Archive

6.29.2008

The Keanu Reeves Acting Method

The legend at work. There's method acting, and then there's whatever this is. Enjoy.

6.15.2008

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads who read this insanely popular blog. I hope that you have a wonderful day filled with hot dogs and new ties. In particular, I would like to reflect upon some of my favorite memories of my dad who is the reason that Brett, Alex, and I are such...interesting...people.

Dad, I really enjoyed that motorcycle ride through the mountains of Tennessee without a helmet when I was three. And the picture of Brett and I sitting on top of a very unstable looking rock on a cliff is priceless. Thanks, dad, for helping us build a fort out of jaggedy old pieces of paneling that we found in a shed. Honestly, when I think back, I feel that Brett and I are very lucky not to be in foster care. But really, I do have to give my dad a lot of credit for things like our interest in music. He bought Brett his first guitar and which Brett used to preform under the stagename of "Larry Newton."

6.10.2008

Danny and Armi merchandise now available!


Want a unique gift for that special someone? Need something that screams "I wanna love you tender"? Look no more. Be the first on your block to be ironically hip, or if you live in Finland; just plain hip...with the new Danny t-shirt. Also available are mugs, keychains, dayplanners and men's and women's underpants which feature Danny or Armi's face along with the word "Tender" right on the bum. While supplies last!

6.07.2008

R.E.M

R.E.M at the United Center! Wonderful show last night from the band who played with a lot of energy and, to my surprise, the new material is actually quite good. One of the things that really stuck out to me was Michael Stipe's stage presence. I've seen some charismatic performers before but none of them really come close to his stage persona. The guy made the United Center feel like a small room, that he was playing for just you and some friends, it was pretty amazing. Yep, well, the highlights of the show for me were probably Orange Crush and (I think) a new song called "I Wanna DJ" (I think).






I'd also like to give a shoutout to my new friend Barry who lives behind the Church's chicken next to Malcolm X College...for a brief moment in my life I truly understood the meaning of Arrested Development's Mr. Wendal...except with an added verse about the government poisoning the Chicago river and tapping our phones. If you ever see him tell him Steven King sent ya.

6.05.2008

Retuuuurrrrn of the Mack

Recently while socializing I (for no particular reason) remarked on how I was in the mood to hear Mark Morrison's 1996 smash hit "Return of the Mack", to which Cliff Planter replied; "what is he returning from?"
Me: "I dunno."
Cliff: "I was just wondering if he was in a band before he did that song, was he making a comeback or something? Is there a song called The Mack?"
Me: "I think it's like Sexyback, or something. They're just stating their intention of returning something--that may or may not have existed, or ever been missing--to its supposed former value."

Of course I had no idea what I was talking about, but later found out that Return of the Mack was his first album and so he was not, in fact, returning from anything. Also, there are no references to the 1973 blaxploitation film "The Mack", starring Max Julien, which had been my other suspicion. However, if you look closely at the lyrics you can see that during the chorus he sings
"(Return of the Mack) once again
(Return of the Mack) pump up the world
(Return of the Mack) watch my flow
(You know that I'll be back) here I go"

"You know that I'LL BE BACK". So as you can see Mark Morrison wasn't merely making a mack comeback, he was prophesizing that the mack would be brought back...at a later time. But you're probably asking "why didn't he just bring back the mack before he wrote the song?" Well, because technically he couldn't. If you know your Mark Morrison history you'd know that by "mack" he meant "guy who stabs people at night clubs", and due to his subsequent incarceration he was unable to do any more "macking". His first album Return of the Mack was actually recorded in prison where he decided that being an R&B singer was the best way to get his message out, like Nelson Mandela. It was the first in his "Wrongful Imprisonment" trilogy. Recording took place during sessions disguised as conjugal visits and additional vocals were recorded via "telephone behind glass wall". Seen within its historical context it's obvious that Mark Morrison's music career was the means to reach people with his cry for justice...he wanted to mack some more haters and wasn't going to let the law stand in his way...that is until 1997 when he was falsely accused of hiring a stunt double to do his community service for him while he vacationed in Barbados. To protest his innocence Morrison once again attempted to "return the mack" for his 1997 album Only God Can Judge Me for Deathrow records...however Suge Knight had his own problems with the law and the mack was unsuccessfully brought back. The final chapter of the mack trilogy occurred in 2004 after Morrison signed on to former English soccer player Kevin Campbell's doomed 2Wikid label. Apparently it wasn't wikid enough and Mark ended up in court with the label trying to recover the rights to stolen demos. At long last his mack was finally brought back when the judge awarded him possession of the material he recorded on said label.
Now that his mack has been returned via court order, what's next for R&B superstar Mark Morrison? Who knows. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of Mark Morrison. One day, sometime in the future, when the world (or court system) needs him he'll come back to reclaim the mack...he is not a tame fawn.

6.04.2008

Intro to Crap

In other news, I'm currently taking a four week intro to film class that I somehow managed to skip until (this) the summer before my last semester of college as a film minor. Not saying I'm overqualified for it at this point or anything...there's always something new to learn and the film screening selection has been pretty good...but good lord, I have to tell ya, I've been in a lot of classes, a lot of BAD classes, I've been to community college. I've taken summer classes at community college. Community college...during the summer...but never in my life have there been so many morons enrolled in a single class. I don't want to be a total A-hole or anything but I felt compelled to make this little list of the best quotes so far...
Top 5 jackassiest quotes from intro to film...
5. During the middle of a test last week we're waiting for the teacher to show us a scene that we have to write a short essay about and some dude in the back starts whistling the final jeopardy tune for about a minute and half...and thinks it's hilarious...look at him! He's just gonna keep goin' until he gets the laugh he deserves! This is comic GOLD!
4. Numba fooouur...The last three films that we've watched in class have had characters who are chain smokers and every single time the same guy in the class feels it necessary to mention (so that the whole class can hear) "dude! they smoke more than I do!"
3. Some girl talking behind me before class in her obnoxious "i'm a rich daddy's girl from the chicago suburbs" accent: "duuuude, like why do we have to watch movies that are like a hundred years old, there are a lot of good movies that are new, there are sooooo many good movies made in 1995, like, for me 1995 to now are like the best movies! why can't we just do that?"
2. After the final scene of The Graduate and the credits start to roll a guy sitting behind me says very enthusiastically to the teacher: "That ending was really indie!"
1. And number one...The teacher is talking about early film directors who also starred in their own movies, names a few, pauses for a moment to think of some more...the guy sitting to my right says "Braveheart. Mel Gibson directed that and was in it."

AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaagh. I try not to gripe too much about pointless things on here but this class has been just too much. Thank God it's only four weeks. Here's an idea for people who think they wanna study film...save your tuition money and go watch the latest 2fast2furious sequel instead. Afterwords you can get high with all yer bros and talk about how sweet it was while you're playing x-box.

6.02.2008

The Epic Batman Trilogy

I've briefly mentioned these epic masterpieces before but decided to post them here in their epic entirety... the epically epic, definitive Batman series by Kourush Rahimpour. These changed my whole perspective on stuff and it's the way Batman was meant to be...

Batman: Defenders of the Night
- Bruce recruits the young Dick Grayson to aid him in his crusade against the forces of evil in Gotham City...


Batman and Robin: Dark Betrayals - in this chapter Bruce Wayne tries to unravel the mystery of Robin's sudden disappearance and what he discovers is something he's probably not prepared for...


Batman: Return of the Dark Knight - Believing Gotham to finally to be safe from the forces of evil Bruce and Dick decide to put an end to Batman and Robin...


yes...on a similar note I happened upon this little fan made trailer by Miguel Mesas based on the graphic novel Batman Arkham Asylum. This is VERY impressive...