Published on Thu Feb 28, 2002, 10:40 pm .
I think I’m going to take a break from this web site (and that web site) for a while. I’ve been spending too much time in front of this machine, and not enough time looking out for the non-digital me. I’m not sleeping well, I’m not eating well, and it seems silly to spend so much time blogging about bullshit when I’m ignoring the realities. Any comforts and attachments in my life need reexamining or refreshing because they’re stale as hell, and they’ve lulled me into a kind of illusionary state.
So I’m checking out. It could be for a while, or I may retract this tomorrow. I can’t say. I do know that I’m going to Indiana next Friday to see Macy and Jeremy, and I’m truly happy for that.
Published on Thu Feb 28, 2002, 5:30 pm .
If you’re broke, you can always pitch a ridiculous tv show idea to the Fox Network. Celebrity Boxing, Who wants to Marry a Millionaire?, When Animals Attack, Pleasure Island, Ally McBeal. I can’t believe there is a market for this crap.
Published on Thu Feb 28, 2002, 3:00 pm .
Glenn designed this in 2000. Who designed this?
Published on Wed Feb 27, 2002, 9:59 pm .
I got some Spam today from Californian Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bill Jones. This is the most politically insensitive thing he could have done. I’m not a Californian, and I’m sure not a Republican. Dick.
Published on Wed Feb 27, 2002, 2:30 am .
Has anybody out there looked at mp3 players? I can’t see spending $150-$200 for some 64 or 128mb compaq player (which Presley got as a gift)— it’s just not enough music for the money, ya know?
I have seen the iPod, and it’s just so perfect in every possible way. But i’m NOT a mac person. Who is?
Alas, Mediafour is coming through — developing windows software that will make iPod for Windows possible. I mean, I don’t have a job, per se, that i have to commute to or anything… but if i did, iPod would be great company on the green line.
Published on Tue Feb 26, 2002, 9:02 pm .
Take Seinfeld, add the visual style of 24, and you get Watching Ellie. That damn clock in the bottom corner of the screen is pointless– it just makes me nervous as Ellie bumbles her was through her day. scratch that– through her 22 minutes. The writing isn’t so bad, and the characters are all good (with the exception of the blonde english boyfriend)… I especially liked her building super, played by Peter Stormare (one of the nihilists from the Big Lebowski).
So, what’s with the real-time stuff? Are we so neurotic a culture that we find this kind of thing interesting? One of the reasons i like Frasier so much, is because of the way they transition between scenes. It gives a second to catch our breath, muse over whatever clever title they give the next scene, and then we see it unfold. Sitcoms are stale, i realize this– but Watching Ellie isn’t more than an experiment. I doubt it will catch on without some rethinking.
Published on Tue Feb 26, 2002, 4:28 pm .
Ok, so contrary to what you may be thinking from my cam picture, we weren’t actually drunk at that point. The pre-party was a bust because megger totally bailed and ben & jenna were both separately late coming over. Oh well. that’s the last time I put up festive pre-party poster decorations.
The Gorillaz show itself was incredibly good– the band played behind a projector screen, on which they projected jamie hewett’s animations. I think most people were expecting to see the inner-workings of the band from time to time, but they didn’t get their wish. You could definitely see damon albarn bouncing up and down as he sung, and I think I could make out a guitar player and drum set, but for the most part it was mystery, smoke and mirrors.
Because, we were standing to the left of the projectors, we could see how they put it all together from a technical point of view. Presley got a set list from the guy who kept feeding Beta tapes into VCRs. Also, the sound board had a little tv screen that showed the performance backstage– probably because the sound-guy was trying to do his job blind. So we did see a bit more of the band than most people.
I don’t know what happened at Toronto– there are negative reviews left and right. Rolling Stone apparently hasn’t read it’s own interviews with Gorillaz, or else they would have realized that the whole point of the band is that the characters are the group. Don’t expect a blur show. The Toronto Star gets it– they just didn’t like it. There are snide shots everywhere– the show, the album, the phenomenon… All I can tell you, Toronto, is that Boston had fun.
Meanwhile, why are the mainstream media still feeding on this? I totally agree with what Bono is doing, but this is an old story, and it’s making him into some kind of demi-god. There will be a time cover story this time next year probably.
