Initially I did not want to write a review of these things but I realize that few of you would actually check out any of this if I don't give at least a small description of them.
1.Movie, Hurlyburly. Another great movie to come out of the pre-millennial period (Matrix, Run Lola Run, Pi, American Beauty, Gattaca, etc.). Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Robin Wright Penn, Meg Ryan, Gary Shandling, Ana Panquin. Based on the play by David Rabe. A group of drug addled Hollywood producers try to make sense of their inner and outer lives and find meaning amidst the chaos and emptiness of their lifestyle and each other. Compelling and disturbing with a dose of humor. Everyone in this movie is just as good as you'd expect.
2.Movie, Tribulation 99. A "pseudo pseudo documentary" by Craig Baldwin, cult movie director who has gained underground fame for his documentary on the experimental electronic group Negativeland. Tribulation is a mere 45 minutes or so but don't let that fool you, this movie feels like it goes on for hours and not in a bad way. This movie basically hypnotizes you. It tells the story of a group of aliens living underneath the Earth who are trying to influence and destroy us and the US Government who is trying to stop them. It is constructed entirely out of stock footage, news footage, and discarded movie footage. It simply has to be seen to be appreciated.
3.Music, everything by Individual Totem. I have four of their albums and they have been in constant rotation on my media player for days. To call them Industrial would be missing their brilliance, despite the fact that they are more "Industrial" than just about every newish band working right now. Part classic Industrial in the vein of Controlled Bleeding, Numb, Yelworc, or Leatherstrip with an up to date futuristic quality. Combines hard driving Industrial beats and aggression with haunting synths while also borrowing from other genres like psy-trance and ambient. Individual Totem makes music with the idea that the cyberpunk ideals of the earlier Industrial bands are not just dead or something to look back at with nostalgia but something that is still very much alive, threatening, and relevant. One of the only bands working now that has been able to combine that thickness of sound that came with analog technology with the precision of the new digital age.
4.Books, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. And Maps of Time by David Christian. Two very different literary approaches to the concept of "Big History". Big History is a systematic study of history from the Big Bang to the present age. The two make excellent side by side reading and will give you an overall appreciation and understanding of history that I doubt you could get anywhere else, other than getting a degree in the subject.
5.Torrent, Complete collection of The Teaching Company audio lectures. This is part 1 of a 4 part torrent series. The Teaching Company is a group that puts out "professional and college level" audio and video lectures. Normally I'd say one should support a company like this by paying for the service. However, since paying for all the services would probably cost just as much as an actual college degree. So I say go for it. Besides free is free, free is good, and free is the way of the future. And more than anything else education and information should be free. Since these files are so big I'll tell you what I do. I download one of them and seed for about a week (seeding is good! Do it!). After that I delete the lectures I don't want and burn the rest to disk. I'm currently working on the 3rd torrent of the series.
6.website, Hulu. A great site where you can watch old and new movies and tv shows for FREE. The only downside is they do have the occasional commercial but it is nothing compared to the barrage of commercials you'd get on regular TV.
I don't usually do this, but I went through my list and trimmed a bit. Criteria:
No comments, either from me to your journal or from yours to mine in a long time. Obviously we do not speak anymore. Divergent interests. You rarely post anymore.
The smithereens. one of my favorite bands ever. from the 80s. from new jersey.
here are some videos.
I'm a little obsessed. every couple of months i go on a smithereens binge and listen to them constantly. I find that their appeal is that they're earnest, sweet, and a little dark with a good riff. underrated.
There's alot I could be posting here instead of smithereens videos. but venting about my frustration with most of the bullshit I keep running into lately (see; the boycott of the olympics, wicked bad cases of the "let me project on you"s, and the fact that i'm going back to school soon) or talk about the vacation i just went on doesn't make me chill and smile with a cup of tea like song "behind the wall of sleep" does. Funny that.
"Hacking is the clever circumvention of imposed limits, whether imposed by your government, your IP server, your own personality, or the laws of physics."
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
fromtheboobies's Friends Page
