). In honor of Mr. Murray here's a clip from Coffee and Cigarettes in which our man has some coffee with RZA & GZA. Enjoy.



If you're a fan of Bill Murray, you have to see...

[1979] Meatballs
[1980] Where the Buffalo Roam
[1980] Caddyshack
[1984] Ghost Busters
[1988] Scrooged
[1991] What About Bob?
[1993] Groundhog Day
[1994] Ed Wood
[1998] Rushmore
[2001] The Royal Tenenbaums
[2004] The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Possibly his greatest performance)

What She Said.

Damn, Whitey, that's cold.

"We Could Live Forever Tonight."

I happened to be reading Wikipedia today and there was a headline on the main page about how Edvard Munch's painting The Scream was recovered yesterday. The painting was stolen (for the third time) two years ago. And while The Scream is probably my favorite painting, I always have to laugh when I read about famous works of art that get stolen or defaced. Like when people go into museums and throw stuff at old paintings. How does a person get to the point where they say to themselves, "Alright, today I'm going to sneak some sulfuric acid into a museum and destroy some priceless art work. I don't see how I have any choice in the matter."

On a completely unrelated note, it's the 40th anniversay of the Beach Boys masterpiece Pet Sounds. Critics and music geeks always place Pet Sounds in competition with the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for the title of "best album of all time." It apparently says a lot about you, depending on which side of the debate you find yourself. I, myself, am a Pet Sounds guy. As much as I like the Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's is not my favorite album of theirs. I could maybe see Revolver or Rubber Soul going head to head with Pet Sounds, but not Sgt. Pepper's. So, if you're a music buff and you haven't heard Pet Sounds yet, I urge you to seek out a copy of it. This may sound dumb, but try and get a copy that has the original mono mix of the album. Brian Wilson is deaf in one ear, so that's how it was meant to be heard.