Monday, January 11, 2010

Virtuosity Vs. Man On Fire

Thank GAWDS for Cassandra. Seriously. I think I’ve been slowly losing my mind for about a month and a half. I’ve been over tired, irritable, and overall just a handful to deal with at home, with friends, and eve at work. When I’m edgy I can have a tendency to isolate myself. So Friday when we were both sick I spent the VAST majority of my day alone, hiding out, working from home in the office. I didn’t want much to do with anyone. Last Thursday was the work “Come To Jesus” moment, and instead of ending with a bang it was merely a whimper, a whimper that has left me on the search for better employment. That killed any positive momentum I had, IN LIFE! But after a Friday alone, a Saturday where we hung out a little, to a Sunday where we were inseparable and that has given me renewed sense of purpose and joy. So thank you light of my life. Without you I’d be surly beyond human comprehension.

We watched Semi-Pro (*** ½ out of 5 Free Throws) Saturday night. It was pretty good, not the best Will Ferrell movie, not even top five, but a fun watch with some really funny moments. With the cast they had assembled I just expected more laugh out loud moments, but a lot of the guys like Kueschner, Codrouy, etc. where in sort of straight man roles, except for that weird voyeur thing. Woody Harleson is great in everything so you know I enjoyed that. Not a movie I’d go out of my way to watch again, but entertaining nonetheless.

By the by in case your new here, I can’t spell, nor do I plan to learn, deal with it.

I spent Saturday afternoon with Waves Of Mercury’s “The Great Darkness” (Infinite * out of 5). Wow. Hard for me to admit this seeing as I love, and can’t stress this enough L-O-V-E, “The Essential Endless” album, it doesn’t touch the breath and scope of “The Great Darkness”. It is a concept album, and it is, at its heart a prog rock album. I know you may disagree, especially you Dave, but it is, deal with it. It’s a black metal prog album that is fearfully gorgeous. The transitions between songs the songs themselves, it’s the haunting, transcendent beautiful end of the world. I implore you to get a copy, shut off the lights and listen to it front to back. The music will end, but it doesn’t quiet ever leave you. SO, if you’ve never heard Dave’s stuff in any of it’s myriad of forms then do yourself a favor, e-mail him and demand a copy. It really is an outstanding listen.

The best part is I was able to use “The Great Darkness” as the soundtrack to the last fourth of Lumely’s “The Time Clock” (*** ½ out of 5 Great Old Ones), which is the third book of his Titus Crow series. I think I said just about everything that needed to be said about this series in my little pellet of the last book. The only difference is this takes place in Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, & Lumely sort of backtracks on just who or what Nyrolathotep really is in his view of the Mythos as a whole. Since finishing I’ve started another cycle of Lumley’s Lovecraft books, and I must say I’m still not blown away, although I am enjoying them. I don’t think I’d even bother, but they read SO quickly that I couldn’t seem to find a reason to not read them.

I’m really out of sorts today as far as focus so maybe I’ll just leave you with some

RANDOM CRAP!

- I really need to large pieces of foam board & some ink cartridges for the printer. I want to knock out CaveWorks ASAP!
- Paul Grist’s Jack Staff is one of the best comics that have ever been committed to paper, go forth & read!
- Well that was a crappy weekend of football! I can only hope that this coming weekend will lead to some better results for me. Although I will say Cardinals Vs. Packers was one of the more fun games I’ve caught in awhile. Cowboys Vs. Vikings this weekend, I HATE THE COWBOYS! H-A-T-E-! I hope the Jets get run, and I’d like to see the Ravens win in Indy. I have a feeling that Saints Vs. Cardinals is going to rival Packers Vs. Cardinals as far as having a final score that looks like a college basketball game. We’ll just have to see what happens.
- April 10th, 2010 marks the RETURN OF BINGO! You have been warned.
- Shoveling the driveway still sucks.
- Batman Brave & The Bold episodes on Saturday had, & get this, ENEMY ACE in the opening! ENEMY friggin’ ACE! It was really a fun Aquaman-centric episode. Seriously, this show is just big fun.
- I almost forgot, I watched two movies, plus a thirty minute short on FEAR.NET this weekend. First off was the thirty minute prelude to the EXCELLENT flick The Burrorowers (**** out of 5 Stars), I believe it was called Blood Red Earth (**** out of 5 Stars). It touched upon the Indians that are hunting the Burrowers that appear in the last act of the film. I then watched a ratman, zombie-esque movie called Mulberry Street (** 1/2 out of 5 stars). It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good, not to mention it absolutley collapses in on itself in the last act. I wanted to like it, but the low budget nature of it shows glaringly in the end. Last but not least, and against my better judgement, I finally watched the Uncut version of High Tension (**** out of 5 Stars). I know a lot of people feel this flick absolutely disinegrates, much like the Matrix movies, in the last five minutes. I dug it. I thought it was smart, nasty, and in the end sort of nice twist. It's not a movie I'd actively seek out to watch in my leisure time, but it's worth a shot if you like horror and have a night to kill.
- There has never been a better television miniseries than Band Of Brothers (Infinite *’s out of 5). It never ceases to illicit a gut reaction even after I’ve seen it time and time again. It’s beautifully shot, paced, acted, and overall reminds us that there was a time when the whole world was at war.
- I’m listening to the audio book of R.A. Salvatore’s “Transitions” trilogy of the adventures of the Mithril Hall heroes. It’s been decent, but MAN did Salvatore lose me on his treatment of Wulfgar as a character, let alone Bruenor becoming an irresponsible ass as king.
- Cassandra made beef stew last night and it was incredible.
- I think we’re going to watch 1408 tonight. I loves me some John Cusack.

Back to it!

“THAT’S DULUTH BABY!”

4 comments:

  1. That was an insane game! Seriously, when your game ends 45 to 51 that tells you ONE thing; NO ONE PLAYED ANY DEFENSE.

    Which makes it ironic and funny that it ended on a Defensive TD.

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  2. It's not a concept "album", it just plays one on TV! Actually it's a concept "trio of songs" #2-4...!
    I would say it's progressive metal more than black metal or prog black metal, but it does have elements of a lot of metal...but I digress (am I using that word correctly?)

    I'm so glad that Ben loves the album, I just can't wait to have something more than a burn and artwork & lyrics to go along with it.

    oh...and he sings along with the lyric too...AWESOME!

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  3. It's a CONCEPT ALBUM! Just because you wrote it, performed it, and it's your doesn't mean your right.

    YOUR WRONG!

    Oh look are you happy, now I'm crying....?

    Yes your using the word correctly & yes I sing along. It may very well be my favorite album since Darkest Of The Hillside Thickets "Shadows Out Of Tim"...

    Seriously.

    ReplyDelete