Mr. O'brien

I’m in the mood for ambitious fiction. Earlier this year I was blessed with a run of incredible reads,  topped off by Yvegeny Zamiatin’s masterpiece, We.

Mr. Zamiatin

Since then I’ve taken on more projects that inevitably have eaten into my reading time, and I am becoming more zealous in my quest for inspired reads. Ambition is the only flavor my literary palate wants to taste right now. I’m hungry for books that make me break out the booksdarts and re-read for pure pleasure. I want prose and plots that cause reactions, page turners that remind me how lucky I am to know how to read.

I’m compiling a list (in no particular order) of ambitiously written books and additions are requested in the comments section! I’d love suggestions for a 2010 reading list…

Mr. Baldwin

The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

The Inferno by Dante

Morvagine by Blaise Cendrars

Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller

Candide by Voltaire

The Electric Koolaid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

Black Boy by Richard Wright

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? by Edward Albee

Bowl of Cherries by Milliard Kauffman

The Whapshot Chronicle by John Cheever (as well as many of his shorter works)

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

The Iliad by Homer

If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

Her by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

The Twits by Roald Dahl

Lolita by Vladamir Nabakov

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Monkeywrench Gang by Edward Abbey

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Peanuts by Charles Schultz

Mr. Abbey

more:

Bluebeard/Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

The Aeneid by Virgil

The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger

His Dark Materials Series by Phillip Pullman

At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’brien

White Noise by Don Delillo

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

The Watchmen by Alan Moore

More..?

Welcome back to another week, another trip, and some more good times. You know there is something pretty great about the fall season that makes me hope on a plane and get to the most colorful places I can. As most photographers know there are some places better then others and some are just down right stunning. You know the type of scenery that makes you think how in the heck can nature organize such beauty all in one place. But sometimes you have to know when it is time to slow down or do you ????

It is for this reason that I am writing this blog.For those that do not know me I am super passionate about photography and I will do anything to get the shot but sometimes you have to know your limits. A few years ago my determination was tested at the tender age of 35. I needed a total hip replacement due to a crazy sports life when I was younger that left my hip bone completely degraded. This meant I was going to have to change how I did things and come to terms with the fact I was not that young kid anymore.

After a mishap with the surgery and a immediate blood transfusion I barely came out of that alive. But this only made me more determined to get back to photography. The problem is that I had taken almost a year to recover and I had gained close to fifty pounds due to inactivity for the first time in my life. After a meeting with the doctors I was encouraged not to do any serious hiking other then on flat surfaces. Well as you know this just not work for a photographer who is into landscape and nature. Ignoring the advice of the doctors I began to get serious again about hiking and knew that somehow someway I had to get to those out of the way places that few ever get to see. This past summer I had climbed my way back into shape and was hiking close to 20 miles a day on Mount Rainier and starting to feel like my old self.

Then as soon as I had got my mojo back and everything was back to normal I re-injured the hip and needed to go back in for more X-rays. After explaining what I had been up to my doctor looked at me and said this can not continue. So I decided for the time being I was going to slow down a bit and focus on my family for a bit. Eight weeks later and I am about to do the Subway with my photography buddies Miles Morgan, Steve Turner, and Adrian Klein and I am now again out of shape due to the advice of the doctor.

But I thought hey how bad can the Subway hike be; well not that hard if you did not happen to have a replacement hip and you didn’t need to climb rocks. Well before I knew it I was in way over my head as I was not able to keep up and I was totally embarrassed but I kept going knowing I had to see the Subway.

Anyways I did make it and I was lucky enough to have a good group of friends who were patient but this made the dilemma even harder for me. What was I going to do in the future when it came to photography. Half joking I mentioned I now would have to write a book on the best photography places to shoot from your car window as this might be my only option in the near future. After some soul searching I have decided to go all the way and give it all I have until I can no longer. While the weather is bad and I wait for the winter to come I am in the gym seven days a week, two hours of cardio a day until I am “Rocky”.

Now I know what you are thinking and what the heck does this have to do with photography. Well it has everything to do with it. It’s a desire, a passion, a need to do something no matter what the cost is. I love photography and I will do anything for it and I will never go down until I am in a wheelchair. Mind you that might not be that much longer but that is what I bring to the table and that is what I invest into my images. I know most would tell me it is time to give it up but I have a craving so deep inside that I can not for the life of me slow down.This is what photography is for me.

If there are any images that seem to stick out for you that would be great to drop me a note.
Thanks again for coming by…..

for a craft exchange between a friend and i, she is making me a neckwarmer!

here’s her new necklace:

and here are some shots from the mini Silhouette photoshoot i had at Dragon*Con this year!

thanks Michael Iacca for taking the photos!
i edited them

The sun started to rise as we traveled in Tom Cook’s Denali on our way to meet twenty other saints to deliver the truth to those attending the 2009 Atlanta Pride Parade.  It wasn’t long that the four of us(Tom Cook, Jason Dellinger, Dion Woolfolk and myself) decided to read some Scripture.  Jason had to catch up in his Bible reading schedule so we read from Saturday’s reading.  We quickly realized that it was no accident that we read these particular chapters.  No.  In preparation for the grueling day we faced, God had a specific word for us straight out of Ezekiel, chapters two and three.

Before I get to the exact scripture that stuck out to us so much, let me first set it up with another passage from the same book.  In Ezekiel chapter eight, The Spirit took Ezekiel to the temple so that he could see, for himself, the detestable things that were taking place.  Ezekiel’s eyes were opened to the wicked and detestable things that were taking place in the temple of the Lord.  The house of Israel was doing horrible things, but they were being led by the ruling seventy elders(the Sanhedrin).  Ezekiel was blown away by the things he saw, but the Spirit kept telling him that he would see things that are “even more detestable.”

You might wonder what this passage has to do with the 2009 Atlanta Pride Parade.  Well, here’s the point.  Ezekiel was a prophet called to deliver God’s mail to the house of Israel.  But, before he could go amongst them and proclaim His word, his eyes had to be opened.  Likewise, today, the church of Jesus Christ has been called to be watchmen and proclaim God’s word to all.  Therefore, we need to be able to see.

Hopefully, after reading this, you will get a glimpse of what goes on at these detestable events.  When a Christian hears what we do at these parades, the most popular response is, “Don’t you think you should be more loving?” There are many problems with that question.  But, instead of addressing all of them, let me just say that if they had eyes to see, they would not say such things.  And I also have to say that they obviously don’t fully grasp the biblical concept of love (See Leviticus 19:17).

That gets us back to the scripture that stuck out to us on our ride down.  There were several key words and phrases that stuck out to us.  The word, “rebellious” was mentioned eight times in Ezekiel chapters two and three.  God was also adamant in these two chapters that Ezekiel speak His words to the people.  He also, repeatedly, told him not to be afraid of the people to whom he would be delivering God’s mail.  All of those things were very applicable to our trip to Atlanta.  But, more than anything, verse seven of chapter two really spoke to us.  “You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.”

Beloved, we had been to this particular event in years past and we knew what to expect.  We were going to be speaking the word of God to a people that, for the most part, would not listen to the things we had to say.  Now, most of the church would say that we must not be going about things the right way.  But, remember this, it’s not about success.  It’s about faithfulness.  We must speak the word of God to all the world, regardless of whether they listen or not.  And trust me, for the most part, our message fell on deaf ears this year.  Oh, they heard it.  They just hated what we had to say.

Don’t get me wrong.  When we broke up into pairs of two at this event, we ran into one divine appointment after another.  When having these one-to-one conversations, it’s amazing to see the Holy Spirit breaking through the pride of individuals.  Those conversations are fun and are very necessary in ministering at these kinds of events.

But, there is another message that must be brought: the public proclamation.  And that’s where we get the message from the church, that we are not doing things right.  But make no mistake about it, this message must be brought.  While one-to-one witnessing is vitally important, so is this.  We cannot allow hundreds of thousands of homosexuals to parade their sin like Sodom in the streets of our cities without boldly and sternly confronting them in their sin.  Will you win many converts this way?  Probably not.  Not right off the bat anyway.  But that’s what the one-to-one witnessing is for.

When you are witnessing to a homosexual, you usually don’t want to start off by dealing with his sexual perversion.  No.  You want to make a connection and swing it to the spiritual.  If the conversation goes well, the Holy Spirit will open a door to deal with the specific sin of homosexuality (usually while you are going through God’s Law).  Then you will have a wonderful opportunity to talk to him about his childhood, his sin and, most importantly, the Savior.

But when you are making a public proclamation, confronting the sin of homosexuality, you need to bring it down hard.  Why?  Because many believe that they can practice homosexuality and love Jesus at the same time.  And what might that be called?  A false religion. So, when Christians say that Jesus would never do it the way we do it, they simply don’t understand the Jesus of the Bible.  Remember, it was Jesus who nailed the religious hypocrites of His day, by calling them hypocrites, vipers, whitewashed tombs, etc.  Jesus didn’t pull any punches and neither should we.  Especially, when you have churches participating IN the parade.  That’s right.  There are always a number of churches that actually march in the parade.  Where did you think they were getting their affirmation from?  None other than wolves in sheep’s clothing.  And when you deal with these guys(and gals), you don’t start by setting up a friendly dialog.  No.  You bust them!

Now, just to warn you, when you go with this message, you will not go without great opposition.  I am making no exaggerations when I say this, but had the SWAT team not surrounded us, I would not be writing this article today.  I would be dead (probably after being brutally mutilated by this blood-thirsty mob).  You can hardly believe the hatred spewing from their lips.  What’s so odd about it is that, on many occasions, someone would be screaming obscenities, with spit flying all over the place, shouting, “God is love! You are full of hate!”  I’m not joking.  Then, Craig Gross, the founder of XXX Church decided to lecture Flip on how to be more loving in his approach.  Craig Gross, aka the Porn Pastor, designed his emergent ministry to make the gospel more suitable for porn stars, porn addicts, homosexuals, etc.  By the end of the conversation, he made a wonderful display of this “luv” he was talking about, by pouring his water on Flip’s shirt (Flip had all kinds of stuff dumped on him).

But the attacks got worse.  In years past, we have been physically attacked, but one thing really got to me this year.  A young lady that came with us was threatened by two girls.  The threat?  One of them held an object in her hand and threatened that they would rape her.  But these same girls were also shouting about how WE were so unloving.

There are so many detestable things that take place at these events.  I could go on and on.  But why should I go on and on when you can come to see for yourself?  And don’t say it’s not your calling.  We are all called to confront sin.  When we make that commitment to Christ, we aren’t just gaining Heaven, we are losing our lives.  That’s right.  Our lives do not belong to ourselves.  And God is calling us to be the salt of the earth; to be watchmen over this once Godly nation.  Will it cost you something?  Yes.  And it might even cost you your life one day.  I have no doubt we would have lost ours had the SWAT team not protected us this year.  But, remember, my life does not belong to me and neither does your life belong to you.

DYLAN BAKER

[Dylan] Baker confirmed that he is on board for Sam Raimi’s forthcoming Spider-Man 4. Baker appeared in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 as Dr. Curt Connors, a professor at Empire State University.

Read more HERE.

SPIDER-MAN vs. THE LIZARD in 'SPIDER-MAN 4'??

In the comic-book Dr. Curt Connors becomes the Spider Man villian, The Lizard, and it’s possible director Sam Raimi could go in that direction for one of the films villians.

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After watching “The Watchmen” the other day I realized that Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) has never made the I’d tap that list. And I’d like to apologize about that…Sorry.

I’m dedicating the picture to her character in The Watchmen, seeing as this is the way I want to remember her.

She’s everything a guy can ever want. She wears a Latex costume (Well to be honest more like half a costume, but nothing wrong with that), she’s super sexy and she’s a superhero.

Ah, Silk Spectre, we salute you!

SilkSpectreII

This weeks show:

We talked about the recent discoveries in paleontology that show yet again that the world isn’t 6,000 years old. We talk about banned books, astrological sandwich signs, the Afghanistan war, that Ahmadinejad might be a jew, the olympic decision, and Roman Polanski.

We review The Watchmen. We both dislike it for lots of reasons, Tom rates it a .75, Cecil gives it a 1.5.

We will be reviewing Alien next time, but we want your vote for Turkey month. Shoot us an e-mail or comment on the blog. We are giving 10 choices for this years 2 turkeys. Vote for two of the following:

1. Land of the Lost
2. Fireproof
3. Crank High Voltage
4. Transformers 2
5. GI Joe
6. Mamma Mia
7. High School Musical 3
8. 27 Dresses
9. Saw 5
10. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

Will 'SPIDER-MAN 4' Be TOBEY MAGUIRE's PETER PARKER Finale?

Read more HERE.

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WARNER BROTHERS

DC Comics Logo

Read the entire press release HERE.

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“This [Tao] simplicity will end desire, and if desire be absent there is quietness” –Laotzu Laotzu’s Tao & Wu Wei (translated)

“Philosophy cannot and should not give us an account of faith, but should understand itself and know just what it has indeed to offer, without taking anything away, least of all cheating people out of something by making them think it is nothing.”  –Soren Kierkegaard  Fear and Trembling

“A cloud gathers, the rain falls, men live.” –William Thesiger  Arabian Sands

” ‘It doesn’t take a genius to see the world has problems.’ ‘No, but it takes a room full of morons to think they’re small enough for them to handle.’ ” –Alan Moore The Watchmen

* indicates movies watched instantly

Fever Pitch (1997)* – 6/10 – After reading the book by Nick Hornby a few weeks back, naturally I would be interested in the film adaptation. And it’s ok – it stars Colin Firth as the protaganist obsessed with soccer (football) to the point of affecting his relationships and regular life (it’s nothing like the lad film the above poster makes it out to be). I guess its tough to make a film out of a book recounting the big moments in Hornby’s life set to Arsenal soccer, so the producers went the romantic comedy route (as did the Farrelly brothers did for their baseball adaptation). I can’t see anyone else watching this but fans of the book.

Watchmen (2009) – 5/10 – An overly long, pretentious mess. But what was up with the song choices in the film? Zach Snyder regular ruins scenes in the movie with music that either doesn’t make sense or just plain doesn’t work in the context of the scene.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) - 4/10 – Absolutely awful, and I could rate it even lower. Was never a fan of the series, but this was disappointing considering the first one was a fun popcorn flick and the second one wasn’t completely awful.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008)* – 5/10 – A film that tries to be way too cute but has a nice indie soundtrack. A couple of semi-interesting cameos from Seth Myers, Devendra Banhart, and Andy Samberg.

Tyson (2009) – 8/10 – This documentary mixes recent Mike Tyson interviews by director James Toback with archival footage of his fights. Interestingly, the only “narration” is the use of the Tyson interviews, in which he is very candid about his life – growing up in a troubled neighborhood, his rise to the top of the boxing world at age 19, his infidelities and drug use, his rape conviction, and the famous ear incident with Evander Holyfield, among other subjects. Definitely recommended.

Adventureland (2009) – 9/10 – Director Greg Mottola’s follow up to Superbad, though not in anyway related to Judd Apatow. It’s a coming of age story of Jesse Eisenberg’s character James after he has graduated from college and is stuck working a dead end summer job at a theme park at home (instead of travelling Europe as he had planned). Kristen Stewart is the romantic interest and gives a great performance that actually makes me want to check out other movies with her (including friggin Twilight). The movie has great heart and a strong supporting performance from Martin Starr as well as some funny scenes with Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig. Also, Zach Snyder should take note of the use of music in this film.

Currently have out:
The Last Emperor (1987)
The Field (1990)
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

PLAN A: Division Day, Bad Veins, LoveLikeFire, DJ Eric G @ The Casbah–A pretty solid lineup from top to bottom. Division Day were one of the few L.A. bands that played during the recent, mostly local North Park Music Thing. And as anyone at Bar Pink that night will tell you they were definitely a highlight. Don’t let their peppy new single, “Chalk Lines,” fool you. Fans of Death Cab and Jason Lytle will surely latch onto the electro-tinged mope-rock of these goth boys all grown up (see the double dose of depressing on “Devil Light” and “Planchette” off their new album, Visitation). The same goes for Bad Veins who manage to mix The Strokes (“Falling Tide”) with a dose of Interpol-esque melancholy (“Gold and Warm”), while also managing to sound way bigger than two guys fuddling about with pedals. Finally,anyone who ever wished that Rilo Kiley would rock out more should definitely check out LoveLikeFire’s debut, Tear Ourselves Away. It’s derivative as all hell, but catchy and aggressive enough to forgive any shortcomings. You can download the single, “Signs” for free here.  PLAN B: Tape Deck Mountain, Manta Rae @ Ken Club–Yeah, yeah, yeah, so it seems like Travis Trevisan and company play shows around town on a daily basis, but think about this: A year from now, after Tape Deck gets dorks like me slobbering in Austin and all the faggy music blogs are shitting themselves and declaring his “mid-fi” indie-rock the best thing since the invention of the internet, don’t you want to be able to trump other hipster declaratives by saying, “Oh, I saw them before at the Ken Club like so long ago. Way before Travis started dating that model and moved to New York.” Okay, so maybe you don’t want to be that asshole but you should still go see Tape Deck Mountain because they’re very good and Pitchfork is already jumping on the bandwagon. Your turn. Read this if you don’t believe me. BACKUP PLAN: The Goddamn Gallows, The Strikers, The Watchmen, Knock Em Stiff @ Radio Room–Don’t get The Goddamn Gallows confused with that buzzed-about bunch of poseurs from England, The Gallows. These guys are a bunch of ugly, scrappy dudes who have pretty much live to play drink, fuck, fight, rock and then pass out in the nearest place that has head support. But it’s not all unchecked aggression. Check out the gypsy-punk tearjerker “Pass Me the Bottle” and you’ll realize, gutter punks have feelings too. Along with rockabilly dudes The Strikers, expect the old Zombie Lounge crowd to be out in full force tonight. 

QUICK PICKS:

Strip Mall Seizures, Didimao, Mermaid, The Muse Sick @ Soda Bar-The first two bands are some seriously crazy psychedelic-punk of the fuck-all variety. Strip Mall Seizures sound like The Dead Kennedys had Jello Biafra been less concerned with politics and more into taking drugs and making homemade instruments. 

Gayle Skidmore, Rheanna Downey, Josh Hagquist @ Tin Can Ale House

Israel Vibration, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad @ Belly Up

The Pretenders, Cat Power, Juliette Lewis @ Pala Casino

“Rock ‘n’ Roll Bingo” with DJ Miss Liss @ Beauty Bar

FANTASTIC FOUR #1 circa 1961

THRALL WORLD observes that the only remaining problem is that FOX is still involved…

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WALT DISNEY CO.

MARVEL Entertainment

Read more HERE.

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As far as I can tell from watching Sin City, The Watchmen, and The 300 women in Frank Miller’s or Alan Moore’s world are either:

1. Whores

2. Lesbians whores.

3. Mothers that are whores and have bastard children with ruthless men. 

 4.  Heroines that sleep around (i.e. are whores).  They also take their fair share (if not the lion’s share) of the punches and blows.  I suppose this is what they would classify as “equal rights”.

5. Victims that get slapped, shot, or punched.  And may also be…well, you get the point.

I think I’m about done with Frank Miller and Alan Moore both.  Sorry buddy, you lost me when Laurie Jupiter didn’t stick with the naked, blue guy and fell for the impotent nerd with the muscle suit instead.