Once again I'm here to deliver a quick post without much substance. Sorry about that. I tried to post the last couple of nights but I ended up not really being able to come up with anything serious to write about. I mean, I could have posted about Saddam Hussein's execution but there's nothing I could say that wasn't already talked about on CNN or Fox News or even at Something Awful for that matter. I hate to sound negative, so let's focus on the positive, that being that it's New Year's Eve!
A quick New Year resolution for everyone... I'm going to give the whole video blogging thing another try this year, and I'm setting myself the goal of doing one a week. If I don't get one done by tomorrow night, get ready for the first new episode next weekend.
So that's all from here. Everyone enjoy, stay safe, and know your alcohol limit. You know who you are. ;)
By the way, this was the first post I've done from my new laptop!
Hey
everyone... I've only got about a half hour of Christmas Eve to go here.
Then I'd better get to bed before Santa shows up.
I had intended to make a video this week, some sort of an NP1 Christmas Special, but I guess it'll have to wait until next year. I didn't have any time to do it, and just about anything I was going to say was a part of Glenn Beck's Christmas Show. I forgot to follow up on that for you... his show was fantastic. It was more of a stand-up show than anything else, but he still had a great message about what Christmas is really all about. I hope he decides to come through Worcester for a third straight year next year, but it's unlikely. The next day, I caught a glimpse of him in the studio doing his show live. It was really cool... I didn't get to meet him though, so I'm sorry if I got anybody's hopes up.
Meanwhile, I hope everyone is tuning in to WTAG and WSRS today and tomorrow... if you're not already sick to death of the Christmas music. We're playing 100% Christmas tunes till midnight tomorrow and everyone recorded a quick message to go out as bumpers instead of ads. So that means you should listen closely because sooner or later, I'll be on there. If you do indeed hear me, let me know.
Well, that's about it from me tonight. I hope everyone has a great Christmas, I hope everyone gets what they want. But you can't always get what you want, so just remember that if you try sometimes, you might find that you get what you need. Also enjoy watching A Christmas Story fifteen times tomorrow, and just enjoy the extra day off. I know I will. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
I realize this is going to sound far too geeky, but I've got to get it out there... the new trailer for Transformers came out today and I just saw it before dinner. I'm quite impressed by the effects and Transformer designs are really pretty cool. Dare I say it, Michael Bay may have been the perfect choice to direct. Steven Spielberg is producing, and there's probably no one better for that job. I hope he's keeping Bay in check and trying not to let him go all Pearl Harbor on us. Looks to me like this will be the first summer flick to really hit that same vibe that Independence Day hit ten years ago. Then again, I was thirteen when that came out, so take it for what it's worth.
So what else is new?
Christmas is a scant five days away. Really more like four at this
point. I still have to finish my shopping, and that's likely to occur
tomorrow night. It'll be a fight to the finish, because that's a good
place to end.
Watched Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation the other night. Gene Hackman plays a private investigator/surveillance expert who is becoming obsessed with his current assignment, which is to piece together a recorded conversation by a young couple who seem to have a plan brewing. It's too similar to another experience he's had in the past, in which things didn't go so well. He becomes torn between trying to protect his targets and deliver his findings to his client. The sound design by Walter Murch is outstanding, as a film about audio surveillance should have. My research has shown me that he was nominated for an Oscar (as well as noms for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay). I've taken a liking to a lot of those 70's mystery/crime movies, and this is one of the best I've seen.
I'm listening to the soundtrack to The Fountain right now. I appreciated the score when I saw it, but now I can't get over how beautiful it is. Clint Mansell did a great job with the techno in Pi, and while recently listening to clips of the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack, I shuddered as the images came rushing back to my mind. The Fountain soundtrack reunites him with the Kronos Quartet and adds in Mogwai for good measure. In the film, it was more than just a good compliment to the visuals, it was almost a part of the story. It's often very simple and there are a couple of motifs that are repeated, but once in a while the sounds swell and it becomes quite moving. It tends to be melancholy, but so is the film. I already want to see it again.
Hmmmmmm. Sorry I haven't been posting lately. I just haven't been able to find much time over the last couple of weeks. Every night I get home I feel more like relaxing rather than writing. Work takes a lot out of me right now, but I guess that comes with the territory of trying to learn a new field and trying to keep up with the rest of the gang. Things at WTAG/WSRS are going well. For instance, this past week, WSRS was doing live broadcasts from the Price Chopper on the corner of Park Ave. and Highland St. in Worcester, promoting the Worcester County Food Bank's holiday food drive. We ended up helping bring in over 10,000 lbs. of food and over $25,000. Not too shabby. I pulled almost a total of ten hours helping out at the events over three days. It was all for a good cause, though, and I had fun. And then on Sunday, Paul came over for a surprise visit. We had a great visit with him and then I helped drive his old guitar amps back up to his house. I got to see Janet and their two gorgeous kids, Ann and Kevin (aka Fabio).
Meanwhile, I've been watching movies. I went to see For Your Consideration, the latest Christopher Guest movie, with Mom and Dad a couple of weeks ago. It was very funny and right on par with his other stuff. Guest decided to can the whole "mockumentary" style this time around, but the look and feel of the movie remained similar, along with the outstanding improvisational stylings of the cast. I've had a couple of movies from Netflix, too...
- Constantine - I love Rachel Weisz (as seen in the last post), I love Keanu Reeves (shut up), and since this movie looked like some sort of Catholic action movie, I had to see it. But I never saw it in theaters because it was constantly tossed around by Warner Brothers as to release times. Anyway, it's a cool movie, but it's not catechism. Imaginative effects, a well-constructed (although flawed) plot, and Peter Stormare as Satan... it really all comes together pretty well.
- The Machinist - Christian Bale stars as an insomniac in this independent from a couple of years ago. Bale, who had a fantastic physique in American Psycho, lost tons of weight for this film to the point of being nearly unrecognizable. Even more amazing, he put it all back on again when he did Batman Begins. But his Raging Bull-esque dedication is paralleled by his whacked-out performance, and it's a good thing, too. I've seen enough movies about insomniacs lately to know how it's all going to turn out. Think Fight Club without fist-fights and urban mischief and you'll catch the drift.
- Swingers - This is NOT Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn's first time in the same movie. That was Rudy. But who cares... this is a great guy movie with lots of memorable lines and some good characters. Vince gives his prototype performance here, and Favreau is hilariously neurotic. But he's so money, baby. He's so money and he doesn't even know it.
And then there's Christmas parties. I had one with the old Hannaford gang the other night and had a great time. I've got the party for the radio station on Friday night. And tomorrow night is the Glenn Beck Christmas Show, happening at Mechanics Hall. I'm gonna be there to help out. I don't know if I'll get to see the show, though. I'd really like to, I like Glenn and I hear the Christmas show is very funny. On Thursday, he'll be doing his show (which is syndicated) from our studio... very cool. Maybe I can get a picture with him for all of you.
That's all from here. I'll try to be more consistent with the posts these days.