Anvil, the Movie

I just found out about this movie earlier today and decided to find a trailer. Anvil is documentary that is, apparently, going to be like Spinal Tap but with a real band. Anvil was a metal band in the early 80s that people really liked but never really made it big. You can find live performances of them on YouTube if you look. Anyway, the trailer looks pretty interesting and I'm looking forward to checking it out.

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Hayao Miyazaki AMV Tribute (2001)

As any self-respecting anime fan will tell you, Hayao Miyazaki (wiki) consistently puts out some of the greatest movies ever made that a lot of people will never see. I count two of his movies in my personal top 10 of all movies and own most of his movies. Miyazaki has that rare, old-school Disney talent for crafting a story that is fantasy and real at the same time then creates a beautiful world to set it in. Most of his studios' work is still largely done by hand, which is amazing considering the extreme beauty and fluidity the animation in his films is known for. I know a lot of you have never heard of him, but his movies are extremely popular around the world and I highly, highly recommend you check him out. Good places to start are My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, or go for the most recent film, Howl's Moving Castle.

Here is a video that a fan made back in 2001 in tribute to Hayao. It contains scenes from many of his films up to that point and is one of the best AMVs I've ever seen.

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RIP Andy Hallett

Andy Hallett died last night after a 5 year battle with heart disease. Andy was a 4 year cast member of Angel, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off. In many ways, Angel surpassed Buffy and one of the reasons was the interesting characters that were the core of the show.


Andy played Lorne (also called The Host), a "good" demon that could tell your future by hearing you sing and would then set you on your path. Naturally, he owned a karaoke bar. As interesting a character as Lorne is on paper it was the way that Andy portrayed him that made him a fan favorite. It was weird the first time I saw Andy without his makeup; it was like you just thought he WAS Lorne. I think a lot of times we forget that our favorite characters in movies and on TV are real people with real lives. They don't exist merely to entertain us, although that is what they choose to do.


I never saw him in any other show or movie but his work on Angel was awesome. After all the years of enjoyment I have been given by his portrayal of Lorne I figured I could give him a measly few paragraphs on my blog.

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Best Car Commercial Ever. Or Worst.

God Bless America. /flag wave

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Chris Dane Owens thinks he is better than you

This is what happens you read too many fantasy novels, get a huge budget from your record company, and then try to cram every fantasy cliche into one 4 minute video. My personal favorite is the little mustache he has; I could almost take this video seriously but for that. All that being said, I can't wait for the rest of the trilogy. This is so awesomely bad it starts turning back towards awesome. Do any of you have the urge to buy Chris Dane Owens cd now?




Oddly, I do have a desire now to watch Stardust yet again.

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The IT Crowd

I've started watching a pretty sweet show called The IT Crowd. This show, like many rich deposits of comedy awesome, hails from England and concerns the daily routines of an IT department. It is pretty low budget, a lot over the top, and hilariously accurate in a completely inaccurate way. Did that last sentence even make sense? Probably not,but we press on!

As you may have guessed, the main cast members are nerds (not to be confused with a spaz). The first episode finds them getting a new department manager: a woman with a fake resume that knows nothing about computers. *insert hilarity here* Many hi jinks and shenanigans ensue, but we all learn a little about ourselves in the end. Well, I didn't realize anything about myself, but I did enjoy the episodes I've seen.

I recognize this show is not for everyone, but neither are bowls of sweet, sweet sugar (sorry, diabetics). It is even funnier for myself since I have a moderate background in computers and have been forced on many occasions to be the free IT guy to anyone that finds this information out. The shows comes extremely close to being ultra-cheesy but I think it never quite crosses that line.

I must take a moment to give what the kids call a "shout out" to Always go Right for turning me on to this show. One of the contributors there also has a review if you would like to read one that has actual structured sentences and not free associations and crazy make em ups. Below is a short clip from the first episode and a link to where you can watch the show for free...legally.


Video


Watch Episodes Now

Buy Season One

Put it in your Netflix Que


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New Doritos Flavor

That's right, kids: new Doritos flavor! I was just down at the convenience store grabbing a fountain Mt. Dew when I turned around and a bag was staring at me. I was a big fan of the taco flavored chips that Doritos offers each year for Halloween called, well, Taco. I'm half way through the bag and am not as impressed. They are good, but not great. I don't know what exactly is different - perhaps a little stronger 'spicy meat' flavor? However, it is still chips that taste like tacos so I'm in! They definitely don't suck so give them a try. Has anyone else tried these yet?

"Where The Wild Things Are" Trailer

I am starting to get really excited about this - and I didn't even know about it until earlier this week. Where have I been?

Where the Wild Things Are + Spike Jonze + Arcade Fire = awesome trailer


Shamelessly taken from: Bears Eat People (a great blog, btw)

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There's Environmentalism, and There's Crazy People

Last night a friend of mine showed me this video. After a few moments of stunned silence that this has been online for a few months and I had failed to stumble onto it yet, I began to enjoy it for what it was.

I am not an environmentalist in any modern political sense, but I do think we have a responsibility to be good caretakers of the Earth. God's glory is reflected in His creation and therefore I have an interest in that reflection staying as pure and accessible as possible. That being said, I have no problem with most of the things the more aggressive green folks have problems with and disagree with a lot of their set positions, such as global warming. Anyway, I hope that we can all enjoy laughing at the absurdity of this particular group.



And, of course, the parodies:

Short List of Musicians I Wish Weren't Dead

I was listening to some music this morning while I did some work (yes, I did some actual work) and at some point noticed that most of who I was listening to today were dead. It made me think about who I wish was alive and still making awesome music. I'm not realyl talking about musicians that died from old age, rather, ones that died early. This is in no way exhaustive and is, in fact, a super short list. I realize people have different tastes and I'm sure some of you will be horrified I didn't put your favorite on here, but....it's my blog so deal with it. =P Feel free - and I highly encourage you - to bring up and link to who you miss in the comments section below.

I kept it pretty simple and just went with the three that immediately came to my mind.

Elliot Smith





Nick Drake





Jeff Buckley

I couldn't find any videos that would let me embed so you have to click the links to see the video.

Last Goodbye

Grace

Forget Her

Hallelujah - (you've heard this one for sure...)

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Yeah, I totally caught a fish

I think God, in his infinite wisdom, often prevents me from catching fish just because I tend to get overly excited when it happens. Check out this sequence from Saturday night:

Video Dating

Yeah, I realize this is probably fake and it has been sitting in my favorites for over a year so I'm sure some of you have already seen this but I find this funny every time I watch - mainly due to the fact I'm sure my video would have looked a lot like this when I was 26. You should have read my eHarmony profile......




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What does a trillion dollars look like, anyway?

Here is a 3D model showing what 1 trillion dollars looks like stacked.

Link

HT: Dark Roasted Blend

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"Castle": The Return of Awesome

Nathan Fillion is the man. No, really; there have been studies and everything. I first became acquainted with him on Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place as Johnny, the boyfriend of the ‘girl’ in the title. I personally thought he was funnier than Ryan Reynolds (you know, from Blade: Trinity and Van Wilder) and thought he was about that only thing that made Sharon (the girl) interesting. Oh snap! Yeah, I said it. He stood out enough to where I remember his character even today, but at this point he wasn’t yet ‘the man’.

Fortunately, our televisions weren’t forced to suffer on without him for long. Nathan reappeared on what some call one of, if not the, greatest shows to ever come on television. Of course, by some I actually mean myself and the people in my chat room, but I digress. I assure you that there is no deceit in my heart when I say that I am a big time Firefly fan. A spawn of the mind of Joss Whedon (whose brain only spawns pure, undiluted awesomeness), Firefly brought us Nathan as Captain Malcom Reynolds, the brash leader of group of smugglers and misfits. Ok, it’s basically a Western in space but way cooler (if that’s possible). I've been told by reliable sources that this description can lead to a "yeah, I'm not going to watch that" attitude. I assure you you will be missing out. It had this cool semi-steampunk feel. If you have never seen it I can’t stress enough how bad you need to go pick it up on Blu Ray or DVD right now. A lot of what made the show melt faces was Nathan’s comedic acting (though the show is not a straight up comedy) and facial expressions. At this point, Nathan is fully “the man’. I think Nathan with Joss Whedon is a perfect fit and can only hope they work together again at some point. Oh, wait……

Nathan next appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer for part of a season. Once again, he produced a fine performance and created memorable character. I really can’t say more without spoilers and I know at least one of you is still going through Buffy right now....because I am re-watching it with you. ;) If only this hadn’t been the end of the Fillion/Whedon era. Oh, wait again…..

After a short-lived series, Driver, for Fox (it really wasn’t THAT bad), Nathan has shown up here and there. I’m told he did a story arc on Desperate Housewives but I don’t watch that mess so I can’t comment. Right about this time, however, we had the writer’s strike. While we were stuck with a lot of re-runs and weird reality shows for a while, there was a pretty cool phenom where actors and writers would get together and make internet only short films, webisodes, and just generally interesting bits. Joss Whedon put together a weblog of several episodes with Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser, you knew that), Nathan Fillion, and Felicia Day (who, btw, is in a cool web show called The Guild). Basically, the weblog was the video blog of Dr. Horrible, a rising evil villain struggling between wooing a girl he sees at the laundry mat and fighting off his nemesis, Captain Hammers, played by Nathan. Um, since I forgot to write it earlier, the show is called Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog. You can go to the official site and watch the episodes for or buy it on DVD or in iTunes – or you can just borrow it from me if you know me. Anyway, the awesomeness was thus continued.

This entire rambling preamble was for no other purpose than to set up the real point of this blog: Nathan is back. Brace yourselves.

Monday nights at 10pm on ABC you can catch Fillion as Richard Castle, successful mystery writer turned police tag-along. I’m a little tired from all this typing (yes, I am that out of shape) so I am just going to quote tv.com:

Meet Richard Castle: he's a successful murder-mystery writer who has just killed off his main character. However, it seems one of his fans liked his books just a bit too much when a copycat murderer starts running around killing people as described in Castle's books.

After being questioned by the police Richard joins forces with Detective Kate Beckett to solve this case. The two become partners begin working together to solve other murders in New York along with other detectives Tony Esposito, Kevin Ryan and Captain Roy Montgomery. They also work with medical examiner Lanie Parish. Richard's family includes his mother Martha Rodgers, who was a Broadway diva and his daughter Alexis.

Yeah, I know it sounds a little “Huh?” but so far I like the show. It has the elements of a mystery and a cop show. The chemistry between Castle and his partner is there but not overdone - yet. Some of the best parts are when Castle just takes over and interview or starts telling an elaborate theory to a mass of enthralled detectives in the precinct. I would say that Castle’s humor is similar to Capt. Reynolds from Firefly in a good way. I have only seen the first few episodes (since, well, that is all there is) but would count myself as a fan. So, what now? Well, I would vote you go to your Tivo and erase those old episodes of Blind Date so you can make some room for Castle. If you want to get caught up you can watch free episodes at the official site, here.

If you are already watching the show (or are a Fillion or Firefly fan) I would love to hear your comments.

HT below:

ABC Official Castle Site
Castletv.net
NathanFillion.org
Tv.com

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In Honor of St. Patrick's Day....

....here is some sweet, sweet Flogging Molly. Enjoy!




If you want to know a little more about St. Patrick make with the clicking of here.

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See you, space cowboy

Cowboy Bebop is one of those animes that everyone that is into anime has seen (and probably loves). Any decent review or discussion will eventually turn to the music and how much it adds to the show. For the last week or so I have really been listening to the limited edition soundtrack a lot as I do things around the house at night. I can't really explain why (other than it being awesome). The music is so tied to the show that just hearing a song can bring up the image of what is going on in the episode. I have most of the albums and singles that came out for the show but I constantly come back to the live disc in this set. I have what I consider a pretty decent anime soundtrack collection (about 140 albums/singles), but this just continues to rock my face every time I listen to it. My favorite of the live songs is Call Me, Call Me. from Episode 24, "Hard Luck Woman". It's depressing, something which I have found often makes for much better music.I couldn't find a good vid of the live version so here is a good AMV with the original track.

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Remember when punk didn't require makeup?

I still rock my Avail "98 Tour" shirt, lol. I saw them 3 times live.




My favortie West Coast sound band. I've seen them at least 4 times.




Aw, look at the young, angry Henry Rollins.


Now, I'm not saying you couldn't wear makeup if you wanted to and still melt faces, but it wasn't required. I don't listen to as much punk as I used to, but it still frustrates me to hear people calling bands that are clearly not punk punk. Just turn on the radio any given day and you'll hear a non-punk "punk" band. What is sad is that it was a lot of punk bands selling out and watering down that started the whole mess. I like to think the Bouncing Souls know what I'm talking about......




Random memory:

Here is me 11 years and 70 lbs ago with Sick of it All. Their video for Step Down shows all the old hardcore dances you used to see everyone doing at shows, ha. Good times.

How LotR Should Have Ended Video

Ok, I readily admit that I am a huge geek. I don't think that there is really anyone that knows me that would challenge me on that fact. Under the general "geek' umbrella, however, I am also many types of type-specific geek, such as Anime-geek, Star Wars-geek, Fantasy Novel-geek, and so on an so forth. One of more more primary associations is as a Lord of the Rings-geek. That's right kids; I'm a Ringer. Heck, for over ten years I've had posters for the BOOK on my wall. Gandalf sits in front of my TV while poor Faramir is forced to watch me work all day from my candy tray. I tell you this so you aren't caught completely off guard when I go hardcore fanboy for a second.

**puts on uber-geek hat**

This video lacks support from the book canon. First, the Eagles only show up with a free flight at the end after the defeat of the winged Nazgul. Prior to this, any attempt to fly into Mordor would have been fruitless. Now, one could argue that the Nazgul were not given their flying mounts until after their defeat at the Ford of Bruinen. However, I think it is unlikely that they were not already stabled somewhere in waiting. I could be wrong on that.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, no ring bearer would ever willingly destroy the ring. The hold is just too intense, even after only a short time carrying it. Has no one read The Similarion? It just isn't going to happen, as we saw when Frodo failed to cast the ring into the fires of Mount Doom "unassisted". Therefore, even if the ring was carried by any other member, that ring is not going to be dropped into that fire on purpose!

**takes off uber-geek hat**

In the end, I found this video to be very funny. It did, however, cause my head to nearly explode.

These guys have a lot of "How [movie] should have ended" variants here.

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Is this a new Combo Meal?

I can't really explain why I find this picture so amazingly awesome. Perhaps it is my love of zombies meeting my love of Double Quarter Pounders.

photo credit
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Movie: Lars and the Real Girl

This weekend Netflix finally bestowed upon my mailbox the DVD version of Lars and the Real Girl. I had been looking forward to viewing this film since the first time I saw the trailer a few months back and giggled with glee as I fired it up. I love a movie with interesting but unusual characters and a non-traditional story. To say that LatRG has an nontraditional plot is more than a little bit of an understatement.

Lars and the Real Girl is the tale of a young man that lives on the edge of society emotionally. Lars, played perfectly by Ryan Gossling, lives in a small garage while his brother and his brother’s wife live in the main house in what appears to be Michigan. He has a normal job and attends church every Sunday, but his interactions with people are limited by his own idiosyncrasies and insecurities. He loathes physical contact and at best can stumble through an awkward conversation with female co-workers. Lars cannot even join his family in the main house for a meal without visible anxiety.

Things take a turn for the bizarre when one cold day a UPS truck delivers a large nondescript box to Lars’s door. We quickly learn what was inside: a RealGirl sex doll. Now, before you are completely freaked out and questioning my choice in films, let me jump ahead and say that it is not what it seems. What has really happened is that Lars has had a delusional break and believes the girl is an actual real woman he has met online. The rest of the movie is how his family and the community respond to his new ‘friend’. This is not an American Pie style sex comedy. In fact, it isn't a sex comedy at all.

I won’t go into a lot of detail so as not to ruin the fun of the movie, but I don’t think I’m giving anything away when I say that it is quite humorous and sad at the same time to see the way that Lars interacts with his ‘girlfriend’ much better than the way he interacts with the real people around him.

One of the most obvious questions that this all brought to mind as how would I react if one of my friends or family members acted in a similar way. I don’t even mean necessarily the exact same thing but more if they adopted some eccentricity or other behavior as a result of mental illness that was, frankly, embarrassing to myself. Pretty close to the start of the movie his brother and sister-in-law are presenting the situation to the town priest and what I assume are other leaders in the church. After some debate the priest says the now cliché, “What would Jesus do?” What would He do? What should I do? What would I do if it was someone at my church? Do I play along the way it is suggested? At what point am I no longer being supportive and become patronizing or even mocking, even by accident? I don’t know exactly. I think it is a really interesting question, though, and one that has sprung to my mind a few times the last few days.

Despite how the plot sounds creepy on the surface, I can assure you that you will find little to no ‘ick’-factor in this movie. In the end, it is a movie about relationships in a family as well as a community. I highly recommend this movie to anyone willing to give it chance, although I realize that some people won’t like the more subtle comedy of the movie as opposed to an in your face, over the top comedy. To each his own taste – that is why the there are so many different genres. I do hope that you will think about checking out this movie. PG-13, some language.



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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer

This is easily, easily my favorite book in the series and I am very excited for this movie to finally be coming out. I didn't realize there were trailers out yet, but now that I have seen them...wow.



Lol, I just remembered this picture from my old blog a few years ago.




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Brad's new blog

Hey, everyone. I just wanted to post a quick note pointing out that my pastor, Brad, has started a new blog. You can find it in the blogroll on the right (it's the one with that 'new link' smell). You could also be lazy and just click here. Brad is what we often refer to as 'the man' so I'm sure his blog won't disappoint. Why are you still reading this? Make with the clicking.

Movie: Helvetica

Earlier this week I sat down and watched the 2007 documentary, Helvetica, on Blu-ray. Being a fan of documentaries, obscure knowledge, and graphic design I figured I couldn't really go wrong. Fortunately, my assumptions were proven right and I was rewarded with a (dare I say?) entertaining film covering the history and prolific nature of the font type helvetica.

The documentary takes the form of interviews with well known graphic designers and the family and friends of those responsible for the creation of helvetica in Switzerland 50 years ago. These interviews are divided by images of text all over cities throughout the world using the font. I must admit that I really was made aware of just how prevalent the font is. Since watching this I have also started noticing the font everywhere!

A bit more surprising was the intense opinions about helvetica held in the graphic design community. One woman basically said that in the 1970's she wouldn't use Helvetica because it was the font type of corporations and it was corporations that sponsored the Vietnam war. Easy, killer! Of course, it is easy to laugh at her statement, but one thing I was confronted with was how fonts effect how it is we see what we are reading. Some fonts cannot say what other fonts can say with the same words. The massive use of helveica is largely due to the fact that it is neutral and can say anything. Helvetica is the font of choice for corporations - and governments, advertisers, and people making lost dog signs. Helvetica is for everyone for anything.

In the end, Helvetica served it's purpose in giving me a history of the font itself, its use and theory, as well as confront me just how widespread the use of it is. It is put together very well and the movie never drags or gets boring. I really enjoyed watching it and feel a bit smarter - which is the point, right? I would not buy this Blu-ray (or dvd) but would definitely recommend it. I feel I should add that, oddly, there are a few f-bombs dropped by some of the interview subjects.

This post was NOT in Helvetica. ;)




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Webcomic Goodness: xkcd

xkcd

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Ok, can you stop touring for a few months?

I am soooooooo ready for a new As I Lay Dying cd. They are one of my absolute favorite bands. It also didn't hurt when I found out a few years ago that all the members are Christians. I especially like their answer to the question about it on their official site FAQ. Their answer is pretty much spot on with my opinion of musicians that are Christians that don't form the traditional Christian specific band.

Are you guys Christians in a band or a Christian band?
I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band. If you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life. All five of us are Christians. I believe that change should start with me first, and as a result, our lyrics do not come across very "preachy." Many of our songs are about life, struggles, mistakes, relationships and other issues that don't fit entirely in the spiritual category. However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a christian.

How can you be a Christian band and go on tour with bands who represent themselves as evil, satan worshipers?
We hope to intelligently represent a faith that has been very misrepresented in the entertainment industry. There isn't much diversity of thought within metal music and I believe it is important for people to understand opposing views before drawing conclusions. I hope other bands and their fans have an open mind and respect for what we are saying, so it's fair for them to expect the same from us. If truth is the basis of our belief, then the questions other bands/fans have are an important way to understanding what/why we believe. Most of the bands we tour with would never hear a well represented explanation of Christianity if we just stayed home.

Anyway, here are two of their videos that go together off their last album. I link to the lyrics at the bottom since I'm sure most of you don't have 'metal ears' and can't understand a word they say. ;)

Part 1: Nothing Left
Part 2: The Sound of Truth

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Right Now: Are You the One?

Oh, Presets, with your crazy Australian ways.

Money By the Pound

This is one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Ok, I exaggerate a little, but try to watch this and not sing along. I dare you.



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Cross Post

I just put this up at the blog I contribute on, A Tree Planted By Water:

Jesus and the Gentile dogs.


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Right Now: The Doves

I'm starting to close up shop for the day and listening to the Doves' Lost Souls cd. Ah, the memories.





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Flickr Update: Snow

I took about 20 pictures around the outside of my house yesterday while the snow was coming through. I put them on my Flickr and a few others went to Facebook.

www.flickr.com Go to sporkmaster's photostream

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