Some notes, present and past at 12:22 PM

First order of business. If you're reading this and haven't seen There Will Be Blood yet, you're just being lazy and hurting yourself. It's one of the most incredible films I've seen in many a year, and I suspect it has a shot of hanging up there permanently with some of cinema's finest. Possibly the most obvious reason for its brilliance is attributed to Daniel Day-Lewis. The man's acting chops are really just untouchable. If there's any question how ridiculous he was in this movie, take a gander at this article, or just read my conveniently relevant quotes from it:

...rumours circulate in Hollywood that one co-star quit the movie in disgust after branding Day-Lewis "crazy and intimidating".

Another claimed this week that in one fight scene in a bowling alley, the star pummelled him for real with bowling balls.

...

For the part of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood, he refused to speak to his co-stars off the set, and insisted on living in a tent on a deserted Texas oilfield when the cameras stopped rolling.

Overshadowed by Day-Lewis, but never to be forgotten, Paul Dano also made a spectacular showing in the movie. You might remember him from his role of Dwayne in Little Miss Sunshine, Brian in Fast Food Nation, or more importantly, young Klitz from The Girl Next Door (read: under appreciated comedy).

Actors alone can't make such genius. Luckily everything about There Will be Blood was breathtaking, but I place extreme emphasis on the mood. Never before have I felt such a sense of impending doom and tragedy approaching in a film that certain parts just made me uncomfortable and nervous. It certainly isn't a movie to take your best gal to in hopes of necking afterwards. You'll be in for some emotional work. The layers of religious, social and moral allegory are all there and can be enjoyed on any level you want. On one hand, it's an intense and personal character study of a violent oil prospector circa-1900; on the other, it's an investigation into the roots of evil and greed. Prevalent through whatever movie you want to see though, is the music. Directly captivating that mood I described, the soundtrack was composed by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead fame. It's primarily made up of dissonant strings and loud piano chords that seem like they'd be a better fit for a horror film. One scene in particular offered a tremendous amount of chaos on-screen... fires, people running about, severe injuries, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria. Making it all the more eerie was a collection of random, building percussion that heightened what was already a mountain of nerves.

Basically, see the film or you don't support the troops.

Ending on another entertainment note, I saw Kevin Devine for what was my 3rd time this weekend. Playing without the Goddamn Band, he gave a good hour or so of well-crafted acoustic awesome, even with broken strings and technical problems out the wazoo. I don't want to be the one to tell you how to live your life, but if you don't pick up his newest cd Put Your Ghost to Rest, as well as Make the Clocks Move and Split the Country, Split the Streets, God will hate you. And if you're an atheist or agnostic... well, God will hate you too. And he'll tell Jesus to punch you.

This is your country, folks at 10:49 PM

Here's how that wonderful game, "Politics," works over here.

Louisiana Republican Caucus

In the end, this doesn't really amount to anything, except providing an example of how ridiculous our system is (both on the left and right, mind you).

War on Scientology at 5:17 PM

Last post I mentioned There Will Be Blood and how I was going to explain its amazingness. In an effort to be inconsistent, I'm not going to do that.



This sums up apparently what has been going on all week and what is supposed to go down today around 6:00 EST. A group of hackers called Anonymous, as well as various smaller groups have been been waging small attacks against Scientology-based websites and newsgroups.

"Anonymous" releases statements outlining "War on Scientology"

The main site, www.scientology.org, was brought down for a period of time and videos have been released promising the destruction of Scientology.

I haven't been following this too closely, but I couldn't be more pleased with the situation. What are probably 18- to 30-year old guys who spell with numbers and slashes, and care only about the Linux penguin and Counterstrike, are our freedom fighters in the war against a religion/cult based on aliens and secret levels of spirituality that are only accessible through paying more. Something is out of hand here, and I'm not totally sure what it is. I just hope this doesn't drive Tom Cruise further over the edge. He might eat his child.

Go see it now at 5:33 PM

Explanation why later.

Wow. New Topic. at 5:08 PM

So I was gonna go on here and say a few words about Fred Thompson dropping out of the GOP race, but I came across this bomb that seems to have spread everywhere in a matter of hours: Actor Heath Ledger found dead

So instead, I'll suggest you man-up, go give Brokeback Mountain and Ten Things I Hate About You a rent, and admit they're fantastic movies. Then, anxiously anticipate The Dark Knight (assuming it will still be released), because there's no doubt in my mind that Heath Ledger will have redefined the Joker's character. RIP to a fantastic actor who no doubt had way more in him than we even got to see.

Tune in later for boring political rants.

Good Day at 3:31 PM

http://apps.facebook.com/wrestle/

Oh Cracked... at 10:26 AM

...while your magazine may've hit rock-bottom since it's heyday in the mid- to late-90s, your website has certainly sky-rocketed straight up.

The 9 Most Racist Disney Characters

(No, Internet, I'm not racist, but the absurdity of stereotypes paired with a collection of witty quips is win)

After you've read that article, be sure to check out the comments below it for some great lessons on fun-ruining and parade-raining. For example (my comments in bold):

The article isn't nearly as funny as all the comments. It's a perfect avenue, like most issues, to sit on the fence, especially when replying to so many different things (at this point we realize this guy is serious business). Yes, of course this is all stretched, but it screams deliberation too, and therefore is a little too easy to swing on either side. Take it as lightly as you want, sure, but there's one point that no one (at least recently, I only skimmed around 10 posts) seems to have made- you have to all remember these are LITTLE KIDS. Does that make it alright for a book to say that native americans achieved their skin tone by blushing, or that a slave is blissfully complacent in his situation, after the Civil War? Racism's a cozy blanket (lol, what?), but this is worse- instilling awful misconceptions (in retrospect at seventeen, the lame creativity can be acknowledged, occasionally appreciated, but while you're at the typical Disney age?) is just not done. (If you're still awake, good job) Yes, you might be remembering Tintin in the Congo with this whole "it was written in that age" business, but that doesn't justify Disney's remakes. It's not just being an Indian in this context- though I was an easy victim of Pocahontas. "Oh wow you're Indian, do you live in a teepee?!" (Imagine the bitter and impatient scowl on this kid's face after being asked that for the 100th time in his life) was the first thing thrust at me in second grade. It's really not that funny at all, it's that fatal underlying current of colonialism that lives in every nook and corner of our lives. Black fish would certainly raise the skeptical eyebrows of even the gullible or the sheep (lol what?), but in a way this is mocking something much bigger, much more serious. Propaganda certainly hits kids the most, it is the reason for all that sub-conscious racism that we all toss aside today!

Way to fight the good fight, Self-Righteous Guy.

Immediate followup at 9:28 PM

Oh yeah... since I stole Brandon's idea, I better give him some of my "traffic"; Lord knows it's flowing: thinkoutsidethepun.blogspot.com

i'm web 2.0 at 9:11 PM

i've decided to "blog." essentially, one of my dear friends recently started one of his own and he's only a lowly writer. if i were to allow him to become more technology-savvy than me, i wouldn't be able to live with myself. that, and i'd like to drive him off the internet with my probable l33t blogging skillz. finally, asayo (a site that i'll be whoring often on here... cough... www.asayocreative.com... cough) might be starting a blog of its own and i should like the practice.

anyone that has enough self-loathing to visit here consistently will most certainly be greeted by the following (besides the apparent angst in my lack of capitalization):

1. me complaining about things that irritate me throughout the day
   
2. nerdy technology drivel that no one wants to read
3. an occasional social or political rant that is backed by very few reputable sources
4. shameless ron paul promotion

so that's it. if we see another update past this one, i'll be as surprised as you.