Quo Vadimus


Saturday, July 12, 2003

 

Fun with Roth. #012:

We use a Toyota.

[assist: E.]

posted by QV | 11:43 AM


Friday, July 11, 2003

 

He walked the streets a solider and he fought the world alone.

Nina Gordon covers Skid Row's "18 and Life" (3.47 MB .mp3) and Cinderella's "Nobody's Fool" (2.56 MB .mp3).

posted by QV | 7:58 AM


Thursday, July 10, 2003

 

The new Mean?



Thanks to a PSA on rockcriticsdaily, I found this new-ish magazine and an article about it. A column by Thurston, David Cross in patriotic gear and a wig (not quite Vincent Gallo in his JC pose, but still fun) on the cover, and it's free? Sounds pretty good to me.

posted by QV | 9:29 PM

 

How about a banana?



Tipped to this article by rockcriticsdaily.

posted by QV | 12:40 PM

 

Fun with Roth. #011:

Zen pen.

posted by QV | 10:39 AM

 



[Note: There's a very inside joke at work here, and I can assure those on the outside that it is very hilarious indeed.]

posted by QV | 7:47 AM


Wednesday, July 09, 2003

 

In yesterday's ILTR, DYLTR? post, I ended with a little Kevin riff. Well, it may not be a new MBV record, but it's a start.

posted by QV | 9:19 PM

 

Book of the Moment, first in a series. #001: Mr. Show - What Happened? - Naomi Odenkirk (2002, GloboChem®/Westcan Printing Group).



So I've been reading this Mr. Show book that Bob Odenkirk's wife, Naomi, wrote. The bulk of the book is a great, thorough Mr. Show episode guide. That's what I expected. The first 90 pages, however, turn out to be this wonderful history of like everything that has been good about U.S. comedy in the last 15 years. It also makes it pretty clear that the two main forces in this comedic goodness were the two Bob's: Odenkirk and Smigel. And it's very fun to see all these names pop up (Jeff Garlin was Janeane Garofalo's roommate!) and realize how all these people were somehow linked up in Chicago, Boston, San Fran, etc. Essential reading for fans of this stuff.

posted by QV | 10:54 AM


Tuesday, July 08, 2003

 

I Like These Records, Do You Like These Records? #007-008:
Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living (1992, Def American) & The Buried Life (1993, Def American)



Yes, that Bruce.

I've certainly been out of the Laner loop and had no idea (I guess I missed this Fork newswire item from last December!) that Medicine were back and had a new album coming out in the U.S. on July 15th. With Shannon Lee! Neat.

Hey Kevin, how 'bout you round up, say, Michelle Yeoh and make another MBV record? Thanks.

posted by QV | 7:43 PM


Monday, July 07, 2003

 

"I love Fantagraphics, but they're a bunch of boobs sometimes!" says Chip Kidd, associate art director of jackets and special projects at Knopf, who's also largely responsible for Pantheon's stellar line of graphic novels. "The idea that Fantagraphics is a publisher but also puts out this comics magazine that dive-bombs its own products—it's just crazy! They'll run a review that rips apart something they just published!"

posted by QV | 9:43 PM

 

Not that much here, just the standard sports thing of "If x happens, I'll do something wacky!" The media will have some fun with it! Maybe people will forget we stink for a news cycle or two!

What I like about this link is that first pic of Lou laughing it up, and then that second pic where he looks about as displeased at doing something as one can be.

posted by QV | 12:28 PM

 

Fun Movie News. #002:



PING PONG is about friends, heroes, competition, ambition, purpose, direction, affirmation, love, passion, dedication and PING PONG!

[Update: I got this on DVD via eBay and while it's not quite as glorious as Hyperbole Harry thinks it is, it's a damn good ping-pong picture/coming-of-age-sports-drama genre riff. It's overlong at nearly 2 hours and some of the key matches are not as gripping as they should have been (impressive debut for director Fumihiko Sori, but I wanted more wide shots of fierce rallies and less close-ups/freeze-frames of individual shots), but it's full of fun characters and mostly delivers the goods on the pong scenes. Homage is paid to countless films, such as The Karate Kid (contentious Larusso/Miyagi thing going on; a character gives a victory kick using the "crane technique" after a winning shot; there's a rival squad a la Martin Kove's Cobra Kai villains; and late in the film, a key match involves an injured leg. Unfortunately, no Beth Shue!). As the Knowles quote in my original post indicates, the film explores common themes, and it's very effective at capturing the intense desire to be the best at something (at one point, a character echoes a line from The Natural where Robert Redford's Roy Hobbs states that his goal was to walk down the street and have people say there goes "the best there ever was in this game.") without being a jerk about it (e.g., the generous sportsmanship of the Josh Waitzkin character in Searching For Bobby Fisher). The biggest find here is Yosuke Kubozuka as Peko. It's a fantastic performance, played nicely against the more reserved, somber Arata as Smile, a better player who lacks the competitive drive needed for the highest levels of the sport. For most of the film, Peko is a fast-talking, comic spirit (I laughed out loud in one scene in which he's listening to Springsteen on his headphones and yelling "Born!", ignoring Smile's pleas to finish it with "in the USA."), but there's a part in the middle where Peko becomes disillusioned with pong, grows his hair long and starts smoking and I thought of Jackie Earle Haley's magnificent work in The Bad News Bears films. I think Kubozuka may be Asia's answer to Gael Garcia Bernal.]

posted by QV | 7:39 AM


Sunday, July 06, 2003

 

Cruel Intentions.

Vintage Joss riffage:

IGNFF: There was a recent interview that came out with Freddy Prinze, Jr. ...

WHEDON: The thing about the nonsense? He was quoted as saying, "Sarah had to deal with a lot of nonsense," and I was like, "Okay, Fred. I never saw you on set, so I'm not really sure what you're referring to, but bless ya. Bless ya. By the way, I still know what you did last summer, buddy."

IGNFF: Scooby Dooby Doo.

WHEDON: Oh god. There was tension on set. Not everybody was best of friends, and in fact we did not link arms and sing "La Marseilles." But we made the show as well as we could for seven years, and you know, everybody made it together.

IGNFF: Was there a sense of burnout towards the end, as far as everyone looking on to what the future was going to hold?

WHEDON: Yeah, that started around season three. So it was sort of like, "We're still here, guys. I know you guys are doing movies, it's very exciting ... Oh, so it's Dangerous Liaisons, but with kids – that's going to be fun. We still have to make the show. Is anybody with me?"

----------

Full 10-page interview here.

posted by QV | 7:59 PM

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