Wednesday, March 31, 2004

I think I've found a solution for Doll Merchant but I don't know if I'll have time to implement it to-day.

When I was at my parents' house yesterday, I watched with my mother part of an episode of Oprah that confirmed to me that Oprah is in fact a daemon of some kind. In a segment about "That one moment in time you wish you could take back," Oprah brought out for display a twenty seven year old woman who'd been burned alive when her car was hit by a drunk driver, who's now in prison. The young woman no longer looked like a young woman, even after plastic surgery. Her nose had been burnt off, one of her eyes turned into glazed over skin, and her fingers were gone.

But of course, the people at Oprah couldn't trust the audience to feel bad for her just for this. Oh no. We needed to have it punctuated by sorrowful piano music and misty montages of footage.

These people have got to be the most emotionally disconnected people in world, I must say. That they would sit through this spectacle, allowing their heartstrings to have acid thrown at them, could only suggest that they would not feel emotion for any lesser sort of stimuli. They've gotten so's they need a kick from the mule just to wake up in the morning, so to speak.

Of course, everyone assumed something healthy was going on when Oprah bade the mother of the drunk driver to cry in the burnt woman's arms. Thank you, Oprah, Ring-leader of the damned.

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Cold bread. Mouldy soy pepperoni. Mozzerella cheese. Excessive amounts of mayo.

A good sandwich.

Monday, March 29, 2004

Great number of things to do to-day . . .

Dreamt last night about a friend of mine from high school named Matt Laubacher. Matt was valadictorian and he now lives with wife and kid in Arizona somewheres and works as a teacher's assistant. In my dream, he was at Grossmont Community college with me and we got in a big fight, starting out with him knocking my hat off and trying to run away with it. I caught up with him and we came to blows. Never did figure out what he was so mad at me for.

Watched part of The Cure Trilogy DVD last night. I'd already watched the Pornography set, so I watched the Disintegration set last night. Brilliant and made feel depressed and nostalgic and good. It occured to me that, with Disintegration, Smith seemed to've been trying to write the arch of any lovers' relationship by trying to strip it down to the biggest strokes, the broadest themes. And it goes right for the heart.

Of course, I was also depressed watching it because it reminded me that I'm not actually going to see The Cure at Coachella, due to the fact that the person I was going with renegged on me. But that's another stomach of fish . . .

Edited more of my novel yesterday. I'm about two-thirds through with my first run-through.

Sunday, March 28, 2004

Saw Jersey Girl last night. On the whole, a very sweet film. I do sort of wish fewer movie cliches were used but the movie had enough of its own unique charms that I wasn't overly bothered. The kid, Raquel Castro, was either a very good child actress or the director/crew was able to tease a good performance from her. I suspect the latter. But she was good, regardless, which is surprising in a kid. Affleck was also good, although the audience automatically laughed at him at occasionally inappropriate times. My favourite performer in the film, though, was certainly Liv Tyler who similtaneously carried out the duties of romantic interest and surrogate Jay and Silent Bob. The girl created a character out of her dialogue, adding self-conscious giggles after her own lines that were too obviously funny not to be noticed, and adding an interesting nervous energy.

I felt slightly that music was used too often. There were too many montages were characters weren't talking and instead doing things to a tune. Generally good tunes, though. I did very much like the uses of the Aimee Mann song and the Cure song. And I was pleased to hear Tom Waits' "Jersey Girl" during the credits, even though it was Bruce Springsteen's version. It's okay, though; Springsteen seems to be one of the few people who've covered Waits well.

Still haven't cleared out web space . . . feels funny not doing a page of Doll Merchant to-day . . .

Saturday, March 27, 2004

New page of Doll Merchant. Could be the last for a while as I am now completely out of web space. I may take down part 1 and just leave part two. I suppose I should really do a web comic that isn't any kind of serial. I had to take down one page just to get 62 up, in fact, so don't try looking at page 17.

Dreamt last night about an overweight girl I used to know. I ran into her recently (in the dream) and found that she had become really, frighteningly thin. Like Marlene Dietrich.

Speaking of weight issues, I'm so behind on my laundry that I'm wearing a pair of pants that're so tight I didn't think I could possibly squeeze into them. But not only did I manage to put them on, I put them on easily and without any discomfort. Very odd as I've gotten almost no exercise in the past couple months.

A few minutes ago, I discovered that my thumb was coated with dried blood. It took me a while to figure out I'd cut my thumb shaving fifteen minutes earlier. Are my pain receptors just too lazy?

Friday, March 26, 2004

My play was workshopped in class last night. I was basically told it needs to be longer. Earlier in the class, a gentleman who wants to actually produce it for some kind of campus function told me that it needs to be shorter.

How I do enjoy a challenge.

Here that, oh Laws of Physics, you? Setsuled doesn't back down, even when the object is to defy all logic and reason! Especially when the object is to defy all logic and reason!

I shall make it . . . longer and shorter! Haha! I can do it, I tell you.

There's a new page of Doll Merchant, yo.

I think, to-day, I shall look for things I'm missing.

Thursday, March 25, 2004

. . . and yet I've done a new page of Doll Merchant!

Watched the William Wyler Wuthering Heights last night. The ending was a slightly too happy spin on the original story but Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon made the thing well worth watching. Although the context was weirded, Heathcliff cursing Cathy when he learned she had loved him gave me chills.
I've decided that Thursday doesn't exist.

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

New page of Doll Merchant.

Watched High Sierra last night. Sorta got teary eyed halfway through when it occured to me that the production code forbade a happy ending for Roy Earle (Humphrey Bogart). Some film noir, I think, must have arisen from screenwriter ranckling at the code and being thusly filled with a desire to show those Catholic jerks that sometimes a situation where the criminal doesn't get away is more a victory for the devil. I almost think there was a definite point in the story--when Roy held up the convenience store--where the screenwriters (one of whom was John Huston) said, "Okay, fine, we'll play it your way but its only gonna barely make sense." If Roy hadn't've held up that convenience store, he may well have gotten his money and he and Marie (Ida Lupino) woulda been Scott-free. Well, then again, maybe not.

Finally caved in and watched an episode of Witchhunter Robin because someone wants me to do fan-art of Robin Sena. The character design definitely looks to be the strongest point of the series. Otherwise it seems like it vaguely wants to be Lain/Evangelion/Cowboy Bebop and the animation isn't as good as any of those series. Here's a series that really made me appreciate the attention animators in Cowboy Bebop gave to the way people actually moved, and even when the budget didn't permit full-fledged movement, a single, subtle gesture could convey so much about a character's attitude or mood. Not so with Witchhunter Robin.

Was up until 6am editing my novel. Good or bad, its definitely depressing. I also think it's funny, though.

Damnit, Roy and Marie deserved to be happy together.

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

A new page of Doll Merchant to-day.

Watched Sadie McKee, which was a movie that had the kind of melodrama I think I would have appreciated more as a teenager. But it was not a bad movie and Joan Crawford was brilliant as always.

Ha was wearing an adorable dress in class last night and I don't think I have anything else to report. I slept in rather late so I must bust a move . . .

Monday, March 22, 2004

New page of Doll Merchant.

You know, Paramount should give over the Kirk already. Seems only the fans know that Star Trek oughta be bigger on the fun and make less with the pretentious. I mean, c'mon, where is the big kick-ass space battle of the twenty-fourth century? And I want Sisko back!

Watched The Cross of Lorraine last night. It's a little disappointing to see a Gene Kelly movie where he isn't singing and dancing. But once the French soldiers escaped from the prison camp, the movie wasn't so boring and had some really nice action sequences. Peter Lorre was also in the movie, playing a blood-thirsty Nazi officer who dies in a way particularly graphic for a 40s movie.

Almost watched The Big Lebowsky with my sister last night but she changed her mind at the last minute and wanted me to leave the DVD with her. What is it with people not letting me watch movies with them that I've already seen but they haven't? I love doing that! It's like watching a favourite movie again for the first time. It's not like I talk during any good movie so I really don't know what people don't like about it.

Oif.

Sunday, March 21, 2004

Yester-day, Tim burned me a copy of Alien 3 Special Edition. I'd forgotten that movie was directed by David Fincher.

We played some Mario Kart: Double Dash without sound because he's too lazy to hook his sound up for some reason. It's weird when you play certain video games for so long that they sort of modify your methods of dealing with reality. When I left Tim's, I got my car and immediately started accelerating like you do in Mario Kart--you obviously don't cap your speed in that game, you just hold the button and try to stay at top-speed. As I approached 40 on the little residential road, I suddenly realised I was doing the same with my gas pedal and had to consciously force myself into real-automobile-driving mode. It's lucky I don't play Hentai games.

So far to-day, I've been sleeping.

I also did a new page of Doll Merchant.

Saturday, March 20, 2004

To-day, a new page of Doll Merchant.

I've discovered that the reason that there aren't any Safeways around here is that there are Vons' around here. And Safeway owns Vons. Why they have a different name here . . . I do not know.

Cut my hair again this morning. Not quite sure yet how well I did. It's just finished drying and at the moment looks only like a tangled mess. Needs to be brushed before I can give it a grade.

Another day, another massive track-load of things to do . . . Well, it's true!

Friday, March 19, 2004

Last night watched It Happened One Night, a movie that, oddly enough, took place over the course of several days and nights.

It was a very nice movie. I was sort of pleased to see how doughy Clark Gable looked when he took off his shirt in the famous hey-guys-let's-not-wear-an-undershirt scene. Nice to see that, at some point in history, my physique was the prime kind.

Claudette Colbert won best actress for the movie. But I think it must have been a slow year for great acting because, while she was believable enough, it wasn't exactly the most challenging role in the world. She did look cute, though. I like her nose. And her legs.

The movie itself was a perfect romantic comedy. If you wanna see a top shelf romantic comedy, this one does the trick nicely.

Dreamt something about Castlevania last night. I think I was wandering around its gloomy, abandoned halls with the strange feeling that I'd betrayed someone.

Anyway, there's a new page of Doll Merchant.

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

New page of Doll Merchant.

I finished typing up my novel and have begun the very arduous task of editing. It's amazing in how many simple ways I screwed up. But there's a bigger issue than that . . . I did a rough word-count and it turns out the bloody thing is around 240,000 words. Actually, maybe a bit more. I've been wracking my brain trying to think of things to edit out. But I can't think of anything of significant length. I guess I'll just have to go ahead and finish editing this draft and maybe see if I can find some people good enough to read it through and tell me whether or not anything feels superfluous to them. Of course, the fact that nothing feels superfluous to me probably means that nothing is. But the liklihood of me ever getting this thing published is dim enough without the added difficulty of it being too fucking big.

Well, what I really need to do is write more short stories.

I'll just put that in my pile of projects and hope I'll figure out proper priority for everything soon . . .

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

'nother new page of Doll Merchant up. In case you haven't noticed, I've been trying to do a new page every day. We'll see if I can keep it up--or if I should.

Watched Trouble in Paradise from 1932. Gods, Hollywood was neat before it started paying much attention to the production code. Both Kay Francis and Mirium Hopkins turned me on. And the movie itself was wicked fun.

Class last night sucked. A bunch of people liked a bunch of crap. I walk amongst monkeys, I tell you.

And now I'm off in search of the new Rasputina album. Wish me luck . . .

Monday, March 15, 2004

New page of Doll Merchant up. I'm starting to run out of web space . . . Gonna need to figure something out . . .

But right now I'm in a hurry so . . . bye!

Sunday, March 14, 2004

Watched Bell, Book, and Candle last night. Mostly fun, sort of Beatsploitive (if that's a word) movie. Made me realise that there's something Kerouac-ish about Jack Lemmon.

Kim Novak's feet looked really good. And Jimmy Stewart managed to come off as sweet, funny, and likeable when jilting his fiance on the day of their wedding because he'd had sex with Novak's character the night before. He makes you forgive him, and just kinna look at him and say, "Garsh, that old dog. And anyway, it's only 'cause of the witch's spell--he's really a decent fellow."

I sort of disliked the ending--yet also liked it. I'm a sucker for happy endings in these situations. I just kind of disagree with what the screenplay thought was happy about it. Still, it had Kim in Jimmy's arms, kissing, which in the long run is quite sufficient.

Another new page of Doll Merchant up. I think I draw them better during the day. I had a bad headache and it was late when I did page 48, although I suppose it turned out basically okay. But I like page 49 better.

Saturday, March 13, 2004

Saw Secret Window yesterday. It was cute. Johnny Depp was attractive and fun, John Turturro was fun. Depp's hair looked sort of like mine. The surprise ending was slightly predictable but still kind of fun. It's the sort of ending you used to see more often twenty years ago.

The film was directed by David Koepp, the same guy who wrote the mediocre screenplay for Panic Room. Fortunately, Secret Window was based on a Stephen King novella, embuing it with a quality plot.

I sort of want to just goof off to-day but I know I'll feel sick at the end of it if I do . . . Now to decide which project(s) to work on . . .

I drew a new page of Doll Merchant last night. Also, yesterday, Caitlin uploaded the lastest Nar'eth pin-up on Nebari.net. I drew it a few nights ago in a fit of Japanese school-girl hallucinations.

Friday, March 12, 2004

"Danny's body ached for junk. But it was a dull ache now. Dull and hopeless." -William S. Burroughs

Just realised my favourite Morrissey album is missing. Where on earth are my CDs disappearing to?

Gods, I'm sleepy . . . And hungry.

Watched I Married a Witch last night. I was unprepared for how sexy Veronica Lake was. Otherwise, the movie was perfectly cute.

I bought the wrong pens yesterday. Considering that they were fifteen dollars, it really was a tragic mistake. Their tips are 0.7 mm and it turns out I need 0.5 mm. Who would've thought that 0.2 mm would make such a difference? I may try to return the 0.7 mm to-day. We'll see.

Thursday, March 11, 2004

Frelling, stupid, damned, ugly, type--Thursdays! Ugh!

Wednesday saw our Setsuled escorting a Russion scientist through Horton Plaza and Seaport village--this was my Aunt's friend Anna who's leaving to-day. My aunt and grandmother were sick so it was foisted on me to be tour-guide Wednesday--a task I am far from equal to. Especially when the person I'm escorting can barely communicate with me.

We went, upon her request, into the San Diego City Store, where I learned that San Diego is known for hot sauce as I stood gazing in wonder at two walls full of little bottles with labels like, "Liquid Stoopid,""You Can't Handle This Hot Sauce," and "Viper Juice."

We also, upon my request, stopped in at The Village Hat Shop and I stood dreaming over a Sherlock Holmes-style, deerstalker hat, wondering if I could get away with wearing it regularly.

Tuesday night, I watched Der Golem, a monster movie from 1920 about a Rabbi who tries to protect his village by calling on Astaroth to animate a big-clay man. It was a very pretty movie with excellent costumes and high contrast black and white. I loved the golem's expressive face; his wide eyes and perminant frown. Not to mention his big clay hair-piece.

And now I've done yet another page of Doll Merchant.

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Not much time--apparently I have to take my aunt's friend Anna around town before she leaves to-morrow.

I did a new page of Doll Merchant last night and boy are my brains and things tired (was up 'til 7am for no good reason).

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

Having trouble making landscape in Morrowind last night, so I gave up and started working on a page for a comic. Only to discover I was having trouble with a landscape in the background of a panel. Some problems you can't avoid, ne?

My brains got the coffee-less throb as I sit here listening to the Quake soundtrack. I feel like I could sleep for an eternity. Why do I keep staying up so long?

I actually felt a little like I contributed to class last night. Eh.

I am also hungry.

Monday, March 08, 2004

Not very much to say to-day. Gotta go to class to night and there're a few things I wanna do first . . .

Watched the Here Comes the Circus short on Mystery Science Theater 3000 last night. It seems almost supernatural how that show never gets old. There're number of jokes I didn't get the first time I watched it that I get now. The damn thing's immortal.

Sunday, March 07, 2004

Ah! A marathon of seven Sherlock Holmes movies on TCM to-morrow! Sure, I've already got five of them, but you can be damned sure I'll tape the other two, even the one that Yahoo! movies only gives two stars.

Blog, I think you're the only one that appreciates my Sherlock Holmes obsession.
Tom Cruise is not very articulate. Watching him on Inside the Actor's Studio, I've so far learned that he feels an actor should be "in the moment" of the character. But he seems like a nice guy with reasonably honourable philosophies.

Last night I watched Fistful of Dollars, Sergio Leone's 1964 remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo. It felt pretty cool that I had opportunity to watch Yojimbo before Fistful of Dollars and was able to compare the two. I'd have to say that Yojimbo was definitely the superior film. Tochiro Mifune was a more expressive actor than Clint Eastwood, there was better drama in pitting the sword wielding hero against a gunfighter than there was in pitting the pistol-bearing hero against a guy with a rifle, and the ending of Yojimbo was far more satisfying.

But Fistful of Dollars was good. Leone's instincts for close-ups and angles was pretty keen. Eastwood was cool, even if he wasn't as cool as Mifune. And the location--very dry, hot looking spanish desert--was very effective atmosphere. The costumes were not the garish, bright colours of a 50s western, but instead a more realistic and interesting collection of earth tones. I liked how everyone's pants were really tight and how very skinny Eastwood was.

I was up until 5am watching it, then I woke myself up at 9am to tape The Postman Always Rings Twice and was unable to get back to sleep afterwards. So I typed up a few chapters of my novel, editing as I went. Already I've been more productive to-day than yesterday--in fact, I think yesterday was the single least productive day I've had in a year. Mostly it was eaten up by Morrowind--I've finally gotten around to figuring out how to make my own maps in the editer and have begun assembling my own mod. Too, too addictive.
"Only one important thing has happened in the last three days, and that is that nothing has happened." -Sherlock Holmes

Saturday, March 06, 2004

Watched a particularly good episode of Slayers last night. The group was up against a creature whose teleportation ability resembled Nightcrawler's in X-2, in that it was quick and all the fuck over the place. And the manner in which Lina beat him was still satisfying--she used some big shadowy thing called the Ragna Blade that was able to cut through the monster's dimensional barrier. Neat stuff. I love Lina Inverse.

Friday, March 05, 2004

What I learned in class last night; comedy is easy, dying is hard. Frustrating a little, too.

Watched the 1927 Metropolis a few nights ago--or what's left of it, anyway. It seems that about a quarter of the movie was lost forever. What's left is truly great. Visuals of the convoluted future city put me in the mind of Coruscant in the new Star Wars movies. And in fact, Metropolis's city shots looked about as real.

Last night I watched Johnny Guitar, in which Joan Crawford was a damned tough old gal. It's a western from the mid-fifties that's about the battle between--not two cowboys, but between two women. Which was neat. Not a perfect film by any means. But great fun.

Am I the only one who thinks there should have been a wrestling match between Joan Crawford and Katharine Hepburn at some point? Of course they'd be naked, but that goes without saying . . .

Thursday, March 04, 2004

I hate Thursdays.

My eyelids plead with me, they want to touch each other. But I've an obstacle course to run . . .

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

Sitting here eating girl scout cookies, noticing that the cookies are marketed as being "old-fashioned" and it occurs to me that it's kinna old-fashioned to market something as old-fashioned, particularly with the font they're using.

The back has a photo of girls hoisting a U.S. flag. Looks like the cast of a third rate spooky mystery cartoon, complete with a token representative of every race and weight.

I wish I had been in girl scouts. I've been thinking about girls a lot lately. Maybe 'cause we're heading into spring, huh? Wow, I bet that's it. Huh. I've never before marked this occasion but, yes, suddenly, mysteriously, vaginas matter a lot more to me to-day than they did a few months ago. And it's not like I was indifferent to them back then.

I will say, though, that I caught myself thinking that if I ever married a man, I would want to wear a wedding dress. Mostly I think there're just omnigendered daemons piroetting about my brain-land.

How about some manga? The famously brilliant Caitlin, one of the great females of this world, has uploaded my chapter 5 of The Adventures of Nar'eth to Nebari.Net. I'm kind of sorry now that no one gets naked in this chapter.

Speaking of Caitlin, you might wanna look at her Girl Who Sold the World in the chronicles section of Nebari.Net.

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

No time to-day
and nothing to say
anyway
so, hey
La doipie doipie lay!

Monday, March 01, 2004

Guess what? I did another new page of Doll Merchant, hey hey!

Watched Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution last night. The movie gave me the smug feeling all the way through that I knew what the surprise ending was. Then at the end, it turned out I was right but not right enough!

And Charles Laughton was delightful in the movie.

I thought it was kind of funny that Tyrone Powers' character was uncomfortable being the object of a 56 year-old woman's crush--even as his character was married to Marlene Dietrich's character and Dietrich was, at the time the film was made, 56 years old! She looked gaunt.
"When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it." -Sherlock Holmes