This · is · Retarded

That's pretty much all I got this evening... more tomorrow probably.

So I haven't posted since like... January...? Been busy but still logging in fairly frequently since I've gotten my computer back up and running. I lost about 25 gigs of music as well as movies and (the least recoverable) a shit-ton of writing that I had been doing during my latter days in Vegas and the first month or so of being back. Kind of depressing having to start an autobiography all over again, especially when I was pretty fuckin happy with what I'd already penned. Anyway... life goes on.

So I picked up a job working for "Cingular, now the new AT&T"... entailed six weeks of classroom training to learn the ins and outs of the billing systems, policy/procedure, and pretty much everything else that would fall into the scope of what you need to know to work in a call center for the company's major business customers. Right before finishing that training I interviewed with the data department seeing as how they don't really require time in title for internal hires when it's nothing but a lateral transfer. Hired on two weeks into my on-the-floor training in the billing department. I've been on the phones in this department now for like six weeks (after four more weeks [up to 12 weeks here] of training) and the difference is night and day... we take no concumer calls, all mid to large sized business accounts, and get to play with PDA's, Blackberries, and smart phones all day learning the ins and outs of the devices so we can walk our customers through the settings and frequent troubleshooting. We also have upgraded permissions on our computers and can access more of the external web on our PC's which is rad because I can catch up on gmespot and rotten tomatoes during my downtime. Plus the pay is good and there are literally hundreds of career paths to go through while working for AT&T. So enough about work.

Been out to a couple of shows since relocating, the most notable of which was getting to see Jesu perform live (vastly enjoyed considering I was never fortunate to see Godflesh due to having issues getting into America every time they were slated to play a show I intended to go to). Going to see Sunno))), Earth, and Wolves in the Throne Room on July 7th which will be sick... especially considering how awesome the most recent output by the two headliners has been (Earth's Hibernaculum is fucking jaw dropping). And speaking of music, I haven't been able to quit spinning the new Earth CD, as well Ahab's Call of the Wretched Sea, Agalloch's Ashes Against the Grain, or Wormed's Planisphaerium... fucking excellent tune-age if I do say so myself.

Planning to drive down to Portland some time in July or August, also, since it's been forever since I've gotten a chance to wander around Burnside. Should be pretty rad, and I've got a few old friends down there that it would be cool to hit up for a day of chilling out and catching up, shooting the shit and.... shit, heh. But I'm going to try to take a real vacation sometime in September or October when I think I'll venture somwhere that I haven't been yet; either Chicago or New York, though I'm leaning more toward the Chicago choice since I have family relatively close to there. Next year, though, once I hit my year mark with the company and have garnered some more vacation time, I plan to hit up my fatherland abroad and see the sights in fucking Germany, with a potential tangent to Prague. We'll see about that endeavor.

Also picked up a Nintendo DS Lite as a birthday present to myself (considering that I ventured past my 31st year last week). Had notions originally of getting a PSP but opted not to, considering that while from a hardware standpoint the Sony handheld is superior, there's far more potential for innovation with the DS. Picked up some games, and strangely, the most impressive title I've gotten so far is Super Street Fighter II Turbo for the Gameboy Advance (yes, another perk of the DS is it's capability to play Advance games)... come on, tell me this doesn't spark memories for at least some of you:

It's crazy, though, because I haven't played that since I used to hit up Zones Arcade in Bellevue or Quarters in Kirkland and that was at least 10-12 years ago. Regardless, it's pretty much the best port I've ever played, but it's fucking hard as hell because I can't remember any of the special moves. Gonna take some shit in for trade tomorrow, too, because they also had King of Fighters (another port for the Advance), and I've always been a sucker for the old SNK games and they seem to translate well from the arcade stand-ups to the handheld systems. Still need to find copies of Tekken and Metal Slug for the Gameboy Advance, which is a near impossible task, considering that I after I play through the two Castlevania games for the DS, there won't be another new DS title I'm really looking forward until Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword sees it's October 1st street date... about time Tecmo fucking put something into the line-ups of handhelds out there, because this guy's a fucking genius when it comes to programming:

For you folks not inclined to give much thought to video gaming this is probably reading like a bunch of fanboyism, and admittedly, I can't deny that Tecmo's Team Ninja are already responsible for one of the greatest games ever made, Ninja Gaiden Black/Sigma (the former an original XBOX title that redefined and reinvigorated console platforming, the latter a glossed over and refined port of the former for the PS3 that has yet to be released)... so my point is I'm stoked for that. Plus, as an added bonus for us console freaks supporting the XBOX 360, the Darkness will see it's street date at the end of this month. Considering it's put together by the same studio responsible for Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (quite possibly one of the greatest first person shooters I've ever played), I have high expectations... and with Mike Patton voicing the titular Darkness, I really don't see how it could come out poorly.

Saw Hostel II on Friday night and was quite impressed... I know a lot of critics would argue that Eli Roth's ode to giallo/exploitation style of maverick filmmaking is anti-art and reprehensible, but I think they miss the point. Roth has more talent in his pinky finger as a director than most Hollywood directors currently churning out quote film unquote. He's cheeky and sadistic and refuses to pander to what critics want, rather delivering a visual feast for the gorehounds disgusted by the lack of plot and tedium that plagued the Saw movies, as well as the teen-friendly PG-13 cuts of current films by sell-outs like Wes Craven and pretty much every hack out there that feels they need to either remake an American horror classic (Hills Have Eyes, ironically, directed originally by Wes Craven) or superior Japanese films (Ring, Grudge, etc). I'd throw Roth in the same camp of respectable western directors as John Carpenter (his Pro-Life episode in the Masters of Horror anthology proved to be as compelling if not more so than his classic Prince of Darkness), William Friedkin (Bug was a great return to his grassroots as a maverick director), Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez (Tarantino never lost it, but I had doubts regarding Rodriguez until he unleashed Sin City and his half of Grindhouse; another amazing return to form), Stuart Gordon (who proved that he could side-step the boundaries of horror with his direction of David Mammet's play, Edmond, and will finally helm House of Re-Animator, hopefully a sequel that lives up the standard his original set along with his classics From Beyond, the Pit & the Pendulum, and even Dagon), Tobe Hooper (who set one of the standards of mixing exploitation and horror with his original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Eaten Alive films), and Rob Zombie (say what you will, but Zombie's riff on American horror cinema is slick, twisted, and compelling in the same way Carpenter's early films were in the late 70's... in fact as much as I hate to admit it, I'm fucking hyped for his Halloween remake, because I believe he'll actually do the origianl justice). Point being that the filmmakers I've listed have never succumbed to the whims of establishments like the MPAA or even Hollywood's expectations for consistent schlock. They make movies for themselves first, everyone else second, and I wouldn't hesitate to consider Eli Roth as having the same mentality.

I don't have much else on my plate, so on that note... I'm fucking goin' to bed. It's 4:30 in the goddamn morning... not that I have anything to do tomorrow, but there's always a slim chance that something will come up.

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Solarbabies

Oh man... I'd rather watch Prayer of the Rollerboys than that again.

Down in the Valley came out on DVD as well, and I will be bootlegging that shit. Supposedly Edward Norton's best role since Fight Club. I really wish he was more consistent than he is. So many of his movies are trash and filler (Keeping the Faith as an example). Primal Fear, People Vs. Larry Flint, American History X, Fight Club, Kingdom of Heaven, Down in the Valley, and the Illusionist being his real standout roles. Anyway...

Fucking October 9th, here at the House of Blues in Vegas will be graced by Celtic Frost, Goatwhore, Sunn 0))), and Guttural Secrete. Very stoked for that show.

And that's about all I got for right now.

Maybe it's the cigarette in her hand that makes it so fawkin' sexy... regardless, gimme the hotties from Hollywood's days as Hollywoodland any day of the week over the stick thin, no personality starlets of today's motion picture industry.