giuseppe rosetti has twirled his moustache enough - the guy needs to get taken out, now - i can't take another poor lovable 1920s american rube getting violently murdered while pleading for his life - man, this season of boardwalk empire is getting harsh... but i can't look away... and it's pretty cartoonish, why am i letting it get to me? acting's really good, i guess

Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters

I enjoyed King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, but it might've been a frustrating movie for gamers. Although Donkey Kong and other classic arcade games clearly play a part in the film, the documentary is really focused on the personalities of two specific, eccentric people and some of their friends and colleagues. Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters is much more focused on the game of Tetris and what makes it appealing, but the film boasts the same lighthearted, open atmosphere that made Kong so easy to enjoy and a cast of equally interesting participants... read the rest here

Tyler Foster

was gonna paste two paragraphs and hoped it qualified as fair use, but probably not... i dunno the laws and don't care to find out, but i wanted my reader, singular, to think, for a second, that i actually wrote a review of something! but thankfully, i have people to do that for me, i've subcontracted the universe - this is a good example of what i would like to do myself though, more often

rooted in the trees, Ella's bistro

 A converted warehouse on Nebraska Avenue houses an eclectic mix of retro, repurposed art and fine cuisine   best described as cracker urban. . The front deck , housed under a small grove of live oaks, is anageographic,  While traffic moves scant feet away on US Highway 41,  there is  an antediluvian hush under  the  canopy of  trees, centuries old. Inside  and out, Ellas's  is full of local artists,  from the sidewalk   decks and walls  to  the menu , the bar, and of course, the chef.   Art-deco  booths provide focus for the eye while providing    privacy. They  blend with   curated   art,   enchanting larger parties   seated in open dining downstairs. The  balcony , offices or storage in another life, hums with lively conversation.

Our server was knowlegeable, friendly, polite, prompt, non invasive. He sold us on the specials, although the menu   was tempting.  Homemade bread and butter started our meal,  a    crusty, full bodied mouth pleasing beginning. .The hummus artichoke appetizer , served with pita and veggies, was fresh, light and, as promised, emphasis on the garlic. We split the beet infused blue crab broccoli fettucini and wished we'd ordered two. Not because we needed more, but the taste was addictive. Our server's  description of desert, a deep fried pecan pie a la mode, drizzled with caramel, made us order even though we knew better. The sangria both red and white  are made with triple sec and cinammon,much  better than your average sangria, It comes in pitchers which I  recommend , you'll want more than one.

  return visit? 5 chances out 5

my life as a seth rogan movie

sometimes i do think i'm
walkling into an episode of jackass
when i come into the kitchen
and tj's got the gas mask
on his face.

it's a felony to own this
he says, as he dons it
and raises the bong
to the filter hole.

flash to the thirty cops
patrolling the streets between
indian rocks beach and the bayou.

well, just make sure you
keep it inside
so no one knows  you got it.



truuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
expelled with the skunky scent
of whaterver crack grade dro
is being peddaled tonite.

  hey
he queries, holds
his blue eyes rimmed in red
bright inside insectoid lenses.
do you think  i look like an elephant in this?

yeah man,
i answer
better watch your ass.
the RNC's in town


--wanted to write a review of the RNC & related  activities in tampa, but, meh, this is close enough.

nighttime driftoff thoughts and half a review

there's something sacred about the body, my body, even, for all that it plagues me - what an excruciating love-hate duality... supposedly sub-psychoactive doses of antihistamine ephedrine and dissociative cough suppressant knocking down a cold tonight, among other things - a far cry from what i used to inflict on my body - can't imagine where it would be today if i'd kept on that regimen - where we'd be... it gives me such pain and pleasure - a cage? inseparable from my mind? i dunno - it let me know, i guess, it couldn't take the recreational medication anymore - it let me know in a sneaky way, because the physical symptoms weren't enough, it let me know through my mind, it shut off the dopamine circuits

a tragedy about this new younger brother album though, "vaccine", it's so fucking great, except the vocals are horrible - oh my god, if i could just edit out the vocals - i guess this is what people like these days - no it doesn't sound like nick drake, nick drake doesn't make me want to smash things - this guy does, because it's so annoying and omnipresent it destroys every track - so sensitive... oh so sensitive, like a simulacrum of soul - so sensitive i want to numb it to oblivion through repeated blows to the head with blunt objects - shut up you stupid vocalist! oh why oh why is the music so good and the voice so bad? why can't they get that guy out of there? cause it's such perfect mood music for right now

i'm glad i'm not up on the trends, or in lockstep with the random history walk that says everything must sound like this now - a little scrap of pride not to be influenced by every damned thing

this is to go along with the words: funk & skewering heh

I sort of fell onto this video, again, today. Now don't get me wrong, I love Marc Bolin to death, he was/is one of my favorite song writers. . But this video cracks me up.. I don't know what is funnier, the way the back-up singers take over the song, the fat womam slapping the stage, or what I perceive to be, Marc having a James Brown moment!

if anything...

i'm even more into nevermore than i ever was a month ago, therefore, i will embed another one:



cause i'm rockin tha fuck out to this song right now! aaaaaaayaaaah! fuck, i know this sounds cheesy to some people, to me too actually, but it's also incredibly cool at the same time - the lyrics do have depth, and i'm not even feeling guilty for liking this, cause i'm too busy ROCKING! shamelessly - i'm going back to their album from '96, the "most progressive" according to wikipedia, and i'm loving it - yeah, no guilty pleasure, just pleasure - something about this music is invigorating me lately

at the same time, i'm not as into the new mars volta as i was a little while ago, i'm getting bored of that one - and missing their earlier work - i guess i miss the longer songs, and more elaborate arrangements and epic-ness - not saying that "nocturniquet" was bad, it was well done, they're going for more textural stuff, more studio stuff, more palettes i guess, but they're losing some musicality with that - it's good for what it is, but not quite as much my cup of tea - the songs i do like on that album are the more epic ones - that's why i still like the album

well, back to the nevermore, for ever more - maybe another month anyway

(kwûrk) E

i have always loved this quirky, one-hit wonder. i don't remember ever seeing this particular video before, but i am happy to say, i adore it! all of it, from the way it was shot, to the fish-net top and pink, shiny, silk scarf, to the boots, to the piano, to the bass, to the bottle blowing, the mutton chops and notSOperfect teeth! it just makes me happy! and wikipedia says that the band's name, Mungo Jerry was inspired by the poem Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, from T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. now how cool is that?!

this band is SO much better than i thought they were

i kind of liked them 8 years ago because they had a song about timothy leary, but then i didn't give them much thought for quite a spell - but upon revisiting, holy godDAMN they're good - the guitar solos, oh my god! all the wankiness you want from metal, but then they'll go into weird scales and arpreggiated permutations of the melodic motifs in every conceivable configuration - and you can actually hear what the singer is singing! yeah, it fuckin rocks, that's all i wanted to say - many others have written much better reviews - i'm tired of writing, and a lot of things, but i can listen to a good metal album alright, and fucking appreciate how much it fucking rocks! yeah, okay, a not-totally-contrived exclamation mark, but i've already exceeded my quota for today - sometimes i forget about music though, and then i remember again, for a moment 

The Mars Volta - Nocturniquet

Well here it is, or was, the latest iteration of The Mars Volta, still offically and unofficially, the only band I continue to be fannish about from year to year. I couldn't review their prior new album, "Octahedron"... why, I don't know. The new new one is named "Nocturniquet", naturally enough. It's pretty fuckin' good, I think. I'm still thinking, but man oh man am I enjoying seeing them play live again on youtube - been so long since I checked back on these guys, oh wow! Cedric with backup vocals, live! I really like that, even if it's Omar. Studio Cedric with three double tracks and three harmony tracks of himself in every octave of the human vocal register is just too damn much Cedric. They need more voice texture, that's been made obvious by this little taste of blending vocal timbres.

And speaking of texture... I guess this album is what they meant by "future punk". Maybe it's new new-wave. It seems they've got two synth players - one of them's got a big mac something or other in front of his keyboard the whole time. I miss Ikey Owens, the organ donor, but I guess there's a point to it, in this exploring new textures thing. And yet the music is "stripped down"! Well it is, for them, that's what I love about this band.

The new drummer Deatoni melds perfectly with the band. Cedric almost ruins things at times with his verse chorus verse pop sensibilities, but then he saves it by taking some fantastically cool turn: "In the time of the sixth flood!" Awwwyeah!

oh, good god, these guys make me realize there's so fucking much living to be done, still! and recording... i've barely even started my discography yet

HA HA HA! I AM LOVING IT!

officially, i like song better without the video

but it's kinda cute in realsy way with that retro mtv style goin on.

special bonus if you click on "too afraid to love you". i love how the layers of primitive beats and drone mingle with the lead singer's voice. i'm liking this band of brothers. thanks youtube.

Atlanta Rhythm Section - So Into You

somebody that i used to know - gotye

a friend referred me to this song today. not someone i normally get music suggestions from, and it turned out to be a pretty solid suggestion! also, one of those rare instances where i love the music AND the video. check it out!

horrible creation bestowed

i stopped watchin the daily show and colbert for a while around christmas. didn't like the feeling of addiction so i dropped it. easy to do when the boys take so many vacations it makes me jealous. but i'd do the same if i could get away with it. such a boomer.i find myself again depending on comedy to ease the pain of the current electoral seasons.

it's not just the ridiculous rightwing posturing of the contenders or the skeleton parade of ironic sins uncloseted by fellow sinners. all are sanitized by the congregation for lechery and betrayal while fiscal deviation into socialism and across the ailse cooperation remain deadly. no, those are easy comedy targets, jokes by existence. business as usual.we all expect our politicians to betray us.

I need me some comedy about the war on women. wtf man? feeling squeezed, mr parson? afraid the ladies auxillary's gettin too uppity? maybe they just need to have them a creation bestowed on them. you look like a good man for the job. tell me, have you stopped beatin your wife? cuz if you have, we might have to rethink the offer. john oliver does his analysis of "you'll have to carry your rape baby" with much more finesse.

i watch jon about a day or so behind. i just saw thurs feb 25. the whole week he's been watching the contraception debate . it's jaw dropping that we have to revisit this again, and i gotta say, i hope santorum is the nominee. if he is obama's a shoe in. ain't nuthing like a culture war to get the vote out. i'ma stay tuned, but i think jon's rootin for romney. dunno why, santorum would make better comedy fodder.

bright idea - mother mother

for us mother mother fans, their latest single.

please don't squeeze the

ahhhhhhh damn
too late!


the city of st petersburg, fla is host to one of the most extensive collections of dali art in the world. recently the museum moved all of their treasures into a much ballyhooed and fundraised new campus where the art will be protected from even category five hurricanes. this is important when you're on the waterfront in florida-- even if no hurricanes have hit the burg since 1930 something.   i'd google it but the point is, the odds must be narrowing so it's good they built this stormproof house for the works of the father of reality tv.   the plain  concrete square  bursts  into glass bubbles  that flow around the structure . on the  bay side  the bubble goes up  3  stories


the design is supposed to enhance the works of the mad pioneer of personality cults. still trying to decide if dali is  smiling  down from  the halucinogenic toreador or is turning in his grave. i think he'd like the marketing

the bubble is   the outside wall  of the groundfloor entrance admission/ gift/ coffee  shop. you must navigate the gift shop to pay .    both cheap and  expensive replicas of portions of dali's paintings are  marketed  along with local  pizza and coffee. the  rock, a nod to  dali's  catalan spain ,  is a fountain of  youth which was dry the day i visited. busted pipe or tease?

the mirrored glass adds a touch of surrealism when you walk by them.

round the corner and you encounter  the signature dali stache. the perspective  machine wasn't working .

portside facade.  this faces the st pete marina . note the peristence of memory  inspired melty bench in the  foreground. also, if you sit on the  bench carved  into the rock in the  background(a donator's plaque adds  the right sponsorship  note) you can see your   reflection  in the second story windows

 

and the view from the  top of the large bubble of the bay is classic.  this was taken on the third floor landing of the helical stairway  which leads  to the galleries. the  suspension struts are not so  intrusive in person. 

but about those galleries. i felt squeezed, overwhelmed, poked in the face with a surrealistic knob on a stick. the loss of the former house's two story vantage point over the gigantic halucinogenic toreador, Galacidalacidesoxiribunucleicacid and discovery of america is sorely felt. these gargantuans, formerly displayed together in a large viewing area where you could see them at different levels are now crowded into their own separate alcoves. the head of lincoln at twenty meters is almost lost in the crowds that stagger and shuffle for space between paintings packed like sardines on the walls. the main loss i feel in the new house is lack of white space. viewing so much dali at once requires time to contemplate the messages, colors and images . the former galleries had this space. you wandered from painting to painting, with the persistence of the last in your head until you encountered the next. no time or space for that in the new house. it's almost as if they purposely designed it for herding. it was hard for me to get lost in his paintings as i have previously been able to. in the final analysis for this viewer, too much attention was paid to the building and monetizing, not enough to the actual display of the art. an average experience. i don't think dali would have liked that characterization.