Everyone has probably seen it by now, but I wanted to share it here anyway. The first time I watched it, I was going to watch it in parts since it is 34 minutes long… 34 minutes later I’d watched the whole thing. I just never wanted to turn it off.
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never let me go. [books.]
“A good book is never exhausted. It goes on whispering to you from the wall.” – Anatole Broyard
That quote is on a bookmark I just got with the purchase of a book at the lovely Elliott Bay Book Co. I include it here because of how well it describes Kazuo Ishiguro’s remarkable novel, Never Let Me Go
There are simply some books that haunt me long after I put them down, the feelings and the characters take root deep inside and refuse to be finished with me when I’ve read the last page. This is the epitome of one of those books. I find myself, at random points in my day, feeling again the tragedy and profundity of this bizarre and ordinary story.
It was a book I purchased as a result of my attempt to find the best books of the last decade, which I describe in more detail here. It’s been on my ‘to read’ shelf for a while, but then my friend Kj saw the new movie adaptation and recommended via twitter that everyone go see it. Thus, wanting to read the book first, I pulled it off the shelf. It was the best decision I’ve made in some time, thanks to Kj for the assist.
The story is narrated by Kathy H., who refers to her occupation as a ‘carer,’ and relates to the reader the story of growing up at a secluded boarding school, Hailsham, in Great Britain. The novel follows the coming of age of Kathy H., and the two people closest to her, Tommy and Ruth.
Ishiguro takes a science fiction premise and makes it painfully commonplace, if you absolutely detest sci-fi, you’ll still love this book. I don’t want to spoil what the premise is, although you’ll probably figure out what’s going on pretty early on in the novel. It’s not some sort of twist that enjoyment of the novel hinges on or something, I just don’t want to ruin anyone’s ability to go in fresh.
You really should read this book. It ripped my heart out, but quietly, without melodrama or fanfare.
This was my first encounter with Ishiguro, I assure you it will not be the last.
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trailer park, old school edition.
Trailer park used to be a bunch of trailers all packaged in together. Since I’ve been lazy about getting them up, I’m throwing a bunch into this one. Holla!
Winnie the Pooh
It’s amazing how quickly, and without any expectation on my part, this trailer transported me to childhood again.
There were a few safe places I would hide when I was a kid. Pooh Corner is most definitely one of them.
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Season of the Witch
I’m not including this one becauseI have any desire to see it whatsoever. It’s included because every time I see a new Nick Cage trailer, and a new Nick Cage movie haircut, I feel like I’m being punked.
Who works on this project and seriously thinks, “Yes, this is good, let’s keep spending money making this movie.”???
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Tron Legacy
The final full trailer to be released for Tron before its release in December. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeow!
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The Illusionist
I’ve actually never seen The Triplets of Belleville. I’ll have to be sure to see both films soon.
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Battle: Los Angeles
Call me crazy, but while I think the text they chose is stupid, I actually really like this trailer. It occurs to me that if it is well made, there is actually a fair amount of potential for a combination of the gritty, realistic military drama with the alien invasion genre.
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green lantern, almost-a-trailer. [trailer park.]
The most we’ve seen of Green Lantern, that is, until Tuesday.
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there's an [action hero] in all of us.
I usually hate commercials. This is an exception. It definitely succeeds in making me want to play video games… not that it takes much.
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bradley cooper. [photogenic.]
He’s on my wife’s celebrity freebie list. Hell, he might even be on mine.
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what i want you to do, lebron.
Oh, Lebron. Lebron, Lebron, Lebron.
Has anyone ever fallen so far, so fast in the eyes of the public? For so long, you were the chosen one, the golden child, the anti-
Kobe. We all loved you, except for Skip Bayless, but he’s a huge douche anyway. Yet, now, most view you with disdain.
It seems pretty obvious how it all happened. Yet, that hasn’t stopped people from making all sorts of absurd claims as to why the average basketball fan has done such an about face in response to you.
But Lebron, at the end of the day, the reason everyone turned on you so quickly is because you acted like a big asshole. There are no two ways about it.
It’s not racism, if you were white the tide would have turned just as quickly. It’s not taking money to sign in a big city, that sort of animosity only comes when someone signs with the Yankees. It’s not that you are favored to win, most of us still loved Jordan in spite of ourselves, even though we knew his Bulls were going to win year, after year, after year.
No, Lebron, the reason we want to see you lose now, or, to be more specific, the reason I want to see you lose now is because of the way you went about all the things you did, and the fact that in hindsight you are unwilling to truly apologize. Sure, you’ve said you would do things differently if you could do it again, or as you said in your commercial, you’ve made mistakes. So what? That’s just stating the blatantly obvious.
Don’t just tell us you would do things differently in regards to your ESPN Asshole Hour, where you basically threw it in the face of the people who have screamed themselves hoarse for you over the last few years. Tell us exactly what you would do differently. Tell us that you understand, that you realize what you meant to the fans, and how much that must have hurt when you didn’t just leave them for another woman, but broke the news by broadcasting an engagement party on national television.
Don’t just tell us you made mistakes. Being vague and unapologetic just makes you more of a Roger Clemens, not less of one. Tell us what mistakes you’ve made, say you’re sorry, then hope everyone moves on with their lives.
I know, that’s too much to ask, so let’s just pretend I never asked you for it. Instead, how about this, just shut the fuck up and play basketball. This new commercial really chaps my ass every time it comes on television. Granted, it’s really well made, and shows just how great the folks who do advertising for Nike are. But you, my friend, have got to be kidding me!
All this new ad does is insinuate that everyone in Cleveland is being unreasonable for being angry. “C’mon guys, lighten up. Do you want me to be the bad guy all the time now? Do you want me to act sad? What do you want me to do?” ME, ME, ME, ME.
Well, Lebron, what if we ask the question back to you? What should the fans of Cleveland do? Should they get punched in the mouth, spit out the excess blood, smile adoringly at you, and say, “Thank you, King James, can I have another?”
You want it both ways. You want to be able to have all eyes on you, but you don’t want to be held responsible for your actions. It doesn’t work that way.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hold it against you for leaving Cleveland. I get that in real life, and outside a sports fan’s fantasies, the negotiating a player does is not between a player and the fans, it’s between a player and an organization. Fans are the unfortunate collateral damage whose hard earned money makes the whole thing possible. Johnny Damon wasn’t trying to flip off Red Sox fans when he left for New York, he was disrespected by the Sox front office and took his talents to the Bronx. The same can be said of Joe Torre in his departure for LA.
Sure, you weren’t ever disrespected by Cleveland, but I’d like to meet the fan, from Cleveland or otherwise, who would turn down the prospect of being paid loads of money to move to Miami and win championships with his best friends. You made a good choice, so own up to it, and either apologize, or at the very least simply acknowledge that the fans have the right to be upset with you, shut the fuck up, and play basketball.
And, whatever you do, for the love of all that is holy, stop playing the martyr in Nike commercials, like you didn’t bring down all the ill will on yourself. If you don’t want to accept your role as the villain, then do charity work in Cleveland, and invest heavily in causes there, and by all means, shut the fuck up and play basketball.
In summation, in answer to your self-obsessed question, I want you, Lebron James, to shut the fuck up and play basketball. Amen.
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AMC is ruining my life.
Having trouble sleeping over the last week? Are friends and family members expressing concern about your limited eating habits and the desire to board up all doors and windows in your house? Are you spending every waking hour cowering in the corner, clutching a weapon and mumbling about ‘the walkers?’
You aren’t alone, my friend.
On Halloween night AMC did the unthinkable: they aired the premier episode of ‘the Walking Dead,’ a show depicting our unavoidable future struggle against the undead. To make matters worse, the second episode just aired this Sunday and Americans across the country are panicking in silence – afraid to be vilified for their perfectly natural inclination to survival. Well, I’ve had enough. The time for action has arrived.
Lucky for us, we don’t have to prepare alone. After doing some research, I’ve discovered the Zombie Combat Club. According to their website, they are an ‘open civilian group dedicated to providing accurate combat theory and education to fight the walking dead without a firearm, and survive.’ This jives well with the fact that I haven’t got any firearms immediately available to me and, frankly, we’re all going to run out of ammo eventually, right?
Of particular interest is a new feature on their blog that discusses the use of hand-to-hand combat in the show. The initial reaction that I had to ‘the Walking Dead’ was a mixed feeling of awe and paralyzing fear, but these guys at the ZCC seem to have taken it in stride – and they’ve got a point. If we’re going to all be forced to tune in to watch AMC’s latest prediction of our doom, why not use it as a primer on how to handle ourselves when the apocalypse finally begins? This week, they discuss the use of the baseball bat and how physically exhausting it can be.
While I’m not looking forward to one day facing down shuffling hordes of corpses hungering for my flesh, at least I can look forward to getting play-by-play analysis from the experts on ‘the Walking Dead,’ and maybe learn some non-fiction lessons from some fictional mistakes.
Zombie Combat Club
the Walking Dead [on AMC]
the Walking Dead [the graphic novel]
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Kid Cudi – Maniac [feat. Cage & St. Vincent]
Driving home from work on Sunday night, I tuned into KEXP here in Seattle, to catch the last bit of the Sunday night hip hop show. So glad I did. This is the song I was treated to …
I love his use of St. Vincent’s “The Strangers”, plus, how awesome is the album cover? Cudi’s new album, “Man On The Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager” drops today, and if this track is any indication, it should be some hot shit.
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