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May 31, 2007

The Destroyers

aka The Magnificent Ruffians or 賣命小子, I can't seem to recall if I already have this. (Daredevils I'm sure I don't, at least not on DVD, but it's backordered.) Pictures remind me of that one where Kuo Chui and Chiang Sheng bend Lu Feng in half at the end. Let's see if the back helps:

Wacked out, high kicking hijinks are the norm in this story of a young Ming patriot who joins forces with a trio of martial maniacs in order to steal a supply of gold from vicious Mongol invaders. What none of them count on is being trapped in an enemy stronghold and being forced to test their mettle against deadly Mongol kung fu. Head-kicking mayhem ensues.
Nope.

Posted by me at 12:09 PM |

End of the World

Saw a White Jetta this morning with a Black bumpersticker that read, simply, "End of the World" (looked like Albertus font, with "of" over "the"). There was a meek-looking man in a plaid shirt driving, with a large wooden cross hanging from his mirror. He looked at me as I passed, having been with him for the mile or so since I made my daily illegal turn into the lane next to his from my ramp before the intersection. I wondered where he was off to work, and why he'd even feel the need these last days of ours.

Posted by me at 07:00 AM |

May 30, 2007

</3 PS3

So much for years of saving up the Sony Card points. Not even two weeks and their Spiderman-font'd entertainment hub which doesn't lower itself to say PlayStation when it boots (DNLA-equipped media servers on my network: 0) loses what I guess to be its power supply. Um, Folding@Home felt rewarding while it lasted. And I think, if I looked real carefully—crossed my eyes like I'm doing one of those old hidden art puzzles, either or—I could tell a slight difference between the 1080p WB logo from my only Blu-Ray disc and the upscaled one on The Yakuza. Worst.game system.ever.

Posted by me at 06:47 AM |

May 28, 2007

The Yakuza

I can't believe I missed the January release of this, one of my favorite movies on DVD (just last week I considered digging out the Laserdisc), but then again, I guess I can since that's about the time I lost all my senses. Reason for it laughed as Kilmer handed over his offering of 義理 to Ken at the end, surely the greatest, gunfire-unnecessary male bonding moments in cinema history, continuing my descent into madness.

Posted by me at 07:50 PM |

May 26, 2007

말로만?

Posted by me at 12:58 AM |

May 25, 2007

Loveholic

Years ago, before I was even aware that Korean programming on the two local channels was comprising any sort of 韓流, I saw a video (pre-YouTube) that made me consider my people had emerged from the generic ballads and hip-hop of mono-commercial industries. Lead singer follows up quite nicely on 내 이름은 김삼순 and Que Sera Sera OST's. Reminds me of Japan's Every Little Thing. Now find me a Pillows or Ken Ishii, and I'll be happy.

Kill me, I liked this movie. (And perhaps this scene makes up for the one in Star's Echo?) Sorry I blew it off when you showed it to me back then, John.

Posted by me at 11:49 AM | | Comments (2)

May 24, 2007

What the Fuck Am I Doing?

I'm not sure why people are so angry in the morning, even before getting on the freeway, to wit, I turn onto the two-lane entrance ramp and for some reason the traffic's piled up on one side so I pick the other, closer to the annoying light. I've now advanced past Asian サラリーマン in White Sequoia at the back, and he turns to me, and above all the environmental noise and through my cracked moon roof, says, "What the fuck are you doing?" I wave him by with a look that I can only describe as letting the baby have his bottle, not particularly inclined for a rolled up-sleeve confrontation at 7am on the 405, and wonder why he gotta do a brother like that. That deal confirmation not come in by e-mail yet? His wife get on his case again for not living south of 183rd? It just isn't worth it. Be like the Buddha.

Posted by me at 08:23 AM |

May 23, 2007

Gossip

This story got me thinking, and not only from a legal perspective. I mean, I work in an office where the bosses who are being gossiped about are themselves gossiping. What's worse, as they're less likely to be part of staff lunches and happy hours, they do it on company time, and at a higher rate of compensation. It's not only American corporate culture that's rotten.

Posted by me at 01:58 PM |

May 18, 2007

The Office

As well as they've done, taking a few scant but brilliant episodes from the original and expanding it into more seasons than I bet most of my favorite shows lasted, I'm still not moved by Pam and Jim's relationship as I was by their British counterparts' (though her blushing at the end was genuine).
The people you work with, are people you were just thrown together with. You don't know them, it wasn't your choice. And yet you spend more time with them than you do your friends or your family, but probably all you've got in common, is the fact that you walk around on the same bit of carpet for eight hours a day. And so, obviously, when someone comes in, who you, you have a connection with-yeah. And Dawn was a ray of sunshine in my life. It meant a lot. But if I'm really being honest, I never really thought it would have a happy ending. I don't know what a happy ending is. Life isn't about endings is it? It's a series of moments, and erm...it's like if you turn the camera off, it's not an ending is it? I'm still here, my life's not over. Come back here in ten years, see how I'm doing then. Because I could be married with kids, you don't know. Life just goes on.
And Michael lasting as long as he has only reminds me of good ol' American corporate 白目. No, it's the background characters like Toby and Creed that keep me coming back for more.

Posted by me at 08:04 AM | | Comments (2)

May 17, 2007

Wii Play

By far the best table tennis videogame I've ever played, and I've tried them all (although this, say, with a gyroscopic mouse standing in front of the TV the same way might be close), even if it is just rallying. My impression of the frenetic pace after fifty or so consecutive exchanges is strikingly similar, I'm not kidding, to that from the actual sport, as qualified as I think I am to say. And yes, the virtual paddles are held penhold! So much for trying to identify with some photorealistic onscreen character, I am utterly convinced that Wii holds the key to the future of interactive simulation.

Posted by me at 06:46 AM |

May 15, 2007

꼬라지하고는

I kept thinking "tail" when I heard this expression on 환상의 커플, I guess from 꼬리, the way language memory works for me. And a 꼬라지같은 tail's what my TV's got now, with the oversized wire loom organizing all the cables from the back. Maybe I should've left them hanging free and reminding me of this monster from Voyage into Space. Why wasn't that ever on DVD, either?

Posted by me at 10:52 AM |

May 14, 2007

Mii

Definitely more Nintendo-y than my Second Life self-portrait (scroll down to the May 9th entry for it; I really ought to correct the Permalink, but then again, .Mac isn't longterm territory). I'm not sure what to do with it as I didn't bother joining the "Mii Parade" or staying connected long enough to do anything else but set it all up, nor what they think they're doing with all these Wii channels, but I guess this is the thing now, online/media convergence. I got excited when I figured out how to set the Xbox 360 to 1080i from the default HiDef 480p, but turned it off when expected to fork over more Live points just to download free episodes of the new Trek… well, at least they're free if I stay up Sunday nights. Like, I'm gonna do the same for old SNES games when I could hook up my Super Famicom and dig up the cartridges out of a box somewhere in storage? Convergence or convenience? Mankind is doomed. I want doughnuts.

Posted by me at 06:54 AM |

May 12, 2007

Yoga Flame

The way I see it, I'm 2-0 vs. death. Eating a Six Dollar Burger Combo (with lemonade, of course—the one day I set aside for soda comes next week) afterwards is just about the best feeling next to a shower.

Posted by me at 03:08 PM |

May 10, 2007

</3 iPod

First updating the software basically reformats the thing, wiping thousands of miles of running data which can't be reloaded from the nikeplus site. (So it's there why?) Then I fall for the ol' leaving-workout-going trick again, because unless you yank the iPod from its opaque sleeve and make sure it's stopped, you can't rely on a voice confirmation that's not always available. So my time—bad enough as it is, figuring out the antiquated treadmill at LA Fitness—includes a lovely stroll out to the parking lot.

Posted by me at 03:32 PM |

May 06, 2007

Choke City

Houston goes down again, and while I saw them trailing on a TV screen in a lounge at the theater Saturday night, I don't really care. (Spider-man 3, BTW, a big mess with no less than three villains and at least as many unnecessary scenes. Why couldn't Sam Raimi have made one last movie about the Lizard, and just the Lizard?) In fact, I didn't even find out until just now. They could lose every game they ever play again. I'm just.that.happy.

Posted by me at 11:19 PM | | Comments (1)

積極的

Posted by me at 12:50 AM |

May 01, 2007

Yoga Fire

Just lying there before class, with the lights off, the room felt like a sauna; within fifteen minutes of what I can only remember as standing up with feet together, it was as if I were drowning in my own sweat. More than once I closed my eyes and rested my head on my knees or somewhere else it's never been and decided I'd die now… but didn't, and glutton for punishment that I am, I'm back on the Itchy & Scratch Land log ride next Friday.

Posted by me at 07:15 AM |


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