I sincerely apologize for all the trouble I've caused

A couple of things I've been meaning to talk about, forgive me if this entry seems a little bit scatter-brained.

-The Da Vinci Code was not a whole lot of fun. I've avoided the books because I heard they were garbage, but I thought the movie looked fun in that detective code cracking kind of way. Plus they shot at a bunch of really cool locations, I figured it was worth a try to check out and see what all the fuss was about.
The first half of the movie has more exposition than the three movies I'd seen previously combined. Characters seemed to have no purpose other than espousing history and useless knowledge to each other in a zane attempt to understand the situation. It's only when ian mackellan shows up, sorry sir ian mackellan that the movie begins to have any sort of punch to it. Granted it doesn't get better but at least you get the sense there could have been a lot of fun here. The movie's not boring it just sort of plods along in that bad ron howard kind of way, where you feel like a robot could have directed the movie and achieved the same result. I guess I can't say its a shame since I'm tired of the book, tired of hearing about it, hopefully this movie will put the whole thing to bed.

-The new phillip roth book "everyman" is excellent. I liked how compact and precise it is, it really allows roth to explore the main character, in a way that never feels like it is in any kind of service to the plot because there is no plot. And it works because roth weaves character and story together in a way that never feels forced, things happen the way they do in real life, according to this one particular man's actions and motivations. There are some passages in the book about getting old and dying that are damn near heartbreaking. And even though the main character is kind of a prick, his voice brings a kind of pathos that is quite satisfying.

-The song Marker in the Sand is one of the best songs pearl jam has ever written/performed in their long history. I don't know what it is about that song, it's infectious, i just get happy listening to it. I also generally like music that doesn't make me want to move (I don't really have a good answer for why that is by the way) but I want to move when I hear that song. The lyrics are dead on and his voice carries it all the way through. I think its my favorite song off the new album and definitely in the top three right now (I don't know if anything can unseat rearviewmirror so maybe marker is #2).

-Nate's totally right, I just saw X-Men: The Last Stand and I gotta say as low as my expectations were, I'm still bummed by it. I keep going back to three years ago and how exhilirating X2 was and still is. There was something in the way bryan singer weaved together the holy shit moments with a story that resonates because it's character driven. It wasn't about filling parts in between the huge set pieces, he had a story to tell. Brett Ratner on the other hand ignores those impulses or is not capable of them, either way he fucked up royally with X3. Granted there were some moments that me revelling in X-Men geekiness, which I should clarify that I am not an X-men geek because I've never read a single comic and I never watched the cartoon. For some reaon the movies have triggered a special reaction with me for these mutated punks. I think it's because watching them is like watching the 72-10 bulls or a great jazz ensemble. I love the moments when they are allowed to riff and improvise with their powers yet still remain a solid unit. That shit kicks ass. Maybe I look too much into it, or I just want super powers of my own. Anyway, back to the movie, it seemed that in their rush to make this epic and final, a last stand if you will. They sacrificed so much of the story telling that was so prevelant in the first two. Powerful emotions are handled like filler and just when you think a scene is about to reach a dramatic peak, Ratner cuts away to something else. This is basic shit and he just plain sucks at it. Yes the action is cool, but up to a point. Some of it is rather poorly staged and clumsily edited, plus there are only so many times you can watch a character get hurled into the air and rise to their feet without a scratch. The anticipation kind of wears down after a while. Plus someone please explain to me why you take the climactic battle of the x-men trilogy and shoot it in the middle of the night, in the fucking dark? This guy's got a lot of chutzpah, missy.

Two final things that ran through my mind during my viewing of X3 or whatever it's called.

-Episode III is ten times better, a million times better even. It's the be all end all movie for trilogy cappers, X-3 shouldn't even be allowed to lick the dogshit from it's boot-heels.

-I hope somebody one day let's me direct one of these super hero movies. I want to do something really cool with one of them, hopefully they're still popular when I step up to the plate.

Okay, I'm tired, I'm going to bed.

"i am no more
i am not good
i am so sorry
if you misunderstood
i'd make it up
but i cannot
if i am an animal..."

What nate and john did on their summer vacation...

A little treat for y'all...

Recovered texts from the journals of nate and john's summer road trip 2004:

Robin Hood and Little John
Walkin' through the forest
Laughin' back and forth
At what the other'ne has to say
Reminiscin', This-'n'-thattin'
Havin' such a good time
Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally
Golly, what a day
Never ever thinkin' there was danger in the water
They were drinkin', they just guzzled it down
Never dreamin' that a schemin' sherrif and his posse
Was a-watchin' them an' gatherin' around
Robin Hood and Little John
Runnin' through the forest
Jumpin' fences, dodgin' trees
An' tryin' to get away
Contemplatin' nothin'
But escape an' fin'lly makin' it
Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally
Golly, what a day
Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally
Golly, what a day

Quick, to the FALCON!!!

Check this out.

I never thought they'd do it, but apparently they were persuaded enough by fan pressure to release the original "unaltered" or "old-school" star wars trilogy as it was seen in 1977, 1980, and 1983 perspecitvely. Goddamn fanboys have way too much power.

My thoughts on this: It's cool, I hope some of the long time star wars fans are happy and they get back those films they claim George Lucas has stolen from them with the prequel trilogy and the special edition. Me, I could go either way. As it has been long documented on this blog, I saw the trilogy as the special edition when I was 13. I fell in love with those movies, I'm happy with them, I don't miss anything when I watch them. It will be cool to have those original versions on dvd just for the sake of movie history. Oh and for the record, greedo shooting first DOES NOT diminsh the han character at all. The man was a rogue not a viscious psycho path who blasted anyone who got in his way. The reason his redemption works at the end of the movie is not because he's evil, it's because he doesn't care about anyone. That's why to see him come blazing through that star light destroying one of vader's tie fighters will always be a thrill, that's why.

I love the new pearl jam album. I love it, I love it, I love it. I've loved everything they done, but this one is especially memorable. It's everything they do well but at the same time it's stuff they've never done before. I find myself asking, "this is a pearl jam song?" after song have finished. Plus it's some of the most focused and pointed political commentary to come from a mainstream band in many a moon, but it ends on a none of hope, what more can you ask for? Nothing, they are the best band in the world, period, exclamation point, whatever you want.

Key Songs: (Even though they are all amazing, I mean that)
Marker in the Sand
Come Back
Life Wasted
Unemployable
Comatose
Big Wave
Severed Hand

I'm off to see Josh Ritter now, he should be good. I hope he plays good man.

Those undecided
needn't have faith to be free.
And those misguided,
there was a plan for them to be...
Now you got both sides
claiming 'killing in god's name'.
But god is nowhere
to be found, conveniently...

What goes on?
Walking tightrope high
over moral ground.
Walk the bridges be-
-fore you burn them down!
Do come round
with the living, let
what is living love.
Unforgiving, yet
needing forgiveness first...

God, what do you say?

God, what do you say?