F-ing Hillarity!

I've seen some really funny shows/movies lately. For a short time I kind of thought comedy had dried up, somewhere in the end of the great 80's and early 2000's, I seemed to rely on only a few things to get me through. This includes KIDS IN THE HALL and some moderately funny things such as the Farley films, Mike Myers films...S&L cast movies etc. but none packed the punch of FLETCH, The STEVEN WRIGHT SPECIAL, etc. etc. of the 80's.
Now with the new breed of comedy comes alot of mediocrity and poop jokes, but littered among the ever growing American Pie fare are some GREEEEAAAT things.
1. TRAILER PARK BOYS (series or film)!!!
2. HANK AND MIKE (film)
3. PARTY DOWN (series)
4. 30 Rock (tv)
5. The Office (tv)
6. Adventureland (film)
7. It's always Sunny in Philadelphia (series)
8. The Mighty Boosh (bbc series)
9. Flight of the Conchords (series)
These are just a few examples of things that have got me laughing again. Check them out!

Praise for the THIN MAN

Yesterday Stacy and I watched the first of the 1934 NICK and NORA series "THE THIN MAN" starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. We both LOVED it. It's mixture of Noir settings and sarcastic (and sometimes sardonic) humor was brilliant and enjoyable. I laughed out loud many times. I found William Powell hilarious in his alcoholic (but sharp witted) role (lovable like Dudley Moore in Arthur but calculating like Sherlock Holmes) and I thought Myrna Loy was gorgeous (especially her nose which I found uniquely cute). And who could forget the Adorable Dog ASTA who even has his own fan site! http://www.iloveasta.com/ThinMan.htm. As the site sums up..."Endless cocktails and abundant wealth aside, Nick and Nora Charles presented a picture of the kind of married domestic life people really wanted - and still want - to have."

I should also mention that the story was based on a 1933 book written by the amazing Dashiell Hammett.

My daughters first boyfriend :)

Here is a pic of Violet with her new "buddy" at daycare. I find it so funny how they sit together behind everyone else. Ha ha.

Long time since...

I really have little to say although it has been a long time since I posted. I just finished reading Thunderstruck by Erik Larson. He's the guy who wrote Devil in the White City which I will read soon. I am quite intrigued by H.H.Holmes (even making him the mascot of my old band Stateline Motel) and have read alot - including a short biography. So I'm excited to read this new book as well although I'm sure it will be a repeat of the things I already know. My fascination for Holmes (and yes he took the moniker from Sherlock because he thought he was as smart as the fictional character) replaced my previous fascination with Sweeny Todd which waned slightly before the film came out.

I have read so many books since I last posted I can't even conjure them up in my mind right now. Notably I read Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest. It was a riveting and unnerving story of two sisters who go to a "doctor" for her starvation cure technique but then they are robbed and starved to death by the woman. I found it most interesting that the "doctor" was from Minneapolis, where I now live. After this book I read Into the Wild which coincedentally happened to also be about starvation. Boy am I hungry.

Among the letdowns I have read was Joe Hill's (Stephen Kings son) 20th century ghosts - It started out strong and the first few stories are GREAT but then it takes a sharp turn and falls flat. I also tried The Colorado Kid by Stephen King = snore. Then Rogue Scholar which heralded interesting subject matter, but was written like a cross between court proceedings and a dry school text book so it was laboreous to get through.

I found a great story I had never read by Jim Thompson called "Case of the Catalogue Clue" in a book called A Scream in the Dark: and other true crime stories (originally released as Murder Plus). It was great, but the book - even the reprint - seems very hard to find online. I found it at Barnes and Noble in the cheap section!!!
So to wrap up this rant - I've been reading alot more than watching films because of Violet. (I don't yet want to expose her to too much for fear of her having nightmares). BUT I did watch the ENTIRE series of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA much to the shagrin of Stacy and everyone else I have confessed this too :) - p.s. it was GREAT!

My band REIGNING KNIVES is kicking ass. We just played two outdoor shows (on the same street just blocks from eachother! :) They went off well and I really like our tunes and my bandmates. More on that later though.

Fuck! When I was a teenager I was a PUNK. A BLOODY PUNKROCKER! I went to hundreds of shows and moshed (or slamdanced as we used to call it then), from start to finish. I had a mohawk...I wore spikes...a Bullet Belt...sewed my pants tight onto myself. I saw some of the best/worst bands of my generation on a two foot high stage in the basement of the Nordic Hall in Sioux Falls, SD. Small town scenes were the tightest and surprisingly we had the best bands come through. I remember listening to MINOR THREAT with my cousin/best friend Shawn blasting from my overstressed, treble drenched speakers of my Dodge Omni and thinking "Even when I'm old I'll be listening to this shit!". I remember wondering what happened to people that would make them gravitate away from loud, angsty, exciting music and want (actually WANT) to listen to sappy Lawrence Welk type bullshit or classic rock piss and dribble that plays endless loops on squaking, product hawking radio stations or portentous "intellectual" j-j-jazz. Well brothers and sisters I am now thirty-two and although I can say that I still listen to punk I have mellowed to the point of finding myself sitting in a bourgeois jazz joint listening to my friend and ex band-mate's free jazz/experimental combo. WHATTHEHELLHAPPENEDTOME? I miss the ENERGY the raw PASSION of PUNK. Yeah I know my buddy digs what he's doin'. I know that he feels smooth and cool jamming to some stinky mid-tempo trumpet lead bleeps and bloops...but FUCK. I felt like a shmuck. All these pseudo-hip, secret pot smoking, designer glasses wearing assholes who are walking the knifes edge to middle age bobbing their heads thinking "I totally get this, man. I am really cool. I can't wait to pass the bar and then fuck that chick at reception". YUCK! MAN! SHIT! I'm not one of these people...but then I'm not an angst ridden teenager who is content with a band that has thirty songs all in the same key and using three (if you lucky) chords. WHERE AM I AT? My home life is AMAZING my wife and daughter are so seriously cool and fun and I wouldn't trade them for the world. It's not that I'm unhappy with my life...just the current soundtrack!!!!!

New art 1/20/09

This week I achieved a feat to be envied by all the lonely zit faced nerds in basements everywhere...I watched the entire 9 seasons (202 episodes) and two movies, in order from start to finish, of the fantastic X-FILES. This has been a ridiculous goal of mine since I was a wee-tot, o.k., more like a teen-tot.
I have never enjoyed a series as much or launched myself so fully into its mythology. My wife and I have watched
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER,
ANGEL,
FIREFLY,
HARSH REALM*,
JERICHO*,
TAKEN*,
THE LOST ROOM,
DRESDEN,
POINT PLEASANT,
PETE & PETE,
FREAKS AND GEEKS,
SEX IN THE CITY**,
MY SO CALLED LIFE**,
RENO 911,
and SIX FEET UNDER in order as well.
We have also kept up with BONES, DEXTER and CSI. (BOW TO US LAMEOIDS, FOR WE ARE THE CHOSEN ONES). I am now working on a series from 1967 called THE INVADERS. This is a fantastic pre-X-files mythos of an Alien plot to wipe out humanity so they can inhabit the earth. I highly recommend it!!


*only I have watched these
**only my wife has watched these