Zeitgeist

Health Benefits of the Ultra-Geek Lifestyle

2008-08-05T10:17:37Z

1. Likelihood of skin cancer is zero. Period. (Cancer from the microwave; now that's a different story...)

2. Likelihood of contracting HIV or another STI is virtually nil. The internet: like a condom, only digital.

3. Significantly reduced impact-related damage to the joints. (With the notable exception of carpal tunnel and/or "gameclawitis"...)

4. Significantly reduced exposure to contagious disease. An ounce of reclusion is worth a pound of cures.

- Dr. Nick

My predictions for "Dark Knight":

2008-07-21T19:40:43Z

1. "Why so serious?" will become the clever-dick catchphrase of 2008, supplanting "More cowbell!" as the most omnipresent pop-culture reference in America.

2. This year's Halloween will see more Jokers than all the other Halloweens following a Batman release combined; as well as a fair share of Two-Faces. And yes, unfortunately, it will entail acts of assault and vandalism inspired by the characters...

3. Social networking sites will suddenly develop a rash of Joker user-icons.

4. Heather Ledger will posthumously win the Oscar for Best Supporting.

5. People will ask: "What ever happened to 'Hellboy 2'?" Meanwhile, the executives responsible for scheduling its release concurrently will have committed corporate seppuku.

fusako @ 2007-11-29T22:17:00

2007-11-30T06:18:53Z

I only just "discovered" that TV-Links.co.uk got shut down this weekend. Has anybody else noticed this?

LameXor...

Daily Double: Film Genres for $400

2007-09-14T18:13:01Z

I have a special challenge question for everyone out there:

I challenge you to name a single Black science-fiction film.

Rules and Guidelines:

1. The contemporary definition of "Black Cinema" is contentious at best. For the sake of argument, Black Cinema shall be defined accordingly:

"A film that concerns itself with the Black experience, either directly within the plot through the struggle between characters, or indirectly, informed through the story's encompassing universe."

Meaning, that there must be some element of community present in the film, tacitly or not. A solo Black character does not constitute the basis for the film being "Black" unless that character is in some way tied to a community that identifies them as Black.

2. The contemporary definition of "science-fiction" is a broad genre by its own right. Therefore, to bound the discussion, I shall define science-fiction accordinly:

"Realistic speculation about possible future or contemporary events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the laws of nature and significance of the scientific method." (Robert Heinlein)

By comparision to fantasy:

"Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible." (Rod Sterling)

3. Exemptions:

- Sayle's Brother from Another Planet

I list this to get it out of the way. To my knowledge, this is the only film I can think of that somewhat satisfies both conditions, albeit problematically.

Other than Sayle's film, I believe it will be rather difficult to come up with another eligible film, which is the entire point of this challenge.

----------

Why do am I going to all the trouble of setting up this challenge? Because I'm afraid its impossible to beat (outside of Sayle). And I believe it is important to consider. Why? I submit for your consideration that following:

Individuals are informed by and for all intensive purposes, products of, their society; more precisely the culture within the larger collective society to which they identify themselves with. Individuals, in turn, ultimately author the products of culture and society: books, poems, songs, sitcoms, advertisements, fashions, philosophies, political ideals and movements, etc. In short, people distill their social environment into a form of expression.

If we accept this view as true, then it would be theoretically possible to interpret an individual work, and identify the cultural influences present within. Standard art history analysis.

If we look individually at the genres of Black cinema and science-fiction, I maintain that we will find little to no overlap between the two. Meaning, that the cultures producing Black cinema and science-fiction find no intersection in prior or contemporary society.

The reason why I find this worrisome is twofold:

Firstly, science-fiction is generally considered analogous to the future, or dreams of the future. That is to say, the collective cultural imagination of what we hope the future to be (utopian), believe it probably will be (speculative), or fear it may become (dystopian).

Secondly, if there is no consideration of the Black experience found within the realms of science-fiction genre, what does that say about the Black community's place in the future? Could it be interpreted that the collective cultural imagination produces a future without a tangible, cohesive Black community? Or more abstractly, could it be interpreted that the collective cultural imagination responsible for Black film does not see itself in the future?

In short, this boils down to the question: why aren't people making Black science-fiction movies?

Question asked, I should follow-up with the nuance: filmmakers vs. studio excutives. What does and doesn't get made is determined as much by those in control of the capital required to produce a film as the writer and director who envision and author the work. That is to say, hypothetically it would be possible that there are a fair number of Black sci-fi scripts floating around waiting to be optioned and green-lighted. After all, studio execs are notoriously bad at judging the tastes of the consumer-market...

That said, wouldn't America want to see a Black sci-fi movie? Would you?

Don't Copy that Floppy!

2007-05-15T01:40:34Z

fusako @ 2007-04-06T19:21:00

2007-04-07T02:25:11Z

KOMA/AMOK

Food chain bondage

2007-02-02T08:07:49Z

Sheep in wolf's clothing
To prey on what they are
Depravity it seems to be
(A Cannibal's no predator)

fusako @ 2007-01-04T14:32:00

2007-01-04T21:32:54Z

Let me blow you somethin' sweet

Here's the Straight Story:

2007-01-03T19:20:14Z

David Lynch is having a reading and book-signing on the 20th at 2pm, at the Barnes & Nobles in Eastridge Mall in San Jose.

Who wants to go with me?

Celebrities Amok!

2006-12-14T02:14:21Z

WTF

fusako @ 2006-10-31T14:40:00

2006-10-31T21:40:11Z

Don't you hate it when you get a great, quasi-original idea at the eleventh hour, only to realize there is no time to implement it?

Boo-urns...

A: "Haiku!" B: "Gesundheit"

2006-07-06T17:38:57Z

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Spam email poetry... ?

2006-07-05T16:32:01Z

Ah its a sad thing that one of my smaller pleasures at work is ready the random garbage emails my work account receives. This is one of the more cryptic:

exemption
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standards nice relief
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tiles. FME
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truly

Enjoy

Chinjeolhan Geumjassi

2006-06-30T20:42:58Z

Dear Diary,
Today I started my quest for vengeance. I know that it will involve being a bad-ass Korean, beautifully unorthodox cinematography, and exquisite torture..."

"... it will be chronicled in a film - the kind of which I've been dreaming about, for all my long days in that Korean women's prison. Now that I've be released, I can indulge my fantasy. Of course, with some help from the tres chic wardrobe department..."

... assisted by dear friends I've made in the big house, I hope to convince enough Americans to witness the cycle of punishment and retribution unfold. I hope for their sake, they do not forget they are dealing with Koreans..."

"... or else"

Geum-ja Lee: What do you mean, "I forgot to catch 'Lady Vengeance'" when it was still in theatres?!
Mr. Baek: I'm sorry! I was busy kidnapping children and making snuff-films!"

TO BE CONTINUED

Nathaniel and Mark, I'm banking on you guys... ;)

2006-06-28T22:34:30Z

Can anybody recommend good introductory sources on cadence and counterpoint? I want to revisit music composition over the course of my work "hiatus" and would like to take the opportunity try and expand my (very basic) understanding of music theory...

Like all thieves I steal - without effort or consciousness, the very air I breathe is taken by force

2006-06-09T23:30:21Z

Find your own pose!

I thought about this in German class...

2006-05-16T07:24:39Z

Why is it that people are doubtful of perfect beauty, but not of imperfect ugliness?

Moreover, why do we commonly draw a parallel between the polarity of perfection and imperfection to beauty and ugliness?

What does it mean that the extreme for one (ugliness and imperfection) does not elicit the same distrust as it does for the other (beauty and perfection)?

Why did beauty betray our loyalties? Or rather, why did we ever give perfection our trust in the first place?

Fertig

2006-04-12T18:37:29Z

Funny that I spend all my time on a computer, but never in contact with anyone I really know. That is, not a customer.

Aside from cleaning up the apartment some more, spending most of my time with Jo, and going to Deutsch Vorlesungen, not a whole lot has been going on. Well, I did finally get my bumper repaired for $900 (not too shabby).

Except for the time some strange, possibly lost, Italian tried con or kidnap me. I still don't know for certain.

I was just leaving the bank after having deposited my scanty paycheck when a black Infiniti SUV pulls up alongside me. Through the passenger window I hear: "Es'cuzz a me! Es'cuzz a me!" I turn to face a man dressed in a nice black suit, wearing a flashy watch, and reeking of cologne. His tellingly euro-style long man-hair is greying at the temples, but I'd guess he was still young enough to have recently sired young children. I can't recall if there was a wedding band or not.
The thick accent inquires, "You'a speak'a Italiano?"
"No. Aber, ich kann kleine Deutsche sprechen." My best offer. And this was a profound mistake.
From that point onward we try to communicate in pidgen German; his accent was just as bad in that language as well. I couldn't quite make out exactly what he wanted from me, but I found it highly suspicious once things got going.
He offered a business card to me that had GEORGIO ARMANI centered in bold, snooty type. There was something about getting directions to an airport and a car rental, but what I found odd was that he also flashed an envelope of cash and a poker chip, and tried to give me a leather jacket from the same company. The whole time he kept repeating "fertig" over and over. It was a word I'd heard before and should have known, but for some reason couldn't remember. Later, figuring out it meant "finished," I realized it probably would have made the context of his request more intelligible.
Frankly, I find this kind of overwhelming generousity from strangers highly suspect. For one, I could only ask myself what this fancy-pants Italian was doing in the South Bay of all places. Moreover, why he was hanging around a bank to get help. I couldn't help but wonder if he was some kind of predator.
With that, I decided that I should split, and bid him adieu. He started calling after me as I walked back to my truck - at first "please help me!" then "how much you make? How much you make?" I drove off.

Did I overreact? I still can't decide. If he really was genuine, he would have been in trouble; I doubt very much that he would easily find another American that can speak a continental european language. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth. But better than kind, eh?

Yesterday, I went to Target Masters with Mia and Jo. We shot a Glock 17 and a snubnose .357 (like the hardboiled detectives have). The latter was like detonating dynamite in your hands. My wrist hurt by the end of my ammo.

Need to write more. Later.

The moral: always shoot from playback. Period.

2006-03-09T05:40:42Z

God... make it stop... the agony...

fusako @ 2006-02-23T12:11:00

2006-02-23T20:15:46Z

The ISP of my troll has complied with my request for action against their abuse and has blocked traffic to my site from their port 80.

In the words of Dan...

0WN3D!!!

Rash

2006-02-22T03:07:44Z

I don't know whether I should be really annoyed or really amused by recent events in my LJ.

Talk about bizarre twists of karma...

fusako @ 2006-02-20T02:43:00

2006-02-20T10:44:36Z

Apparently I have trolls...

Gorier, Sexier, Mediocre

2006-02-18T09:36:04Z

So I saw "Underworld: Evolution" with Jo.

Dunno quite what to think just yet. I had really high hopes going into it, cuz I am a big fan of the first film, and was eager to see where they took it. Unfortunately, it seems that serial films are suffering from the "Matrix Syndrome" these days - the second was technically superior, but narratively inferior to its predecessor. Color me biased, but there are two strikes against the second film in terms of craft, one in terms of personal taste.

What I like about the first film* is that there is a lot of give-and-take between the heroes and villians in the vagaries of fortune. I recall in my scriptwriting class that a "well balanced" script balances fortunes: when one character's situation improves , another's worsens (not just between direct antagonists - "winning and losing" in other words). I feel such a balance exists in the first film - such to the point where it gets difficult to determine true allies from true enemies - a more organic way of complicating the characters.
Herein lies my major problem with the sequel: the character relationships are much too straightforward. There are no betrayals, no turns of heart, nada.

Overt simplicity also founds my other criticism of the film: for all the expanded budget on new locations, the linear trajectory of the story arc echos its geography. Its basically a race story, where the only change is who is chasing whom, and why.
These two things together make the film feel like a Dragon Ball Z episode: chasing leads to fighting leads to chasing, and the solution to obstacles is brute force; meaning that all the characters become ridiculously inflated in their abilities by the end of the story (hence the Dragon Ball Z "Chronic Badass-ness"). Strength and lethality beget more strength and lethality. Its tiring.

My personal criticisms revolve around the deployment of eroticism. The sex scene was awkward, as I know the lead actress and and the director are married. I mean, I feel really bad for Speedman: how would you like to have some woman's husband tell you how to correctly fake-fuck her? "No no! Here's how we do it at home..." Not only that, but that the director's objectifying his own wife. It estranges me from the moment too much.
I dunno - the nudity just felt weird.

That said, big thumbs up for the CGI/SFX. Much smoother; the transformations were pretty cool, and much more sophisticated than the original.
Also, the fight choreography has improved a great deal.
And Beckinsale's costume continues to get my stamp of approval. It is hott.

BTW, there is, of course, a huge, HUGE set-up for a sequel...

* the contrived romance in the first installation is, and continues to be, my only major qualm. The first film would have been SO much the better without it.

Itte!

2006-02-17T03:24:50Z

Nohari no Fusako desuyo!

Forsaking my better half

2006-02-13T22:44:41Z

"Boredom is the sickness until Death"

I've been working this eBay sales position for a few months now, and I'm not really caring for it much. In many respects, it feels just like school again: Watching the clock, trapped in a feeling of panicked desperation that there are still X hours left in the day; screwing around to burn time cuz I don't really know what I'm doing, each phone call instilling the same terror of a teacher calling on you, cuz they're about to find you out.

Partially, I'm starting to realize that this job really doesn't pay well enough. I know of other jobs with just as much "waste time" that pay better.

And I have no desire to "work harder to earn better" either for that matter.

Sometimes I feel like I am beating my head against brick windows. I get this sense of being "inside" all the time. A persistent claustrophobia.
Maybe if I didn't approach structuring my life in my own terms in such a half-assed way, it would actually be successful for once.

I think it is very important that I take my wants more seriously - or rather, more passionately.
I am not a passionate man. I think that is my sickness until Death.