09.28.04

Conan the Successor

Posted in the pop life at 11:14 am by shawnz

You’ve probably heard that Conan will take over the Tonight Show in 2009 from Jay Leno. I wonder if Conan will be able to take his stoner frat-boy comedy to a late prime-time slot. My favorite bits, like “In the year 2000″ or the Masturbating Bear, are not things that my dad, who watches Leno, would probably find very funny. But this guy has a good point:

“I think if you put Conan on at 11:30 right now, you’d have a lot of Leno viewers scratching their heads over the self-pleasuring bear and Triumph the Dog (a foul-mouthed dog puppet). But by 2009, most of the audience that doesn’t get Conan probably is not going to be up until 11:30 anyway.”

–ROBERT THOMPSON, professor of pop culture at Syracuse University, on the decision by NBC to have “Late Night” comic Conan O’Brien replace Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show” in five years.

09.27.04

IM syndrome

Posted in shit that sucks [rants and raves] at 5:48 pm by shawnz

Its good ettiquette, I think, to put up an away message when you’re not at your keyboard and IM is on. That way, people won’t message you to initiate a conversation. But I think its pretty silly to put up a really detailed message, spelling out what class you are attending, what errand you are running, or how long a nap you are taking. It just makes your life seem really boring and transparent. Now, if you away message indicated, “Saving Gotham citizens from Lex Luther,” you just happened to be doing that exact thing. Well, thats cool as shit. Otherwise, I’m not sure if the detail is necessary.

Disclaim: i used to put up detailed away messages. I know what I’m talking about.

Disclaim #2: If you think this post is about you and your silly away messages, you might be right. mu’haha.

09.20.04

Movies are sometimes an adequate replacement of human interaction

Posted in movies at 7:27 pm by shawnz

My move to the West Coast, in addition to all its other benefits, has also afforded me ample time to catch up on movies I missed during the last two semesters. Hollywood (and the world cinema, for that matter) is churning out some real classics.

Hero. This movie blew me away, from like 5 minutes into it. This might be the most beautiful movie I’ve ever seen. The visual choreography, special effects, and color schemes (which change based on plot), are just stunning. The story-telling process is mysterious and clever, but content of the story itself is okay - its a very Chinese story, in that its very Confuscionist and, well, in my opinion, hard to relate to. Mainly just the ending. But its still cool.

Lost in Translation. Obviously, everyone has seen this except for me… until last weekend. I really liked this movie - the relationship between Bill Murray’s character and Scarlett Johannson is really captivating. And Scarlett is hot. And Japan is weird and cool, all at once, complaints about stereotypes notwithstanding.

Kill Bill 2. I saw this one last spring at the theatres, but rented it again. In addition to the amazing fight scenes throughout the movie, the end of this movie ranks as one of my favorite sequences of all time. This really is the ultimate feminist movie, in my opinion. And I mean that in a really good way. The scene with Uma crying/laughing in the bathroom floor, with her daughter watching TV in the next room is gripping. The pregnancy test/assasin with shotgun scene says something interesting (though I’m not sure what) about female empathy. And finally, Bill’s brother/assassin/strip club bouncer is the most likable bad guy I’ve seen in a while. Next to Bill, that is.

Anyone have any recommendations?

09.19.04

Jem:: Finally Woken

Posted in the pop life at 5:16 am by shawnz

KCRW has been playing Jem for some time now, and I just discovered that KCRW is the reason she got a record deal in the U.S. If you haven’t seen her video for “There” on Vh1 yet, you can find it on the Itunes store under Music Videos. Jem is Welsh, and her beautiful, laid-back vocal style is complemented well by her organic-electronic sound, which she co-produced. She reminds me in many ways of Beth Orton, and may in fact be an even more talented singer. You can listen to her entire album on her flash site… it just streams in the background when you have the site open, which is really awesome. Ch-check it out.

09.14.04

I’m Getting Pretty Good At Masturbation [The Onion]

Posted in shawn update at 7:40 pm by shawnz

Since this site professes, in some small way, to be about social and self-pleasure (onanism), I think this article in The Onion deserves a link, and my kudos. Its a well-written piece entitled, “I’m Getting Pretty Good At Masturbation.”

What Liberal Media

Posted in political gibberish at 1:35 am by shawnz

I’m reading MSNBC.com columnist Eric Alterman’s “What Liberal Media?”. Its a media critique, one of my favorite subjects, and from a liberal sympathizer. There aren’t many liberal critics of the media that write for a general public. We have a fair share of academics, like Chomsky and McChesney. Its nice to hear from someone that is paid to write for the general public.

That said, the book is a great read. His bias is up-front, but he documents and supports his claims with ample evidence. The most convincing of which comes from conservatives, who often agree with his points behind closed doors (in small market journals, or in front of small audiences.)

09.01.04

Nothing new to say

Posted in shawn update at 1:04 pm by shawnz

I haven’t posted in a while, but hopefully that will change soon, now that I have wifi (and the Apple Airport Express to boot.)

I was in Vegas last weekend and I’ll be in St. Louis this weekend, and San Diego to follow. Email me if you live in any of these places.