Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in monsterofmud's LiveJournal:

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Friday, July 17th, 2009
1:39 pm	CHINA: Tortoise-Pigeon-Dog - TIME CHINA: Tortoise-Pigeon-Dog - TIME Current Mood: chipper Current Music: band of horses (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
3:37 pm	I'm seriously geeking out today: Must have all these items! http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=UTDR66 http://starwarsguide.net/article.php?story=20090703090454618 Current Mood: chipper Current Music: They Might Be Giants - Factory Showroom (1996) (6 Comments |Comment on this)
1:36 pm	Almost a Year Ago... I'm posting these now so I don't forget in a few weeks, but I can hardly believe it's already been nearly a full year since The Clone Wars had its midnight debut in theatres worldwide. Thanks to robopresident, I was able to be present at the Quail Springs Mall (Edmond, OK) screening with all the other fans, just as I had with all the prequels (well technically I was at the Star World Promenade in Tulsa for the first prequel, but Quail Springs soon afterwards became the tradition). All my life I'd imagined how cool it'd be when McDonald's would finally decide to do a SW tie-in, and I remember being convinced they'd do it for the prequels, after inexplicably skipping out on them for the Special Editions. I was forgetting the earlier precedent Burger King set with their original trilogy tie-ins; unfortunately Burger King hadn't been known for their toy line up until around 1998 so they were never a consideration I'd pondered for the new films. They ended up landing the franchise rights for the last prequel, and did a great job of making Happy Meal-esque toys and collectible watches. But what would a real McDonald's campaign look like? So not only was it beyond believable that a seventh Star Wars film bridging Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith was coming to theatres with midnight screenings and a small modicum of hoopla (small because as the first four television episodes stitched together, in the long-run it only represents 1/96th of the whole 100-episode bridging storyline told weekly on The Clone Wars series), but also because this was the first time McDonald's had licensed the saga and were making toys available through their Happy Meal. It also meant all kinds of window clings, marquees, and poster art to advertise the event, turning every McDonald's in the world into a veritable spaceport for a 3 week run last August! And best of all, since the main throughline had already been told on the big screen, it meant we got toys from all six films, not just from one trilogy! Good things come to those who wait... I was there, camera in-hand, documenting it all; some one had to do it for posterity! I even asked for a few unused, non-fry grease-spotted Happy Meal boxes to save as Holy Grails of the occasion. I hadn't been this excited about an in-store campaign since McDonald's did the same thing with one of my other favourite films ever, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 2 1/2 years before! Too bad they didn't follow suit with Prince Caspian... ( Click here to see all the sweet decor! ) Current Mood: chipper Current Music: They Might Be Giants - Factory Showroom (1996) (Comment on this)
12:55 pm	1987 Was a Very Good Year 1987: One of the greatest years ever! Me and Steven Pricer at age 11, my best friend in elementary school and for awhile after he moved from Stillwater to Chickasha OK. We were the masters of the neighbourhood, walking around with his boom box and Run DMC/Beastie Boys tapes. I understand he now lives in El Reno and drives a truck for Farm Fresh (?). He's sadly one of the few people that has no online presence. ( Read more... ) Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Rod Serling interview 1959 (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
4:18 pm	Finally! Star Wars: The Clone Wars entire Season One finally hits DVD and Blu-Ray this fall! The Blu-Ray Blog spilled some early menu shots and mock-up artwork, but the real news is the extras that will be included, which includes director's cuts and commentaries! Sadly it doesn't include the feature film, which is really the first four episodes, and I see no mention of it including the pop-up video "Decoded" episodes they've been showing every Friday night in its summertime second-run status before season 2 begins. But otherwise, this is fantastic! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: TMBG Podcast album (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
8:12 am	My Top Favourite Films - Newly Revised I've struggled over the past 12 years trying to make out what to do with those films on my Top List that are so pervasive in our popular culture that they are rendered moot any time they show up on someone's favourites list. Sure Citizen Kane, Casablanca, and the Godfather II are just about the greatest traditional films you could ever hope to see, but does it mean anything at all in telling other people what that says about you as a person? It's like putting "The Bible" on a favourite books list: As a masterwork of civilization it's kind of an expected acknowledgment that it's there, even if it's not. So even though Jaws, Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, et cetera really shake up my world, don't they have that same effect on just about everyone? Even if someone's visceral reaction to it is inert, if they took the time to learn a little bit of the context on why those are great films they couln't deny their importance. It'd be like arguing that Beethoven's 9th Symphony is a terrible little muck-raking ditty. With this new insight, I've ventured to make a new Top Films list for myself, leaving off all the standards, and instead focusing on stuff that really thrills me through and through, both viscerally as well as intellectually, with the criteria being that the list addresses stuff that moves me in those areas just as much as the really recognized classics everyone's already seen (or should have already seen), as well as the fun movies (like the Rockys, the Universal Monster films, the Terminators, the Rambos, the Star Wars, the Halloweens), but are titles which you probably haven't ever heard about. Despite some of the more exploitative titles, only about a quarter of these are actually horror-related. So here they are, in no particular order (As you can see, 1971 was a very VERY good year!): ( Read more... ) Current Mood: chipper Current Music: El Topo - Shades of Joy remix (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 29th, 2009
1:40 pm	Lucas' First Film Ever Only one minute long, but pretty powerful stuff. Current Mood: chipper Current Music: El Topo - Shades of Joy remix (Comment on this)
Friday, June 26th, 2009
4:33 pm	Guess How Old She Is? SIXTEEN! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Andy Warhol's Blood for Dracula (1 Comment |Comment on this)
1:39 pm	Two Great Things Rolled Into One! Most everyone's seen members of the 501st stormtrooper legion at sporting events/parades/charities, et cetera. Well, thanks in part to SW artist Tom Hodges, and his since-canonized use of a USO-like concept to support the troops in The Clone Wars series, Jennifer LaFortune took his new idea and ran with it, making a 1940's-style USO (dubbed ISO - Imperial Service Organization) not only to help organize and assist the male-centric 501st ranks, but also to create care packages for the real-life U.S. troops overseas. It all started with this image from the interstitial Clone Wars comic pages that bridge episodes of the show: This is an amazing parallel, because the Clone Wars has been heavily influenced by WWII in so many ways, from the threads beginning at the start of The Phantom Menace, and really ramping up with the CW series. When it was announced the series would be Band of Brothers meets SW, that really has proved to be the case stylistically aside from the main story thrust, from the trooper interactions with each other, to the pin-up art of women they sport on wall posters and as nose art painted on their fighters. Anyone that remembers my post from 8 mos. ago on my new-found interest in WWII era women will understand that this combination with my beloved ongoing saga goes together better than peanut butter and chocolate; and yes even the dark kind! Read Bonnie Burton's excellent interview with Jennifer LaFortune here, or head on over to http://www.trooperchicks.com for all the details! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Linda Serbu radio station (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
9:34 am	If You're a Slave to Kubrick Like I Am, Get Ready! For myself, I only have time for studying the minds of three directors: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Guy Maddin, and Kubrick, who is so much better the sum of almost every director heretofore that one could spend an entire lifetime just studying his life's work in infinite detail. I have every film and book release about all the aforementioned artists, but this new one takes the cake: At a whopping $600 and 2,900 pages of material, with over 17,000 images, Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Made streets this September! http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Kubricks-Napoleon-Greatest-Movie/dp/3822830658 This limited edition (only 1,000 copies) book was announced SIX YEARS AGO, and I've been waiting on it ever since. On a hunch I looked it up this morning, pleased to see it ready to go! It's Kubrick...I can afford it. Thank God Guy Maddin's newest book that was released last month was virtually-free! While I'm on the topic, if you want to see 45 min. of something breathtakingly captivating in regards to creative planning or else Kubrick just being the world's most-organized pack-rat, seek out the documentary Kubrick's Boxes, a film produced from this great article. It's free on Youtube if you're in the UK, but you can readily find it on torrent otherwise. Fascinating stuff! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Rakehell's Revels (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
11:25 am	Live Gypsy Music This is amazing! These kids need to go on a world tour, with junkyard items on stage for their instrumentation. I love it! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Romanian kids' gypsy music (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
12:07 am	ALERT! MAJOR LIFE CHANGE: I regret that I've not yet been able to tell most of you about this in person, but do want to get the news out as soon as possible to prevent it being passed on second and third-hand: Dear Family and Friends, After 13 years together, Kate and I have decided to end our marriage and begin our lives anew. Rest assured, this is a great thing we are both committed to, for the sake of our respective dreams and goals. We have had many wonderful adventures on the path, but recognize that at this juncture, we both desire to close this chapter of our lives, yet remain good friends and co-parents to our beautiful daughter Mina. As we see this as a good thing, please do not approach us with condolences; do not say you are sorry about this, for we are not. Given the choice, we both have expressed that we'd have done everything the same these past dozen or so years, but recognize that we have both come to a point where we're at an impasse in regards to our respective goals. We are both new people, much-learned, experienced, and excited to pursue our dreams independently of each other, yet united still as great friends and loving parents to our daughter. Sincerely, Damon and Kate Blalack 06-15-09 Current Mood: calm Current Music: Blood for Dracula - Claudio Gizzi (14 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
2:13 pm	It's Mine! This company also has a Bat Boy shirt! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Blood for Dracula - Claudio Gizzi (2 Comments |Comment on this)
12:45 pm	Go here! http://producten.hema.nl/ Then sit and wait a few seconds for web-designer mastery on display! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Blood for Dracula/Flesh For Frankenstein - Claudio Gizzi (Comment on this)
Monday, June 8th, 2009
2:52 pm	I promise I'll stop with the SW references for awhile after this one! The Dukes of Hazzard opening: ( Click here for a MacGyver version! ) Current Music: The Dukes of Hazzard/MacGyver themes (1 Comment |Comment on this)
10:14 am	Me on the FC! Not only did I get a mention on this week's Force Cast, but it was in a context so that my researched question was posed directly to Clone Wars director Dave Filoni himself! It's brought up at the 65:51 point, and resolved by 70:14. After the call to Filoni there's an epilogue bookend to the question from 93:15 - 94:04. I heard it last night around midnight and I've been beaming ever since! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Blood for Dracula - Claudio Gizzi (Comment on this)
7:13 am	Elijah's Mantle! Wise words of Eve - Elijahs Mantle The Wise Words of Eve is the song that first introduced me to Elijah's Mantle, and it's one of the songs that really thrills me through and through every time I hear it; after four years its appeal on me hasn't waned. (Comment on this)
Friday, June 5th, 2009
3:09 pm	Wow!! (as I pick my jaw up off the floor) After breaking sales records and scooping up a Best Writing Award for The Force Unleashed last year, not to mention redefining the physics of particles and in-game mechanics with the groundbreaking Euphoria engine, how does LucasArts top themselves? It may not be a canonical storyline written as part of the official Skywalker saga conceived by George Lucas like The Force Unleashed was, but this game trailer had my jaw wide open the whole time! Simply breathtaking in execution, and packed with quite a punchy, interesting premise, The Old Republic will be the game everyone's talking about this fall into next spring; mark my words! I've been rather excited about the new Force Unleashed Special Edition that's rumoured for Sept., but this takes the priority, canon or not! See the trailer here! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: White Moon: Songs to Morpheus - Dawn Upshaw (Comment on this)
10:51 am	The Best Real News I've Heard in Years! The 4 year-old California boy who had his eyes eaten out by his father five weeks ago CAN NOW SEE!! You know, this was definitely one of the sickest situations involving a child I'd ever heard of, and it just really got under my skin for weeks. I'd donated money to a fund set up for him, but almost felt the amount I donated an insult compared to the trauma he underwent, and even more, how he'd likely spend the rest of his life, possibly another 8-10 decades with having no sight, all because of his father's PCP-fueled whim one afternoon. Every time I thought of this case, I refused to let it bring me down; instead I'd focus on how with technological advances he may well be given a way to see sometime later in his life. Or possibly how his experience could lead him into a future career of helping at-risk children as he had been. But little did I expect an outright miracle, especially so soon! Even though his father had eaten out his left eye entirely, his right one was merely mangled. Apparently even though it was blinded for the following weeks, the Bakerfield newspaper now reports that through surgery his sight has returned in his one good eye! Thank God! This truly makes me feel ecstatic and thankful. I pray that little Angelo's life continues to be one of miracles at every step, and that along with boundless happiness he accomplishes great and amazing things the rest of his long life. Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Take Care of All of My Children - Tom Waits (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
9:04 am	Noooooo!! David Carradine found dead. This is terrible, terrible news. The world just lost one of the greats of the past 40 years. If you've never witnessed the magic of Kung Fu, and I'm not talking about that crappy Kung Fu: The Legend Continues series from the early 90's (that was NOT Kung Fu)) you're missing a tremendous television legend, and something that has just begged to be given the proper big-screen treatment. I was just pondering the other day how I'd like to take the original 90 min. pilot and recut it with a few of the other highlight episodes to make a 3 hour Kung Fu epic, just for my own enjoyment. I'm anxiously awaiting details on how the 72 year-old met his demise in a Bangkok hotel room... Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Kung Fu - television theme (8 Comments |Comment on this)