Laugh Riot or The Merchant of Venice

So last night I did some stand up comedy at the Mondragon Bookstore and Coffee House. I had been planning the material for a while, so that I would not embarrass myself. Most of the stuff went over quite well, except for a few of the more risque jokes about homosexuals and foreign aid... but it was all in good fun, with no malice intended. The fact that I got laughs at all was reassuring. I harbour no intentions of becoming a comedian, I just wanted to get more practice at speaking in front of an audience, especially saying things that might not be popular. Well I got that, so case closed.
After the show, Erin and I checked out "The Merchant of Venice" at Grant Park. Despite the movie starting earlier than advertised (we still didn't miss the previews) all went well. Now I've never read the Shakespeare play, but I'd heard that it was very anti-semitic. Holy crap, was it ever. The film did its best to make you feel sorry for Shylock (the Jewish money lender) but could only overcome the fact that everyone in the story hates jews and treats them like dirt so much. Al Pacino was amazing as he took a caricature and made it human. Joseph Finnes and his ugly head was thankfully not too annoying and Jeremy Irons was his typical (except for Dungeons and Dragons) solid self. All in all, it was a great "performance" movie, that had some sweet cinematography but featured some really really anti-semitic stuff. Watching it in context is an absolute necessity.
I got my board games from ebay in! Samurai Swords and the expansion packs to Heroscape. They are both going to be super fun to play, although Samurai Swords seems to take a while, so I might need to set up a whole day type thing. Who ever wants in should let me know!

What the Hell was That? or Wrestlemania XXI is TERRIBLE

Last night Erin and I checked out "Kung Fu Hustle" with our silver city gift certificates. The movie was an insane mishmash of genres and cliches spanning all time periods. You had some Chaplin, Keaton, Road Runner, Kubrick, Chan, Lee, etc. It was like the sum of all the 1970's Kung Fu movies and all the old style silent comedies. It was whacked out. Funny, but whacked out. There's no way you could get all the references in it unless you were the guy who wrote it, which is kind of cool in a way. The movie was almost ruined by this chatty black dude behind us who was making obvious comments like "they killed him!" talking on his cellphone, listening to MUSIC on his cellphone, and generally being a nuisance. I almost started throwing shit at him to get him to shut up, but chose against it. Once the lights came on, I was able to discover that he was a sideways hat wearing, hip hop guy with a trophy white girl girlfriend. Based on what I heard, I doubt their combined IQ would be equal to the channel that CBC newsworld is on. (45 for those who don't know)
I checked out Wrestlemania 21 for the Xbox today, despite the horrid reviews. All I can say is OUCH! The game blows hardcore ass. In my opinion, the graphics are insanely fake looking (save for the faces) and the gameplay is beyond bad. It's funny that no wrestling game has managed to upset No Mercy for the N64 for the title of best wrestling game ever... funny because that game came out like 5 years ago. The only redeeming quality of the new Xbox one, is that you are given all the tools to make Demolition. As far as I know, this is the first game to allow you to do that.

Ears are Bleeding or Cohen Completist!

So last night was the Motorhead concert at the Burton Cummings Theatre. The headliners were preceded by 3 acts, 2 of which were crappy. The openers Damn 13 were uber lame standard fast hard rock types without a shred of uniqueness. They played some unremarkable stuff and some Misfits covers. The next band was called Three Inches of Blood and were pretty much the coolest thing since sliced bread. Well... ALMOST. Their lead singing duties were shared by two people; a bearded fat guy and a scrawny dork. The bearded fat guy could wail like a norse god, while the skinny dork could only grunt and scream like a dying ford. All the stuff that focused on the fat guy ruled, while the stuff with the other guy did not. The most telling example of why the fat guy should have been the sole lead singer came during a brief segway between songs. The fat guy says "this is a song about pirates." A few beats later the skinny guy chimes in "prairie pirates." That should tell you all you need to know.
The next act was Corrosion of Conformity or as the drunk guy ahead of us in line called them C.O.C. Apparently I've already seen them when they opened for Metallica in '97, but I didn't remember. After seeing their performance, I can tell why. Total bore fest. They are a wannabe Metallica who even DRESS like them. The major difference is that Metallica has some recognizable tunes and are showmen, while these guys stand around and play the same thing over and over again. My word on them is: crap.
After 3 and a half hours, Motorhead FINALLY took the stage and played some great fast rock and roll. They were so loud that the building was shaking! Erin was put in serious pain by the decibel destruction and needed to hold her hands over her ears for the majority of the show. Not that I blame her, I mean my ears are still ringing pretty badly! I would say that if the noise level had been put down a notch, the show would've sounded a tad better because it was just so overwhelming that you couldn't hear the vocals very well. But, you get what you pay for. The tickets were only 40$, which is pretty good for 4 bands. While not the best concert I've ever been to, I'd say it was still a pretty good one.
Oh yeah, I finally found the one Leonard Cohen album I'd been missing the other day. For some reason, it's never in any stores. "New Skin for the Old Ceremony" has some classic Cohen on it so I'm pumped. Looking at the cover, I think that I might have figured out why it was not that common to see it on shelves... it's got two naked angels doing it taking up the front AND back sides. Oh well, I have it now, so there...

A Week of Work or Tired Eyes A Plenty

Well this past week was filled with working and the various activities that surround the going to and coming home from work. I even picked up an extra shift on Saturday (at 5:30 am) which coupled with staying out till 1:30 am the previous night, made me a tired boy. I wasn't able to sleep after my shift was done at 2pm so I just stayed up straight through. By the time I went to bed at 4am (after an evening at Ryan's place playing Heroscape and Vice City) I was up for 23 hours straight! Not quite equal to my 26.5 record, but close.
This past week I made a variety of efforts to get out and do something. I signed up for a 16mm filmmaking class at the Winnipeg Film Group, signed up for 2 different Tai Chi classes at the U of M (one standard and one combative), and had an interview at CDPlus (which turned out to be a bust because they only pay minimum wage!). At least I have something constructive to do for the next few months! If the process of making my opus "Zombies in the Toilet" goes well, I'm going to try to make some more short films this summer. I mean, apart from working, what the hell else am I going to do!?!?!? Back to the CdPlus thing... while the job sounded moderately fun and easy, I can't justify working for that little money. With 2 degrees and oodles of experience, I should be pulling in much more than that. The fact that I already have a part-time job that pays 14$ an hour doesn't hurt. I mostly just wanted something to fill in the days, as my job tends to focus on evening shifts. I guess I'll just keep on looking for something interesting to pop up. Or just stick with part time hours and party more...

A Variety of Activities or Back to the Grind

Well this weekend I was up to a few different things, not the least of which was sitting around relaxing a little. For those keeping score, I:
-Went to a mead party. I was not aware that mead in fact contains 20% alcohol. You'd never know it from the sweet sweet taste though. There was a dude there drinking it out of a huge horn! He was so Viking.
-Had a small gathering at my place consisting of Karaoke Revolution, DDR, and Monkey Ball. Once again, Erin dominated everyone, getting scores in the 30 000 range.
-Watched Clue, Arrested Development Season 1, Angels in America (the first disc, I mean there is only so much aids drama you can take at one sitting) and The Color of Money.
-Had some breakfast at Cora's, which is good food, if expensive and not all that filling.
-Discovered and bought the coolest boardgame ever! Heroscape is a crazy game where you have armies from all time periods and fantasies coming together to fight in Valhalla! You can have battles like Vikings vs Samurais or Orcs vs Robots! It's super neat. The board comes in a bunch of interlocking hex pieces that you can stack and attach to make crazy huge scenes (assuming you have enough pieces). The game is already being expanded with more units, scenery, and whatnot. Erin and I tried out a game and it was fun stuff. The rules are complex enough that there's something to keep you interested and thinking strategically, but simple enough to allow pick up and play games. It's like Warhammer mixed with Heroquest. I'm totally gonna get all the expansions and maybe even some more scenery pieces (to allow some massively neat battlefields.) The game combines the fun of lego and the geekiness of fantasy battles!
Well, I'm back to work this week, pulling a Monday to Friday shift. I work everyday 5-10:30pm which is nice since it allows me to have some time before hand to get shit done.
Oh yeah, before I forget, I heard from Rob last night. He told me all of the interesting things that go on in basic training and some horror stories of military hospitals. He seemed to be having a really good time and it's nice to see that he's found something to do. It's still a little weird to think of Rob in the army...
That's enough time on the computer for now.

A Long Weekend or 80's Night Co-Opted!

This weekend is a bit of an anomaly for me. I have the whole thing off! I can't remember how long it's been since that happened! I plan on doing some serious partying down... oh who am I kidding, I'll probably just sit around doing dick all... if anyone knows of anything cool going on, let me know! The only thing that I have planned so far is to attend a mead party at a dude from work's place. He made a batch of home made mead that is apparently totally boss. Having only read about the stuff in fantasy novels and stories about Vikings, I'm curious to try some.
Last night I got all decked out in my velour track suit and attended 80's night at the Die Machine. Not having been in ages, I was surprised to find the whole thing full of "bar-stars" and 18 year olds. Keeping in mind that most of the people there would have no functional recollection of the 80's, let alone personal stock in the style and music of the time, I became slightly embittered by the sudden realization that the whole evening had been co-opted by "those types." You know the ones, the halter top and large chain crowd who would just as well sway to the insipid top 40 music of today as to anything else... as long as there is a crowd of equally inebriated and horny potential hookups nearby. The interesting and eclectic gaggle of weirdo's and odd jobs that were there in the beginning were being forced out into the sweaty confines of the exterior. On the one hand, the place was WAY busier, but on the other hand, it lost its hipster cred. I am fully aware of how elitist this sounds, but the last thing this city needed was another "Scandals" type bar. 80's night used to be a refuge from that atmosphere, now it is fully participating in it.
R.I.P 80's night.

Sin City or I Finally Dropped Some Cheddar

I've been trying to post this for a few day, but blogger's site is being all pissy... what with saying it doesn't exist and all...
I checked out "Sin City" on Saturday and was insanely impressed. Having read some of the comics, I was going in with pre-knowledge. This allowed me to see just how crazy close the film was to its source material. Apart from that awesome fact, the movie was chocked full of awesome: visuals, acting, story, character, and more visuals. This was, hands down, the best movie I've seen this year (although that's not saying all that much...) and one of the best I've seen in a while. Highly recommended!
I also finally bit the bullet and picked up a DS. I had to return it and get a new one though as mine had 3 dead pixels. The games I grabbed were: "Yoshi's Touch and Go" and "Zoo Keeper." Both of which are stylus based action/puzzle games, not something you could play on a console. The clerk at Wal-Mart asked me why I wasn't getting a PSP and the answer I had for him was meh. Why would I want a system that features games I already don't play on the consoles? Seriously, apart from ONE GAME, "Lumines" all that exists on the PSP are ports of PS2 games. Yayyyyy.... sports and racing games.... I'm so sick of those genres... Nothing new has been done in them in years. Give me crazy new styles or experiences any day.