Braindead Shithead

I was making a list for a friend I'm trying to get hooked on anime. Naturally one of my recommendations was Mamoru Oshii's Ghost In The Shell. Ghost In The Shell is, of course, the film that the Wachowski brothers ripped off when they made The Matrix and IMHO it's far better. The sequel, Innocence, is also much better than either of The Matrix sequels. But that's not what this post is about. I was cruising YouTube to find examples of the anime I was recommending for my friend to watch and just happened to wonder if anyone had happened to upload the trailer for Oshii's 2001 live action flick Avalon. They had! So that's what you're getting here.

Avalon plays on many of the same themes as Ghost In The Shell (and The Matrix) but it's much more intense. Filmed entirely in Poland with Polish actors and actresses, the dialogue is also in Polish. I think Oshii made the film this way because the Polish language and the Polish urban landscape added an extra layer of grit to the film as well as evoking the horrors of World War II. I dare you to watch the trailer and not be blown away.

I have always been fascinated by religious figurines. I know, I need to get out more. Of particular interest, are the Jesus sports figurines. Jesus partakes of several sports, such as football and basketball, all the while looking like quite the holy stud.

Here are the latest additions to the collection, courtesy of the Catholic Shopper.

If this is, indeed, Lindsay Lohan, she has "OD" written all over her emaciated ass.


(VIA)

Stop me if you've heard this one before:
The suits are messing with Mike Judge's new movie, Idiocracy. What a shocker, huh? The same way they messed with him over Office Space, and we all know how horrible that movie turned out (insert sarcastic sneer here____).

Idiocracy sounds like pure genius to me. A normal guy from modern times is placed in hibernation. When he is revived 1000 years later, humanity is so completely retarded that he is viewed as a godlike genius. My guess is that Judge turned in a piece of sharp satire and scared the suits shitless.

There doesn't seem to be any release date, though the movie has been finished for quite some time. Remind me why I want to be a screenwriter again?

This might just be my favorite Mr. Show clip of all time. So wrong on so many levels.

Here's the first eleven off my mp3 player, set to 'random play all,' this morning:

1. We Die Young -- Alice in Chains -- (+)


2. Solsbury Hill -- Peter Gabriel -- (+)


3. Sound and Vision -- David Bowie -- (+)


4. What's Going On -- A Perfect Circle -- (=)


5. The Leaving Song -- A.F.I. -- (+)


6. You, Who Do You Hate? -- Mansun -- (+)


7. Blue Monk -- The Thelonious Monk Quartet With John coltrane -- (++) doubleplusgood


8. Late -- Kanye West -- (-)


9. H. -- Tool -- (+)


10. Explosivo -- Tenacious D -- (+)


11. The Stomp -- Old Dirty Bastard -- (+)

Bonus #12: B.Y.O.B. -- System of A Down

Let's see, +, +, +, =, +, +, ++, -, +, +, +. Aggregate: +9. Unprecedented!

Have a nice day, and don't be terrorized!

Oh, yes he did!

I love love love this episode of Schoolhouse Rock! I found some dude on YouTube that post like every single SR video, so I'm going the lazy route. The video quality is worse than my stash, but the audio is much much better.

I can't believe I just watched 2 minutes, 47 seconds of this, but I was laughing my ass off the whole time.

"Naah. I'm just fuckin' wit'ya, General Veers. What was it you wanted to tell me about Com-Scan? . . . Heheheh . . . Sorry I can't stop laughing . . . Ahhh [sigh] . . . I slay me."

[Cross-posted: Joe Wonders How Herman was Able to Foil the Terrorist’s Liquid Explosive Plot]

Found this at the excellent J-Pop mp3 blog Kanaete. The first video is the original opening for the hugely successful anime Card Captor Sakura. This is not an anime I've seen, and just from the opening I think you can probably tell this isn't very tng-like. Now the second video is... umm... well, you just have to watch it after viewing the first. And just let me state up front, I am not responsible for your pain and suffering. You chose to click the 'play' button. Oh yes you did.

It's nice to know that not only Americans can be boorish and offensive. Here's a German VW commercial.

About a week ago I stumbled upon this 5 part video of a Q&A that Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes did at Comic Con 2006 and thought my fellow Shitheads would be interested. Unfortunately vSocial wouldn't process the files and YouTube continues to be problematic for me. However tonight I figured out how to hack Bolt's URLs to get back some of the functionality lost in their last upgrade and here it is.

The camera work is extremely shaky and the audio leaves quite a bit to be desired but I think anybody who digs Kevin Smith's films as much as I do will be interested. Finally, apparently we have the excellent Comic Book Resources site to thank for this video, although I can't find it on their site. While I've never visited Comic Book Resources before tonight it looks to be a happening place for all you comic book geeks. Enjoy.

I thought we'd go with something a little lighter this week, and something that might actually be called J-Pop. Which is unusual since despite the name of this feature I usually go out of my way to pick something that doesn't sound like J-Pop (at least as Americans are used to). So here's some tunes by Yaida Hitomi. Yaida is a multi-instrumentalist whose music definitely embodies the Japanese pop sound, but it's eclectic and varied enough that it never becomes boring. Once again, quoting the invaluable ProjectJ:

"She insists during interviews that her songs are the embodiment of deep feelings she wants to express. This produces an energetic style full of wonders and surprises: "heart rock," as she calls it. Yaida Hitomi is still human, though: she openly admits there are many ugly things about herself and promises to reveal those in her songs, as well. Her dark side is not as exploited as her joyous traits but since she stays true to herself, who can blame her for having such exemplary proportions?"

Personally I'd like it if she revealed a little more of her darker side to counteract the bubble-gumminess favored by the Japanese record companies, but I suppose if she did that she wouldn't have a high profile recording contract and we wouldn't be listening to her stuff now.

Set List [links to Romaji lyrics]: Hitori Jenga, Startline, Adante, Mawaru Sora, Monochrome Letter, Over The Distance, Go My Way.

I'll try to be brief this week. Also, Rapidshare doesn't like me today, so no RS links. Sorry about that. Maybe I'll update later in the week (if anybody wants a song).

Sometimes songs just lend themselves to one another. Such is the case with songs 1a and 1b. Though the grandiose "Introduction" provided by Lunatica has nothing to do with the "cookie monster vs. opera singer" dynamic of Draconian's offering, they just flow together somehow.

There are 4 diverse indies in the Mix this week, provided by Sound Team, Anathallo, Final Fantasy, and Broadcast.

Weltenbrand's "The French And The Wine" is all cheeseball and flourish--and I love it! Latexxx Teens provides the obligatory electronic fix for the week.

The 'long song' comes from the great Jaco Pastorius Big Band. The 'weird' song this week is...weird. The Benzedrine Monks Of Santo provide a dramatic rendition of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Not a new song, but definitely weird. Lastly, an oldie from Up With People. Enjoy everybody!

Mix Time: 48:28

Mmm. Inspiration abounds. Despair.com, for all your expectation lowering needs.