Musings From New York

Aaargh

No TV!

No XBox!

No movies!

I *hate* Moving

So 70% is done, and I've got a week to do the remaining 30%.

Java and I were discussing our frequency of moves. I reckon I've moved 4 times since 2000. 4 times! Its insane. Especially if you consider that I moved twice in 3 months. I hate moving.

Anyway.

New apartment still needs to be setup, and I've yet to get phone & cable setup. Mom & Dad are living there right now for now. Hopefully I'll be done moving & setting up by the middle of the week.

Most unfortunately, my TV's now in the new apartment. NO TV! For a week!.

I hate moving.

Moving Apartments

Am moving tomorrow - a little further uptown. Packing is a pain. I think I've got about 70% packed. I've lost all enthu to do any more. I guess the remaining 30% will have to be shifted over the next week. Lucky I extended the lease on my current apartment by a week!

The Simpsons Season Finale

It aired on Sunday (er ...23rd May). Full of the satire that makes this show one of my favorites. Classic lines include:

(Teen comitting suicide): Why did they cancel 'Futurama?'
(Homer, on the subject of the layman starting their own news-sheet): Instead of one big-shot controlling all the media, now there's a thousand freaks Xeroxing their worthless opinions.

The New York Times (free subscription, required) has a good article about the episode. It talks about why the show still remains funny/endearing after 15 seasons. Which is mind-boggling. 15 years, these guys have cranked out like 350-ish episodes. Maybe more, who knows?

The Curse of Musician's Versatility

There are a lot of programs in the marketplace that allow PC users to catalog, tag, and organize their MP3 (or other media) collections. Programs such as Musicmatch, iTunes, Real, and Windows Media Player.

My common gripe across all programs in their lack of multi-genre tagging. Let me take a moment to explain what I mean. Take the heavy metal band, Metallica. They have a couple of instrumental songs ... like Orion (from Master of Puppets). My genre tags include Heavy Metal (which currently lists Orion) and Instrumental Rock. What do I tag Orion as? Instrumental Rock, since James Hetfeild doesn't sing? Or Heavy Metal, since Metallica firmly belongs in that genre? The same goes with artists like Joe Satriani (who sings on a few tracks, notably in his Flying In A Blue Dream album) - do I tag Ride as an Instrumental Rock song or a Hard Rock song?

What I would like to do is to tag them as belonging to both genres. I don't think this is possible under any current (mainstream?) software. I hope someone implements this soon.

JHU Commencement 2004

JHU being Johns Hopkin University.

Went down there on Wednesday night, returned on Friday evening. Bill Cosby (see bad photo below) was a funny speaker. He talked about the need for perseverance and self-confidence. You know, the usual commencement speech stuff. He used his own past as example, talking about how he struggled to be a successful comedian.

He left abruptly though. He said he was shooting a movie in LA. IMDb tells me he's the producer/writer of Fat Albert (2004). Dunno why the crowd cheered at that. Must be some reference to the Cosby Show.

Actually, IMDb also reports that he caused a some controversy last week. He "embarrassed the National Association For Advancement Of Colored People (NAACP) at a gala on Monday (17th) - by attacking lower class African-Americans.". The full article may be found in IMDb's news page archives for 21st May 2004.

More photos from the trip may be found at my photos.yahoo.com account. Details on request.

Bill Cosby was the guest speaker at John Hopkins' Commencement 2004.

On Campus at JHU

Pulp Fiction Meets Star Wars

OK, so Samuel L Jackson had a lot of good lines in Pulp Fiction, but not that many in Star Wars. What would happen if Tarantino fiddled with Lucas' scripts? A friend recently forwarded a mail that listed the 10 things we'd like to hear SLJ say in Star Wars.

***Disclaimer: I have no idea how where this list originated. Hats off to the guy who thought this up.***

Here goes:

Top 10 Things We Want To Hear Samuel L. Jackson Say In The Star Wars Prequel

10.You don't need to see my goddamn identification, 'cause these ain't the motherfuckin' droids you're looking for.

9. Womp rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'll never know, 'cause I'd never touch the filthy motherfucker.

8. This is your father's lightsaber. When you absolutely, positively, have to kill every motherfuckin' stormtrooper in the room... accept no substitutes.

7. If Obi-wan ain't home then I don't know what the fuck we're gonna do. I ain't got no other connections on Tatooine.

6. Feel the Force, Motherfucker.

5. "What" ain't no planet I've ever heard of! Do they speak Bocce on "What"?

4. You sendin' the Fett? Shit, Hutt, that's all you had to say!

3. Yeah, Chewie's got a hair problem. What the brother gonna do? He's a Wookie.

2. Does Jabba the Hutt look like a bitch? Then why are you tryin' to fuck him like one?

And the number one:

1. Hand me my lightsaber... it's the one that says, "Bad Mother Fucker."

Shrek 2 - 9.0/10.0

OK, so you're probably asking yourselves - why not 10 on 10? A minor quibble that the quality of animation wasn't as um, path-breaking as eg: Disney 2D to Toy Story, or Toy Story to Monsters, Inc. or Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Also, the script or plot isn't as um, ground-breaking as the first installment. Seeing the "dark side" of fairy tale characters was refreshingly original, and I wish we'd been treated to some more new ground. Instead, Shrek takes the safe route, choosing to build on established crowd-pleasers.

Now that I got that clarification out of the way, let me tell you that Shrek 2 is the funniest animated movie I've seen in a long, long time. At least, since Monsters, Inc - I didn't find Finding Nemo *that* funny. Definitely nowhere near Shrek 2.

The story is simple - newlyweds, Shrek and Fiona visit Fiona's parents (played by John Cleese and Julie Andrews), who are not thrilled that their daughter chose true love's first kiss (re: Shrek 1) to be an ogre's. Throw in complications of a scheming fairy godmother, and you've got a decent plot to fill 90 minutes.

The attention to detail is staggering. One look at the city kingdom of Far Far Away will tell you what I mean. The streets are lined with stores like Farbucks (there's a good gag concerning Farbucks), and Gap Queen. Before Shrek 2, the only other animated production that took such pains was Matt Groening's Futurama (Cartoon Network, M-Thu 11pm). Movie parodies abound, naturally. Lord of the Rings, a very very funny take on Mission: Impossible, and a sly dig at Disney's Beauty and the Beast. When you see the movie, you'll see how apt that is.

Special mention must go to Antonio Banderas and his self-parody of his Zorro character, as a swashbuckling Puss-in-Boots. A definite plus for the movie. Donkey on the other hand, comes off more annoying that funny. I mean, his character is supposed to be annoying, but he was a funny/annoying in the first movie. Sure, there are some funny moments in the movie, but I wish I could've seen more Puss-in-Boots than Donkey. A trivial point to some, but worth mentioning nonetheless.

If you like comedies/parodies, you have got to see Shrek 2 this summer. Heck, I'll probably watch it again!