I Am Ok / I Am Ok / I'm Not Ok

Electro-Shock Blues, by Eels

The Dark Knight of the Moon: An Annoying Phenomenon, or In My Mind Batman and Pink Floyd Are Forever Linked

Yay for MS Paint

Sit back, relax, and cast your mind back… to the eighth grade.

Aaaaaaaaaaah!!

Subtexts in the Star Wars Prequels: Part 1

Perhaps the largest cinematic disappointment of the modern era would naturally be the Star Wars prequel movies.  Spawned from one of the most beloved film franchises ever, the Prequels get a ton of hate for not living up to their pedigree.  And the fact of the matter is that they're mediocre films, at best.  Specifically, the directing and writing in the Prequels is barely professional quality.  George Lucas may be a great ideas-man and great at advancing special effects in film, but he is certainly NOT a very good writer or director, and he took over all of these duties for the prequel films.  Which is really unfortunate, because in an abstract, not-written-and-directed-by-George-Lucas form, the Prequels are secretly far more brilliant than the Original Trilogy.  Here's Part One of my reasons why.

Not this

Happy Byrd-day! or What Dan Got in the Mail Today

A few years ago I got The Essential Byrds from the library, and loved more than a few songs on it. In the intervening years I've come very very close to buying a CD of theirs but have always held off. That is, until recently.

I found out that amazon was offering their complete discography for $30 - and since the set contains 11 CDs of music, that's less than $3 a CD. Knowing I'd not have this good fortune again, I decided to get it, and it finally came in the mail today.

Ain't it pretty?

I am sharing this with you, the internet, because I am likely going to do a series of reviews of their albums as I listen to them in chronological order. It will not be a frequently updated series, may never be finished, and may never even be attempted, but we'll just have to see. I'm sure the suspense is killing you.

"Firefly" and an Emphasis on Character

I just finished watching Joss Whedon’s cult TV show Firefly for the first time.  I only really heard about the show in the relatively recent past, and after the insistent urging of many friends, I gave it a try.

Let the Right One In: A Better Love Story than Twilight

A week or so ago, I watched Let the Right One In.

Arrested Development’s Attempt to Transcend Genres and Mediums

I finished Arrested Development Season Four and these are my thoughts on it. 

Hells, Bells, Ivans & Quines: The Voidoids, or My Favorite Punk Group

Today while driving down I-30 I decided to pop in Richard Hell and the Voidoids’ Blank Generation. I have done so many times in the past year, and will hopefully continue to do so for my entire life. It has become one of my favorite albums ever in that time - but first, a little history.

The 1990 CD reissue