121 posts. Wow.
Just when I think that the recording industry has done all it could to try and further the destruction of culture, they have to go and one up me. (via Techdirt)

I would really like to have some form of rant about this. A big, angry, verbal tirade about how the big corporations are yet again trying to force every new method of communication or distribution to fit their own tired business model, and the sheer shortsightedness they are showing by neglecting the possible benefits to all parties if they would simply take a hit for the team and agknowledge that the paper tiger they have trumped up to be the biggest threat to music since the last one (which was probably either radio or the cassette recorder, but I'm not sure which) really isn't all they say it is. It ain't happening though. I just can't bring it together, so this somewhat mopey paragraph is all that will be gotten. I think the weather might have something to do with my current melancholy, but that could also just be another excuse.

The FCC Song by Eric Idle. I wholeheartedly approve. Go Eric Idle!! (Not for those with sensitive ears...)

Perhaps this bout of mood uncertainty is brought on by the weekend. The May long weekend is a holiday of some significance, since to a lot of people it's basically the beginning of summer. However, with the exception of some sunshine on a few days, the weekend really was more "depressed spring" than "joyous summer", and more suited to playing online games about superheroes and watching movies than patio-ing it up and going to barbeques. The former, of course, is exactly what the majority of my weekend consisted of, and I am pleased to announce that Shrek 2 is actually a rather good flick. While I wouldn't go so far as to say it was better than the first, it definitely didn't suck, and managed to serve up more of the same stuff that made the first movie good: bashes on pop culture combined with bashes against fairy tales. This time around, rather than the "save the princess from the tower" paradigm, the movie focusses on the "marries Prince Charming and lives happily ever after" bit of it all. Combine that with what is quite possibly some of the best CG animation I've seen in recent memory (Smoke effects! The water!) and you have a quite enjoyable couple of hours. Do be sure to stick around after the credits though, since there is a small bit at the end that will probably have you saying "Awwww...." to yourself, if not to everyone else.

Also re-watched a few nice mind-screw movies, being The Usual Suspects and 12 Monkeys. When it comes to The Usual Suspects, there are two kinds of people: those who have not yet seen the movie, and those who have and want to get others to see it. This is the movie I think of first when I hear the phrase "funky twist ending" (although Arlington Road comes in shortly thereafter). (M. Night Shyamalan is a hack. Well, not really, since I happen to think Unbreakable is one of the best movies about superheroes ever, but that's another matter.) If you haven't the Usual Suspects, go watch it post-haste, and do pay attention. 12 Monkeys on the other hand, is very much an aquired taste. Gilliam can be hard to take at the best of times, and at others, he's just downright bizarre. (Baron Munschausen anyone?) I happen to like bizarre, so this one's good in my books, but boy was it ever weird watching the flick with two women who actually had taken all the drugs Brad Pitt rattles off to Bruce Willis in the psych ward, and knew what they did to you. I also heard possibly the best Eraserhead story ever: Friend of a friend of a friend (no names) takes his new girlfriend to see the movie. She was pregnant at the time.

Yeah, that's it. If you know the movie, that is enough. If not, well, you'll probably have to see Eraserhead to understand. Needless to say, my hand is graciously extended to those who know what's going on to help them pick their jaws up off the floor. (The relationship didn't end well, incidentally. No surprise there.)

I've also come to a couple of conclusions about why my posts probably aren't as interesting as I feel they should be. One, I don't have a particular focus. If my blog were about a particular interest of mine, such as say, the Free Culture movement or Gaming, then I would be posting my thoughts on all the interesting tidbits I see related to whatever interest I would choose. The downside is, of course, that most of what I would post would be readily available elsewhere, since often I don't have much to say myself. The other conclusion I came up with, being Two, is that I don't have kids. Two of the best blogs I read (being Mimi Smartypants and One Good Thing are written by Moms. Therefore, they can talk about their kids, since one can continually have interesting things to talk about when the subject of kids is at hand, even if it's something silly/disgusting like how one's daughter played with Purple Dog or how one's son can produce gravity-defying poops. Not having larvae myself, and being some years away from the merest notion of said, I can only produce speculation that is probably dubious, and would be more effort to think up than interesting to read, I would think.

So how can I fix this? I don't know. I will ruminate and percolate on the matter though, provided I can remember, that is. Otherwise, I'll probably wind up doing something less than productive like reading comics. Speaking of which, that sounds like a rather good idea...  ¶ 9:22 p.m.