the road to hell is paved with good intentions

Examples that good intentions don't mean crap:

- Charity songs - I cringe everytime I hear We Are The World.
- My friendship with you-know-who - Yeah, we all know how that story went.
- My exercising routine.
- Those Obama "Hope" posters.
- My attempt to read The Brothers Karamazov.
- The Hobbit in pre-production hell (I think it was easier for Sam and Frodo to scale Mount Doom than it is for Peter Jackson and company to get this baby off the ground).
- Sandra Bullock's sweet Oscar acceptance speech in which she doted on Jesse James.
- Conan O'Brien's stint on The Tonight Show.
- Wars, many of which are started with the noblest of causes.
- My knee surgery.

le jgl

Oh great now the guy speaks French too. Dude.

hurts so good

Synth pop. Hurts. So good.

Wonderful Life:


Confide In Me (Kylie cover):


Devotion (with Kylie):

the age of sufjan

Just last week he released a beautiful EP that I am enjoying the hell out of. Then this past week he announced he will have a full album coming out shortly called The Age of Adz. The first song released from that is I Walked. And I cannot tell you how much I love it. It has that melancholy electronic sound I love so much - it's like Sufjan bumped into Postal Service. And I don't know why I am so touched by the lyrics, "Lover, will you look at me now? I am already there."

Sometimes I feel bumped that I don't have a girlfriend to call my own. But then sometimes I feel lucky that I have such wonderful music like Sufjan and wonderful writers like Murakami to make me feel part of this world. They inspire me to not give up on the wonders and the beauty that is possible.

the boy named crow

I accomplished what I set out to do this weekend. I finally finished reading Kafka By The Shore. I honestly don't know how Murakami does it, but his writing just has an effect on me unlike any other writers'. He makes me want to look at the clouds and study them and solve their riddles.

Time weighs down on you like an old, ambiguous dream. You keep on moving, trying to slip through it. But even if you go to the ends of the earth, you won't be able to escape it. Still you have to go there - to the edge of the world. There's something you can't do unless you get there.

I feel that the reason all the answers to the clouds' riddles still elude me is that I haven't ventured far off enough to the edge yet.

the future's so bright

You know the guy who jumped off a roof to commit suicide in the middle of the Swell Season concert at Saratoga Mountain Winery this past week - well, my thinking is: 1) he should have picked Justin Bieber concert instead, cuz Swell Season is swell and doesn't deserve that (and all those Falling Slowly jokes); and 2) he is gonna miss all the awesomeness that will be coming our way soon.

Top ten reasons you don't want to commit suicide just yet:
- Conan O'Brien's return in November to TBS.
- New season of Amazing Race.
- New iPad or whatever Apple has up its sleeve.
- Iran's unmanned bomber put in action (labeled as The Ambassador of Death - yeah baby, bring it on).
- The outcome of the NYC mosque to-build-or-not-to-build debate.
- Kristin Chenoweth getting her own show in which she sings!!!
- Madonna's directorial debut W.E. (okay - I know this one is just me, but who cares?)
- Dark Knight sequel (July 2012)
- Betty White for President facebook campaign, now that her SNL gig snagged an Emmy for her.
- The end of the war in Afghanistan, or The Hobbit movie, whichever comes first.

i guess i'll just begin again

Top 10 songs I'm playing:

10. Boy - Ra Ra Riot

9. Where I'm Going - Cut Copy
8. White Sky (Basement Jaxx Club Mix) - Vampire Weekend
7. The End Of The World Is Bigger Than Love - Jens Lekman
6. Ready To Start - Arcade Fire

5. By Some Miracle - Philip Selway
4. All Delighted People - Sufjan Stevens

3. You Were A Kindness - The National
2. Down By The Water - Drums
1. Fuck You - Cee-Lo Green

home movies

My recent Netflix viewings:

The Lovely Bones: Not as bad as reviews said but not up to par with what I expect from Peter Jackson. Heaven/in-between looks cheesy though, but I think that's the book's fault - isn't it? Susan Sarandon's character completely throws off the tone of movie. And the way Stanley Tucci's character meets his maker is kinda lame and not satisfying at all. B-

Leap Year: Best thing - Ireland scenery. Don't get how Amy Adams is a lead. She's more of a supporting actress to me. Very shrill in this and has no leading lady quality. No chemistry with Matthew Goode. Story is tedious. Not how rom-coms should be done. Compare to The Proposal, which works charmingly on that very formulaic level. C

Hot Tub Time Machine: I should have loved it - I love all things Eighties. But was disappointed in how not funny/touching it is. Was supposed to be both - at least reviews led me to think this. I thought it was going to be like Role Models or Pineapple Express or something. When was the last time John Cusack was in a good movie? I love Cusack but this is not gonna cut it. C+

Up In The Air: Really good. Sucker-punched in the gut at what happened towards the end. I won't say more, but Clooney and Farmiga were everything they should be in this movie. B+

Broken Embraces: Not Almodovar's best. But his work is infinitely watchable, so is Penelope Cruz when she speaks Spanish. I liked Volver and Bad Education a lot more. B-

Skins Seasons 1 & 2: Wow. I think my two-months of Netflix so far this summer is made worthwhile just for watching this. Initially I was quite turned off by Tony and Sid's characters, but then it all came together and these kids became fully drawn people who are funny, heartbreaking, and full of life. Sure they can do all the wrong things and make all the wrong decisions, but in the end, everyone is human and life is messy and all you can do is to try to make less of a mess than the mess you made yesterday. I just love how brave they are in the way they live. A

ain't that some sh*t

This is about as delightful as they come - I freaking love this song, from first listen. CeeLo is da man, seriously da man:

phones rugs and eharmony

Random thoughts floating around my head today: Friend getting married. Happy for him. Feel bad for self. Me bad friend. Obama - Muslim. Work - how to plot an escape??? True Blood on RS cover is kinda awkward to me. I guess there is no way to pose nude naturally when splattered with blood and trying to cover up your private parts. I bought a new rug for my living room. It is so nice that I walk around it instead of on it. So it is pretty and induces extra walking - double win! Tuna poke rice bowl at Kichi Grill in Westfield food court is delicious. Washed down with $2 Jamba Juice green matcha special. Will I win Lotto soon? Friend met wife on eHarmony. But it's a Christian online dating site. I supposed if I do meet someone and get married, I probably will believe in God and miracles. Haha. I am too cheap to pay a monthly fee for online dating though. Somebody told me to just buy one less shirt or something every month, but if I spend money on a shirt, I know I am getting something for it. If I spend money on a dating site, I might as well dump all that money into the lottery - the odds of return for me is probably about the same. Mosque should be farther away from Ground Zero, just for the sake of peace and harmony, not for the sake of principle. People get too hung up on principle and rights and all that shit. My job is my greatest agony, but it is probably where I excel the most. Paradox much? Everytime I get praised, it makes me feel burdened. Am I weird? I need to return my new New Balance shoes. Somebody tell me where to buy comfortable shoes that don't look like old men's shoes. I am thinking when I become an old man, I will be walking really comfortably. Saw youtube video of Taiwanese news animated reenactment of JetBlue guy Steven Slater. Funniest shit I've seen in a while - the video reaches epic hilarity when they showed him going home to go to bed with his boyfriend. Just bought Morning Bender's Big Echo for $3.99 from amazon. I buy too much music. I hate Lady Gaga. I hope backlash begins soon. I would like to start it all my own. Anybody with me? Ting Ting's Hands is playing now. Clap your hands if you are working too hard. WTF does that mean? Why would I do that? I kinda feel like there is an eighties revolution in music, except it's not reflected in the Top 40 charts. It's like all the cool kids know it, but the masses are still in a fog and listening to freaking Black Eyed Peas. I want to watch Piranha 3D. Anybody with me? Why is David Fincher directing a remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo? He is much better than that. I mean, c'mon, you are director of Madonna's greatest music videos, for God's sake. Who the hell is watching The Expendables? Why the hell is Jason Statham is this crap? Why is he in any crap? I kinda think he can be a really cool action star, the coolest out there right now, if he picks his projects right. But he doesn't. I saw a woman peeing on Seventh Street. Like right in the middle of it, with urine streaming down the sidewalk. Probably one of the grossest thing I've ever seen in my life. Convinces me that if I ever live with someone, I am imposing a closed bathroom door policy. Sorry, I can never love you once I see you pee, unless you are my kid and under five years old or maybe a dog or a senior citizen and you had a stroke and are bedridden and you gave birth to me and I don't have enough money to hire you a full-time nurse to change you. I've been buying items from QVC. My shoes say I am an old man, but my UPS packages say I am an old woman. But my iTunes collection says I am twenty-two, and that's what I am going by. There was a study that says guys who have iPhone have more sex than guys with Blackberry or the Droid or other smartphones. Damn right. In fact, I have to stop writing and go have sex right now.

jgl is a natural woman

Ok this blog is turning into a JGL tribute blog, which is kinda silly since I am a dude and not some love-struck school girl. It's just that I really find this guy cool. Who knew this is the kid from Third Rock from the Sun? That's all kind of crazy.

I like it when someone covers a song meant to be sung by the opposite gender, and they don't change the gender of the song and just sings it as is.

lahaha

New music from Shugo Tokumaru, off his new cd Port Entropy. I would buy this as soon as it becomes available in the US. His sound is truly magical:





Bonus video - A Black XS Live Sound Take Away Show:

this bird had flown

More stills from Norwegian Wood. It's going to be in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Oh so exciting!

looking for an asian guy

People are pretty funny sometimes. Evidence: check out Chud for some Inception hilarity. I particularly like the one about looking for an Asian guy.

photo saturday

This is the view from my prison cell everyday. Well most days the sky is grey and dreary. On Thurs afternoon, for about one hour and a half, we got a bit of blue sky. Which means photo op!


Went to So's yesterday for lunch. On the side of the building is this Ghostbuster meets The Simpsons graffiti. It's kinda awesome.


And here is so So's black bean sauce noodle. Nothing like a good bowl of saucy noodle to make me feel like life is not half bad. Maybe 49% bad, but that's still 51% good, so I win.


At this Vietnamese place on Sixth and Mission called Miss Saigon, standing right by the door is this mannequin - Miss Saigon. Is that the oddest thing or what? I mean, why? Who would have thought, "Hmm, we need a Miss Saigon mannequin to greet our guests. We'll dress her up with Vietnamese clothes and a sash, and we'll have her hold the menu..."? And then somebody had to go out and purchase so mannequin and execute this whole thing.

inception obsession

In my quest for all things Inception:

Tom Hardy in a Kleenex commerical -


Marion Cotillard in Dior Lady Noir campaign -


Ellen Page promoting Cisco (and Big Brother):


Ken Watanabe in a Japanese American Express My Life, My Card commercial (I love that series, particularly with Kate Winslet) -


JGL in a Cocoa Puffs commercial ("Mmmmm, it is chocolate-y!")


And then there is this - Leo in a Cosby sweater in a Fred Meyers commerical -

i need fun in my life

Weather: Grey and dreary
State: Feeling fat
Music: The Drums
Last Movie: Hot Tub Time Machine - not as funny as I had expected
Reading: Kafka On The Shore (still - I know)
Last Pleasure: Getting my Inception totem from ebay
Last Worry: Work travel coming up in the next two quarters
Looking Forward To: Getting out of current funk, and getting a haircut, and Wes Welker's return
Not Really Looking Forward To: Mondays (and Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri...)
Gas Price: $3.38/gallon
Clothes: Dark navy gingham poplin shirt from Land's Ends Canvas, dark grey cords
Today's Headline: 6 Americans on medical team killed in Afghanistan (damn, when is this madness going to end?)
Current Desktop Wallpaper: Inception
Last Website Visited: Walgreens.com (to order 25 free prints from my NYC trip)
Last Meal: Curry chicken salad from Passion Cafe, a French bistro near my work - it's alright
Last Purchase: Land's Ends Canvas shirts
Item Off My Wishlist: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Latest Evidence It's A Beautiful World: Emma Watson's new haircut

dreamers

This L.A. Times article on Inception name-checks Escher and Haruki Murakami. I love it when my favorite worlds collide.

nigga please*

Random favorite things that begin with the letter N:

Naan
Nirvana
New Order
Nick Drake
Nickelodeon
Nara, Japan
Naomi Watts
New York City
Nara, Yoshitomo
Nudity, gratuitous
Nolan, Christopher
New England Patriots
New Balance wide shoes
New Zealand, hobbit country
Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea



*Nigga please is not racist. When we were kids, we used to say this to each other all the time. It's sort of like saying Give me a break. It's one of my favorite phrases, like ever.

nothing big

Another JGL interview, this time with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone. God, I am so envious of how talented and cool some guys just are.