Brad Sucks, Making Me Nervous
I Don't Know What I'm Doing (2003)
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Ryan's Book Review: The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman
Cat Power, Lord, Help the Poor and Needy
Jukebox (2008)
Synopsis: Pullman's retelling of the New Testament stories of Jesus casts him in a humanist light.
Review: I was unaware of this little book until I saw that Kelly had downloaded it for her Kindle. It made me curious so I started reading it on the airplane and it was pretty good. It gets a little boring in some parts if you're familiar with the depictions of Jesus's life from the Four Gospels; because it is a retelling so much of what has been told is just...um...retold. It's all worth it by the time you get to Jesus's lamentations in Gethsemane, however.
The whole book is fairly clever if not original. Pullman's version of the Jesus Christ story does not purport to be any sort of newly discovered account, and certainly makes no claim of divine revelation. It's simply a story, one where Mary conceived twins, one named Jesus and the other named Christ. Jesus was a virtuous rabble rouser, Christ a more conscientious and complicated scribe charged with the duty of writing down Jesus's doings. Christ is convinced that he ought to embellish the details a bit for the sake of future generations, and to ensure that the words and deeds of his brother not be diluted by mere mortal history. There's a fair amount of play going on with the archetypes--particularly Christ as Judas--which adds a new dimension to the theme of whether we're made in God's image or we've made him in ours that I've been hung up on for years. And like the Jefferson Bible, this book not only shows how easy it is to find virtue in Jesus's teachings without necessarily subscribing to the notion of his divinity, but also makes the case that there may be more virtue in the humanism of those teachings than in the versions concocted by superstitious and/or megalomaniacal religionists.
There's another interesting angle in there that, reading as a Mormon, kind of resonated with me. There's an "angel" who works with the brother Christ to instill a sense of purpose about the creation of Jesus's mythology. Coming from a Mormon background, it was interesting (disturbing?) to see the similarities between the angel's justifications for embellishing and whitewashing certain facts and arguments in favor of LDS correlation. And Boyd K. Packer's infamous "There is a temptation for the writer or the teacher of Church history to want to tell everything, whether it is worthy or faith promoting or not. Some things that are true are not very useful" quote might as well be words right out of the angel's mouth.
Whether a believer or not or somewhere in between, it's a worthwhile read.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Orlando 2012
Jarvis Cocker, Black Magic
Jarvis (2006)
Last week we took off for Orlando, Florida to visit Harry Potter Land and Disney World. The Hogwarts ride (a.k.a. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or something like that) was super cool and Hogwarts was also super cool, as you can see by this picture.
There was also a Dragon Challenge roller coaster, which is one of those roller coasters where your feet hang off. In the line for that is the car from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Here are my family members standing next to said car.
Here is a picture of all of us in front of Hogwarts. Some dudes from Ravenclaw took it for us. Ravenclaw is kind of a lame house, of course, but it was really nice of them to take this picture.
Seriously though, it was really amazing. Harry Potter Land is in Universal Islands of Adventure, which is a whole separate theme park from Universal Studios, but both were way cooler than I even expected. In addition to Harry Potter, there was a whole Marvel Comics "Island" with a neat Spider Man ride. There was also a Jurassic Park land that was really cool with lots of dinosaur stuff, and it had an amazing boat ride that I would have enjoyed more if I weren't so worried about my camera getting wet. I liked Islands of Adventure a lot. Universal Studios was really cool, too. There was a really good roller coaster called the Rip Ride Rocket or something that literally made me cry. And The Simpsons ride was hilarious.
Disney World blew my mind with how big it was. It's essentially four almost-Disneyland sized parks, all separate from one another. The first land we went to was Animal Kingdom where they had more dinosaurs. I found a Hidden Mickey on this one, which is the first and only Hidden Mickey I've ever found.
Here is the big tree in the middle of Animal Kingdom with the whole family out front. That's a really big tree. There is a cool ride in Animal Kingdom called Everest where you go backwards on a roller coaster. The line to that ride was really good. Maybe it is because I am becoming an old geezer, but I almost enjoy the lines as much as I do the rides (speaking of lines, the Harry Potter lines were incredible) but it was a really, really good roller coaster--probably Disney's best, if you ask me.
Animal Kingdom also had this cool safari ride with lots of real animals. Here is a big elephant with what must be a very short, very skinny elephant standing behind it--er, um, wait. I guess that is a boy elephant. How's it hanging, Elephanty?
Honestly, I didn't notice that until I uploaded this picture.
The next day was Hollywood Studios, which was my favorite land and my favorite day. I knew that they had updated the Star Tours ride since our last trip to Disneyland (finally) so I was really excited to ride it. We turned the corner toward the ride and I saw that the Disney World Star Tours exterior is way cooler than the Disneyland one. As you can see, there's a gigantic AT-AT and Ewok Village. That was so cool. Then the ride itself is awesome. It's 3-D and changes every time you ride it.
But the best part was, it started up, and then Darth Vader zoomed in and said, "I know you're hiding a Rebel Spy" or something like that, and this picture popped up on the screen and I was like, "What...who...wait a second...THAT'S ME!" There was a picture of ME and I WAS THE REBEL SPY, which about gave me an aneurysm of joy. And then we took off and went into hyperspace and went to Tatooine and got in a podrace and then a hologram of Princess Leia came on and talked about how important it was that the Rebel Spy (i.e., me) be safely delivered. That was the best day ever. I rode it six times, including the very last ride of the day, and on that very last ride, I WAS THE REBEL SPY AGAIN.
Here is Zack in an R2-D2 hat.
They don't have an Indiana Jones ride, but they do have an Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, and Zack and Lily had read about it and wanted me to volunteer to be Indiana Jones. There were over 2000 people in the audience, but I stood up and waved anyway, and sure enough, I got picked. But I didn't get to be Indiana Jones, since he was a highly trained stunt man that did many flips and a lot of rope climbing. Instead I got to be a camel jockey (unless that is racist, in which case I was simply a Cairo Citizen).
Here you can see me in my authentic camel jockey/Cairo Citizen wardrobe. That was fun and exciting, although Zack was disappointed that I didn't get to be Indiana Jones.
Like I said, I kept making everyone go back to Star Tours, and one of the times Kelly and I reenacted the entire Endor Speeder Bike sequence from Return of the Jedi.
Here is me on Star Tours for probably the third or fourth time. I effing loved that ride.
This picture isn't from our vacation, but I accidentally uploaded it and it is super cute so I am leaving it.
Speaking of super cute, here is Kelly at the Magic Kingdom, which is the Disneylandiest of the Disney World lands. Specifically, this is Kelly on the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, which for some reason she used to like at Disneyland. The one at Disneyland has been turned into Tarzan's Treehouse, and it's kind of neat, but she missed. the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. I thought it was kind of meh at first, but if she likes it enough to make this adorable expression, then I guess I like it too.
This is the whole clan at the Pirates of the Caribbean. The line for this is way cooler in Disney World than in Disneyland, although it cuts out a lot of the actual ride. Lily is a big Pirates fan, so it was neat for her to go on this one. She also liked the Haunted Mansion ride, which is quite a bit better in Disney World than in Disneyland.
All in all, it was a really, really fun trip. I am so glad we went. I think I will always like Disneyland the best, but Universal made me a fan of its parks, and the experience of Disney World was totally awesome.
Especially Star Tours. Which I rode six times. And was the Rebel Spy twice.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Ryan's Year End Cavalcade of Whimsy
Cobra Verde, Play With Fire
Copycat Killers (2005)
Just a few things to wrap up the year:
1. Thanks to my mom, I went and saw the Axl Rose Band a.k.a. Guns N' Roses 2.0 a couple of weeks ago. It was super awesome (way, way better than in the video to which I linked, which isn't even that bad--okay, Axl sounds like shit in that video, but he sounded great when I saw him; not vintage Axl, but still great). I'm more or less of an original line up purist, mostly because of my affection for Duff and Slash, but after reading about the guys in the new version of the band, I have to say, it's pretty legit. They're not just a bunch of session guys, they're all rather accomplished journeymen with lengthy stints in respectable bands like the Replacements and Psychedelic Furs/Love Spit Love. But it was really, really good and I had a great seat.
Speaking of Axl Rose, you should check out this website.
2. Totally bummed that Christopher Hitchens died. Love his writing. Love his voice.
3. We're going to Disney World and Harry Potter Land (Universal Studios) next week. I'm excited.
4. Maybe I will do a year end review of favorite albums, but probably I won't. I never finished last year's list, and to be frank, nothing new really knocked my socks off this year. Instead I spent most of my music energy scrounging up older gems. The best discovery I made this year is John Frusciante's The Empyrean (released in 2009). Fucking incredible, phenomenal album, and in my top ten of all time.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Marvel Universe
Mogwai, Superheroes of BMX
Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003 (2005)
First off, this is Apocalypse, and he is my favorite Marvel guy, and is easily in my top ten of all the figures I have. He's just really cool. He fights the X-Men.
These aren't really Marvel Universe guys; they're guys from the Captain America movie, but close enough. I've got another one of those Hydra Agents somewhere still in the package but I can't find it. They came out in comic color variants (bright green and yellow) and I got one, but I had to trade it away for a Flame On Human Torch, which you will see below.
Here's some big bad guys. You've already seen Apocalypse. The other guy behind him is a Destroyer; he's from the Thor movie. He has a little button on his chest and when you push it he lights up. And then up close is Thanos. He is cool because you can take one of his hands off and replace it with the Infinity Gauntlet.
Here's Daredevil and Bullseye, hanging out on some stairs. The Daredevil movie sucked, didn't it?
Speaking of sucky movies, here are the Fantastic Four. I have always thought these guys were super lame, but I read a couple of TPBs and kind of got to like them, even though they are super lame. Johnny Storm a.k.a. Human Torch gets killed (he just barely came back) and gets replaced by...wait for it...it's Marvel, so you know it's either Wolverine or Spider Man...Spider Man. They ditch the blue suits and get these white suits and change their name to the Future Foundation. I've got the Future Foundation variants of Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl, and Thing, but I will not display them until they make a Future Foundation Spider Man.
Here's the aforementioned "Flame On" Human Torch. They made a Flame Off version, but it looked like shit and didn't match the other three. I'd seen this variant three or four times but figured they'd never get around to making an Invisible Girl, so I never bought it. Then when they put out a set with all three, I had to chase down the Flame On version and, like I said, trade away a comic variant Hydra Soldier. Totally worth it, though.
Here's the X-Men, which is what got me in trouble with this line in the first place. I saw the Wolverine on clearance and got it for like two bucks. I told myself I would just snag a couple of guys and round out the X-Men, and then be done. But the Cyclops only came in a two-pack with Hulk, and since I had Hulk, I figured I might as well round out the Avengers, and then it just kind of snowballed from there. I think that Archangel is kind of tough to find. And I want to upgrade both my Cyclops and my Jean Grey, which is convenient because they are in a two-pack that I saw at Toys R Us not too long ago (with my luck, they'll be all gone by now). I waaaaay overpaid for my Colossus and Kitty figures, by the way. When I was looking for them, they were nowhere to be found, then after I paid a premium for them off of eBay, I started seeing them all over the place. That kind of shit happens to me all the time.
Here's the Avengers. I deliberately tried to keep them kind of old school; there are much more updated versions of Thor and Iron Man, but I like them hokey. I need to get a much hokier version of Captain America, which shouldn't be too hard. Fucking Wasp and Ant Man, by the way. I had to buy figures I didn't really want just to get those little suckers, so I hope you appreciate them.
See Dr. Strange back there? Not technially an Avenger (no, I'm not counting the New Avengers), but woo~ ooh~oooooooh~oooooohhh...straaaaaaaange.
Here's Ghost Rider. I don't know what the crap I'm supposed to do with him. They're never going to make any of his bad guys. That motorcycle isn't a real accessory, by the way, but I bought a bunch of them to go with my Dreadnoks for my GI Joe collection and loaned one to Ghost Rider for this photo shoot. I actually bought this figure just so I could use the head in one of my GI Joe photonovels (see it here--and yes, that's Red Skull's head, too. Now you've killed the magic). I also bought Silver Surfer to use in a scene where I was going to have Baroness walk in on Destro naked (see, his body's totally silver...get it? But Destro's head doesn't fit on the Silver Surfer body. Sorry.) but I lost his surfboard and don't want to display him without Galactus anyway.
You know this guy, it's Magneto. Not too keen on the weird spooky face paint job, but whatever. He came out in more traditional colors, but was in a two pack with black costume Spider Man, and I knew that if I ever got that, I'd just wind up collecting Spider Man guys, too, and really, I don't need that (I came really, really close to doing just that today; I had Rhino and Venom in my cart but better sense prevailed and I put 'em back because I know I'll never find the Electro now that I need him, even though I used to see all the damn time).
Here's a couple of Magneto's minions from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Juggernaut and Mystique. My Mystique has kind of a lousy paint job, but I was lucky just to find her; she was kind of tough to get (female figures with humongous boobs are a hit with nerds...go figure). Alex, if you're reading this and want me to open up your SDCC Sentinel and display it with these guys, I totally will. Just say the word. Those are Skrulls standing back there behind Juggernaut.
Finally, here's Dr. Doom. He's one of the guys I had to buy to get Wasp. That bald guy behind him is Absorbing Man; he may have actually been the other guy I had to buy--I honestly can't remember but once I can get a 1:18 Loki I'll be glad I have him. I guess I'm glad I have Dr. Doom, but they released him in cooler colors recently and I kind of wish I had that version instead.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Classic Rock
I read this article about how 90's bands shouldn't be played on classic rock stations and I totally disagree.
Here's why:
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Little Volcano
The Dead Milkmen, Little Volcano
Not Richard, But Dick (1993)
I shot this episode several months ago and have been keeping it in the can. It's not very good at all, and using Bazooka to channel my personal existential crises is downright ham-fisted, but at least it finally introduces a critical character in the development of the story.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Ryan's Book Review: It's So Easy (and Other Lies)
It's So Easy (and Other Lies) by Duff McKagan
Guns N' Roses, Patience
GN'R Lies (1988)
Synopsis: Guns N' Roses bassist tells his side of the story and then some.
Review: This is the best rocker memoir I have ever read. Duff is so freaking cool. He covers all of the sex, drugs, and rock n' roll stuff, but he's a way better writer than most of the dudes that put books like this together (as my pal/hero Sonny Rock pointed out to me, Duff also writes a weekly column for ESPN.com). If you're going to read one rocker book, this one should be it.
Duff describes his childhood and growing up in Seattle and playing in a bunch of punk rock bands but eventually deciding to move to L.A. to try and make it there. For his first few weeks he lived out of his car and then answered an ad from a guy named Slash to play bass in a band. At the time, Duff had short spiky blue hair and was a punk rocker but then he morphed into a hard rocker as Guns N' Roses got going. I knew a lot of the behind the scenes stuff from reading old articles and of course from Slash's book, but Duff is way better at telling the stories. And I actually learned a lot of new stuff. For instance, I didn't know that it was Duff who counts off to start Patience. And Duff sat next to Kurt Cobain on the flight from L.A. to Seattle that Kurt took to go kill himself. And Duff Beer on the Simpsons is actually named after Duff. So there is new stuff, plus all the stories you'd expect, but those aren't even the best part of the book.
The best parts of the book are where Duff details how he got hooked on booze and cocaine, but then got away from it by getting into reading, mountain biking and martial arts. Once he sobered up, he got around to looking at some GN'R financial statements and realized that he didn't know what they meant, so to make sure he wasn't getting screwed he went back to college to study business and finance. He figured out all the GN'R stuff, learned to invest (he was an early investor in Amazon.com and Starbucks because they were Seattle companies), and eventually started up his own financial advisement firm for other rock stars.
But the best part is the part about how he met his current wife and had two kids and just how much he loves his family and how that gave him everything he was looking for with the rock and the booze and everything. It's not just a really good rocker autobiography, it's a really good book.
One drawback is that the book doesn't go into any detail about Duff's recent, albeit brief, stint in Jane's Addiction. I have a Guitar Center Session DVR'd with him in the band, and I guess he contributed to some of the new album (which, incidentally, is apparently shittastic), but I knew he was only with them for about six months. The liner notes mention him being in the band, but the book doesn't talk about it at all. I would have liked to have known a little bit about how that went, and whether Perry Farrell is a bigger douchebag than Axl (I probably would have been disappointed on that front; Duff is extraordinarily gracious to all of his former bandmates, although he is candid about dick moves made by Axl and Weiland). Maybe that will be in the paperback version, because I'd love Duff's take on the abortion that Jane's Addiction has become.
Anyways, I love Duff. He is really cool and really smart and really funny. I am pretty sure that if you read this book (and you should read it even if you don't like Guns N' Roses or Velvet Revolver or even if you have no idea who Duff is) you will love him too.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Sometimes I Pretend I am a Biker Scout on Endor
John Williams, Main Title/Blockade Runner
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
I would write something about how this was from yesterday when I went and did a bike ride for Breast Cancer Awareness, but that would make it too easy for someone to make a joke about my man boobs.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
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