White-Hot Productivity

Success! Finally updated the JSM! site with an actual review - um, not precisely on Angel, which is probably what I should be doing, but on "Never Leave Me," an episode that's been kicking my ass to define since it aired... uh, a significantly long time ago.. (I may have mentioned this before, but I have a thing for completeness, so I'll be tackling all the missing episodes eventually, including "Get It Done," which has to be the winner of "Most Baffling Messages Ever Sent By a BtVS Episode" for Buffy's unrepentant bitchcraft to all her friends. (Remember, folks - the way to motivate people is to tell them they're worthless and not doing enough to help you, preferably right after witnessing a tragic death. And while you're at it, make sure to make yourself sound like the only one who ever does anything, especially when you demand performance from others that's above and beyond what you're willing to do yourself. Everyone will respect that!)

Spent the weekend writing, pretty much, which was a nice change of pace. It's so refreshingly obvious when I feel like writing as opposed to when I don't - the words just come so easy. When I don't feel like it, it's like rearranging items in your fridge and never really feeling like you've made anything look more organized. Or am I the only person out there who does that?

But anyway, lots of updates hopefully coming in the near future. As long as I'm on a roll, I'll be getting as much done as I can.

Next writeup in progress: I am working on Angel, finally! I'm gonna jump forward and do ep. 5.8, "Destiny," because up until then I figure it's mostly buildup anyhoo, and I have the most to say about that one. If I'm lucky, I'll get the darn thing done before the new ep. airs on Wednesday. If I'm lucky.

In Living Color

Just re-read my last entry and Jeezus, do I ever do anything but whine about how I'm not getting enough work done? Gah, enough of that.

Found out I can't have more than five links on an unpaid account here. Rats. May have to rotate these fairly regularly. Added Soulful Spike Society because it has great Angel writeups. Wanted to squeak in Tai Seng Entertainment because this company is the source for Hong Kong martial arts action, straight from '60s and '70s and '80s, much of it in-your-face zany, all of it hilariously dubbed in English. Find out where The Matrix got its ideas from, and plenty more that you're not likely to see in U.S. theaters anytime soon, unless Miramax ever gets around to releasing Shaolin Soccer.

Other Asian Films You Should Totally See: Hero. Amazing movie about China's Warring States period and the Emperor of Qin, alternately hailed as China's great unifier and a brutal tyrant. The movie goes for an almost Rashomon-like, seen-through-various-eyes approach of chronicling the period, and each new viewpoint is color-coded for emotion and style. One of the most gorgeous films you're likely to see in awhile, as well as one of the most epic-dramatic. Bride With White Hair, if you're curious where Xena, Warrior Princess came from. Millennium Actress and Tokyo Godfathers, two wildly different animated films by the same director, Satoshi Kon, both so worth watching. See them now.

Zombies! Watched Lucio Fulci's gut-munching 1979 zombie flick - aptly named Zombie, aka Zombi in the original Italian - the other night, on brand-spanking new DVD. Can see why it's a classic. Underwater zombie attacks, a girl getting menaced in the shower, zombies lurching across the Brooklyn Bridge. Am told I absolutely must hear the radio clips from the Special Features. What's that in the bushes? Zombie! Another zombie flick you might check out, if you're into zombies would be Stacy, a Japanese movie that I can't quite describe, other than to say it's about a world where all teenage girls become zombies at a certain age instead of growing up. Weird. Sick. Funny. Worth it.

What th--?

Hey! Links in the body text aren't highlighted? Guh... and I thought I was being clever with my new html trick. Mouse over titles in my last entry and you might get a surprise or two.

What You Want, When You Want It

If you're getting the impression that I've spent nearly the entire day screwing around on updating this journal because I can't think straight enough to do much of anything else, you'd be right. But that being the case, I'm going straight for the best distractions on God's Green Earth, toys. I already have plenty of toys on and around my desk (it's practically a tourist attraction around here for office visitors) - and I can't recommend that practice highly enough, by the way, since fiddling with a good toy can cheer you up when almost nothing else will - but here are the latest ones that have drawn my eye:

First, take at look at the fabulous site for Japanese toys, Toy Box DX, and get a load of their Toy of the Year 2003 winners. Then go even further and click on the menu button that reads "Toy Porn." No, this isn't naked toys, but ones so drool inducing, it amounts to the same thing. Here's the one I really lust after - the Soul of Chogokin GX09 Minerva X. (Although the Soul of Chogokin GX06 Getter Robo is pretty hot too.) Ah, metal toys....

Next, hop on over to All About Spike, and check the link on the left that reads "New Action Figures." Yes, Sideshow Toys finally made 12-inch figures of Spike and Angel which I must have for my birthday. Like, duh, so they can fight! (BTW, if you're gonna get them anyway, please get them through this link, folks. It supports the site.) Can't get enough of looking at that picture of the Angel doll with his ill-fitting little Ken-doll style leatherette pants. Awww. (Why is it that clothes never fit quite right on male dolls? Barbie never has these problems...) Then the winner has to face my 12-inch Cutey Honey doll and her chrome sword. Heh-heh.

There is a new version of Buffy, too. I'm undecided. Her outfit is better than the old 12-inch doll (which I have). But selected Barbie clothes will fit her, so a whole new doll just for the outfit might be a bit much. Especially since that jacket reminds me of "Dead Things." Shudder.

There are more items that are just too amusing not to love - like the 18-inch Leatherface (makes chainsaw sounds on a motion sensor) or Jason (makes that Ch-ch-ch sound from the movie) dolls, or the 18-inch Stormtrooper on my co-worker's desk that says "Move along" on a motion sensor. Toys are good.

Toys I'd Like To See: A 12-inch Pinhead, from Hellraiser. If one's ever been made, I've never seen it, and it would be too funny. A 12-inch Drusilla ('cause the meta-hilarity of a doll with dolls of her own is just too mind-bending).

Top of the heap? Probably that Godzilla toy that's actually made to be worn like a costume for a G.I. Joe-style action figure inside, exactly like the stuntmen in the films wore them. Now that's impressively meta.