vain, selfish & lazy.

Friday, August 11, 2000

aimster looks to turn chatters into mp3 traders: get yours here.
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robert downey jr. goes from jail to 'ally mcbeal': it just goes from bad to worse for him.
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jerry springer crosses atlantic for talk show: well, credit to him for realizing that his show has had its moment, but i have no idea how this is going to work. yes, springer was born in london, but i think i'm more british than him.
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say WHAT?!: according to this story from the daily news (the last one on the page), t-boz of tlc is pregnant by and engaged to be married to...MACK 10?! for those who don't know what mack 10 looks like, here he is.

hmmm.
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british boys "suck": and not in a good way. according to the daughter of the u.s. ambassador to britain, british boys are scrawny, pale and unhealthy looking. "as sexy as i once thought guys with british accents were, their lack of appealing social skills and poor dress sense soon overshadowed their attraction." i'll say "ouch" for the british.
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jennifer lopez talks about how her love life influences her music: and it influences it because boyfriend and hitmaker puffy combs will be producing many of the tracks. perhaps this is what lil' kim meant yesterday when she called lopez a golddigger and explained that you don't have to be after someone's money to be a golddigger, you could just be after something else they have to offer.
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beck records with timbaland: i don't know what to think about this. beck is certainly shrewd for making this move; credit goes to him for realizing what's the hottest thing going right now and attaching himself to that train. this certainly does nothing, however, to contradict my belief that it is beck's producers that make him what he is (which isn't much, in my book). i'll reserve further judgement.
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Thursday, August 10, 2000

some raging bull thoughts: this isn't going to be a complete review, but i've got some thoughts in my head that i need to get out. scorsese is a director who knows how to grab you right from the start, pulling you in before you've even had a chance to get settled in your seat. from the voice-over and use of "be my baby" in mean streets to the in medias res sight of a manic joe pesci (is that being redundant?) stabbing what he thought to be a dead body with a enormous butcher knife in goodfellas, scorsese has excelled at getting your attention and holding onto it. so when i say that the beginning of raging bull is the best opening in all of his films, it's high praise.

after some opening credits, scorsese treats us to a dream-like scene of a robed anonymous figure shadowboxing in the ring. next to him is the title image which lets us know that this man is the protagonist: preventing us from seeing deniro at this point keeps us from focusing on him and remembering that this film is about jake lamotta, a middleweight champ whose battles with sugar ray robinson in the 40s were legendary. the music is mascagni, the intermezzo from cavalleria rusticana: the high drama of the music sets the tone for the film and its "hero," a man whose life reached epic heights and disastrous lows. knowing the story, i'm always filled with a sense of sympathy for lamotta. sure, he's a jerk but his life is such that the moment we're seeing on screen of him awaiting the beginning of a fight, that anticipatory moment might have been the only peaceful time in his life. it's a scene of absolute peace, and the use of slow-mo is almost cruel, reminding us that these moments never lasted that long for lamotta.
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4 the love of music: force yourself to get through the princespeak because in this piece on napster, prince gets to the heart of why so many people are using mp3s: because they are music lovers. he makes the very important distinction between those who are consumers and those who just love music. i think he rightly assesses that the heads of the major labels are scared because many on napster et. al. are downloading the hit single from crappy albums. within the last five years, the big labels have stopped issuing singles because they're a loss and because they profit more when kids plop down their money to buy an album to get one song. this "intellectual property" defense, coming from people who rob artists of their masters, is just a sham.

i swear, ever since the guy changed his name back he's just making more and more sense. so how about some new music, eh?
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stephen king seen inside red lobster: well, i guess since that online book worked out he can now afford to be extravagant.
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the love song: go here and you'll hear clips of the new marilyn manson song, "the love song." he's really mellowed out, that manson. like bowie, he's gone from a glam creature to a soul man, and this one would shame barry white himself.

okay, so i'm lying. unfortunately, manson's gone back to the sound of his earlier albums, abandoning the glam of mechanical animals. on the site, you'll also see the cover of his upcoming novel, "holy wood." enjoy, if you dare.
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napster prompts state department woes: "it turns out music lovers in the diplomatic arm of government have been clogging all the computers by downloading more music than was deemed safe for democracy...or at least more music than could be handled by the current computer system at state." it's good to see that the people in charge of this country have their priorities in order.
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at dan's request: when talking to erstwhile collaborator dan, after he'd seen my pic for the first time, i told him that it looks like it should be the cover for a smiths single. the other day, he said he'd like to see that pic as the cover for a "the headmaster ritual" single. well, with the help of my handy image editor, here it is:

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who's that adorable little tyke?:

why, it's mike daddino of cultural artifacts of the moment. i've always been amazed at what a great writer he is for someone so young. i've butchered this photo -- and i hope mike doesn't mind -- to do an advertisement for mike's blog. he's been finished with his recount of the formation of his musical taste for a few days now, so now's your chance to catch the full epic! it's probably the best thing i've read on any blog ever so i highly advise you to check it out.
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heavy rotation for mtv's sked: when i moved and realized i wouldn't have cable, i worried that i'd be missing videos. well, this story has assuaged my fears.
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elvis' death vigil going digital: wanna pay your respects but can't get down to graceland? this article tells you how!
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'lost' oscar wilde play was never lost: sorry, kathleen, but it seems that play was never lost after all.
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'now' tops pop charts for third straight week: so does everyone get eight weeks at the top this year? everyone except for britney, i mean.
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cbs apologizes to george w. bush: the craig kilborn show was the culprit, once again. i know he's not getting ratings and he causes nothing but trouble for the network: so why does he still have a job?
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lars ulrich eats his words: now i can see why he wanted napster out of the way. so his own company, offering mp3 downloads, could take its place!
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little kim has harsh words for jennifer lopez: question: does anyone besides puffy like jennifer?
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olympic opening ceremony acts: confirmed!: olivia newton-john! tina arena! um...that guy who sings "sadie, the cleaning lady"!
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mel b's not bitter: her new single contains lines like, "all you loved was mel b's money" and "i didn't see that you could never be the type of man to meet my needs." but, again, she's not bitter or after public revenge.
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women beat men on web usage: well, they do.
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a tale of two reviews: from the village voice, dana turken writes about the new belle & sebastian album and frank kogan writes about the new everclear. despite the fact that i like b&s much more than everclear, kogan ends up writing the much more intriguing piece, and let me tell you why. turken's review is fairly good but it showcases just what i hate about many reviews these days: i am a consumer and, while i appreciate good writing, i want to know if an album is worth my hard-earned (*cough-cough*) cash. in this full page review, the songs on the album aren't mentioned until the very last paragraph; instead, we're subjected to references to harry potter and awkward youths. it's a well-written article, but a poor review: too many reviewers nowadays are trying to make "art" by writing short stories when they can make art by just doing their jobs.

case in point, frank kogan's everclear review. most of the article is devoted to a dialogue and the last part contains kogan's opinions on the record. the dialogue is "artsy," but it's also superbly written and, by all accounts, captures the spirit of this new everclear album. in the last part, he succintly lets us know why he doesn't like the album and what things he does like about it. it's art and it's information: who'd a thunk it? kogan just gets better and better with each new piece and many of his colleagues would do well to start taking notes.
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Wednesday, August 09, 2000

misery and music go hand in hand in morose top 10: according to the nme, the top 10 most depressing albums of all time.
1. ``Sister Lovers'' -- Big Star
2. ``Closer'' -- Joy Division
3. ``Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space'' -- Spiritualized
4. ``In Utero'' -- Nirvana
5. ``Songs Of Love And Hate'' -- Leonard Cohen
6. ``Lady In Satin'' -- Billie Holiday
7. ``In The Wee Small Hours'' -- Frank Sinatra
8. ``Pink Moon'' -- Nick Drake
9. ``Bubble And Scrape'' -- Sebadoh
10. ``Unknown Pleasures'' -- Joy Division

can't say i really disagree with number 1.
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teen critical after circumcision goes wrong: dear God.
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so big brother...: it's been a while since i talked about the show -- knock off the applause. tonight marks the third round of nominations, and my prediction is that curtis and karen will be the two to be marked for banishment. initially, i had a feeling that curtis might make it near the end: i was wrong. i thought that keeping to oneself would be a sure way to hang around, but i did not forsee the alliances that would be forged and how, even if you're innocuous like curtis, you'll get kicked out for not having tight bonds with the others. the two "troublemakers" (read: "the two interesting ones"), jordan and william, were kicked out promptly. so now, even if one is banished, it's nothing really personal, the houseguests just have to make some tough decisions.

personally, i hope it's karen. i can't stand her scheming ways and her insincerity. besides, she's got a huge mess at home to work on. i think she's the biggest victim of the editors in the last week or so and it seems like they're angling to get rid of her: i believe the american public will act in kind. curtis will survive another cut, though i think his luck runs out next time. a final four prediction: george, eddie, britney, and jaime with the two guys and the two gals bonding with each other which leads to the possibility that, when voting comes up, everyone will be tied with votes each. back in the beginning, i picked george to win, but now i'm not so sure. i get the feeling that the houseguests think he's the most likely to win too, so they may turn against him. despite a slow start, i think the show has finally found its legs and i look forward to the outcome.
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clinton and presley: all shook up: greil marcus attempts to posit bill clinton as elvis's true inheritor. a handful of people refer to them in the same sentence, but not in direct comparison. he asks why are helplessly drawn to identifying bill clinton with elvis? why? because clinton is the "rock n' roll" president, and when it comes to rock, elvis is the biggest solo artist ever. the comparison is made not because they're so similar -- though they're both southerners with devout love for their mommas -- but because elvis is used as the symbol for rock & roll. a nice try by marcus, though.
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is this the end of the happy mondays?: ryder announces, "this is our last fookin' gig ever!" but how many times have we heard that before?
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the top ten directors: another "apropos-of-nothing" list, here are my ten favorite directors.
10. jean renoir
9. frank capra
8. federico fellini
7. ingmar bergman
6. vittorio desica
5. martin scorsese
4. stanley kubrick
3. akira kurosawa
2. alfred hitchcock

and in the number one spot...

1. orson welles
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fox gives "american high" a second chance: there's one night of "big brother" that everyone watches. fact. and it's wednesday at 9. so why would you schedule your new reality show up against that established one? especially when the fox schedule is full of more holes than...no i won't make that joke, but you get the point.
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prince backs napster: either i'm losing my mind at a much faster rate than expected or prince is just making a lot of sense these days. maybe it's a little of both.
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madonna to club world: based on what i've heard of it, the album is better suited for clubs than for large stadiums anyway.

okay, someone is doing the most painful, ungodly sounding cough i've ever heard.
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it's a boy for douglas, zeta-jones: if you care.
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Tuesday, August 08, 2000

how old are you?: let the grim reaper guess. he was incorrect for me, he guessed 28. you fill out a questionaire and he guesses based on that. oh, this link was brought to you by kate or stole if from someplace else.
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the most annoying little boy alive: he obviously wasn't spanked enough as a child.
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verizon strike continues to third day: blogged mainly because i walked past the people on strike on my lunchtime walk. i was strolling past bryant park when i heard loud noises from across the street: sure enough, it was the verizon folks and, boy, are they angry.
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well, thank you for the disclaimer!: because as you know, nanette, all of those tiresome subjects are what essentially make up this site! ;) or for the last several weeks, at least. i thank you very much for the compliment, though. sadly, this site hasn't been much of what i hoped it to be recently: it's been mostly links with very little of anything else, and i apologize. work has been quite massive and though there are things i certainly want to talk about, i find myself with little time to do so. i guess i'm just asking for your patience for a little bit!
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wu-tang clan take l.a. on new album: sayeth the rza: "we wanna show niggas that, yo, fuck that, wu is some shit." i love that quote.
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arnold terminating website: he's trying to get this website to stop showing a commercial of him hawking directv. this website also features ads by other big american stars who'd rather you not see them selling out completely. definitely worth a visit.
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british situation comedy eyes american viewers: some very popular american shows were based on british shows, but they were all americanized. this one, "why did we have them then," won't be, even if it's being filmed with "americans in mind." will it work? you be the judge.
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oasis forced offstage by rock-hurling fans: for the second time in less than a month. they're not as popular as they once were, huh?
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puffy set to make his film debut: he could've had the jamie foxx role in any given sunday, but now he'll be appearing in an indie feature as...a new york city crime boss. wow, he so wants people to believe that he's a badass.
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november spawned a monster: oh, those dotmusic folks are so dramatic. the new spice girls record is set for a november 6 release. are you ready?
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for all you merritt fans out there: here's the tracklisting for the upcoming 6ths record, hyancinths & thistles, which will be released on september 5.

1. as you turn to go -- momus
2. give me back my dreams -- sally timms
3. he didn't -- bob mould
4. i've got new york -- melanie
5. just like a movie star -- dominque a
6. kissing things -- sarah cracknell
7. lindy lou -- miho hatori
8. night falls like a grand piano -- clare grogan
9. the dead only quickly -- neil hannon
10. the sailor in love with the sea -- gary numan
11. volcana! -- marc almond
12. waltzing me all the way home -- odetta
13. you you you you you -- katharine whalen
14. oahu -- miss lily banquette
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Monday, August 07, 2000

it could be worse: you could be drinking mountain dew, like me. i'm fairly certain the lining to my stomach has been corroded by the dew, but i just can't STOP! at least i'm drinking water now. whenever we go out to restaurants, i drink a few glasses, trying to save my soda for dinner instead of having to pay another $2.50 for a refill. bah.
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so this new madonna video: with no other option available, we requested this video on the box. i was amazed to learn at how quickly the videos get on the air; indeed, as i typed in the numbers on the phone, they appeared right on the television screen.

anyway, it's a more entertaining video than anything she's done lately, which is faint praise if i ever heard it. there's something disheartening about "new" madonna trying to be like "old" madonna (or, more succintly, old madonna trying to be young madonna again). after all of this spiel about spirituality and all the talk about motherhood and such, she's trying to prove that she's still a badass when it comes to sex.

unfortunately, it all comes off terribly calculated. she goes to a strip club and cavorts with the girls, but it just doesn't ring true. she's all dolled up and hitting the town with the girlz: instead of seeming like the kind of thing they do every weekend, it comes across as one for old time's sake. also, let it echo forth from this here blog that cartoons in videos must stop. now. i mean, who does madonna think she is? mariah carey? and furthermore, ali g.? what's the deal with this guy? is he supposed to be funny? didn't the whole "let's-pretend-to-be-a-rapper-thing-cos-it's-funny" go out with the vanilla ice jokes? ohhh, he's from england. makes sense.

so what i'm saying is that, while it's better than recent videos, "music" still makes you wish for the times when madonna was a video pioneer. you get the feeling that this album is going to fairly make-or-break for madonna and her pop survival.
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men defend sex skills after women complain: yes, sex in germany is just as bad as you thought.
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storm rains fish on british town: first it happened in ethiopia, and now this! now how farfetched do the frogs in magnolia seem?
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site updates: after a week of being derelict in doing so, i've updated the archives page to include both last week and the week before. added to the reviews archive, my takes on the new boyz ii men single, x-men, and the magnetic fields live. take a look, eh?
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the golden age of the foreign art film: if you live in new york city and are fond of foreign films, well it's time for you join the film forum. check out the schedule and count how many you want to see and you'll realize that the benefits of membership -- namely the $5 tickets -- are quite cost-effective. there are probably at least 16 that i'd like to see, particularly the new print of the seventh seal.
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howdy: so how is everyone? my weekend was alright. we actually got to see the sun on saturday, but looking at the forecast it seems like we will be cruelly robbed of it once again. we may hit the ninety-degree mark for the first time since june 11 today. pretty amazing when you consider last year's terrible drought.

went and saw the 20th anniversary print of raging bull on saturday: it was great and thoughts will follow. we rented american movie and the decalogue: i & ii and hopefully i'll say some things about those too.
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puerto rican day parade organizers may limit rap: yeah, that'll solve things -- a nice way of trying to say that the puerto ricans themselves who were involved in the attacks aren't the problem, particularly when most rappers who have appeared at the event are black. rappers don't create the climate, they merely spring from it.
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stars to fête al gore: look at the lineup and you too will realize that al gore sucks.
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regis vs. "national enquirer": say it ain't so, reeg.
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cybersquatter ordered to give up hendrix web site: well, this is good to see.
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courtney loves the one she's with: well, according to mitchell fink, and he would know, courtney is dating a geffen records exec and they're looking for new digs. so much for liam!
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the pop-out princess: britney narrowly escapes exposed-nipple disaster at awards show, and a million internet nerds' hearts break.
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eminem reveals split with kim: and more eminem news. if he broke up with me after slandering me, talking about killing me, ridiculing me, etc., i'd want to kill myself too! hmmm.
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eminem's grandmother says he's vile.: grandma, not you too?
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new palm models aim for the 'cool' crowd: but why do "cool" people need palm pilots? it's like claudia schiffer teaming up with palm to make "pretty" pilots. why?
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tobacco cooperated with candy cig makers: well, this really isn't surprising. is there any level to which tobacco won't stoop?
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hollow man commands box office: i wouldn't necessarily say commands. it took in less than $30m, which has to be disappointing to the studio. in other news, i'm pleased that coyote ugly came in fourth.
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action star harrison ford rescues hiker: movie stars: is there anything they can't do?
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actor sir alec guinness dead at 86: r.i.p.
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