Speaking of music, all you people I know who spend all day listening to music on their computers should really get down with last.fm.  It's a cool myspace-esque site that keeps track of all the music that you listen to, and matches you up with other people who like the same stuff.  Then you can try other stuff that they like and see if it's for you.  It's quickly replacing the need for professional music critics in our society.

Another vlogless week... maybe
Sorry, but there's no new vlog again today.  I'm hoping that maybe I can do something tomorrow, likely about dead celebrities, and put it up.  I've just been so busy with the training for the new job that I really haven't had time to think about what I should be taping myself talking about.  But the training has been great.  The other day we talked about bank security, i.e. what to do in a robbery, how to look for check fraud, etc.  I'd tell you all sorts of cool stuff, but that of course would be a breach of security.  These are important matters!  And no, I will not use this information for evil.

Last week I bought a cable that hooks my guitar up to the computer.  Once I figure out the best way to make it work I'm probably going to record some jams and maybe use them in some videos or something.  I don't know yet.  Somebody's gotta teach me how to play the blues.

So, I essentially covered the fact that I'm enjoying the new job already.  Even though I've only been in training for two days, I'm already having fun and I look forward to going in in the morning.  So far, everything I've learned has been stuff that I already know pretty well from working at the store, etc.  This week I'll be learning all the good stuff. 

I Will Follow
Saturday night I went out without much of a plan but I ended up at the Lucky Dog, and luckily for me there was a U2 tribute band playing.  They're The Joshua Tree, and they're very good.  Even better than the real thing?  Not quite, but when you're in a room full of U2 fans, it's more than good enough.  Their guitarist had it down, with plenty of cool equipment to perfectly emulate the Edge's sound and effects.  Their drummer was a perfect stand-in for Larry Mullen, too.  They're out of Boston, so keep an eye out for them. 

Well, enjoy the rest of your Presidents' Day.  Go buy a car or something, Detroit could use it.

New York Cares
Whether you're a fan of not, you should go and check out the current look of Interpol's website.  Actually, it's not really a site at the moment, it's just a picture, but a great picture... of the New York skyline at night.  Nothing seems more appropriate for them, and for some reason it gets me very excited about hearing their next CD, whenever it's coming out.  I picked up The Secret Machines' Ten Silver Drops last week because of their vague connection to Interpol.  It's a cool set of songs that make for good "chill out" music. 

Hey, House is on.  I can type during American Idol, but House is off limits.

Review... Pan's Labyrinth
Greg and I hit up the Cine Art wing of Showcase again the other night and saw Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo Del Toro's new epic.  I guess that the term "epic" applies here because he's managed to put together two coherent storylines with the same visual flair that gave Hellboy its credibility.  The story follows Ofelia, a young girl living in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.  Nothing was really going well over there or the rest of the world during those days, so she took shelter in her favorite books.  Her imagination ends up taking us on a fantastic journey into a world populated by fairies, a suspicious faun, and some bizarre and gruesome creatures.  On the surface, this looks like another movie in the vain of Jim Henson's Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal, but Pan's Labyrinth is MUCH darker.  It's rated R for a reason, and it's actually one of those cases where the ratings system is used the way it's supposed to be.  The performances all around are great, especially Ivana Baquero as Ofelia and Doug Jones as the faun and "the pale man."  Jones is a great "creature" actor who played Abe Sapien perfectly in Hellboy and he tops himself several times here.  Even better is that he managed to learn Spanish for the role (the whole film is en español) and you wouldn't know otherwise.  Since Letters from Iwo Jima is already nominated for Best Picture, this might be your Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film.

Speaking of Oscar, I saw The Departed again last weekend with Pat and then found out two days later that it's coming out on DVD next Tuesday.  If you still haven't seen it, you've got your chance. 

In the meantime, over the past couple of days I started to straighten my room up.  I've already donated three bags of clothing and thrown a ton of stupid crap out.  I still have some work to put in, but it's coming along.  I needed it.  I even found my copy of Unreal Tournament that I bought about five years ago and lost, therefore never getting to play it.  It still holds up pretty well, too. 

Well, I guess I should start writing my next vlog soon, eh?  You can't really do anything like that without having it written in advance.  I'm also trying to come up with some ideas for video projects and little movies to do in the future... on the list is "Soul City," and I hope there's some people out there who actually remember what that was. 

And so I'm back to looking for something new, and I'm working hard at it.  I don't really want to go into details about it because I'm a little superstitious, but I'm feeling confident.

BUT WAIT, I'M BACK IN THE VIDEO BLOG GAME
Finally!  The first 2007 video blog is here!  I made it with my new video camera, my laptop, and Adobe Premiere Elements.  Check it out, it's fun.  Hopefully I'll be able to fulfill the promise of doing one a week.

Cine Art is a hit!
I suggest that you Worcester-area movie fans to check out the newly re-vamped wing of Showcase North, called Cine Art.  The four stadium seated theaters have been sort of separated from the rest of the place and all fancied up with Starbucks coffee, chessboards, and a player piano.  For the first run of movies there, they've got Volver, Pan's Labyrinth, Notes on a Scandal, and Letters from Iwo Jima.  These are artsy movies.  Three of them are in different languages.  Greg and I saw Iwo Jima the other night and we were quite impressed with both the film and the setup.  Clint Eastwood is a great director and once again takes movie making to a high plateau.  The film tells the story of the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese.  It's one of the best war films I've seen.  It's scary in all the right ways that a good war movie should be.  The color is sucked right out of it to the point where you'd think it was in black and white.  The idea of using the Japanese as the protagonists works well, but Greg and I still enjoyed watching as American soldiers advanced on the island and blew things up.  Ken Watanabe is stellar as usual, playing the American-educated Lt. General Kuribayashi with great care.  Kazunari Ninomiya is great as the young private Saigo, the story's protagonist.  I wish I'd seen Flags of Our Fathers, but that's what Netflix is for, I guess.