Small Update to the Site

Just went in and updated the sidebar with new items from the Amazon store which, of course, is all stuff I have worked my grubby paws, eyes and ears through over the last little while. I've also added an old friend's blog to the sidebar links. Just check under Citric Sugar and click through to see my friend Carly's regular updates, projects and thoughts.

As for casa Jozic, not a lot happening around here right now. Spent a lazy Saturday watching Hot Fuzz with my eldest daughter and a late night last night watching (500) Days of Summer, which is now also my absolute favourite rom/com of all time. Just trying to keep things on the downlow, overall.

There may be some news to share soon but until then I'm gonna keep mum on the subject.

Oh, and I guess I could mention that I've been writing a bit these days. Even tried my hand at writing song lyrics, but that proved painful and I abandoned it after a day or so. Still, I've made some progress on the forever unfolding Smitten and look forward to seeing where things go from there.

And last, but not least, I just went and spent a schwack of dough on some comics at a big sale at my LCS. I completed a number of sets including Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye, Savior 28 (although the 5th issue has a buggered cover), Agents of Atlas (the proper monthly as well as the X-Men cross-over), got current with Mike Allred's Madman up to #17, I think, most of the first year of X-Statix, X-Men: First Class: Finals, some issues of Incognito, B.P.R.D. 1947, the last three issues of Millar and Hitch's FF run (although Hitch didn't actually finish it), and some random singles and magazines. It was a good haul. Gonna be reading for a while, I think.

I guess I could mention that I purchased the new Gorillaz album and The Flash Season 1 for a steal, but I'll maybe comment on those at a later date.

So, until then...

mike

"I am not a number!"

I know it's yet another video post but I've started watching AMC's Prisoner remake and it's got me in a McGoohan state of mind. AMC is also streaming the original series and I thought I would link to it here.



Cheers!

mike

Made Me Jump Up & Down With Jubilation File

The only thing better than a new album is the fact that they'll tour it and I get to go see them again. Woot!



Peace!

mike

Made Me Smile File

Saw this when Ebert tweeted it. Love Phoenix and this arrangement is pretty cool.



Hope you like it as much as I do.

Later!

mike

Tweet Tweet

Yes, as the title suggests, I've begun a Twitter account. I'm still not sure what practical application Twitter serves, but seeing as how most of my blog posts, if I wrote down every idea that popped into my head, would be about 140 characters long I figured I would give it a go. More often than not, I'll get an idea while driving, at work or just wandering around in public and by the time I get home and start thinking of how to put it together in a blog post, I've already lost interest. Fickle, I know, but the cold, hard truth of the matter.

I'll still be writing meatier bits here, but when the lightning strikes me, I'll probably fire it off there first and see what happens.

Cheers!

mike

Send In the Clones

So, a little while ago I bought the first season of the Clone Wars animated series on Blu-Ray and apart from being just amazed with the overall quality of the presentation, I have kind of been rediscovering these early episodes and seeing them in a slightly new light.

Stories that seemed a little 'meh' on first viewing stand a little taller when watching them in a clump on this set. I've started to really appreciate the writing more, especially in light of where things have gone with the next season. I also think I've started appreciating their time and dollar budgets a little more and have been cutting them some slack for any early missteps. Again, when you see how far they've taken things in season two, you start to see these things from a certain point of view.

One of my favourite things that has really stood out have been the textures on the show. Everything from the characters skin to the sides of buildings and the clone armour have been textured in such a way that they have a very painterly feel to them. And when I made the connection between the crews love of early Star Wars production artwork and the look of Ralph Mcquarrie's artwork, it was like a lightning bolt to the head. Everything on the show is, essentially, a three dimensional, walking and talking Mcquarrie painting. It's great.

And there are so many other tiny details and minutia that make this show a truly underrated effort. I know it is popular, but it doesn't get talked about much outside of Star Wars fandom and the playground. I would actually love to see someone who has lost their Star Wars mojo post-prequels try this show out and see what they think of it, to be honest. I think they might be surprised.

Anyway, that's my Lucas-related post for the month.

As always, more later.

mike

ILM on CNET discussing the future of special effects in film and television. It's a 30 minute clip but I enjoyed it so...



Later!

mike

To Return Or Not To Return

Last week I ordered a couple of books through Amazon.ca and they both arrived today, albeit in a damaged box. There was a big gaping wound in the corner, probably from someone putting a heavier box on top of it and it just popped. As a rsult of this packaging malfunction, the corners of my book are a little beat up and I'm trying to decide whether or not to return the book and, hopefully, get a new un-crunched version, or if I should just suck it up and keep the book as is.

I'm sure most people would look at the 'damage' and just shrug it off, but I'm a little anal with my stuff and it was an expensive coffee table book, so my expectations are a little higher than if it was a $5 paperback. I'm dying to rip the plastic off and check it out but I need to make the call before I do that, which leads me to this post and my very public ruminating on the subject.

I may leave it 'til the morning to decide.

In the meantime, I think I'm gonna go watch some Fringe or Clone Wars or something. I may even play the new AvP demo I downloaded.

Take care!

mike

Absolutely Smitten by Jenn Grant

A few days ago I went to a local watering hole and saw the inimitable Jenn Grant perform. I could go on at length about how amazing the show was, and how personable and funny she was, and how she and her band came off the stage to perform an acoustic number which happened to land her inches away from myself and my friend, and how she was so great after the show to sign some CDs for us and chat, and how I got my picture taken with her, and how I caught her as she proceeded to fall off a chair she was standing on, but I won't. Mostly because, if you have been anywhere near me within the last 120 hours, you have probably already had to endure my endless nattering and praise about the show, and the artist, already.

I managed to record a few of the performances but the audio gets a little buzzy since it was recorded it with my iPhone. I'm sure to ears that didn't attend it would sound terrible, but I still like to revisit the few tracks I caught. A couple of them were newer, unreleased tracks, too, so that was kind of cool. Still unsure if I should post any of them to YouTube, as a result, but you never know.

My only regret of the night was when I erroneously thought I was recording the aforementioned acoustic performance but wasn't. A malfunction of the finger, perhaps, relegating the experience forever to my memory. I think the song was "Rainy Day", but I can't be sure. Truly one of the most sublime experiences I have ever had at a concert.

Here's a video of hers for the song "You'll Go Far" which she says is about going away and having to come back because you've run out of money.




Cheers!

mike

It's Coming

More on this later.

mike

Kevin Smith on Prince

We all have guilty musical pleasures and one of mine happens to be the that I like Prince. Ever since '83, I think, when I saw the video for "Little Red Corvette" (not my favourite Prince song, btw), he's always been on my radar to some extent. I'm not fanatical or anything, and I have nothing close to all of his albums, but there is a body of work within his discography which I think is bloody brilliant. I think he's a great composer, has some fantastic moments lyrically, and he's a hell of a showman.

I remember a while back he announced that he would be coming to Saskatchewan Place for a show, which was pretty cool. I also remember the ticket prices as being pretty steep, even at the lowest of three tiers. Still, I was totally going to figure out a way to go and see him because it wasn't the kind of act we normally got around these parts, and how often was I going to get the chance to see the guy perform?

Before I even had a chance to figure out a way to afford a couple of seats, he cancelled the show almost as quickly as it was announced. An article in the paper the next day spoke of how Prince's representation informed them of how he operates. He likes to do shows like an army does a beach landing. He comes in quickly, makes a splash and before you know it, it's over. They also said he could just as easily cancel on a whim because he felt the vibe was wrong or some jive like that. It maintained the spectacle of a Prince show, and shone a spotlight on the strange quixotic personality of his royal badness.

The point of that story is just to lead in to this Kevin Smith bit from his Evening With Kevin Smith DVD where he talks about his week up at Paisley Park and his experience with Prince and a documentary they were supposed to produce together.









Later!

mike

Omar's Garage

Went over to a friend's place tonight to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark and I noticed something for the first time. Omar's Garage is part of a scene that I've seen millions of times but, for some reason, I never managed to connect the dots. In the scene prior to the truck chase, Indy says to Sallah and Marion that he'll meet them back at Omar's. After the truck chase, they drive the truck with the Ark in it into Omar's garage and hide it. Why have I never noticed this before?

It's also an entertaining little tidbit because Sallah's brother-in-law gets another mention in Last Crusade during one of the chase scenes. I know, the whole movie is a chase scene, but it's in the desert, involves camels to repay his brother-in-law for the car that got blown up.

Anyway, that's what's on my mind right now.

mike

"If you have a problem, if no one else can help..."

I'm honestly not sure what to think.



mike

Women Drivers

Now, before I start a lynch mob here, I just thought I would post this article because it sort of ties in with my last post since they are both related to driving. Well, this article is about parking but you get the picture. Anyway, apparently it was scientifically proven that men are better at parking than women. I thought it was cute. Judge for yourself.

mike

Trucks and Traffic

I hate coming on here and ranting about other drivers but the last few days have made me angry enough (and the blog has been silent enough) that I thought I would come on and do a quick rant and retreat.

Why is it that if you have a truck, you have to drive like an asshole? I've had many, many, many bad experiences with trucks and SUVs over the years where the drivers of said vehicles have absolutely no consideration for anyone else on the road. They treat it as if they are the only ones there and it is their God-given right to drive wherever and howsoever they pleaseth. I hate to stereotype (since there's always the exception to the rule) but when I'm driving home from work on a two-lane freeway and there are three or four trucks all around me and their all speeding, following ech other and others too closely, changing lanes regularly and just generally driving recklessly, I can't help but make the statement that people who are predisposed to buying these types of vehicles must be assholes, or the vehicles make them that way. It has to be one or the other because the trend is just far too consistent. It stands up to the scientific method.

I know this will probably kill any chances of anyone ever helping me move furniture that won't fit into my wagon, but I just had to let that one go.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

mike

Chris Murphy on Being in a Band

A few years ago when Sloan released their album Never Hear the End of It they released a handful of making of videos on YouTube. While browsing around looking for the video to "Someone I Can Be True With" I ran across this, one of my favourites of the bunch, and I thought I would share.



Later!

mike

Bad Weather

Frickin' car won't start again today. Couple of days ago it got pretty cold overnight and the car froze. I didn't have it plugged in so when I went to start it there was no joy. I finally ended up getting it boosted and it worked fin for me the rest of the day (although she was a little rough on starting when I was leaving work yesterday).

I made sure I plugged it in last night because I knew it would be cold again and went out to dutifully start it and get it warmed up and ready to take Jen into work and do some errands, and the damn thing won't start again. It's actually 7 degrees warmer than the other night but my freakin' car is still frozen. I'll have to get another boost when my father-in-law swings by later today so I can get my errands done. Until then I guess I'll continue to sort the house and make it somewhat presentable for the appraiser who will also be coming in today. Life is so full of fun things.

Later!

mike

"I Have Something on the East Lawn You Should See"

Considering the last week has been full of Lucas-themed fun (played Lego Indy, watched Clone Wars Season 2 episodes, checked out some cool Star Wars stuff online), I recently ran into this clip from MadTV on YouTube (one of my brother's favourites), and my current desperation in drumming up content, leads me to believe that posting this video is not just all kinds of groovy fun, it's a good idea.

Hope you enjoy it!



Take Care!

mike

Been Awhile

I've been playing the endlessly entertaining Lego Indiana Jones with the kids this week and it has me in a bit of an Indy state-of-mind. As a result, I thought I would post this article from the LA Times talking about the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles around the time of the Volume 1 DVD release. The show remains one of my favourite television programs of all time and any chance to read or learn something new about it is a good day for me.

Later!

mike

Return to the 'Verse

A friend sent me this and I thought it was cute.



Later!

mike