Sdtrk: ‘A girlfriend is…’ by Vena cava

Unfortunately, despite the fact that we’ve got a month until Festivus, it’s pretty much been cancelled this year, on account of Michael Richards acting like a complete fucking twat. Now, I’ve seen the video of him ranting onstage, and followed that up with his apology on Letterman, and I’m still trying to assess it all.
Stand-up comedians get heckled all of the time; it’s part and parcel of the trade. Richards has been in that business for a long time, and I’m certain that he knows there’s a professional way to handle hecklers, and then there’s the other way, which is to let them get to you. You could say ‘yeah, he lost his rag, but people who get angry say a lot of things they don’t necessarily mean in the heat of the moment,’ and I would agree. But he didn’t stop with a sentence — he just went on and on with it, to a disturbing degree. To me, that indicates that he wasn’t just going for the shock value, this was a nerve that obviously got touched, and he was off shouting things that might well have been inside him for quite a while.
Me? I hate plenty of people. Tons. Do I hate them because of their skin colour or race? No, I despise them because of how they behave. And ultimately, that’s how Richards should’ve conducted it. If they were making a ruckus, well hey — that, as they say, is showbiz. But the shit that he’d said isn’t stuff that you just say off the cuff. He shouldn’t have said it. He honestly shouldn’t have been thinking it, but you can’t control how people think. Unfortunately.

A lot of people remarked that after this, his career has been effectively shot in the face, but unfortunately, Mel Gibson is still working; more than likely, with his best pals, the Jews.* However, Gibson probably has more money than Richards — as he told his arresting officer, he owns Malibu — so there’s that to consider.

Then there was his apology on Letterman. Before I’d seen it, I was quite sceptical, as I just saw it as him really trying to cover his ass after the fact. In day-to-day affairs, I’m much more of a cynical individual, and personally, I think most people are lying much more often than they tell the truth. But watching the apology segment from start to finish, he does appear somewhat sincere — he’s realised he’s made a grand mistake, and seems penitent about it. He was visibly getting frustrated at points, mainly cos Letterman’s audience was at points laughing… I don’t know if they thought he was making some misplaced attempt at humour, or if they were laughing cos they simply didn’t know how to react.
I guess if Richards is genuinely honest about wanting to make amends, we’ll see how he goes about it in the next couple of weeks. I did notice one thing, though; his apology was a general one to everyone present that eve, and to ‘Afro-Americans’ *coughshockinglyoutdatedcough* everywhere, but he didn’t really specifically say he was sorry to the two hecklers.

It’s occurred to me that I’ve talked more about mainstream media with this single post, than I ever have in the entirety of ‘Shouting etc etc’, which means that this was almost a waste of a post. But I’ve loved ‘Seinfeld’ for years, and it could be argued that the only reason that I’m writing this is that it’s due to a performer that I enjoyed, making horrible remarks that affect me on an obvious level.

So! Onto other news: I dreamt last night that I had taken a nap for an hour, cos I had to go to class later that eve, in order to turn in my final paper. But when I awakened (in the dream; yes, it’s rather meta), it was still sunny out, but I knew that I had overslept by several hours. I’d attempted to check what time it was, but my alarm clock and my watch both read 7.77. Well, my watch read 7.77, and the clock was 7.73. Understandably, I was panicking cos I had no idea what the hell time it really was…
As an aside, you notice there’s no speaking clock anymore? I don’t know when they finally got rid of it, but you can no longer dial (area code) 555.1212, and hear the Robot Lady announce, with unerring precision, what time it was. Or is. If they fired her, at the very least, I hope she has a decent job now.

‘Even a stopped clock is right twice every day. After some years, it can boast of a long series of successes’
— Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

And speaking of automata and mainsprings, new YouTube videos are up, cos it’s that time again (pun not intended). Happy 23rd, and Happy Cholera Blankets Day! Go listen to the new Ricky Gervais podcast!

*Don’t get me wrong; in Mad Max, he was a badass, but then he started crapping on about that stupid religious cult he’s in, and therefore lost all respect from me, as well as anyone else with a functioning brain in their head

Sdtrk: ‘For o, for o, the hobby-horse is forgot’ by Harrison Birtwistle

I have to apologise for the deafening silence (ho ho ho) recently, as I’m trying to get used to my new work schedule. It’s bizarre; we work evenings on Monday and Tuesday, and mornings Wednesday through Friday. Having no consistent time which I’m supposed to set my alarm is an awfully pointless exercise. Who’s to blame for this??
Also, I’m kinda in a writing slump, as evidenced by the poor showing since the 5th of the month; and no, I don’t rate the last two posts at all, as they are (in order) a linkdump and a YouTube video. I don’t feel entirely bad, as quaisi is in the midst of a null-writing period right now as well, but still.

To be honest, I’ve been distracted lately by the fruits of INTERNET PIRATES. Over the course of the past week and a half, I’ve watched all six eps of Aim for the top! 2 and all five episodes of Battle fairy Yukikaze. Being a big fan of the original ‘Aim for the top! Gunbuster’, I’d resisted seeing Diebuster for a while, as the FLCL-style character designs seemed incongruous, but after watching it with an open mind (HINT: technically, it’s not a sequel to Gunbuster), it was rather fab in the end equation. Yukikaze, on the other hand, had some astounding aerial combat scenes, but man, the homoerotic tension between Rei and James was ridiculous. Heh; on 4chan‘s /m/echa board, they call it ‘Brokeback Airforce’, and rightly so. And then I picked up Burger King’s Sneak King and Pocketbike racing today. Yes. Eminently entertaining!
Then I considered throwing in the towel and switching ‘Shouting etc etc’ over to Blogger Beta cos its categories capabilities is filling my pants with joy, but apparently there’s been some conflicts with HaloScan interacting rudely with it, and obviously, I don’t want to lose all of your lunatic lovely comments. Plus, as SafeTinspector pointed out, as far as Blogger Beta goes… well, let’s just say that it’s called Blogger Beta for a reason.

So, this brings us to here, wherever ‘here’ is, exactly. I’ll knuckle down this week and handcraft something worth reading, as sure as my name is Hans Christian Andersen*

*N.B.: not actually my name

Sdtrk: see below

Looks like I’m in another one of those gaps between writing, it seems. Not only that, I begin my new job today — more fundraising-over-the-phone shite, but this has more hours and it pays better — so in the meantime, here’s a video by one of my favourite bands, The Jesus and Mary chain, with a song that gets played all too often when I’m demolishing my opponents at high-speed in ‘Burnout: Revenge‘. Enjoy!

Sdtrk: ‘The maze’ by Zeigenbock Kopf

Yes, despite all evidence to the contrary, I actually do have interests in subjects that aren’t Gynoids or RealDolls. ‘The devil you say!’ you say. ‘I say!’ say I.

+ Two of my favourite architectural ‘modes’ are Space-age (duh), and Urban decay. Combine the two, and you get the abandoned and possibly haunted San Zhi resort area in Taiwan!

Behold: the ruined corpses of good architecture

+ file under ‘Games That Are Too Spectacular To Be Released Domestically’: Derek sent me a link a couple of weeks ago to Kamiwaza, a game for the PS2. Made by Acquire, the wonderful humans who developed the ‘Way of the Samurai’ series (which I still play now and again), Kamiwaza has you controlling a thief in Edo-period Japan, sneaking round, not being seen, and emptying houses of their precious bootay. He’s got the traditional green-with-white-vines bag that thieves used to use back then — must’ve been union rules — but apparently it’s near-bottomless. If you scope the videos on the site, you’ll see he’s nicking things that are like three times the bag’s size. It looks fun and entirely engaging, and that’s why it’ll never reach the States. But then, I’d said that about Zettai zetsumei toshi, Katamari damacy, and Okami, so…

+ If Shi-chan bowled more often, this would be a fab gift for her, methinks: a Brunswick-made Hello Kitty bowling ball. It’d go well (?) with her Hello Kitty vibrator. That vibe makes a great shoulder massager, by the way, much how I suspect the bowling ball wouldn’t

+ Laibach have a new release out, entitled ‘Volk‘? The devil you say! As long as it sounds nothing like ‘Jesus Christ Superstars’, I’ll be pleased, cos that album sucked so very, very much.
Apparently Laibach, much like 98% of the world’s population, have a MySpace. Guh. Have I told you how much I despise MySpace? Dodgy layouts / unnecessary .mp3 ambushes / scene & emo kids / shitting all over proper English — this would be the death-rattle of civilised society as we know it. Unless the MySpace blog I’m viewing is by or sponsored by the actual band — for regrettably, quite a few of my favourite artists and people have ’em — I immediately disregard whatever’s written on it. It’s much like if the original creators of the Magna Carta were to have written it up in crayon on some sheets of wrinkled control paper; there’s no way you could take it something like that seriously. Heh. MYSPACE: Making Livejournal Look Stylish and Credible.
Sorry, was I ranting? Mea culpa! Anyway, new Laibach Cd out now

+ I’m catching up with a few television shows, thanks to INTERNET PIRATES, such as Life on Mars, recommended by my friend Marika — a police officer from our time gets struck by a car, and wakes up in 1973. Has he travelled back in time? Is he in a coma? Who knows??!?; Dexter, a serial killer working for the Miami Police is attempting to catch another sociopath who murders and dissects his victims with (literally) surgical precision; and Torchwood, the Doctor Who spinoff — Buffy + X-files + a dash of contemporary Doctor Who + swearin’ and snoggin’ + Capt. Jack Harkness = Torchwood. It’s… okay. It’s certainly no Doctor Who, I can tell ya that. Proudly filmed in Cardiff, a fact that they’re not willing to let anyone forget…
Honestly, I need to forgo watching any further episodes of all of those shows until I’m done watching all 50 episodes of Turn A Gundam and Kamen rider 555, as those have been sitting idly by

+ Last Saturday eve, my mate Jeff showed me two of his latest DVD acquisitions: Classic Media’s ace reissues of (most of) the Showa-era Godzilla films. He’s grabbed ‘Mothra vs Godzilla’, and ‘Godzilla raids again’, and if you purchase them from the site, they’re a snip at $15 apiece. Each DVD contains the original subtitled film, as well as the domestic release, and a passel of extras. Plus, the packaging alone is pretty impressive.
Apparently, they’ll also be releasing ‘Ghidorah the Three-headed Monster’, ‘Monster Zero’, and ‘Terror of Mechagodzilla’. *throws devil horns*

+ Despite the unavoidable fact that Lady Sovereign is filthy Townie scum, I found myself laughing like a drain at her ‘Love me or hate me‘ video, as any video featuring a ghost hamster is A-OK in my book. Hell, anything featuring a ghost hamster is something to be treasured

+ Finally, finally, finally. One of the finest anime serials ever made is getting a worthwhile release on DVD!

INAZUMA KIIIIIIICK

GAINAX’s ‘Aim for the Top! Gunbuster‘, released through Bandai’s Honneamise label, will be out domestically in February. That package alone is raw sex appeal.
Now all Honneamise (the distributor) has to do to win my total approval is re-release one of the finest anime feature films ever made, ‘Wings of Honneamise‘, and give it the same treatment. We await with bated breath

+ And it appears Blogger has been rolling out a new iteration of their bloggin’ software; this version (Blogger Beta) apparently — finally — has categories.

Huh.

*now shaking with rage*

ta very much to Derek & Jeff for some of the links

Sdtrk: ‘The weeping dancefloor’ by The caretaker

Normally, I don’t plump for Orient industry’s CandyGirl Dolls cos most of them don’t look mature enough for me, but their new Jewel Rosa line has a certain je ne sais quoi that’s captured my attention. I’m thinking it might be their generously-sized dirty pillows.

N.B.: not to be confused with the Pixies‘ ‘Surfer Rosa’

According to a Japanese Doll news site filtered through Babelfish, it says

Name of truth striking of Orient Industry with “Jewel Rosa”, with atmosphere new work 3 of heads seems that aims toward the doll of the adult. It meaning that product information is not announced yet, details are unclear, but, because it made the naming, “Jewel Rosa” specially, it probably means being the essential difference in size of the bust and other than tenderness. In other words to the framework which past from the framework, it is can do posing slowly evolution (?) That you think whether it is not to do. As for the head, Koyuki (18), Ami (22), Sachiko (26) with, the kind of air which the supposition kind of age which is said separately is produced does. Furthermore, start of incoming order November 2nd from 9 o’clock in the afternoon.

Ahh, machine translations: truly High Comedy. But you get the gist of it, I’m sure. I hope!
More news on the Jewel Rosa series as it rolls past me

Technorati tags: Orient industry, CandyGirl

Sdtrk: ‘The pink’ by Medicine

Happy Pagan New year, people!

I, ah, don’t really have anything else to report at the moment. Sidore and I can offer you this, however:

Oi, where’s her necklace?

That photo is six years old, by the way. And it certainly looks it. But the sentiment is still relevant!

That’s all! Go listen to the new Ricky Gervais podcast!

*’Every day is Hallowe’en’, of course

Sdtrk: ‘Watch that man’ by David Bowie

Anyone can write a story. Not everyone can write a good story, though. And not every one of those everyones can write a good story using only six words. Calling these writers ‘adept’ is being far too verbose, so I’ll just call them ‘a’.
I’m reminded of the Shakespeare quote ‘Brevity is the soul of wit’, and the faster, better version, ‘Brevity is wit.’
(Airlifted from Penda’s Diner)

Very Short Stories
wired.com | Issue 14.11 – November 2006

We’ll be brief: Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words (“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”) and is said to have called it his best work. So we asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves.

Dozens of our favorite auteurs put their words to paper, and five master graphic designers took them to the drawing board. Sure, Arthur C. Clarke refused to trim his (“God said, ‘Cancel Program GENESIS.’ The universe ceased to exist.”), but the rest are concise masterpieces. (edited for space)

Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
– Eileen Gunn

Vacuum collision. Orbits diverge. Farewell, love.
– David Brin

Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.
– Joss Whedon

Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
– Alan Moore

Epitaph: Foolish humans, never escaped Earth.
– Vernor Vinge

It cost too much, staying human.
– Bruce Sterling

We kissed. She melted. Mop please!
– James Patrick Kelly

It’s behind you! Hurry before it
– Rockne S. O’Bannon

I came up with a handful whilst at work today; most of them were shite. I found that a number of what I’d written were almost epigrams; one was ‘The Rolling Stones — still alive. Why?’ — that’s not a story. Funny yes, but not a story. It’s almost harder than haiku!

+ Falling, he regretted nothing. Except breakfast.

+ Angry bears with hatchets; hilarity ensues.

+ A singularity? That’s impossible! OH SHI–

+ The cats knew, and fled first.

+ Anneke’s exposed mechanisms gave her away.

+ The Liston knife — Jack’s favourite tool.

+ In battle: ‘I forgot my pistol?!’

+ ‘You’re my Doppelgänger?’ ‘Yes, now die.’

and my personal fave:

+ This sandwich tastes funny. Like… flesh?

If any brave souls care to try their hand, go for it and leave your results in the comments. Mindbending but fun!