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November 22nd, 2009
 | 09:24 pm - The Prisoner? More Like The Busy Nerd!
I have not heard very good things about AMC's remake of The Prisoner, but I do thank AMC for providing all the episodes of the original series for free this month so that I could experience this 1967 cult classic.
In The Prisoner, a British spy decides to resign his position, giving no reason for his decision. When he returns home, he is kidnapped, and he wakes up in the Village, an Orwellian community where everyone is assigned a number. He is Number Six. But he is not a number! He is a FREE MAN! Yes, yes, I know; that's pretty much all I knew going in. The Village is run by Number Two, and it is Number Two's job to find out the answer to one important question: Why did Number Six resign? Why did he resign? Why did he resign? WHY DID HE RESIGN?!?!?! They really want to know, you guys. It must be really, really important. Because it can't be something as simple as "Oh, I got tired of being a spy and wanted to live a normal life" or "The health benefits just weren't cutting it for me anymore." No, he's probably going to sell out some state secrets or something, so they really really really need to know why he resigned.
Normal interrogation methods are totally passé in the Village. In the Village, you do things like drug the shit out of people and brainwash them and try to drive them crazy in an attempt to trick the truth out of them. Most episodes involve Number Six attempting to escape. To my surprise, sometimes he actually does. OR DOES HE. Seventeen episodes feature many variations on one of a few basic plots: Number Two fucks with Number Six and succeeds, Number Two fucks with Number Six and Number Six turns the tables on him, Number Six fucks with Number Two and succeeds, and Number Six fucks with Number Two and Number Two turns the tables on him. It's actually not as repetitive as it sounds! Each episode is pretty distinct (unless you describe it as "the one where Number Six tries to escape").
What I really liked about The Prisoner was that the political allegory and social commentary are handled much more subtlely than in Star Trek. Now, obviously the conceit itself is clearly a comment on individuality and conformity, but because of that conceit, the stories the show tells lend themselves very easily to asking questions like "How useful is a democratic election when the campaign process is so artificial?" and "Is it worth your freedom to have a peaceful, docile existence?" The Village is supposed to be a microcosm of society, full of prisoners just like Number Six, but most of the people we see have simply resigned themselves to life in the Village, having given up all hope of escape. Sure, every now and then someone will make a token effort (ORANGE ALERT! ORANGE ALERT!), but then a menacing white balloon stops them. Yes, a menacing white balloon. It's like the Smoke Monster on Lost except twice as puzzling. Or half, I can't decide which. Anyway, I liked that the show rarely delivered anvilicious messages and just let the stories speak for themselves.
I was disappointed, however, that the stories were so self-contained. I expected such a popular, influential show with such an interesting premise to have an arc where every episode you learn more about the Village or Number Six's history and there are all sorts of crazy reveals. But no, there is very little continuity (such that there are debates about the best order to watch the episodes [I used the KTEH order]) and there are very few recurring characters. In fact, with a couple exceptions, Number Two is different in each episode, the idea being that if you fail at breaking Number Six, you're replaced. It's kind of fun to have a different shade of the same villain, and the fact that the Village seems to treat each Number Two as if he has always been Number Two adds to the Orwellian nature of the establishment. Also adding to it is the Big Brother-like surveillance everywhere, of course.
Patrick McGoohan as Number Six is awesome and so much fun to watch. He's so unflappable! His whole mien conveys, "Fuck you all, you won't break me, I'm going to escape and you're going to pay, so shut your face." He's constantly half-smirking, and his line deliveries leave no scenery unchewed. He makes it easy for you to root for him.
There are a lot of interesting things about The Prisoner, and it requires you to pay attention since the plots are generally pretty dense (oh, they drugged him again, now I get it...). And it has a finale so famously WTF-y that Patrick McGoohan apparently went into hiding after it was aired. I think it was less WTF-y than the Twin Peaks finale, and I kinda liked it, as it ended pretty much as one would expect it to, thematically. Mostly. Except for the monkey.
The Prisoner was an influential series, and while I generally tend to like modern works more than their influential forebears, I did enjoy The Prisoner on its own terms. It was clever and intriguing and slightly offbeat and totally sixties. I believe that AMC will still have all the episodes online until the end of the month at least, so I recommend checking it out.
Be seeing you.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/confused.png) confused
Current Music: Filter - World Today
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November 17th, 2009
 | 10:29 pm - The Great Winter Road Trip
People of the Southwest! I am planning an AWESOME ROAD TRIP for my Christmas vacation! I have a new car and a GPS and I figure I should put them to good use.
If you live in or near the following cities—or will be in or near them during Christmas/New Year's—this post will be of great interest to you: Los Angeles, San Diego, Tucson, Phoenix, Tustin, San Luis Obispo.
Below is my tentative itinerary, which is subject to change. I am looking for people to see and/or stay with so I only have to do it Winchester-style a few nights. I can repay you in meals and/or mix CDs.
Dec. 22—Drive down to Los Angeles. Stay with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) aprilbegins.
Dec. 23—Do absolutely nothing Lady Gaga-related. But stay with aprilbegins.
Dec. 24—Do Christmas Eve things? With people?
Dec. 25—Do Christmas things? Find someone to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special with.
Dec. 26—Drive down to San Diego. Staying with mutinousmuse is dependent on her husband's health, so I need a backup.
Dec. 27—Do San Diego things.
Dec. 28—Drive to Tucson. Find a Motel 6?
Dec. 29—Hang out with shpyum and, if she is around, duchessdogberry.
Dec. 30—Hang out more! I drove all this way! Feed me yummy food!
Dec. 31—Drive to Tustin via Phoenix. This is the longest leg of the trip, so a brief stop in Phoenix may be wise. Does Tustin have New Year's Eve festivities?
Jan. 1—Play videogames and geek out about Daredevil with equustel. Meet Sokka the parrot. Make equustel download the Doctor Who New Year's Special for me.
Jan. 2—More playing and geeking out. Drive up to Los Angeles. Stay with dahliam.
Jan. 3—Drive up to the San Luis Obispo area to check out the famous Hearst Castle.
Jan. 4—Home again, home again, jiggity jig.
So! Please let me know if you will be in the area and want to see me, so we can make plans. And especially let me know if I can crash somewhere. I will have my car, so it's not like you would be responsible for entertaining me all day.
If you do not live anywhere near the area, you can still be a part of this awesome road trip for, lo, I need road trip mixes! I will be driving for many hours on some days, and Smellerbee could run out of juice or I could get tired of the same 272 songs, so road trip mixes would be cool! If you are up to the challenge, send me an e-mail, and I will give you my address.
I've never gone on a road trip by myself before, just driving from town to town hanging out with friends, so I'm excited. I hope you are too!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/nervous.png) nervous
Current Music: 311 - Creatures (for a While)
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November 16th, 2009
 | 11:27 pm - I Think That I Shall Never See
Wire fans! You really need to watch 100 Greatest Wire Quotes in 10 Minutes. It doesn't hit every moment I would, but, holy shit, it makes me want to rewatch the whole series RIGHT NOW. It really is a fantastic show. I'm sorry, but I've become one of Those People. You really need to watch The Wire, you guys. But don't watch that video if you haven't, obvs. Full of spoilers!
Instead, you can watch the Galactica get repossessed. It's pretty hilarious.
You want to hear something weird? I got a roll of quarters from the bank.
One of the quarters...was a franc.
A 1972 French franc.
What the hell.
This post is inspired by musesfool's love of poetry. I thought that I would share my Bad High School Poetry. Which led to Bad College Poetry. It is pretty terrible, you guys. Even though some of it was published in my high school literary magazine. And there are some good lines here and there. I find them a little endearing now, since they're the only poems I've ever written. But overall, they're pretty awful poems. Enjoy. For the lulz.
( Sidewalk )
( First Day )
( Golden )
( Head in the Clouds )
( Sons of the Apocalypse )
I have not written a poem since. For obvious reasons. The college ones are certainly better than the high school ones, but they're still rather...er, I'll stick to writing prose.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/nostalgic.png) nostalgic
Current Music: Nine Inch Nails - Ripe (with Decay)
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November 15th, 2009
 | 09:10 pm - Writers with Drinks, Burritos, and Fries
A few days ago, I discovered that Javier Grillo-Marxuach, creator of TV's The Middleman, was coming up here for Writers with Drinks, a monthly literary spoken-word variety show. Javi and I met three years ago at an 826michigan event, and he seemed to like me. He sent me a nice message when I found him on Facebook last year, and he was excited to see me at Comic-Con, even wanting a picture. So I figured I'd ask if he wanted to get together for burritos before the event, just for kicks. I assumed he would have more important people to see in his limited time here anyway.
But, in fact, he was totally game. He just had to see about plans with his potential future sister-in-law—I loved that he used that phrase, just as I refer to potential future wives—and he would give me a call. Potential future sisters-in-law surely trump dudes like me, so when I didn't get a call on Saturday, I figured he'd made other plans.
But, in fact, a few minutes before I was set to leave, he called. We'd meet at the Make-Out Room (the venue for the event) at 6:30. Cool!
( Pre-Pre-Party: Dinner with Javi )
( Pre-Party: Putting the 'drinks' in Writers with Drinks )
( The Main Event: Writers with Drinks )
( Pre-Afterparty: Not making out in the Make-Out Room )
( Afterparty: Crepes and fries with nerdy guys (and gals) )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/tired.png) tired
Current Music: The Arrogant Worms - Great to Be a Nerd
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November 11th, 2009
 | 09:13 pm - American Zombie
In the last couple weeks, I've been to a lot of unconventional theatre.
Thanks to cofax7, I got to see American Idiot at Berkeley Rep for free the night before Halloween ($0), and I loved it so much I saw it again last night ($26). Now, I fully admit that my opinion about this show is heavily biased since I am a huge Green Day fan and think American Idiot is a fantastic album. But after a few minutes of the show, I thought, "I WANT TO SEE THIS A MILLION TIMES." The show follows the general narrative of the album but adds two characters, Will and Tunny, who serve as foils to the tale of Johnny, the Jesus of Suburbia. While Johnny goes off to the city and becomes a druggie, Will stays home with his pregnant girlfriend and Tunny goes off to war. I didn't want to know much about the story going in, but I actually had a greater appreciation for the storytelling, such as it is, the second time around since I found that I'd misinterpreted and missed a lot the first time. There's very little dialogue, and the story is told through the songs and staging.
Never having seen any of the classic rock operas, I was amazed at how well this one worked. It translated into a musical as if that's what it was meant to be from the start. I loved hearing the songs as sung by different characters, which imbued the lines with new meaning. I loved hearing Green Day sung by women. I loved hearing various harmonies and counterpoints being brought to the fore by a large ensemble. I loved that members of the ensemble got big solo moments. It brought the music to life in ways I had never imagined. The show includes all of American Idiot as well as songs from 21st Century Breakdown and a couple B-sides. The staging is generally very effective, interesting, and evocative. Standouts include "Give Me Novacaine," which is pretty brilliantly done in the way it highlights how all three leads are escaping from their lives (pot, sex, and war), and "Extraordinary Girl," which is a dream sequence that involves two actors flying around on wires. (It should go without saying that "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Homecoming" are especially well done and interesting.) The choreography, on the other hand, is often kind of silly and nonsensical, consisting of convulsions and randomly throwing your hands around, like some sort of punk rock interpretive dance. But it's like a party on stage! There is a live band along with a cute redhead in glasses playing piano and accordion and conducting when her hands are free. She jumps up and down and sings along and it's really cute.
The lead actor was actually my least favorite because I thought he went a little too nasal and overdid the "disaffected youth" bit at times, but we got an understudy the second time around, and he wasn't as strong a singer or actor and he didn't have the same energy, which made me appreciate what the regular lead brought to the show. I still preferred Will, who wore a Scott Pilgrim shirt, and Tunny, who looked like Matt Saracen and was very expressive with his gestures. They had better voices, too. St. Jimmy was awesome. The women all had very powerful voices. There was a lot of talent onstage: the three male leads all played guitar for some songs. And the show recently added an encore song in which everyone plays guitar—although some of them just learned—and sings "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," which is kind of cheesy but still awesome.
Berkeley Rep held little post-show parties after each performance, so I got to tell the pianist/conductor I thought she was just as much a part of the show as the actors. And last night, I got to tell Tunney and Will they were great. And I followed St. Jimmy down into the BART station. The understudy Johnny also came down and was swarmed by fangirls wanting his autograph. Also, it just so happened my friend Debbie was at the performance last night, so we saw each other for the first time since the last TimeCube gathering we both attended.
American Idiot was awesome, and it's headed to Broadway, so if you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.
On Halloween, I saw Zombie! A New Musical at the EXIT Theatre ($22). The director's note was really super-serious and freaked me out. It was all, "I was inspired by the death of my youngest brother, and how the disease ate away at him and I still loved him and couldn't let it go, and that is the allegory of zombies, and everyone in this play makes selfish decisions, and I've never seen a zombie musical that could be funny and still tell a story UNTIL MY BRILLIANT PRODUCTION CAME ALONG." So I was expecting something really heavy. Thankfully, it was still funny. Sitting in the front row was the best idea because there were zombies on the floor groaning and grabbing at your feet the whole show. They also doubled as stagehands, handing the actors microphones or crawling up to change the set. Sometimes they just writhed in agony. Also, there was a genderswapped Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. And the reporter character flashed a boob during one song at the line "Like a Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction." I didn't hear the rest of the analogy because I was distracted.
There were some entertaining technical malfunctions. The music was recorded, not live, and it started skipping or something during one song. At first the character just started saying, "Cut the music, cut the music," in-character. When that didn't work, the general character marched in and told us there was a technical issue, would we all please just stay in our seats. Then the singer said, "I'll just take this one a cappella." And sang about workin' the motherfuckin' graveyard. It was pretty great, and one guy assumed it was part of the show. Later, during Ozzy's song, she was all, "1, 2, 3!" And the music didn't kick in, so she kept going, "4, 5, all right there we go." It was amusing.
It was a heavy metal musical, and the songs were pretty catchy, especially the title track. As far as the story, it's your typical boy-likes-girl, boy-and-girl-have-sex-on-roof-of-creepy-warehouse-conveniently-located-next-to-a-graveyard, girl-falls-off-roof-of-creepy-warehouse-conveniently-located-next-to-a-graveyard-and-dies, boy-brings-girl-back-to-life-with-government-experiment-zombie-gas-and-accidentally-starts-zombie-apocalypse story. You know, that old tale. My favorite non-zombie-related line belongs to the girl's psychotherapist father, who says, "Violet, it's like you're having a party...and you forgot to invite the truth."
Zombie! was awesome, and you will probably never get a chance to see it, so sucks for you.
This past weekend, I saw Zombie Town, also at the EXIT Theatre ($16). In fact, throughout October, the two shows were playing right across from each other, which led to some confusion. Zombie Town is a documentary play, the conceit being that a theatre group called the Catharsis Collective traveled to Harwood, Texas, and interviewed the survivors of a zombie outbreak in order to tell the story in their own words. It's sort of like The Laramie Project with zombies. Five actors played all the characters, and all five were fantastic. The most impressive was the one woman, who played several distinct characters throughout the show, sometimes switching characters right there onstage. The show was hilarious because it turns out that talking about a zombie attack without actually being shown any zombies can be really, really funny. One of the characters, in describing what the first zombie looked like, described it something like this: "You know how a turkey after Thanksgiving looks with all the meat picked off and it's just the bone with little bits of meat hanging off? Puke on that. And then bury it. And then dig it up and puke on it again and bury it again." After a while, it strayed from simply being testimonials from townspeople and started walking the line between retelling and reenactment, as we watched three characters take refuge in an abandoned cabin.
To my surprise, the show ended up being less a zombie show and more a satire of the healing power of the theatre. One of the members of the Catharsis Collective gave a lot of pretentious monologues about the purpose of the show and what it will do for the community. And then the show broke, like, the fifth wall by having the in-show actor playing a zombie in a reenactment of past events become a real zombie and set off the zombie murders of the entire Catharsis Collective onstage. It was bloody madness. No, really, there was a lot of blood.
Zombie Town was even more awesome than Zombie!, and you will probably never get a chance to see it, so sucks for you.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/sleepy.png) sleepy
Current Music: Foo Fighters - Alone + Easy Target
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November 10th, 2009
 | 10:48 pm - At the Facility on East 12th Street
So we just got Microsoft Office Communicator installed on all our systems. My boss was on her way to my cubicle when she turned and stepped back into her office to give the old IM a try. And this is what she said:
Boss: I forgot to say thanks for doing a good job during our 1:1.
Boss: Thanks.
Me: You're welcome? I don't know what I did.
Boss: You are very intelligent, capable, and dependable. I am reminded of it at least daily. I thought I should say thanks for that.
Boss: If you want me to send this in an e-mail so you can archive it. I will.
Me: Oh! Thank you. I really appreciate it.
Me: Oh, please do. I will pull it out and hug it.
Boss: LOL. I assume you heard that.
(She actually thought I was being sarcastic until I told her before I left that I really would like an e-mail. This is what she sent:
Thank you for being so intelligent, capable, and reliable.*
*Replicated statement from an IM earlier today. I think I lost some of the details, but the intended message remains.
Now don’t get all arrogant and full of yourself.
Smiley face, ☺, :-} The smiley faces are because we were joking about emoticons afterward.)
I keep waiting for someone to figure out I spend half my time messing around online and I am secretly a fuck-up, but I appear to be really bad at being a fuck-up. I must be some kind of fuck-down.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/pleased.png) pleased
Current Music: Filter - I'm Not the Only One
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November 9th, 2009
 | 11:43 pm - There May Be a Toad in Your Bass Guitar
After another delightful dinner at Threehaus—chicken chili and cornbread—with Dan (incidentist) and Gabby and Sarah and Jason, I was introduced to the most amazing Tim Curry performance of all time.
For some ungodly reason, in addition to owning Gummi Bears on DVD, Gabby owns The Worst Witch, a terrible made-for-TV movie adaptation of a book about a Hogwarts-esque witches' school. It looks like it was filmed in my backyard. The titular worst witch is played by Fairuza Balk, and the head witch is played by Diana Rigg. Yes, that Diana Rigg. I don't know how this movie exists. It was 1986. In any case, here comes Tim Curry as the Grand Wizard to star in the most awesomely bad Halloween music video ever.
The video does not include his subsequent departure because he has another...gig.
In exchange, I introduced them to "That'll give you bees."
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/flirty.png) flirty
Current Music: The Smashing Pumpkins - Doomsday Clock
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November 8th, 2009
 | 03:30 pm - Hugs, Zombies, Comic Books, and Indian Food
This weekend, lodessa came down to visit, since I had gone up twice and she owed me a visit and we just picked a weekend and made it happen. Also, it gave me an excuse to clean my apartment. We gerunded quite a bit!
- hugging lodessa upon her arrival
- whisking her away for lunch and parallel parking perfectly—though not on the first try
- beating the Bakesale Betty rush, which deprived her of the waiting-in-line experience, although she got it vicariously by watching everyone else in line
- getting complimentary lemon ices and shortbreads with our fried chicken sandwiches
- extolling the many virtues of the famous fried chicken sandwich—the bread, the large amount of chicken, the cabbage salad, the jalapeños
- enjoying the best shortbread ever
- hanging out in It's Your Move, a game store, and attempting and failing to play Dino-Mite! because there was no die
- showing lodessa College Avenue, one of my favorite avenues, which appeared to have a lot of salons
- discovering in Diesel that it was National Bookstore Day
- pawing over children's books in Pegasus
- admitting to the possibility that I used to think falafels were Indian food since my mom made them
- getting the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie from the library because Cute Comic Book Store Girl #2 (CCBSG2...she sounds like a protein), who dressed as original Buffy for Halloween, recommended I watch it again since I hadn't seen it since it came out
- watching lodessa admire my comics and recommending everything to her
- passing off La Perdida to her so it would no longer be in my apartment
- watching the original Star Trek pilot, "The Cage," and commenting on how it was Bizarro Star Trek but yet still Star Trek
- watching the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer and commenting on how it was Bizarro Buffy but...no, it really is sort of Bizarro Buffy even though some of the seeds for the series are clear
- remembering how awesome Pike was and being surprised at his prominence in the trailers
- watching lodessa admire my books and pointing out books I owned but hadn't read while she pointed out books I owned that she had read
- shoving one of my two copies of The Princess Bride into her hand when she said she'd never read it
- reading aloud two of my favorite short stories from when I was a kid, "Much Ado About [Censored]" by Connie Willis—I hadn't realized she was the author until yesterday and now I am more interested in reading her books—and "Brian and the Aliens" by Will Sh*tt*rly—I hadn't realized he was the author until I bought the book a few months ago and now I feel sort of dirty, but I read this story to my brother a lot
- ordering butter chicken and chicken tikka masala at Little Delhi and not being blown away by the chicken tikka masala but being reminded of my mom's butter chicken
- admitting that until recently I thought my mom invented butter chicken
- debating whether our cute waitress was a robot
- managing to grab front row seats for Zombie Town, which was hilarious and awesome and will be written about later, but for now deserves props for a Buffy reference that went from possibly coincidental to subtle to blatant (one theory regarding the zombie outbreak was that the town was on a Hellmouth)
- buying a poster for the art and a two-page comic for CCBSG2, who had really wanted to go but never made it
- braving a ride with the worst BART train operator ever, who couldn't even stop at our station properly
- striking up a conversation with the people behind us about striking up conversations with people on public transportation
- showing lodessa the "Creative Writing" episode of My Name Is Earl for the hilarious Katamari reference
- showing her an episode of Kitchen Confidential ("Rabbit Test," on jeeperstseepers's recommendation) since not enough people know about it
- suggesting we watch another episode since A) she laughed more at it than she had at MNIE and B) we needed to watch one with John Cho
- lending the DVDs to her since she appeared to enjoy the show
- closing out the night with the Middleman episode "The Flying Fish Zombification"
- stumbling upon a "relentlessly grim" horror movie on SyFy starring Thomas Dekker with his floppy emo hair
- sleeping in on Sunday morning
- showing lodessa Piedmont Avenue, another of my favorite avenues, which was also full of nail salons
- having Chinese for lunch at Little Shin Shin to make up for the terrible Chinese we'd had the last time I'd visited
- buying the out-of-towner local ice cream at Fenton's, which for the first time ever didn't have a line
- showing lodessa my comic book store
- discovering an Angel season four Wesley action figure with a scar on his neck and a closet to keep Justine in and for some reason Angel's soul that lodessa decided she had to get, if only to show LJ
- Cute Comic Book Store Girl #1's looking at my chest for a couple seconds and then declaring, "Cool shirt"
- not spoiling CCBSG1 about why the action figure was so great since she was only in season two
- spending a few minutes in Spectator Books, a used bookstore
- hugging lodessa upon her departure
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/sick.png) sick
Current Music: Cave In - Woodwork
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November 4th, 2009
 | 10:09 pm - If You Like Anything, You Will LOVE THIS POST!
BOOM!
You guys! Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, is the GREATEST COMIC IN THE HISTORY OF EXISTENCE!
Nextwave is essentially a parody of superhero comics, specifically the Marvelverse, that is still a fun and entertaining superhero comic in its own right. Actual Marvel characters make what I can only assume are completely out-of-character appearances, but it's not really necessary to know anything about the Marvelverse to enjoy Nextwave. Dirk Anger—har, har (it's not necessary to know anything, but it helps)—director of the Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort (H.A.T.E.), puts together the Nextwave Squad to combat the Beyond Corporation's tests of Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction on the American populace. Except it turns out H.A.T.E. is totally in Beyond's pocket to begin with, which doesn't sit well with Nextwave. They go rogue. Their mission: healing America by beating people up.
The leader of Nextwave is Monica Rambeau, who used to lead the Avengers. She will tell you this. A lot. Tabitha Smith is a bit of a dim bulb and a klepto, but she blows stuff up. A lot. Elsa Bloodstone is a badass British redhead monster hunter who shoots things. A lot. Aaron Stack, or Machine Man, does not like the fleshy ones. His robot brain needs beer. A lot. The Captain...his name is The Captain! He kicks stuff. A lot.
All the characters are hilarious and fun, and very little time is spent on character development. This is not that kind of book. This book is not about complex plots and deep characters and morals. As Warren Ellis says, it is most especially about THINGS BLOWING UP and PEOPLE GETTING KICKED. There are so many explosions in every single issue; it is AWESOME. And they're not even gratuitous explosions. Things just happen to explode a lot when Nextwave is around (especially since Tabby's mutant power is blowing stuff up). The Beyond Corporation is testing some very...unusual biological weapons.
Besides all the ridiculous enemies they face, the comic itself is incredibly funny because Ellis throws in tons of meta gags about the characters and the story and the comic itself, poking fun at various comic book conventions (er, writing-wise, not Comic-Con-wise). It's like combining the fourth-wall-breaking humor of Scott Pilgrim with the zany cracktasticness of The Umbrella Academy. Nextwave is like The Umbrella Academy but without any pretense of being serious. They both gave me a similar "This is so fun and wacky and out there and I LOVE IT!" feeling. They also both have great art.
Here, have an assortment of lines:
"Monica Rambeau can convert part or all of her mass into any form of electromagnetic energy in the spectrum. Except the ones they make up on Star Trek."
"You have bought an episode of Nextwave unless you stole it off the Internet."
"Widdle cuddly bears...of death?"
"You have violated my gate of fire! Which is not the title of an adult movie!"
I laughed out loud while reading Nextwave. A lot. Nextwave is so awesome it even has a theme song that declares, "It's like Shakespeare but with lots more punching!"
For some mystifying reason, the comic didn't sell well and ended after twelve issues, but Ellis does provide an ending that makes it feel like a successful miniseries rather than a dead-before-its-time ongoing series.
I cannot believe I went this long without reading Nextwave, and I am Dirk Angry that there is no more! Don't make the same mistake I did! Read Nextwave now! I cannot say it any better than the blurb: If you like anything, you will LOVE NEXTWAVE! BOOM!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/pissed_off.png) BOOM!
Current Music: Thunder Thighs - Nextwave
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November 3rd, 2009
 | 10:18 pm - I'll Eat You Up
Last Sunday morning, after the AMWA conference, I made the decision to defy my parents. I had come into town early to spend time with them, and I had reserved Sunday for me. Me, me, me, whatever I wanted to do. But they wanted me to come back for a little while anyway, and I had assented, downtrodden, even though I didn't want to. This morning, though, I wanted to stop giving in all the time.
The phone rang. "When are you coming?" said my dad.
"I'm not coming," I said.
"What do you mean, not coming? Not coming doesn't work!"
"Of course it works; why wouldn't it work?" I expected to have to explain myself.
But: "Okay, you do what you want, bye." And then he hung up.
( Are you locked up in a world that's been planned out for you? )
( Are you feeling like a social tool without a use? )
( Scream at me until my ears bleed )
( I'm taking heed just for you )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/lazy.png) lazy
Current Music: Kittie - Choke
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November 2nd, 2009
 | 11:16 pm - Deep in the Heart of AMWA, Part II: Creative Nonfiction as an Outlet for Medical Writers
If you're just joining us, you may want to read Part I first.
( Friday: Creative Nonfiction Panel, Conferencing, Wife Meeting, Buffista Meeting )
( Saturday: Lunch, Conferencing, Sports Bar, Dinner with Brother, Sports Bar )
The AMWA conference experience was over, for all intents and purposes, as I wouldn't see anyone the next day. It had been a pretty good conference, and I was glad that the people I'd bonded with this year were local, so I hope to see them more frequently than just at conferences.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/weird.png) weird
Current Music: Metric - Satellite Mind
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November 1st, 2009
 | 11:00 pm - Deep in the Heart of AMWA, Part I: Introduction to Cancer Pharmacology
From Atlanta to Louisville to Dallas, the American Medical Writers Association sure doesn't like to gather in the typical conference towns. And even though I was from the area, I was unfamiliar with downtown Dallas.
This year's conference was going to be very important, as I was giving a three-hour cancer pharmacology workshop and speaking on a creative nonfiction panel. The former I had been preparing for almost non-stop for the last couple months. The latter I was mostly going to wing. But I was also going to, as always, meet some great new people, which is what I enjoy most about these conferences.
( Wednesday: Registration, Reception, Creative Reading, Family Drama )
( Thursday: Keynote, Cancer Pharmacology Workshop, Dinner, Dessert )
Tomorrow, the adventures continue!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/numb.png) numb
Current Music: Deftones - Xerces
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October 27th, 2009
 | 06:18 pm - Things We Received in the Mail
Since there was quite a lot of response to my post about returning a woman's lost book, I thought I would post the lovely thank-you note I just received from her.You have been extremely kind and generous to return my lost book. I can't thank you enough for being so very thoughtful.
When I discovered it missing, the plane's cabin door was closing and I had no chance to retrieve my wonderful book. I was looking forward to finishing it on the long flight home.
Now I am at leisure to read and enjoy its ending. Many thanks to you! You give hope and evidence that there are many kind people in our crazy world. I promise to "pay it forward" for another in need. I'm glad to know I did the right thing.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/thankful.png) thanked
Current Music: MGMT - The Handshake
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October 21st, 2009
| 04:51 pm - It's Okay to Eat Fish 'Cause They Don't Have Any Feelings
Because this year's AMWA conference is in Dallas, I came in early to spend some time with my family. Because you know how much I love doing that.
( Of family, being Indian, and food )
My mom is a fan of procedurals. This time, I watch my first episode of The Mentalist, which is not as identical to Psych as Steve Franks would have you believe. The main characters do share a gimmick, but everything else is different. Jane is more subdued than Shawn, and, if you can believe it, even more arrogant. And the team aspect is a big difference. Robin Tunney is a little less meh than she was on Prison Break. Owain Yeoman was wasted in the first episode I saw, but he had some good scenes in the second episode we watched. I like the Asian guy. And Van Pelt, the redhead, is so freaking pretty. I would watch the show for her if I did that sort of thing. Anyway, I enjoyed the episodes I watched.
I also watch some movies, as Cinemax is good for more than soft porn.
Doomsday: I...have not seen a movie with this many decapitations in a while. I loved The Descent and have been wanting to see Dog Soldiers, so it's disappointing that this movie is...not very good. Rhona Mitra is pretty badass, though. In one scene, she takes down an armored gladiator in her civvies. Later, she drives through a bus.
The Strangers: Holy shit, this is a scary fucking movie. It eschews most horror-movie cliches and opts for being creepy and terrifying in a very minimalist sort of way. The tension builds and it holds. You don't need big-budget special effects; you just need sounds and images and the viewer's imagination. I recommend seeing it if you never want to feel safe again.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: My mom and I saw this for fifty cents, and it was totally worth fifty cents. We actually were a little late, and as soon as we arrived, things exploded for about ten minutes straight. The action scenes were at times incoherent, but they were also at times AWESOME. And they actually bothered to give characters backstories and stuff! Also, the Baroness is superhot and Rachel Nichols has red hair. The overall plot is less incoherent than that of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and it has fewer failed attempts at comedy (although I think the entire cast must have been embarrassed at any point they had to say a catchphrase). If I start to think about it, it is not very good, and, I'm sorry, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but what the living fuck were you thinking. It does, however, have hot chicks and explosions, and I was sufficiently entertained.
Funny Games: Michael Haneke, director of Cache, a movie I absolutely hated, remade his original Austrian film with Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, and some other dude. I thought it would be a good follow-up to The Strangers, as it's another movie about people terrorizing a couple for no apparent reason. But it's not scary or terrifying. It's very...strange. And unnerving. And boring. The two antagonists are very polite, which is kind of amusing. I was intrigued by the reviews that mentioned how the movie broke the fourth wall, but there were only three or four meta moments, and although one of them is a pretty awesome mindfuck, they weren't enough to elevate the movie above its base premise.
Now, I am at my hotel. The original plan was for there to be a clear dichotomy in this trip: before the conference was for them and the conference time was for ME. I don't know why I thought that would work. My current potential future wife happens to be in town for a wedding this weekend, and they are trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting, which will likely mean skipping something at the conference. I have not even exchanged e-mails with this girl, and my parents do not have a good track record of finding girls who click with me. And every single time I was asked whether I would see them after I left for the conference, I said no, but my parents said yes. My dad wanted me to come home Saturday night, as soon as the conference was over. I give them four full days and they still want to monopolize my time. If I knew they were going to be this persistent, I would have scheduled my flight for early Sunday morning to get out of here as soon as possible rather than give myself free time to see people who aren't my parents.
This was supposed to be a good, fun conference. I'm giving a workshop. I'm sitting on a panel. Now I can't even enjoy it.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/angry.png) angry
Current Music: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Let Me Know (Demo)
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October 17th, 2009
 | 12:06 am - Things We Lost at the Airport
My flight is at 2:35, but SuperShuttle gets me to SFO closer to 1. I reach my gate and take a seat near an outlet so I can plug in my laptop.
Next to me is a seat empty but for a book. I wait for its owner to return.
Time passes, and the book remains in the seat. Finally, I become curious. The book is People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author according to the cover. I read the blurb, and it looks interesting. There is a leaf a little over half of the way through, marking the owner's place.
The Borders sticker is still on the back, implying the person just bought it.
On the inside of the front cover is a woman's name and number. This could be an artifact of a used book purchase, but the Borders sticker argues against that theory. I call the number; maybe the woman is in the airport and will come back. I reach a machine. I don't leave a message, as I am yet unsure what I am going to do.
Maybe it was abandoned on purpose. Hey, free book. But there is a leaf! A leaf! She did not even finish reading.
I Google the area code. The number hails from...St. Louis. Oh, balls.
The flight before mine was going to St. Louis. She totally forgot her book here.
I Google her name and St. Louis and hit upon what appears to be her Facebook page. The profile picture is of an elderly couple. I could send her a Facebook message, but I have her phone number anyway. If this is indeed her book and she did indeed forget it.
I want to confirm for sure, not wanting to take the book in case the owner came back after a very long bathroom break. But the woman at the counter, as I expect, is not allowed to tell me whether a particular passenger was on that flight.
I see a woman appear to examine the empty seat where the book lay and then turn around, and I don't remember exactly what the woman on Facebook looked like. Maybe that's her? I ask her if it's her book and it isn't. Okay, back to the original plan.
I call the number to leave a message, but this time the phone keeps ringing! Maybe the line is busy? But they weren't home just a few minutes before. They are on a plane!
I wait a few minutes and try again, and this time a man picks up. I ask him if this is the residence of The Woman. Yes, he is a man with her last name. I ask him if his wife is flying from San Francisco to St. Louis today. Yes, from California to St. Louis. I tell him I found a book with her name and number in it. She forgot it at the gate. Oh no, he says, she'll probably be looking all over the plane for it. I tell him I'd be happy to mail it. He asks if the address is in there, and it is not, so he gives it to me. He says it's very nice of me, and I tell him that I am a book lover as well, and if I lost a book, I would be freaking out. Besides, she hasn't even finished it yet.
I wonder what would have happened if someone else had found it.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/full.png) full
Current Music: Björk - It's Oh So Quiet [in my head]
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October 16th, 2009
 | 12:12 am - Said Goodnight, Came Home, and Performed a Drum Solo
Tonight, on Adventures in Facebook:Kristy: dear vampire weekend: the "h" in "horchata" is silent. that is all. xoxoxoxoxoxoxxx, kristy
Me: They don't give a fuck about the Oxford comma; why would they give a fuck about Spanish pronunciation?
Kristy: sunil, your music wittiness lights up my life. epic comment. thanks for the awesome! Unrelatedly, I was watching an old episode of Psych last night, and when Ashley Williams showed up, I squealed, "BUTTERCUP!" She was so pretty and smiley that after the episode was over, I had to break out my How I Met Your Mother DVDs and pop in "Drumroll, Please," the episode where Ted meets Victoria. I completely understand Ted's wanting a perfect night never to be ruined. What if I had never attempted to contact the cute girl I met at the xkcd party and had just let it have been a great night? But I almost teared up at the end when she was so excited to see him and they kissed. I want that. One day, I want that.
( FlashForward )
( Fringe )
( Supernatural )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/contemplative.png) contemplative
Current Music: Elbow - Any Day Now
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October 12th, 2009
| 08:38 pm - Rule #34: Zombie Porn
The cute girl at my comic book store told me to see Zombieland, and I had to obey. So I went to a 10:30 AM showing yesterday, which was an interesting time to see a movie since there were, like, six other people in the theater. Also, right before the trailers, the popcorn popper set off the fire alarm.
Zombieland is really good as zombie comedies go. I thought the "Rules for Surviving Zombieland" gimmick was used pretty cleverly, even if the concept wasn't totally fleshed out. It's not as funny as Shaun of the Dead, but, as dachelle said, it doesn't have Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Dylan Moran, so how could it be? It has a different sense of humor and tone, and I thought it was more successful at blending drama and comedy. The dramatic emotional moments in Shaun of the Dead felt out of place and took me out of the movie a little because most of the movie is so broad, but Zombieland was unexpectedly affecting at times. You really get to care about the characters since it's a very simple, stripped-down narrative: four people try to survive after the zombie apocalypse. That's the story. So it has to be about the characters.
Jesse Eisenberg is like a taller Michael Cera, and since he's romancing the (Emma) Stone, it's sort of like Superbad with 100% more zombies and 300% less Jonah Hill. Woody Harrelson has a very good time. And, man, I am really liking Abigail Breslin. She's so much more entertaining and natural than other child stars and less weird-looking than Dakota Fanning. She was great in Little Miss Sunshine, of course, and I also liked her in Push. How old is she now? IMDb says 13. Also, that was Dakota Fanning in Push. Motherfuck! I cannot keep my precocious child stars straight. Anyway, keep on snarking, Abby. Oh, she was also in Definitely, Maybe! She was adorable in that. But she's more fun in Zombieland.
Anyway, I don't agree with said cute girl—there are actually two cute girls at my comic book store: one is prettier but this one has a more appealing personality—that Zombieland is basically the pinnacle of zombie movies and no one can make another zombie movie now. It's a good, solid flick, but it didn't blow me away or anything. I am glad it did well and pleased that there is already sequel talk, but I am more pleased to learn that Zombieland was actually envisioned as a TV series, which means they already have more stories they were intending to tell and wouldn't just be pulling sequels out of their asses.
Go see Zombieland! It is approved by erstwhile medical writers and cute girls at comic book stores worldwide!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/stressed.png) stressed
Current Music: The Ting Tings - Fruit Machine
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October 11th, 2009
 | 11:36 pm - They're Frrr-ustrating!
This morning, my mom called to ask for a favor: my grandparents had no one to drive them to the Diwali dinner. My grandfather just had eye surgery, and family drama with my aunt and uncle kept them from being accommodating. So it was up to me to drive down to Belmont and take them up to the temple in San Bruno. It turned out to be the same Diwali dinner I've gone to for the last couple years anyway.
Within minutes of entering, I spied a cute girl...whom I recognized. It couldn't be. You've got to be kidding me.
It was the second accountant. We'll call her Agent M, codename: Queen of the Flakes. As I related in that post, we had a very nice dinner a couple years ago, and she seemed agreeable to further meetings except she kept canceling them until I gave up. We remained Facebook friends, and sometimes I would send her a message asking how she was doing, and she would reply, and I would reply, but that's as far as it would go. Last year, she unexpectedly contacted me, which I used as an opportunity to attempt another meeting that, again, fell through despite our best efforts. And then she sent me a message at the beginning of this year, to which I responded but got no further response. She was my favorite potential future wife, so I held a tiny bit of hope that the stars would somehow align. And then a few months ago, she got engaged. I was this close to removing her since it seemed silly to keep her on based on one dinner and a relationship that consisted of "How are you?" "Good, how are you?" "Good." And then she left me a birthday message. Alas, she was a nice girl who sometimes noticed that I existed.
And here she was. We caught up. I was surprised she remembered things about me like where I lived, where I went to school, and that I had at least one younger sibling.
Her unexpected appearance seemed like some sort of bookend, a coda to this year of flaky women. On three separate and unrelated occasions, I have met a girl who appeared to enjoy my presence and expressed interest in seeing me, and in all three instances, that relationship either fizzled or never really materialized, albeit in different ways. I'm not even talking dating; regular friendship would suffice. I just don't make much of an impression, whereas I am very impressionable.
Agent M introduced me to her cousin, who was male, which meant I had a seating companion—at our awesomely sexist Indian functions, men and women sit in separate sections. I also met a recently married couple and explained how to use LinkedIn. I gave the woman my business card since she was looking for a job in the biotech industry. (She had been complaining that she didn't know anyone here that she wasn't related to, which allowed me to say, "Hi, I'm Sunil, I'm not related to you." Unfortunately, I spoke too fast and had to repeat myself, leaving out the flourish.)
Agent M had only come to the Diwali dinner since she'd never been and she thought she might as well go to one before she left. Her fiancé was in Florida, and she was moving there. I didn't get a chance to pull her aside and ask how that whole thing had worked out. Could she tell from his biodata that he was the guy? Did they have lively e-mail conversations? How long did they talk before their parents asked one of them to go meet in person? I've already got a new current potential future wife; I need to know these things.
As she left, she said that it was good to see me—and the feeling was mutual—and she would e-mail me when she was back in town, since she had a client here.
Yeah, we'll see about that.
Current Mood: confused
Current Music: Dirt Poor Robins - Light in My Darkness
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October 10th, 2009
 | 08:55 am - What Does Topher Have in Common with Emma Frost?
My Daredevil obsession continues, as I just bought a couple back issues—Annual #1 and "Daredevil: Blood of the Tarantula"—because they weren't collected in trade and the resident DD fan recommended them to me. The cool part is he totally would have let me read them without buying them, but I wanted to have them for future re-reads.
( The Office )
( Dollhouse )
( Psych )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/awake.png) awake
Current Music: Nine Inch Nails - Beside You in Time
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October 8th, 2009
| 11:54 pm - Cutting the Mustard
Last night, I met another Kiwi. It appears that flymara is switching places with kroki_refur: now that the latter has gone from England to New Zealand by way of San Francisco, the former is making the opposite journey. Mara got to play the International Dateline game, however, by leaving on Wednesday evening and arriving here Wednesday morning.
We had dinner at Max's, which is where I had tried and failed to have dinner with ora_wai. On the way, I learned that our little silver walking man—the signal to cross the street—confused her because in New Zealand, the walking man is green. Other bizarre things about New Zealand include the fact that they call McDonald's "Mackie's," they put beets in their cheeseburgers, and they call all candy "lollies" (I received more Pineapple Lumps). Mara had an American cheeseburger with no beets; she could not finish it all. As we looked over the dessert menu, she asked me what cobbler was, and I tried to explain. Then she asked me what graham crackers were, and I had no idea how to explain. So we had a key lime pie. She liked it and said it tasted like brandy snaps, whatever those are.
What Mara will really take away, though, is the fact that we Americans really love our mustard.
Your eyes do not deceive you. That is cranberry mustard. Which tastes just like it sounds. It actually works! And the sweet hot mustard sort of tasted like McDonald's hot mustard sauce, which they didn't have in New Zealand.
I took her up the Westin St. Francis elevator, which she really enjoyed. Then we went back to her hotel to watch American television, but all that was on was crap like Hank and Trauma. Still, just like ora_wai, she was excited to be watching American TV on a TV with commercials and everything.
I don't know what she watched tonight. I know what I watched, though.
( FlashForward )
( Fringe )
( Supernatural )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/relieved.png) relieved
Current Music: VAST - Flames
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