Oh how I love Saturday mornings. Today I was able to sleep in (a little) and now I’m hanging out with the little man…lounging in my jammies, and checking my email. And, oh, what’s this in my inbox? A message, to me, from Joss Whedon. Sure, he sent it out to a list I happen to be subscribed to, but I still got it, didn’t I? And now you can read part of it too (the rest is just too, umm, personal).
Yeah, kids, the haps is hap’nin’, and it runs thus: EXCLUSIVELY on Apple movie trailers (and linked through this site as well of course) will be a small, medium, large or FULLSCREEN trailer for Serenity the major motion movie. Yeah, THE trailer. And the following Friday said trailer hits theaters. Which theaters? Until I get confirmation you’ll have to guess, but I’m betting you can.
Now, here’s a word of warning: this trailer ain’t shy. If you’re looking to live totally spoiler-free, know that there’s plenty of key dialogue and images running through this bad boy. It’s pretty tasty, though, and it doesn’t give everything away. But close scrutiny will definitely learn you much of what’s to come. (Anakin TOTALLY goes evil.) It’s a nice piece to while away the time till September, and hopefully should intrigue th’ peeps that don’t have coats of brown.
Be still my heart. With bated breath I await the release of the trailer, at long last (and eventually the release of the movie itself). Ah, but it’s nice to have something to look forward to.
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The other day I watched a trailer for a crazy-looking Korean movie:
“Save the Green Planet is about the best science fiction slapstick since The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai.”
Could be brilliant. Or really really bad. Or both.
So. It’s Friday. And we’ve finally got a weekend ahead of us that isn’t ridiculously overbooked. I’m sure I could change that…but I’m not going to. I’m looking forward to some serious relaxing. And my new copy of Michael Chabon’s The Final Solution.
Bonus: If you haven’t already, you’ve got to check out Mr. Sparklepants. “I’d like to see somebody gank my wallet now.” Me too, Jake, me too.
Plus: And it don’t stop. Yet another show I’d like to see…The Epoxies in Minneapolis, on July 8th.
And: Fug it like Fugham. Funny stuff, that.
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The husband is thrifty and a minimalist, by nature, but the last few years he’s been downright miserly. Which is why it surprised me so to find him furniture shopping online recently. First he was perusing dining room table chairs at Design Within Reach. He likes the Kyoto Chair, among whose selling points are:
1) it is “Contract Quality” and
2) the “Best-selling café chair in Japan”.
Seriously, it looks like a fine chair. Though I would prefer the Coco Chair (as seen to the right) in red, of course, but it costs over twice as much and I’m sure he wouldn’t like it anyhow. As for tables he was excited by one from Herman Miller…the Aalto Extension Table H92. Too bad it’s $5,000. That is so not “Design Within Reach” - our reach, anyhow. Maybe that makes it Design Without Reach.
Bonus: June is going to be a busy month. Just found out about another must-see show…Ted Leo will be playing the First Avenue main room, on June 14th. I am not missing him this time around (Sleater-Kinney is playing the same space the next night, but I’ve seen them often enough).
Plus: I wish I could have joined Afrojet for “a rock n’ roll lesson plan of pure punk rock pedagogy” Monday night, but maybe without the blood on the sidewalk. Yeah, I guess I’m getting soft in my old age.
And: Speaking of shows…I dimly recalled that the Crystal Skulls were playing in town soon. Turns out that “soon” was actually “tonight” as in they probably just finished up. Doh.
Update: I was posting late at night and quite confused and, as it turns out, the Crystal Skulls show hasn’t actually happened yet…but it is tonight. Tempting.
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Another weekend passed in a blur of activity. Sounds like Damien Jurado put on a good show Friday night, but a late starting one. It’s just as well I didn’t attempt it (I probably turned in before he even took the stage). Instead we went out to celebrate the husband’s good fortune…by dragging an exhausted little man over to our friends’ rented house, and ordering in some Pizza Luce. So jealous that they live within range of vegan pizza delivery. And it looks like that won’t be changing. But their address will. Said friends have been house-hunting and Saturday they found out they won their bid on a lovely abode. Congratulations Dave & Huey-Ling! And yes, we’ll gladly help you move. We just won’t give the little man any breakables to carry.
Saturday was blissfully quiet and rainy, but I don’t know where the day went. It’s a mystery…
We missed out on the Walker’s reopening festivities, but I suspect it would have been overstimulation central for the little man…and myself. We’ll get over there when things calm down a bit. Instead we met up with a friend for lunch at Seward Cafe on Sunday. She was only visiting for the weekend, and regaled us with tales of substitute teaching at a Chicago High School (students starting fires in the classroom, throwing their desks around, etc.). This week will mark her fourth there. Apparently most subs don’t come back after one day. But our Delia Jane is made of tougher stuff.
After gorging ourselves we engaged in some much needed playground activity, then met up with Zophia and her crafty friends at Muddy Paws Cheesecake…to plan Phase 2 of the No Coast craft-o-rama site. Personally I think Phase 3 should involve flying Receptionista out here for the festivities, but somehow I don’t think it’s in the budget.
Bonus: This Bearsuit Review hits the nail on the head:
“This UK art-pop-punk six-piece produces a gleeful collision–a pileup, really–of seemingly disparate sounds”
Thanks again to James, for turning me on to them.
Plus: I think Comic Life for OS X would be fun to play around with (found via a former coworker’s post to flickr), but none of my machines are currently running OS X. Perhaps this should be remedied.
And: The vegguide has a fresh new look for Spring, and a new community mailing list.
And another thing: Looks like the reunion tour of “beloved indie rock behemoths” Dinosaur Jr. does include a stop in Minneapolis, on July 23rd. Let the weirdness flow between us.
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Our lives have been full of mad chaos all year long. Thankfully the bedlam hasn’t been all bad. A couple of weeks ago the husband started contracting, part-time. Yesterday he was asked to go full-time. This is big. It will mark the first time in years that we’re both working exclusively in our respective fields. When he called to share the news he sounded happier than I’d ever heard him…especially since he can finally quit the lousy energy-sapping soul-sucking overnight job. In his own words, he’s excited to be “closing the door on that chapter” of his life. And we’ll be excited to have him back among the living.
Speaking of closing doors…via Ranjit on flickr, “The Last Moments of Industrial Plastics” and an article about the same, from the NY Times: “the company simply couldn’t peddle enough plastic to keep going.” So sad.
I appreciated Pitchfork’s pithy explanation of the Manitoba-to-Caribou name change:
The recently renamed Caribou, who was forced to give up the Manitoba moniker because Dictators frontman Handsome Dick Manitoba sued for trademark infringement, is still popular among critics for his innovative beats and off-kilter indie pop. Handsome Dick, on the other hand, is still popular for, well, being a dick.
Turns out Caribou/Dan Snaith will be playing Minneapolis on June 6th, the day before the Neko Case show. Each show is on a schoolnight. Sadly I won’t be able to swing them both, but I hope someone out there can.
Bonus: The 23rd Annual Minneapolis - St. Paul International Film Festival is drawing to a close soon (and I only saw one selection) but they’ve posted a list of Confirmed Holdovers and Best of the Fest contenders to their site.
Plus: I plan to take Kid Ethnic up on his offer: Mail Saleem Stickers and Receive a Stupid Song! Read all about it.
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This morning I woke up before the little man. I stumbled out of my room, intending to head straight down to the kitchen to brew up some coffee. But I was greeted by one of the cats in the hallway. The loud cat. Concerned that her yowling would prematurely wake the lad, I instinctively brought a finger to my lips to shush her…before my groggy brain could boggle at what I was doing. Yes, like Diablo Cody, I too am a crazy cat lady.
Bonus: Yesterday’s mail brought my copy of the Relief Digest from Rescue Magazine. My favorite feature…Bait and Tackle: Fishy Places to Hook the Look. But now I want a pair of Crocs, dammit.
Plus: Damien Jurado is playing the Turf Club tonight. I’d like to go, but I’m not sure I’d be able to stay up that late. So sad.
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There’s something about this site that is reminiscent of “The Weirdest Book in the World” - The Codex Seraphinianus. Speaking of which…I really need to spend more time perusing my personal copy.
Some interesting news from Bookcrossing:
On 18th April, Alexander McCall Smith, Ruth Rendell, Philip Pullman, Tracy Chevalier, William Boyd, AS Byatt, Joanna Trollope and Doris Lessing are among thousands of readers and other authors who will release a book for Book Aid International.
And vaguely book-related…a librarian friend of mine sent me an email, saying she is going to be ordering an odd album for her library system…the Thai Elephant Orchestra’s release, Elephonic Rhapsodies. A bit about it:
Crazy as it sounds, much of the music on this strange and wonderful album is actually made by elephants, trained to beat drums, shake rattles and tap xylophones and gongs in something surprisingly close to a steady rhythm. American composers Richard Lair and Dave Soldier worked with the Thai Elephant Orchestra to create these charming, brief pieces, all of which are explained nicely in the liner notes and some recorded conversations. Curious but fun.
Hmmmm. In less unsettling music news, I’ve been commandeering the husband’s iPod mini on a regular basis, but I don’t want it to get all banged up in my bag. So I’ve been considering a foofpod. The dilemma, and it’s only a minor one really, which color and style should I get? There aren’t quite as many options for the mini, but those offered are pretty sweet.
Bonus: This is a place where no clouds go and my life as a cloud.
Plus: Awesome graffiti in the UP Factory, in Portland.
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Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Last weekend was pretty action-packed. Early on Saturday we had a lovely birthday brunch for my father-in-law, and in the evening I went to see The Decemberists show at the Fine Line. I wouldn’t have been able to see anything really, if it weren’t for strategically placed monitors throughout the club. But my companion, who is 6′7″, had a clear view of everything, which I envied (but I am far more comfortable on airplanes than he is, so it’s a tradeoff). Anyhow, after the show we emerged from the club around midnight to find that:
a) we didn’t smell awful (it was the first smoke-free show I’d attended since the Minneapolis smoking ban went into effect) and
b) the streets and sidewalks were completely crowded. It had been so long since I’d been in the warehouse district on a weekend night…I’d forgotten about all the meat markets (clubs) in the area. Gawking at the outfits donned by some made for free entertainment, but also made me kinda-sorta wish I’d had on the official “I Hate What You’re Wearing” t-shirt.
Sunday saw even more activity. The little man and I went to lunch at Seward Cafe with a friend (whose birthday it is today - Happy Birthday Broccoli!), then later on headed to the home of other friends, with the husband in tow. The little man hung out with them (thank you Dave&HL) while the husband and I strolled over to the Lagoon Cinema. We both felt pangs of homesickness of a sort, of missing our former homes in Uptown, and the ease of walking from those homes to places of interest. There isn’t too much to walk to in our current neighborhood, aside from that one coffee shop that closes too early, a few lovely playgrounds, and, well, downtown St. Paul…if one has a half hour or so to spare. But I digress. Our destination Sunday afternoon was a theater playing host to an M-SPIFF selection. I can’t recommend Kontroll enough, though I am still thinking it through.
That was the weekend. This week has been much less fun. In fact it’s been grueling and frustrating for too many reasons to name. I’m hoping it will improve soon. Distractions always help, when one has time for them. A couple of years ago our cost-cutting measures included the cancellation of Netflix. But now that the husband and I both have shiny new jobs we’ve decided to splurge…and sign up for Green Cine. Our first selection is on its way. Oh sweet relief.
Bonus: For anyone in the area, Giant Robot is sponsoring the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles from April 20 - 24 and the LA Asian Film Festival from April 28 - May 5.
Plus: June is the month in which we celebrate my birth (yes, all month long), and the birth of Zophia. This year we will be kicking it off in style with the Kaiser Chiefs show on June 1st, followed by the Neko Case and Her Boyfriends show on June 7th.
And: We’ve heard from someone on the inside that the Wedge Co-op may start carrying Chicago Soy Dairy’s vegan ice cream. I’m already craving the chocolate chip cookie dough variety.
Forgive me, it has been three days since my last post. If I were to write anything substantial at this point in time it would only be to outline the current frustrations in my life. Instead I will wait and attempt to atone…with a much more entertaining brain dump in the very near future.
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Everyone is quite taken with the new Google Maps satellite images (myself included). And it’s spawned the latest flickr craze, the Memory Maps pool. Click on the image below to see a sampling of my own memory maps.
Speaking of tools…it’s been said that: “The single most important tool you’ll ever choose is your text editor.” At the new job I’ve begun using Vi to edit code, as that’s what my co-workers use…and I am getting more and more acclimated to it (I am partial to the “yank” command, probably because it’s fun to say), much to the husband’s chagrin. You see, he’s an Emacs user, as are many of our geekier friends. But let’s try thinking Vi and Emacs, rather than Vi vs. Emacs. If only to make my life somewhat less contentious.
Speaking of geeky stuff, Duluth’s Fourth Annual Geek Prom is being held tonight. Alas, I will not be attending as I’ve got a ticket to the sold out Decemberists show instead. Speaking of whom, they have some good news/bad news. Turns out the Portland Police have made some raids recently and have managed to recover some of their stolen equipment. The bad news…they aren’t sure which pieces, or what kind of condition they will be in after a spending a month in a meth lab. Ouch.
Bonus: Yesterday the Museum of Modern Art kicked off a Christopher Guest tribute series. Looks fabulous.
Plus: Speaking of tributes, this is a really well done ode to Sesame Street.
And: There is just too much going on lately. Adding another item to the list, this coming Tuesday evening Sarah Vowell will be reading from her latest volume, Assassination Vacation, at the U of M Bookstore.
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