musings

In all the excitement over the Killing Joke concert, I forgot to mention that I got my copy of The Ultimate Book of Perfect Energy yesterday. It’s brill. It has me giggling like a raver doing whip-its. And, of course, it’s the Ultimate Book of Perfect Energy. With it I can crush my enemies, and see them driven before me, whilst listening to the lamentation of their women and children.

Damn.
25 years and they still kick harder than anyone. This was one of the greatest concerts I’ve ever seen. Nearly two hours of blistering sound, with three encores. I’m so deaf that I’m sure my ears will ring for days. What an amazing night. It’s late, I shouldn’t be doing this, but I had to at least document the wow factor while it was still fresh.

Damn.

Oh, what the Hell.

I first saw Killing Joke perform live 12 years ago. It was the first time I’d ever seen a band in a small venue (for those of you from around Toronto, it was at RPM). I was thrilled to be going because it was a licensed show and it was 3 days after my 19th birthday – March 4, 1991. They flattened me that night. It was the “Extremeties, Dirt, and Various Repressed Emotions” tour. Martin Atkins on drums and Paul Raven on bass. They were tight. And loud. And absolutely electrifying. I saw them again a few years later at the Phoenix when they toured for “Pandemonium”. That time Youth was on bass but the drummer – gah. He thought he could make up for being bad by being loud. Jaz kept turning around to yell at him for screwing up. I don’t know who the tour bassist or drummer were tonight, but they were great. The drummer, in particular, was spectacular. They played “Follow the Leaders”, and he played it perfectly. Jaz was riveting. He came out in full face paint and was all wild eyed stares and throaty yells and coughs. The crowd was terrific too – fans ranging from 19 all the way to their 40s and 50s came out. And they screamed along on cue, too. I’ll hear the crowd screaming “ASTEROOOOOOOOOID!” in my head for years, I’m sure. I haven’t had this much fun at a concert since, well, I guess that first Killing Joke show, all those years ago. Skinny Puppy’s “Last Rites” tour comes damn close, but Killing Joke was the first experience of its kind, and it’s hard to live up to a memory like that.

On a lighter note, I’ll say one last thing: if Geordie Walker, who’s the epitome of cool to me, can lose his hair I guess I don’t mind losing mine so much.

^_

Well, I guess HotD wasn’t karmic payback for some horrible past misdeed after all. See, last night I went and saw Mystic River and it’s a magnificent film. I figure seeing Mystic River was karmic payback for suffering through HotD. It’s probably the best movie of the year. Yes, I liked it more than Kill Bill, but it’s unfair to compare the two. If you have two hours to spare, and don’t suffer from ADD, do yourself the tremendous favour of going to see Mystic River. Sean Penn never ceases to amaze me. Every time I see him I think he can’t possibly top that performance. And the next time I see him he does. Singling out Mr. Penn in the film, however, does the rest of the cast a grave disservice — the performances are uniformly excellent. Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden … normally with a cast that excellent, I fear the movie is relying on casting (see Mars Attacks) rather than on its own merits. Fear not, Mystic River doesn’t fall victim to that problem. It’s not a nice movie. Don’t expect a sunny ending and a neat resolution. Okay, there’s a bit of a ray of sun in the ending, but for the most part it’s a bittersweet resolution. It is, however, an intelligent, thought-provoking, and visually arresting movie. Clint Eastwood lets the actors, and not flashy effects or camera cuts, speak for him. It’s old-school filmmaking, a throwback to an earlier era of Hollywood. I’d welcome more.

I’m rambling. I’ll stop now. Just go see it. Really.

Words can not begin to describe just how excruciatingly horrible a movie House of the Dead is. Every last person involved in this movie needs to be beaten within an inch of their lives with used copies of the original Saturn game, and then forced to endure watching that steaming pile (the movie) until they die. That movie cost me two hours of my life and at least 40 IQ points. I had been hoping that the movie, though it received lousy reviews, was at least entertaining in a watching-a-train-wreck kind of fashion – like an Ed Wood movie. This movie was like being in the train wreck. Every actor seemed like an extra. I think I witnessed the final nail in the coffin of Jurgen Prochnow’s career.

The movie is, no word of exaggeration, the worst movie I have ever seen. It is a crime against humanity. For the love of whatever deity you worship, please do not ever waste your life (never mind your money) on it. Just stay away. Far, far away.

Go see Kill Bill. Don’t argue with me, just go.

Are Californians really about to become a national laughing stock? Are they really dumber than advertised? I guess we’ll find out in a few hours, won’t we?

Damn it. Yup, Californians really are dumber than advertised. Governor Schwarzenegger. I have nothing else to say.

Well, damn. I did it. I gave notice at work today. Halloween is officially my last day here at Rockstar Toronto. I’ve got mixed feelings about it, but it was something I needed to do. More later.