Records

We all love Chun Li.

Admit it.

04/03/2006

Warm enough to wear shorts all weekend. But it’s freezing right now. Like an airline cabin here…feels like the air is pressurized and recycled.

It’s April. How about that? No April Fool’s Jokes were played except that I haven’t been paid yet. And the stupid backhoe digging away and being loud that I can’t hear my TV all weekend long.

The Austin Record Convention was back in town. A Biannual affair, one of my favourite events set in this town as vendors come by with…stuff. Mostly Holly and I look for affordable DVD’s, as well as music. Ahh…bootlegs. They still try to call them ‘imports’. Unless they have something I haven’t heard yet…I don’t need another live show of this or that. The internet has pretty much erased my desire for bootlegs as if you search hard enough you can download what you’re looking for.

The Convention was fun- always fun to see who’s there and what’s there.

Swag picked up at the Austin Record Convention and during the weekend:

Mindless Self Indulgence: You’ll Rebel to Anything- I can’t listen to this at work. Too much cussin’. Short and very punk…but with an electronic edge. Gotta listen to it more.

Wumpscut: Bonepeeler- all his albums sound alike and I suspect this one will too. Buy one Wumpscut and you’ve bought them all. Still…I have two of his CD’s (one’s the single for I Want You…an awesome song and some awesome remixes…but totally inappropriate for work). The tunes are somehow great as background noise whilst heavy thinking is involved)

Covenant: United States of Mind- More German electronic music-yay! A lot of people compare their music to VNV Nation- but I find their music not as danceable to. More mellow- and more…song based? I don’t know- less emphasis on the beats and the electronica…needs more listening to as well.

DVD’s:

ST: TNG Season 4 (hope it’s better than season 2)
Transformers: Beast Machines (loved Beast Wars and enjoyed this show when it aired. Missed a bunch of episodes though. Looking forward to seeing it in order. Love the Megatron in this show!)
Doom (I’m expecting cheesy fun…nothing more)
Transporter 2 (see comment for Doom)
Bataan Rescue (PBS special- looked interesting…I knew of this but never knew the whole story)
Snoopy Come Home (I remember this growing up…a puppy on a cross country voyage to visit it’s original owner…hope the years haven’t made it sappy)
A Boy Named Charlie Brown (I don’t remember this growing up…see comments below)
Tori Amos Video Collection (her music is a time capsule of me and my life circa 1997-1999 when I listened to her the most. Don’t care about her albums past the first two…and she always had pretty music videos)
House of Fury (I have a bootleg of this…so I give my penance by double dipping. A fun throwback to the HK of the 90’s with cheesy but lovable lighthearted stories and Yuen Wo Ping)
Chef Series 2 (Lenny Henry is hilarious)

Movies seen:

Election by Johnnie To- Interesting…To’s movies are a conundrum. The good ones are REALLY good and the bad ones aren’t that bad- just mediocre. Take a look at the well loved The Mission (begs a rewatch for me- especially since I’ve seen more To movies since then- when I first saw The Mission- I expected every HK gangster flick to be John Woo- an unjust comparison. There is only one John Woo. And Only one Johnnie To). This one- well, if you’re expectations are of a classic HK triad flick- be disappointed. But if you’re looking for a reality based gangster drama you’ll love it. A nice reflection to the recent Vin Diesel movie ‘Fine Me Guilty’ where they make the real life gangsters of the Mafia lovable stereotypes. In this movie- you see the Triad members treated as the criminals they are…violent and self serving. There’s a sequel coming soon. 3 ½ Stars

A Boy Named Charlie Brown- Wow- that’s kid’s depressed. The movie held up pretty well after thirty years since its initial release. Very charming. 5 Stars

ST: TNG Season 2 - not the whole thing- but the last five or so episodes…worst Star Trek season…ever! Complete with a really, really cheesy clip show! Alright- there were some decent episodes and the bad ones were MST3K bad- not cringing bad (although few were close). 2 Stars

________________________________________________________________________
http://www.myspace.com/catterpillarboy
http://catterpillarboy.blogspot.com/