Love this.

http://www.koreus.com/files/200408/radiohead_creep.html

The End of Madlax and Pizza Royale 2004

Well, it’s Tuesday the 23rd. That means that this year’s Pizza Royale has come to an end. And I’ll be the first to say that it was disappointing.

As you may or may not know, each year to celebrate the Fall I import Chicago-Style pizzas to wherever I am in the world and share them with my friends. Thanks to the hard work of my parents, my director, Tarik and Jim, this year’s PR was achieved last night. Now, traditionally, we eat pizza and watch the fantastic Japanese film, “Battle Royale” (2000). For the last 4 years, I’ve had enough significant changes in friendships to allow the same film to be shown over and over again, each time to a new group of people. But this year, being in Amsterdam again, I had to make a choice.

What movie would we watch, since everyone had already seen Battle Royale? I bought Zatoichi and Casshern. Zatoichi was really good, but a little too slow for a mob of improvisers and their girlfriends. Casshern was the single most beautiful movie I’d ever seen, but it made absolutely no sense. And so …

It was decided: Battle Royale 2: Requiem.

I’ve only read bad reviews of this movie. And as a result, I’d never seen it. It was like I was standing at the red carpet for Matrix Reloaded and someone appeared in a sphere of light, naked, to tell me that they had come from the future to save me from ruining the original Matrix for the rest of my life. I had walked away from BR2 for 2 years. Every review, save the one in Time Magazine (which recently featured Boom, by the way!), had been resoundingly negative. The entire world was saying in one voice, “Don’t Watch Battle Royale 2″.

And then last night, I broke the seal on the DVD, and watched 15 glorious minutes of The Battle Royale Sequel. For 15 minutes, this movie shined and surprised. We even broke into clapping and cheering as the film stylishly disposed of its first child in a burst of blood. But then … but then …

Then I was tortured by 2 hours of unbearable cinema.

The movie was so so bad. So bad. It was a confused and juvenile response to America’s War on Terror. It was mixed and overlong. It was confusing and poorly shot. And worst of all: It was Boring.

The pizza was good. The company was better. And I’m happy we all sat through it.

But Christ, that film sucked.

Yesterday also marked the end of Madlax. Kaijura Anime always disappoints in the end. I mean, what the hell are some anime directors thinking? “We can make this really vague and not explain anything, and that will satisfy?” If you’re going to be obtuse, at least make choices in your obscurity; choose to be incomplete, as opposed to simply not finishing. Like Eva - not all questions are answered, but there are choices made throughout that force the viewer to think, and that call to contemplation is in itself satiating.

Thankfully I don’t watch Kaijura Anime for the plot. I watch it for the atmosphere and the specific mediocrity of much of Kaijura’s music. It’s like hanging out in a familiar cafe - not my favorite place in the world, but a pleasant kitchen and not too much smoke.

I gave Meine Leibe a try this morning, and though it may be produced by Bee Train, it doesn’t seem to have any of Kaijura’s music in it, and her melodies are the first and most important element of Kaijura Anime. (For example, I don’t think Petit Cossette was produced by Bee Train, but the presence of her soundtrack makes it fall under the category Kaijura Anime). The character designs are nice (I’m a sucker for Bishounen, strangely), but I don’t think I’ll be watching the show through to the end. Thank you very much for the recommendation, though, Fub. I hope you’re not upset that I didn’t take to it.

Sleepy.

Late night theory:

The piano, despite the inherent limitations between musician and the parameters of sound he can produce, (this being the single-action strike versus the constant fluctuation of reed and vocal chords on a wind instrument), offers more range in terms of expression and harmonics than any other solo acoustic instrument on earth. In theory, up to 10 notes can be played at once by an artist, and any range of harmonic combinations, forte, and meter can be instantly accessed, allowing the performer the most immediate and complicated musical voice possible.

At the same time, it is the loneliest instrument in the orchestra. There is no piano section. The piano is an individual call - it is the cry of one person in a sea of harmonies. Duets do little to bring forth a deeper climax in the piano; tandem playing is reserved for dual piano pieces, and rarely are included in the orchestra as a whole.

The piano therefore is the clearest window with which we can listen in on the musical consciousness of the human mind. It is an instrument with which we can actually listen in on the presence of a being.

This is my late night pseudoscience. Hear hear!

Good lord I’m tired.

Loft and Paintball

Last week, most of Boom went out to see Loft, a show by the Seven Fingers. It was a Circus show, in the style of Cirque du Soleil - you know, the spinning on fabric, somersaulting over knives, trip-hop-lounge comedy contortionism? That sort of thing.

So we went down into East Amsterdam, by tram and foot, and arrived at a warehouse that was sinking into nearby construction sites. The space inside, though, was eclectic and cathedral. The stage was a sort-of apartment, and the audience entered from stage, meaning you crawled out of a refrigerator in the kitchen of the Loft, arrived on the set, crossed it and turned around to sit down in your seat. This was a great way to introduce us to the dangers of the stage, and also a smug way to get back at theater-goers who arrived late. When a group of people showed up 10 minutes after the show began, the circus had to stop, and the tardy few entered on to the stage, facing the audience. We applauded, and they learned their lesson.

The Seven Fingers are all ex-cirque performers, who wanted creative freedom and a new start. Some had been with C since 13, and were emotionally exhausted after years of doing the same routines. This hunger lent the show a very exiting and personal feel. It wasn’t the grand, polished spectacle that Cirque shows are; it was an individual exploration of the stage space, as well as a charming introduction to each of the performers. I didn’t like Cirque. I loved Loft.

After the show, we met the performers and invited them over to Boom. They participated in a Late Night with us, hung out, went on a boat ride, and then did a Skill Swap. Meaning, they taught us how to crawl up onto each other and balance on handstands on shoulders and we taught them … freeze tag and blind line. Some of the Boomers even got a fling. Jimmy talked about how nice it was to meet a fellow, professional performer who wasn’t an improviser. To be on equal footing, but without the competition.

We also played Paintball this weekend. 5 or 6 hours of it. Describing paintball is never as interesting as playing it. So I’ll just say that I’m still the proud owner of 4 perfect circular bruises, which I display proudly like medallions. They’re the day’s purple hearts. Except, they’re … more like circles. But still purple.

My Livejournal is becoming a political left-fest. I hate the left.

Well, here’s another one that signals the end of Freedom as we know it.

Google image search is now censoring results for the search “Abu Ghraib”. If you enter the name of the infamous Iraqi prison into Yahoo or Lycos image search, you get the expected hits; unfortunate evidence of American mishandling of the Iraqi war in the form of Lynndie England, et al. However, look up the same words on Google Image Search and -gasp!- the photos are no where to be found. Apparently, Google is bowing to pressure from the US Government to remove links to the pictures.

As slashdot puts it, “I’m guessing that this is another case of our administration confusing “National Security” with “Politically Undesirable”.

So what does this mean? A lot of things.

I’ll tell you what my final conclusion is.

I believe that the West and Islam are headed towards an unavoidable repeat of circa 1095 AD. Whether it be the States or Europe, fundamentalism is driving both sides (because make no mistake, Bush is a Christian Fundamentalist - just read about his latest faith-based appointment here.) and we are heading to a point of no return, if we haven’t already passed it.

I believe we will soon find ourselves incapable of separating the West from the War, and we may have to simply live with the uncomfortable consequences, which will likely be a perusal of the irradiation of Islam from the face of the earth, lest they do the same to us. Like the original crusades, I doubt everyone will be behind them, but each of us will be forced to embrace the worst, most fundamental viewpoints simply to survive. At such a polarized place, there’s not much difference between “Christianity” and “Islam.”

This week in Holland, filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered by a 2nd generation Islamic fundamentalist, who stabbed him in the chest with a note that threatened other Dutch celebrities with anti-Islamic viewpoints. The jihad has arrived even here.

Daily Show Wins Again

Bush Won, Earth Zero.

Just watched the Daily Show (http://homepage.mac.com/njenson/movies/postelection.html) and I’d like to thank Jon Stewart for existing and doing my job better than I could ever hope to.

My news joke from today (Used in the Boom News this evening).

This week, America elected George W. Bush to four more wars … excuse me … four more *years*. The good news is, US Presidents can only serve 2 terms. The bad news is, Bush is seeking reelecting in 2008, since he wasn’t really elected the first time.

While I’m talking about Boom, our Voting Machine video made it to CNN in the states. Crazy.

****

One more thing: You know the theory about Multiverses? That there are thousands of universes, and each is different but similar? You know, like that old TV show Sliders — in one, the Nazis won WW2, in another, Dinosaurs are driving Taxis … oh wait, that was Super Mario Bros. the movie.

Anyway, my hypothesis is this:

We are in a multiverse. We’re not in the Normal Universe.

The WTC is gone. Arnold Swarzenegger is Gov of California. The Red Sox won the World Series. And Bush is president again.

We’re the universe that the Sliders people visit and say, “Wow, that one was unbelievable.”

The Vote.

I don’t know what to say to America.

It’s like the hunger for secularism has abated, and people are content with fear and faith, even though human empathy and science could grant them a greater security. The Faith Based Foreign Policy prevails.

While we’re at it, ten states are in favor of a constitutional amendment denying gays the right to marry.

All I can do is sit here and cover my mouth while CNN plays the story over and over again. Bush wins the popular vote. Record turnout to support this president. I’m stunned; I don’t know what he did that’s worth supporting. My reaction is so overwhelmingly negative that I have trouble stepping back to articulate in conscious terms. Oh christ, I can’t believe that he’s going to win, I can’t believe that so many people hear what he says and shout, “That’s the one for me! Let’s crusade!” I mean, I can believe it, but I don’t want to.

The GOP are announcing victory before the votes are even counted. But I have to say, it doesn’t look good.

Can the Blue States secede from the Union?