Emergency Services -- from The It Crowd

This is the song stuck in my head today.

Hopefully now yours too.

Obama to abolish Daylight Savings time?

Again, could I not love this man any more? I keep waiting for him to do SOMETHING that I disagree strongly with but I keep hearing stories like this: According to various reports, Obama might get rid of daylight savings! Avid readers of this site (Islanders? Zeroes?) might recall that I hate daylight savings time for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that the benefit of gaining an hour in the fall does not make up in my mind the cost of losing an hour in the spring.

Needless to say, I would whole-heartedly support this forward thinking decision by our next president. This is the type of action of a man unafraid to make big decisions, to shake up the present for the benefit of the future. He aims to move no less than time itself! The next step? I would vote for Globalized Time.

Weekend Birthday!

My birthday is Friday November 21st. First time I have had a weekend birthday in forever! The best part about it is all the other cool things going on that night that I can't go to because I'll be celebrating. I know that sounds weird but I like it, it's like the whole rest of the world decided to party too.

Here are just a few of the things happening November 21, 2008:

The Kids In The Hall are performing in Las Vegas for one night only! I also love the recent video of them online that I posted here on my tumblr. They are a little wasted in the tour bus watching Scott try to play Portal and for some reason it is the funniest thing in the world to them. Giggle fest ensues.

Also on my birthday this year, the world's best comic shop, Secret Headquarters is hosting an opening of new work on display from the comic Umbrella Academy. This is one of the most original comic books to have come out in maybe the past five years. Written by Gerard Way it's the story of a group of orphan superheroes united by their adoptive father who is an alien disguised as a famous entrepreneur. It's kick ass, and Way will be at the event.

Finally this Friday is the premiere of Season three of The It Crowd, my favorite current sitcom. If you are not watching this show, go look on You Tube for some love. It's worth its weight in solid gold!

Best birthday evar!

Obama pizza fueled inauguration?!?!

Well, I thought I could not love him anymore but here it comes. According to this report, Barack Obama will be flying into Washington the makers and the ingredients from his favorite local pizza place. In all the excitement abut Obama, I neglected to realize that a president from Chicago meant, a pizza man in power. I know some of you might be too caught up in the whole NYC style vs Chicago Style pizza war to really embrace this but I say let's put our differences aside a celebrate a new era for this glorious land.

My previous post regarding Chicago pie can be found here. For more pizza related news, click the pizza tag below. (pictured here is a pizza heart I made for my gf--didn't turn out perfect.)

Tom Perriello's epic win

A big congratulations to newly elected congressman Tom Perriello from my hometown of Charlottesville VA. Clay Tweel had originally tuned me into this candidate months ago, and it's one of the happiest upsets of the election season. You should go read this killer Slate article about Perriello and his big bastard of an opponent Virgil Goode. It's got great links to debate video and it expresses what is so wonderful about this win much better than I can. Nice work Tom, you did it!

(ps--his dad is my childhood doctor! Lollipops for everyone!)

Darth Vader Toaster

Reminiscent of my epic blog post here about the BSGLT, there is another pop culture way to heat bread out there. The Darth Vader toaster is also totally awesome. The only problem being, how many of these things can a grown man own? (found via Topless Robot)

A QUIET LITTLE MARRIAGE at AFI FEST

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

In this portrait of a loving young couple, things begin to fall apart when they realize they have different thoughts about the fundamental nature of their relationship. This conflict begets a series of secrets and lies, which slowly begin to unravel the world around them.

Very few films come with such emotional honesty as this one. The title of the film speaks volumes about the essential theme of this story. This is a story about what happens to a relationship that lacks adequate communication and what pain can be birthed across the chasm of silence that can grow in a relationship. The silences in this film speak volumes about what is breaking this young couple apart and why they are facing such a crisis.

A small story with big performances from the film’s co-creators this film is a powerful debut from the talented director Mo Perkins and announces the arrival of several new young talents on the independent film scene.

A QUIET LITTLE MARRIAGE plays AFI FEST Friday, November 7th 7:00pm

PLAYING COLUMBINE at AFI FEST

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

The videogame Super Columbine Massacre RPG! Instantly provoked more debate and discussion than any other videogame in existence.

After being created it has been held up countless times by media pundits as an example of a society gone off the rails. However what most people fail to realize is that Super Columbine Massacre RPG! is less a violent impulse fantasy than it is something much more interesting. This film follows the history of the video game whose mere existence provokes outrage in some but has actually been therapeutic and even life changing to those who actually sit down and interact with the work.

The rapid advancement of our culture has led to some lagging behind. For some people there are subjects that can never be made into interactive works and for them “games” are always meant for play an nothing larger. Fortunately there are other artists out there who choose to explore larger questions and issues about society

Super Columbine Massacre RPG! Is a magnet for controversy, the most famous example of which was the incident in 2007 when the film was selected for the Slamdance Guerilla Game maker Competition and then unceremoniously dumped out by the festival director. Almost all other games developers in the competition pulled their projects in response and the competition has not returned since.
Clearly the game has polarized audiences worldwide, giving way to ardent defenders as well as staunch critics. Beyond the controversial game itself, the film explores how controversial media is covered in the press, the school shooting phenomenon, and the future of games as an expressive medium.

PLAYING COLUMBINE plays AFI FEST Friday, November 7th 7:10pm

Gulfs of silence cover the landscape of LA RABIA

We have a showcase on Argentina in our festival this year. Unfortunately I have not actually seen ALL the films in this showcase this year but the ones I have seen are amazing. One example is the film LA RABIA. This is the simple story of small farming families. There is a perceived slight or affront, between neighbors, some sexual infidelities and a little girl who tells too much even without speaking a word.

In fact the thing I liked best about this film was it’s overall use of silence or voiceless ness, the dominant theme of the film. Silences are what define the characters in this world whether it is the mute daughter or the cheating wife; people are expressed by what isn't said. And I think this film with its graphic depiction of animal slaughter is saying more with its silence. The biggest silence of all of course is the lie that we tell ourselves every day.

We are not in control of our lives or our worlds no more than the farmyard pig controls when the butcher's knife comes for him and the more we try to convince ourselves that we control our bodies or our fates, the more we devolve into those primal beasts exerting influence over smaller weaker being whenever and wherever we can. It’s futile to try and escape this vicious food chain and trying to only leads to rage....

LA RABIA (or rage) plays AFI FEST Thursday November 6th at 7:15 and Friday November 7th at 3:30 pm.

Election day outrage

That's bullshit!

IMAGINADORES at AFI FEST

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

This powerful documentary focuses on the amazing cultural force that are Argentine comic books. The film begins with one of the artists explaining the appeal and potential of the fantasy genre with a quote for Tolkien. Referring to fantastic literature he says: “What’s wrong with wanting to escape when you are in prison?” And with that perspective begins an intensive decades spanning journey into the history of this vibrant art form.

In Argentina comic books are revered much higher than in most other countries. What began as a work mostly for children evolved to take on bigger subjects, eventually challenging those in power. This exhaustively comprehensive doc meets all the major players in the filed from over the years and even goes as far as to animate some of the most well known and influential 4 color dramas.

If you consider yourself a comic book nerd or a manga fan, you must see this exploration of South America’s center for sequential art.

IMAGINADORES plays AFI FEST Wednesday, November 5th 7:00pm

PROPER EYES at AFI FEST

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

The Argentine films this year have been just stunning. One that really stood out for me early in the process was PROPER EYES. This narrative film is about two young women who are trying to make a documentary. They want to interview the many women that wait outside of the local prison every day hoping to meet with one of the inmates. The filmmakers try to talk to the women outside the prison but almost all of them are unwilling to share their stories. Finally one woman agrees to help them with their film if in return one of the young filmmakers will go into the prison and visit with her son.

From this jumping off point the film unfolds. One thing that is so impressive about the film in my opinion was the dramatic de-glorification of crime. It's difficult to make a cinematic work about criminals and have them become so transparent that they remove all glamour from breaking the law. What also is surprising in the film is that it never goes where it is expected to go. I thought this was going to be reminiscent of FORBIDDEN LIE$ and OPERATION FILMMAKER, the allure of a doc filmmaker getting duped by their subject and the fun in watching that downfall, yet the ending is something much more emotionally complex than that....

PROPER EYES plays AFI FEST Monday, November 3rd at 9:40pm

BEFORE THE FALL at AFI FEST

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

The world ends in three days.

The leaders of the world have just announced hat a comet is hurtling toward the earth, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. Even worse, the mass of the object is so immense that there is no hope for any of us. You cannot hide, you cannot hope, in three days we will all be dead. Against this backdrop is the story of a small family in a Spanish village. They are a simple group but they have a troubled history. There is a disturbed man from their past who wants nothing more than to bring misery to the family, most likely through the smallest most innocent members of this clan. Luckily this man is locked safely away in prison but with the impending global catastrophe chaos begins to take hold, the prisons empty and the terror begins.

This is the premise for one of the most original genre films to come from anywhere in years. Quite simply the conflict is this; the world is ending in three days, but for one small Spanish family that isn’t soon enough. If they can live long enough to see the end of the world they might just avoid an even more horrific fate.

BEFORE THE FALL plays AFI FEST Sunday, November 2nd 1:30pm