hope sets sail

hss has left blogger.

2008-10-27T03:26:00.002-04:00

for those of you who are subscribed to this feed, I migrated this blog to wordpress tonight. this means there won't be new entries under this feed.

I'm still at lightrotation.com/hss/ but you should go ahead and get your subscribe on where the feedin's at now.

thank you and good night.

unnecessary censorship sesame street edition.

2008-10-22T22:21:00.000-04:00

file under: holy fuck.

how to take screengrabs from windows media player.

2008-10-22T17:21:00.003-04:00

ever watch a clip on your windows media player and you see a shot you really like, and you're like "oooh I wanna do a screen grab!" but when you try you fall flat on your face?

well fail no more!

hooray!

addendum: turns out this won't work with dvd playback.

amy poehler's sarah palin rap on snl.

2008-10-20T10:30:00.001-04:00

as hilarious as this is, what's not hilarious is reading the video comments made by the myspace using youth of america. for instance, I can't believe to this day there are people who believe obama is muslim. what?

get pumped for star trek, y'all.

2008-10-16T19:54:00.003-04:00

I'm mainly pumped for the two dudes who are slightly out of focus in the back: john cho as sulu and my main man simon pegg as scotty.

the third and final presidential debate vs project runway season 5 finale.

2008-10-15T14:35:00.002-04:00

the third and final presidential debate, also known as 大統領候補討論会 in japan, is airing tonight at 9pm.

...which is also when the season finale of project runway season 5 airs.

america, you have to make a very tough decision tonight. and then in a few weeks you'll make a very easy decision.

irony.

2008-10-05T23:04:00.003-04:00

so I hadn't mentioned this yet, but principal photography for megaman finally ended in early september. we shot for SEVEN MONTHS on this thing.

immediately following megaman I started working on a new project the eaters. it's a feature-length film about a band on the run from zombies, trying to get from brooklyn to long island. it's a great script and has a very tight cast, and I enjoy working on this film a lot.

but so here's where the irony comes in. like I mentioned we shot megaman for SEVEN FUCKING MONTHS. megaman is a sci-fi action film and there was TONS of fighting involved. I came out of it without a scratch.

yesterday, on the set of the eaters, I was about to go up a small flight of stairs when I somehow lost my balance and fell off the first step -- which was like 1/4 the height of a normal step -- and sprained the living CRAP out of my ankle.

what the fuck.

update: it's not a sprain, it's a CUBOID FRACTURE. it's a rare thing to happen apparently, and I'm finding a real hard time finding a good resource on it online (other than people with this fracture posting on forums). anyway, there's your update.

http://palinbingo.com

2008-10-02T11:41:00.001-04:00

that's all I gotta say.

introducing... 8dayslatermovie.com.

2008-09-15T17:04:00.002-04:00

so the final finishing touches are being made to my short film I told you about.

I present to you...

www.8dayslatermovie.com

there's not much there right now but come check it out anyway!

the nba's oklahoma city thunder.

2008-09-05T12:31:00.002-04:00

unless you've been living under a rock, or simply do not care about professional basketball, you are aware that the Seattle Supersonics' new owner upped and moved the team to oklahoma city.

you know, this sort of stuff happens now and then. as you can imagine it really sucks if you're a local fan of the team.

me? I'm not affected by it, really. but what offends my sensibitilies is the new nickname and the team colors.

to me the logo looks and the name sounds like a team from the nbdl (the nba's minor league). examples include the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Reno Bighorns, and the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. not to mention the Albuquerque Thunderbirds.

so not to be That Guy who just bitches about things in a blog and have nothing else to offer, here's a list of my suggested teams names right off the cuff.

The Oklahoma City Obliterators
The Oklahoma City Oscilloscopes
The Oklahoma City Octopi

and my personal favorite:
The Oklahoma City Ombudsmen

there you go.

andre duracell.

2008-08-31T10:19:00.001-04:00

I was introduced to this ridiculously awesome clip yesterday and wanted to share.

the injustices under the surface at the olympics.

2008-08-14T21:51:00.005-04:00

the media is going phelps-crazy, and hey I'm rooting for him just like everybody else, but let's not forget america sends two swimmers for each event. that means for each event michael phelps swims in there's another american gunning for the gold.

it bothered me when the nbc sideline/pooldeck reporter woman asked jason lezak (who swam the final leg of the unforgettable 4x100 freestyle relay) how he felt to be a part of olympic history by helping michael phelps go for mark spitz's record.

you know what, lady? this guy spent his entire life to get where he is. he busted his ass for HIMSELF and HIS COUNTRY. you don't think he would have swum just as fast had phelps not been in the running for the record?

and what IF an american competitor edges out phelps in a race? will he be congratulated as he should, or will he be seen as the guy who prevented phelps from acheiving the record?

phelps is visibly uncomfortable whenever he's asked about his "quest" for the record. it's obviously on the back of his mind but any sensible athlete would tell you they don't like to look ahead and definitely not TALK about what's ahead.

I know the media is just trying to sell more advertising, shoving phelps into the spotlight to feed the hype machine.

but let's not forget there are other swimmers in beijing chasing their dreams.

the most ridiculous olympics-realted quote so far...

2008-08-14T17:41:00.001-04:00

...goes to my buddy ming.

"china beat tokyo in men's volley ball"

duh, he's only THE PRINCE OF ALL HORSES.

2008-08-11T20:56:00.002-04:00

so kate was watching the olympic equestrian competition and there was one horse on there named "gandalf." I was like "what the hell, why did they call the horse GANDALF and not SHADOWFAX??"

kate has never seen lord of the rings.

those of you who have understand me.

I was totally the comic book store guy.

the folks at the chinese olympics managed to pull off one of the most impressive opening ceremonies ever, and yet...

2008-08-09T22:42:00.002-04:00

managed to completely fumble the US national anthem during the swimming medal ceremony tonight. the anthem started somewhere in the middle of the first verse, then seamlessly skipped back to the beginning, and then ended before the big crescendo at the end.

bravo.

double dragon - barats & bereta productions.

2008-07-25T10:07:00.002-04:00

you might have seen this on myspace but it's worth plenty of further viewings.

check out these guys' website while you're at it.

guess what movie's coming to the midnight movie at the sunshine at the end of august?

2008-07-23T17:42:00.003-04:00

a special victim.

2008-07-22T23:16:00.000-04:00

so I did a little law & order: svu work today. I played some kind of military personnel.

it was hot as hell and unfortunately for us, it was a scene in the fall so we had to wear long sleeves and a light jacket in the 90+ degree heat. ugghhh.

but the scene I was in also had chris meloni and mariska hargitay. and! and! chris elliott was a guest star in the episode! haven't seen that guy since ... get a life? whoa.

we shot at this science museum in queens and were fed really well too.

hell yeah.

pre-production kicks off on my short film!

2008-07-17T16:48:00.003-04:00

I'm currently piecing together the parts that would eventually become my new comedy short film entitled 8 Days Later. this is a film in which I am the writer, director and actor.

I had a meeting the other day to go over the storyboard and it's looking a little bit like this:

special props go to alex tarampi on flexing his BFA muscles in a mad sketching session.

I'll be posting updates. we're looking to shoot in early august.

on seeing ricky gervais live at madison square garden tonight.

2008-07-14T23:41:00.005-04:00

so kate got us tix to see ricky gervais tonight at madison square garden as a (very) early birthday gift. as one might expect, it was a real fuckin' hoot to see him in the flesh and hear his hilarity live.

two things that surprised me:

a) doors were 7:30 and he got started 7:50 on the dot. am I just so used to rock shows starting hours after the doors open, or is this just how it's done for big stand-up shows?

b) he recycled about 15% of material from his previous stand-ups. admittedly, those who would know this are only the geeks who own the region 2 uk dvds of his previous shows and played them on a multi-region dvd player. repeatedly.

but yeah, the man is an unstoppable genius. if you want a taste of his hilarity, pop over on that link I gave you up top (and just now) and peep his promo for his nyc shows.

"but aj, I'm at work and I don't have sound on my computer."

well then you have two options:

a) wait till you get home and watch it.
b) quit your shitty job.

please have a wonderful day.

who's that on an elle.com blog?

2008-07-08T23:28:00.001-04:00

72 hour film shootout.

2008-07-06T18:31:00.001-04:00

so I am writing to humbly request your vote for (or perhaps just view) my team's entry in this year's 72 hour film shootout.

the 72 hour film shootout is a nationwide competition where filmmaking teams have 72 hours to write, shoot, edit and produce short films up to five minutes in length on a selected theme. when the theme "A First Goodbye" was announced on friday 6/20, my team stayed up all night writing a script, spent that saturday and sunday filming, and then our fearless director pulled an all-nighter putting it all together by monday 6/23.

the fruits of our labor can be seen here:
http://ningin.com/mediastream/item:show/2008/07/01/initial/

you can vote by clicking on the "VOTE! Audience Award" button below the clip.

do it!

the website is down: sales guy vs web dude.

2008-06-26T16:26:00.003-04:00

extremely funny clip, especially if you work in an IT capacity. or worked with non tech savvy people.

deadliest catch video game.

2008-06-23T00:06:00.002-04:00

hell motherfucking yes.

what's next, jon & kate plus 8 on psp?

mashup: requiem for a day off.

2008-06-19T18:45:00.002-04:00

holy shit.

G4 attack of the show - wonder twins sketch.

2008-06-12T20:46:00.001-04:00

this is so clever and hilarious.

12-year-old girl banned from all-boys basketball league for being too awesome.

2008-05-31T18:03:00.002-04:00

exactly what the title says. very much worth checking out.

movie review! indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull.

2008-05-23T17:57:00.002-04:00

if I had to summarize it in one quip I'd say "if you've seen one indy movie, you've seen 'em all. in a good way." but that would make me a dismissive, snarky internet asshole (even if it is a positive thing I'm saying). so I won't.

although the story is as simplistic as you can write one, it's as fun and action-packed as you remember all the others being. it's a summer blockbuster, what do you want?

ps- cate blanchett in a bowl-cut brunette wig is hot as hell. meow.

brand new mates of state cd next week!

2008-05-15T02:24:00.002-04:00

mates of state's latest and greatest, "re-arrange us" is coming out next tuesday. you can stream the entire album from their myspace page, or if you're more of the visual type peep their first video:

me likey!

there may be blood.

2008-05-08T22:23:00.001-04:00

there will be blood is next in our netflix queue but they've been taunting us the past few weeks that there may be a long wait.

so yeah.

spaced on dvd finally available to yanks.

2008-05-07T12:36:00.003-04:00

to those of you who don't own multi-region playing dvd players (what good are you, anyway?) the day has come to rejoice.

spaced is finally available to american audiences!

spaced is/was the sitcom that was created by the genius minds that went on to make shaun of the dead and hot fuzz. if you thought those movies were clever, your asses will be floored when spaced hits your television set.

mark your calendars now!

the chicken, the fish and the king crab.

2008-04-29T22:13:00.003-04:00

today I caught the chicken, the fish and the king crab at the film festival. I made sure I ate before catching it because I figured I'd be bombarded with shots of food that would encompass my entire field of vision.

this film follows one spanish chef, jesús almagro, and his quest to compete at the bocuse d'or, an olympics-like culinary competition between 24 top chefs from around the world.

chefs train years to compete in this, not to mention spending over $100,000 in materials to practice with.

but you know what? the type of miniscule, surgically crafted miniature square morsels did little to fuel my appetite. it was much like a fashion show where everything looks pretty but you wouldn't really see yourself wearing anything coming down the runway. same thing here -- I can't imagine eating the kind of foods they were judging.

it just wasn't that exciting to me.

the final scene was of the spanish chef helping his mother prepare a big pan of paella while talking to the camera about his experiences at the bocuse d'or. the paella looked good. really, really good. and it made me wonder, was there a message that this was REAL cooking -- preparing meals for your family and friends? the paella, with big chunks of chicken and shrimp tumbling around in the big metal pan, couldn't have been farther from the intricately delicate sculpture-foods at the bocuse d'or.

not to run this message into the ground, but to me, the shot of the paella was much more appetizing than anything else I saw in the film.

it would have been nice had the final message in the film been a big fuck you to the competition.

the film itself was very enjoyable as jesús almagro is a lovable underdog who you really want to do well. is this the karate kid of the culinary world? you'll just have to watch and see if jesús delivers a crane kick to the french chef at the end of the competition.

Låt den rätte komma in

2008-04-28T21:20:00.003-04:00

for those of us who don't speak swedish, that translates to "let the right one in" and it's the title of a fantastic film I just saw at the tribeca film festival. it's a tender tale of a young bullied boy who falls in love with the girl next door, who happens to be a vampire.

as much as I strongly urge you to go see it, I just as strongly urge you not to watch the trailer online because it doesn't come close to doing justice to the beauty of this film. in fact I feel it can be misleading, not to mention it giving away key scenes that's best left for you to see for the first time on the big screen.

is it a coming of age story? is it a horror movie? there's no categorizing this film.

the two leads appear to be in their early teens, and according to the director's q&a after the screening they had little to no prior acting experience. that to me was mind blowing. to get such performances out of these actors must require so much skill and patience by the director. wow.

I don't know what kind of u.s. distribution they have lined up but it needs to be seen by many people. in the meantime, if you're in the nyc area you need to get off your ass and see it before it's too late.

a joyous day.

2008-04-20T12:06:00.002-04:00

if you're jewish: happy passover.

if you're a pot smoker: happy 420.

holy shit, I haven't posted anything about march madness!

2008-04-07T18:51:00.003-04:00

this is what happens when:

- I go out on a limb and pick my hated teams to do well (duke, I'm looking at you)
- this year being an exceptionally weak year for kentucky, my interest in the tournament was equally as weak
- my brackets got shot all to hell by the time the sweet sixteen rolled around

so tonight is the championship game between kansas and memphis. the only thing I'm looking forward to is the two boots pizza we're ordering.

holler.

have you filled out your march madness brackets?

2008-03-18T17:16:00.004-04:00

feel free to join up the march madness brackets challenge group I created on yahoo:

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/

group id: 77617
password: yuta

you have until end of day wednesday to submit your bracket (yeah it's short notice).

michael or mike?

2008-03-18T17:04:00.003-04:00

I find it interesting how michael jordan is referred to as "michael" when he's referred to by his full name, but if it's just his first name it's "mike" (eg: If I could be like mike).

but yet it sounds so weird if someone were to say "mike jordan."

who's with me on this?

this officially kicks off my annual (and sporadic) march madness rants.

2008-03-14T12:46:00.003-04:00

so march madness is in full swing. there's conference tournament coverage every night this week and it all leads up to Selection Sunday when we see who made the Big Dance (aka the ncaa tournament). the tournament itself begins next week.

so the first thing to get off my chest is how some of the tv announcers pronounce va tech like vah-tech and not virginia tech.

if they're going to do that, why don't they pronounce ga tech like gah-tech and not georgia tech?

let's keep it consistent.

flicts and flakes.

2008-03-13T16:45:00.003-04:00

here's a little game that's sure to brighten everybody's day. whenever the word conflict comes up in conversation, replace it with cornflake.

example:

sorry barry, but I am unable to make the 9:30 call tomorrow due to a scheduling cornflake.

hilarious, right?

direct flights vs non-stop flights.

2008-03-13T14:13:00.002-04:00

I hear people confusing the two all the time and it drives me absolutely fucking bonkers, to the point where I make a point to correct the person. I have become That Guy.

let me make it absolutely easy for you:

> direct flight means it's probably gonna make a stop somewhere along the way.

> non-stop flight means exactly that: it's not going to make a stop somewhere along the way.

there.

ricotta cheese.

2008-03-13T13:10:00.000-04:00

I think I really, really like ricotta cheese.

I'm not so good with world geography.

2008-02-20T15:08:00.002-05:00

but I surprised myself with this how well do you know your world? game.

give it a whirl and see how you do.

a competitive eating video game?

2008-02-08T12:44:00.000-05:00

holy crap.

Mastiff Consumes Video Game License for Major League Eating

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Video game publisher Mastiff announced today that they have acquired the Major League Eating (MLE) license for interactive platforms.

Major League Eating, which oversees all top eating events in the nation including the July Fourth hot dog-eating contest, counts among its members Takeru Kobayashi, the Japanese eating phenomenon, and American Joey Chestnut, current champion of the world.

“Major League Eaters aren’t just elite athletes,” says Bill Swartz, Head Woof at Mastiff. “They are the people who built America. Or at least the competitive eating part of America. And I am deeply honored that the International Federation of Competitive Eating and Major League Eating choose Mastiff as their exclusive videogame partner.”

“We knew this sport would lend itself very well to an interactive format,” said George Shea of Major League Eating. “Mastiff has the stomach and the sense of humor to pull this off.”

Major League Eating: The Game features the world’s greatest gurgitory athletes competing across twelve different food types. Built much like a fighting game, MLE: The Game requires players to show brilliant on-screen eating; a mastery of offensive and defensive weapons including burps, belches, and mustard gas; and of course the technical mastery necessary to avoid emptying one’s stomach in a vividly colored reversal of fortune.

in between phase.

2008-02-01T10:50:00.001-05:00

so I've been asked to grow out my hair a little bit for my next film project. unfortunately, if you have hair as short as I do, there's going to be a reeaaal nappy in between phase and I'm reaching that point.

so we'll see. it was either this or getting a wig... and that would have been pretty fucking ridiculous.

of course I could always put a pancake on my head.

shitfield.

2008-01-20T12:39:00.000-05:00

I walked out of cloverfield a half hour into it.

an entire feature length movie shot from the viewfinder of a guy running with a camcorder just isn't cool.

in fact it's the worst thing I've ever paid money to see in a theater.

DON'T CHEW GUM ON THE RUNWAY, KID!

2008-01-04T15:27:00.000-05:00

I caught the first episode of make me a supermodel (I tried linking to the show's bravotv.com page but it wasn't connecting) and suffice to say I won't be a regular viewer. but the commercial for it, with tyson beckford yelling at a supermodel hopeful (see entry title), made me crack up each time so I had to take a peek.

so I hate doing new year's resolutions because I almost never keep up with it. but if you must...

1. eat more fruits and vegetables
2. learn the NATO phoenic alphabet

there. happy?

it's still looking a lot like...

2007-12-26T14:42:00.000-05:00

...the end of december. since my last post I got around to checking out juno and I am legend.

thoughts?

I am legend:
the cgi mutants (after all those months of casting for extras they went with cgi mutants?) looked a little weird to me, but I can see how having real live mutant extras might look like all the trendy zombie movies that's come out recently. but still, recreating human-like movement with cgi is HARD. guess it's a lose-lose situation there. there is a major hole in the story but I won't ruin it for ya. I still enjoyed it though (mmm, dilapidated nyc).

juno:
when it wasn't trying to be cheeky (believe me, some of the key dialogue must have been written by a crotchety hollywood exec who watched one episode of TRL) it was a very good movie. but there were just far too many scenes of it trying to be "quirky" or "edgy" that it was lost on me (I can almost see the company memo using those words). it's like the studios had a huge board meeting with out-of-touch execs and twisted a writer's arm to re-create the charm of napoleon dynamite. some parts I really liked, some parts really grated on my nerves. juno gets my vote as this year's science of sleep.

it's beginning to look a lot like...

2007-12-17T23:55:00.000-05:00

...the end of december. and it sure as hell feels like the end of december too. brrrr.

so yeah, a few films I'm itching to see before the end of the year:

juno
I am legend

in that order but I think I'll end up seeing I am legend first. I remember they were casting for the vampire mutants roles a while back, at first it was like "if you look like a freak, or are some sort of contortionist, please come to this audition" and then later it became "ok, if you wanna be in this movie then show up for this audition because we have to fill a huge cavernous shot with you lot." I also remember they closed down washington square park for a weekend and had an entire row of burnt up cars lining a street north of the park.

so yeah. then january we got:

cloverfield
be kind rewind

though the last time I really looked forward to a michel gondry film I was largely disappointed. we'll see how this one goes.

bark at the moon.

2007-12-05T23:37:00.001-05:00

so just this past sunday I got guitar hero (don't even make me link that up, you know what it is). I played it a little when I was at dan's over thanksgiving and I was hooked.

I tore right through it on EASY mode so I ventured forth on MEDIUM. I was able to successfully complete each song at this new setting and burned right through right up to the very last song to beat the game.

ozzy osbourne's bark at the moon.

it's widely regarded as the toughest song in guitar hero and it's no exaggeration. this song repeatedly kicked my ass. repeatedly.

until tonight.

after my buddy alex came over and showed the song can actually be conquered (the dude is a few years' veteran of GH) I took a stab at it. I came dangerously close to flaming out right at the end (the song ends with an impossible guitar solo) but I somehow managed to sputter my way to the finish line.

I felt like it was some sort of nerd rite of passage. and it was great.

katamari damacy.

2007-11-15T01:11:00.001-05:00

wait! how could I have not mentioned my current obsession of katamari damacy? I think I started writing and stopped only to play more katamari damacy.

this is the game that brought my ps2 out of a good 3-year hiatus. after getting over the unavoidable initial motion sickness it's been smooth sailing. AND! I just beat it over the weekend. such an innovative puzzle game.

wanna get a glimpse of what I'm talking about? here.

xkcd.com rules.

2007-11-15T01:07:00.000-05:00

ever been to this webcomic site? it's so good. here are my current two faves:

enjoy, peoples.

project motherfucking runway motherfucking season four.

2007-11-14T23:14:00.000-05:00

so the new season of project runway (4) kicked off tonight. after such an awesome season last year (can't believe it's been a year already) I wasn't sure if I can be as into this one as I was for 3, but those clever producers over at bravo found a way to get me in.

I'm still learning the designers' names and personalities so I'm not quite ready to pick my favorite yet... but I am trying to figure which ones they selected because their personalities make for good tv, and which ones they selected because they have an actual shot at winning.

what's crazy is that all day I was like "there's something important I'm forgetting about november 14... what was it?" and I almost missed it if it weren't for kate.

damn.

you're the best (shirt) around.

2007-11-05T23:37:00.000-05:00

my good buddy sung got me an early birthday gift.

fuckin' hell yeah.

a little help?

2007-10-24T00:28:00.000-04:00

I've been looking for this music video and I can't remember the name of the dj/group/guy. all I know is it has scenes like this:

and this

scenes from this video are used in every goddamn video mashup imagineable. someone out there's gotta know who this is! help!

points or no points, you're dead meat.

2007-10-10T12:49:00.001-04:00

are you serious? will smith is going to direct a remake of the karate kid with his son playing daniel larusso?

Will's nine-year-old son is being lined up to play Daniel LaRusso in a new version of the popular 1984 film, with Jackie Chan as his martial arts mentor Mr. Miyagi.

kill me please.

it's hard goddamn work...

2007-10-02T15:46:00.000-04:00

...to repeatedly get it on with halle berry.

CNN> Halle Berry: Pregnancy took a lot of work

Halle Berry says she and her boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry, tried and tried and tried to get pregnant.

"So there was a lot of staying home and doing what you do. Like, all the time, around the clock," the 41-year-old Oscar-winning actress said Tuesday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

wow.

fantasy basketball, anyone?

2007-10-01T10:33:00.000-04:00

interested in joining my fantasy basketball league? email me and I'll hook ya up.

ps- I don't think there'll be any money involved. we're just a bunch of fantasy basketball nerds.

finishing the game.

2007-09-26T12:27:00.000-04:00

oh man, I'm so psyched for this to come out.

peep the film synopsis on their wiki page.

Finishing The Game, an Official Selection of the Sundance Film Festival, is a 2007 comedy film which focuses on Bruce Lee's final movie Game of Death. Lee died prior to finishing the movie, having shot only approximately 30 minutes of film. However, the rest of the film was finished using a Bruce Lee double and a new script. Finishing The Game is a comedy which satirizes the production of Lee's final film.

check out their site to see if it'll be coming to a theater new you.

and the "band whose name is really fucking hard to google" award goes to...

2007-09-25T00:12:00.000-04:00

final fantasy. what in theeee fuck? and it's not an accident either, evidently the brains behind FF is a fan of the video game franchise.

COME ON!

though I am really liking these song of theirs/his right now.

it's on like...

2007-09-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

I saw tonight the king of kong: a fistful of quarters. if you haven't heard of it, it's a documentary of one man's drive to beat the world record in donkey kong.

it's easily in the top 5 films I've seen this year. this film is to donkey kong as spellbound is to the national spelling bee. it's so gripping, full of human drama and emotion.

I mean, come on, how often do you see a 98% rating on rotten tomatoes? (other than the two movie links I have in this entry...)

I moved.

2007-09-03T23:02:00.000-04:00

yep, I moved and I'm back in brooklyn. park slope to be exact. and hey I'm going solo again! it hasn't been since 2002 that I lived by myself. I hated it on my last go around, so let's hope things will be different this time.

I'm trying to figure out what I'm gonna do with all this space. I did, however, buy a new tv today. hooray for labor day sales.

superawesome.

2007-08-23T22:53:00.000-04:00

if there's been any movie this year worth every bit of its hype it's superbad. I lost count of all the hilarious lines half way through and that was okay because there were tons more to come.

not to say they weren't memorable, I just couldn't remember them all.

it's honest to goodness bust your gut laughing kind of movie. go see it.

shying away 2.

2007-08-15T01:30:00.000-04:00

I'm not gonna lie, this entry was heavily influenced by mike's post over here. it got me thinking . o O ( how many take on me covers could I find on imeem? )

answer: a shit ton.

so I picked some of my favorites from the bunch and put it together in a convenient little playlist. go on. indulge.

as we know it.

2007-08-08T16:45:00.000-04:00

so there was a massive storm that hit nyc this morning and this afternoon a giant earthquake shook jakarta.

you know, I really do think al gore is onto something.

fearing the end is near, I ate a donut just now.

I'm lost and I'm found. and I'm hungry like the wolf.

2007-08-08T00:06:00.001-04:00

so it's looking like I'm going to be at a new address come oct 1. thing is I don't know what that address will be, and we all know how much I loooooove moving.

at least I have close to 2 months to look for a place. actually it's less than 2 months because I have to figure out how I'm gonna move my shit (which isn't much) and what I'm gonna take with me. guh.

in other news, I've had two songs on repeat the past few days. I thought I'd share with you.

where you been.

2007-07-24T16:07:00.000-04:00

I haven't listened to or thought about dinosaur jr, and yet the album title just popped in my mind when I was trying to think of a title for this entry.

so yeah, where've I been?

1. (up through 4th of july week) being somewhat underwhelmed by the selection at this year's ny asian film festival.

2. (the entire week after the 4th) went on an awesome trip to new england; hitting providence, boston and maine.

3. (upon my return) started jogging.

4. (last night) saw sunshine at sunshine cinema. not to worry, the irony was NOT lost.

that about does 'er!

more than meets my attention span.

2007-07-05T10:35:00.000-04:00

so I saw transformers yesterday. what else are you supposed to do on a rainy 4th of july? after seeing about fifty different trailers of bot-on-bot action I feared I had seen all the best parts before seeing the actual movie.

not so.

if there's one thing this movie doesn't lack, it's ACTION. you'd expect nothing less from michael bay who'll gladly give you 2 hours of extreme closeup action with dizzying, jarring camera movements.

as you might expect there's not much to the story. nope -- you're there to see the steel-shredding, explosions... exploding, and the casting of unnecessarily gorgeous girls in principal roles. I know that is what this production is about.

but you know what? after a while that just gets very, very tedious.

seeing the "real live" autobots and decepticons transforming was nothing short of amazing. seeing the giant robot warriors clash with one another with seamless integration with the actors and backdrop will blow you away. but after two whole hours even these incredible special effects start looking all the same. especially the way it's shot, how it's so up close and fast and blurry, I couldn't tell the difference -- the final showdown between optimus and megatron didn't look any different from the other ones earlier.

yeah, yeah, it's supposed to be a mindless a blockbuster. I get it. but that doesn't mean it can't be interesting.

the end of an era.

2007-07-04T13:28:00.001-04:00

close your browser if you haven't seen the outcome of this year's nathan's hotdog eating contest.

if you have seen this year's hotdog eating contest ... well, you already know the outcome and know what the title of this entry means.

it's a sad day for sure, but this means the annual contest will FINALLY get interesting. wait 'till next year!

fourth of july will never be the same.

2007-06-26T12:48:00.000-04:00

everybody knows I'm a huge fan of takeru kobayashi and his dominance in the arena of competitive eating.

so then everybody would know what a sad day it is, not just for me but for the world of competitive eating, that it's looking unlikely he'll be able to continue to compete.

Japan's all-star speed eater suffers professional injury

I'm like the fourth in line, but that's ok.

2007-06-25T14:28:00.000-04:00

on saturday night we caught the screening of hard boiled as part of the new york asian film festival. as it's a classic piece of asian cinema the show was sold out and I anticipated a big crowd... but goddamn, we got there 50 minutes before showtime and there already was a pretty big line. by the time they started letting people in we were around the half way mark.

so sunday rolled around and I was extra psyched for I'm a cyborg but that's ok. this one sold out even faster than hard boiled, fueled by the star power of rain in the starring role. fearing what happened the previous night for hard boiled I got to the theater close to an hour before showtime.

turned out that even though the cyborg tickets sold out faster, the fans who snatched them up weren't as hardcore as chow yun fat fans. I was seriously like the fourth in line.

I felt like such a loser. a loser with Really Fucking Good Seats, but still.

much better than ghost rider.

2007-06-15T09:38:00.001-04:00

something AWESOME this way comes...

2007-06-13T15:32:00.000-04:00

it's june! you know what this means... if you said new york asian film festival then you are absolutely correct.

I have my eye on about 10 films this year. I'll post comments for each one as I see them. there are a few I'm a little too looking forward to, which means they'll let me down.

this year most of the screenings are going to be at the ifc center, which is great for the festival because it's tons more accessible than the previous locations.

if you're in the area you really, really ought to see some of these films.

the discovery channel is the new bravo (for me).

2007-06-08T10:58:00.000-04:00

there was a time in recent months that I was bonkers over programming on bravo but lately they've been leaving me kinda cold.

well, move over bravo because here comes the discovery channel. I've been going nuts over some of their shows, namely the deadliest catch and man vs wild. if you've seen those shows you know what I'm talking about... if not, well, that's why I put those links up!

my buddy dave summed it up best (describing deadliest catch): dude, that is some rough shit

I rest my case.

"this is worse than panic at the disco."

2007-06-01T10:19:00.000-04:00

I cannot stop watching this. Super Mario Brothers Frustration.

part 1 of 3

part 2 of 3

part 3 of 3

you know?

2007-05-30T19:29:00.000-04:00

I just read a transcript of an interview kobe bryant did on espn radio today.

he says "you know" 101 times.

films viewing update.

2007-05-29T12:25:00.000-04:00

so I've been secretly going to see films and not telling you about them (yeah, it's got nothing to do with being lazy). but that all changes right NOW as I shall blab about my cinematic experiences.

first up is severance. I really, really enjoyed this one and I'm not even a fan of the slasher genre. I know I said the same thing about shaun of the dead and zombie movies, and this isn't quite the shaun of slasher movies, but they do a very good job of taking you to the edge of your nerves and slipping in an unexpected funny. oh, you brits.

then I finally saw 28 weeks later. you know what? considering this was a huge budget follow-up to an excellent indie, I thought it was still very good. they managed to add an interesting nibblet to the existing story and added even more human drama elements... and of course big budget special effects. all you 28 days puritans should consider checking this out.

then on a spur of the moment I decided to catch paprika. I saw this on an evening when I was dead tired and I admit my mind could have been slipping in and out of brief consciousness, but this film wouldn't have been any less vividly imaginative had I been otherwise. using the words "trippy" or "bizarre" would be an insult to describe an animated feature of this magnitude, which stretches the limits of human creativity and imagination. the soundtrack doesn't slack either.

a milestone.

2007-05-24T13:35:00.000-04:00

just a few days shy of my half birthday into my 35th year I had my first drink with my dad. he was in town for business so we met up after my improv class. we hit up a japanese-style pub and munched on goodies and had a beer.

I wish it could have been something more monumental but it was pretty ordinary. I'm sure he wasn't aware we were out drinking for the first time.

so yeah.

national "shake your keyboard upside down" day.

2007-05-18T11:12:00.000-04:00

I am hereby officially declaring may 18th as national Shake Your Keyboard Upside down day.

step 1: confirm the day is indeed may 18th
step 2: locate a trash bin (important)
step 3: turn your keyboard upside down and shake vigorously over trash bin
step 4: watch in horror of all the disgusting morsels spilling out of your keyboard
step 5: wait till next year

any questions?

memories of tomorrow.

2007-05-11T14:14:00.000-04:00

last night I went and saw the nyc premiere of memories of tomorrow starring ken watanabe. it had an introduction AND a q&a afterwards from the man himself!

the film is about a man who devoted his life to his career only to find his work life, home life, and relationship with his wife fall apart when he discovers he has alzheimer's disease.

expertly shot, directed and acted, this is easily the best film I've seen this year.

those of you in nyc, sf and la will see one of japan's top films from 2006 in select asian theaters. check the site for listings.

28 sequels later.

2007-05-09T10:29:00.000-04:00

do I really want to see 28 weeks later? while weighing into the pros and cons it became another conversation about indie vs major.

28 days was shot on video, on a much lower budget and it just looked so raw. 28 weeks, based on the trailer, looks completely slick and polished (as it should with big studio budgets). scenes of fighter jets dropping bombs on the city? what the fuck? who turned this into a michael bay movie?

though... in the end I think I'll go to see it anyway. wake me up when 28 years later comes to theaters (infected robots, perhaps?).

david blaine terrorizes passers-by.

2007-04-30T14:36:00.000-04:00

this is so brilliant I can't put into words. here's part 1.

and part 2.

the best movie viewing week of my life thus far.

2007-04-18T10:50:00.000-04:00

some of you know that ping pong is one of my favorite movies of all time. it's also no secret that shaun of the dead is pretty high up there for me.

I never got the chance to see either of these films on the big screen... until last week. the imaginasian theater in midtown had a limited engagement of ping pong AND the midnight movie at the sunshine was shaun of the dead.

fuckin' hell yeah.

blast from (my) past.

2007-04-13T17:41:00.000-04:00

I was digging around online looking for old high school swim team pals and I stumbled upon this site that keeps tabs on my county's athletics records.

if you scroll down to 88-89 evidently I was all-county my junior year. and if that's the case I should've been all-county the following year too, but that year's not listed.

btw I went to westhill high school not staples. eh, these are records from almost 20 years back so let's cut 'em some slack.

sweet.

ghostbusters: generation - official trailer!

2007-04-02T09:51:00.000-04:00

it's finally here! the official trailer of the ghostbusters film I worked in last summer.

there are talks of reshooting some scenes so I can't say for sure the film will be out this spring, but it looks like this behemoth is finally taking shape.

pre-sleep activity no-nos.

2007-03-26T09:45:00.000-04:00

they say you shouldn't eat right before you sleep because it'll give you fucked up dreams.

well, based on my experience this past weekend, it turns out watching fear and loathing in las vegas right before going to bed will also do the trick.

not like waking up next morning all "ooh that was fucked up dream!"
we're talking TERROR.

bravo hits us with another one.

2007-03-21T00:14:00.000-04:00

I've been behind on my bravo programming lately, mainly because other than project runway and inside the actors studio I'm not particularly interested in anything else on the network.

then I saw an ad for some new show called shear genius. it's a competition-based reality show that's probably by the creators of project runway.

I dunno. I wasn't crazy about top chef, I didn't bother watching top designer, and I probably won't watch this show either.

but tell me this: how can the elimination one-liner be anything other than "you're cut"?

this. is. spar. tah.

2007-03-13T23:57:00.000-04:00

saw 300 tonight. wasn't something I had planned to see, and tonight was no exception. my old college buddy dan and I were gonna go see some improv but it was sold out so we ended up at the closest movie theater.

lots of pecs with makeup and toothy monologues. eh.

how I know I'm not adopted.

2007-03-02T02:02:00.000-05:00

my mom, who lives in japan, just wrote me and was like, "there's this american show on tv here I really like, it's got fashion designers who compete each week and the weakest ones are eliminated..." and I'm like "holy shit mom that's project runway!"

so yeah. I'm not adopted afterall.

a tale of a guy against a financial institution.

2007-02-23T00:39:00.000-05:00

so tonight I noticed this weird finance charge on my credit card bill. it was only for $1.44 but what the fuck, I'm not gonna give these fuckers any more than I spend on their behalf. I pay off the entire balance every month and the only reason I carry anything over is because I may send my payment in like a day late or something.

so I called the fuckers up (had to navigate a goddamn labyrinth of pushing one button after another to speak to a human) and asked what this $1.44 was all about. evidently this lady was given a script that told me the only way to get rid of it was to pay for it (what? fuck you, lady!) and I kept asking her HOW it got on there.

after about 10 minutes of an absolute standstill she finally conceded. she must have noticed in my records that I've had this card since NINETEEN EIGHTY NINE (1989). I've had this damn card for almost 18 years, son! woman you better step DOWN.

so yeah, she is waiving the $1.44.

victory.

drastic measures.

2007-02-20T14:29:00.000-05:00

I decided to cut myself off sweets during the week. I gotta do something about all this winterfat.

this is what it sounds like when doves cry.

2007-02-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

I had to rush my ass over to the office a little earlier than usual today - I had to make sure this one minisite launched exactly 9:00 on the motherfucking dot. it's not significantly earlier than when I normally come into the office but I noticed a significant difference in the stress levels of my fellow commuters.

one example: one lady had her head down and came barrelling up the stairs -- on the wrong side, nearly smacking right into me not knowing she certainly was not the only human being using the stairs at that moment.

another example: some older businessman-type brushed up/bumped into another at a street corner and damn near started a fist fight. a fist fight! the dude literally raised his fist and barked "you wanna do something about it?!" -- jesus christ.

was it because it's a monday?
was it because it's a little earlier than I care to be at work?

I don't know, but I'm sure as hell hitting that snooze a few times tomorrow.

colbert vs o'reilly

2007-01-22T15:58:00.000-05:00

how in god's name did this fly under my radar?

first, stephen colbert was on the o'reilly factor

then bill o'reilly was on the colbert report the same night

goddamn.

since you asked.

2007-01-19T13:17:00.000-05:00

I was asked for my top 10 fave films of 2006 a few times now that I had to actually sit down and come up with a list. I had a little spare time during lunch and this is what I came up with:

10. shinobi

09. a scanner darkly

08. letters from iwo jima

07. flannel pajamas

06. brothers of the head

05. borat

04. linda linda linda

03. the departed

02. children of men

01. it's only talk

[EDIT - Feb 01] fuck, you know what, I totally left out casino royale. it should be in there somewhere...

the smell of january makes me think of...

2007-01-08T11:13:00.000-05:00

...this time last year when we were still so...

yeah I remember a time when I'd relish the opportunity to drop that go sailor lyric as email subject lines. not so much these days, though.

anyway, dunno if you heard, but there's some city-wide gas leak going on today.

awesome.

my best impression of mitch hedberg.

2007-01-05T00:12:00.000-05:00

"I tried out one of those foam memory mattresses... I forgot what it was like."

oh shit, son. it's 07.

2007-01-03T22:18:00.000-05:00

I actually had a good new year's. how's that for a change?

over the holidays I caught some good films. children of men is definitely good and you should see it when it comes out (what's up, limited release?). letters from iwo jima is also very good, and I'm not just saying that because I actually auditioned for one of the roles (note: I didn't stand a chance).

whatchu got?

special christmas box.

2006-12-24T13:35:00.000-05:00

I wish I'd seen this live on SNL but I can live with having this in my youtube favorites.

can you hear me now?

2006-12-21T15:02:00.000-05:00

yeah so I got a new phone on a new service. it's got all these great reviews but everyone's having a bitch of a time hearing what I'm saying! I can hear everyone fine though.

am I holding it all funky? and YES - I removed the little plastic.

so what the fuck? I have a week or so to take it back if I want to exchange it. or learn how to hold this thing right, because evidently I sounded clearly ONCE.

domestica

2006-12-16T19:48:00.000-05:00

things that are hard to accomplish:

- putting on fitted sheets while talking on the phone
- ironing a fitted shirt

yeah, that's about it.

are you a mineral?

2006-12-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

been crazy hectic at the new job so I haven't updated this much as you can see.

the only thing I can update you on is this clip. it's been my life the past week or so.