Satan's Luau

Posted by at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As the Association playoffs enter the conference finals, I couldn't be more indifferent with the four teams remaining. They all play team basketball, and you would think that I would actually enjoy that. However, there isn't really any sizzle to the matchups -- in many ways, I would be terribly surprised if both series were not swept by the Car parts and Boot accessories, as they are the superior sides

Assuming I am correct, a Finals rematch of 2005 should be pretty good ... but for now, zzzzz

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The Association lottery ... does this process make any sense to anyone?

Yes, I find peculiar, dark pleasure in seeing them Green Leprechauns get shut out of spots 1 and 2, and probably spiral some more down the tubes. However, what good is it to have the worst and second worst team in the league, as a result of a random lottery, end up picking fourth and fifth in a draft with two obvious great players who could potentially change the fortunes of those cities.

Lakers, Celtics, Knicks ... at this point, could not be any more irrelevant -- yet I suppose I think that the Association would be much better if these franchises were healthy and dominant, rather than middling to sucking as they are right now ... but that's just me

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This may be the first season that I am vaguely familiar with what is going on with that long running series AI. I'm not expert on the show, I hardly watch it -- but I think that at least for this year, there is this sense that the outcomes are as put-on, predetermined, and heavily influenced by producers as ... professional wrestling. Whether this means the long awaited death of this rather mindlessly entertaining show for the masses ... TBD, but the cracks in its armor are showing, producer arrogance is very evident, the "stars" it produces are largely irrelevant, etc.

I must say that last night's program was such a mismatch of epic proportions that I would almost consider it producer induced show suicide if the underdog won tonight. I mean, it would be such an all-time fiasco of juiced/fix is in, that the masses would leave in droves. And yet, if the favorite won, it would be quite the anti-climax as well. The show is over the barrel, and it's about time

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Lastly, I watched some of that legislative Herman Inquisition on TV a few days ago, and I came away with the following impressions:

1. UH is much bigger than just its Ath department. Why legislators would want a briefing from only the UH ath dept is a big mystery to me, ath facilities issues, football sched fiasco, Wallace contract/Nash selection fiasco, not withstanding

UH sports certainly are important to the community, that is without question.

2. The current chancellor is a lame duck, and sure acts like it

3. The current AD is doing an okay job, there are some obvious issues with his performance. But I don't think you get to the performance issues by drumming on him for 4 1/2 hours, in many ways, it became like the Oliver North hearings -- if anything, I would think more people sympathized with HF after that full on, attempted hatchet job

4. I think that if you are going to have a witch hunt, you should understand the principles of the childhood game from Milton Bradley, Which Witch is Which. Simply, know what the witch looks like before you go on a witch hunt, or else you look like angry townspeople with pitchforks and torches ablaze ... in other words, pretty out of control

5. Lastly, although fans are an important part of the overall UH ath dept equation -- one certainly cannot run an ath dept from such an emotional and passionate place. It made Kmart's questioning look totally retarded. Seriously dude, who cares if you lettered in swimming at UH, tried to hug Wags at the BYU win, or tried to tear down a goalpost

The passionate fan perspective is no way to run an ath dept, nor is it a good way to evaluate the performance of an ath director.

6. Fire HF!!! is a very easy road to go down. Saying someone messed up is very easy to say in hindsight. I would like to see our legislators take a supporting role in the matter, facilitate constructive improvements to all of UH including the ath dept ... than appear as fickle as fans and ask fan-type questions which are at the end of the day, not very important

What the fans think is not the first priority when trying to manage the priorities of an ath dept

7. Why is Senator Sakamoto so cool? If you watched the briefing, I think we got another example. Constructive, above the fray, inclusive, professional, supportive.

Posted by at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, maybe two

Any way, there is speculation that the Lost 80s tour will come and play here in September. The basic lineup of the tour is AFOS, DRR, WhenInRome, and G-Loves-J. The huh? about this speculation is that they will be playing at AlohaTower, Kaponos

To say that we are curious about what the bands look/play like, as well as what the fans look like ... well, that would be the understatement of the late 2000s

Posted by at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand how certain fan-related sports blogs can be so ridiculously negative, yet receive high praise as some kind of great source of information for certain sports teams

I was reading one of the more popular sports blogs for the Interlocking NY, and was just shocked at the negativity and insulting commentary. Yes, at the end of the day, we are all fans ... and the team is in a slump where the only thing consistent about the team is their inconsistency.

I just don' t think that because we have fan-type reactions to the performance of our teams, that it gives the blogger the right to then go on a ranting, trashing tirade about certain player's character -- their performance is fair game, don't get me wrong. But, these personal attacks on the player's character as a person ... it's a bit far for me, it's a bit too far down psycho fan road -- it's taking it too personal.

I have thought this in recent years, and have blogged about this before. Whatever team that you are a fan of, cheer hard and die hard. But, don't make the mistake of assuming/thinking that your team or its players will love you back -- show you the deep, passionate love you have for them. It's a business, and yes, it's ultimate goal should be to entertain you, NOT to make its supporters happy

The distinction is this, I think ... everyone has a very different concept of what it is about rooting for their team which makes them happy. Hoo, bad grammar. The past week, listening to local sports talk radio in NYC, you would think they should man up the suicide crisis hotlines from all these really passionate, depressed fans. It also sounded like they should up the security/bodyguard details for certain players, too.

And why, because the team is 19-23? I suppose, at this point, the team should be 42-0, right? With having 120 games left in the season, I think a little perspective is in order here. Yes, I know, that the Carmine Nation is wayyy ahead in first place right now, and it is getting under the skin of fans. Yes, I know that the the so.bronx.finest just dropped a series to the Metropolitans. And, yes, there have been a bizarre series of injuries, rookie pitchers, players showing their age, and players lacking "fire" ...

The whole grouchy fan thing is understandable to a certain degree, but people have to get a grip on whether this is the end of their world or not. And this blaming of certain players for causing their personal unhappiness, it's just plain odd at best ... and borderline mental at worst

I'll end with this, yes, it is not fun when your team is going through a trying beginning of the season -- by any standard, that is not entertaining. Taking your team's performance as a personal affront, well, that is a bit far. It may be time to step back a little, and focus on something else. As unreasonably angry and frustrated that you may be, it's not changing anything on the field ... and it's not making me want to read these rantings at fan sites or blogs, either.

Posted by at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The review that never got written. The show that we didn't see in NYC while we were there.

What we have here is one of the better artists of late, who finally are getting some attention, one year in ... always seems to be the way, doesn't it? Anyway, this has been one of my favorite artists over the past year.

Inside, the reviews of the Silversun Pickups' Carnavas and Pikul

I guess there is a sort of familiarity with them, with the vocal style that reminds of Billy of Smashing ... and song style too -- add in the the wall of sound guitars, and moody post-punk sensibility, with great hooks.

It's kind of funny because I think to myself, oh some My Bloody Valentine fans or some really cool, Hot Topic kid would like this ... and then again, I don't think it is so hardcore in the shoegazer, goth direction -- obnoxiously obnoxious like the HT bands that you can snap off in a list.

In many ways, this is really great dark pop rock ... in the mid-90s this would be called alternative, but nowadays, even though it is currently still indie -- it is some of the more accessible, great, indie rock out there.

I have a feeling they could be really something big, if they are great live

Silversun Pickups - Carnavas: A+
Early Candidate for SL Album of the Year

Okay, let's put it this way -- if you were a fan of Siamese/Mellon Collie era Smashing or maybe The Breeders, why you don't have this album at this point, is really on you at this point. There are so many things about it that are very reminiscent of that mid-90s style ... or if you want to seem more hardcore, My Bloody Valentine

Wall of sound guitars, catchy hooks, great lyrics ... intense moody songs mixed in with great rockers. The album is not uniformly listenable, but stand out songs are really well crafted. From the meandering pop of Lazy Eye to the slow intense Rusted Wheel, there is a great deal of sonic variety. Also great are the straight up, guitar wall of sound rockers, Dream at Tempo 119, Future Foe Scenarios, and Well Thought Out Twinkles. If you think like me, you go 5 stand out tracks, 4 solid tracks, out of 11 -- and go, that's quite an achievement for albums nowadays

Silversun Pickups - Pikul EP: B-

This EP starts out very strong. Kissing Families, Comeback Kid, and Booksmart Devil are equal in stature to some of the best on Carnavas -- in fact, I sit and wonder why some of it didn't cross over into the full length release.

That quibble aside, this SSPU EP has many of the qualities that make EPs equally frustrating and outstanding. This EP shows the range and variety of the band, it is not as polished an effort as Carnavas ... but what EP is, really?

The dark, heavy wall of sound is here, the great hooks, the key difference is that tempos here are slower, somewhat dreamier, and landscape themed, especially the latter 4 tracks of the EP -- I really liked the tighter, focused songs of Carnavas. I liked its focused guitar rock, here it is more indie in feel, jangly slow guitar, naked bass fills -- essentially, less easy to get into, probably less accessible to those who do not listen to indie rock often

Posted by at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eradication. Sterilization. Re-Population. Re-Infection.

Last night, on a whim, SD and I went to go see 28 WL. Well, we were going to pick up something from the store and have dinner -- so since we were there and with nothing to do ... this is how zombie movies get seen by the non-hardcore, not must see, not really living dead fans.

It seems so long ago that we saw 28 Days Later ... I think I actually blogged about that one. Okay, so time is flying by ... get to the point, right? Well, this time we have a new director, a new cast, etc. so my expectations were pretty low, actually I'd been on the fence all week about seeing it

The premise is this, the movie follows a new family, whose members have been separated from each other during the outbreak of rage virus. The parents are hiding out in a farmhouse with other survivors, their hideout gets attacked ... and in a moment of moral failure, rather than help his wife to escape from trouble ... the husband decides to run away and save himself. Needless to say, it becomes complicated when his kids return from their field trip to Spain ... how to explain their mother's "death". The story revolves around that moral choice failure, because as we all know from watching Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, any other sci-fi or horror ... often that will come back to bite you in the ass.

The other larger issue is one that comes with post-apocalyptic scenarios, such as when should rebuilding begin after a tragedy, when is it safe to return, and when are you sure that it is over -- it also paints a pretty grim picture of what kind of choices may have to be made to save the greater good -- and paints humanity with a dark, unattractive shade of selfishness

At the end of the day, the two aspects work fairly well together as a popcorn survivalist action movie ... I thought the opening minutes of the movie were well set up to turn on the suspense, however, the "scary" or horror parts were spotty. Overall, it's not that scary or heavy on the suspense

It's pretty draw a straight line from A to B in terms of let's get our main characters from here to there, through this challenge and that, and then roll credits. Along the way, it's a fun thing to get caught up in. I felt a lot of other reviews over-thought it and got real philosophical with it, I just don't think it holds up to that kind of analysis without adding to what is there because what is there on the screen really is not much

In the final analysis, it's mindlessly entertaining, and brief enough where it wraps itself nicely before the flaws and omissions start screaming at you. Our grade: B-/C+

Posted by at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Or, when the The Association still mattered ... that is, from a blood and guts perspective ... hardcore basketball ... not talking beautiful game necessarily ... but blood and guts effort, intense rivalries, none of this current day superstar driven crud ... teams, personalities ... wait, did I say that? ... yes, personalities within the team concept. And, of course, good old fashioned hate -- note, not 'dislike' ... HATE

Nice article in the DetroitFreePress setting up this round of playoffs between the NuBulls and the RePistons ... Bulls - Pistons: 88-91, the last of the old school team-based rivalries. And I'm not even a fan of either team ... I loved it for what it was, an old fashioned beat down -- a battle to see who wanted it more.

Funny, although I enjoy the renaissance of the fun-n-gun Suns, Mavs, GSW ala the late 70s and 80s when I started watching. I just don't get that feeling that anyone really cares that deeply anymore, it's that annoying we play hard only in the last 5 minutes of the game stuff, all the hugging and texting and hanging out.

Ehhh, I'm probably just getting all old and nostalgic, but where are the rivalries that this league was revived on and thrived on? ... Bullets-Spurs; Showtime Lakers v. Celtics; Pistons - Celtics; Bulls- Pistons; Knicks - Bulls ... Knicks - Heat seemed promising a handful of years ago, but 33 of the Garden was on his last wheels. Can't think of any since then, then again less than 5 in the Association had their own signature shoes at that time, either

Really enjoyed this read ... life's definitely different now ... check it here.

Posted by at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anyways, it's been so long since I've been regularly keeping up with posting here ... well, that I forget whether I have helped pass on the cause of Jenkees mania here or not.

So, in the interest of continuing the "U-Toobs" sensation, I noticed that Ronald J. has updated his vids here, so witness the awesome power of creativity coming forth from what may seem to anyone like an unlikely source -- oh by the way, I'm not joking. This guy can really string together some awesome keyboard riffs over beats. Oh, and that isn't even his best one

Check it out the other ones here ... and here ... what the hell, here and go check out his website after. Why do I feel like I have to say I'm not joking again .... go check it out

Posted by at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What the heck are they singing?

So, when you have stopped laughing from all the times you puzzled over what the hell Klaus M. was singing ... as here

Okay, we're all on the same page now

This has been a problem with many of the harder rock genres, so I present to you, some pretty funny stuff ... well, it's a bit off-color at times, so if you don't like that kind of stuff -- get a hold of your curiosity and be on your way -- in other words, if uptightness would prevail in your workplace over comedy vids, well ... hope you got your resume polished up

For you other degens like me, I present pretty funny interps of Meh-TALL staple songs, lyrically interpreted by BSG & CD ... off the U-Toobs

Some Pantera here
Some Slayer, too ... here

And, what the heck, one more from MH right here

Posted by at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We only managed to see one film at the spring version of HIFF -- but it was quite a film, a documentary entitled "The Cats of Mirikitani"

A very heart warming and thought provoking film about a homeless 85-year old Japanese American artist living on the streets of NYC, how his outlook on life was affected profoundly by his internment during WW2 and the A-bombing of Hiroshima, how a film producer took him in after the WTC collapse on 9/11 -- and how his life came full circle and he found answers to many of the issues that haunted him all his life.

"Make art not war", such a simple statement that resonates throughout the film. We get to see how art becomes a vehicle to transmit the past, how it mirrors the present, and how it sustained him while living on the streets for over 15 years

Profoundly moving, it brings forth how the wounds of war stay with those affected outliving the conflict ... and really how one man can be so principled and maintain his integrity against injustice, even if it means he doesn't get the social assistance that he would otherwise be entitled to.

The show will air tonight twice, late 10:30PM and 12:30AM ... what is it about PBS here, and showing stuff at obnox times of the evening, when us pretty much oldfuts want to sleep

Official film website linked here, for further info

Update:
If you missed the showings, and who didn't? ... The DVD is on sale for release later this year, and pre-orders and a good overview can be found here

Posted by at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, as I have yet to blog up ... spent a week in the "apple in decay" of 4NR LLWFHome fame. During my stay, I was intrigued by the heroic story of a construction worker who dived down into the subway rails to cover up someone who fell off the train platform ... and they both survived. And, the construction worker became a local legend ... and a national hero, whose fame took him to the talk show circuit ... and little did I know, so much more

Check out the story here ... would I be cut out to be a hero? Not too sure after this

Posted by at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)