- sunday 02 16 03 -

Just finished off my third 1/48th scale WWII airplane model - a Vought F4UB Corsair with Navy paint and tags. Rediscovered this particular hobby about three months ago, starting with a British Supermarine Spitfire MK II, and following with a North American P-51D Mustang - strangely enough, that picture is the same paint scheme as the Monogram model that I built. The first was a bit rough, having been out of the modeling business for at least 12 years - it wasn't awful, but it's not something that I'd want to display anywhere public. The Mustang turned out better, but a bad choice regarding the decal scheme led to a less-than-ideal finished product - Monogram should have put together a better package for the checkered nose markings and wing tip decals. I'm pretty damn happy with the way the Corsair has turned out - I took enough time to do it right, and ended up with a nicely done model. I'm still learning, so it's certainly not a competition-grade model, but I wouldn't be embarrassed to put it in front of the neighbors. It helps that next to the Focke-Wulf FW-190, the F4 is one of my favorite World War II-era planes. I think that Testor's 1/72nd scale version was the very first stick-it-together-with-glue models that I ever built. I'm strongly considering trying to put together a whole fleet of 1/48th scale planes from the era, hoping to include a FW-190, a Messerschmidt BF-109, the Japanese Zero, and other American classics like the P-38 and F6 Hellcat. Once I'm done with the fighter / light-bomber class, I'll probably move to the heavier bombers, like the B-25, B-17, and B-24. One of these days, I'll have a place to put all of them as well.

- saturday 02 15 03 -

Damn. I was so pissed off about watching The Crappiest Movie of the Decade that I totally forgot about seeing Spike Lee's 25th Hour. I went in with a vague idea of the plot, and the knowledge that it had Edward Norton under Spike Lee's direction. I was well-rewarded with a solid, captivating look at people in a bad situation and how they deal with it. Norton's small-time drug dealer with a pocketful of good luck, Pepper's testosterone-loaded, ego-driven stockbroker, Hoffman's nebbish, Nabokovian prep-school teacher, Dawson's tough and honest girlfriend, Cox's alcoholic barkeep dad - every one of the core actors and actresses pull off brilliant, edgy performances that get under your skin, whether you like the characters or not. Pepper gets one of the best lines in the flick, delivered to Hoffman - "A man doesn't go into Victoria's Secret and ask, "Does this come in a children's size?". This is a film that speaks to the ways that people try to redeem themselves, and how sometimes just trying to, even if you don't succeed, is enough. The cinematography and scoring fit in so naturally that you don't even notice them - a nice change from the heavy-handed crap that gets churned out of Hollywood these days. The plot of this movie is a narrative, meandering with Norton as he drifts around NYC on his last day as a free man, trying to clean up some of the messes he's made - it's not a glorification of his trade, and the movie doesn't dole out much pity for a guy who dug his own grave. A thoroughly enjoyable movie, right up to the ambiguous end, with moments of genuine humor, sadness, fury, and compassion, all in the right places. Go see it with your eyes and heart wide open.

Other goodness - snagged this studio bootleg. Didn't really know much about it, but liked their other stuff enough to give it a shot. Good stuff, although shorter than just about all the tracks on the last couple of albums. That seems to be because it's actually outtakes and tracks that just didn't fit onto the last two records. SO, we shall see - sounds pretty damn good so far.

Not much else going on - happy belated Valentine's Day to all of you. More later ...

Oh yeah, just found something of interest to some of you - Jonathan Harel's Lyrics page, wherein a bored CalTech student managed to put together a rather impressive web of song lyrics. And for those of you who insist on shouting along in a bogus Scottish accent to Blur's two-minute thud rock classic "Song 2" (yeah, I'm one of you), here's the damn lyrics:

I got my head shaved
By a jumbo jet
It wasn't easy
But nothing is, no

When I feel heavy metal
And I'm pins and I'm needles
Well I lie and I'm easy
All of the time but I'm never sure when I need you
Pleased to meet you

I got my head done
When I was young
It's not my problem
It's not my problem
Refrain.
Yeah, yeah...

Now, you can't say I've never done anything for you ...

- tuesday 02 11 03 -

Well, I'm officially a photo-badge-carrying full-time employee for the first time in many, many years - working for the land of candles, wall-hangings, and a million other items. Got to say that it's a nice feeling to have some permanence going on at the workplace. Now if I can just get all the other shit in my life organized.

I just have to take a minute to warn anyone with a brain away from this steaming pile of crap. This should stand as an example of every single thing that you can do wrong when making a movie. The gruesome soundtrack, the miserably unsympathetic characters, hackneyed plot, dragging pacing, and some of the most completely embarrassing acting moments in recent history combine to make the nearly two-hour duration feel somewhere close to eternity. The "beautiful woman" getting plowed over by the tractor-trailer looks like I felt while I watched the movie - staring with a slack jaw into the face of impending doom. There's not a single person in the cast who escapes the horrific script - everyone gets at least one completely stupid line to deliver, and Robert Duvall just looks like he's in pain. Ray Liotta chews the scenery, James Woods blathers, and Anne Heche just looks bored. Denzel bears the brunt of the blame for deciding to play in this mess, and he's rewarded by having to act like a freaking idiot for most of the movie. The penultimate crisis moment comes when Denzel decides to shoot himself in the head so that brave Dr. Woods can take out his still beating heart and give it to his son. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? If someone asks you to watch this movie, try to remember if you ran over their wife or impregnated their dog, prefereably after you run as far away as you can, as fast as you can.

The shuttle blew up in our backyard, we're about to start a shooting war with a megalomaniacal butcher who most likely has large stores of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons that he'd be more than happy to rain down on our heads, and the economy keeps staggering on like some drunken bum who just won't fall down, even as he throws up on his shoes for the umpteenth time. Looks like this is going to be a banner year - at least we can look forward to some completely ass-kicking sequels. Maybe we'll make it that far - keep your fingers crossed and your head down.

- friday 01 24 03 -

All I gotta say is damn I'm stupid.

- tuesday 01 21 03 -

All I have to say is Gonads and Strife, man.

Oh yeah, and, um, WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

- saturday 01 11 03 -

Another week, another update. Checked Audioslave - they don't suck, contrary to what these guys say. Cornell and Rage blended together by Rick Rubin. Not necessarily original or inspired, but a return to that noisy grunge rock thing that we bought so much of ten years ago. I for one enjoy the hell out of it. I will say that I've bookmarked the pundits above - I can disagree with them and still enjoy the writing.

Nero is still the king - I was wandering around in Roxio's tool of Satan, I'm convinced. Call me a bigot - I don't mind.

More later. Work is calling.

- saturday 01 04 03 -

Holy shit. I went and saw it, twice, in two days, and I'm going to see it again soon. Cold chills during the first moments, recapping Gandalf's fate, goosebumps afterwards - a stunning film that deserves nothing less than crystal clear projection and ass-shaking digital sound. Find the best theater that you can get into, and go there at 2PM on a weekday so you can experience nothing but the film. These films, regardless of the level of literal adaptation the Jackson has done, capture the essence and spirit of Tolkien's Middle Earth perfectly. Jackson plays the earnestness of Tolkien's prose to full effect, capturing Gollum's tortured soul and Samwise's golden heart with equal acuity. Tolkien bigots and purists will be upset about several of the plot threads that are truncated or modified, but the film has just as much power and magic as it's predecessor. Having just acquired the special edition of Fellowship, part one is fresh in my mind. The only thing that Two Towers suffers from is the fact that it is the middle of a ten-and-a-half hour movie, with an end that leaves you counting the endless days until the end is released. Gorgeous production and cinematography, stunning visual effects, beautiful sound design, perfect casting, and unforgettable characters - escape to Middle Earth again.

Another reason for the lack of updates - this gorgeous bit of game engine. Found it in my birthday presents, and promptly loaded up all 2GB of it. I've now got a reason to upgrade my video card and processor - anthing better than "normal" texturing grinds my current eye-burner to a halt. The game is stunningly beautiful, with texturing and level design that boggles the mind. Character physics is thoroughly entertaining, with the highly touted "rag-doll" death animations making it well worth dying every few minutes. My only gripe is the common complaint about the visual effects around the sniper weapon - I miss the Unreal Tournament rifle and it's clean, deadly accuracy. I'm going to be looking for a mod to remove the godawful filtering on the scope and blinding distraction of the lightning effects - barring that, the game is a hell of a lot of fun. Domination, CTF, FFA, team deathmatch, and all the other mods are here, with an engine that tops the aging Q3 magic and kicks it right out the door. Until id gets the new Doom out, this one is the king.

No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way. Just as fun and exciting as the first one, with the trademark style and tongue-in-cheek humor that made the original such a blast. Yet another reason I need to get one of these slabs of PCB in my case. Have to go dig in my couch seats to see if I can scrape up a coupla hundred dollars. Shit - just lint and pen caps ...

This totally rope-a-dope piece of hardware has me distracted as well - I've played it 'til my forearms hurt and my ears ring. I think my wife is thoroughly regretting getting it for me by now. No longer do I have to play air drums - I can flail away, out-of-time and off-beat, with real drumsticks. Life is good.

- sunday 12 22 02 -

Been up since yesterday (well, it's actually only 12:37 AM right now) - managed to convert the gallery to the new XHTML format, as well as revamping the images, and adding a new entry. Trying to bring some other pages into line - realized tonight that my page template was not fully up to snuff. Got it reworked, and now the conversion should move along rather quickly. You can probably expect the Quake III pages to get a major overhaul, with removal of most of those crappy, dark images, and the addition of a few fun shots that I've collected.

Other than that, I've been working my ass off, enjoying my new job, reading quite a bit, and wishing like hell I had an opportunity to see the next contender for the best movie ever made.

- thursday 12 05 02 -

Well, it's been a hectic holiday week, and it's ramping up to be a delirious month both at home and at work. I've been told that I can expect to need some help from these folks by the end of the year. SO, on to the updates.

If you haven't bought this, get your butt to the store and buy a copy. It's all the things that made NFS4 such an awesome game, with the added benefit of beautiful graphics, great track layouts, and a physics model that either lets you get away with arcade-style murder or forces you to actually concentrate and drive. Good to the last drop.

Other than that, I went and found an expensive slice of heaven. If you need some of this, or some 2 count tiger prawns, or some prime beef, or fresh bread, or any vegetable or fruit imaginable ... I could go on, but if you have one of these in your neighborhood and enjoy eating, you need to just go in and browse.

More later - I'm experiencing writer's block and it's making me irritable.

- sunday 11 24 02 -

A day of silence in honor of my friend's daughter who passed away recently. Our thoughts are with you. Remember her as she was, and be at peace.

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