Sexta-feira de fim de mês. Namorada foi viajar para casa dos pais, a grana está curta e o cansaço é grande. Esse foi meu quadro neste dia 27 de novembro. Acabei me jogando no sofá e começei a procurar alguma coisa para assistir quando encontrei o filme Wall-E em seu início. Ótimo! Já havia assistido a esta produção da Pixar anteriormente e foi um prazer contemplá-la novamente.

Wall-E aparenta, inicialmente, ser um filme infantil. E na realidade não deixa de ser. O interessante de sua história, no entanto, é que assim como Os Incríveis, o longa metragem possui críticas reflexivas pertinentes misturadas em situações engraçadas e cativantes, tanto para para crianças como para adultos.

A história é da nossa sociedade (do consumo) que degrada o planeta terra ao ponto de tornar a vida nele impossível. Os seres humanos, então, constroem uma super espaçonave (Axiom) e partem para uma viagem de cinco anos enquanto esperam as condições na terra se tornarem amena para que a vida possa ser reestabelecida nela. Para tanto, máquinas Wall-E  (de Waste Allocation Load Lifters – Earth-Class, ou basicamente ‘máquinas de limpeza’) são deixadas na terra para limpar o ambiente do lixo deixado pelos humanos, mas não suportam as condições terrenas e acabam deixando de funcionar. Exceto por uma pequena unidade de compactação de lixo, protagonista da história.

Trabalhador árduo, “Wall-E” cumpre sua função todos os dias. A máquina também  desenvolve personalidade, começa a colecionar objetos humanos e a cuidar de sua amiga – uma barata. A vida seguia normalmente até que uma sonda EVE (feminina) chega no planeta com uma missão “classified” (confidencial). O protagonista se apaixona pela maquina recém-chegada, e a partir desse ponto, a história toma um rumo ainda mais interessante, uma vez que o robô-reciclador toma contato com os humanos que já circulavam pelo espaço há 700 anos, em vez dos cinco anos planejados.

O interessante da história é observar a nítida mensagem do quão fútil o homem é, uma vez que nesses 700 anos circulando pelo espaço, tudo o que o ser humano fez foi viver consumindo e respondendo mecanicamente às novas modas anunciadas pelas mídias. Não menos interessante é ver “nos ver” conversando e convivendo com pessoas ao seu redor (ou do seu lado) por meio de uma tela. Outra atitude tipicamente humana é a de EVE, que coloca uma arma na cara de tudo que é desconhecido e atira primeiro para entender depois. Também aparecem situações do quão “humano um ser humano pode ser”, instigando a reflexão de nossos valores. Muitas outras questões pertinentes são levantadas na história.

Um filme muito gostoso que merece seus minutos – e os minutos de seus filhos – de ateção. Definitivamente, este eu recomendo.

Imagens:  reprodução internet

KT is looking forward to the showdown at sectionals.

GLEE:  1.11 “Hairography”

Here’s what we got this time on Glee:
-Baby Drama, combined with Everybody Loves Finn
-Preparation for sectionals, which presumably are going to be the big fall finale in two weeks.

The best part of the episode was the introduction of the two glee clubs that McKinley High will compete with at sectionals – and if you’re very sharp, you may have remembered that one is a correctional school for girls and the other is a school for the deaf.  This was played as a joke in an earlier episode, but is treated more seriously here.

Rapper Eve leads the group from the correctional school, a serious woman trying to help her students get their lives on track.  In contrast, the music teacher from the school for the deaf is written as a comic character — his definining trait is that he’s much more deaf than he thinks and is very sensitive about it.  Sue brushing him off and telling him to read her lips was funny and very Sue.

The deaf choir, on the other hand, was very tastefully presented with a spoken/signed rendition of “Imagine” that our kids couldn’t resist joining in on.  Perhaps overly sentimental, but I liked it.

I also liked the friend-ish, sidekick kind of vibe Rachel and Will had going on in this episode, and of course he realizes that she’s right, in the end.  His kids don’t need to distract the judges with what Rachel calls “hairography,” leading to a charmingly unassuming performance of “True Colors” with Tina in the lead.

People were getting distracted all over the place in this epiosde, and usually stemming from the Baby Drama.  Quinn wants Kurt to make-over Rachel to distract Finn so she can spend time with Puck, who turns out to be distracted by Santana.  Terri buys Will a dupicate of his much loved first car to distract him from her fake pregnancy, which backfires pretty much 100% when his brother-in-law gets him thinking about car seats for the new baby and Will trades the “Blue Bomber 2” for a minivan.  I admit, I didn’t really expect Will to be the kind of guy who likes to work on cars, but I can’t come up with any reason why he shouldn’t be, either.

Quinn turns out to be so good at distracting Will and Terri’s horrific nephews that she re-thinks the idea of parenthood, especially when Puck seems to be interested in getting back together.  They even throw together a one-voice, one-guitar version of “Papa, Don’t Preach,” which is pretty much a perfect song for her.  But Puck is just good-looking bad news as far as I can tell, and when Quinn realizes that he wants to have his cake… and also eat other cakes, she goes back to the baby-swap idea.

Luckily for her, Finn is loyal as a hound dog — and Kurt sabotaged Rachel’s Friday night with Finn big time.  In my eyes, the big lump went a long way towards coming back from last week’s terrible terrible idea to tell Quinn’s parents about her pregnancy when he pointed out how also terrible the end of Grease is.  (Don’t tell me Sandy just needed to loosen up a little or get in touch with her sexuality.  The on-screen message is that to get the guy, you have to change who you are, and you better do it in the direction of being borderline slutty.  Revolting.)  Anyway, I’m happy to say that Finn was as weirded out by Rachel’s Sandy act as I was and shut her down pretty fast.  The resulting misery-loves-company scenes between Kurt and Rachel were good, though, and I’d like to see more of their somewhat chilly friendship.

Speaking of misery loving company, though, I regret to point out that we’re going to have a four month hiatus from Glee.  We get two more new episodes, but after December 9, we have to wait until April 13, when Glee will be on Tuesdays after American Idol.  I wonder if it’s because it takes them longer to make each episode because of all the musical numbers.

So guys, what’s our distraction?

The New York Times recently (I am catching up on blogging this weekend) ran a front page story (complete with incriminating documents posted online) on the reasons why Teodoro Nguema Obiang, minister of agriculture and son of the dictator of Equatorial Guinea, can leave and enter the US as he pleases while his dad runs a corrupt and dictatorial regime that would make Robert Mugabe blush.

In fact, “[US] law enforcement officials believe that “most if not all” of his wealth comes from corruption related to the extensive oil and gas reserves discovered more than a decade and a half ago off the coast of his tiny West African country, according to internal Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement documents.” The younger Obiang–his father has the same name and he is the favorite to succeed the old man–owns a $35 million mansion in Malibu (the aerial photograph above), a record company, fleet of luxury cars, speedboats and a private jet (he also briefly dated the rapper Eve).

The reason is simple:

“… “Of course it’s because of oil,” said John Bennett, the United States ambassador to Equatorial Guinea from 1991 to 1994, adding that Washington has turned a blind eye to the Obiangs’ corruption and repression because of its dependence on the country for natural resources. [Production of the country’s nearly 400,000 barrels of oil a day is dominated by American companies like ExxonMobil, Hess and Marathon.] … “

“That’s a huge b*tch!

Go on say it..i know you want to.

Its Friday and its a dry day on the internets so this will have to do folks.

Zoo Weekly are featuring this crazy large woman on the cover of their latest issue. She’s the worlds tallest model at 205 cm. Amazon Eve is 32 years old and they had to create extra large bikini’s for her.

I had my doubts, but there are several pics at Zoo Weekly and a video.

You decide.

Ok say it one more time. Loud enough so everyone in your office comes running.

“Thats a huge b*tch!”

Good times.

Want to read Genesis Chapter 3 of the Bible?

The Bible Project will be me posting one book of the Bible one chapter at a time. I’d like to thank my mother for the inspiration! If you missed the past entry, don’t forget to read Genesis Chapter 2.

Below is the third chapter of the Book of Genesis (The Serpent):

NOW THE SERPENT WAS MORE CRAFTY THAN ANY OF THE WILD ANIMALS THE LORD GOD HAD MADE. HE SAID TO THE WOMAN, “DID GOD REALLY SAY, “YOU MUST NOT EAT FROM ANY TREE IN THE GARDEN?’”

THE WOMAN SAID TO THE SERPENT, “WE MAY EAT FRUIT FROM THE TREES IN THE GARDEN, BUT GOD DID SAY, ‘YOU MUST NOT EAT FRUIT FROM THE TREE THAT IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GARDEN, AND YOU MUST NOT TOUCH IT, OR YOU WILL DIE.’”

“YOU WILL NOT SURELY DIE,” THE SERPENT SAID TO THE WOMAN. “FOR GOD KNOWS THAT WHEN YOU EAT OF IT YOUR EYES WILL BE OPENED, AND YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL.”

WHEN THE WOMAN SAW THAT THE FRUIT OF THE TREE WAS GOOD FOR FOOD AND PLEASING TO THE EYE, AND ALSO DESIRABLE FOR GAINING WISDOM, SHE TOOK SOME AND ATE IT. SHE ALSO GAVE SOME TO HER HUSBAND, WHO WAS WITH HER, AND HE ATE IT. THEN THE EYES OF BOTH OF THEM WERE OPENED, AND THEY REALIZED THEY WERE NAKED; SO THEY SEWED FIG LEAVES TOGEHTER AND MADE COVERINGS FOR THEMSELVES.

THEN THE MAN AND HIS WIFE HEARD THE SOUND OF THE LORD GOD AS HE WAS WALKING IN THE GARDEN IN THE COOL OF THE DAY, AND THEY HID FROM THE LORD GOD AMONG THE TREES OF THE GARDEN. BUT THE LORD GOD CALLED TO THE MAN, “WHERE ARE YOU?”

HE ANSWERED, “I HEARD YOU IN THE GARDEN, AND I WAS AFRAID BECAUSE I WAS NAKED; SO I HID.”
AND HE SAID, “WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU WERE NAKED? HAVE YOU EATEN FROM THE TREE THAT I COMMANDED YOU NOT TO EAT FROM?”
THE MAN SAID, “THE WOMAN YOU PUT HERE WITH ME. SHE GAVE ME SOME FRUIT FROM THE TREE, AND I ATE IT.”

THEN THE LORD GOD SAID TO THE WOMAN, “WHAT IS THIS YOU HAVE DONE?”
THE WOMAN SAID, “THE SERPENT DECEIVED ME, AND I ATE.”

SO THE LORD GOD SAID TO THE SERPENT, “BECAUSE YOU HAVE DONE THIS, CURSED ARE YOU ABOVE ALL THE LIVESTOCK AND ALL THE WILD ANIMALS! YOU WILL CRAWL ON YOUR BELLY AND YOU WILL EAT DUST ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE. AND I WILL PUT ENMITY BETWEEN YOU AND THE WOMAN, AND BETWEEN YOUR OFFSPRING AND HERS; HE WILL CRUSH YOU HEAD, AND YOU WILL STRIKE HIS HEEL.”

TO THE WOMAN HE SAID,”I WILL GREATLY INCREASE YOUR PAINS IN CHILDBEARING; WITH PAIN YOU WILL GIVE BIRTH TO CHILDREN. YOUR DESIRE WILL BE FOR YOUR HUSBAND, AND HE WILL RULE OVER YOU.”

TO ADAM HE SAID, “BECAUSE YOU LISTENED TO YOUR WIFE AND ATE FROM THE TREE ABOUT WHICH I COMMANDED YOU, ‘YOU MUST NOT EAT OF IT,’ CURSED IS THE GROUND BECAUSE OF YOU; THROUGH PAINFUL TOIL YOU WILL EAT OF IT ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE. IT WILL PRODUCE THORNS AND THISTLES FOR YOU, AND YOU WILL EAT THE PLANTS OF THE FIELD.
BY THE SWEAT OF YOUR BROW YOU WILL EAT YOUR FOOD UNTIL YOU RETURN TO THE GROUND, SINCE FROM IT YOU WERE TAKEN; FOR DUST YOU ARE AND TO DUST YOU WILL RETURN.”

ADAM NAMED HIS WIFE EVE, BECAUSE SHE WOULD BECOME THE MOTHER OF ALL THE LIVING.
THE LORD GOD MADE GARMENTS OF SKIN FOR ADAM AND HIS WIFE AND CLOTHED THEM. AND THE LORD GOD SAID, “THE MAN HAS NOW BECOME LIKE ONE OF US, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL. HE MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO REACH OUT HIS HAND AND TAKE ALSO FROM THE TREE OF LIFE AND EAT, AND LIVE FOREVER.”

SO THE LORD GOD BANISHED HIM FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO WORK THE GROUND FROM WHICH HE HAD BEEN TAKEN. AFTER HE DROVE THE MAN OUT, HE PLACED ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN CHERUBIM AND A FLAMING SWORD FLASHING BACK AND FORTH TO GUARD THE WAY TO THE TREE OF LIFE.

 The Origin of Eve

1

Queens, New York 1983 Era Horrificus

Eva Aquino looked at the large house as she stepped out of the taxi, gripping her mother’s hand with excitement and a little apprehension.

“This where we’ll be living, sweetheart. Daddy and Uncle Tony will be here soon with the rest of our things. Go look around inside while I go into the kitchen and cook lunch. Your room is ready too, last door straight ahead when you get upstairs.”

Eva nodded her head silently and smiled widely. This was the American dream, she thought. The nursing recruiter was a Godsend coming over to the Philippines to get registered and licensed practical nurses to come work in area hospitals.

Eva and her parents had squeezed themselves into a tiny one bedroom apartment until they had saved enough to buy a house. Mommy made a more than decent wage at Jamaica Hospital while Daddy worked as a clerk for an art supply company in Manhattan. Their combined wages let afforded them the luxury of buying a home within the first two years in the States.

Benny and May, Eva’s parents were devout Catholics and named her after the mother of mankind, Eve. Eva was at times precocious, but acted a lot younger than her thirteen years.

Eva walked into the house and the newness of it intoxicated her. The walls were freshly painted and the floors were new hardwood, shiny and slippery. She stepped into the vestibule and into the living room. If anything was ever perfect, it would be this house she thought. She immediately ran up the stairs and straight into her room. She almost cried with joy as she opened the door to her room.

The walls were painted a light blue with white clouds, almost perfect renderings of the sky on a perfect day. She knew that her father possessed an artistic side, but she had only seen him do quick sketches meant to amuse, nothing of this magnitude. She sat on her new bed and laughed out loud, admiring her new room, her own room.

She heard the diesel engine of a truck beneath her window. Her father and Uncle Tony had pulled up in a rented to bring the rest of their furniture. Eva ran down the stairs.

As she walked outside, she saw her father and Uncle Tony standing outside the truck smoking cigarettes. She ran straight to her father and kissed him. She gave Uncle Tony a hug and kiss and ran back into the house and back into her room.

Benny watched Eva running and smiled. Tony took a long drag from his cigarette and laughed.

“Must’ve seen her room.” he said while opening the rear door of the truck.

May emerged from the house. She took Benny’s cigarette and smoked it, laughing as they started to struggle with taking the sofa out of the truck.

Across the street, Dominick “Dom” Marella looked out of his window to watch the new neighbors.

“Holy shit, fuckin’ gooks living right across from me. Motherfuckers!” he yelled at his closed window in vain.

He tightened the belt around his arm and injected the junk into his bloodstream, a habit that he picked up after two tours of Vietnam. Two combat tours that even his father, Don Vito Marella, could not get him out of. He hated his father for that.

2

At 11:30 that night, Dom walked the perimeter of the Aquino house and found the kitchen window in the backyard unlocked. He removed the .38 from his waistband and slithered through the window and over the sink onto the floor. He tucked the revolver back into his waistband and rummaged through the drawers and cupboards. He found Benny’s toolbox and grabbed the duct tape. He then took off his sneakers, crept through the living room and then up the stairs.

He immediately looked to his left and saw a light coming from underneath the door in Benny and May’s bedroom. Tony smiled, walked up to the door and opened it.

May saw Dom first and screamed. He pointed the .38 at both of them and put his right forefinger to his lips. May complied and began to cry.

“What do you want? Please don’t hurt my family. You want money? I’ll give you money!” Benny pleaded with Dom.

“You got kids? How old?” Dom asked.

“A boy.” Benny lied. “He’s 4-years-old.”

“Okay. This is what I want you to do.” Dom was looking at May. “Take this and tape his arms behind him and his feet together and then his mouth. Do it!’

May looked at Benny and Benny nodded his head. Benny turned over to his side as May made her way to Dom and grabbed the tape. She began to cry as she taped Benny’s hands and feet while Tony pointed the gun at her.

Outside the door that was left ajar, Eva silently looked on and sobbed silently with fear as May taped Benny’s mouth.

“Lay on your stomach!” Dom barked at Benny.

Beeny rolled on to his stomach as Dom began to tape May’s hands behind her back and then taped her mouth. He threw May on top of Benny and began to mount her. Benny and May began to scream muffled cries as Dom removed May’s panties and entered her. Dom ravaged May again and again, his excitement building with the sound of Benny and May’s muffled protests. He came inside of her and lay on her for thirty seconds as both May and Benny began crying.

Dom was panting hard. He smiled. “That’s what you gooks get.”

Eva began to cry and crept back to her room slowly. She slid under her bed and put both palms to her mouth to quiet her cries.

Then she heard two gunshots.

Eva began to whimper almost uncontrollably as Dom walked out of the master bedroom and down the stairs. She ran to her parents’ bedroom and almost screamed.

Dom had ransacked the rest of the kitchen. He sat down and made a sandwich. After finishing, he then walked out the front door, crossed the street and into his father’s house. He went to his room, got high, and nodded off.

3

Vito kicked opened the door of his son’s room and turned the light on. Dom was in bed with his clothes still on and a syringe still hanging from his arm. He immediately went to the top drawer of Dom’s dresser and there it was: Dom’s .38, stinking of the fumes from use.

He walked over to Dom and slapped him in the face with all his might.

“What the fu…?”

Vito slapped him again, hurting his own hand.

“Papa, stop! What are you doing?” Dom cried.

“You fuckin’ scumbag!” Vito growled. He grabbed Dom and flung to the floor. He grabbed Tony and dragged him to the window.

“What the fuck did you do, you motherfucker? what the fuck did you do?”

Several police cruisers and an ambulance were across the street now. A uniformed cop was on the lawn hugging Eva.

“Ah, c’mon Papa. They’re fuckin’ gooks. Look what they did to me!” Dom whined.

Vito then grabbed Dom by the throat and began to throttle him. Dom was sinking to the floor now as Vito was straddling him.

“You motherfucker. Nobody did shit to you! You got hooked on smack on your own and you blame the ‘Nam and everybody else ’cause you’re a fuckin’ junkie! You probably sucked some drug dealing jigaboo off when you didn’t have any money, right?!? You worthless piece of shit. I used to be proud of you. I told everybody that my son’s a fuckin’ Marine. My son was in combat. Now what the fuck are you? A murdering fuckin’ junkie!”

Just then, four uniformed cops burst into Dom’s room and pried Vito off Dom. They slapped handcuffs on the semi-conscious Dom and dragged him down the stairs. A detective walked in as Vito got to his feet sobbing.

“Don Vito, I’m sorry. There’s just too much evidence and an eyewitness. He raped the mother and then killed them both. Dom’s fingerprints are all over the place!”

“Just take that motherfucker.” Vito said. “He needs to fuckin’ rot.”

Just then, Valerie Marella ran into the room screaming. The detective got up and walked out.

“Don’t let them take my baby! Do something!”

“I did all that we could! The motherfucker raped the lady and then shot her and her husband! Then he comes back here like nothing and gets high! What the fuck do you want me to do?”

“He needs help! He was in the war!” Michelle cried.

“That was eight years ago! He needs to get his life together for Christ’s sake! He just raped an innocent lady and killed her and her fuckin’ husband!”

“Yeah, like you never killed anybody!”

Vito grabbed Michelle by the shoulders and shook her.

“Never talk about my business again! You got a problem on how I make my money? You never had a problem spending it, though! I never killed nobody that didn’t have it coming! As God is my witness, I never killed nobody that didn’t have it coming! I never raped nobody either! That’s your fuckin’ son! You hear me? Our fuckin’ boy did that shit!”

Michelle buried her head into Vito’s shoulder.

“Don’t you know somebody? Please don’t let him go to prison! Remember how helpless he was when you held him for the first time after my Caesarian?”

Vito began to cry himself.

“He fucked up. He went way beyond fucking up. Only because I love you, I’ll talk to somebody.”

4

Queens County Courthouse, 1984 eh.

“You have acted with evil intent Mr. Marella.” Judge White looked at Tony from behind the bench. “I have also taken into consideration your military service and the psychological trauma that comes with being in combat. You will be placed under the care of  Creedmoor Psychiatric Hospital indefinitely. Case dismissed.”

Dom hugged Vito’s attorney.

“Get the fuck off of him, stupid fuck!” Vito yelled at Dom.

“This is fuckin’ bullshit!” Tony yelled at Judge White. He charged from the seats at the bench. “You’re a fuckin’ asshole!”

Six bailiffs then tackled Tony and piled on top of him.

Miriam, Tony’s wife, began crying and grabbed Eva and hugged her close.

The bailiffs lifted cuffed Tony to his feet. He spit in the direction of the bench as White pounded his gavel, calling for order.

“His father paid you! His father paid you! You dirty fuck!” Tony screamed as the bailiffs took him through the side door.

Dom turned and smiled at Eva. Eva looked away. The bailiffs placed handcuffs on Dom and took him through another door opposite from where Tony was taken.

5

Creedmoor Psychiatric Hospital.

“That new guy was in ‘Nam too.” Jeff said to Claudio as they spotted Dom on the opposite end on the sidelines watching the other resident patients play pick-up basketball at the outdoor court.

Claudio spat on the ground and lit a cigarette. “What of it? He’s a junkie rapist. I know his father, he’s a man of honor. I worked for him, he never did anything to those that didn’t deserve it. His son is a sociopath.”

Jeff looked at Claudio quizzically. “What about beyond good and evil? What of that?”

Claudio looked at Jeff with disgust. “You can’t tell the difference between the Sinister Way and sociopathy after all we’ve talked about? You are more inept than I thought. You’ve wasted enough of my time.”

Claudio walked away. He smiled to himself and walked over to Dom.

“Hey, you were in the ‘Nam?” Claudio smiled.

Dom’s face lit up. “Yes. Marine Corps.,  Khe Sanh 1968.”

“Army, Da Nang 1965. Welcome home, brother.” Claudio hid his disgust well.

Dom began to cry. “They got me here for killing gooks in my neighborhood, ya know? I defended my country, then I defended my block. What a slap in the face.”

You should be at Rikers Island getting fucked in the ass by guys who hate rapists, Claudio thought. Then he smiled at the irony of his last thought.

“Don’t worry. This isn’t the worst place in the world.”

Dom smiled, thinking that Claudio’s smile was a genuine and amicable one. “I’m Dom. Dom Marella.”

Claudio wanted to spit on Dom’s hand but reluctantly shook it, still smiling. “Claudio Giovanni.”

“You’re Italian! Paisan!” Dom screamed.

“Yeah, paisan.” Claudio was wincing in disgust but tried to hide it by smiling again.

“What the fuck are you in here for?”

“They say that I’m a cult leader even though I am merely a philosopher.”

“Yeah. Fuck the system man.”

“Yes, fuck the system indeed.” Claudio said flatky. “I must go now, friend.”

“Okay. Yeah. Nice meetin’ ya.” Dom smiled.

“Rest assured, the pleasure was mine.” Claudio replied. He walked past the basketball game.

He went to the first restroom he came across and washed his hands for almost a minute and a half. 

“Homo hubris.”

6

Brooklyn, 1987.

“You fuckin’ pussy!” Eva yelled. “How the fuck are those bitches gonna jump me again and you don’t do shit? You say that you’re my boyfriend, but then you don’t have my back! What the fuck is that?”

Carlos looked at her angrily. “I ain’t no pussy, watch your mouth, bitch! If I get into trouble again, they’ll kick me out the group home! Yo, they’ll put me in Spofford!”

“Those bitches didn’t worry about shit when they did what they did. You’re the only one that’s worried.”

“Yo, stop the bullshit! How you gonna talk to yo man like that?”

“Because I’m pregnant asshole! And you don’t do shit to protect me or the baby!”

“What? Pregnant? Yo, how I know it’s mine?”

“Fuck you, punk motherfucker!”

Eva began to run down the block. Carlos just stood there watching. Eva turned the corner and looked back to see if he was following. When she saw that he wasn’t, she leaned on a mailbox and began to cry.

“Fuck. I’m fuckin’ sick of crying.”

She then kept on walking aimlessly, away from the group home. She then came upon the Bushwick Avenue train station and walked down the stairs.

6

Manhattan, 1989 eh.

Eva shook with fear as the candy apple red Monte Carlo turned the corner. The vehicle approached her slowly and the tinted window on the drivers side rolled down. The black man wearing sunglasses at 3:30 am in the morning looked at her inquisitively.

“How’s business?” Bona Fide asked his girl.

“I’m sorry Daddy.” Eva replied. “No one’s partying tonight.”

“Bitch, you sure are sorry. Get in the motherfuckin’ car now!”

Eva obediently ran as fast as she could in her four inch heels to the passenger side of the car and got in.

“Daddy, five-oh is out tonight. The spot is hot. I kept having to walk away and come back.”

Bona Fide drove off slowly, turned the corner and parked. Then he reached across and slapped Eva in the mouth with the back of his hand. Eva bent over in the seat in pain and shock. Bona Fide inched closer to her face. Eva stayed prone.

“Don’t Daddy give you a home with sisters in it? Huh? How come they give me money? Don’t Daddy protect you from these streets? Huh? This is how you pay Daddy back? Huh?”

Bona Fide smiled and unzipped his pants.

“Since you’re down there, bitch.” Bona Fide grabbed the back of Eva’s head and pulled it towards his lap.

Claudio watched with disgust as Eva’s head was going up and down on the pimp’s lap. Patience, he said to himself. Patience.

Five minutes later, Eva was pushed out of the car. Bona Fide drove off, tires screeching as Claude ran to Eva.

Eva got up and straightened her skirt. She saw Claudio running towards her and froze. Nervously she smiled at him.

“Wanna party with me?”

“Yes. Let’s take a walk, Eva.”

Eva looked at Claudio incredulously.

“How did…”

“Get behind me!” shouted Claudio as the red Monte Carlo turned the corner.

The car rolled along slowly and then drove off.

“Listen, come with me. I’ll protect you. Not his kind of protection. Trust me.”

“Why are you doing this?” Eva asked bluntly.

Claudio sighed. “We’ll talk about this later. I promise.”

Eva looked Claudio over. She found him attractive but a Dark look in his eyes told her that something wasn’t “right.”  as if Darkness emanated from his Being.

“Okay. Okay.” Eva felt a strange solace in the company of Claudio.

Just then, Bona Fide walked up behind them. He looked at Claudio, thinking that he was a potential customer, smiled and nodded at him. Claudio nodded back and Bona Fide kept walking.

“Walk the other way…quickly!” Claudio hoarsely whispered to Eva. She did so and Claudio began to run towards Bona Fide, pulling the icepick from his jacket at the same time. He grabbed Bona Fide from behind, wrapping his left arm around the pimp’s throat. He then skillfully plunged the icepick into Bona Fide’s chest repeatedly until Bona Fide collapsed. Bona Fide’s face was a look of surprise and pain as his life was ending.

Claudio quickly went through Bona Fide’s pants pockets and retrieved car keys and $200 in 20’s, not bothering with the .38 tucked in Bona Fide’s waistband. He then ran in the opposite direction and turned the corner towards Eva. As he pulled up to within fifteen feet of her, he yelled out.

“Eva, get in the car!”

He pointed across the deserted street and they ran inside the car. Claudio drove slowly as to not make any screeching noises that would attract attention. He then went towards the FDR Drive.

“Where are we going?” Eva asked.

“Upstate.”

Eva smiled at the prospect. “Never been there.”

7

One week later after first meeting Claudio, Eva found herself squeezing a dead snake until enough blood came from its wound to fill almost half the chalice. She then burned the paper on which she had written her name in blood, her motto, and the Symbol of Saturn over a candle and mixed the ashes with the blood in the chalice.

“Satan, may your blood mingle with mine as my blood now mingles with fire.”

She picked up the chalice and held it to the East.

“With this drink I seal my oath. I am yours and shall do works to the glory of your name.” Then she drank heartily disregarding the strange taste. Her mind was filled with vengeance.

She put on her unremarkable new clothes, buried the snake, the rosary that her parents gave to her and a tetrahedron crystal.

She walked towards the cabin. Claudio sat on a chair in the living room. He got up as soon as Eva entered. He approached her and then put his arms around her.

“Now you chose to live your life in a new way.” he whispered in her ear.

She buried her face in his chest and felt comfort.

“No one else matters. Outsiders exist only for our use and our profit. Eve, from you a Sinister Tribe is born.”

They walked outside and sat at the picnic table in the back of the cabin.

“How would I go about in doing that?” Eva/Eve asked.

“That is where we would have to be resourceful, my dear.”

Eve smiled at the prospect of seemingly starting her life anew. Claudio had told her that he was mostly a “freelancer” who had been employed by numerous organizations, Italian and Asian, wherever the money was. He also practiced a perspective of Satanism he learned from someone in California as a recluse and wanted to commence a Sinister Tribe with which would look to usurp the current system, to disrupt, to evolve.

“It might be my former profane beliefs, but when I read about what had happened in the paper, your name resonated with me. As if you were the key to it all.”

8

Queens, NY 1990 eh.

The house still looked the same to Dominick. He stood there with his bags, apprehensive about going in. Vito had told him that he had better be clean if he wanted to live there again.

Dominick looked across the street. It looked as if someone else had moved into the old Aquino house. There was even new siding on the house.

Dom put his bags at the doorstep and decided against going to the house just yet. He wanted to get a drink.

He started down the block when he saw his old “friend,” Peter Raspotnik sitting in front of his house. Peter had regularly sold to Dom before he went away to the hospital. Peter had always been overweight but years later, he looked to be obese and could barely walk.

“Hey!” Peter exclaimed when he saw Dom. “Long time no see! It’s been like what, five years? I didn’t know that they could keep you that long in Creedmoor.”

Dom cringed as he shook Peter’s hand.

“Wanna hit, Dom?” Peter smiled. “For old times sake?”

“No thanks. I have to stay clean. I just got out, man.”

“Exactly. You just got out. You gotta get high.” Pete smiled through brown teeth.

Dom stood there and looked at Pete. “I’m broke anyway.”

“You just got out! This one’s on me. What’ya say?”

“Um, okay. Just one hit and I’m telling you Pete, that’s it. I just got out and I’m broke.”

“C’mon, let’s go to my room. Just don’t make too much noise.”

Dom felt apprehensive about hitting the needle again but the thought of getting high again after all he has been through was comforting.

“Okay, Pete.” Dom smiled. “Let’s go.”

9

 Claudio and Eve had been renting the one bedroom flat in Chinatown for six months and knew the neighborhood and more importantly, who ran it.

They were on the rooftop of their five-story walk-up smoking cigarettes and “casing” the neighborhood.

“That’s the Tong. Boss Chin” Claudio said as they watched a fat, Chinese man in a tan suit going in and out of the stores on the block.

“Why doesn’t he have his muscle pick up the money?”

“He wants to show himself as the strong arm. That he has a “personal relationship” with the shopkeepers. That’s going to be his fatal mistake. Everyone hates him because the rates for his “protection” increases every month and for his boorish behavior as well.”

“He’s heading home.” Eve observed.

Boss Chin walked into his walk-up and looked back briefly as if he sensed being watched. Then he went inside.

“Not too much wine tonight, Eve.” Claudio said. “We’ll hit him tomorrow.”

Eve smiled. “I wasn’t going to drink tonight anyway.”

10

“You’re getting skinny again. You getting high again?!?” Vito demanded as Dom, Valerie and him were sitting in the dining room having dinner.

“No way Papa. I’ve done my time.” lied Dom.

“Honey, why don’t you believe your own son?” Valerie asked.

“I don’t trust addicts. You should check on your jewelry.”

“Excuse me.” Valerie left the table not out of anger, because Vito had been right. She had noticed the more expensive pieces of her jewelry missing but was afraid to tell Vito.

“If I find out you’re doing smack again, out you go.” Vito warned Dom.

“Papa.” Dom smiled nervously. “I’m not. I’m just trying to settle in and figure things out.”

Vito got up from the table. He went out into the backyard. he looked longingly at the stars and began to weep.

Dom went out the front door and walked quickly to Pete’s house, looking back to make sure that Vito wouldn’t appear and see where Dom was going.

Vito sat on a lawn chair and lit a cigarette. He cursed God, Valerie, Dominick and Vietnam almost all in the same breath.

11

Eve watched from Boss Chin’s rooftop nervously. The streets were crowded with people celebrating an occasion that she wasn’t familiar with. The parade was in full swing with dragons and firecrackers. She watched as Boss Chin walked around and people were greeting him with respect, bowing to him. Claudio had said that the smiles and the respect were contrived. People did it out of fear, without the respect.

She watched as Boss Chin entered the building. She silently counted to three and then walked quickly down the stairs leading to Chan’s apartment.

Chin whistled as he walked up the stairs and looked at Eve as she stood in front of his doorway smiling. She was wearing a short skirt with high heels.

As he stood watching, Eve pulled out the .22 and pointed it at him. As he raised his hands in panic, firecrackers were going off outside. Eve began firing on Chin, obscuring the gunfire with the fireworks.

Chin fell back and rolled down the steps onto the landing. His eyes were open and his face rendered a look of surprise and panic.

Eve ran back to the rooftop, took her shoes off and jumped on to the rooftop of the adjacent building. She then put her shoes back on and walked down the stairs casually. She then took her panties off, wiped the gun clean, opened a door in the hallway and tossed the gun down the garbage chute. 

Five minutes later, Claudio watched from the apartment window as sirens from an ambulances and two squad cars were heard coming from around the corner about twenty minutes later. He saw as Eva was walking around nonchalantly in the street, taking in the sights and sounds of the parade.

Claudio laughed to himself and then took a bottle of red wine from the refrigerator.

12

Dom sat in the familiar spot on the couch in the Raspotnik basement again. Peter’s mother had sent him on an errand to the drugstore so Peter told Dom to just relax until he got back.

Peter came down the stairs and smiled at Dom.

“Hey Pete.” Dom said nervously. “Um, could you kind of help me out? I don’t have any money today.”

“Well, I don’t know.” said Peter almost whimsically.

Dom began to perspire now. “Listen, I gave you so much money yesterday and all of last week! I sold practically all of my mother’s jewelry! C’mon! Can’t you just hook me up?”

Peter walked towards where Dom was sitting. He stood in front of Dom and unbuckled his pants. Dom began to cry.

“Listen, I don’t like it any better than you ’cause I ain’t no homo or nothin’.” Peter said in a most serious tone. “It’s general principle. It’s business. If I start giving away the stuff, I’ll lose out and go out of business. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“No.” Dom sniffled. “He looked up and saw that Peter was erect and only inches from his face.

“Okay then. It’s just business. After this, you’ll be getting high and you’ll forget all about it C’mon. Put your mouth on it.”

Dom opened his mouth and hesitated. Peter grabbed the back of Dom’s head and shoved his penis in Dom’s mouth. Dom gagged as Peter pushed his head back and forth.

“You’ll forget all about it in a little while.” Peter sighed. “This doesn’t make you gay. It’s business.”

Tears began to stream from Dom’s face.

13

Eve and Claudio had been sitting in the small Chinese restaurant almost directly across the street from the late Boss Chin’s flat. An older Chinese man eyed them as he walked in. He approached them and bowed humbly.

“Please, forgive my intrusion.”

Eve looked at him curiously.

“Yes?”

“My name is Yao Chung. I heard that you are a person of influence. I would like to ask a favor and I will be eternally in debt to you.”

“Go on.” Eve stated authoritatively.

“It’s my landlord. He wants to increase my rent from $500 to $550 and I can’t afford it.”

“Why don’t you just move?”

“All the apartments are already over $600! I hear that he wants his mistress to live in my place when he forces us out! I have three kids! They’re 5, 7, and 10! I don’t know what to do.” Yao pressed his palm to his face. “Please, please help me.”

Claudio nodded his head to Eve when Yao wasn’t looking.

“I’ll see what I can do. What’s the landlord’s name?”

“Pei Kang. He owns the dry cleaners too.”

“Okay.”

Yao smiled. “Thank you Miss. Thank you.” he bowed continuously and walked out of the restaurant.

Claudio smiled. “Word gets out fast. This is power, Eve.”

Eve did in fact feel empowered. “I’ll go talk to Pei Kang.” she said confidently.

14

Dom went home feeling the effects of the high, but it still could not obscure his shame. He came home and Vito was sitting on the couch waiting for him. He had the news on but wasn’t paying attention.

“You still looking for work?” Vito demanded. “You’ve been home for almost a month. Your mother’s jewelry goes missing and you keep leaving the house and coming back looking like shit.”

Dom looked down on the ground. Damn it. Not now, he thought.

Vito got up and walked over to him. “You’re still that lousy piece of shit that got sent to the institution 5 years ago, you little motherfucker! After what you did to that family, you’re still a fuck up.” Vito grabbed Dom and shook him.

Dom didn’t have the strength to even struggle.

Valerie ran down the stairs. “Vito, please!”

“We’ve been protecting Dom all his life! He’s never gonna amount to anything!” Vito shouted at Valerie.

Dominick turned around and walked out the door. Vito stepped forward as if to go after Dom but thought better of it.

Valerie went to run after Dom but Vito held her back.

“Let him go.” he said quietly. “He has to figure this out. We can’t protect him forever.”

Dom walked down the street and didn’t want to think about heroin. He kept walking until he reached Bell Boulevard and the bar, “First Edition.” It was time to forget about tonight. He could get free drinks here because they knew Vito. Vito had power. Power that Dom would never have. Having been exploited for a hit tonight proved that.

15

The next morning, Eve stepped into the dry cleaners without Claudio. She addressed the middle aged balding man behind the counter.

“I’m looking for Pei Kang.” she smiled.

The man smiled cordially. “Yes? I’m Pei Kang.”

“I wanted to talk about my uncle. Yao Chang?”

Pei’s smile turned into a stoic expression. “I’m sorry. I have to evict your uncle. He can’t pay my rent increase.”

“I understand that the economic times may call for you to have to raise his rent. How about $525?” Eve still smiled.

“No! If I raise his rent to only $525, then I have to do that for everybody else!” No! Your uncle leaves by the end of the month.”

Eve felt disrespect but remained calm. “Surely, can’t we talk about this like adults?”

“No! If he stays, I go broke. Get out!”

Eve bowed and left. She pondered what to do now. “Some fuckin’ power.” she thought to herself.

She walked back to the apartment. When she walked in, Claudio was absorbed in a book. She told Claudio what had happened with Pei Kang.

Claudio laughed. “He doesn’t know yet of your ‘glamour.’ You saw how our friend Yao approached you.”

“Yeah, but he needed a favor. He’s going to kiss a little ass.”

“But…” Claudio smiled. “why would he ask you if he didn’t think you had the means?”

“But I don’t.”

“What do you call the Boss Chin hit, then? He’s been running this town for fifteen years! There is still no retribution for the hit.”

“The Chinese are different from the Italians. They’re not going to proclaim blood on the streets on a P.A. system. They’re taking their time with this one.”

“Not really. Just wait and see, Eve.”

16

Eve and Claudio were drinking coffee at the same restaurant when Pei Kang approached them. He bowed to them as humbly as Yao did the day before.

“I made a big mistake! I humbly apologize! I did not know that you…Ah! What am I saying? Please! I’m so sorry for your uncle! His rent stays the same!”

“No.” Eve smiled at Pei. “He’ll pay you $400 a month.”

“What?” Pei said incredulously. “Okay, okay. Sorry! Yes. $400! Yes, no problem!” Pei bowed.

Eve made a hand gesture as if she was shooing a fly. Pei turned around and immediately walked out of the restaurant.

Claudio and Eve laughed. “Shit. It’s only the two of us. We’re going to need people. We’re not going to be able to survive on this ‘glamour’ alone.”

“We’ll find some viable candidates. There’s people out there who need jobs. The Republicans are in office.”

Outside, a commotion was going on. A crowd gathered to see two young men fighting on the sidewalk.

“Hmm, interesting.” Eve said as she got up to walk out the door.

Claudio smiled and followed.

Two men in their late teens-early twenties were throwing punches and kicks at each other and blocking rather well. They seemed to be almost even until the one with the longer hair attacked the other aggressively until finally taking the other man down. As the one with the long hair straddled the other and was about to throw one last punch when Eve came over and grabbed his arm.

The man at first looked angrily at Eve and then smiled when he saw her smiling at her.

“What’s your name?” Eve asked.

“Johnny. Johnny Lam.”

“We need to talk, Johnny.”

Johnny was instantly enamored with Eve. As he got up to walk away, his opponent rolled over and kicked himself up. He ran towards Johnny and Eve.

Johnny heard him coming at the last minute and assumed a defensive stance. Eve got between them.

“Know what?” smiled Eve. “I think I need you too. What’s your name?”

“Eddie Tsao.” the other man replied.

“Why are you two fighting?”

“He owes me $50.”

Johnny laughed. “You still owe me $100 from last month.”

Eve laughed. “Let’s take a walk you guys.”

Claudio smiled in the background.

17

Within a month’s time, Eve had assembled a group of sixteen young men and women into her Sinister Tribe. Little more time had passed and all of them were Initiated.

On the street, the new crew was known as the “Sinister Shadows” because their operations were performed covertly and with stealth.

The two main rivals to the SS were the Jung Dragons and Guangdong Tigers. In fact, various members of both factions had defected to the SS. 

Eve and Claudio called a secret meeting with the two faction leaders, Danny Wu of the Tigers and Bobby Feng of the Dragons at a local bar.

Eve nodded to Claudio and he explained the SS perspective of the Septenary Way. Bobby and Danny came away impressed and agreed to hold a mass meeting the same night with all three Tribes for Eve to announce the merger.

Word of the meeting was the hot topic among the Jung Dragons and the Guangdong Tigers. Danny and Bobby had spread word that Eve is the one.

The baseball field was filled with the two factions of almost fifty people. The SS stood behind Eve loyally. She smiled at the crowd and held the microphone to her lips.

“Let’s talk money because we all know that’s why we’re here. The Tongs who own your asses are getting wealthy off of your sweat. Your blood. They sit in these fancy restaurants with expensive call girls buying out the bar and eating filet mignon while you’re putting in the work. Doesn’t that sound like a regular, mundane job to you? You’re outlaws! Where’s the exultation of life? You’re slaving for somebody else just like the poor slob who drags himself to the train or bus every morning with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. Mundane, isn’t it? Only difference is that you don’t get health care and a pension. They get all their wealth from the streets, but you know what? You are the streets! Nothing happens on the streets unless we say it happens. No deals, nothing moves. Because we’re not fighting for turf anymore….because it’s all…our…turf!”

The crowd became raucous and cheered. Eve paused for dramatic effect.

“Your own Brothers and Sisters came over to SS because they wanted a better life. They put aside petty differences for the sake of Progression. We all have the power to alter our own realities. As a Tribe. A Family. The powers that be embedded it in your mind that you must be individuals. What society can progress as a bunch of individuals? It’s that mentality that made us into rivals rather than Brothers and Sisters. Together, whose gonna run this town tonight?!?”

The crowd cheered and Eve stepped off the bleachers.

A Sinister Tribe had been born from Eve.

18

Vito had not seen Claudio in close to six or seven years. In most circles, Claudio was seen as a gun for hire, a mercenary not to be trusted. Yet Vito had always liked Claudio and kept tabs on him periodically.

“I heard you running the chinks downtown, old friend.” Vito smiled as he looked at the stripper on the tiny stage gyrating to dance music as dollar bills were being tossed in her direction.

Claudio held up a five and the woman smiled and approached him. She put the bill in her thong bikini and bent over for Claudio.

“We work together. We’re associates.”

“You’re talking about street urchins. C’mon!”

“What can I do for you, Don Vito?” Claudio asked seriously.

Vito smiled. “You’re too fuckin’ proper to be Italian, you know that? You sound like a fuckin’ poem. Anyway, you still do freelance work?”

Claudio smiled. “What do you have in mind, Don Vito?”

“This fucker, Peter Raspotnik who’s been selling smack to my kid for almost ten fuckin’ years. I’m sick of paying for that fat fuck’s meals. I want him gone.”

“That’s not a problem. But won’t your kid just look for someone else to buy from? Isn’t Raspotnik connected? Not that I care anyway.”

“Listen, I’ll worry about that. Ten thousand?”

“Fifteen. Gas and expenses not included.”

Don Vito smiled. “I’ll give you seventeen.”

“Done.” Claudio smiled. He got up to leave.

“Hey, you didn’t even ask where you can find him.”

“Knowing that fat bastard, he’ll probably be in his mother’s basement or that pub you got.” Too easy, Claudio thought to himself.

Vito got up and hugged his old “friend.” Nobody makes his son suck dick for a hit. Nobody.

19

Eve and Claudio looked on with disgust into the alleyway of “First Edition” as they saw Dom, with his back turned to them, on his knees and Pete standing over him grabbing Dom’s head.

“Soon as I take out Pete, you know what to do.”

“Fuck yeah.” Eve said.

They ran in silence towards the “lovers.” Eve pulled Dom off of Pete and straddled him, punching Dom in the face. Claudio plunged the icepick into Pete’s chest and stomach with speed and brutality. Pete crumpled to the ground.

Claudio went over to where a semi-conscious Dom was laying and rolled  his sleeve up.

“Remember me, paisan?”

“Why are you doing this?” Dom looked up at Eve and then to Claudio. “Why?”

“This is for my parents.” Eve said calmly. She plunged the syringe of uncut smack into Dom’s exposed arm.

“No! Wait! Please!” Dom pleaded.

The heroin was fast. Dom began to vomit and went into convulsions. Eve jumped off of him quickly. Then, Dom stopped moving. 

Gemulah.

Sliding at 2800 meters, check.

As many of you know, I voluntarily left the Blog Pack due to real life issues preventing me from offering quality and consistent posts. Finally, things have begun to turn in the right direction for me. I have a job, a lovely new home, and am working on painting the white picket fence. Naturally, the Adventurer isn’t happy with a Cleaver’s lifestyle. An expedition into Nepal is being planned. A hike along the “scenic route” to Machu Picchu is in the works. Mountain Biking in British Columbia is next. In the virtual world, Dominion, BC roams, and Velators of Doom are causing extreme amounts of elation.

Expansions always increase my interest in a game. After spending countless hours tucked away behind the lense of a K98 in Day of Defeat, the call of the fleet, the adrenaline of the unknown, and the excitement to be had when the bullet hits the bone have me craving for the good old days in EVE. My skills are, as of late, less than adequate. I fear I am doing no justice to my current corporation as I make the mistakes common to a new player. Rusty, unmotivated, and whipped by what is an unexciting position in the world, drastic changes are needed.

Not only will I be flying more, but the blog will reopen soon. As such, I need a few hearty souls to aid me in a quest to return this blog to an informative and quality driven medium for EVE players. If you are interested in writing for the Adventurer I can offer no iskies, no benefits, but can certainly promise you a good time. I’m no professional, and don’t pretend to be, so all resumes are welcome. Just don’t send me you’re science fiction novels

What I need:

1. A 250-500 word article about a topic important to the EVE Community
2. If you’ve ever written or blogged before, a link to that blog
3. Foreign Affairs/Diplomatic experience (virtual or real) a plus

If you are interested, send your emails to xiphos.victrix[@]gmail.com and we’ll take it from there.

The new video for the next expansion in EVE.

“Hairography”

November 25th, 2009

Last week, I had an extensive Twitter conversation with Jace Lacob about Glee, and the argument boiled down to the question of whether or not the show’s characters were one-dimensional. And what was interesting is that Jace and I don’t disagree: the show’s characters are, on occasion, blindly one-dimensional. However, I argued that the show is still in its infancy, and that considering its identity crisis it’s actually doing a decent job of slowly sketching out its characters.

However, I do think that one of the show’s problems is its decision to have characters waver between substantial character development and broad archetypes week by week. While a show like Friday Night Lights, with a similar ensemble cast of characters that often move in and out of the show’s narrative, is dealing with fairly grounded and realistic characters, Glee is slowly humanizing caricatures. And as a result, you have a character like Artie fluctuating from a handicapped student struggling to relate to his classmates to a random background character in a wheelchair, which feels false. Rather than the character development compounding over time, changing the way the show’s dynamics operate, the exact opposite is happening: while individual episodes give Kurt or Quinn or Puck storylines that expand on their identity, outside of the main serialized storyline (Finn and Quinn’s baby) they revert back to their original modes.

It creates a sense that, for a show which is at its best when characters are being developed and explored in a concentrated fashion, the plots of the show itself don’t actually seem to be changing in kind, and the show reverts back to a farcical comedy more often than not. At the heart of “Hairography” is the fairly simple premise that beneath the distractions we create for ourselves is a sense of our true identity, as various characters test out potential distractions only to find that their heart takes them in a different direction.

However, Glee is a show that is all about distractions, and while this individual episode may have peeled everything back to show the supposed true colours of the various characters the show is never going to stop delivering show-stopping musical numbers or interjecting random musical sequences into largely unrelated scenes. The result is an episode that, rather than representing a legitimate step forward for the series, only draws attention to some of its long-term, cumulative limitations: it can tug at the heartstrings and build character when it wants to, but this is never going to start being a show about twelve kids singing on stools.

Especially not with a fake pregnancy storyline hanging over it.

Now, I am aware that this show (as Twitter user Genshikenn points out) is never overly subtle, so I shouldn’t be annoyed that “Hairography” throws the distractions narrative done our throats with numerous mentions of the term (Quinn wanting to distract Finn, Terri wanting to distract Will, Kurt self-identify as a distraction, Sue talking about being distracted from winning, and of course the eponymous hairography). But when your central theme is the idea that things should be simple and clear, stripped down of the big hair and the crazy dancing in order to fall into a natural pattern, and your episode works for every second of that emotional impact without an ounce of subtlety, that’s problematic for me. Ian Brennan’s script argues that no distraction will ever truly satisfy you, and that you’ll always return to what feels natural and right; however, while I thought the episode resulted in a number of compelling moments (especially the Sign Language collaboration on “Imagine,” which went for the emotional jugular), it never felt particularly natural in the least.

It’s an episode that also demonstrates that the idea of developing each character individually isn’t actually improving on their overall dynamic, as the Glee Club itself felt bizarrely splintered in this episode. When Kurt commented that this was the first time Quinn had ever spoken to him, it reverted back to the stereotypes (Kurt as the social outcast, Quinn as the stuckup and opportunistic cheerleader) that have largely been written out of the two characters through episodes like “Preggers” and last week’s “Ballad.” It’s one thing if every episode doesn’t feature a scene that clearly shows an evolution of a particular character, but Quinn and Kurt could have had this conversation five weeks ago and it would have been just as relevant. In fact, the entire episode could have taken place after “Preggers” and it wouldn’t have been that much of a stretch. And while I understand it’s still early in the season, a lot of substantial character development has happened since that point that should be reflected in how these characters act that just isn’t. Yes, we read Quinn’s efforts to distract Finn and get to know Puck as less problematic since we’ve both seen Quinn humbled (in “Ballad”) and Puck humanized (in “Mash-Up”), but the episode did nothing to reflect this (especially in terms of turning Puck into a complete and total cad).

There was a lot of criticism of “Mash-Up” (where Puck and Rachel got together, and where we saw the Emma/Will story front and center), which was also written by Brennan, but I liked the episode at the time because it showed different sides to characters and connected the three stories together with a central theme that made sense for each of them. However, now I realize that what really made me like the episode was that Terri Schuester was entirely absent from it. I like Jessalyn Gilsig, but this episode reminded us why we were all so glad they put the storyline on the back burner for a while. Not only is Terri’s sister unquestionably the worst character on the show (compared to her, Terri’s downright compelling), but the storyline is the ultimate sort of distraction from where the heart of the show really lies. And perhaps what made Brennan’s theme fall so far short here was that there is no way he is capable of convincing the argument that there is an honest, heartfelt reason why Terri continues to fake a pregnancy considering the potential long-term ramifications. The show has shown us too much of Will and Emma’s flirtations for us to actually root for this marriage to survive, and any chance of having pity for Terri was gone the moment the character was conceived as a shrill drain on Will’s spirit. There’s no redeeming this storyline, no matter the amount of times the theme is drilled into our heads, and it certainly coloured my opinion of the episode considering its prevalence.

There were, of course, elements of the episode I quite liked. I thought that meeting the two other Glee clubs was a solid extension of the show’s world view, and both Eve and Michael Hitchcock (who I recognized most as Ira Gilligan from Arrested Development) were strong as their respective leadership. The scene with Hitchcock’s Dalton Rumba (which is an amazing name, by the way) and Will going back and forth with the partially deaf Rumba misinterpreting what Will is saying is a very simple comedy scene, and with Hitchcock’s timing was really well done. I thought getting a preview of the other schools ahead of Sectionals is also smart in terms of making that event seem like an actual event, as “Sectionals” has seemed like an ambiguous goal up to this point. The episode also nicely used the schools to provide the episode’s broadest storyline, as the Jane Adams Academy girls provide the inspiration for hairography and the Academy for the Deaf provides the impulse to switch to something much simpler.

And if the episode had just been about that idea, perhaps it might have been a more consistent episode, but it just tried to do too many things. Sue suddenly back and gunning for Glee club came out of nowhere, and although it creates tension for Sectionals it never really fit into the episode other than some great delivery from Jane Lynch. And when you pile in Rachel and Kurt’s love for Finn, Quinn’s concern over Puck, Terri’s attempts to distract Will, and then try to throw them all together, you realize that nothing really got accomplished: Quinn’s back where she belongs, Will is still devoted to his child, and Finn and Quinn are still together with Kurt and Rachel still pining after him even while acknowledging they don’t have a shot.

Brennan’s approach to the script seemed to be that they had the central idea (dictated by the big musical numbers), so what they needed was ways to tie the characters into that idea in order to effectively fill time. There was no specific character development that needed to happen in the episode, and you could sense this as the stories were happening. Twitter user ageekinthepink notes that it seems like the show keeps raising the same issues as if they are new, and that nothing ever seems to conclude, and while I’m not sure the show is going to be able to “wrap up” storylines just yet (Terri will be the first real test) I do agree that it seems like an episode like this one invented or repeated conflict to fill time more than letting things follow through naturally. It went into characters’ heads to show them hatching crazy schemes in a way that kept things moving but that never felt natural even when everyone got together and sang a stirring version of “True Colours” in the end.

As a result, “Hairography” is unfortunately devoid of the quality that made me argue the show’s merits with Jace in the first place. Its sense of incremental character development requires an acknowledgement that some things have changed, and for episodes to give a clear sense that our changing perspectives on these characters are in some way reflected in their behaviour (as none of the character beats have taken place entirely isolated from the show’s other characters). Instead, we get an episode that in an effort to fill out an intelligent story decision (previewing and setting the stage for Sectionals in two weeks’ time) reverts the characters to their original archetypes and accomplishes nothing substantial in the process. It’s as if any time the show tries to move the show’s plot forward it has no idea how to move the show’s characters forward at the same time, a sort of stop/start mentality that will only hurt it in the long run.

Cultural Observations

• Brittany is really coming into her own: she looked smoking hot (yeah, I said it) with her hair down, and “it’s like cool epilepsy” was the night’s most wrong, and thus most right, one-liner.
• When I heard they were doing “Papa Don’t Preach,” I was all excited about seeing more of Quinn’s family situation and the show using the song as an emotional look into her emotional state as she considers keeping the child. Instead, she performed it for a set of pre-teen triplets in an effort to calm them into submission, which is officially the weirdest application of that song I could possibly imagine. It’s a great song, and a great version from Dianna Agron, but its placement in the episode is token to the point of being utterly worthless.
• I’m officially over mashups for this show: I get that it allows them to introduce two different songs or contextualize a song young viewers might not be familiar with (“Hair”) with one they are (“Crazy in Love”), but this one never really came together. The show already did embarrassing with “Push It” much better, and musically I was left wanting more of Mercedes’ Beyonce impression and more of the cast breaking into the counterculture classic.
• Take being said, Artie as Jay-Z? Inspired. I wanted more.
• The show occasionally makes Kurt out to be extremely intelligent, so how do they justify his claim that he and Rachel are equally unlikely to ever be in a relationship with Finn? I get that he’s a dreamer (he’s not the only one, after all), but it makes the character seem blind to the point of incompetence.
• So, question of the week: how do they get out of this Terri situation? My current bet is a double miscarriage, in that Terri chooses to fake a miscarriage to stop the ruse and tell Will the truth only to have Quinn have a miscarriage at the same time leaving everyone childless and sad, which would have Will falling into Terri’s arms if not for the fact that he learns about the fake pregnancy and the pressure she placed on Quinn and murders her for it. Like?

picture by LiGado em Série/Flickr.com

Dear Show,

I really, really love you. I do. Your cast is both talented and diverse, you have lots of music that I love and you say that you’re all about breaking down stereotypes. Also, you have Puck. What’s not to love?

Except.

I am getting really, really tired of seeing you not actually break down these stereotypes at all. When you had Mercedes say, “I’m a strong, black woman… but that’s not all I am,” I practically cheered. That is a fantastic line, and exactly what I want to see. But that’s what you told me, not what I see.

Why are the kids from the “trouble-making” school mostly black? Did you seriously name that girl Aphasia? Aphasia, as in: “an acquired language disorder in which there is an impairment of any language modality… [which] may include difficulty in producing or comprehending spoken or written language.” Do you think it’s ironic and clever to give a character who doesn’t speak “proper English” a name that means a language disorder? Because I don’t.

And this “all women are crazy” theme you’ve got going on? I’m not a fan. I’m not sure why the female characters on this show have to be in competition with one another, and catty, and shrill, and deceitful, and so on. Last week, I was hugely uncomfortable by the whole Mr. Schue/Rachel storyline. Not just because I don’t like the teacher/student thing, or the fact that Rachel just jumped from Finn to Puck to Will, thus portraying the flighty teenage girl to perfection, but also because she really just seemed to be there to move his storyline forward. That seems to happen a lot. Where’s Ms. Pillsbury, if she’s not interacting with/thinking about/pining for Mr. Schue? Nowhere. Why doesn’t Rachel ever interact with the members of Glee who she isn’t interested in dating? (Except for Kurt, and this whole pitting the divas against each other thing is pretty lame, too). And when the women do interact, why is it never in a supportive way. Why is Santana calling her pregnant “friend” Tubbers and sexting Puck, who she only seems to want because Quinn wants him?

Show, sometimes you do beautiful, amazing things. Like the performance of “Imagine” tonight, which was touching and lovely. Or giving people who aren’t Rachel or Finn (Artie! Mercedes!! Tina!!!) solos. You have lessons like, you don’t need to be anything more than yourself to succeed. You have beautiful moments between parents and their kids, moments that feel real and how I wish life really was all at the same time (Kurt coming out to his dad, Finn telling his mom about Quinn’s pregnancy). You give otherwise unlikable characters moments that make them more 3D (Puck’s apology to Rachel, Sue’s—admittedly heavy-handed—interactions with her sister) and mostly likable characters a chance to mess up and then learn from their mistakes (Mr. Schue realizing they don’t need over-the-top hairography to shine). The scene where Quinn and Finn talk to her parents after they learn about her pregnancy? Heartbreaking, and so well-done.

There are lots of reasons for me to love you. But show, you really have to work on these stereotypes. I get what you’re trying to do, this “being subversive” thing you want to have going on. It’s just not working. Mostly it doesn’t work in annoying, little ways. Sometimes it doesn’t work in big, race-fail and gender-fail ways. Either way, it’s not working. I watch you because you make me laugh, and sometimes get a little teary, and you have great songs and a really talented cast. But if I keep getting smacked in the face with sketchy race and gender portrayals, there might come a time when those things aren’t enough.

Think about it.

Love,
Stacy

It’s been a long time since my last post, and I don’t have any excuse for it.  Most people use the I’ve been busy excuse, I would be lying if I said I was to busy.  The truth is I just haven’t been motivated to post, and I don’t think that’s unusual for new mmo bloggers.  However, I do want to have a respectable mmo blog and I’m going to try to post on a more consistent basis.

About two months ago I tried out the Eve free trial for the third time, and this time around I really started to understand the game mechanics better.  i was planning out how to fit my ship, figuring out whether or not I want to be a miner or combat player, determining if I should try to steal other players mining cans, and which ships would be ideal for my play style that I choose.  The depth to the design of this game is amazing, and the best thing about it is it’s mainly player controlled.  During this free trial I gained a new admiration for the designers of Eve, unfortunately I decided not to subscribe due to one main reason.

Learning a skill is based on time and since the game has been out for a few years, I would always feel years behind the other players.  My feeling may be over-exaggerated since I don’t know what it would really be like, but it’s still a major turn off for me.  The oddest thing of all this is, I actually like the system.  Your character’s strength should not only be determined by what you loot, but also by how much time you spend on your character.

「EVE」
ヴィドール

さようなら　わかってた
この日が来たんだね
さあ　手を離そう
指を撫でた雪　儚く消えた

今夜だけは笑っていよう
2人最後の思い出

神様　お願い　あと少しだけ
この人と幸せでいていいですか？

さようなら　わかってた
この日が来たんだね
大好きだから君を引き止められない
ありがとう　言わないで
抱きしめたくなるから
さあ　手を離そう
指を撫でた雪　儚く消えた

君に出会うため生まれた
だから夢を叶えて

神様　今度は　明日になったら
この人を幸せにしてくれますか？

さようなら　あと少し
その声を聞かせて
愛してほしいなんてわがまま言わない
思い出が素敵すぎて振り向きたくなるから
もう行かなくちゃ
頬が濡れるその前に

本当はね　心から
言いたいよ　ありがとう

さようなら　あと少し
幸せでいさせて
愛してほしいなんてわがまま言わない

さようなら　わかってた
この日が来たんだね
世界で一番愛しい笑顔の真似で
ありがとう　言わないで
抱きしめたくなるから
さあ手を離そう
指を撫でた雪　儚く消えた

~♦~

‘EVE’
by Vidoll

Goodbye, I knew it,
this day has come,
So now let’s separate our hands,
The snow that caressed our fingers fleetingly disappeared

Let’s be smiling just for tonight,
our last memory together

Dear God, please, for just a little longer
can you let this person be happy?

Goodbye, I knew it,
this day has come,
Because I love you I’m unable to stop you,
Don’t say “Thank you”
or I’ll want to embrace you,
So now let’s separate our hands,
The snow that caressed our fingers fleetingly disappeared

I was born so I could meet you,
So grant my wish

Dear God, this time when tomorrow comes
could you make this person happy for me?

Goodbye, for just a little longer
let me hear that voice,
I won’t say something selfish like “I want you to love me”
or I’ll want to look back on our memories that were too wonderful,
I have to go now
before my cheeks become wet

You know, in reality I want to
say “thank you” from my heart

Goodbye, for just a little longer
I want to make you happy,
so I won’t say something selfish like “I want you to love me”

Goodbye, I knew it,
this day has come,
Imitating the most beloved smile in the world
don’t say “Thank you”
or I’ll want to embrace you,
So now let’s separate our hands,
The snow that caressed our fingers fleetingly disappeared

The President pardons the turkey…and so do I….

Happy Thanksgivings Day to all of my followers and supporterss…I could not do this without you….lol.

Here’s an early Thanksgiving treat for all of you “Glee” fans out there- an interview with tonight’s very special guest star- Eve! Earlier this week I had an opportunity to take part in a reporter’s conference call with the rapper-actress while she was in Dubai and she was eager to dish on this weeks episode, her early years singing and even her favorite karaoke song. Enjoy!….

When the show approached her, Eve told us the opportunity was simply too great to pass up. “I had heard the buzz about the show and when the first pilot episode came out, and I figured it was something really different; something that we haven’t seen on TV before, and I felt like it was something to do. I didn’t want to turn it down. And I’m happy I’m a part of it.”

But if you’re expecting to hear Eve singing tonight, you’re going to be disappointed, “It was really fun to kind of sit back and watch other people sing. I’m kind of like the choir director which was pretty cool.” The choir thing wasn’t exactly a big stretch. She started singing in choir in her real life in fourth grade. “I definitely was involved in choir. I loved that kind of stuff. I loved being dramatic; I am dramatic. I loved drama and stuff like that, so I love that it’s on TV and that it’s being shown.”

Even though Eve isn’t singing in tonight’s episode, you can bet that she already has a song picked out in case they ask her to guest star again. “Sweet Dreams”, that’s my karaoke go-to”, she admitted.

Before she hung up, I had to ask her about artists giving “Glee” their music to cover on the show- did she think it was a good idea? “Oh, for sure. For sure. I think if you’re smart and they ask, definitely give it over. It keeps you going as an artist, and especially because of the way the music business is now, it’s just one of those things where everybody’s looking for cross-promotion or longevity, and I think a show like this can help you with that.”

“Just call me angel of the morning, baby………..”

I love that song. Juice Newton had a good recording of it, but the Billie Davis version is much more believable, and her live performance on Beat Club is awesome. She just bleeds the song. Remarkable.

I like how the song shows the woman showing her independence and her free will, but also the darker side of self loathing. It is just deliciously emotional and yet intellectual. Even more interesting is that the song was written in 1967 (or so). The song was offered to Connie Francis, but she turned it down as being too risqué. Today it wouldn’t even be a blip on anyone’s moral radar.

Well, I do apologize for the delay between posts. I have pretty much come out from underneath the blue funk I was in, only to be slipping back into my normal holiday blahs. I just haven’t felt like writing much, even though I have had a lot of topics in my head come and go, so you’ll probably just get a meandering mish-mash of junk verbiage.

For those who care, I did go to my concert. Alone, of course. I had a decent time. I ate dinner and had a few beers at the Hard Rock Café, which is a few steps away from the front of the Verizon Wireless Theater. There were four bands:

1. High on Fire. Not a bad band, but not a superb one, either. They were a 3 piece, which is fine for punk music, but is silly for a metal band. There were gaps in the music as the bass guitarist had to do double duty doing bass and filling in as a sort of rhythm guitar. There should always be two guitars in modern metal. Black Sabbath they aren’t. Otherwise, they weren’t bad. The vocalist also was a bit distracted from singing to play lead. They need more members to really do some good.
2. Converge. A great band minus their lead. He sucked royally. He was more into the barking scream time of lyrics, but the problem is that he really DID sound like he was barking. People around me chuckled and snickered every time he “sang”. He sounded like one of those cheap sampling keyboards Casio made in the late 1980s. You know, the ones where you can sample your cat and play “Jingle Bells” in meows. Bark, bark, bark. And even when he was lyrical, he was so high pitched that it didn’t match the direction the band was going in the song. The rest of the band sounded good, and their vocals were great. They just need to ditch that awful lead and get a better vocal. Then they could probably start headlining events.
3. Mastodon. I had such high hopes for this band, and they disappointed. The acoustics and mix for this band was terrible. They played their new album. The…whole…thing. Problem is, their better stuff is earlier works, and the new stuff is more jam-band oriented. It was almost if Phish decided to play metal, with actual Grateful Dead members back from the dead. Never ending. My feet were killing me. Even the mosh pit guys were bored.
4. Dethklok. If you didn’t know, Dethklok isn’t a real band. A superbly talented artist/cartoonist/musician named Brendon Small created the band for a cartoon Metalocalypse. So, the concert had Brendon playing and singing with studioi musicians backing him up (really good ones at that), synced up with a large screen showing the cartoon band. It was awesome. Definitely worth the wait, but not necessarily the cost of the ticket. Perhaps if Mastodon was better. Perhaps.

I looked around. The vast majority of people were with other people. Friends, lovers, family. There were only one or two of us creepy, ineffectual males just standing around. It was very unsatisfying, and I felt very alone.

So, new rule for me: I must have someone to go to a concert with before I buy a ticket. I will not go alone again, nor will I waste 50 bucks on an unused ticket. I couldn’t find anyone to give the damn thing away.

I stopped with the ads and such. It was self defeating. The hope of finding people and not finding them was a vicious depressing cycle I needed to stop. Done. The profiles still exist, but I won’t be active on the sites.

I have been working on a lot of computers of late. People keep bringing them to me. Fortunately, I have been fixing them. Wild. Of course, I do not charge for services rendered. I just can’t. It is a bit hard to explain why, so I won’t.

I never found my original disks for my old computer, and with its hard drive issues, I bought a new 500 GB SATA drive and installed *gulp* Windows 7 Home Premium.

I…….

Like………

It…………………….

*yikes*

It isn’t a bad OS. It has its annoyances (one of them being its cryptic network setup, which I stumbled through). It is pretty slick. I have been impressed. I have one driver glitch for a co-processor (???), but it hasn’t affected operation. In fact, it runs pretty well, better than XP for the same setup!  I soon might convert the rest of the machines in the house (you can buy a 3-machine license, which would cover 3/7 of the remaining machines…)

Halloween sucked.

I have been toying with a podcast on one of my other blogs. However, it hasn’t been published yet as I have found I just can’t “wing-it”. I need to prep, but hopefully this blog will have some podcast editions. Stay tuned.

EVE is as fun as ever, although the 0.6 system next door to my home system has been getting a LOT of suicide raids. I haven’t seen one yet, just CONCORD flying around. Once I did see someone salvaging a wreck, but it appeared that the target was not blown up, or at least the cavalry showed up to prevent excessive looting. Who knows. I was targeted briefly, which usually means to back-off. Methinks they weren’t happy.

I made something like 500 shuttles from different races. I was traveling to another region to sell, but saw that some folks were getting jumped at one of the gates, so I have been a bit more cautious and infrequent in my deliveries. Not much profit, but is kinda fun.

I am currently 8 jumps away running missions for a different agent. I am contemplating of setting up a corporate office there. We’ll see how it goes.

Well, if I don’t post again, enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday.

And yes, the Texans suck. Don’t get me started…

L8rs-

Some artists ––– oh, say, Leonardo Da Vinci —— are known for their discipline and concentration. Consider the number of sketches he made for a horse statue that was never completed. Others, however, have taken the tack that to be an artist or an intellectual, you must somehow be undisciplined, clueless, and/or completely self-absorbed. THOSE are the kind Hollywood likes. After you’ve been awed by Leonardo at the High’s Hand of the Genius exhibition at our 12-hour artfest Go All Night, why not visit with some of his lesser brethren?

Eleanor Ringel Cater’s picks:

Barton Fink

Barton Fink (1991)

Leave it to the brothers Coen to come up with something as hilariously berserk and mind-teasingly perverse as this surreal black comedy about (of all things) writer’s block. A High-minded New York playwright, Barton Fink (John Turturro) is lured to 1941 Hollywood to give “that Barton Fink feeling” to a Wallace Beery wrestling movie. On one level, the film is about Fink’s Day-of-the-Locust encounters with moguls, producers and washed-up self-loathing Southern writers who’ve sold out to the flicks. But then there’s also the Earle, the hotel where Barton is holed up to write his masterpiece. A hotel worthy of The Shining, it’s also home to genial traveling salesman, John Goodman, who’s got stories to tell. LOTS of ‘em. The picture is a brainy goof, fleshed out by the brilliant performances, the rich production design and the Coen’s ever-clever camera. It’s as bleakly funny and tantalizingly obtuse as a Beckett on-act. I’ll give you the life of the mind…..

Naked Lunch (1991)

It will eat you alive if you’re not well-versed in the coded cool of Beat junkie icon, William S. Burroughs, or the insect-infected visions of director David Cronenberg (The Fly). And even if you are, this mercilessly exacting black comedy will leave its teeth marks on you.

Part biography, part literary adaptation, the film is less a literal rendering of the writer’s scandalous 1959 novel than a jazz-riff interpretation. Turning down the role of Robocop 3 (!), Peter Weller is the Burroughs surrogate who travels from 1953 New York to the Interzone — a kind of surreal Tangiers of the mind, populated by sweaty addicts, decadent ex-patriots and typewriters that mutate into giant talking bugs. However, those less than enthralled with Burroughs’ masturbatory self-infatuation may find this daring demanding picture something of a Pyrrhic victory. That is, more worthily done, perhaps, than worth doing.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Too much is never enough for fabled gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson and director Terry Gilliam. You could almost say they are a match made in excess heaven (or hell). This is Hollywood’s second attempt to translate Thompson’s 1971 book about his drug-drenched trip to Vegas, the first being the rather abysmal Where the Buffalo Roam, starring a game Bill Murray.

Here, it’s the ever-unpredictable Johnny Depp who takes on the role of Raoul Duke (Thompson’s alter-ego) and a chunked-up pre-Oscar Benicio Del Toro plays Dr. Gonzo, Duke’s lawyer/companion-in-chaos. The assignment — as if it matters — is a dirt-bike race. Their true quest is to ingest every kind of “uppers, downers, screamers, laughers” they can find. Plus several oceans of booze. However, like most drug experiences, the film has a downside, too. Barely making it out of Vegas alive the first time, they’re dragged back in (like Pacino in Godfather III) for another round of the same thing.

Still, Depp is astonishing, Joe Coker by way of John Belushi and pure pandemonium on the prowl. The movie isn’t exactly a success, but it’s the most glorious kind of failure: Imaginative, uncompromising and true to itself. A tip: if hearing Debbie Reynolds tell a Vegas crowd, “Let’s rock and roll!” doesn’t crack you up, you don’t want any part of this movie. Not even the good parts.

Linda Dubler’s picks:

A Bucket of Blood

A Bucket of Blood (1959)

With its lurid title and down at the heels production values, A Bucket of Blood is a sterling example of legendary B-movie producer/director Roger Corman’s talent for entertaining, inspired schlock. The film’s central character, Walter Paisley (Dick Miller), is a bus boy at a beatnik coffee house who is so inept he makes Maynard G. Krebs look like Jackson Pollock.

Poor, talentless Walter longs for the limelight, so when his landlady’s cat dies accidentally, he covers the stiff feline in plaster, a la George Segal, and presents the critter as a work of art. The hipsters are wowed, and soon the would-be-genius is trolling for additional bodies to receive the Paisley treatment. The lively script was written by Charles Griffith, screenwriter for The Little Shop of Horrors. Corman mentored Scorsese, Coppola, and Jonathan Demme among others, so even if you’re not a B-movie fan, consider taking a look.

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

The grass is always greener – even for those who’ve successfully made it to the other side. Such is the case for Sullivan, a sought-after Hollywood director known for hits like Ants in Your Pants of 1939. Yearning for the gravity and respect that genius endows, this would be Steinbeck declares he’s finished with fluff and ready to undertake his masterpiece, a gritty, relevant opus called Oh Brother Where Art Thou? But before he can write about the common man, it would help to meet a few.

Sullivan and his fetching, hold-the-hooey secretary (Veronica Lake, famous for her peek-a-boo wave) take to the road in a luxuriously appointed Airstream in search of America. Preston Sturges, a treasure of American cinema and the writer/director behind The Palm Beach Story and The Lady Eve, mixes comedy with melodrama in this delicious satire of self-importance and fame.

The Lady Eve (1941) , Ball of Fire (1941) , and Bringing Up Baby (1938)

The movies are full of evil geniuses (Dr. Frankenstein and his many peers), troubled geniuses (viz. any standard issue artist bio pic, from Lust for Life to Basquiat), even idiotic geniuses (e.g. Austin Powers), but my favorite variety are the clueless intellectuals, beloved by the makes of classic screwball comedies. Invariably men, these champions of book learnin’ are short on smarts and easy marks for women who either thing or two about the world, or are so ditzy they defy comprehension.

In The Lady Eve, Henry Fonda is a herpetologist (a snake specialist to be precise) who makes an appetizing victim for slithery card-sharp Barbara Stanwyck. Stanwyck shows up again in Ball of Fire as Sugarpuss O’Shea, a nightclub singer who knows her way around a colloquialism, who ends up hiding out in a house full of lexographers, among them sexy language specialist Prof. Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper). And in what’s probably my favorite American comedy, Katherine Hepburn is as untamed as the titular leopard Baby, driving poor paleontologist Cary Grant around the bend and into her waiting arms. After a lousy day or a lousy week, any one of these gems will help to chase away the blues.

Philadelphia rapper Eve is set to make her debut in Dubai this Tuesday (November 24). The Grammy Award winning rapper will appear at Chi Garden, where she will run through a number of her hit singles including tracks like “Who’s That Girl,” “Let Me Blow Your Mind,” “Gotta Man” and others. Eve, who turned 31 last week (November 10th), will also make a high profile appearance on Fox TV’s hit series Glee this week. On Wednesday, Eve will make her debut as a rival Glee Club coach that poses a threat to McKinley High’s chances of winning.

Kevin Bacon is one of those actors who just needs a better agent. he is charming, subtle, realistic, and instantly a friendly character. so when i saw this movie, i was truly shocked. Kevin Bacon turns in what could possibly be the best performance of his career as the struggling pedophile.

this movie doesnt justify him or even vilify him, it just shows him as who he is, a greatly flawed human being. his urges and his desires are bad. he knows that.

with that out-of-the-way the film finds itself able to become a movie and passionate film about purification. Kevin Bacon’s character has just gotten out of prison after serving 12 years of a sentence for child molestation. he is still on parole though, so his parole officer (Mos Def) has to come to check in on him periodically. the film is carried by the sheer power of their scenes together. the other actors in the film are well cast and very strong (David Allen Grier, Benjamin Bratt, and rapper EVE), but as far as the adults go, Mos Def and Bacon both turn in their best performances to date. the two of them seem like they arent even acting. they seem like they are funneling their real emotions, their real regrets and their real hatreds into fake characters. the other star actor in the film is the young girl Robin, played masterfully by Hannah Pilkes. i was actually stunned by her emotional power in her ‘big scene’ with Kevin Bacon. the tears in her eyes seemed more real than i was comfortable with. her longing for love and affection and her dark scars tore me to pieces. both times i saw that scene i have actually begged out loud for things to be ok. when i see the way she cries, and the way Kevin tears up… it makes me feel so horrible. but at the same time, it gives me hope. when Kevin Bacon’s character sees how horrible what he wants to do really is. not how horrible a cop says it is, not how horrible he is told it is, not how horrible doctors say it is… how horrible the victim says it is… then he changes. something in him changes. and he understands that his joy isnt worth the pain others would feel from it.

in the second most powerful scene in the film Mos Def talks with Kevin Bacon about ‘the woodsmen’, the man who comes in at the end of little red riding hood and cuts open the wolf to help the little girl out. he finished his statement by saying that there arent any woodsmen in the real world. that there are no people to help save the victims of the world and hold them without a scratch… and its true. but if the ending of the film is any indication, there are people who try.

i recommend this movie wholeheartedly. but not to everyone. its hard to watch, and it is emotionally heavy. it doesnt make him a hero, but at the same time it isnt one of those disgusting revenge films where vigilantism and sadistic vengeance take over. it is a very real film. and because it is so real, it is that much harder to watch.

Wow. luar biasa model asal amerika bernama eve ini dinobatkan sebagai model paling tinggi di dunia dengan tinggi 205 cm. lihat saja bagaimana perbedaan tinggi eve dengan model australia yang hanya memiliki tinggi 165cm.. bagaikan raksasa dengan anak anak yah??

Eve, yang merupakan model Amerika sukses dan model tertinggi di dunia akan tampil sebagai sampul Mingguan Zoo, sebuah majalah pria Australia, dengan fisik yang luar biasa. Ini pertama kalinya seorang wanita dari ukuran tubuhnya muncul di bagian depan seperti publikasi dia berpose di samping model setinggi 1,62 meter

editor Zoo Paul Merril mengatakan walaupun bikini untuk eve adalah buatan khusus, tapi itu worth it. Bro, saya setuju sekali, great job! Oh, dan yang mengatakan hal-hal baik datang dalam paket kecil begitu salah! .

Lihat lah bagaimana bentuk fisik eve si model tertinggi di dunia dengan tinggi 205cm.. akankah eve masuk ke jajaran wanita paling tinggi sepanjang sejarah?? seperti si zainab bibi yang berasal dari pakistan??

Ini dia koleksi lengkap foto eve si model tertinggi dunia..

Your Thoughts?

I apologize for the lack of posts of late, things have been pretty busy.

On the personal front, I’ve been making some good headway in the job hunt. I even have an offer or two, so that is always good! Hopefully now things will start getting back to normal!

In New Eden I’ve taken the big plunge and joined a Corporation! I’ve read in a number of places that EVE Online is truly only experienced once you’ve found a group of people to share your experience with…and by all accounts I think they were right.

The corporation I joined is full of mature, helpful people who want nothing more than to enjoy the game. The first thing that hit me was how much I truly didn’t know or didn’t learn about the game. I’ve spent nearly 6 months flying solo in Empire space and there is a TON of stuff you never run into. Thankfully, as I’ve said, this group of people has been very patient with me and always happy to answer my seemingly endless supply of basic questions.

We are mainly based out of Wormhole space (W-space or just WH space), so coupled with the fact that I know nearly nothing about Corporations, I know even less about Wormholes. Sure I’ve read many a blog on the subject, so I’m not totally clueless, but just about.

The Corporation is also a part of a larger Alliance, all filled with like-minded people interested in exploiting W-space and helping everyone out. So I couldn’t be happier with my time in New Eden right now. There is so much to experience, everything being totally new to me.

I can hopefully blog further on these new experiences. As I write this I am at a Sleeper site (a spawned Combat Site in W-space). I experienced my first one last night, and have now done 3 others. It’s a great way to spend the time. I’ve also done a wee bit of mining at a Gravametric site, though I need to increase my Ore Processing skills so I can use mining crystals to increase my yield.

The move into W-space was a tricky one. I had lots of stuff I wanted to bring in, namely my newly minted mining Hulk, so I had lots of logistical runs across space. I was eventually convinced that I should leave my expensive Hulk in Empire because the dangers in W-space are enormous. Thus I found myself purchasing a new Covetor and outfitting it with Tier 1 Strip Miners. It gets the job done, but not as well as my trusty Hulk. But it’s better to fly something you can replace than be broke and without a ship.

I have to say that the majority of my time is spent scanning. Luckily for me I invested a little time in my Astrometric skills early on, so I’m not totally in the dark as these are by far some of the most important skills to have in W-space. I am even a few days away from the Tier 2 Covert-Ops ship the Buzzard. It is specifically built for scanning, so I can’t wait until I’m up to speed on that ship.

I was just recently granted access to some storage space at our Corporate POS. Up until that point it’s been a little difficult to manage life in W-space, as I have lots of stuff I want to bring in to help, such as ammo and drones. Plus there was no place for me to stash my ore. But that’s all solved now so I think I can really sink my teeth into this whole Wormhole thing.

The funny thing is that I had never even joined a fleet up until I joined our Corporation. I haven’t been in too many since I joined, but it was a comical state of affairs during my first go at it. Lots & lots of questions. At least I’m starting to get the hang of it and am picking up alot of the acronyms. Our Alliance has a wiki which has been invaluable in getting up to speed. I feels great to be a part of something so organized and professional.

I’ll do my best to continue to blog about my new experiences. I just recently finished up my skills for Hacking (I’ve had the skillbook since day 1 of my time in New Eden) but I have yet to find a Radar site to use my newly bought Codebreaker 1. So just a ton of stuff to learn and experience and to anyone out there new to EVE, do yourself a favor and join a Corporation!