around 2003 or 2004, i came up with a list of "ultimate males" and posted each inductee onto my blog. it was fun, but quite the challenge. for one, i don't consciously search for nominees. it's not an annual thing, unlike bust magazine's "men we love" or even people magazine's "sexiest man alive". i come across a candidate, i review their "credentials" and i decide if he's "ultimate male" material. i didn't mean for it to be a scientific selection, but there are rules and i do deliberate with myself.
criteria for nominees:
1. must be male. (duh) and alive at the time of nomination.
2. must be a public figure.
3. must have mastery in chosen field.
4. must have an alternate interest/career/backstory not directly related to main chosen field.
5. the # 4 must equally be awesome.
6. projects a certain principle or code
7. yes. hottness is also very important.
8. exudes manliness in own fashion.
9. must possess scruffiness to a certain degree.
10. must not exhibit qualities of a douchebag; public record must remain relatively douchebaggery-free.
ULTIMATE MALES:
STEVE BUSCEMI
year inducted: 2003
he was a fireman before he was an actor and is equally bad-ass in real life as some of his roles onscreen. he got into a knife fight and got stabbed in the throat.
he was george mcfly. he appeared on "the late show with david letterman" and delivered a roundhouse kick to dave's head (dave walked out). he owns a collection of glass eyeballs. he made a record. he put out some books. he directed a series of disturbing films that he is currently self-promoting.
he made "spawn", designed toys and is a baseball geek.
JACK BLACK
year inducted: 2004
he makes a living as a comedian and he makes up half of tenacious d.
BRUCE CAMPBELL
year inducted: 2006
ash from the "evil dead" series is the greatest horror movie hero of all time. check out his rippling muscles as demonic forces rip his clothes into shreds. he wrote a couple of books, is constantly in cameos in bigger budget-ed sam raimi movies, and is surprisingly low-key as a celebrity.
was a teacher, and a chef before forming the band franz ferdinand. then he wrote a food column for "the guardian". his pieces would later go on to be collected and published in a book called "sound bites".
ANTHONY BOURDAIN
year inducted: 2009
chef for 28 years. wrote "kitchen confidential" and a bunch of other books. became a tv presenter. overcame cocaine addiction. recently quit smoking.
KAL PENN
year inducted: 2009
first seen grooving to wilson philips ascarfing down white castle burgers. what's he up to now? fucking shit up in the white house. he is currently serving as Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
====
what is this list for? entertainment. i get off on making lists comprised of awesome guys. any excuse to do that and i'm so there.
wilco falls smack dab in the middle of my top 5 favorite musical artists of all time. it's rather strange that i haven't ruminated over why i love the music they come up with, and maybe it's also a bit unfair, considering some of the things i say about the other people on my top 5 (weezer, teenage fanclub, the ramones and ryan adams, in case you were wondering).
here are some lists, related to wilco...
WILCO RECORDS (ranked by which one has most of my favorite tracks):
1. yankee hotel foxtrot 2. summerteeth 3. being there 4. wilco (the album) 5. a ghost is born 6. mermaid avenue 7. a.m. 8. sky blue sky
(*i didn't count their live album, "kicking television" nor "mermaid avenue vol. 2")
TOP 10 WILCO TRACKS (as of this blog)
1. poor places 2. heavy metal drummer 3. theologians 4. jesus, etc 5. war on war 6. pot kettle black 7. i'm always in love 8. passenger side 9. california stars 10. ELT
TOP 5 WILCO LYRICS
1. "every generation thinks it's the end of the world" - from "you never know" (wilco, the album)
2. "i'm a cherry ghost" - from "theologians" (a ghost is born)
3. "every moment's a little bit later" - from "pot kettle black" (yankee hotel foxtrot)
4. "i sincerely miss those heavy metal bands that we used to go see in the landing in the summer" - from "heavy metal drummer" (yankee hotel foxtrot)
5. all the words to "jesus, etc"
in the wilco documentary "i am trying to break your heart", rolling stones senior editor david fricke offers his insight into what big record companies find problematic with "yankee hotel foxtrot" (the same album voted as wilco fans' favorite wilco album that since its release has been included in all sorts of "important album" lists): [listening to it], "you don't know who it's for, who it's speaking to, and how much money it's going to make." then he ends his interview with the stuff that people who listen to music a lot can be grateful for: "as long as music exists, the stuff that's [on the cd unit] will be heard by someone, and they're going to get it. and for those who don't...well that's kind of too bad."
i'm a fan of jeff tweedy's band, wilco. i am also a fan of jeff tweedy's son - spencer tweedy's blog. spencer is a young adult just like any other brainy, funny, self-aware young adult. he likes hanging out with his friends, taking pictures, listening to music, pondering on little things, ponder on big things - the usual. i've bookmarked his blog since coming across it a few months ago, and every time i read it, i feel a little better about the world.
what would i have turned out to be had the internet existed when i was eleven or twelve years old? it's frightening to think about, given the material i was churning out at that age (mainly because it's not very different from what i've been churning out at this age).
though maybe that's not entirely true. the reason i like spencer tweedy's blog is because he writes with so much joy - the joy that only young people like him are capable of expressing. unaffected, completely candid, no agenda except self expression. i remember being that way in notebooks, in notepads, in steno pads, in journals, in diaries that i used to write in that are now numbered and lined up on a book shelf back in my room at my parents' house.
today feels like a lucky day, although it's not of the "i could stumble upon a bag filled with money" lucky. this lucky feels more like "the universe is going to cut me some slack today", and sometimes that feeling is more than one needs to make it through the day.
via twitter, i found out that the new =w= has leaked all over the web. i do not have the official release date of "raditude", but am aware that it is expected to drop sometime this month, and this month is almost over, so it was probably not a leak, but a legitimate cd-rip. but whatever because i downloaded the album in its entirety without paying for it, and it took me under twenty minutes, so how lucky was that.
i could have loaded it onto my ipod and listened to it on my way to work, but this weez needed speakers, at least for the first listen. i promised myself to just listen to the first track (which i already have on my ipod anyway) and then just quickly upload the rest of the tracks without listening to them. then i decided i would come in late to work so i can have my weezer moment.
this made perfect sense to me. yes! i will report to work late so i can stay home and bask in the raditude of weezer, be that a good thing or a bad thing. for the newest weezer, my devoted attention, always, for the first listen. i've always taken the first listen on a weezer album seriously, even the ones that truly broke my heart.
i tweeted the experience of coming into contact with the tunes for more "real time"/"live blogging" because i wanted to capture my first impressions of the tunes before i even had time to digest them. by the end of this post, i will have compared my initial impressions with the impressions i have now that i've been looping "raditude" the entire day.
for starters, i love that the first track is "(if you're wondering if i want you to) i want you to". i liked it instantly when it leaked on youtube a few months back. this song already has a memory attached to it, and a good one at that. this song just sounds so good - the opening riff reminded me of "town called malice" before it started talking about girls wearing slayer t-shirts. good vibes all around. it's summer love at rock band camp.
i'm not loving the titles on many of the tracks off "raditude", if i'm honest. "i'm your daddy", "love is the answer", "in the mall", "can't stop partying". the new weezer classics, these titles are not. "i'm your daddy" just keeps things steady from the first track. i didn't hate it, nor did i feel the crushing dissappointment of "beverly hills". so far, so good.
"the girl got hot" can be awesome when it catches you at the right moment. it's aiiiiiiiiight.
okay so here it comes - "can't stop partying" is the official wtf track on this album. kind of makes me think rivarz made an earnest effort of getting in touch with lady gaga, but failed. this is the companion song to "beverly hills", with a big old hairy beer belly. just nasty.
"put me back together" may sound good on a show like "scrubs", but at this point won't be surprised if it makes an appearance on something like "the hills". i'm no longer up to speed with the non-developments from "the hills", but am imagining this song can fit the justin-bobby story arc and whomever not-audrina he's banging this season when they have their first fight/make-up sex. cut to panorama of the hollywood hills before commercial gap.
i like the next song, "tripping down the freeway" much better. less roadtrip, more marriage vows.
there are a couple of surprises on "raditude". the first of which involves a sitar (yes, that's right) on the track "love is the answer". very hippie-dippy, but you know what? it works. i want to find out who did the female vocal on this track and whether this was sampled or if it was a true collaboration between weezer and another artist from india. ah, the drawbacks of piracy - no liner notes.
"let it all hang out" is a "working for weekend"-type track. something to crank up hours before quitting time on a friday night. it's that kind of rockin tune. looking forward to road testing its effectivity this payday friday.
"in the mall" sucks donkeys. it has no place in this album. it sucks hairy wookie balls.
"i don't want to let you go" is an old rivers cuomo track that can be found on "alone II". sounded tinny first time i heard it on "alone II", but with the awesomeness of pat, brian and scott, it sounds grand on "raditude". shades of brian wilson.
"turn me round" and "get me some" are okay, but i want to hurry along to "run over by a truck" because it starts off with some bouncy piano. i imagine this would be a good song to run laps to, cause the song moves great.
"the prettiest girl in the whole wide world" is one of the band's best. sometime last week, pat tweeted about it being the sickest weezer track ever, and i would have to agree. this song that actually has a VO intro! i listen to it and know rivz wrote it for his kid. it's that type of song that has unconditional love ringing all throughout the power chords. awesome drumming from pat, crazy geetar from brian and wicked sticky bass from scott.
i suppose that depending on age and outlook, you will either love or hate the last track, "the underdogs". personally, i love it. it's an anthem, for one. a "waving your lighters at the end of the show" track. an almost swan song. weezer's "don't dream it's over". i think it's sad that non-deluxe versions of "raditude" ends with "turn me round" and not "the underdogs".
i love that they've got scott shriner on bass. he's good for the band - the bass sounds big, meaty and tattooed all over. i hated mikey welsh, btw. scott though - love him.
on a side note, i was scheduled to have this conference call with some scary network person today, but that was cancelled. again, i caught a lucky break. i allowed myself to be late just because; i didn't have to talk to scary people; i had a good morning listening to my favorite band crank out some new tunes. sometimes that's enough.
my "feminist response" to this bit o' pop culture:
mmmkay, judging from its trailer, i'd have to favor towards the "'jennifer's body' is feminist" camp. but first, i'd like to say i quite enjoyed the part in the trailer where it says "from the mind of diablo cody".
now to react to the posted counterpoints that don't make "jennifer's body" feminist, after having looked at the trailer:
- appears to be a vehicle for megan fox to be flash her bod and oggled by corndogs.
by corndogs of both sexes, perhaps. and before we forget, oggling is not bad. in fact, i myself find this activity enjoyable. i'm a woman, and i find megan fox hot.
- makes women look like femme fatale killers or uber-nerds...
ok, am actually surprised that the writer would actually apologize for calling someone an uber-nerd, like, um, it's a bad thing. obvy, amanda seifried's character is supposed to be the awesome cool character here. and don't we love dorks?
as for megan fox's "femme fatale killers" - my feminist response to that would be - why not. certainly in contemporary society ordinary women like myself often feel that women who look as unreal as megan fox would be and could be capable of being predatory. in the trailer, amanda r's character says - "she's not highschool evil. she's evil evil." - gotta say that the line made me laugh. it's certainly an exaggerated, horror-tastic view of how psycho demon bitchy some females can be in real life. and hey, i can relate to reacting to that.
- according to synopsis, this may be...an attempt by hollywood to punish women for liking sex by...putting them into insane asylums...turning them into demons...
i find this way of thinking very backward. i don't feel, in this day and age that media still "punishes" women for liking sex. and also, given that there might still be some media that can be as backward as to "punish women for liking sex", i seriously doubt that a female writer and a female director would "punish women for liking sex" and that that would become the main reading of this movie by its audience. give your female viewers the credit to think critically for themselves.
- makes light of bisexuality/promotes faux lesbianism
it's a HORROR film. EVERYTHING is taken light. i don't think there is anything wrong with making light of something if it isn't done disrespectfully.
====
bottom line - i'd go see "jennifer's body" and try to process my knee-jerk "feminist" reactions before ranting about the movie not being fit for feminists to enjoy.
keks: sabi ko sa kanya, ipagno-novena ko siya kay st. joseph. march 19 kasi yung feast of st joseph (patron of spouses and happy deaths). me: hang on. "happy deaths"?????? keks: hahaha yeah. me: you mean - there is a patron saint of ORGASMS?
"magasin" english version. made by a bunch of kids for a school project
there are at least ten things i find hilarious in this little video clip, least of all the translated chorus:
"your smile is different your looks are different how come you underwent this metamorphosis? let's hope that no one saw it so problems won't come with it cause i'm experiencing this poverty..."
ugh - this is the worst. i've just gotten home making paper edits. one of these days, i am going to learn linear editing (obsolete everywhere else except for 4th floor gma).
i love you, guyz. i made you a mix. you can either: a. check your itunes or media player if you already have these tracks b. download all these tracks on your own manually (tedious) c. have me email you the tracks (baduy but i'll do it if i love you) d. leave a comment for an exchange (recommended. free music, people! you know what to do, di ba.)
about this mix: i made this mix for people who are alone during v-day (all the more reason to avoid the inevitable traffic. however, if you are in a relationship, go lang ng go congrats mario! i'm not selfish when it comes to tunage)! alone does not have to mean lonely. we are not sad bastards, people. think of all the people who are stuck in mind-numbing relationships where they want to leave but can't because they'd rather pretend than stick it out on their own. think about the lying, the cheating, the sleeping around that's possibly taking place between them as i write this. think about the people they'd rather be sleeping with than the ones they're with at the moment. because it could be you.
the track list with commentary:
1. "stop your sobbing" - the pretenders (if you're looking for songs that will make you feel like wallowing in pain and self-pity, you won't find them here. chrissie hynde wants you to stop all of your crying and so do i.) 2. "forget about him" - devendra banhart (i never understood devendra until this moment, but i guess he's always understood me) 3. "st. elmo's fire" - cloetta paris (if you grew up in the 80's, there's a better chance you'd know this song about being a man or a girl in motion all you need is a pair of wheels.) 4. "two times blue" - debbie harry (kasi hindi tayo 'yung talunan, friends.) 5. "people got a lot of nerve"- neko case (for everyone else you feel are being judgmental about the way you live and love. kebs!) 6. "don't look back" - boston (how can you not have ONE cheesy hair metal/slow rock power song snuck in somewhere in this mix? just add open highway and roll down the windows.) 7. "i love the unknown" - clem snide (how not to fear the uncertain for a change. wise words set to catchy tunes!) 8. "good after time" - lykkie li's "i'm good i'm gone"/cyndi lauper's "time after time" mash-up (it's good to give yourself a pat on the back for your valiant efforts to keep on keeping on. working a sweat, but it's all good.) 9. "if i were a freefallin' boy" - beyonce's "if i were a boy"/tom petty's "freefallin'" mashup (this is timely because this beyonce track is playing on a cellular phone next to you.) 10. "last words"- the real tuesday weld (gacked off the "nick and norah's infinite playlist" soundtrack.)
my hands have been on this computer for almost twelve hours - a new record for me. still no word regarding the talent fees of my two new shows, but i can't be bothered because the magic is back like britney. i'm in my element - work doesn't feel like work and i am actually looking forward to seeing my co-workers (who happen to have varying degrees of ghey).
as one of the writers for these shows, i have to preview footage, make transcriptions, do the shot list and log time codes before i can build my script. this i hate with a burning passion, but i did that the whole day today and surprisingly, i enjoyed it. i'm forming a new system as i go, and it's working.
show 1 is reality-based, so that's a first for me. in the beginning it seemed daunting - the amount of footage shot meant i'd have to look at everything and weed out what is usable. i'm sure i'll get tired and sick of it at some point, but so far it's been exciting. i love the feeling of finding a really great soundbite and using it in the segment. i'm a huge fan of the audio/video lock (though sometimes it gets challenging to be mindful of this), so i am going to push for that even more.
show 2 is fashion based, so i'm psyched. secretly, i hope the team becomes friends with our hosts so that they will give us expensive kikay gifts come christmas (if the show lasts that long).
i'm getting a little confused when it comes to teammates because the shows share similar staff members. i still have to think which person belongs to which show, but i love them all (so far). shooting for show 1 bonded us in that special way only an extremely late subject bonds production teams. it's the same with show 2, but for different reasons- on the road in a cramped van, starving, face starting to oil up. it is a gas.
let's see how i hold up after the shows start airing.
have to say - lume-level (there, i used my word of the now) si "supernatural". this is a series that i checked out one time i was bored and a co-worker and i were swapping dibidis. i've never heard of this show, and when i asked if it was scary, she said, "not really, pero enjoy sha."
at first i thought it was dumb, but yes, enjoy nga siya. it's about these two brothers named dean and sam who hunt supernatural things. remember "shadow chasers" in the 80's? it's like that, except in a post-"buffy the vampire slayer" universe. i wanted to hate it, but i couldn't. yes, the storylines were lame - obviously copped from other horror movies, and the episodes had a predictable template. but the more i watched it, the more addicted to it i got because it wasn't annoying me as much as i'd expected it to.
plus factor - the guy who played denny duqette in "grey's anatomy" (jeffrey dean morgan) was in it for the first two seasons as dean and sam's dad. that's a good-looking family, right?
season one was lame. season two is better because the show loosened up. season three (the one i'm currently watching on dibidi) is the best so far because the jokes are actually good. and the boys are hot, obvy. i'm thinking sam is cuter/hotter but he's way too serious. dean is the dude i'd probably enjoy in the sack a whole lot better. he's like maude in "harold and maude" - you probably won't agree with him, but he does have a sound logic to the things he does. plus, his car is hot (a 1967 chevrolet impala. black of course, because he's so dark) and has better taste in music.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
hastyteenflick's journal
