We've All Become God's Madmen...

Username:	Password:
Forgot your password?	Remember Me

Tom Waits Tickets in less than an hour!
I've got my browser tabs open and waiting...

come on good seats!

$95 per ticket is something that demands being prepared for the best seats available.

I just hope

techix's ticketed seats can be situated near ours.

UPDATE: I scored seats very close to the center stage (only a few rows back!), and Justin's are a bit further back on the next section over. Even though both batches were ordered only a minute apart (the whole transaction for both was 2 1/2 min.), that made a lot of difference in seating sections. I had to call him in Portland to get his CVV #, which was unexpected and made a tad bit of difference. But fortunately both sets are great seats, and will be MUCH closer than the last time I saw him nine years ago!

Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth

Yea! Happy Narnia Day!
Well, even though Prince Caspian technically comes out tonight at midnight, we'll be going to the theatre hours beforehand. Reviews are great, sitting at about 85% currently on Rottentomatoes.com.

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Prince Caspian soundtrack - Harry Gregson-Williams

FINALLY!!! I Got You Where I Want Ya!
For the past TWENTY-SIX years I've tried my very best to track down a song that was my very favourite at age 4-5. My grandfather Blalack had (amongst others) an 8-track Bluegrass tape in his pick-up truck that was a compilation of artists, with a waterwheel mill on the cover. The song, which I demanded he play every time I climbed into that truck (a brown late-seventies' Sierra Grande), was a song about a haunted house, and it thrilled me to no end. Its visual imagery grabbed me and wouldn't let go, and for a Monster Kid like me, it was something perfectly complementary to my Universal Monsters Remco action figures and records. However, a short while after I stopped seeing the album in his truck (likely the time he switched to cassette tape), I started inquiring about its whereabouts. The trouble is, I didn't know either the name of the compilation, nor the name of the song (or artist for that matter!). Neither he nor my grandmother knew what I was talking about after some point.

Fortunately after many Google searches over the years I got the idea that the song was simply called 'Ghost Song', thanks to a new piece of the information puzzle my grandfather was able to provide: The only reason these Google searches were suddenly getting me somewhere is because a year ago I asked my him about it once again on a lark, just to see if his memory of it had changed. To my great surprise he confidently rattled off the artists Salty and Matty. He sounded a bit too confident about it, especially since he'd denied remembering the song for decades prior. And proving that became very difficult as no copies are seemingly commercially available anywhere! On my ebay saved searches, I was occasionally notified of a Grand Old Opry DVD set retailing $149.00 that supposedly features the song, but that's a chunk of change just to prove or disprove whether a song matches a childhood remembrance.

This led me to Youtube, and unfortunately (which fortuitously became fortunate), there was only one Salty & Matty performance on there. I promptly messaged the uploader, asking if they had a copy of the Ghost Song video, thinking if they were a Salty & Matty fan, then they'd definitely have it. It turns out that the account holder was none other than Salty & Matty's granddaughter! However, she strangely didn't have a copy of that song, and was very interested in how I came to know about it. After relating my lengthy and quite frustrating quest, we pledged to keep looking, and keep each other informed about our efforts.

Well, I am ecstatic to say that on April the 28th she messaged me; she'd found that someone had uploaded a copy of it on imeem! It was very surreal hearing it again, because although memory sometimes clouds the reality of things, I was amazed that I remembered everything perfectly, note-for-note! And now not only am I very familiar with its history, I own a copy I can listen to thousands of more times in my lifetime. It may've been 26 years since I'd last heard it, but it sounds just like yesterday. I can't wait to license it for my planned hillbilly film (Hillbilly Cabin) someday soon!

But in the meantime, click the 'Play' button to hear what all the fuss was about:

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Ghost Song - Salty & Matty

A Few Days Old, But Too Good Not to Observe

The first real Clone Wars theatrical trailer premiered last Friday if you missed it.
Iron Man, Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight, and Clone Wars: Best movie summer ever! I could add in all the goodness coming from art and independent cinema as well (such as Son of Rambow or Paranoid Park), but those aren't the communal experiences that demand summertime midnight gatherings, even though that'd be more than welcome with me.

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Duel of the Fates

OKC/Stillwater people:

Indiana Jones midnight premiere tickets are here.

Keep in mind it's next Wednesday night (Prince Caspian this Thursday), at the brand new Warren Theatre in Moore. They've got servers to deliver food and drink throughout the feature, NO COMMERCIALS beforehand, a cash bar, and a balcony lounge from which you can also select to view the film. The balcony area costs 62% more per ticket, which is the option I'm choosing, because this is Indiana Jones; I'm seeing this one in style!

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade soundtrack

Luck o' the Draw

So with all the news of the Heath Ledger Joker action figures going for insane amounts (up to 600% markup)on ebay, I was astonished to find not one, but two of them last night at Wal-Mart. I promptly set them to work making me money.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe soundtrack - Harry Gregson Williams

Caspian Creatures

I've been messing around with a goofy free Prince Caspian video game that's part of the movie's marketing. After uploading a photo here, they'll send you a zip file containing a photo editor that turns you into a Narnian character, and then you play the game, which is basically a bit like Gauntlet.

There's another video game, Gryphon Attack, here, which is fairly entertaining as well.

I think it's funny that I finally get to see what I'd look like with very shirt hair; at least now I never have to try it.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe soundtrack - Harry Gregson Williams

And the Die Has Been Cast...

Wednesday June 25th, 8:00 PM.

http://www.gettix.net/concert/?event_id=2531

The exact details of Tom Waits' concert in Tulsa have been finalized!

Tickets go onsale Friday the 16th at 12:00 PM Central (will sell out within minutes).

Tickets are high ($85), but it costs the same as if gas was factored in to driving a few hours' away to a neighboring city.

In order to prevent ticket scalping, there is a limit of 2 tickets per person, and they are will-call only (meaning the card-bearer must be present at the door for pickup).

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Tom Waits - Gun Street Girl

Golden Axe on my Mind's Silver Screen
Spring of 1992 we practised Blue Ridge Overture in band most every day, in preparation for our late May concert. Back then we didn't question the sheet music given to us, it just existed, and that's all we knew. But to me, it suggested a very strong aural landscape of a feature film version of Golden Axe, perhaps the best sword-and-sorcery game ever! It was my daily ritual to picture how the movie would look and feel as I heard it endlessly repeated during practise. And I cannot express how many times I wanted to stab the band instructor for ALWAYS cutting us off before we got to the good parts, consistently interrupting my fantasies of 80s-style fantasy epics to come. If it ~~could~~ can mirror the glory of Conan the Barbarian (1982) and The Beastmaster (1982), then ~~I'd~~ I'll be wholly blessed.

All this time I've continued the dream of adapting that 80s arcade game into a feature someday, with the idea that Blue Ridge Overture would stand as the main theme. For the past 16 years I've wanted to hear it again, but never fathomed the real possibility that an official recording of it exists. And it turns out when I went searching online that I'm correct; it's all sheet music versions only. However, the thing I wasn't counting on is the fact that modern band kids have uploaded their own concert performances of the piece! So that's almost as good as a studio recording, considering they generally master the featured concert songs to be played in one complete take.

Now the memories can begin side by side with the plans for the future!

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Blue Ridge Overture

8 Days til Narnia Day!

Danny and I have tickets for the midnight premiere of Prince Caspian next Thursday night. If any one else on my friends list in the OKC area wants to meet up with us (we'll be there at least an hour and a half early) go here to get tickets for yourself.

I'm at the Battle of Beruna on the LTWTW game, and almost done re-reading Prince Caspian, and halfway done with the second commentary track on the LTWTW Extended Edition DVD. It's highly likely that after tomorrow evening I'll have completed all those things and be absolutely prepared for next week's soundtrack and film release!

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Sufjan Stevens - The Predatory Wasp of The Palisades is Out To Get Me

Wherein falfax and I met Wendy and Toby Froud
These are a few weeks old, but as I had a lot to catch up on when we returned from the Michigan workshop, I'm just now putting them up. It was a blast, and both Wendy and Toby were very approachable and friendly.

falfax, Wendy Froud, Toby Froud, and myself.

Here's a photo of Toby as a baby in the film Labyrinth (1986) and him as he is now. It's so weird to think he was up close and personal with David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Geaorge Lucas, and Jim Henson for an extended period of time, yet no one would recognize him without knowing he had been that baby.

I talked to Wendy about her building the Yoda puppet for The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and the practical joke she helped pull off on George Lucas with said puppet. I was surprised to learn she'd also been one of the chief operators for Yoda during every scene.

( Click here for more )

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Nine Inch Nails - The Slip

YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!!!
TOM WAITS IN TULSA!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 @ 9:00 PM

This morning at 9AM Eastern time his website, www.tomwaits.com was updated with a press conference video where his summer tour plans are listed. He's playing Dallas too; I'd love to see both. I'll be working hard to get an interview lined up!

This is the first time in nearly 25 years that he's even been remotely within 13 hrs. driving distance from this area. The best show I ever saw was when he performed in Denver back in '99.

YAYAYAYYAYAYAY!

Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: Anywhere I Lay My Head - Tom Waits

Can't Stop the Cuteness
...nor are any apologies proffered.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Conan the Barbarian - Basil Poledouris

Hulk Out!

This afternoon brings the second Hulk trailer! I love the subtle hints of the rad late 70s television show. The poster definitely hints at that source, Norton looking very much like the late great Bill Bixby in that Canadian Tuxedo and all.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: The Lonely Man - theme from The Incredible Hulk television series

It's Almost the Evening of May 4th
"Denn die todten reiten shnell!"

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Dracula - Phillip Glass & the Kronos Quartet

The Dark Knight Trailer identical to Burton's 1989 Batman trailer?

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Wow...someone was lazy.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: El Topo soundtrack - John Barham

Miscellania-T
LiveJournal ate my last draft (

lbangs's music meme ), and it burned me enough that I've stayed away a few days. NOTE: Don't trust the "Restore Draft" function!

However, I decided I'm gonna start posting more frequently, and about more than I have in the past. No that doesn't mean a return of the uber-photo event posts that graced these pages the past year and a half. But I think what happened is that I added so many diverse groups of people, and given that Facebook automatically imports anything I write here, it means I've become a bit too guarded lately. Over time I've added so many diverse groups that it made my perspective change in writing in such a way as to be binding to some large degree. And I'm just not into creating specialized filters for certain audiences; If it's sensitive enough I can simply Lock.

With that aside, it's time to discuss the greatness that was my weekend:

I watched Harold and Kumar 2 on Friday, and it predictably rocked. Then on Saturday I watched the last part of Santa Sangre (1989) and was stunned. I though I'd seen it before in late 1998, but now that I reflect, I imagine I turned it off early on (the elephant, erroneously thinking it was real). But watching it now without blockage, and with the added illumination of Jodorowsky's other works, it is a stunningly powerful and beautiful film, every bit as amazing and advancing the medium as his El Topo (1973) and The Holy Mountain (1975) were. I can only pray that his newest film coming soon will live up to these outstanding works. Saturday night we ate at Chili's with Mina,

looking_askance and

techix. Though I should've tried their veggie burger to see how it rates against my long-standing usual Ground Peppercorn burger, I felt more like having nachos.

Then on Sunday

falfax and I watched Brett Hart's Bone Dry (2008) finally. I'd bought it Friday after feeling bad about the time it took for me to get around to it. It was very good, and though Carl Buffington's role was much smaller than I'd believed, he was great in it. Lance Henriksen did a fantastic job as always. We both thought the film would be best with Brett Hart in the Luke Goss role, and Buffington reprising Henriksen's role which he'd portrayed in the pitch trailer, but I know you've gotta have the name actors in there.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the 8 PM premiere of Iron Man (2008) this Thursday. So far it'll be falfax and

robopresident with me. I'm looking into whether the local Carmike will have it at that same time. SO excited that we're getting another cinema multiplex, and within a mile of our duplex to boot!

So far my past-year-and-a-half evolution into vegetarianism has come along well, officially starting April 12th. My starter-pack arrived recently, and I was amused at all the celebrities on the cover and in the pages, with attributed quotes about why they chose that path. It made me
laugh that the publisher is trying to sell a lifestyle choice to people by appealing to their adoration of fame. falfax brought home some very yummy Morningstar farms veggie products.

I taught my first Spring Filmmaking class Saturday, and I went into it expecting it to be a class of 50+ year-olds like my fall class was (Film Theory). I walk in with a whole stack of movies under my arm, and guess what? The entire class ranged from age 9-11! So needless to say I had to quickly rethink my whole plan. The best part of the whole thing:

As I was trying to show an example from Citizen Kane (1944), the most vocal and enthusiastic kid said, "Oh, this is one of those black and white movies. My mom used to have a bunch of those, but then she threw them away after awhile, because she bought them after seeing them once and thinking they were funny, but when she watched them a second time she didn't think they were funny anymore. What is this film called?"

"Citizen Kane. It's regarded as the best American film ever."

After we moved on to the mechanics of filmmaking, away from the examples they fought against seeing or listening to, the vocal kid spoke up again:

"Uh, I have a question. You said that Citizen Kane is the best movie ever, but I've always heard that the Lord of the Rings is considered the best film ever. But I argue with my friends that the Star Wars movies are the best. So I don't know who to trust on that."

HAHAHAHAH!

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Conan the Barbarian - Basil Poledouris

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

_the_antihero!!

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Conan the Barbarian - Basil Poledouris

From Bajor to Crystal Lake

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor was announced yesterday as the new Pamela Voorhees (aka mother of the bastard hillbilly Jason) in the upcoming big-budget reimagining sidequel of the events of the first four Friday the 13th movies.

Bizarre casting indeed, but it's growing on me extremely well. I pray this film will do justice to the series; it's always been above all such a fun series with a consistent mythology.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Dead Can Dance - How Fortunate the Man With None

Harold and Kumar return this Friday!!

This Friday...the return of everybody's favourite geniuses, after a four-year hiatus!

Weeee! 7 PM's the time

falfax and I are seeing it; Anyone else with us?

Seriously, there's this, then a week later is IRON MAN, then two weeks later is PRINCE CASPIAN, then a week after that is INDY IV! The return of the midnight premieres! I'm in heaven this whole next month...

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: All 95 Weird Al originals