Take a picture of yourself right now. Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair - just take a picture. Post that picture with NO editing. Post these instructions with the picture. Jerk me off.
I'm not gonna say this is a review because it isn't too in-depth, more just a smattering of thoughts about the book Casino Royale and how it relates to the film.
For the introduction to James Bond, it's a great book. Breeze to read and thrilling all the way through, I will most likely read it again at some point in my life.
The prose oozes style, you can tell where most of the extravagance of the films came from with these humble beginnings. The casual sexism was to a pretty appalling degree though, almost as bad as an ice pick to the forehead.
Like the film, the book centers around a pivotal card game to crush a red agent. Unlike the film which pussied out and made it a poker game, the book is all about what real James Bond's play: Baccarat. I found this game utterly fascinating, and completely thrilling in that I almost missed my train stop because I was so into it. The filmmakers were idiots for changing the game, it's an insult to the audience.
And lastly there was some interesting stuff about secret organizations which the films merely touch on, SPECTRE and so forth. There was more detail about these organizations in this one book than in all the films combined, and one thing I like more than secrets are the ones that are organized so I'm looking forward to that stuff unravelling as the books go on.
This book is trash entertainment with a stroke of genius that elevated it to eventually being a cultural icon. Recommended. On the Bus.
Ignoring the fact that I don't know when I last updated, I promised 7171177711 that I would post book reviews of all the James Bond novels he gave me for my birthday. The review for Casino Royale will be up shortly, but I also read Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way recently, and instead of a review I'll sum the book up with a short section from the last chapter, in which Bruce writes to the editor Barry Neville from prison.
BARRY, 'SUP, SUCKA? B DAWG C HERE, CAN'T TALK LONG - HO CHECK SOON, KNOW WHA IM SAYING ? BEEN LONG TIME SINCE YOU BE MONKEY MOUTHIN BOUT A RELATIONSHIP BOOK, AN' THE OFFER. WORD UP, FOO - I BEEN THINKIN' (PLENTY TIME FO THAT INNA JOYNT) AN' I THINK IT WOULD BE COO TO DO A BOOK AN SHIT 'BOUT MEN AND THEY BITCHES.
WRITE TO BE HERE: B DAWG C PRISONER #22987 C/O CHINO MENS CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE P.O. BOX 00-3344 CHINO, CA 91710
P.S. FYI, YOU WANT TO THROW DOWN, MAKE A REAL DEAL, FOO - TALK WITH MY ACE BOON COON, RANDY, HE BEEN SPENDIN' TIME IN THE LAW LIBRARY AN SHIT, SO, DON'T FUCK ME OVER ON PAPER, DAWG, OR HE LL STICK YOU WITH HIS BANGER.
PostSecret 11.20.2006 - Standing ovation for the hentai one. Hentai is so rad. People really should be more open with what gets their rocks off. Everybody wants some.
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I was thinking about making it over a month since my last post but whatever. Work has been hell, pretty positive I'm going to quit. It's not that it's that bad, I'm just done with doing it. I got really ill for almost a week, never had a virus like that. Kicked my ass. Shadow of the Colossus is a bit of the alright. If Dexter's smile isn't the most wonderful thing in the world, then I don't want to know what is.
PostSecret 10.22.06 - "I look forward to his business trips..." and "Even though I'm in an interracial relationship..."
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Ikea is a magical wonderland, and I'm sure it's run by people who are very capable, but it's funny how one bad experience out of one employee can really put a bad scuff on a nice exterior. Amber and I went through and selected a desired TV stand, table, bookshelf, and some curtains, totalling almost a grand. We ask about delivery out to Oakville since we don't drive, and that's no problem apparently, so we drop a K on this stuff and wheel it over to the delivery counter. Did I mention we have to pay for delivery on top of this? Okay. Head over to the counter and dude behind says it'll be sometime monday or tuesday and we'll get a call 3 hours before. When we explain that we're in school/work respectively, we gives us a look like that's our problem not his. He's the delivery agent who we've paid to deliver our stuff, it's very much his problem. After interrogating him for 15 minutes we find out that no matter what day we pick this is the situation, dude was not forth coming or helpful in any way. We had to ask him questions to get the information that should have been forth coming. If it can't be worked out it can't be worked out, but don't treat us like we're trying to get something for nothing you fucking assholes. We want to spend money in your store, don't treat us like we're dirt to be walked on. Fucking courtesy people, is the rule of retail, not that the customer is always right. So it was just a big pain, and now we have to go back to get this shit later with a vehicle. I don't think we'll go to that store so hopefully it shows up in the records that they had our money and because of their bad attitudes it was taken away.
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Go see The Prestige. Don't think about it, just do it.
PostSecret 10.15.2006 - Favs are "I once masturbated..." and "I am not brave enough..." The latter is not out of pity because i think dude or dudette is a coward but the choice of photograph shows the person at least recognizes courage when they see it.
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Bought Tales of the Abyss and it's pretty awesome, they truly have some stellar talent working at Tales Studios. Unfortunately, Tales of the Abyss is only available for the PS2, so I had to get one of those. It was only a hundred bucks, but it was a hundred bucks too much. What a piece of shit. I'll be the first one to say that graphics don't mean much of anything if the art design, story, and gameplay are firing on all cylinders; but I've seen better graphics on my N64. Fucking jaggy lines everywhere and atrocious texture quality. Pretty fucking sad. I also picked up Shadow of the Colossus and it's amazing but really fucking hard, I can't even injure the first colossus. I'll grab the MGS title, ICO, and a few other games because they're only going to get cheap. I'll also get into some PS1 games like Silent Hill and the Fear Effect titles. Anyways, Tales is amazing but fuck Sony. I can't wait for the Wii.
I really have nothing to say this week. The family is in Jasper and it's really hard to be way the hell over here. But it's still nice with Ambro and pumpkin pie.
Montreal was a lot of fun but at the same time I didn't sleep and I got weird depression after. I think I'm just crazy, but then again that city eats at my soul. If my best friend wasn't in it, I wouldn't be going to it. Photos are here.
Ladytron was pretty awesome, but in a hit or miss way. The songs were the same as on the albums, they were almost like cover versions or remixes. So if one missed, it was pretty bad because you had four minutes of sitting there through a version of a song you don't like. But when it was awesome it was really awesome, fresh and new and a kick to your face. Their lighting was okay but their visuals sucked. When four old guys are curb-stomping your visuals you'd better rise to the occasion.
goddessofjoi is the happiest and healthiest I've ever seen her. It is nice.
PostSecret 9.24.2006 - Favs are "... so they can be friends with Tom Cruise" and "I am in love with my best friend." I'm sorry about that last one but the picture is perfect.
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Work is going well, now I just needs to get paid. As far as TVM is concerned, the look and feel of the picture is solidifying in my mind. Down to the frame, I now see some sequences. I'm going to do some work this fall on learning visual effects, and that little matter of that script. ;) Without a doubt, this will be a film that's much better than it's predecessor.
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God and Wifi willing I'll be updating from Montreal next weekend, hopefully with some pictures to show. I'm nervous about flying, nervous enough that it's making me nervous about the whole trip. But that'll pass because I'm an idiot and I forget about things that make me unhappy, whether they be rational or irrational.
PostSecret 9.16.06 - Favs are "I married her..." and "... I was babysitting your girls."
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I have a powerful need to be playing video games right now. Between the announced release date and price for the Nintendo Wii and the release of iPod Games, all I want to do is sit on my ass and escape into games. It's gotten so bad that I'm having severe gear lust for one of the new iMacs so I can throw windoze on it and play System Shock 2. The money situation never helps these games things. Not to mention I've put off working on music for way too long and there's also that small item of the TVM script that I'm shooting next spring that I need to start writing. I suck, that is all.
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DS9 gets better and better but it's going to END SOON and that makes me sad.
So I've found that I had much more to write about than I thought I did, at least on the Apple subject, not so much the filmmaking and story-telling, yet... But yeah this first week has been fun, I'm a little bit paranoid that it's coming off as just a puff piece for Apple but I really have only talked about Leopard and the new iMacs and I really having nothing critical to say about them. :P But yes anyways thanks to all those who have visited the blog I appreciate it.
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Amber and I have started Season Six of DS9 and I've been watching The Prisoner on the train commute to work. Television is really interesting when it's good.
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I don't think I've ever been this strapped for cash, EVER.
I have a very bad habit of starting projects and never finishing them. It's so bad that I'm not sure I can mention anything that I've completed of any substance other than sitting through all eighteen hours of special features on the LOTR extended dvd sets. So its with some trepidation that I relaunch http://web.mac.com/epplegacks.
I will continue to use LJ as a personal journal and updated it weekly. But with my iWeb site I'm actually trying to create an Apple and Filmmaking blog of some substance as most of the blogs I read on the subjects are extremely lacking in what I find interesting. The plan is to update it every other day and hopefully if I can stick to that move to a daily update schedule. Basically it's something else to try and keep me structured so I don't sit around like a dumb shit.
I believe the lj feed that simon kindly made for me is now broken, but if you visit the site you can plainly see the RSS link on the top right, and that's if your browser doesn't bring the feed to your attention automatically. And all that is in the event you actually want to read my crap, at this point I'm not even sure I am. :P
PostSecret 9.2.2006 - Favs are "I believe we will find peace...", "I lived across from the hall from the elevator on the 3rd floor...", "I've dreamed of someone like you." and "And I'm not sorry."
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TVM continues on. I've written some better scenes, again in prose form. I tried starting to write the screenplay but didn't get anywhere. I think I just need to set myself a quota of 2 pages a day or something and just get it done. I need deadlines or i sit around like a dumb shit. I've decided not to invest time or money into designing the weapons for the film, at this point it's not worth it. I recall watching Star Trek when I was a kid and really liking the Klingon knives that had retractable finger guards. Years later I was reading one of my grandfather's military surplus catalogues and under replicas they had the same knife. It wasn't listed as a Klingon blade, but rather just an ornate one. They hadn't designed them, they simply found something they thought looked cool and worked it in. I'm planning to do something similar. I'm also having doubts about shooting HD when I could get most of the benefits in shooting 16:9 standard def at 24 frames progressive, and have it be half price. But I have to look down the road at the end of 2007 when this thing will be completed and realize that by that point I'll really need it future-proofed by having it as 720p. Plus shooting won't take place for another 9 months and by that time the costs involved in shooting HD could be lessened. I'll have to think on it.
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Amber starts school in a week. I'm so happy being with her it's kind of blowing my mind. More things to think about. ;) PS - Happy Birthday Kiki.
9/11 Detainee Released After Nearly Five Years - As we come up on the anniversary next monday, realize that I don't hate americans, but there are some things that have happened on their watch that are unforgivable. I have no interest in setting foot in that country. That could be me, anyone who says otherwise is part of the fucking problem.
PostSecret 8.26.2006 - Favs are "i pee outside because i'm scared of the bathroom" and "I no longer believe in the possibility of peace..."
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Finished TVM prose and I haven't written a word since. Feeling stuck again so I'll been reading a book and trying to think of something else to write to give me a break from TVM so I can start the first script draft fresh, but it's not going well. Of course it's at this time that I feel that everything I do is worthless and not good enough. So yeah, there's that. ;) It's really rather fine it's just I'm impatient to start shooting because I love shooting, makes me feel in control instead of foundering by myself. DS9 and amburger keeps me company.
PostSecret 8.19.2006 - Favs are "To prove to myself I'm not racist" and "too bad they're from a BOX."
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This week was overall pretty bad, but it had a nice ending so that was... nice. To recap my great grandmother stopped eating last week and died monday morning. The funeral is tomorrow and I cannot manage to attend. Work has been stessful and will continue to be for next week as well. And I felt ill for the first part of the week and I want painting to be done because every time I see an unpainted spot I feel like a complete and utter failure.
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I'm writing the last few sequences for TVM atm in rough prose form and I'm starting to hit those "this is the ending aka what everyone will remember as they walk out of the theatre so it has to be good and this isn't good enough" road blocks. That's okay though because I've almost got something together that i can pick apart and rearrange and create something good from. One thing about the ending is it's pretty epic as it happens on a skyscraper roof top. Let's hope I can get production insurance fairly cheaply so I can do this.
I'm also reading this book and I've decided that it's holding my attention quite well.
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