A list of the most badass people ever to walk the cinema:

1. Chen Zhen
2. Tequila Yuen
3. The Terminator
4. Jack Bauer
5. Jason Bourne
6. Chief Inspector Lee
7. Sarah Connor
8. Ellen Ripley

Stanley has been compiling a list of perverted movie titles for the past few days. Below are some of the more clever ones. For the full list, please see www.leemur.blogspot.com

Masterbatuer and Cockmannder : Far Side of the Whore
In Diana Jones
A.I. : Anal Intrusion
Black Cock Down
The Rodfather
Deep InPacked
Bending Over Beckham
Moulin Splooge
When Harry Ate Sally
Apoclimax Now
The Whole Nine Inches
Beauty and the Beastiality
Anal Management
Wet Dreams May Come

Inspired by the thoughts of Jeff, www.myung.org.

The learning process is too much of a gradual realization for the present to maintain a healthy velocity - too often, it is too late. Writing keeps the mind in check.

Is a perpetually-changing status quo even a status quo? Friendships and relationships are based on familiarity and routine, yet the stability of routine is too unstable, and the familiarity of routine too unfamiliar. Ex: Remember that friend you used to do everything with for over 3 months, but now you doubt if you'll even ever speak again? Can you ever really predict who is going to be temporary, and who is going to be forever? 

It is weird for me to think that by the end of this coming school year, I will have been at Yale for as long as I was at Berkeley. Have I made as many lifelong relationships? Will Yale ever be as close to my life as Berkeley is/was? 

"3) always see the silver lining
a) There is a lot of fucked up shit in this world, but you should always try to maintain a global perspective. There are a few times when you are allowed to show pain and anger, but you should really save yourself for those bigger events … eg death of a loved one. Try to find the significance of an event in the grand picture. Maybe receiving that speeding ticket actually will help you avoid a fatal traffic accident in 2 years. Maybe losing 100 bucks at the casino today will prevent you from having a gambling addiction when you have a family. Maybe the heart break you suffered from the breakup will allow you to be a more empathetic lover in the future. Maybe your friend’s shit-talking will make you sharper when you make friendships in the future.If you can gain a life lesson from everything that’s fucked up in your life, you’re that much more equipped to handle tough situations in the future and people will look to you for leadership/strength during those times." - myung

This is a truly deep Kiefer Sutherland "24" addiction if I ever saw one:

j m 2 c a l: gottago
j m 2 c a l: i'm at 4:00PM
j m 2 c a l: i wanna make my clock match up with real time
car LOCO 69: wtf

I'm reinstalling Windows XP at the moment. I had questions as to whether there were any special things I should worry about:

j  m  2  c  a  l: DO NOT let it have ethernet til that firewall is on
j  m  2  c  a  l: and MAKE SURE you do all the updates
car LOCO 69: is it susceptible to a virus in that short an amount of time?
j  m  2  c  a  l: dude, just be extra safe..... treat your computer as you would treat your dick if you were gonna have sex in africa

OK. I GET IT. and later:

car LOCO 69: you've never gotten hit by a virus?
j  m  2  c  a  l: never
car LOCO 69: damn
j  m  2  c  a  l: i'm on the pill man

If all the text in mine and Stan's blog (www.leemur.blogspot.com) were compiled into a book - it would be:

380 pages (large print, standard size)
217 pages (stadard print, standard paperback)
126 pages (standard size/print, hardcover academic textbook)
76 pages (small print, encyclopedia-size reference book)

This, of course, does not take into consideration the duplicate entries, for which there are a few.

There's right, there's left, and there's vogue:

car LOCO 69: yo but andrea thinks john edwards is cute
car LOCO 69: that's good game
jrey77: yea he is cute
jrey77: almost hot

This is not a joke. After all the joking we've done about "The Porn Identity," turns out Matt Damon thought of it first:

Of course Damon's point is, if you're going to reinvent yourself as an action star, then, do so in a less than ordinary fashion, referring to The Bourne Supremacy that he feels takes the genre onto a new level. But if he fails as an action hero, Damon says he can always take porn onto a new level. ""What I want to do is a character-driven porn movie!  It's all going to be about the characters and the porn's going to grow out of the characters and it's going to serve as character development.  Perhaps, he adds, maybe he'll end up starring in The Porn Identity!

source: www.filmmonthly.com/Profiles/Articles/ MDamonBourneSupremacy/MDamonBourneSupremacy.html

Chauvinism, apparently, spans the sexual-orientation spectrum of men regardless of preference. In response to Kirsten Dunst from Spiderman 2:

Carlos (straight): Bitch, stop fuckin' talking and take your pants off already.
Jeff (gay): Bitch, stop fuckin' talking and take his pants off already.

SUPPORT JEROME. LSATS FOR ASS! ('rome has an agreement with his girlfriend. he gets a 177 on the LSATS, then he gets some)

naryantek: i had to explain to alice once the bright side
naryantek: at least it doesnt get any raunchier than our group of friends
car LOCO 69: HAHAHAHA
car LOCO 69: i'm sure she found that comforting dude
naryantek: we're pretty much as gross as it gets i think
naryantek: i think she rolled her eyes
car LOCO 69: well i always think so too right
car LOCO 69: until we meet up with jerome
car LOCO 69: then i'm like
car LOCO 69: damn we ain't even skimmed the surface dawg
naryantek: HHAHAHHAHAHhaAHc
ar LOCO 69: hahahhahah
car LOCO 69: i mean that fool testin' out right now for ASS
car LOCO 69: i wonder if he'll nail that 177
naryantek: support JEROME
naryantek: LSATS FOR ASS
car LOCO 69: for sho fo sho

Stan and I were discussing the G-spot the other day when all of a sudden we stumbled across an educational site: www.findthegspot.com. Try it.

naryantek: i like the last page
naryantek: Can I make you some breakfast? Would you like a beer? How about a blow job? That's O.K. Baby, you can watch the football game while I satisfy you. Anything for my BIG Daddy.
naryantek: HAHAhahahahaHAHA
car LOCO 69: hahAHAHH
car LOCO 69: Keep your cursor out of my ass dipshit.
Now go back and try again. If you keep treating me like this, you won't find the g spot. If you don't find the g-spot, I won't orgasm. If I don't orgasm, you won't orgasm ever again.
naryantek: HAHAHHAhahhahaA
naryantek: omg blog worthy

Stan has the perfect idea:

car LOCO 69: 24 is like action/suspense on crack
car LOCO 69: cuz of the real time thing
car LOCO 69: the real time thing is fucking crazy
naryantek: imagine if they had a '24' of porn
car LOCO 69: HAHAHAH
naryantek: could u last?
car LOCO 69: HAHAHHhhaha
naryantek: its like 24 real time
naryantek: of FUCKING

IT'S A BIG YEAR. For those of you pianists who read my blog, I've compiled the application deadlines of all the next major international competitions out there coming up. Don't miss them:
 
deadlines:
rubinstein - 9/1/2004
marguerite-long - 9/1/2004
viotti - 9/3/2004
beethoven - 9/30/2004
hilton head - 10/1/2004
cliburn - 10/15/2004
shreveport - 10/24/2004
santander - 10/30/2004
zaragosa - 10/2004
london - 12/1/2004
liszt - 12/10/2004
epinal - 1/1/2005
cleveland - 1/1/2005

This is why I love Roger Ebert (regarding the new King Arthur movie):

I would have liked to see deeper characterizations and more complex dialogue, as in movies like "Braveheart" or "Rob Roy," but today's multiplex audience, once it has digested a word like Sarmatia, feels its day's work is done.

They even keep straight faces in the last shot, as the camera audaciously pulls back to reveal Stonehenge. That gives audience members a choice; they can think (a) "A-ha! So that explains Stonehenge!" or (b) "What a cheap shot to use Stonehenge as a location when it has nothing to do with anything," or (c) "What's that?"

This makes sense, if you know Steve Chiang:

i dont understand this guy:

drungken munk ee (7:34:48 PM): alright, lemme approximate some R, matey.
drungken munk ee (7:35:17 PM): when i take breaks from homework, i end up making up riddles and puns with my variables and functions.
naryantek (7:35:32 PM): thats probably the geekiest thing ive ever heard
drungken munk ee (7:35:47 PM): in numerical analysis, you can really talk like a pirate, 'cuz you work with the R-variable a lot.
naryantek (7:36:04 PM): theres a guy on our team dressed like a pirate??
drungken munk ee (7:36:34 PM): and i noticed that finite-iteration on g using newton's method can be abbreviated FIG Newton.
naryantek (7:37:00 PM): lol
drungken munk ee (7:37:06 PM): or guess how we denote the standard error of x...
drungken munk ee (7:37:06 PM): SE(x)
naryantek (7:37:17 PM): omg im audi
naryantek (7:37:27 PM): piz-nates
drungken munk ee (7:37:46 PM): no, wait! there's more!
drungken munk ee (7:37:46 PM): stay! you know you want it!
drungken munk ee (7:37:47 PM): you yearn for it!
drungken munk ee (7:37:47 PM): hunger!
drungken munk ee (7:37:47 PM): hunger!
drungken munk ee (7:37:51 PM): blub blub blub.
drungken munk ee signed off at 7:37:55 PM.

Straight Plagiarism, courtesy of Stanley Lee:

attempt #0:
jrey77: yo do you know a guy named lionel
jrey77: from walnut
naryantek: yeah
naryantek: why
jrey77: oh he's my gf's cousin
naryantek: lionel bao
naryantek: has a little brother named richard?
jrey77: yea haha lioniel richie

attempt #1
naryantek: yeah and i just noticed
naryantek: lionel and richard
naryantek: you guys wouldnt happen to be named after lionel richie would u?
rainthink111: hahah
rainthink111: wtf

attempt #2
kurupt27ls: hey
rainthink111: ?
rainthink111: wut
kurupt27ls: i got something to ask you
rainthink111: ask
kurupt27ls: and u gotta be straight with me
rainthink111: ask
kurupt27ls: aiite?
rainthink111: ask?
kurupt27ls: did your parents really name you and richie after lionel richie?
rainthink111: omg
rainthink111: fag
rainthink111: no
rainthink111: fag....i tabbed out of a sc game so u can ask that gay shit?

Movie Reviews - The Terminal:

In the wake of terrible reviews, The Terminal deserves a certain amount of credit, regardless of its inevitable categorical flaw as a bad romance movie. In this case, unique to the history inextricably associated with it, the bad romance part is luckily imbued with enough political context to save at least a star or two out of its horrible 2 star ratings across the board.

Beyond the romance, The Terminal is yet another post-9/11 cinematic collage of American ideals, cleverly displayed through every possible unamerican aspect of American society. In effect, it stretches our notion of the 'melting pot' - and exactly how international the word "American" has come to represent.

The touch of genius was probably the set - the international terminal. The Terminal, by nature, represents the most international part of the U.S - neither foreign nor American soil. Seems to me as though Spielberg was trying to stretch our definition of "American".

Or maybe it's just a bad romance movie.

I have not yet seen the movie, though I think I've done enough research on the film to write a term paper. From Ebert:

A reader writes:

"In your articles discussing Michael Moore's film 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' you call it a documentary. I always thought of documentaries as presenting facts objectively without editorializing. While I have enjoyed many of Mr. Moore's films, I don't think they fit the definition of a documentary."

That's where you're wrong. Most documentaries, especially the best ones, have an opinion and argue for it. Even those that pretend to be objective reflect the filmmaker's point of view. Moviegoers should observe the bias, take it into account and decide if the film supports it or not.

Michael Moore is a liberal activist. He is the first to say so. He is alarmed by the prospect of a second term for George W. Bush, and made "Fahrenheit 9/11" for the purpose of persuading people to vote against him.

That is all perfectly clear, and yet in the days before the film opens June 25, there'll be bountiful reports by commentators who are shocked! shocked! that Moore's film is partisan. "He doesn't tell both sides," we'll hear, especially on Fox News, which is so famous for telling both sides.

The wise French director Godard once said, "The way to criticize a film is to make another film." That there is not a pro-Bush documentary available right now I am powerless to explain. Surely, however, the Republican National Convention will open with such a documentary, which will position Bush comfortably between Ronald Reagan and God. The Democratic convention will have a wondrous film about John Kerry. Anyone who thinks one of these documentaries is "presenting facts objectively without editorializing" should look at the other one.

The pitfall for Moore is not subjectivity, but accuracy. We expect him to hold an opinion and argue it, but we also require his facts to be correct. I was an admirer of his previous doc, the Oscar-winning "Bowling for Columbine," until I discovered that some of his "facts" were wrong, false or fudged.

In some cases, he was guilty of making a good story better, but in other cases (such as his ambush of Charlton Heston) he was unfair, and in still others (such as the wording on the plaque under the bomber at the Air Force Academy) he was just plain wrong, as anyone can see by going to look at the plaque.

Because I agree with Moore's politics, his inaccuracies pained me, and I wrote about them in my Answer Man column. Moore wrote me that he didn't expect such attacks "from you, of all people." But I cannot ignore flaws simply because I agree with the filmmaker. In hurting his cause, he wounds mine.

Now comes "Fahrenheit 9/11," floating on an enormous wave of advance publicity. It inspired a battle of the titans between Disney's Michael Eisner and Miramax's Harvey Weinstein. It won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It has been rated R by the MPAA, and former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo has signed up as Moore's lawyer, to challenge the rating. The conservative group Move America Forward, which successfully bounced the mildly critical biopic "The Reagans" off CBS and onto cable, has launched a campaign to discourage theaters from showing "Fahrenheit 9/11."

The campaign will amount to nothing and disgraces Move America Forward by showing it trying to suppress disagreement instead of engaging it. The R rating may stand; there is a real beheading in the film, and only fictional beheadings get the PG-13. Disney and Miramax will survive.

Moore's real test will come on the issue of accuracy. He can say whatever he likes about Bush, as long as his facts are straight. Having seen the film twice, I saw nothing that raised a flag for me, and I haven't heard of any major inaccuracies. When Moore was questioned about his claim that Bush unwisely lingered for six or seven minutes in that Florida classroom after learning of the World Trade Center attacks, Moore was able to reply with a video of Bush doing exactly that.

I agree with Moore that the presidency of George W. Bush has been a disaster for America. In writing that, I expect to get the usual complaints that movie critics should keep their political opinions to themselves. But opinions are my stock in trade, and is it not more honest to declare my politics than to conceal them? I agree with Moore, and because I do, I hope "Fahrenheit 9/11" proves to be as accurate as it seems.

I am now in Japan. Preliminary observations after 1 day:

- Wow I love the toilets.
- How can such hot girls have such fucked up teeth?
- Wow it's expensive.
- The advertising, as Stanley mentioned, is like that in Minority Report.

"On off time artists talk either money or sex, music being delegated for working hours."
-Ned Rorem

The Eternal Pessimist:
"Love is not possible. If it were possible, it wouldn't be love."
-Ned Rorem

Tentative repertoire for next semester:

Beethoven Sonata Op. 110
Schumann Fantasy
Rachmaninoff Etudes-Tableau Op. 39
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3

Which Asian are you? Sadly, this 'joke' is all too true - I'm sure that all of you reading can name at least 10 people that fit into each category.

'Twinkie
- Besides your nationality, there is little to distinguish you from white people
- Your significant other is not Asian and never has been
- You have few Asian friends, if any
- You are embarrassed at family events because you cannot speak your language and everyone has to switch to English to communicate with you
- You have no idea that the other types of Asians on this list even exist
- You think Hello Kitty is dumb and do not know what Sanrio is
- You are the only Asian on this list that does not know what Bubble Tea is
- You drive a Ford or some other domestic car and if you drive a Honda, it is stock

Asian-American
- You claim yourself as Asian, but real Asians think you're whitewashed and non-Asians see you as a foreigner. You fit in nowhere
- You have heard of Bubble Tea but have never actually had any
- You are confused about your cultural identity and express this frustration through spoken word performances at your college
- You read A. magazine and think it's great
- You do not know who Leon, Aaron, Sammi, Hikki, or Kangta are
- You are only vaguely aware of the other Asians below

Yap (Young Asian Professional)
- You are in one of these professions:
a) Medicine / Pharmaceutical
b) Engineering
c) Finance
d) Investment Banking
e) Accounting
- Most of your wardrobe was purchased at Banana Republic
- You go to "mixers" on Thursday nights to meet other Yaps and talk about the Dow Jones.
- You did exactly what your parents wanted you to do and as a result, your life is hella boring
- Your apartment/home is decorated almost exclusively with stuff from Pier 1
- Your parents always talk to their friends about how much money you make. If they don't, then you're a dissapointment

Fob (Fresh Off tha Boat)
- You were not born in America
- You know who Leon, Aaron, Sammi, Hikki, and Kangta are. In fact, you have seen them at Atlantic City or Las Vegas recently
- You speak your native language fluently and so do all your friends
- You do not have any non-Asian friends
- Your parents do not speak any English
- When you speak English, you like to make everything plural
- You get extremely good grades in school no....at least not in college
- You cannot dance
- Your fashion sense comes from whatever country you're from and you incorporate nothing from American fashion into your wardrobe

SuperFob
- Your command of the English language is minimal and you don't care
- You like dim sum chicken feet
- You do not own a single CD, VCD, Video game, or DVD that isn't bootlegged
- Your only hangout is Chinatown
- All the lights in your house are fluorescent
- You dry your cloths outside your window
- You need a haircut
- You either smell like cigarettes or food

Fobabee
- You are an Asian-American or Twinkie who has recently "awoken"
- You have a newly found fetish of Asian girls/boys
- You have taken the Asian Studies course at college
- You are trying to learn as much as possible about your culture to make up for your lifetime of trying to be white (Twinkie ; Banana) or Black (Chigger ; Tea egg)
- If you are lucky, you will grow to become Fobulous

Gangsta Fob (Fobsta)
- You have shot another Asian
- Your favorite hangout is a pool hall
- When you talk, you sound like a cross between a Fob and an urban black kid
- Your hair looks silly, but no one will tell you because you'll shoot them
- You have a serious gambling problem
- You are a Rice-boy, but your mods are cheap and are never painted to match the rest of your car
- No one tells you your rice ride looks cheap because you'll shoot them
- You want to have a Tab girlfriend, but can only get Hoochie Tabs perhaps...

Tab (Trendy Asian B*tch)
- You shop at A/X, Bebe and Club Monaco
- You only wear black and will occasionally wear white to "mix it up"
- You do not weigh more than 105 lbs
- You have never paid for dinner at a restaurant in your life
- Platform heels are your favorite
- You are a makeup expert, in fact, you appear completely flawless
- You do not smile in public
- You are the object of desire of all Asian men and you know it
- You smoke
- Your cell phone is completely customized
- On the inside flip of your cell phone is a sticker pic of you and your man
- Somewhere in your purse is a Sanrio item
- You only date Asian and will only date a boy with a nice car
- You are often seen with Rice-boys
- You never travel alone. You are either in the company of other Tabs or your Rice-boy boyfriend

Hoochie Tab
- You are an import car model
- Your boobs are not real
- There are naked pictures of you floating around on the internet somewhere
- Stiletto heels are your favorite
- Your role models are Francine Dee and Kaila Yu
- Your boyfriend is a Gangsta Fob
- You cheat on your boyfriend
- Unlike most Asians, you do not do well in school

Rice-Boy
- You drive an Asian import. Usually a Honda or Acura
- Your souped up car (known as a Rice-ride or Rice-rocket) is unrecognizable from it's original stock form
- Your exhaust pipe is big enough for your head to fit in
- The spoiler on your car looks like it was made by Boeing
- The interior of your car also looks like it was designed by Boeing
- You always drive like you are racing someone
- You are not afraid of dying in a crash, but you are afraid of speed bumps and parking lot on-ramps
- The only other person besides yourself who can sit in your car is your 105 lbs Tab girlfriend. If anyone else sits in your car, the entire bottom of it will be touching the ground
- Even though your car is a Honda, it goes faster and is worth more than a Lotus Esprit
- If you drive a Civic, your dream car is a Supra. If you drive a Supra, your dream car is a Skyline (which you can never have). Poor Rice-boy.

Fobulous
- You speak perfect English and you are fluent in your native language
- You have Asian friends as well as non-Asian friends
- You listen to Asian pop as well as American music not much asian music anymore...
- You are equally aware of both popular American culture and Asian pop culture *or equally unaware...*
- You are a good dancer
- You date Asian by choice even though you could rock the opposite sex of any other race
- You are a good designer and have superior Html skills
- You have an Apt107 page AND an AA page and the guest books in both are packed
- For you, FOB stands for Fabulous Oriental Being
- You have lots of Asian pride

The anatomy and dissection of a classical playlist, and what you might happen to be in the mood for:

I feel debaucherously decadent today, and I want unabashed cheese mixed with sexual non-moral harmony:
Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 2
Strauss, Don Juan
Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5

I'm fucking angry today, espcially at Stalin for killing all those people - and Hitler sucks too:
Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 8
Prokofieff, Piano Concerto No. 2
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5
Hindemith, Mathis der Maler

Rejoice, oh beautiful Earth, for today is a gift of glory, and the first day to change your life into something spectacular:
Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time
Mahler, Symphony No. 2
Beethoven, Symphony No. 9

God, prehistoric history is so great, and I wish I could save all the whales:
George Crumb, Voice of the Whale

Fuck, I'm BORED:
Anything by Phillip Glass or Steve Reich

I think I need some classical music for my relaxation work day:
Telemann Concerto Grosso Op. 9872, No. 3853932

Recently, I've had absolutely nothing original to post - thus, I am going to consistently plagiarize and steal shamelessly from Stanley's blog. This is from Pulp Fiction:

VINCENT
So you're serious, you're really
gonna quit?

JULES
The life, most definitely.

VINCENT
So if you're quitting the life,
what'll you do?

JULES
That's what I've been sitting here
contemplating. First, I'm gonna
deliver this case to Marsellus.
Then, basically, I'm gonna walk the
earth.

VINCENT
What do you mean, walk the earth?

JULES
You know, like Caine in "KUNG FU."
Just walk from town to town, meet
people, get in adventures.

VINCENT
How long do you intend to walk the
earth?

JULES
Until God puts me where he want me
to be.

VINCENT
What if he never does?

JULES
If it takes forever, I'll wait
forever.

VINCENT
So you decided to be a bum?

JULES
I'll just be Jules, Vincent -- no
more, no less.

VINCENT
No Jules, you're gonna be like
those pieces of shit out there who
beg for change. They walk around
like a bunch of fuckin' zombies,
they sleep in garbage bins, they
eat what I throw away, and dogs
piss on 'em. They got a word for
'em, they're called bums. And
without a job, residence, or legal
tender, that's what you're gonna be
-- a fuckin' bum!

JULES
Look my friend, this is just where
me and you differ --

VINCENT
-- what happened was peculiar -- no
doubt about it -- but it wasn't
water into wine.

JULES
All shapes and sizes, Vince.

VINCENT
Stop fuckin' talkin' like that!

JULES
If you find my answers frightening,
Vincent, you should cease askin'
scary questions.

VINCENT
When did you make this decision --
while you were sitting there eatin'
your muffin?

JULES
Yeah. I was just sitting here
drinking my coffee, eating my
muffin, playin' the incident in my
head, when I had what alcoholics
refer to as a "moment of clarity."

VINCENT
I gotta take a shit. To be
continued.

The following is the just-released 2004 US News rankings of schools in the US with the lowest acceptance rates:

1. Curtis Institute of Music (PA) 7%
2. Juilliard School (NY) 8%
3. United States Coast Guard Acad. (CT)* 8%
4. Harvard University (MA) 11%
5. Princeton University (NJ) 11%
6. Columbia University (NY) 12%
7. United States Naval Academy (MD)* 12%
8. College of the Ozarks (MO) 12%
9. Stanford University (CA) 13%
10. Yale University (CT) 13%

Is it humorous, plain funny, sadistic, or insane that the first 2 schools listed in the entire country that include ALL majors and specialties, just happen to be in the field of music performance? Fuck this occupation.

Perhaps an even more interestingly-enigmatic question would be: WHAT THE FUCK IS COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS. and how is it so fucking hard to get into?!! Jeff's explanation:

j m 2 c a l: To be eligible for admission, a person must graduate from an accredited high school. Applicants who are not high school graduates are required to submit passing scores on the General Education Development (GED) Test before admissions may be granted. Specific admission requirements are listed throughout this section by application type. Specific requirements may not apply to adult learners (21 years of age), or the applications may be exempted. (http://www.mvsu.edu/academics.html)
j m 2 c a l: it's probably cause the students that want to attend usually don't meet the minimum requirements
j m 2 c a l: they submit their applications on brown paper bags
j m 2 c a l: and get denied

(on a chairlift sometime this season)

steve: (staring at a double black diamond) how do you think they make moguls?
stan: they smoosh a snowman. like one of calvin's deranged killer snow goons.
steve: (still staring at moguls) yeah id like to see that army of snow goons before they smooshed them.
stan: (turns to steve) you fag.

Performance Schedule

March 27th - Prokofieff 2nd Concerto
March 29th - Rorem Trio
April 2nd - Weber Duo Concertante
April 8th - Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Chopin, Beethoven, Rorem Full Recital
April 8th - Judd Greenstein Sonata
April 15th - Beethoven 3rd Concerto
April 14th - Prokofieff 2nd Concerto
April 16th - Brahms Schumann Variations
April 23rd - Beethoven Appassionata, Bach, Rachmaninoff Sonata

This is how busy I've been.

sleepyx637: yo
j m 2 c a l: yo
sleepyx637: los is talking to me
sleepyx637: :-)

Everybody knows Friendster. You're all on it. If you're not, it just means you haven't sold out yet. They'll get you though. Sooner or later. Below is the single best Friendster testimonial I've ever read:

MIKE:
basically stanley is the sexiest chinese guy i know, behind steven, jeff tseng, ben, and mcquire. he is hella smart, can dance pretty well, is loyal to friennds, and will give it up to you if you ask twice. he likes rubbing my ear meat.

This goes out to those who know Jerome - the EECS Madman

naryantek: heard u went clubbing with ryan
EECS Madman: i just finished beating off, now i have nothing to do
EECS Madman: yea werd
EECS Madman: i saw some lakers benchwarmers

This came in response to a conservative radio talk show host discussing the morality of homosexuality:

Dear Dr. Laura,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.

a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?

i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted disciple and adoring fan.

"You see, you wouldn't ask why the rose that grew from the concrete had damaged petals. On the contrary - we would all celebrate its tenacity, we would all love its will to reach the sun. Well...we are the roses, this is the concrete, and these are my damaged petals. Don't ask me why...Thank God nigga, ask me how."
-2pac

Seen on a New York City billboard:

Four scantily clad, obviously men-hating, gorgeous white women - the type who have had their fair share of bone in them. The ad?

"THE L-WORD" - airing soon. "SAME SEX. DIFFERENT CITY."

when will it stop....

Seen at Juilliard:
Young Korean female, no more than 17 years old, bawling helplessly into the arms of her undoubtedly glory-hopeful mother shortly after callbacks are posted. Nearby, a Russian is smoking.

Heard at Juilliard:
Person 1: Dude, check it out, check it out [carrying a long thin case]. I got something you would kill to have.
Person 2: A penis?
Person 1: Uh, you don't have a penis?
Person 2: Nah, I lost it in a terrible accident with your mother.
Person 1: Fuck you. You know what this is? 30,000 dollar Santori bow, my friend.
Person 2: What the hell are you doing with a 30,000 dollar bow.
Person 1: I'm gonna sell it and buy drugs.

Sadly, these have been my friends for the last 4 years.

drungken munk ee (9:43:16 PM): yeah, it's already gotten so bad that i can't really even begin to trick her. she'll kick my ass for sure.
drungken munk ee (9:43:43 PM): and when i restrain her physically, she does that cold-shoulder deal. i hate that cold-shoulder deal.
naryantek (9:44:43 PM): damn shes got you under her thumb.
naryantek (9:44:48 PM): HER THUMB!
drungken munk ee (9:45:28 PM): let's not talk about thumbs, my thumby friend.
naryantek (9:45:56 PM): huh
drungken munk ee (9:46:05 PM): you are sure to be the professional in that department; you know alice's thumbs better than she does.
drungken munk ee (9:46:08 PM): biooootch!
drungken munk ee (9:48:09 PM): silence = defeat.
naryantek (9:51:47 PM): GAY
naryantek (9:51:51 PM): you are so gay
naryantek (9:52:02 PM): i was in the bathroom and you had a mini contest with yourself
naryantek (9:52:11 PM): and i still dont get why im a pro with thumbs
drungken munk ee (9:53:32 PM): here:

function alice(person stan) {
if (!stan->whupped)
stan->whupped = 1;
else if (stan->confident) {
stan->confident = stan->confident - 1;
alice(stan);
} else {
printf("%s is so under %s's thumb!",stan,alice);
alice(stan);
}
}

drungken munk ee (9:53:45 PM): as you can see, the function is endlessly recursive in nature.

The Truest Definition of Globalization: The death of Princess Diana

An English princess
with an Egyptian boyfriend
crashes in a French tunnel,
driving a German car
a Dutch engine,
driven by a Belgian who was drunk
on Scottish whisky, (check the bottle before you change the spelling)
followed closely by Italian Paparazzi,
on Japanese motorcycles;
treated by an American doctor,
using Brazilian medicines.
This is sent to you by an American,
using Bill Gates's technology,
and you're probably reading this on your computer,
that use Taiwanese chips,
and a Korean monitor,
assembled by Bangladeshi workers
in a Singapore plant,
transported by Indian lorry-drivers,
hijacked by Indonesians,
unloaded by Sicilian longshoremen,
and trucked to you by Mexican illegals.....

this was forwarded to me by an Australian

[ x ] prokofieff 4th mvt
[ x ] rach etude
[ x ] liszt ballade
[ ] prokofieff 3rd mvt
[ ] chopin etude
[ ] mozart concerto
[ ] rach concerto
[ ] beethoven concerto
[ ] 111, bach, and earl wild

it's gonna be a long semester.

Upcoming destinations: Texas in Feburary. Japan in June. Australia in July?

In rewatching "Quiz Show" and "Finding Forrester", I found it especially intriguing that both movies climaxed a scene with a 'quote game' - an intellectual game for the esoteric and elite few who are nerdy enough to memorize individual and distinct lines from Dickinson, Shakespeare, Tennyson, etc. poems to quiz the challenger. I always found this sophomorically impressive, not that I would ever be nerdy enough to quote anything from a dead European poet.

However, since the new American cultural idiom (or does that exist?) tends to be in areas much less respectable (or artsy-fartsy) than dead European poetic jargon, I figured the contemporary equivelent of such a game would be to quote rap.

So test yourself. Rack your mind. Recreate yourself and intellectually indulge to see if you can place the title and artist.

"Today I didn't even have to use my AK / I guess it was a good day."

"Even though you was a crack fiend, mama / you always was a black queen, mama"

"See to live is to suffer but to survive well that's to find meaning in the suffering."

"Stereotypes of a black male misunderstood....and it's still all good."

"Have you ever been hated or discriminated against? I have / I been protested and demonstrated against."

"I don't rap to get the women. Fuck bitches / Gimme a fat slug who cooks and does dishes."

"I sold my soul to the devil, and the price was cheap / yo it's cold on this level cause it's twice as deep / But you don't hear me, ignorance is bliss and so on / Sometimes it's better to be thought dumb, Shall I go on"

"How many brothers fell victim to the streets? / Rest in peace, y'all niggaz / There's a heaven for a G"

A few of us here got involved in quite-heated discussion regarding gender-bias amongst classical musicians - specifically, in the question of whether or not one could distinguish the piano playing of a male or a female without prior knowledge of the gender.

Oddly enough, the results through the times have reversed their chauvinist tendencies, and it was the females who maintained that yes, truly, there were highly apparent and discernible differences between male and female players. "Males tend to have a more solid, direct, and louder sound, whereas females will never be able to achieve that sound but compensate by cultivating a more refined sense of subtlety and lyricism."

(Bullshit)

The truth is, there really is no difference between a male and female player. Period.

"In my experience, it is much easier to tell a male or female musician by an examination of their genitalia." - Brian Snow

This is the weather at the current moment in the coldest parts of the world:
Moscow: 26 F
Iceland: 32 F
Antarctica: 24 F
North Pole: 2 F
New Haven: 0 F

HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT?

Tentative Recital Program:

Debussy Etudes: Pour les huit doigts, Pour les agréments, Pour les arpèges composés (10 minutes)
Liszt, Ballade No. 2 (14 minutes)
Rachmaninoff, Sonata No. 2 (25 minutes)
Gershwin/Wild, Improvisation in the form of a Theme and Three Variations on 'Someone To Watch Over Me' (12 minutes)

good quote: "You know the world's gone crazy when the best rapper is white, the best golfer is black, the tallest guy in the NBA is chinese, France is accusing the U.S of arrogance, Germany does NOT want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in the world are named "Bush" and "Dick".

Haven't blogged in awhile. Random thoughts:

Unsure at this point whether it is strange that I foster an immediate distate for the unabashedly wealthy, particularly in the case of the nice-and-rich. I played a gig last week for one of the top donors to the Yale School of Music, who reportedly donated a lump sum of over 10 million dollars to us - on top of that, upon further conversation, I discovered that a new hobby of his was the collection of vineyards. Yes, vineyards. Not a wine collector - a vineyard collector, with vineyards across the United States and France.

I found myself fostering an immediate distate for this man - who, in all respects, was possibly one of the nicest men I had ever met. I'm still not quite sure what it is. Perhaps it's the hypothetical - had he given this 10 million dollars to Oakland public schools instead of to an institution that annually receives over 11 billion dollars in funds (in addition to its long-standing private arrangements with corporate business), would the world be a better place? Am I wrong to foster such judgement? Is it even any of my business?

I found out quite interesting tonight to find out that Howard Dean's outspoken Christian faith is becoming more prevalent in the campaign trail, particularly because he is most heavily associated with his brave support of gay-rights. Also interesting to note that his wife (and kids) are Jewish. Christians take note.

School starting again. I feel ready for the stress and the 9am-midnight days. I hope it will last.

I am officially once again, a Yalie. Rekhanize.

Taken from Stan's blog. No comment - but this is partly why I'm a registered Democrat.

at movie theatre tonight, saw a group of drunken U.S. marine cadets fresh out of high school and boot camp. they wore USMC sweaters and hats to advertise. and went around the theatre loudly bragging that they "kill people for a living". they talked very loudly during the movie, and when people told them to shut up, they threatened to kill them too.

Ongoing conversations with my mother (content withheld):

Cjambalos: i hate that
car LOCO 69: when did he say that
Cjambalos: way back
car LOCO 69: fuck that shit
Cjambalos: fuck that shit

Yes. These are my friends.

naryantek: laptop. i could be anywhere.
sleepyx637: anywhere huh?
naryantek: yeah
sleepyx637: how bout on MY lap top

sometimes i wonder if im the only straight guy left.

Tupac Resurrection:

The advent of mass-public-accessible documentaries has arrived. Move over Bowling for Columbine. Move over Hoop Dreams. Welcome Tupac Resurrection.

This is a must-see, period. Done in virtually the same style as Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine, Tupac Resurrection is a posthumous quasi-auto-biographical telltale legend story about the controversy of Tupac Shakur - it is, in his words, "my life story about love, violence, betrayal, redemption, and passion." Thankfully shying away from East-West bullshit drama, the film conveys with literally no outside-perspective (it's done in 100% first person) the intelligence, politics, drama, and controversy of Tupac, showing the viewer the passion and redemption of perhaps the greatest and most notorious rapper in history.

"Tupac: Resurrection is about rap music, the forces that created it, and the world it then created. Shakur talks about the experiences and politics that went into his own music, in a way that casts more light on rap than anything else I've come across in a movie. Although rap is not music in the sense that you come out humming the melody, it's as genuine an American idiom as jazz or the blues, and it is primarily a medium of words, of ideology; a marriage of turntables, poetry slams, autobiography and righteous anger." (Ebert)

The hard part of making a Tupac film: Tupac is a California legend; our 90's version of a hip-hopesque John Lennon and virtually a national hero - he is an undisputed media icon, and a political and poetic thug-figure to all upcoming hip-hop artists. How do you show something in the film that we don't already know?

"Tupac had such vitality" - Yes, we know all of that, but never has a film made it so incredibly and articulately materialized. We don't need to be told anymore that Tupac had an incredible charisma and vitality; in this film, we are shown.

"Tupac was a thug" - Yes, we can see that by his tattoo on his abs. But contrary to popular opinion, Tupac was not born a thug, and he was not raised a thug. What the film paints of Tupac is a much more introspective picture of an extroverted person, a contemporary political poet caught in the anger of white-american racism who is painfully trying to act 10 times more 'thug' than he is, or ever was, or ever could be. In his own words, "I didn't have a record, until I had a record."

"Tupac was intelligent" - Yes, we know that as well - you can see that by his reading his lyrics. But I for one, didn't know the extent of Tupac's intelligence until this movie.

Please watch this movie. If you don't like Tupac or you're not a rap-fan, please find it in yourself to open your mind, expand your horizons, and indulge.

"As you listen to his uncanny narration of Tupac: Resurrection, which is stitched together from interviews, you realize you're not listening to the usual self-important vacancies from celebrity Q&As, but to spoken prose of a high order, in which analysis, memory and poetry come together seamlessly in sentences and paragraphs that sound as if they were written. Let's assume you are a person who never intends to see a doc about rap music, but might have it in you to see one. This is the one." (Ebert)

Taken from Alex's blog:

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter.

IM me if yuo tinhk taht is fkcued up. And to cilhl.

Had a long talk with Ryo tonight about that perpetual (and on-going blog-subject) question regarding the genetic/biological factors vs. the issue of choice/environment of homosexuality. (Those of us who choose to think with even the smalest grain of intelligence believe homosexuality to be not unlike autism or down syndrom: that is, a genetic chromosomal syndrome that just so happens to affect 10% of the world's population, with an additional extra population of those who are 'gay by choice', the latter happening significantly less frequently. Will this ever controversy ever be scientifically decided, one way or the other? Probably. Soon? No. Does it matter? Not really; maybe a little. This brings up an equal amount of empirical-dinner-table debates:

If homosexuality is by choice or affected so heavily by environment, why are there so many accounts of macho football players who attempt suicide because of their uncontrollable sexual orientation?

Blah blah blah, I could go on forever. But here's a more interesting question Ryo brought up.

If one day, the answer was actually scientifically solved, what would happen?
Scenario A: Homosexuality is proven to be genetic/biological (not 'passed down a family tree', but an uncontrollable birth syndrome similar to down syndrome or autism). Would this eradicate most non-religious-based homophobia, or would it eradicate homosexuality all together in time? Would technology become so great as to enable a parent to receive a doctor-given 'homosexuality pre-birth ultra-sound' to give the possibility of abortion? Or would it eradicate the large number of homophobes who base their homophobia on the belief that environment/choice should not be a cause for homosexuality?

Scenario B: Homosexuality is proven to have no genetic or biological influence. Would this turn homosexuals into a new sort of 'freak'? Would it turn into a witch hunt? Would homophobia increase a result of this? Would being 'gay' be likened to being 'goth'; just another choice to be 'different'?

Interesting questions brought up by my intelligent and gay roommate, Ryo.

After almost 6 months of feeding off the cosmic-intellectual-sublime-and-beyond rantings of late-Beethoven, I have been finally zapped back into the beauty of aesthetic-pianism: Rachmaninoff. In reality, I am tired of thinking. Beethoven demands thinking, and that sucks. In fact, thinking sucks. I don't wanna do it anymore. I just wanna play and let loose. To all you thinking-people out there, take a few months away from your artsy-fartsiness, and indulge in the universal-beauty that, as a past teacher reminded me, will have you reeling unless (a) you were dropped on your head as a child, (b) lying.

Beethoven is truth, Rachmaninoff is indulgent beauty. Too much of the latter can only be a good thing.

"It is refreshing to hear my songs sung by the mindless singer with a voice, than by the intellectual without one."
-Ned Rorem, keepin' it real.

To be learned before the end of January:
Rachmaninoff Etude-Tableau No. 1
Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2, 1st Mvt.
Liszt Ballade No. 2
Prokofieff Concerto No. 2, 2nd-4th Mvt.

After an extended vacation that started somewhere around the end of August, it is time to get back to work. Play time is over.

I am about to receive over 900 dollars, and it still might not be enough to cover my expenses. Damn. Depressing.

After spending almost an entire lifetime without travel (california-tunnel vision), I realized that in the past 12 months alone, I have stayed in:
London, Siena, Florence, Venice, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Bergen, Berlin, Hamburg, Texas, LA, New York, Bay Area, and soon Reno and Louisiana.
If all goes well, I still hope to see Sendai, Sydney, Belgrade, and Missouri in the next upcoming months.

Operation Money Saver has gone into effect: Starting today, the only money I spend will be on bare essentials: toilet paper and cigarettes.

Lake Tahoe, here I come.

For years, I have tried to master the art of notated-fobby linguistics, but I have yet to come up with anything as good as this:

japxplaya: ni hao~~! what foh yoo must going to Niu Yue Xi-tee? it must be coh-der than here at Shi-Dan-Fu.

Translation: Hello. Why are you going to New York City? It must be colder than Stanford.

Halloween in Mexico - an age-old, super-sacred traditionally-joyous festivity-saturated holiday dominated by the reminiscences and anecdotal celebration of dead ones. Dia de los Muertos. Day of the Dead.

Halloween at Yale - a poorly designed excuse for every skanky-brained female to dress as a slut. or a prostitute. or a whore. or some exotically falsified variation of the formers, meant to authenticate the exoticism of the outfit without actually having to say "Hi, I'm insecure, and I'll be a slut for Halloween."

We're getting old. And dying slowly.

car LOCO 69: it's a sad time these days dude
Divadjj: I am unemployed
Divadjj: you are almost out of school
Divadjj: jerry gets a 163
Divadjj: geoff is bald
Divadjj: man....
car LOCO 69: omg
car LOCO 69: you're so depressing dude
Divadjj: HAHAHHAHA

This is what I deal with. Day in. Day out.

jeffro 607: he's hot, though
jeffro 607: so, i dunno.. i couldn't think of anything CD to get... SO.. this is what i got instead
jeffro 607: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0789306352/104-9819014-0061554
jeffro 607: and
jeffro 607: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1560253010/104-9819014-0061554
jeffro 607: :-)
car LOCO 69: ahhhhh thanks jeff
jeffro 607: new coffee table books
jeffro 607: :-) anytime

For those of you who don't wanna copy the link, it's a celebration book of Male Nudes through the last 40 years.

Kill Bill.

I'm not quite sure how Tarantino managed to build himself a cinematic mogul hype more colossal than any director in the business; especially since his total output in the last ten years has barely been noticeable (did anybody even bother with Jackie Brown?).

Kill Bill is gruesomely living proof that a well-thought out, meticulously done, cinematographically genius, and wildly original film can still be straight out bad. It was barely entertaining. I became more concerned with my stomach turning from the 70's-samurai violence than the actual film itself.

Why does Kill Bill not measure up to Pulp Fiction in the least?

1) Pulp Fiction, to put it bluntly, had content. Besides being the single most inspirationally revolutionary film of the 90's, the predominant themes of redemption, religious right, and philosophy all came through in shining hall-of-fame colors. This worked brilliantly with Tarantino's insanely Kubric-esque obsession with details in film, and the cinematic and pop-culture references were right on spot.

Kill Bill is not about anything. You could say it's about chivalry, but you wouldn't really be kidding anybody. And that's lame anyway. You could say it's about revenge. Whoopee. Revenge. No, the truth is Kill Bill is not much more than a ten-year-in-the-works magnum opus of a brilliant director who is immaturely eager to prove to the world that he is artsy, learned, well-read, and intelligent. Kill Bill shows me three things: 1) Quentin Tarantino watches a lot of movies. and 2) Quentin Tarantino is well-read. and 3) Quentin Tarantino is intelligent. But that doesn't make it a good movie.

2) It also concerns me that the pseudo-intellectual and quasi-artsy pop-references from the 70's that Tarantino infuses throughout his films get lost in the esotericism of cinema. I mean, seriously - who really caught all the Shaws Bros. references, the Red Apple cigarettes, the oddly-devised Tarantino stamped soundtrack, and probably the thousands of other references that I didn't catch because frankly, Tarantino is too intelligent for his own good - so intelligent, that we don't even notice or we don't even care.

3a) Shooting selective scenes in black-and-white, another in anime, and another in blue sillouhette makes a movie artsy (true), but it does not make it good.
3b) Basing a movie on 70's Samurai references from Shaws Brothers' films and infusing your film with cinematic knowledge and inside jokes makes a movie cool, but it does not make it good.
3c) For all of the hype regarding Tarantino as one of the greatest screenplay writers of all time, this script sucked. Period.

4) I can just see a fast-talking, nervous, Quentin Tarantino, sitting in the same house in Los Angeles for the last 6 years watching the rise of kung-fu, wu-shu, samurai, and what not into american films with the Matrix, Charlie's Angels, Art of War, etc. and thinking to himself, "I could do so much better than any of those idiots." I mean, don't forget, Tarantino was the one who brought Iron Monkey to the United States. He owns this genre right? Nobody knows it better than he does, right? right...

Mr. Tarantino, please believe that I still have the utmost respect for your intelligence, and Pulp Fiction will inevitably go down in history as one of the greatest films of all time. May Kill Bill be just a fluke.

Earlier, Jerry and I spent some time exchanging cooking recipes.

jrey77: and i put it with tomato sauce and mozerralla
car LOCO 69: salmon too
car LOCO 69: mad good
jrey77: garlic, butter salmon?
car LOCO 69: i use garlic salt, olive oil, and basil and butter
jrey77: man i'm trying to learn new things
jrey77: it's so exciting to think about what to cook after work
car LOCO 69: yo
car LOCO 69: you realize we're hella gay right
jrey77: reaffirm man, reaffirm
car LOCO 69: rekhanize

Calvin, to his dismay, has joined what is known as "The Real World" - and not the T.V show.

JizzdustER: when the fuck
JizzdustER: did the goddamn rewards get soo small
JizzdustER: like, remember hwne u were a kid ....
JizzdustER: like, ur parents are like, "yeah work hard & u can be " ... i dunno, president of the u.s.
JizzdustER: or like, work hard & u can be a fuckin astronaut
JizzdustER: and now it's fuckin
JizzdustER: work hard and u can get 3 days off for thanksgiving

Take it with a grain of salt.

peterlsb: well as long as he does a no limit cage match with jesse ventura i'm sold
car LOCO 69: arnie would still tear him up dude
peterlsb: old 'predator' buddies
car LOCO 69: wwf is no match for mr. olympia
car LOCO 69: or whatever he was
peterlsb: who would've thought two stars of the movie predator would be governor

Taken from Stan's Blog:

drungken munk ee: i'm gonna roll now. i'll check you later like a procrastinating form-filler.
drungken munk ee signed off at 9:20:34 PM.

my witty friend, you are voltaire squared.

I hope you all took the opportunity to vote. My mother did.

Cjambalos: i g2g-and VOTE:-(
Cjambalos: shit-i dont want to wake up with terminator as governor

Thank you SBC Snet for finally giving me DSL - I will now be able to post more often. The AIM draught is over. I am officially online, 24/7.

Also, Dave and I are looking for people to come with us to Lake Tahoe and Reno during Thanksgiving break - specifically from the 27th to the 29th. ARE YOU DOWN?

Why are Deans of schools always fat, slobby, mayonaise-sandwich eating, condescendingly ignorant pieces of fat lard shit? Do they all grow from the same farm in the hick-south?

I have had the pleasure of receiving personal disciplinary invitations from over 4 Deans now at many different institutations and slowly they are all beginning to blur in my mind. They are all the same person.

On a more confusing note, last week after the Dean kicked me out of a public dress rehearsal, a few days later, he invited me to a private reception for Emmanuel Ax. Does this make sense? Is it a trap? Am I going to walk into the reception to a swarm of Yale-security rent-a-cops?

Current tasks: Nursing a fractured thumb.

Johnny Depp, Once Upon A Time In Mexico:

"Are you a MexiCAN or a MexiCAN'T?"

Stanley Lee, UC Berkeley:

"MexiCUNT"

After weeks of exhaustive, introspective, and otherwise enlightening research, I have arrived at a final conclusion regarding the 'art' of Justin Timberlake.

There are three Justin Timberlakes per each song he makes.
1) The whiny, high pitched, pseudo-Michael Jackson Justin Timberlake that closely resembles a 2-year old infant who has recently had his candy viciously ripped away from him.
2) The soft, look-into-your-eyes-and-vomit, wannabe-Boyz2Men voice that for all reasons and stereotype aside, a white man will never be able to pull off.
3) This one is my favorite. It is the shriekishly falsetto randomness that interspurses the songs with no warning - see: "I just wanna love you, baby". It resembles a raven from an Edgar Allen Poe poem, or perhaps a diseased pigeon from a Hitchcock movie.

Be glad you are not on my mom's bad side.

Cjambalos: i dont give a fuck about that witchy bitch

Apologies for disappearing off the face of the planet for awhile. I still don't have internet, but I should have it soon, and I'm now healthily back in New Haven and all moved in to my new apartment.

Things I have learned during my summer in New York City, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Bergen, Hamburg, and Berlin:

- It is not healthy to live out of a suitcase for more than a period of three months
- Generally, Europeans are more culturally suited for adaptation and linguistic familiarity
- No matter where you go, outside of America, you will always be Japanese.
- Although Amsterdam is the city of debauchery and sin, it is...interesting, to say the least.
- Fries taste incredible with mayonnaise.
- Distance increases pain, pain invokes regret
- Forgiveness is in the heart of maturity and a learning situation; anger is useless
- Insecurity is uncomfortable, but there is always a cure
- Cabs here roll deep, in flocks of Benzes
- You can actually get around Europe very cheaply
- Food is infinitely better here, bathrooms infinitely dirtier
- About 90% of Germans and Dutch speak very good english, even if they are ashamed to admit it
- Optimism is necessary. It's time to wake up early, hit the gym, clean the room, talk about problems, and generally - live a better life.

It's been a learning-summer. Sometimes fun, other times incredible, always eye-opening, filled with Beethoven, often times painful, emotionally saturating, and otherwise exhausting.

It's time to go home.

Harro! I am come from Amstahdam. Now I am in Hamburg. Now I am going to catching ride to Berlin. Bye Bye.

One more week. Then off to Berlin. I'm bored.

"Part of the appeal of 50 Cent comes from a natural drawl in his voice when he raps, a result of a bullet he once took to the face."

Dawson's Creek: a grossly overrated, melodramtically saturated pubescent-appealing TV show catering to the sentimental-prone 17 year old girl, usually the type who has been recently fucked-over by a guy-trying-to-get-play. I only mention it since it seems to be the only fucking TV show on Holland television.

Yale: a grossly overrated, bureaucratically corrupt conservative institution dominated by the omnipotence-seeking tyrannical type of administration, typically the kind that won't let you use the stapler sitting on a desk for a made-up reason oddly paralleling Hitler's idea of class - "I'm sorry. This stapler is for Yale faculty only. If you would like to staple your paper together that is due in 45 seconds, you could use the one at the student section of the Yale library located much too far for you to make it back in time. Goodbye!"

The Euro: 100 dollars gives you 86 Euro. 2 Euro gives you a can of coke.

One day I will be 30 - a student from many different institutions, without a diploma from a single one. By the time I wear my first cap n'gown, I will be old enough to raise children.

Dual-functioning pianistic and life advice from Marie Francois Bouquet:
"You have two bad habits: you smoke and you use the soft pedal. I would prefer it if you gave up both habits, but for now, please concentrate on getting rid of the soft pedal."

The world of music: 5 of us played the name game today - one from Juilliard, one from Curtis, one from Yale, one from Eastman, and one from Toronto. Together, for 3 hours straight and encompassing roughly over 100 people, there was not a single person named that at least one of us did not know from the past. It's a small world after all.

The streets of Bergen ring with music. Dutch love yo. Dutch luv.

Preliminary observations about Amsterdam:
- The cab drivers drive 6-speed stickshift AMG benzes
- You can smoke in the trains
- It's pretty damn clean
- Renaults are like Civics
- Everybody speaks english
- There's a casino in the airport. When you get off your flight, the sign reads: "Left for Baggage Claim, Arrivals, Customs, Ground Transportation, and Casino"

Posthumous observations about Los Angeles:
- Too much traffic
- Too much traffic

I'm off to Holland - then Germany. If you need to reach me, you can do so by email: carlos.avila@yale.edu.

LATES!

Once upon a time, Wayne and I had a learning-experience with Isaac Stern. We learned......absolutely nothing. The following quote is from Wayne's website:

"...There was the Heifetz period, when I used a lot of fast vibrato and fast tempi; the Oistrakh period, when I tried wide vibrato and sensuous rich tone, and the Stern period -- when I didn't vibrate for a whole year."

- Itzhak Perlman

I am disgruntled, no longer naive, exhausted by bureaucracy, politically jaded, burned by faith.

From the little remaining respect I had of authority, I have smashed it to the ground.

Some people will stick their neck out for you. Others will assfuck you. I am mature; grown - I have developed the ability to recognize bureaucratic evil.

I am sick of learning the hard way.

Goodbye.

Test: In which movies do the following characters appear?

A) John Kimball
B) Dr. Venckman
C) Leeloo Multipass
D) Stanley Goodspeed
E) Johnny Tran
F) Sean Archer
G) Sarah Conner
H) Uncle Benny (multiple answers)
I) Erik Lehnsherr
J) Li Mu Bai
K) Tequila Yuen
L) Marcellus Wallace

If you get 100% on this test without using extra sources, you have my ultimate respect. I only know two people in the world who can do it easily: Stanley Lee and Peter Bergman. Take a shot at it.

Promises that I make to my mother:

Cjambalos: mozart will be good-but if u hate the teacher-u willl be fucked
Cjambalos: will u promise to do it and get an A- regardless
Cjambalos: even if the professor sucks or an asshole
car LOCO 69: yeah i will
Cjambalos: u promise to lick his ass-just to get A-
car LOCO 69: yeah
Cjambalos: u promise to lick his ass-just to get A?
car LOCO 69: yes already i said

Screenname withheld:

[a-friend-of-mine]: man i had the craziest dream that i got it on with some playboy playmate.
[a-friend-of-mine]: i was SO PISSED when i woke up.
car LOCO 69: HAHAHAHhahahhaHAHah
[a-friend-of-mine]: she was so damn hot.
[a-friend-of-mine]: anyways.
[a-friend-of-mine]: all day i wished i was back in teh dream.
car LOCO 69: damn do you purposely try and get onto my blog
[a-friend-of-mine]: huh.
[a-friend-of-mine]: fuck dude.
[a-friend-of-mine]: dont post that!

Movie reviews continued: Immortal Beloved

It's difficult to judge a film that creates inspiring emotional impact through the vehicle of historical deceit and falsification, though it brings up two major issues: the latter may carry more importance, but the former is essentially more critical.

In Immortal Beloved, I choose the former. May historical integrity fly out the window; who cares?

In effect, the premise of Immortal Beloved is based on documental fact - the Heiligenstadt Testament as the first will, the Immortal Beloved letter as the last, the custody battle for Beethoven's nephew, the Napolean crisis surrounding the composition of the Eroica, Schindler's ridiculous quest for the sole heir, etc. The interpretation of the documents, however, are nothing short of blasphemy; it throws in the face all the common sensical extrapolations regarding the Immortal Beloved, and barely addresses Antonia Brentano, who has come to be regarded (after Solomon's exhaustive research) as the rightful dedicatee. Everybody knows that Johanna von Beethoven and Beethoven were long-standing enemies, proven blatantly by the custody battles for her son, and though Schindler proposed (ridiculously) that Giulietta Gucciardi probably stood the best chance, she married even before the Heiligenstadt Testament was written, and what's more, the film inaccurately claims that Schindler disregarded her completely.

But then again, who cares?

The film is well done; emotionally powerful, musically brilliant, incredibly acted (did anybody notice that the guy who plays Schindler is the same guy that plays the bad-guy Doctor in The Fugitive?), and definitely serves as the paradigmatic example for a movie set to music. All the most brilliant works are included, and in the most appropriate setting: the slow movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony, Fur Elise, the Moonlight Sonata (as the cause of his breakup with Giuletta Gucciardi), the 9th Symphony (obviously the climax of the film), the Kreutzer Sonata, the Pathetique, the Eroica, and of course (on his deathbed no less) the Cavatina from his Op. 130 String Quartet.

If anything, the film showed the most important aspect about Beethoven: the ethos, blinded to the public by his temperament. Here we see Beethoven (Gary Oldman), hated by all his loved ones, living in a world of complete silence, alienated from public consumption, plauged by memories, solitarily writing for the greatness of humanity. We see that beyond his temperament and his collosal ego, Beethoven genuinely selflessly strove for humanitarian redemption. And the music they chose shows it.

Contrary to popular opinion, this is not a bad movie. It may be grossly incorrect, but it's not a bad movie.

The following is an excerpt of the Solomon translation of the third Immortal Beloved letter. It is the heart of the Romantic era - a look into the creation of pathos, single-handedly developed by the most influential composer in music history.

"Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits. Be calm, only by a clam consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell.

Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

Ever mine.
Ever thine.
Ever ours."

You know you're at a San Gabriel restauarant when: you walk into the maggot-infested, shit-covered bathroom to find a slightly-less-than-innocent Asian gangster taking a piss with his hand resting on the hilt of his silver 9mm gun, a not-so-paranoid precaution in the event of an attempted wacking.

The city of angels, the street's my companion. Take me to the place I love, take me all the way. (Five dollar reference)

Movie Reviews continued: 25th Hour

This was by far, the most introspectively done masterpiece of the year; a subtle elegiac ode to a post-9/11 New York through the vehicle of a simpleton story. It requires no plot (it doesn't have one), no melodramatic sentiment, and no victim tears. Spike Lee delivers in one of his only non-African-American set films, his tribute and contribution to the already-piling-up art works dedicated to the memory of New York. 25th Hour is Spike Lee's cinematic version of John Adams' "On The Transmigration of Souls".

Literal parellels to 9/11 are present, but not omni-present, and more importantly, they are important, but not omni-potent - and that's where Spike Lee makes his bridge from cliche-film to contemporary-America's new-age "Cannery Row." The 9/11 tributes function as a dedicatee basis, the images of its devastation a pervading constant through the film, and ultimately always an appropriate aura for the meat-message of the movie: re-evaluation.

I was especially hit by Edward Norton's "fuck you" schizo-dialogue to the diversity of New York, which is always a Spike Lee staple, and always powerful. This is a must-see.

For the nerdy-musician out there:

Josef Suk, Yo-Yo Ma, and James Dick used to be in a Piano Trio together. They were known as the Suk-Ma-Dick trio.

Health advice from my mother, the nurse:

Cjambalos: i guess-just drink lots of water
Cjambalos: also good to weigh yourself when u havent eaten and u drop a big bomb in the plumbing

Short Movie Reviews: The Pianist and Spike Lee's He Got Game

The Pianist: The most optimistic of the Polanski films, yet still deathly dark and disturbing - I enjoyed the themes of crossing German help in Jewish concentration camps witih Jewish help in German prisoner of war camps, though it still ended up comming across as a typical World War II and Holocaust film, which I hoped it wouldn't be. Some of his musical choices seemed contradictory to his thematics: at the climax of the film, the Polish man is seens playing Chopin (a Polish composer) and the German Nazi playing Beethoven (a German composer), though with his central theme of music as an elevation past humanity, it would make more sense for those two to switch composers.

He Got Game: This film is living proof that even the most horribly acted film can still have meaning - why Spike Lee chose Ray Allen to play the lead role of Jesus Shuttlesworth, we will never know. Ray Allen acts like a zoo-gorilla on steroids. I did enjoy Spike Lee's overall choice of laying the entire Coney Island basketballs scenes to the music of Aaron Copland, but I don't really understand the point - does the music of Copland (a dead white man) somehow epitomize the working class ghetto of aspiring hoop dreams in Coney Island? Or is it just Spike Lee trying to be pseudo-intellectual and originalesque by being the first director to NOT lay a basketball movie in 100% hip hop?

Musical Shoutout for today: This goes to my homeboy, John Craske, who spent a considerable amount of time creating and recording (over his own voice) his own version of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" - by Johnstin Craskerlake. It's hilarious and well done, so IM me if you want it.

hahAha. Convos with Justin.

car LOCO 69: ammunition with biblebeater chicks is so different
car LOCO 69: you gotta bust out weird ass lines
chink15: "nice bible!"
car LOCO 69: "you know, i'm homeboys with jesus"

I have been getting strange compliments lately.

quepenl: so i told him how PSATs are such a big deal at gunn
quepenl: and how palo alto ppl are just nutsos when it comes to SATs
car LOCO 69: yeah
quepenl: so he asked me my score, and i told him, then he got all scared and thought he was super stupid or something so i told him that it doesn't mean you're smart - and i used you as an example
quepenl: LOL
quepenl: what!!!!
quepenl: i mean
quepenl: you're no genius!
quepenl: but you got 800

I was greeted by the surprise of good news and bad news this morning.

The good news: My car had been transformed into a pseudo-convertible! Finally, my dreams come true. I have a convertible - the plush fresh air and wind shall finally blow in my face as I drive.

The bad news: This was the result of some punk-ass little bitch bashing the back window of my car to pieces.

Fuck this shit. Charcoalj, as you all know, is my mom.

charcoalj: carlos-get over this age business
charcoalj: old people fall in love and they still have sex
charcoalj: i know that from being a niurse
charcoalj: i have men in their 70's getting penile implants
car LOCO 69: ewww
car LOCO 69: i don't wanna hear that shit

The Return of the Drungken Munkee.

On "28 Days Later"
car LOCO 69: the only scene i thought was pointless was the very beginning scene
car LOCO 69: the monkey scene
car LOCO 69: that scene didn't neeed to be in the movie
drungken munk ee: hey, monkeys should be in every movie, alright?
drungken munk ee: shut the fuck up.

On "Terminator 3"
car LOCO 69: but actually, aside from arnie, Claire Danes was the most powerful actor in the film
drungken munk ee: truly.
drungken munk ee: i don't know... i was very moved by kristianna.
drungken munk ee: moved in my pants.

On Romance
car LOCO 69: plus the only time i saw you last time was once when you grabbed my ass and then bounced into the darkness
car LOCO 69: i ican't stand being used like that
drungken munk ee: you gaymunk!
car LOCO 69: you can't just mess with someone's heart like that
drungken munk ee: yeah, i've been told i'm quite a tease.

Movie Reviews continued: Ronin

Even though Matrix Reloaded is getting the hype for the most insane car chase ever, it's interesting to see where the influence comes from - surely there is a 'pioneer' or a 'revolutionary' in every aspect of cinema, and for car chases, it's Ronin. Hands down. No movie before it or after it ever captured the finesse of an Audi S8 and a BMW M5 speeding down Parisian highways on the opposite lane, with the camera zoom on the shifts and drifts. Rekhanize!

Also, I always thought that scene where Deniro performs surgery on himself without drugs is just another scene to exemplify his own self-badassness, but I figure now that it's actually a Japanese Samurai reference to the Ronin who disembowled themselves in an honorable form of suicide by plunging the sword into the exact same spot Deniro plunges the surgery-scalpel. And he's a badass.

Jean Reno will never be able to rid himself of the type-cast he has molded - forever an assassin.

What a badass movie.

I think I understand the ending to T3 a little better now.

Contrary to my last opinion of the T3-ending, I think it was actually done in the James Cameron-school of thought, though it might have resembled Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes a little too heaviliy (complete with the President of the United States emblem and everything). The overall moral of the Terminator movies rests in the anti-technology thought that machines will inevitably take over - thus, if the TX was destroyed and judgement day was stopped, it would have been retarded in a way; it gives an infinite plot-hole to continue the transport of terminators back to kill John Connor indefinitely.

This ending works better I guess, after I thought about it a little more. It ends pessimistically, with the world destroying itself, a victim of the machines it creates - hence, the moral of the film socialistically represents the old-school moral of the original Planet of the Apes: humans will fight each other until they destroy themselves. And it actually happens!

I know y'all probably think I'm analyzing Terminator too heavily, but James Cameron isn't a brainless director. His socialist thoughts permeate every film he makes, including Titanic, and Terminator is the archetype of his method of living out the hypothetical through the fantasy of cinema. At heart, Cameron is a pessimist, a cynic of capitalist technology that he uses Arnie to eradicate.

Goodnight.

Contrary to the popular notion that diversity remains a prevalant attraction at UC Berkeley, there really are only a few types of males.

The AZN - of Asian decent, boasts a 'fade', knows the locations of every non-carding underground Korean bar/club in a 30 mile radius, may or may not be a frat boy, is usually from Socal, frequent employs AZN-nomenclature and vernacular ("dawg" "fool"), sOmEtImEs tYpEs LiKe dIS, brain usually infected with Hite and Soju, frequently complains about the status of norcal chicks, knows who Tai Mai Shu is and can usually finish the following song lyric: "It's the A-Z-N, nigga, fuck ________"

The BibleBeater - also of Asian decent, also usually boasts a 'fade' though a more conservative one, is a member of a complicated acronym that means nothing to the normal man (EBC, KCPC, ABCDEF), contains scriptures of odes to Him in AIM profile, knows what 'small group' is, boasts humility and servitude (though usually in a money-making major like business)

The White Boy - wears bug-eyed sunglasses, thinks every asian girl that resembles non-wookie form is a 'babe, dude', frequently in a major you've never heard of, drinks beer....lots of it

The Sikhs - (did I spell that right) obviously turban-wearing hipsters, extroverted but ugly, usually racially-monogamous and exclusive

The Stoners - uh smokes lots of weeeeed, duuuuuuuude, can be of any ethnicity

The Black Guy - usually very stylish though attempts to still speak 'from the ghetto', surrounded by other well-dressed black men, sometimes but not always an athelete, hung long (ok I made that one up)

Movie Reviews, continued: 28 Days Later.

If anything, this movie gives new profound meaning to the insulting cliche: "I wouldn't have sex with you if you were the last woman on Earth!" They've used it many times before (see Dogma), but never as powerful as in this movie.

Aside from the vomit-stricken diseased zombies, the trademark dead baby (Danny Boyle really likes using that baby corpse - in fact, I think it was the same infantile corpse used in Trainspotting), and the pedophile gang rape, there was only one truly unrealistic point about this film.

She's the last woman left in the world, it's just you and her and vast emptiness, and she's HOT. No no no no. She's not hot. She's a BABE. Horror film? It sounds more like the premise for a high-school porno fantasy. (We all remember that designation in the High School year book polls: "Person with whom you'd most like to be stuck on a deserted island.")

That said, this movie was shit-in-your-pants scary. I recommend seeing it with a chick who will grab onto your arm when she freaks out. It combines multiple premises from different movies to formulate the disturbance of hell. So for the avid movie-goers, let's examine the influences. It starts with "Outbreak" (remember those diseased monkeys?), it moves on to "From Dusk Til Dawn" (hilarious movie), and ends with the most striking resemblence to "Apocolypse Now."

I actually liked the Vietnam parallels - to me, it showed human nature at it's most primordially disturbed. And it was scary as shit. Anyway...enough! Before I give away the whole film. Suffice it to say that Alex and I had to hold each other for comfort during the movie.

Go away.

First and foremost, I wanna give a birthday shoutout to one of my oldest and faithful homeboys, Jaakko Alajoki. Happy 22nd, dawg.

Next: Memory Test. Can you remember what you have done for the last 7 4th of Julys? IM me.

2003: Los Angeles, CA. Tonight we celebrated in the traditional fashion, with twenty dollar Hite, NRB Karaoke, and Marlboro Lights at K-Town. Thanks Norling for the BBQ. Alex/Grace/Norling/Peter/Flora.

2002: Santa Barbara, CA. Celebrated by watching fireworks on the Santa Barbara beaches, with a King Cobra 40 and the incredible view of amazingly hot almost-naked white chicks. Moni/Sean/Jia/etc.

2001: Banff, Canada. The solitary trio - Alex/Jim/me, on the docks of a romantic lake in Canada.

2000: Berkeley, CA. The Berkeley Marina, watching fireworks with Stan/JM/Alex/etc.

1999: Palo Alto, CA. Evening with Katie, watching fireworks and renting a movie.

1998: Aspen, CO: Spent the evening with Grace, expensive dinner at the base of Mount Aspen finishing with a concert of Mahler's Fifth Symphony.

1997: Lenox, MA: Tanglewood all-Tchaikovsky concert, spent on the grass of Koussevitzky Hall, beers, cigars, and the works.

What about you?

Movie reviews continued. Terminator 3. For a more in depth review (not to mention more qualified), please check Stan's blog at http://leemur.blogspot.com.

I don't really wanna talk too much on the details of the film, cuz Stan did that already and I agree with everything he said.

To the point: all in all, I came out of the movie theatre satisfied, though maybe a bit saturated with a high-concentration of explosive razzle dazzle (but hey, it's the 4th of July). As a strict summer action movie, this one goes at the top of my list, tying closely with Matrix Reloaded, and with X2 coming in a very distinct second. The eye candy was enormous, and if you think I'm talking about Kristanna Loken, I'm not. Anybody who knows me well enough should know that I, like any other Terminator fan, came to see the real live pectoral gigantasor affectionately known as "Arnie".

The detail flaws of Terminator make it a very sub-par Terminator film, which is a holy legacy-esque entity that ideally shouldn't be touched unless it can emulate the perfection in the archetype: T2. Well, it didn't; in fact, it didn't even come close. For a large part of the film, I put serious question into whether or not Jonathan Mostow had even seen the other two Terminator films - the same question I had about Francis Ford Coppola when he decided to do the terrible Godfather 3 (that was a little worse, considering Coppola had done the other two as well).

So, I don't want to echo what Stan said, and other than his complaints, I only really have one more.

The ideology behind the Terminator premise rests in a certain space-time continuum that more or less coins it's catch line: There is no fate but what you make. Well, Mostow must have seriously fucked up, because he tarnished the idea of fate into a hopeless hole of pessimism; the new catch line? You can't do shit about your future. It's set, echoed ridiculously by John Conner's soon-to-be-famous line regarding his future death: "Well, that really sucks."

That would be cool and all, if Mostow's fate-is-set idea had some sort of philosophical premise to vouch for it, but I became more concerned with the fact that he conjured up the overhaul for the sole purpose of leaving a gap open to do a T4. Everything boils down to money, even if creative flair has to suffer for that cause. Other sidenotes:

Claire Danes is actually pretty good. I was surprised.

The TX wasn't at all intimidating.

The movie is completely worth it just to see Arnie tearing the shit out of a car with his bare hands.

Why the hell is the TX a woman? If it really had to be a woman, they could have gone in two directions: 1) Put Sigourney Weaver in it. After Alien Ressurection, she was made to be a Terminator. 2) Put Pamela Anderson in it and make her get naked. 3) Bring back Robert Patrick. He's not that old - Arnie is certainly older. Besides, all that fool is doing these days is a retardo-replacement act for David Duchovny in the X-Files.

Anyway, go and see it. If you liked Matrix Reloaded and X2, you'll definitely get a kick out of T3 - but when you buy the DVD Trilogy, be sure to ask if you can get a discount by buying only 2/3 of the package.

I just saw Spike Lee's Bamboozled. Thoughts...

The issues that contemporary blackface minstrelsy ensues with its high charged images of twisted nostalgia were very clear, albeit the use of them formed a controversy in itself. But herein lies the problem - too many 'albeits'.

The condemnation of blackface through popular satire seems like a brilliant idea, but how do you satirize contemporary blackface minstrelsy by making a movie satirizing contemporary blackface minstrelsy?

Just as the word "nigger" is too negatively powerful to use in jest, for it's obvious historical legacy, blackface is too negatively powerful to use in satire. (And although I am also a fan of Quentin Tarantino's, his concept behind the it's-just-a-word mentality formulates the necessary ingredients for the paradigmatic racist.) I became more concerned with the contorted idea that Savion Glover and the "Porch Niggaz" actually had to apply blackface (in the traditional cork-style of the pasat no less) to film the movie than to allow myself to dig into the satire itself - had the Damon Wayans blackface show actually had a slight bit of humor to it, I'm sure the NAACP would have performed an elaborate strike against "Bamboozled" in much the same way Reverend Al Sharpton did in the actual film.

So good going, Spike Lee. At least your blackface show wasn't funny. God help you if it was.

I found it more than especially ironic that the defying protestors who murder Savion Glover at the end of the movie also used blackface to protest blackface. When the ideological basis of the movie strings down to its most structural level, you have a director using blackface making fun of another director using blackface disturbed by murderers also using blackface, who ironically also protest blackface. It's a miracle. Everybody hates the blackface minstrelsy project, and yet, everybody uses it. The satire seems lost in its own tools.

I think there would have been many other more effective ways of denouncing blackface minstrelsy without resorting to it. Chris Rock (though they touched on him, but only briefly) would have been a perfect example. Take his "Blacks vs. Niggers" monologue, which most definitely was the sparking ignition for his rise to comedy-fame. Who are the biggest fans of that monologue? White people - not just white people; white racists. Why? Because Chris Rock says everything in that monologue that they wish they could say and not get shot for it. "Niggers can't read; books are like Kryptonite to a nigger....Niggers always want credit for shit they're supposed to be doing...Niggers are always blaming the media...etc." Or how about use the same type of intellect that Spike Lee is so famous for in interviews. Why not satirize blackface minstrelsy by satirizng the white suburban (and asian) kids dancing to black gangsta-rap videos, and specifically for the reason that they contain entertainment value through racial stereotypes? There are many ways, and blackface seems like the most primitively in-your-face method of doing it, and it works the opposite end of the ideology (which is always a bad thing).

My blog has been down for some reason, so I apologize for not having posted anything in the last few days. I'm in Los Angeles now taking summer school.

I've found out painfully that the UCLA class I'm taking on Beethoven is a pathetic 10 steps down from my last three weeks at Carnegie Hall, though I should have probably expected that much. The focus of the class is on personal expression and historical context as it relates to Beethoven's music, but it ends up appearing like something more out of a 10-dollar psychiatric experiment.

On a painful note, I saw Daredevil on the plane. I think it would have been a good movie if the Daredevil not been a pansified Ben Affleck, the plot didn't represent a vomit-covered disjunction of formulaic points, there had been a gratuitous implementation of shameless nudity, and the Kingpin didn't represent a gigantic negro teddy-bear. Other than that, it was great.

I'm a bit scared to watch Terminator 3. Please check out Stanley's review if you have time at http://leemur.blogspot.com. I will post some excerpts of it, as it is a very well written review. There is not a soul in the world who is more qualified to opinionize the Terminator 3 movie, as Stanley has spent the last 12 years wet dreaming about Cyborg systems and constructing make-shift terminators out of organic chemistry cell models, much to his girlfriend's disgust and dismay. Please do read his full review.

Problem #1: "One of the most important things is lighting. T2 was entirely bathed in cold blue light, with contrasts of red. This movie is not. In contest to other reviews on the Internet, this movie is not darker. The entire film takes place in broad daylight, or brightly lit indoors. Mastow you IDIOT! A Terminator is a harbinger of death, it shouldn't be bathed in white angelic light!"

Problem #2: "Second, music. Marco Beltrami's score? More like underscore. This guy also scored the Scream movies, he is not qualified to score the Terminator series. The music does not accent the film heartily as Brad Fidel's music did in T2. Mastow thought Fidel's music made you think of T2 too much, but guess what? Mastow's an IDIOT."

Problem #3: "My third complaint is the T-X. She is hot. Too bad that's not the purpose of a Terminator. Menacing she is not. Bland she is. Robert Patrick was hundreds of times more threatening as the T-1000, and unstoppable. I remember feeling dread everytime he got back up in T2. I did not get too much of the 'Oh my God, she absolutely will not stop' feeling from Kristanna Loken."

Pete, if he were at Carnegie Hall:

car LOCO 69: i left it to the other students to buy barenboim a present
car LOCO 69: and they bought him a 300 dollar bottle of fucking wine that i have to chip in for
peterlsb: wtf?
peterlsb: that's some crystal shiet
peterlsb: you better be drinkin that too
peterlsb: watch him down that shit in front of you guys
car LOCO 69: they don't have 40's of wine, dawg
peterlsb: then pour it on the carnegie stage, 'this ones for the homies that couldnt be here'

New York - Day 17 through Day 20: The Sixth Class and Opus 110 and Opus 111

Revival of the Nerds:

peterlsb: hahahaha i used to watch x-files every fri then it got popular and moved to sunday
peterlsb: i was/am a loser
car LOCO 69: naw x files is dope!
car LOCO 69: no shame yo, represent
peterlsb: hhahaha werd, THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE
peterlsb: I BELIEVE
car LOCO 69: DENY EVERYTHING
car LOCO 69: doodoo da doo, da doo, da doo doo
car LOCO 69: doodoo da doo, da doo, da doo doo
peterlsb: hahahhHhahahah
peterlsb: music by mark snow....

New York - Day 12 through Day 16: The Fifth Class and Opus 109

Barenboim reciting Hans von Buelow: "Whereas the Well Tempered Klavier is the Old Testament, the Beethoven Sonatas is the New Testament."

On a dire note, I've been rudely cancelled - now forcefully required to do the Appassionata instead of Opus 111. Why did I even come here?

Reading the program notes today, I think I found out a little bit more about Opus 111. Beethoven's last piano sonata is a monument to his conviction that solutions to the problems facing humanity lie ever within our grasp if they can be recognized for what they are and be confronted by models of human transformation. I guess...

Geoff, Jeff and I were all talking about relative musical parellels to the most significant movies for technology. The original Star Wars, we decided, is Beethoven Fifth Symphony. Terminator 2 is Beethoven's Ninth. Jurassic Park is Brahms's First Symphony and The Matrix is Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring.
The original Star Wars was monumental for technological progress in the respect that it created a new genre of things to come. The realism of the technology in Star Wars at the time was unparalleled. Terminator 2 was the culminative glory point, Jurassic Park was a perfected path for 3d computer graphics and The Matrix innovatively inspired the level of technology to a no-bounds limit.

Anyway, I'm out.

New York - Day 11: The Fourth Class

Somebody asked Barenboim why he didn't take the third movement repeat in the Appassioinata last night, and he answered "I dunno....I knew somebody would ask me that. Hey Andre! Do you take the repeat?"

At which point I heard a booming voice right behind me say, "Yes, of course", and lo and behold, there he was. Andre Watts. Sitting right behind me.

Then I walked outside and I saw Itzhak Perlman talking on his cell phone.

This place is like a musical Hollywood.