for some reason i thought everyone knew, but apparently thats not the case. so for those who arent familiar with ucsb’s daily nexus 86-93, prague’s prognosis (where basart and layne jumped in), and the myth of the santa barbara mafia

heres a quick rundown of just the nexus portion which will leave quite a few people out, so please add (with links) in the comment box below

partial list of participants of the daily nexus 86-92:

bonnie bills and charlie hornberger – charlie was editor in cheif in 1992, truck, i married them, bonnie’s buzznet, charlie’s buzznet

jeff whalen – friday magazine, mons pubvis, the brothers steve, long haired leaping gnomes, the reluctant surgeons, chopper one, stupid girl, royal supremes, tsar (which included at different times welch, coulter, kern, solomon and the two new dudes)

daniel kern – the wonderfuls, baby dangerously, royal supremes, tsar

matt welch – reason, the reluctant surgeons, long haired leaping gnomes, whalen, original bassist of tsar, corvids + married to emmanuelle

amy collins – now amy langfield, editor in cheif of the nexus 1990 + newyorkology.com priased by forbes

steve elzer – eic 1988, sony pictures

steve czaban – czabe.com + sportstalk 98 (dc) + wlzr (milwaukee)

chris ziegler – wrote the history of isla vista from ’72-’98

ben sullivan – science blog + brother of kate music editor of the la weekly

morgan j freeman – film and tv director

jason ross – editor in cheif of nexus 1993 + award-winning writer, daily show

aj goddard – kcsb + the playpen

michele danner – outdoors magazine

dylan – champion, luxus, shapes of racecars

marc brown – kcsb + the bee sting boyz + buzznet creator + his buzznet page

genevive field – here with her hand on my shoulder + co-creator of nerve

karen broome – now at sony pictures

doug arellanes – arellanes.com + campware.org

christopher scheer – nixon, alternet, 5 lies of george w. bush + wiki

greg mcilvane – wonderfuls + mons pubvis + stupid girl + chopper one + thee mystakes + gregory vaine + hollow trees + director of many films + and great artist – married to molli + parents of sean

os tyler – brother steve, truck, baby dangerously, hosts the busblog, hitched with kim my lawyer + papa of henry

sandra brilliant and denis faye – denis was my assistant editor when we won best in state

don frances and jennifer adams – el pad + don was my roommate with charlie, dan, layne, kip, and mike on haight street + parents of stella

jeanine natale – count rockula, longest college gf + her buzznet page + makes everyones wedding rings

pat whalen – reluctant surgeons, married to denisa + papa of dale and mick

shira – introduced me to chris, formerly of people, found the apartment i live in

melissa lalum – executive editor of la daily news

max donnelly – reluctant surgeons + married to kelly + papa of caroline and claire

joel brand – rolling stone, surfer, sellmedia

todd francis – element skateboards

jeff solomon – long haired leaping gnomes, reluctant surgeons, whalen, thee mystakes, tsar, corvids + we wrote articles together and had a company together in sf + i djed his wedding last month when he wed erin + papa of wyatt

dan hilldale – one of my roommates on haight street + bf to sk smith

jeff mcmanus – yahoo

stacy sullivan – newsweek, columbia

william torren – the desert sun

duke conover – the news herald

dan jeffers – city flirting

tony pierce – reluctant surgeons, chopper one

so my relation to tsar is: whalen and i worked on the arts section of the nexus together for a summer (he was assistant editor of the arts section when i began there), dan and coulter were in my favorite iv band the wonderfuls, tsar paths crossed when i introduced the wonderfuls to the nexus at one of greg’s hootenanys, i was roommates with greg and whalen in atwater, together we made chopper one and several of greg’s films, i was biz partner with solomon in sf, i slept on tsar’s couch when i moved back to LA so i was with tsar when they got their first bits of money for their music, and ive been to most of their LA shows, including the time they played four nights in spain during y2k

thats just the tip of the iceberg

however, my relationship to them has no influence on the fact that i think theyre the best band in hollywood, hands down.

tsar.net + listen to their songs, see the video + get band girls money

photo by raymi

In Los Angeles Magazine:

TSAR is a much-loved L.A. band, on a mission to single-handedly keep the spirit of Hollywood’s famed Rainbow Room alive and kicking, but with a handful of Silver Lake boulders crashing through its windows. Reeking with the rebellion of The Stooges and the glam-pop swagger of T-Rex, Dead Boys, and New York Dolls, TSAR resurrects the ’70s underground with hell-bent determination.

Unlike the Weezer-esque sugarcoating of their debut, this sophomore set is in your face and happy to kick it out as straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll. The songs on Band-Girls-Money are short, sweet, and tight power-pop stabs, with a sashay reminiscent of Dream Police-era Cheap Trick — executed full-tilt on the revved up “Everybody’s Fault But Mine.”

The title track practically kicks the door down and invites itself into your living room. Front man Jeff Whalen’s tongue is also firmly planted in cheek, as his punchy lyrics never cross into serious songwriter terrain, leaning fairly humorous and playful (ya don’t pick a record title like Band, Girls, Money to emulate, say, Rage Against The Machine). Nope, the very essence of the band is summed up in that title — and it’s all about breakneck guitar solos, cock-rock lyrics, torrential drumming, and party anthem choruses to die for.

With infectious rawkers like “The Love Explosion,” “Superdeformed,” and “Startime,” TSAR could easily win over any fans of The Darkness or even Guns ‘N’ Roses, before Axl got all puffy and braided his hair.

Losing Today.com

Reeking with a combination of the rebellion of The Stooges and the glam-pop swagger of T-Rex, TSAR resurrects the seventies underground with ‘fuck you’ arrogance. Fresh off the heels of their critical acclaimed self-titled debut, the Los Angeles quartet return with another smokin’ 10 tracks. Front man Jeff Whalen struts through the disc backed by raunchy guitar riffs and torrential drumming. The songs on Band-Girls-Money are short, sweet, and tight with a poppy sashay reminiscent of Dream Police-era Cheap Trick. By revitalizing a sub-genre of rock-n-roll that time had forgotten, TSAR stand alone as totally unique in their own right.

J.Mo After The Debauchery

After years of stories about the band, concert reviews, CD reviews and undying praise, I finally checked out the Tony Pierce endorsed rock band Tsar at the horseshoe last night.

I’ve been told that they rock.

“Masterfully mixing glam showmanship with gritty Sunset Strip attitude, Tsar’s “Band Girls Money” is one of the best rock albums so far this year.” – billboard

“it was a runaway train with no brakes. it was the space shuttle with too much nitrous. it was a stampede with too much postage. it was a rock slide of rock, an avalanche of power. it was thunder from so far under that the devil himself knocked on the door and asked if they could keep it down and the crowd thought it was part of the show but it wasn’t and even the smoke machine was smokin.” – busblog

So how could you not go see them when they’re playing just a stones throw away. Assuming you can throw a stone 80km.

And let me tell you Mr. Pierce. You’re right.

Since I’m not a crazy descriptive writer, and since I’m not a musical expert I won’t go into their rockingness, but what I will say is that they’re crazy high energy, yet tight as nuns asshole. They remind me of Billy Talent, but not like Billy Talent. See my descriptive writing talent.

Whatever the point is they kicked ass. So go see them.

Johnny Blaze made the trip with me from his apartment in Port Credit. He’s a dead head and hates everything that’s not part of the jam band scene or influenced by the jam band scene. I knew he’d probably hate them, but he still loves checkin out a live band that he might hate.

We got to the Horseshoe just before eleven to see some band finish there set. “Is that Tsar” Johnny asked to which I shrugged. We had just grabbed a beer when all of a sudden there was music and smoke and Giant flashing letters T S A R coming from the distance which tipped me off that the band I was here to see was starting their shit.

And even Johnny liked it. Short set. Forty minutes maybe.

Afterwards some other band came on. Hot bassist, 14yr old drummer. Ya we left during their first shitty song.

Tonight: Starland Ballroom – Sayerville NY w/The New York Dolls
Tomorrow: House of Blues – Atlantic City w/The New York Dolls
Tuesday 8/16 – Bricktown Live – Oklahoma City
Friday 8/19 – Attack of the Show – G4TV
Friday 8/19 – The Viper Room – Hollywood

why is TO [Philadelphia Eagles Wide Receiver Terrell Owens] such a douche? and what surprised me even more was that his agent was even more outspoken than he was. what makes these people think that they are bigger than the game and that they can go and fuck around with their team owners and whine like little bitches. favre had it right. honor your mother fucking contract. why can’t players like TO get it through their heads?

– Ryan

dear ryan,

its funny but i get these sorts of questions all the time. so let me answer yours.

perhaps people havent realized it yet, but theres a difference between Black people and white people.

and when it comes to football theres a huge difference, particularily between white quarterbacks and black wide receivers.

black wide receivers are flashy, incredible, loud, emotional, and flamboyant. its almost part of the deal. and what ive noticed is the only people who complain about them are white fans who always want to compare them to white quarterbacks.

terrell owens is loud, has a big mouth, signed a touchdown football seconds after he caught it, ran to midfield to spike a different touchdown football on the star in dallas, got in some controversey for the “nude” desperate housewives commercial on abc…

and if you recall, risked his career a few months ago by limping onto the field at the superbowl and caught 9 balls for 122 yards in a losing effort against the new england pats.

probably because i am a Black man, i find no issue with owens being who he is. infact i find it hypocritical that those who will fill the stands to watch the flash and acrobatics of guys like owens, are also those who will be the first to condemn him when he wants a raise or wants to beat his chest.

it would be one thing if owens didnt produce in the clutch, but bro produced in the clutch.

everyones all, but he has no class, but he should honor his contract, but what example is he being for the kids, etc

and i keep thinking, i dont look to football players for class, most pro atheletes have incredibly short careers so get that money, and heres the example that TO offers kids: if youre going to be flashy and have a big mouth you better back it up.

im old enough to remember when John McEnroe played tennis. and when he did he would yell at the linesmen and the umpire and the fans and once i even saw him yell at the blimp thousands of feet above the US Open.

some speculated that when he did that it charged him up and motivated him and helped him win.

as a sports fan, i want players to be charged up, and i like it when they talk shit, and i like it when they bring a new level of excitement.

it does not turn me on when the big fat white tight end catches a three yard shovel pass and place the ball on the ground. maybe thats your cup of tea but i dont even like tea.

i like the fun bunch, i like billie whiteshoes johnson, i like joe horn, i like randy moss mooning the packers fans, i like the raiders, i like ac/dc blaring from the loud speakers, i like fans booing opposing players, and yes i like terrell owens limping onto the superbowl field at 75% and playing at 100%.

yes i liked joe montana all cool calm and collected, and yes i like brett favre, but i like black quarterbacks hurdling defenders way more. i like those shimmies on the sweeps and the scrambling and the soul. i work all week and sit infront of my big screen on sundays not to see tom brady’s perfectly diagramed short passes but to see michael vick take my breath away – even if he throws up 8 picks.

the best thing to happen to football over the last few years have been randy moss, michael vick, and terrell owens.

you can have tom brady, peyton manning, and ben roethlisberger but i like a little hot sauce on my hotdog.

and i’ll tell you what, i appreciate the white guys on the field, but i pay money for the TOs out there. and because of that he deserves as much flowage as his agent can get him.

now be careful out there.

ryan + flagrant + simpleton + all things christie

starring danielle + i posted my answering machine messages + bunny goofed off at work

starring tony as professor booty.

two girls called me last night wondering why i hadnt called them all summer. asking if i had a girl. asking if i wanted a girl. asking if i was settled down. wondering where their boy was. wondering what happened to the busblog, wanting to know what was up with the kobain book.

i said baby and one said dont call me baby. i said baby who wears the pink floyd pajama bottoms in this family. and she pouted like she always does. even over the phone you can hear a girl pout. sometimes its cute sometimes its boring.

when youre a hundred thousand years old there are only so many times that you can play the same game. so i told her i was sorry but i was busy and you shouldnt ask a playa about his game. she said since when were you a playa. i was all lets just pretend that i didnt hear that. and she said i want that. i said i want that too. she said then i’ll be right over. i said uh. she said is some other ho over there. i said lets play twenty questions and she said no.

other chick played it soft and sweet. she knew that you get more sugar with sugar than you do with interrogation. she asked how was your vacation. she asked is it true about your weight gain. i said its a weight loss. she said she knew that but it didnt rhyme. she said you know you can call me any time. i said baby what cha wearing she said i love it when you call me baby. she said im wearing a baby tee with busblog across the front that you gave me. she said im wearing juicy sweats that say tony across the back. she said im wearing no make up but a smile. she said i wanna ride your blue highway for a hundred miles.

and someone came over last night and someone else came over last night and one got in and the other didnt and i cant say that i lived up to my reputation but one young lady got to watch tv with me and one girl got ignored and one boy got to enjoy a burrito from midnight tacos with a cheerleader with the right attitude and one girl tried to do a burnout but knocked over my mailbox. and one girl laughed peeking through the blinds and one boy saw that scene and said whaddya want on your sunday and she said have any nuts.

im old my friends. so old its crazy. im so old that once upon a time nights like those would have meant so many things. but right now it doesnt mean anything other than i gotta go get a new mailbox and remind myself to have some ground up peanuts next time. and now i know why people get married and have kids cuz after 111 years of rocknroll ive already seen this episode of seinfeld and to be honest it was exactly like that. i always wondered when i watched that show, how does jerry pull one hot chick after another and how come each and every one is just as crazy as the next. and the answer to question number one is “by going outside”, and the answer to question number two is “cuz everyones crazy, especially jerry.”

and in nyc and hollywood the hot babes literally fall from the sky, last night because one found an industrial roll of velcro and while i was making the sundaes wrapped her tight tanned little body in the soft side and got on my bed and taped the other side to the ceiling and was hanging there when i returned like a spider and i took pictures but theyre not sexy and i was all im gonna leave you there and she said come ere and i was all how on earth and she said come here and how cant you kiss a girl hanging from your ceiling and she fell on me and cracked her ankle on a bedpost and laughed the entire time in the emergency room and everyone thought she was high. and probably thought i was high too cuz i was laughing too.

and the doctor and the nurse laughed when i showed them the picture and i was all is this sexy and noone thought it was except for the cheerleader to be named later. and i’d never been so happy to be surrounded by hospitals but im telling you ive had enough of this sort of “excitement”, all i wanted to do was sit down to my tivo and see what the pti boys had to say about sports, and all i wanted to do was sit down to keith oberman and al franken and if a girl came over all i wanted was to hold her hand and maybe watch her spin on my coffee table for maybe 2.5 minutes and if she stayed the night i just wanted to hold her after i wrote my one paragraph peice for the local page.

im a simple man with a bizzaro life. im a blogger without the perfect wife. im a bachelor without a fast car. im a genx slacker who will (hopefully) never go far. all i want is a maid who will do my dishes and a cheerleader stewardess who will call me now and then from paris saying baby i miss you you write so beautifully. and listen to how i tell her what happened in my driveway and laugh and in my bedroom and laugh and at work and laugh and tell me that shes coming home at midnight and she hopes that im upright.

time for livin + leckblog + riley dog + dirty fez

and last night and all week.

just so that i dont forget. a year ago today all of you bought me my iPod and not only have i used it every damn day but i think of the readers of the busblog (as a whole, not just the ones who flowed) every time i see the inscription on the back. i am so grateful for this weird thing that we have and im stoked to have that ipod. it was probably the best gift ive ever demanded 🙂

weed update: ive been clean a sober for over a month now and its fine. i feel just as good today as i did the day i quit. i feel “normal” i feel clean and healthy. the only thing that i dont like are the dreams. i hate dreams and i know everyone said i just wasnt remembering my dreams, no, i didnt get them. its like three-ways with playmates: you know when youre having it, and i wasnt having them.

every night i wake up pissed off that i had a fucked up trippy or bizarre dream. im pissed because my life is fucked up and trippy enough i dont need to have weird scenarios play out in my head of hot tubs and old people and mansions and great food and weird peoples daughters if theyre really not happening.

i dont want to analyze my dreams because i dont even analyze my awake moments. got it? k. i hate that part of sobriety.

good news is my food bills have gone down and ive lost about 5 pounds. my jeans are falling off and my belly is shrinking. thats nice.

im also keeping my drapes open more so my plants are doing better.

enough about the updates.

coming very soon to Tonys Podcasts: real RSS synidications, part 2 of my interview with Raymi where we talk about drugs and sex, and a possible interview with Mrs. Matthew Good – Jenny Good who is a very cool chick and i think everyone will be happy to hear from her.

the busblog is rolling along, if not slowly and i wish i could promise you all that i would be able to be more productive but i wont make you promises i cant keep. so i appreciate your patience as i slouch towards bethlehem.

tv:

real world did the right thing last night and didnt bring the cams to bro’s mom’s funeral. i think theyve handled all of this very well. although i did wince when they aired his last phone convo with his mom. that was sorta rough and maybe over-the-top, but i guess he’s approved all of this. but last nights show was super somber.

however i love the fact that the black dude is not only super cool but he has been doing some very subltely excellent things. jason, your boys put a brotha in there who isnt crazy and im thankful.

big brother: i was hoping that howie would throw Maggie up there but i think ivette might get a suprise vote against her. i think it would be smart of howie et al to do the sneaky thing and make James promise promise promise to be on their side forever if they dont vote off his gf. i know you cant trust him, but can you trust The Friendship? i dont think so. and if you vote off james and his girl then youre even again, and i dont like those odds.

the cubs: did they win or lose yesterday? i cant remember. i think they lost. fucking cubs. nomar hit a homer so thats nice. but shit man. i dont have many next years left in me to wait for. i like the corey is back and lawton is in the lineup. i dont like that we traded away Remlinger. but what can you do. i guess with Wood in the bullpen we dont need a left handed set up? sheesh.

ok rockers, im out. my old company E! had kanye west perform at their annual summer bash. figures as soon as i bail out they get someone great to perform – smashmouth played my first year. i guess last year they had LL who was great, but kayne is the man.

im remembering this because of emmanuelles post where she reports on a challenge that i was given.

we were talking about morrissey’s new cd and how he sings about how america acts superior because we gave the world hamburger.

i said, we dont feel superior because we gave the world hamburger, but because we gave the world mcdonalds.

some one said, are you serious?

i said, yes, other than french girls and swedish girls, (i forgot to say asian girls but i was drinking, and think even less during those moments) america has given the world everything that everyone loves

and thats why they so desperately want to be like us.

ugly americanism at its best.

and only mostly true.

around 2am we were debating free trade.

we’ve come a long way since dropping acid and gazing at the palm of our hands.

i was all, i have no problem giving Nike a bribe, i mean a tax cut, i mean an incentive for setting up a factory in hollywood so that americans can produce $150 american-made shoes that can be sold alongside the $100 indonesian-made sneakers.

let the lebron james shoes or the new air jordans get made in america. the 75% price increase will more than absorb the cost increase of american workers and the union they will probably join.

and i bet all the cool kids would be more than happy to have the latest kicks made in hollywood… where dreams are born.

tim blair and welch of course poo pooed the idea, unfamiliar with logic and progressive ideas, rigid in their hardlined freeeeee-traaaaaade mantra. ambivalent to the fact that when americans had jobs under clinton the economy boomed, there was prosperity, and there was no need to inject the collective psyche with fear.

their philosophy, i imagine, is that as developing countries come out of their tin shacks to nike factories to earn their $5 a day, those countries will begin to prosper and they can then import american goods and services.

like mcdonalds, ford trucks, and nike shoes.

sorry, but i dont have 100 years to wait for such malarky. and why are some people so hesitant to infusing THIS country with the aid that they’re so willing to ship off around the world?

have you ever spent much time in downtown LA?

it’s my belief that a strong american workforce will inspire a stronger american entrepenuer culture. one that will take what successes it learned here and go to foreign lands and start up newspapers, soul food chains, and Foxy Boxing circuits.

a shoe factory in hollywood or compton in 2004 producing quality trends will not only foster a work ethic that exists in every zip code in this country, but it will create generations of americans who can have pride in what they do, while improving their currently dilapidated community from within.

no offense but fuck indonesia while ive got concerns in my own backyard.

of course my ideals were shot down by the learned gentlemen of letters, so i brought it home.

fine then, screw shoes, i said. screw factories.

america is the worlds breadbasket.

i pointed to blair’s pack of smokes.

i said, from what i can assume, a pack of cigarrettes contain about 1/8 of an ounce of tobbacco. from what ive read, 1/8 an ounce of marijuana goes for about $60.

the cost of cigarrettes to the manufacturer, including advertising and shipping, etc. is probably about $1 a pack.

i said, you could put a $14 a pack tax on marijuana cigarrettes, if you had the free trade courage to legalize it, and with the tax and production revenues, pay for all the education and free health care that the dems cry about, but you could also pay off our debt and probably have a little left over for all the bombs youre dying to drop on the taliban.

america would have an export that could be made in the usa. the quality would be unmatched. their boys, big tobacco, would have the new product they are dying to release, and the enviornmentalists would be thrilled because hemp would replace trees for producing paper.

and the Christian right would be appeased because god’s happy plant, so perfect you plant a seed in dirt, water it, and it creates a weed that when ingested makes you smile, would be freed to do what He intended it to do.

but the only reason you wont do it, i posed, while lifting my half drunken bottle of rum at them

is because youre racists, and you know that by keeping weed illegal, you keep minorities under your thumb, and in prison

where you think they belong.

and thats why people take me into dark alleys and beat my ass when i say shit like that in the xbi.

welch and blair, gentlemen that they are, just laughed and called it a night.

sk smith + small island girl + all alex + two years ago today

we must find a better word for that). although i give glenn a hard time every now and then he does deserve his props.

for rightwing propaganda hes pretty much at the top of his field. and Lord knows toeing the party line has gotta be tough under this administration without even once saying “goddam those motherfuckers are so full of shit today even I can’t stand it!”

but somehow he soldiers on and delivers twenty to thirty posts a day on a variety of topics from “whoops look at those nincompoops the NYT” to “hey look at those idiots over on the left” to “omg look at that fat drunk teddy kennedy” to “fuck the UN” to “lets talk about space”.

while most of you slackers are lucky to post three times a week the instapundit has already lapped you before you take your first bong rip, and for that reason alone you should respect him.

he also gets more hits an hour than most of you will get your entire lifetime and thats why you should fear him.

because i still have a little resin in my cranium i chose to discount his approach, content, and lack of transparency but hopefully i always pepper it with not-so-sarcastic praise and awe because what he does is far tougher than it looks. shit, even drudge gives the dems some love once a day and doesnt have the balls to claim to be moderate, let alone libertarian.

people ask me all the time why i spend so much time paying attention to the good professor and i always want to say that a blogger who ignores the instapundit is like the oakland a’s trying to ignore the yankees: you might not like the way they do shit but youre a fool if you dont study them and find their weaknesses and exploit them to all hell.

one day guys like glenn and charles at lgf will sit down with me or allow me to podcast an interview with them and you’ll see that i kid because i love, and i do love instapundit.com if for anything he makes me feel punk rock and honest and young and transparent.

and its nice to know that my hits have doubled each year over the last two years without an instalanche, which should be a lesson to all of you: you can diss those who could help you and stil thrive. you can criticize those you respect and not be shunned. you can tell it like it is and not be buried. so speak your mind young bloggers and dont worry about burning potential bridges, as long as your critiques are factual and not personal you have nothing to fear.

however, if you kiss the right people’s ass you’ll get hella hits. so choose your battles and be wise about who your allies might be.

in yesterdays post the instapundit says that he doesnt editorialize much any more and he’s right, he lets those who he links to do his dirty work. learn from that young jedis. learn from that.

happy blogiversary instapundit, youre one of my favorite bloggers and most-read blogs, you give me a clear insight into the right and i appreciate it. maybe one day you wont be scared to send your readers here. i promise to send them back.

most of em.

kovixen + the fat guy + matt welch + little green footballs + photo of alecia

starring Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen, Qiu Yuen, and Zhi Hua Dong as Donut
written and directed by Stephen Chow

this summer ive been treated to some excellent films.

one of them i cant talk about because it hasnt come out yet, but the other one, kung fu hustle, is now available on dvd and it deserves the busblog’s highest rating.

in the same way that i wonder how much more the red state mentality can wash over america, i wonder how far movies can be stretched in its imagination, in its quickness, and in its seamlessness.

stephen chow is a creative little bastard and his vision is realized in kung fu hustle in the same way all the geniuses at Looney Tunes imagined it and saw it realized on the screen.

the thing about chow, though, is he does it with real people proving that animation is kid stuff.

its funny, dangerous, thrilling, awe-inspiring, beautiful, touching, and full of crouching tiger meets matrix fighting.

at times it feels like a musical, at times it feels like a great cartoon, and at times it feels like a video game where every boss has to fight with each other.

for a while jackie chan was the ultimate in chinese kung fu, but in this film stephen takes that chan blend of comedy and violence to a higher level, a much higher level. the most unlikely characters will kick your ass in ways that ive never seen on screen.

there are bad guys who can do things to you that seem defenseless but just like in a video game theres a way to beat them, the only question is, can you do it before its too late.

at the root of most great films is a sense of spirituality and redemption, of goodness and honor. theres none of that in this film. until the right moment. its at that time that you realize that chow is a genius, and his filmmaking was simply the vehicle to get us all there.

the only other movie ive seen of his was shaolin soccer and although it was funny at parts, it was overthetop and i turned it off after a little while. in this film he took what he was learning and he molded it and then went wayyy over the top but it works here because it wasnt exaggeration for exaggeration sake, it was exaggeration because he had mastered his craft.

i cannot think of a negative thing to say about this film or a flaw in its design.

we are taken to another world, we are introduced to a variety of interesting and unique characters and we like them all, even the most cruel, and we are treated to some of the best duels and most ridiculous slapstick and it all makes sense.

im not so sure that chow would have been able to make this movie if films like the matrix, crouching tiger, star wars, or drunken master II hadnt preceeded it. but what he does so interestingly is take all the special effects from those films and use them for his own means as if they were new colors to his pallete.

and i love that the bad guys use the hand axe, my favorite of all weapons.

four million stars.

schuey + tara + imdb listing + frozen toothpaste

and had heard of me was surprised when i bashed an anonymous negative commentor yesterday.

he heard that i was a super cool very nice guy.

and thats right, i am usually percieved that way.

unless you fuck with me or my friends and then the xbi agent is summoned.

last month some bloggers who didnt really know me but were jacking my style were suprised when the super nice hippie born again love love love blogger showed his dark side.

oh ive got a dark side america. you bet i do.

like you, im a complicated human being. but i think that confuses people sometimes. it shouldnt.

i love the cubs and chicago and my family, but i hardly ever visit them.

i love my friends and isla vista and the beach, but i hardly ever see any of them.

i love music and living in hollywood and i love rock shows but i hardly ever go.

i love girls and fucking and drinking and partying, but this summer i barely left my house and i didnt even go on one date.

and the strangest of all, i love reading and writing and blogging and publishing my own shit but this summer i barely wrote anything, i read nothing but blogs, and even though i have a perfectly good book (or two) that would probably earn me about $4-5k, ive sat on it and havent released anything.

i love the bible but i havent seriously studied it in years and years.

i love writing poems and i havent written any poetry in years.

i love my apartment but i havent fixed it up, i have a lawyer friend and i havent sued my landlord, i just left a crazy job at a tv network and i havent written down my experiences anywhere, i watch pretty much everything good on tv and i havent told you about it.

one of my good friends is editor of the music section of the local weekly and i havent nurtured that relationship, i have about five chicks online who would get naked for me in a click and i havent asked them to, ive got a resume and a personality that would make me a millionare but im not interested. in fact i dont even know what i want to do except blog for someone. and yet i havent even tried very hard to do that.

the good people of odeo last week hooked me up so i could podcast from their site and i havent tried it out yet. my friends from my old job want to have a farewell party for me (its overdue) and although i love them im dragging my feet on that. i have two new printers that i havent taken out of their box, i have tons of pics i would love to scan but i wont, i have tons of books i want to read but i dont. ive had people ask me to write screenplays with them or create tv shows or write books for humungous publishing houses but i tell them all thanks but no thanks not because i wouldnt like to do those things one day but today isnt the day and hell if i know why its not.

i get bored super easy but ive never cheated on a girlfriend. in fact im the most loyal man there is and if i fall in love with a girl im in love forever and im in touch with almost all of them for the exception of those who dont want to be in touch with me for whatever reasons.

i love chicago and baseball and harry caray and bill veeck but if comiskey park burned down i would laugh and piss on its embers. fuck the american league and fuck the chicago whitesox.

im a devout Christian but im not so sure about forgiveness. if youve fucked me over and you want me to forgive you you need to write your apology out, cut your finger and dip your thumb in the blood and stamp it next to your signature, and maybe i will forgive you. if youre lucky.

but if youve done me right i will be there for you day or night, at all hours, your faults will be strengths, your blemishes will be beautiful, i will tell you repeatedly that i love you and i will mean it and i will defend you and fight for you and when i fight i win because how dare anyone even consider trying to go toe to toe with us.

i love my readers, i love my commentors, and i dont mind if people have constructive criticisms, but they better be right and they better not be anonymous because the lord blessed me with the power to communicate and with power comes responsibility and sometimes its my responsibility to call people out on their shortcomings.

some people like that responsibility, i dont, and so when im forced to cull it up im pissed off and resentful because that energy, i believe, could be used in better ways for better people. and i hate the fact that idiots get to have my attention even for a second when it should be paid to someone who i love or miss or admire.

people should write fan mail once a week. i do it because i get it and i love it and i want to pass the buck in a nice way. so when i find myself writing hate mail to someone i feel like its taking away from the fan mail that i should be writing and on top of it they dont deserve the beauty that my hate creates.

the real world made me cry today.

i did laundry.

i talked to my momma

and told her twice that i loved her.

now if the cubs keep losing im going to kill somebody.

paige + xtx + preshrunk + he knows words