Toki Wartooth Not a Bumblebee

My favorite fictional Norwegian has returned to the air:

Muddling of the Titans

I caught the new "Clash of the Titans" film this weekend.  What a turd.  Here's what I liked and didn't.

What I Liked

Io:  Perseus had a fairy godmother of sorts.  She was cursed with agelessness when she refused the advances of a god. I guess she was kind of like Bubo, but a lot hotter.  She added a little bit of depth to a thin movie.  Being a turd, the movie didn't reveal who sent her, so I'm guessing Zeus.

Mads Mikkelsen:  He played the leader of the guards that set out with Perseus to find Medusa.  His character was one-dimensional by the script, but Mikkelsen was able to convey a jaded, yet dedicated soldier looking for something worth fighting for.

Medusa:  They made Medusa more menacing than in the original.  She was a woman twice wronged who took her frustration out on everyone.  She would giggle to taunt and her face was her birth one until she turned a man to stone.  The only thing I didn't like is that she went after Perseus like a woman possessed.  She's a stone cold killer, so that didn't work.

What I Wanted to Like, but Didn't

Polly Walker:  Polly Walker proved in Rome that beauty is more how you carry yourself than looking picture-perfect.  I admit it, I have a boner for her.  Unfortunately, she didn't have anything to work with.  If you took Junior to the bathroom near the beginning of the film, you would have missed her whole  performance.  Mikkelsen at least had a few scenes, but Walker was allowed to pontificate on man not needing gods for about 20 seconds before Hades turned her into an old woman.

The Special Effects:  I did like the looks of most of the special effects.  They didn't kill everything like in Star Wars or look a Happy Painter painting like Lord of the Rings.  Still, Ray Harryhausen's effects had a bit more elegance to them.

What I Hated

 Where to start?

Sam Worthington: How he gets all of these rolls is beyond me.  The guy makes Kate Beckinsale seem like Judy Garland.  He went through the movie with a "Kick Me" sign on his back and his costars seemed to be laughing at him, but the "Deus ex Machina" of the script made everyone help him anyway.  Parsley is more compelling than this guy.

Revenge Instead of Love:  Perseus's family gets killed by Hades for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  His motivation is thus revenge versus love.  Not very true to Greek Mythology and a much less compelling reason to cheer for Robo-Douche as he fumbles around.

Argos:  Ok, so I'm being OCD here, but how does a city survive surrounded by unscalable mountains and a small harbor?  Not one inch of arable land.

Hippie Jesus Freak:  The movie had an anti-religion edge, which was fine by me, but to express it the director created a tripping (from organic mushrooms no doubt) hippie with rat-nest hair.  He warned all of the townsfolk to pray to the gods for forgiveness and drug Andromeda onto the platform to be sacrificed to the Kraken.  Nope, no dignity in her sacrifice.  I think I've seen this guy on Willy Street.

The Ending:  When Perseus finally arrives on Pegasus to turn the Kraken to stone, I met it with a yawn.  Ok, creature dead, douchebag is a reluctant hero (versus heroism as its own goal in mythology) who doesn't even get Andromeda.

The Very Ending:  So to make sure everyone knows that Perseus is, um, straight, Zeus revives Io for him to enjoy.  And give the prospect of a sequel.

Say what you will about Steven Sommers, but he has a bit of joy in his junk.

Favorite Lyrics

Ever have that part of the song that you replay over and over because you like the lyrics so much? No! What!?! You're not obsessive/compulsive!?! Well, I'm sure you all have those lyrics that you love. Below are some of mine. I'm sure I'll add more over the next few days. If you put yours in the comment section, I'll add them with full credit.

Here they are:

"We went to a shopping mall and laughed at all the shoppers"
Punk Rock Girl
From Beezlebubba by The Dead Milkmen

"If Hitler were here today, you'd send a limousine anyway"
White Man in Hammersmith-Palais
A single by The Clash

Heh Heh

Sounds like my kind of humor:

There are many stories about Barrett's bizarre and intermittently psychotic behaviour — some are known to be true. According to Roger Waters, Barrett came into what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed "Have You Got It, Yet?". The song seemed simple enough when he first presented it to his band mates, but it soon became impossibly difficult to learn: while they were practising it, Barrett kept changing the arrangement. He would then play it again, with the arbitrary changes, and sing "Have you got it yet?". Eventually they realised they never would and that they were simply bearing the brunt of Barrett's idiosyncratic sense of humour.

Just Because...

... I'm in a better mood than I have been in a while, here's today's ten list:

Mile End - Pulp
Pee Wee Herman Theme - Danny Elfman
Seven Seas - Echo and the Bunnymen
Hours (El-P Remix) - TV on the Radio
Ymaelodi A'r Ymylon - Super Furry Animals
Montage - Massive Attack
Love You More - Buzzcocks
Just Like Honey - The Jesus & Mary Chain
Here Comes Mary - The Raveonettes
Thursday - Morphine

Girl of My Dreams

Perhaps it is Wicked Annabella:

In a dark and misty house,
Where no Christian man has been,
Wicked Annabella mixes a brew
That no one's ever seen.

Relatives have passed her by,
Too scared to even say hello.
She's in perpetual midnight,
She shuts out the day,
And goes about her sinful ways.

I, I've seen her hair, I've seen her face,
Look towards mine.
I, I've felt her eyes burning my sole,
Twisting my mind.

Little children who are good
Should always go to sleep at night,
'Cause Wicked Annabella is up in the sky
Hopin' they will open their eyes.

Don't go into the woods tonight,
'Cause underneath the sticks and stones
Are lots of little demons enslaved by Annabella
Waiting just to carry you home


Now "I Want To Be Your Man" has popped up, which is strange since I'm heading to Minnesota tonight.

A Diverse & Random Top Ten

Just for shits and giggles:

Sad Girl - Supergrass
Don't Make Me Over - Burt Bacharach
Spread Your Wings - Queen
Rust in Peace ... Polaris - Megadeth
Vitamins - Supernova
Dirge - Death in Vegas
Satellite of Love - The Velvet Underground
Pictures of Lilly - The Who
Astro Zombies - Misfits
Pop In G - Heatmiser

This One Goes to Eleven

Here's my band's bio:

A history of rock icons: Horny Toads

After practicing their craft for years in the smokey bars of Milwaukee, Horny Toads shot to the top of the rock scene in 1975 with their debut album, Warts and All. The band's latest album, Toad for the Road, juxtaposes Drissel's over-the-top vocals with crowd-pleasing riffs to evoke a fine collection fist-pumping rock. With standout tracks like "Lick It for Luck," dominating radio airwaves far and wide, Horny Toads is an essential addition to any music lover's library.

Fucking Clowns

He's a clown! Literally!

Schroeder, 37, of Brookfield, is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of an unconscious victim, 27 counts of capturing an image of nudity, and one count each of illegally accessing computer data, battery and possession of a switchblade.

Essential Ten

So I put together an essential list of songs that I don't think I could do without. In no particular order:

"Expectations" - Belle & Sebastian: This is exactly how I felt every morning when I woke up to go to school.

"The Card Cheat" - The Clash: Glory is for fools.

"A Quick One, While He's Away (Live at Leeds version)" - The Who: As loud and chaotic as it gets.

"Velouria" - The Pixies: My favorite side of this band.

"Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldnt've)" - The Buzzcocks: There's a story behind this one and I'm not going to tell it. PERIOD.

"Y Teimlad" - Super Furry Animals: Favorite song of one of my favorite bands.

"Black Heart Road" - Slumber Party: Longing for someone all in one song.

"Fight the Power" - Public Enemy: Mother fuck Elvis and John Wayne!

"Not Going Anywhere" - Keren Ann: All the world's loneliness in one song.

"I Cried For You" - Billie Holiday: Every list needs Billie Holiday.

"Islands in the Streat" - Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers: Because Steve said so.

So get off your butts and write yours.

Wishy Washy Bastards

I always wonder who these people are who change their minds about presidents, congressmen, and lately, the Iraq war. You see the shrubs approval rating fluctuate by the month. Who the fuck changed his/her mind? Are about 20-30% of the electorate (or should I say those polled) that wishy-washy?

Approval for the Iraq War was huge in this country despite plenty of evidence that it's justification was off base. Add to that the tons of literature, commentaries, etc. that said occupying Iraq would be a nightmare. Hell, even the shrubs father said he didn't topple Hussein in '91 because there was NO EXIT STRATEGY!

The following lyrics are from the Clash. Like many of their lyrics, they're as important today as they were 30 years ago:

White Man In Hammersmith Palais Lyrics
(Strummer/Jones)

Midnight to six man
For the first time from Jamaica
Dillinger and Leroy Smart
Delroy Wilson, your cool operator

Ken Boothe for UK pop reggae
With backing bands sound systems
And if they've got anything to say
There's many black ears here to listen

But it was Four Tops all night with encores from stage right
Charging from the bass knives to the treble
But onstage they ain't got no roots rock rebel
Onstage they ain't got no...roots rock rebel

Dress back jump back this is a bluebeat attack
'Cos it won't get you anywhere
Fooling with your guns
The British Army is waiting out there
An' it weighs fifteen hundred tons

White youth, black youth
Better find another solution
Why not phone up Robin Hood
And ask him for some wealth distribution

Punk rockers in the UK
They won't notice anyway
They're all too busy fighting
For a good place under the lighting

The new groups are not concerned
With what there is to be learned
They got Burton suits, ha you think it's funny
Turning rebellion into money

All over people changing their votes
Along with their overcoats
If Adolf Hitler flew in today
They'd send a limousine anyway

I'm the all night drug-prowling wolf
Who looks so sick in the sun
I'm the white man in the Palais
Just lookin' for fun

I'm only
Looking for fun

Um... 40 > 33

Classic

I'm not a competative person, by all means, but I definitely would compete in this! This is priceless:



By the way, I found this at Pop Candy. Good blog.

Top 10

I'll post something else later:

Puppet Love - Carter Burwell (from Being John Malkovich
Desert Search For Techno Allah - Mr. Bungle
Ryerson Vols - The Goose Island Ramblers
Easy Living - Billie Holiday
Blerwytirhwng - Super Furry Animals
New York City - The Jesus & Mary Chain
Black Star - Radiohead
Radiohead- The Talking Heads
Jesus Came From Outta Space - Supergrass

Six Of 'Em

I gots the tickets.

-------------------------------------------------------

Due to popular demand, I picked up two more. Yes, Bleet, one of the eight is for you.

Favorite Internet Video

Is he drunk? Nervous? Slow in the Head? Ask yourself...

I'm Feeling Non-Sensical Today....

.... so here's some lyrics:

Every day, I get up and pray to Jah
And he decreases the number of clocks by exactly one
Everybody's comin' home for lunch these days
Last night there were skinheads on my lawn
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Some people say that bowling alleys got big lanes
Some people say that bowling alleys all look the same
There's not a line that goes here that rhymes with anything
I has a dream last night, but I forget what it was
I had a dream last night about you, my friend
I had a dream--I wanted to sleep next to plastic
I had a dream--I wanted to lick your knees
I had a dream--it was about nothing

"Take the Skinheads Bowling" by Camper Van Beethoven

Bad Recommendation

I just added "Hustle and Flow" to my Netflix queue. As every time I add a movie, Netflix recommends some more. They recommended "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" (uh, pass), "Animal", "G", "ATL", and .... "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London"????

Kind of How I Feel

These songs reflect what the last few days have been like. Ugh....

Optimistic - Radiohead

Not Going Anywhere - Keren Ann

Eon - Supergrass

Valediction - Richmond Fontaine

Y Teimlad - Super Furry Animals

We're Just Friends - Wilco

Isolation - Mercury Rev

Solace for Pain - The Gentle Waves

Bar Italia - Pulp

Ocean - The Velvet Underground

Renew & Restore - The Gentle Waves

Not Going Anywhere - Keren Ann

I Cried Like a Silly Boy - DeVotchKa

Why? - Slumber Party

I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen

Heaven - Talking Heads

Undone - Imperial Teen

You're The Storm - The Cardigans

No Lonesome Tune - Townes Van Zandt

Hidden Song - Cyann & Ben

Ghosts of Things to Come - Clint Mansell

High, Low and In Between - Townes Van Zandt

Don't Follow - Alice In Chains

Ripple - Grateful Dead

Long Way - Queen

Crown of Love - Arcade Fire

All Alone - Mad Season

Return to Oz - Scissor Sisters

I'm Set Free (Closet Mix) - The Velvet Underground

Lua - Bright Eyes

My Head Falls Softly - Kitty Craft

Behind Her Smiling Eyes - Cyann & Ben

Hell Is Chrome - Wilco

I'm Going Slightly Mad - Queen

Plastic Jesus - The Flaming Lips

Harvest Breed - Nick Drake

Pretty Things - The Gentle Waves

Withdrawal and myTop 10

So I had a chiropractic appointment yesterday morning and I'm feeling better. Well, better as far as pain. My body is bitching at me because I'm not feeding it Favrodin at the proper rate. Well, too bad.

So as to not have to write anything important or time consuming, here's my top ten as I wait for the final mail to take to the post office:

1. Tearing Down: Psychedelic Furs
2. Mambo 8: Perez Prado
3. Montana: Pere Ubu
4. Venus in Furs: Velvet Underground
5. Horseshoe Man: Neil Young
6. RV: Faith No More
7. Cheat: The Clash
8. Dark End of the Street: Frank Black
9. Daphné: Djange Reinhardt
10. Some Kinda Hate: Misfits.

Oh, speaking of drugs, here's a picture share: