the batman-on-film crowd is going to have a premiere party for the dark knight and i'm kind of bummed b/c it's going to be in a suburb of houston. namely, tomball (what happens in tomball stays in tomball! sorry, that's a lame inside joke), which is a nw suburb of houston. i may or may not have mentioned that i lived in houston last year (came back to california in late july) and so it stings a little that i'm going to miss this. the BOF crew has been in cahoots w/ warner's since batman begins, and probably before then, so there will most likely be cool merchandise to purchase at the party. plus, it'd just be cool to see the movie w/ a bunch of die-hards. but, i am going to see the dark knight w/ my brother and some friends premiere night in l.a., hopefully at grauman's chinese, so i can't exactly gripe about that, now can i? we'll leave o.c. thursday afternoon, scope out the theatre and see what the sitch is. i'm sort of concerned that there will be an extensive line at that point, but who knows? then we'll see it at the premiere and then we're definitely going to see it again that friday and most likely again at some point over the weekend. fucking stoked.
JOKER FTW
5.27.2008
it just gets better
and by "better" i mean "laughably worse." some of the anti-psych folks over at furious seasons are casting a hairy eyeball toward, wait for it, meditation. that's right-- meditation. click on the link and have a gander for yourself. as always, the comments are where it's at.
i mean, honestly.
i mean, honestly.
5.26.2008
swear to christ this isn't just another lame youtube vid
this is, instead, the video for lali puna's "faking the books," one of the coolest videos ever.
5.25.2008
for the love of god, sign me up
oh noes, evil psychiatrists (redundant, right?) are running clandestine lab experiments on unsuspecting people to see if illegal drugs like mdma and lysergic acid diethylamide (known on the streets as "acid") can help w/ mental disorders. well, fuck me sideways. this is just another example of psychiatrists telling their clients that popping a pill will solve their problems. what will the anti-psych community think!? drugs are, like, sooooo bad for you! and these ones are illegal! they're toxic. ALL drugs are toxic! T-O-X-I-C. nobody says they wanna be a junkie when they grow up. besides, why use drugs when you can get high on life and, like, go for a run? running is so much funner and not to mention it's healthy and positive.
all right, enough of that. even i can't maintain that level of sarcasm for too long.
all right, enough of that. even i can't maintain that level of sarcasm for too long.
sooooooooooooo, saw kingdom of the crystal lulz on thursday . . .
and, um, yeah.
er. wow.
at least temple of doom will now be regarded as the second-worst of the series. also, temple's got that heart-extracting scene that sort of makes up for its deficits. but this one? well, this one's got . . . um . . . it's got . . . uhhh . . . cate blanchett looking rather hot and sexy in her tight soviet outfit and snazzy anna wintour-esque page-boy haircut.
and.
um.
well . . .
a lot of people worked on it? it gave a lot of people a big gig to work on. so that's good for the economy. oh, if you love awful cgi (wait, is that redundant?), then you will absolutely love indiana jones and the kingdom yadda yadda. and if you thought the horrid cornball/cheese/shit/retard factor of the star wars prequels got a bad rap, you will totally love indy 4. gratingly cute, soon-to-be-infamous monkey scene? check. wholly improbable sword fighting that takes place on speeding automobiles? check. cloying references to the previous installments? check. car-motorcycle chase scene that could've been cool but instead just has to be cute? check. h o r r i d lucas-like dialogue? without a fucking doubt, pal.
how hard can it fucking be, lucas? how fucking hard? you had a wildly successful, established franchise that you chose to revisit and you could've made something awesome w/ a rabidly devoted fanbase, but no. no. and listen, i'm not even a big indiana jones fan. they're fun movies, sure, but i don't own any of the movies and i wasn't at all champing at the bit for this to come out and even i feel burned by this. i just don't understand it and the only reason i can accept is that lucas, you are middle-aged, you are extremely wealthy, and thus you have nothing to prove anymore. creativity is a young man's game and by most people's standards, you lost the plot decades ago but frankly, as far as i'm concerned, you never had it begin with. stop writing and start producing exclusively. you're a money man and you see the world in numbers. emotions don't factor into your view of the world, which is why any attempts at emotion in your movies come off as embarrassingly garish and grotesque. leave the attempts at art to the artists. hell, leave the attempts at entertainment to the entertainers.
er. wow.
at least temple of doom will now be regarded as the second-worst of the series. also, temple's got that heart-extracting scene that sort of makes up for its deficits. but this one? well, this one's got . . . um . . . it's got . . . uhhh . . . cate blanchett looking rather hot and sexy in her tight soviet outfit and snazzy anna wintour-esque page-boy haircut.
and.
um.
well . . .
a lot of people worked on it? it gave a lot of people a big gig to work on. so that's good for the economy. oh, if you love awful cgi (wait, is that redundant?), then you will absolutely love indiana jones and the kingdom yadda yadda. and if you thought the horrid cornball/cheese/shit/retard factor of the star wars prequels got a bad rap, you will totally love indy 4. gratingly cute, soon-to-be-infamous monkey scene? check. wholly improbable sword fighting that takes place on speeding automobiles? check. cloying references to the previous installments? check. car-motorcycle chase scene that could've been cool but instead just has to be cute? check. h o r r i d lucas-like dialogue? without a fucking doubt, pal.
how hard can it fucking be, lucas? how fucking hard? you had a wildly successful, established franchise that you chose to revisit and you could've made something awesome w/ a rabidly devoted fanbase, but no. no. and listen, i'm not even a big indiana jones fan. they're fun movies, sure, but i don't own any of the movies and i wasn't at all champing at the bit for this to come out and even i feel burned by this. i just don't understand it and the only reason i can accept is that lucas, you are middle-aged, you are extremely wealthy, and thus you have nothing to prove anymore. creativity is a young man's game and by most people's standards, you lost the plot decades ago but frankly, as far as i'm concerned, you never had it begin with. stop writing and start producing exclusively. you're a money man and you see the world in numbers. emotions don't factor into your view of the world, which is why any attempts at emotion in your movies come off as embarrassingly garish and grotesque. leave the attempts at art to the artists. hell, leave the attempts at entertainment to the entertainers.
5.15.2008
lori drew indicted and a victory for teh gayz
fucking fry, bitch.
in more positive news, my glorious home state as finally overturned that ludicrous ban on queer marriage. now teh cali. gayz can be bound in misery like us heteros.
in more positive news, my glorious home state as finally overturned that ludicrous ban on queer marriage. now teh cali. gayz can be bound in misery like us heteros.
dear antipsychiatry community:
my therapist, my case worker, and my psychiatrist all want me to go to rehab.
am i in rehab? no.
am i going to rehab? no.
have i been forced into rehab? no.
have i been coerced into rehab? no.
have i been subtly encouraged to go into rehab? no.
would that sort of thing work on me? evidently, no.
why am i not going to rehab? i don't want to.
in january of this year, i was almost brought into a psych. ward as a 5150. notice how i said almost. why wasn't i, ultimately? because i didn't want to go and i more or less hustled my way out of it. what were the circumstances leading up to this? during a session w/ my therapist, i was in a mixed state where i expressed suicidal ideation, was incredibly agitated and confrontational (almost picked a fight w/ one of the cops), and my therapist, concerned, told her supervisor, who in turn told the director of the clinic, who in turn called the police. i was questioned, searched, detained for about two hours, and yet i still didn't end up going to the psych. ward. why do you think that is?
you see, antipsychiatry community, i'm going to use your own libertarian logic to make my point here. when it comes to mental illness (would you feel better if i scare-quoted that?) or, "extreme states of mind" as some of you put it, after the general scoffs and mockery have subsided, you tell people to pony up and stop relying on psychiatry and medication to "cure" their problems. in other words, "take responsibility!" (by the way, this "the meds don't cure, so you shouldn't rely on them" fallacy is quite common, but the premise doesn't hold: no psychiatrist or therapist worth his or her salt is going to say that medication is a panacea; in some instances, medication, in combination w/ psychotherapy, has been shown to be most effective in treating some instances of mental illness.) curiously, this logic is never applied to the victims of psychiatry-- no, it's always the psychiatrist's, the therapist's the medication's, etc. fault. however, as illustrated above, everyone's experience isn't the same. and if you really dislike the care you're receiving, then leave. cut it loose. last week, when i was getting lectured at by my jackhole caseworker about using and drinking, i simply fucking walked out. done and done. it was that easy. of course, if you're on medication and it's fucking you up, quitting isn't nearly as simple, but this is why it's imperative that you research whatever drug you decide to take. it's a given that your psychiatrist is going to hustle you, so it's paramount that you, er, "take responsibility!" and thoroughly research whatever medication you're prescribed. and if you don't want to take any medication, then don't. i'm sorry, but who's forcing you to? yes, some therapists will not conduct sessions w/ you if you're manic or in a mixed state or psychotic, and may thus require you to take a mood stabilizer, but can you blame them? how is it possible to talk to someone if they're not paying attention to anything you're saying? or if they're constantly argumentative and confrontational or all around difficult? i'm surprised my therapist never transferred me to someone else because i've given her a lot of shit and she's had to put up w/ a lot of shenanigans from me, but she's still there. and she told me she never once even considered transferring me to someone else. that's a testament to her commitment and to her professionalism-- the least i could do is meet her half way.
if you've been fucked over by a mental health professional, i fucking feel for you. seriously. i've been there. and if that professional has a history of abusing clients, he should lose his license fucking yesterday. but to brand all mental health professionals as malevolent is grossly unfair to those who do what they do because they truly give a shit. and to claim that mental illness isn't real is severely irresponsible. think about it. who really wants to enforce the concept of "normalcy"? who first told you there was something "wrong" w/ you? was it a psychiatrist? i'm willing to bet that it wasn't. i'm willing to bet that, if you really thought about it, it was probably a family member or a friend who first said this to you. the truth is, psychiatry exists because society has a vested interest in a standard of behavior and expects its inhabitants to conform to that standard. demonizing psychiatry without looking at the bigger picture will not get to the source of the problem. it's like complaining about how immoral or shallow or "weird" hollywood is while completely ignoring the fact that hollywood is in business because people like you and me line its coffers. no doubt there are shit psychiatrists and there's little doubt that many of them are in the pocket of "big pharma," but the concepts of mental illness, normalcy, etc. exist because we as a society want them to. so the next time you feel like pinning the whole of the world's problems on someone, spread the wealth a little and consider your friends, your family, your neighbors-- any and everyone who has a vested interested in keeping you in line. and while you're at it, why don't you consider how you expect people to conform to certain standards of your own, as well.
am i in rehab? no.
am i going to rehab? no.
have i been forced into rehab? no.
have i been coerced into rehab? no.
have i been subtly encouraged to go into rehab? no.
would that sort of thing work on me? evidently, no.
why am i not going to rehab? i don't want to.
in january of this year, i was almost brought into a psych. ward as a 5150. notice how i said almost. why wasn't i, ultimately? because i didn't want to go and i more or less hustled my way out of it. what were the circumstances leading up to this? during a session w/ my therapist, i was in a mixed state where i expressed suicidal ideation, was incredibly agitated and confrontational (almost picked a fight w/ one of the cops), and my therapist, concerned, told her supervisor, who in turn told the director of the clinic, who in turn called the police. i was questioned, searched, detained for about two hours, and yet i still didn't end up going to the psych. ward. why do you think that is?
you see, antipsychiatry community, i'm going to use your own libertarian logic to make my point here. when it comes to mental illness (would you feel better if i scare-quoted that?) or, "extreme states of mind" as some of you put it, after the general scoffs and mockery have subsided, you tell people to pony up and stop relying on psychiatry and medication to "cure" their problems. in other words, "take responsibility!" (by the way, this "the meds don't cure, so you shouldn't rely on them" fallacy is quite common, but the premise doesn't hold: no psychiatrist or therapist worth his or her salt is going to say that medication is a panacea; in some instances, medication, in combination w/ psychotherapy, has been shown to be most effective in treating some instances of mental illness.) curiously, this logic is never applied to the victims of psychiatry-- no, it's always the psychiatrist's, the therapist's the medication's, etc. fault. however, as illustrated above, everyone's experience isn't the same. and if you really dislike the care you're receiving, then leave. cut it loose. last week, when i was getting lectured at by my jackhole caseworker about using and drinking, i simply fucking walked out. done and done. it was that easy. of course, if you're on medication and it's fucking you up, quitting isn't nearly as simple, but this is why it's imperative that you research whatever drug you decide to take. it's a given that your psychiatrist is going to hustle you, so it's paramount that you, er, "take responsibility!" and thoroughly research whatever medication you're prescribed. and if you don't want to take any medication, then don't. i'm sorry, but who's forcing you to? yes, some therapists will not conduct sessions w/ you if you're manic or in a mixed state or psychotic, and may thus require you to take a mood stabilizer, but can you blame them? how is it possible to talk to someone if they're not paying attention to anything you're saying? or if they're constantly argumentative and confrontational or all around difficult? i'm surprised my therapist never transferred me to someone else because i've given her a lot of shit and she's had to put up w/ a lot of shenanigans from me, but she's still there. and she told me she never once even considered transferring me to someone else. that's a testament to her commitment and to her professionalism-- the least i could do is meet her half way.
if you've been fucked over by a mental health professional, i fucking feel for you. seriously. i've been there. and if that professional has a history of abusing clients, he should lose his license fucking yesterday. but to brand all mental health professionals as malevolent is grossly unfair to those who do what they do because they truly give a shit. and to claim that mental illness isn't real is severely irresponsible. think about it. who really wants to enforce the concept of "normalcy"? who first told you there was something "wrong" w/ you? was it a psychiatrist? i'm willing to bet that it wasn't. i'm willing to bet that, if you really thought about it, it was probably a family member or a friend who first said this to you. the truth is, psychiatry exists because society has a vested interest in a standard of behavior and expects its inhabitants to conform to that standard. demonizing psychiatry without looking at the bigger picture will not get to the source of the problem. it's like complaining about how immoral or shallow or "weird" hollywood is while completely ignoring the fact that hollywood is in business because people like you and me line its coffers. no doubt there are shit psychiatrists and there's little doubt that many of them are in the pocket of "big pharma," but the concepts of mental illness, normalcy, etc. exist because we as a society want them to. so the next time you feel like pinning the whole of the world's problems on someone, spread the wealth a little and consider your friends, your family, your neighbors-- any and everyone who has a vested interested in keeping you in line. and while you're at it, why don't you consider how you expect people to conform to certain standards of your own, as well.
5.14.2008
this is all i can muster at this point, or, ENOUGH w/ the hillz vs. bamz tomfoolery already
american liberals fucking suck elk sperm. you know it, i know it-- why deny it anymore?
most people would consider me a very strong liberal (agnostic/atheist, ex-vegan, public transportation/bike user, pro-choice, pro queers doing whatever, pro universal health care, anti-free market doing whatever the fuck it wants, blah blah blah), and i'm going to vote and all that, but seriously, at this point i steadfastly refuse to align myself w/ any political party, particularly the democratic party. jesus fucking christ, you know you're pathetic when everything rush fucking limbaugh says about you turns out to be true.
the right must be lapping every moment of this up. way to go, liberals, you're fucking awesome.
most people would consider me a very strong liberal (agnostic/atheist, ex-vegan, public transportation/bike user, pro-choice, pro queers doing whatever, pro universal health care, anti-free market doing whatever the fuck it wants, blah blah blah), and i'm going to vote and all that, but seriously, at this point i steadfastly refuse to align myself w/ any political party, particularly the democratic party. jesus fucking christ, you know you're pathetic when everything rush fucking limbaugh says about you turns out to be true.
the right must be lapping every moment of this up. way to go, liberals, you're fucking awesome.
5.11.2008
what is the most overrated thing in the world?
god, i hate sleep. i was operating on about 5 hours of sleep total from thursday morning till last night-- and i was fine. i only slept for about an hour-and-a-half thursday night (and that was b/c i got drunk and passed out, but woke up due to a weird dream and decided to stay awake), then slept for an hour or so during the day friday, and managed to get a couple hours sleep in various short spurts on saturday morning. i was sharp, quick, sociable, energized, and generally in a good mood. but last night it all caught up to me and whilst watching the labeouf crash and burn on snl i passed the fuck out. i woke up several times, but probably got 5 or 6 hours of sleep and now i feel like shit: groggy, lazy, and like i can't fully wake up. this always happens when i get more than two hours sleep at a time. sure, my brain was starting to wig out a little yesterday afternoon and evening and i was beginning to depersonalize off and on, but that stuff can be fun if you're in a good mood. and i usually am in a good mood when i don't sleep. it may sound counterintuitive, but the less i sleep, the more energized, excitable, clever, and "fun" i feel.
when i was living w/ my exes, i used to slightly resent them for being able to sleep as easily and soundly as they did, but now, honestly, sleep just seems like a waste of time. 30 mins. to an hour, two hours, tops, and i'm good to go. anything more than that is just pointless.
when i was living w/ my exes, i used to slightly resent them for being able to sleep as easily and soundly as they did, but now, honestly, sleep just seems like a waste of time. 30 mins. to an hour, two hours, tops, and i'm good to go. anything more than that is just pointless.
5.09.2008
donnie darko 2: s. darko (daily lulz)
oh boy. yes, that's right: everyone's favorite overrated indie flick of yore has scored itself a sequel. donnie darko 2: s. darko will showcase the travails of donnie's young sister samantha darko, whilst she traipses 'cross the country on a road trip to l.a. and "experiences visions."
could i even make this up?
insert lame joke about doubting one's commitment to sparkle motion here. hey, wasn't seth rogen in donnie darko? he was that vanilla ice-style bad kid's friend. just for the fun of it: a director on the same level of suck as richard kelly: darren aronofsky.
i liked donnie darko when i, along w/ ten other people, saw it in the theatre during its initial run, but the more i watched it on dvd the more it became obvious the movie presaged the age of lost: psuedoprofundity in the worst way. it's the sort of movie where people ask if you "get" it, but there's nothing to "get." it's the sort of movie that allows people to feel really smart, which is one of the reasons why i find this sequel-- and its attendant outrage-- so goddamn hilarious. richard kelly is a hack who lucked out and was able to pull the wool over a lot of people's eyes. good for him. tragically, though, his luck ran out w/ the toilet bomb that was southland tales (one of the dumbest names of any movie in the history of the medium; does this not make you think of duck tales?), so that sucks for him. supposedly, though, kelly has zero involvement w/ s. darko (omg, that name!) and maybe this non-involvement will do something for his credibility. at this point, he can only go up, right?
so what other movies could benefit from a "sequelizing"? here are a few nominations:
memento 2: it's all coming back: there's just a wealth of potential here, as leonard, forever locked into a groundhog day-style groove, keeps picking persons to pin his wife's murder on. but methinks the sequel should take place in nashvegas, where leonard has secured work as a music production studio gofer, eventually falling in w/ a bad bunch of strung-out country musicians.
no country for old men 2: friendos till the endo: this one will pick up right where the first left off, a la karate kid, pt. II. anton, hobbling and bloodied from his accident, will murder and thieve his way to corpus christi where he'll meet a pretty lil' lady and get suckered into accompanying her to church (damn that vagina!). there, he'll undergo a crisis of faith and question his bloodthristy ways till he realizes, shit, god is a murderous freak, too, and if merely being clean is next to godliness then this whole murderin' thing ain't so bad after all. seeing the tightness of his logic, his gf (played by amy adams) now accompanies him and the two embark on a mickey-n-mallory-style cross country rampage.
once: twice: our indie sweethearts, Guy and Girl, will reunite in paris one fateful weekend and finally consummate their intensely intimate relationship. but soon, real life sets in and, to pay the bills, Girl takes on a pop tart persona whilst Guy grudgingly crafts formulaic pop tunes. the stress of selling out, and the subsequent fame, takes its toll and both begin to stray, only to realize, finally, their undying love and lust for each other. the film culminates at the grammys, where Guy and Girl win a grammy for their comeback album, only to have Girl rudely interrupted when trying to give her acceptance speech. what-evs!
speed II: cruise control: forget keanu-- let us focus on sandy b. but this time, she'll be on a boat and i'm thinking jason patric and-- wait, what? for reals? jesus christ.
could i even make this up?
insert lame joke about doubting one's commitment to sparkle motion here. hey, wasn't seth rogen in donnie darko? he was that vanilla ice-style bad kid's friend. just for the fun of it: a director on the same level of suck as richard kelly: darren aronofsky.
i liked donnie darko when i, along w/ ten other people, saw it in the theatre during its initial run, but the more i watched it on dvd the more it became obvious the movie presaged the age of lost: psuedoprofundity in the worst way. it's the sort of movie where people ask if you "get" it, but there's nothing to "get." it's the sort of movie that allows people to feel really smart, which is one of the reasons why i find this sequel-- and its attendant outrage-- so goddamn hilarious. richard kelly is a hack who lucked out and was able to pull the wool over a lot of people's eyes. good for him. tragically, though, his luck ran out w/ the toilet bomb that was southland tales (one of the dumbest names of any movie in the history of the medium; does this not make you think of duck tales?), so that sucks for him. supposedly, though, kelly has zero involvement w/ s. darko (omg, that name!) and maybe this non-involvement will do something for his credibility. at this point, he can only go up, right?
so what other movies could benefit from a "sequelizing"? here are a few nominations:
memento 2: it's all coming back: there's just a wealth of potential here, as leonard, forever locked into a groundhog day-style groove, keeps picking persons to pin his wife's murder on. but methinks the sequel should take place in nashvegas, where leonard has secured work as a music production studio gofer, eventually falling in w/ a bad bunch of strung-out country musicians.
no country for old men 2: friendos till the endo: this one will pick up right where the first left off, a la karate kid, pt. II. anton, hobbling and bloodied from his accident, will murder and thieve his way to corpus christi where he'll meet a pretty lil' lady and get suckered into accompanying her to church (damn that vagina!). there, he'll undergo a crisis of faith and question his bloodthristy ways till he realizes, shit, god is a murderous freak, too, and if merely being clean is next to godliness then this whole murderin' thing ain't so bad after all. seeing the tightness of his logic, his gf (played by amy adams) now accompanies him and the two embark on a mickey-n-mallory-style cross country rampage.
once: twice: our indie sweethearts, Guy and Girl, will reunite in paris one fateful weekend and finally consummate their intensely intimate relationship. but soon, real life sets in and, to pay the bills, Girl takes on a pop tart persona whilst Guy grudgingly crafts formulaic pop tunes. the stress of selling out, and the subsequent fame, takes its toll and both begin to stray, only to realize, finally, their undying love and lust for each other. the film culminates at the grammys, where Guy and Girl win a grammy for their comeback album, only to have Girl rudely interrupted when trying to give her acceptance speech. what-evs!
speed II: cruise control: forget keanu-- let us focus on sandy b. but this time, she'll be on a boat and i'm thinking jason patric and-- wait, what? for reals? jesus christ.
5.07.2008
whither bees?
every day on my bike ride i notice something: an astonishing number of dead bees on the sidewalk. i used to think it was a very localized phenomenon, but i've started to notice this nearly everywhere i go. so, sure, it could be something w/ the hives in orange county, but this cnn article about bee mortality is, as the article itself states, "grim."
5.04.2008
5.01.2008
“Is that God up there?”
i'm usually not one for the death penalty, but really, why not just kill him? i mean, he's old-- why waste money imprisoning him? glean as much information and motivation from him as possible, do some brain imaging, and then just beat him to death.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)