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[Nov. 1st, 2009|01:33 am] |
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Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention this, but when I re-read the Call of Cthulhu this past week, I remembered something that I had forgotten about Lovecraft: namely, that the return of Cthulhu/The Great Old Ones doesn't actually an Apocalypse. The point of Cthulhu being called back isn't that he's going to destroy the human race, but that he's actually going to usher the human race into a new era. Lovecraft writes that The Great Old Ones will be released when the stars are right, which is also at a point when humanity will have moved "beyond good and evil and become like The Great Old ones." At that point, Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones will return and become the gods of humanity, teaching them to revel in a kind of violent orgy based on the ultimate truth of doing whatever you can to feel good. It basically supposes that civilization is a necessary delusion to ward off abject anarchy and chaos, but a delusion nontheless. I think this is why Lovecraft is sometimes compared to Nietzsche. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 31st, 2009|06:27 pm] |
So I'm Don Draper (from Mad Men) for Halloween. As probably none of you watch the show, here's a picture to compare and contrast with....
( Don Fucking Draper ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 28th, 2009|03:52 pm] |
So, I've been reading this supposed collection of the best horror stories like, ever and I'm pretty disappointed so far. It's called The Dark Descent, and it has a few good Stephen King stories and a couple Lovecraft ones that I've already read and re-read so that they're not scary to me anymore, and then a bunch of other stuff. It's ironic, because the introduction quotes Stephen King as saying that, with horror, he tried to first terrify, then, if he can't do that, horrify, then, if he can't do that, repulse. I checked the book out hoping to be terrified, but I honestly haven't felt any of those three reactions yet. The one King story I read so far wasn't horror, but more of a love story involving ghosts. The Lovecraft would have been terrifying, or at least really interesting, if it had been the first time I'd read it.
If anyone of a literary mind knows of a book that is actually terrifying (preferably paranormal) please let me know. I wanted to get into the Halloween spirit but I think I may have run out of time.
It's kind of weird how I can't really find anything to scare me anymore.
Also, I have most of a Halloween costume that I basically got primarily to post pictures of myself in online. Since I don't really know anyone up here, there's no one who will really appreciate it except Ashley. I'll reveal it on Halloween. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 26th, 2009|10:17 pm] |
Ashley and I went and saw Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside tonight, and the band themselves were really great, but the environment was just... lame. It was for a charity, which is a good thing, but it was also full of older people who obviously didn't give a shit about the band and chit-chatted while they played. There were tables everywhere, so almost no one was standing up or moving around except for me. Also, the opening band seemed like nice young optimistic spunky people, but their music really really sucked. Overall, I was glad I got to see Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside, though. I've been listening to the downloadable album I bought from their website and I really like their sound. A few of their songs have been stuck in my head for a week or so. They live in Portland so I'll definitely take the opportunity to see them again at a venue where they'd be appreciated.
Also, Humberto finally fixed the A/C/heater today. That's pretty great. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 19th, 2009|04:36 pm] |
So, I've completely stopped recycling lately after seeing this one episode of Penn and Teller's Bullshit! on the subject, and even thought I think lots of times those guys kind of have their heads up their asses about things, the information they presented on it really made me think twice. If you think about the concept of recycling long enough, you'll begin to understand that it doesn't actually save money or energy or resources, and not all landfills aren't these piles of filth people make them out to be, but can be done in some really environmentally productive ways.
Anyway, Wikipedia has some information on this subject, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling#Criticism |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 16th, 2009|03:33 am] |
I've decided to stay in Oregon with Ashley, at least until January. Probably longer.
I've had enough of this fucking responsibility bullshit, though. First chance I get I'm scaling back my work hours to like, 20 hours a week.
I'm not as good of an lj-writer as I used to be. I've neglected my internet friends. I don't know how regretful I should be about this, though, seeing as everyone's using Myspace and Facebook now. Fuck Myspace and Facebook.
The other day, I had the realization that Rifftrax.com (the guys behind Mystery Science Theater 3000) probably had a "riff-track" for Twilight, and so a few days ago Ashley and I watched the movie with accompanying audio. It was a memorable and hilarious experience. I admit that Twilight has actually been something I've had a perverse, masochistic urge to view. Mainly because almost every aspect of it looks so poorly executed. Not only that, but the romance angle of the storyline is so extremely dysfunctional that I'm pretty sure the author, Stephanie Meyer, was raped. If you don't believe me, go watch Twilight. The vampire kid's attraction to the girl means he wants to drink her blood more than anyone or anything else's blood and has to hold himself back from violating and murdering her every time he's in her presence.
Okay, so I heard the song "Danger" by this group called Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside on the radio a few months ago, and it really just kind of struck me. I wasn't even sure if I liked it at first, but it was such a unique sound that I couldn't forget about it. I've decided by now that I like them. And they're in Portland, so I can totally see them sometime. They're actually playing on Saturday, but it's for some kind of Pancake breakfast, which is awesome, but it will take place at nine in the morning, and lately I've been waking up around three in the afternoon.
http://www.myspace.com/sallieford |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 3rd, 2009|12:38 am] |
This may sound a little desperate, but does anyone know of any good movies or TV shows that have come out recently (last 5 years) that are worth watching? Keep in mind I've worked at a theatre for the last two, so I know all the big-budget titles.
EDIT: I've decided to add my own recommendations, as long as I'm asking for them.
TV:
Mad Men
Top Chef
In Treatment (season 1 only)
Bored to Death
Eastbound and Down
Extras
MOVIES:
Darkon
Superbad
Revolver
There Will Be Blood
Doubt
The Reader
The Foot-Fist Way
Network |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 2nd, 2009|03:15 am] |
So, I'm using Shelfari. If anyone wants to Shelfari with me, we should Shelfari. We could be friends. Assuming you get excited by books, like me.
I don't think I've mentioned this, but about a week ago, I began treading a dark path towards geekdom. I actually repartitioned my hard drive so that I could dual-boot Windows using Ubuntu as my main OS. I'm doing it now. THESE WORDS ARE TAINTED WITH LINUX.
I don't think it's actually easier than Windows, but I get the impression so far that it's faster and cleaner and almost never crashes. And it would be customizable, I guess, if I were someone who could devote a large portion of time to learning all the sudo- commands. I kept Windows with about 25G free on it for games, mainly. |
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| DARKON and the future of LARPing |
[Sep. 24th, 2009|03:36 am] |
So, a week or so ago, I watched this documentary called Darkon about LARPers (live-action role-players), which, if you don't know, are people who go out into the woods, dress up as medieval fantasy characters and fight wars between their native imaginary countries. It's actually really entertaining, due to how it contrasts the real lives of the people involved with their escapist fantasy lives, and actually made me feel sympathetic to something I still see as probably the dorkiest thing in existence.
If you don't mind small ad interruptions, you can watch it here: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/darkon/
I actually watched it right about the time I was finishing Little Brother, which is a young adult book (a genre I actually hate, and the book was pretty trite at points but the tech stuff in it compelled me to finish it) that got a lot of awards recently. LARPing is also mentioned in Little Brother, so I actually got to thinking about it, and after a while I realized that LARPing is actually the future. I'm almost positive that anyone who's into gaming at all, even casually, is going to be LARPing in ten years time or more. The unspoken variable here is the forthcoming (inevitable, I think) innovation of video games as locative art or some sort of visual reality-overlay. If you've read Rainbows End or Spook Country, you know what I mean. I think in the near future we're going to see some sort of glasses-interface that you can wear, probably attached to some clunky backpack thing at first, then look through, and see computer-modeled overlays over real environments and people. So, you'll put them on in a designated park or woodsy or open area and see lizard men walking around, or your friend will come by and he'll look like he's wearing really awesome armor, or a spaceship will fly by , or (the coolest idea, I think) you'll have the ability to "cast spells" and see fireballs or electricity come out of your hands that would do in-game damage to your friends and any monsters wandering around.
This is LARPing. It's exactly what these people do, except they use props and their imagination, which makes the idea of playing a game like that much lamer. However, in 10+ years, I really think we're all going to be using variants of LARPing rules to play our reality-overlay games, because, even to someone who has never played video games before, that idea just seems too awesome to pass up. And the LARPers are going to see the new guys as total n00bs and poseurs because the LARPers were "doing it before it was cool."
If this doesn't happen, then video game companies would be passing up a chance to make an insane amount of money and completely revolutionize the way people have fun. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 22nd, 2009|05:19 am] |
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I've been doing a couple friends-only posts recently and I'm probably going to do more in the near-future, just so all of the dozens of amazing people who read my livejournal religiously hoping we'll hook up so they can blow me know to log in first... |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 14th, 2009|08:21 pm] |
So, I realize that in the world we live in it's really easy to become cynical, but I think if we look at it objectively, we'll see that cynicism is always rooted in naivete or narcissism. People don't talk about individuals they respect anymore, and for anyone to have "heroes" is seen as laughable, almost a cliché. I, however, have been thinking about the people I do literally see as heroes, and I decided to make a list with their Wikipedia pages linked, although everyone knows at least one or two of them, I'm sure. Obviously, these are not simply people who I respect in some way (the list would be much longer) but men and women who I believe have each accomplished or are accomplishing something really revolutionary that would change or enlighten the world for the better.
The current (14th) Dalai Lama - Tenzin Gyatso
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Emperor Norton I (I'm completely serious in saying I think of this man as a hero.)
Malcolm X
Jesus (The man, not the idol.)
Robert Anton Wilson
Buddha
Carl Jung |
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| Just skip this if you haven't read Philip K. Dick yet... |
[Sep. 10th, 2009|04:44 am] |
So, I'm a big fan of Guillermo del Toro. As a director. I checked out this book he's apparently done with some other author about vampires(The Strain) and it's ... not very well written at all. I have one and only one example necessary to back up this claim. There's a character in this book named ELDRITCH PALMER.
I'M GUESSING HE'S GONNA BE THE BAD GUY, HUH?
In this book, he's a rich eccentric old man in a (get this) wheelchair, who has to have blood dialysis performed daily.
Maybe Guillermo del Toro's next book should be called Fat Horselover Versus the Zombies... |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 8th, 2009|03:34 pm] |
So I'm now facing the possibility that the cause of the chronic stomach pain I've been having may be a soy allergy. I already tried cutting out dairy for about two and a half weeks and the pain was still there, so now I'm cutting out soy from my diet to see if the pain goes away. This puts me in an uncomfortable position, because if I'm allergic to soy, I really don't think I can be a vegetarian, seeing as I'd basically have no sources of protein available. I'd have to be consuming raw vegetables and legumes and nuts or whatever exclusively and on a regular basis, and that's not something I'm really prepared to do.
I am, however, feeling bad about the looming possibility of eating meat. I'd taken a pretty significant moral stand against me personally doing it, and it's taken a lot of commitment. I'm actually really proud that I've been able to stay vegetarian for two years.
I think the fact that, if it happens that I am allergic to soy, a part of me will really enjoy being able to eat meat again only makes me feel more guilty about it. I guess I'm going to have to change my thinking if I'm forced into that option. I probably won't eat as much meat as I did before, though, and maybe later in life I could find some way to cut it from my diet again. |
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| The Men Who Stare at Goats |
[Sep. 4th, 2009|04:30 pm] |
So I read this book, and Jon Ronson's other book, THEM, before that. I heard last night that it was being made into a movie with George Clooney, and I got really excited. I just watched the trailer, and I can tell that about half of the stuff in the movie is fictional and was added to the original investigation by Jon Ronson to make it into some sort of Hollywood story arc, but I'm still excited about it. I'm a Jon Ronson fan. I hope this gives his books some publicity.
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 30th, 2009|01:54 am] |
So, a few days ago I saw the trailer for a new movie coming out called The Fourth Kind about alien abduction, and it scared the shit out of me. I had programmed it at work in a digital playlist to play first when the show began, but after seeing it once I immediately changed the playlist. Other people have watched it and said it didn't really scare them, but I've always had a really bad phobia since I was a kid concerning alien abduction, and the "grays." It's most likely because I watched a lot of Unsolved Mysteries and those Discovery Channel/TLC programs about abduction reports as a kid. Although this is kind of irrelevant to my fear, I don't actually believe that extraterrestrials have visited earth, but it's one of those questions to me that can never be proven or disproven. I have never really doubted, however, that most, or at least a sizeable portion of people who have reported abduction experiences, are describing an experience that they actually went through. It's just too widespread to dismiss as a hoax or a bunch of liars with nothing to gain. Whether these aliens are figures from the collective unconscious, or are products of some outside environmental force, or, in the case I see as very very unlikely, actually individual sentient life-forms of some sort, I really don't know, but I think it's an area that needs to be looked into by psychologists. I can't really understand dismissing someone who has gone through an experience like that as "crazy," and not factoring in the intense trauma they have gone through.
You might actually find the trailer interesting (I think it's a movie I'd actually watch if I didn't have this phobia) but I'm not linking it because I know I'll watch it again and get creeped out.
Also, I've been suffering for about a year now from what doctors call "irritable bowel disorder" which is just a vague way to dismiss my stomach being in bad discomfort and/or hurting ALL THE FUCKING TIME. I'm trying various methods and medicines to help myself with this. I may be lactose intolerant, though. I cut out all lactose from my diet for about a week and at first noticed the pain got better, but now it seems to be coming back, more or less. I just find the equation ( VEGETARIAN + LACTOSE INTOLERANCE = RELUCTANT VEGAN) ironic enough to at least note here. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 29th, 2009|04:11 am] |
So, I just watched The Foot Fist Way, and if you've ever wondered what it would have been like if Oldboy director Chan-wook Park had done Napoleon Dynamite, it's definitely your movie.
What I didn't understand was that Observe and Report and Eastbound and Down were movies Jody Hill did after he was most likely told to lighten up his comedy a lot. |
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| Shows that are actually funny |
[Aug. 22nd, 2009|05:35 pm] |
After watching this Kids in the Hall sketch today, which has always been one of my favorites, I've realized I haven't seen a show I considered really funny in a long fucking time. The most recent examples I can think of are actually Venture Brothers, South Park, and The Boondocks, which, being animated, are technically still on the air but will not come out with new seasons for quite a while (actually I think the new South Park's coming out soon but never mind.)
Does anyone know of a television program, currently on the air, that is at least funny enough to be worth watching? Don't say The Office, because we all know that isn't funny anymore.
I need recurring, consistent comedy. |
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