More Than Meets The Eye

i'm afraid some of you, my friends, may have not seen the international trailer yet. well . . . here you go (hint, click on the picture). and thank you, Dark Horizons.

i totally geeked out over this trailer. see if you can figure out where. winner gets a special prize. . . that i havent invented yet.

I'm Sorry, The Arcade Fire

I have to apologize to The Arcade Fire. for a while there, i didn't care for them. and not only that, i was vocaly abrasive, and even negative toward their existence. well, i dont know what made me do it . . . maybe it was my interminable curiosity. maybe it was the nagging need to understand people around me, and why they like things that suck, maybe i just needed to use up some downloads on Emusic. whatever it was, the other day i picked up Neon Bible, and, i have to say. . . it is FAN-TASTIC! that album is so good, i must have listened to 100 times already. almost as many times as i listened to Coconut Records. well . . . Arcade Fire . . . i'm sorry. and. . . i salute your genius.

right now i'm listening to that new one by The Shins. so good.

in other news: saw Wilco the other day, out touring for their new album Sky Blue Sky (also great). the show was full of Americans, which was interesting. hearing mostly english around you after growing accustomed to hearing mostly not-english can actually catch you off gaurd a bit. it was a fantastic show, even though they played for, like, 2 and a half hours.

who wants to start a band?

Cola Light /= Cancer!

("/= " means "not equal" in todays discussion)

hooray! after reading some disturbing news today, i immediately went to the fridge at work and grabbed a Cola Light* to read the ingredients. luckily, sodium benzoate is not listed in the ingredients, and there fore will not be breaking down vital parts of my DNA, or causing cancer when mixed with vitamin C in my fizzy drink. oh man, what a relief. however, andy, you should watch out for that Dr. Pepper, which was listed specifically in the article with Fanta, Sprite and Pepsi Max for having that magic ingredient.

*Cola Light is also /= to Diet Coke, the one truebeveredge, though i am getting used to it, as long as its ice cold (sometimes hard to come by). also, Cola Light with lemon /= to Diet Coke with lemon, or Diet Cherry Coke, or that liquid crack of beveredges Black Cherry Vanilla Diet Coke.

also, regardles of the fact that above advertizement is written in German, nobody here has any idea what a "coke light" is, and if you ask for one, they look at you in bewilderment at the strange language you speak, untill a helpful native interjects "cola light" or "coca-cola light" to wich they immediately respond in the affirmative, bringing you your desired beveredge. though getting it cold, or with ice (mit ice), is some trick.

The Apology of Spiderman

well, i finally saw Spiderman 3, and i dont know what everybody is up in arms about. Am i the only guy in the world that actually enjoyed watching it? i mean, seriously! who doesnt enjoy crazy fight scenes, huge explosions, hot chicks, Bruce Campbell as a French maitre de, emo Parker, goth suit spider man, deus ex machina butlers comming out of nowhere, memory loss after a bump to the head (a personal favorite), unresolved setups, lots and lots and lots of characters, "last time on spiderman . . ." opening title sequences, banal speaches by old ladies, Kirsten Dunst, Bruce Campbell as a french maitre de, long FX sequences featuring sand that can form itself into human shape and has the corporeal ability for flight, Goblin Jr. on a flying snowboard, still life painting, internal confilct, bad guys with emotional vulnerability, reinventing the mythology of a fictional institution, serious pacing problems, big explosions, love triangles, silly cameos, alien symbiotes, expositional speaches, explosions and Bruce Campbell as a french Maitre de?

i mean, seriously folks, what did you want? its a comic book movie for crying out loud. now, granted, when i saw the movie, it could have been that i only slept about 3 hours in the previous 39. it could have been the inexplicable intermission right in the middle of the phone call that Peter gets from the police station, offering about a 10-15 minute break, which may have broken up the "narative" long enough for me to not be as bothered by the pacing problems. it could have been that i knew what i was getting in to. i mean, i had talked to enough people who had worked on it to have an idea what was going to happen, and apparently the film industry learned nothing from the catastrophe wich was Batman and Robin.

but that goes back to my big question: what did you want!? maybe our expectations have been set too high recently by such works of excellence as Batman Begins, and the first two installments of the Spidey seriese. but didn't you see Fantastic 4 or the abomination wich was Superman Returns? maybe you were expecting more out of such a huge budget? well, whatever it is, dont be afraid to admit that you had a good time watching it. i mean, it didnt take us to an ancient and interesting little known or explored society for a 2 hour chase scene after all, even though i am sad that they blew up Eric Forman.

it was silly, i enjoyed it. get overyourself, just admit that you love Spiderman.

050607

today in america. cool.

happy birthday to my brother matt, who turns 18 today. on this, his big foray into "adulthood" i give him this sweet airplane which looks totally anime, and can apparently turn on a dime. i wonder if it can transform into a mech. . .


i give him this sweet leather flight suit . . .


and these port-a-potty's , for when he has to pee after a long flight.

good luck matt, have fun attacking the skies.

Happy Riot Day

May 1 in Germany is Labor Day, a national holiday. as such, all businesses and government jobs are closed in observance of people's right to work, and the people plan a riot to show their appreciation. Historically, the anti-fascists have squared off against the police in neighborhoods like Kreuzberg, and have celebrated their hate for fascist government by getting boozed up, throwing pieces of cobblestone at the authoritative figures, overturning and setting ablaze the cars of citizens, and looting shops. lots of innocent rioters get arrested as the police invoke their right to keep the peace, and lots of citizens get pissed cause their stuff is ruined. afterward, everybody goes home, has a brotchen an rests for next year.

according to reports, the riots have calmed in the last years, as the government has been organizing huge parties with bands and food vendors in an effort to get the people dancing instead of fighting, and it appears to be working. because, after all, when you have a beer, a bratwurst and David Hasselhoff performing at the foot of the Brandenberg Gate, what is there to fight about? i suppose we'll see tonight . . .