Farewell Little Brother

He's first off to Asia, then back to Calgary.
I'm going to miss the little pervert.

Seven years in Los Scandelous. It's an end of an era.

Now a moment for our sponsors

I have both good news and bad news.

The bad news first.

The new energy drink COCAINE (as featured in a past posting) has been pulled from stores nationwide amid concerns about its name... despite that the drink contains no drugs unfortunately. The FDA cited as evidence the drink's labeling and Web site, which included the statements "Speed in a Can," "Liquid Cocaine" and "Cocaine -- Instant Rush."

You would think the FDA would be busy investigating and preventing the contamination of pet food rather than poo poo-ing on a company's first amendment rights. But I guess I'm wrong.


Now for the good news.

Filmmaker John Woo is presenting a new video game called Stranglehold (one of the sponsors of the VC Film Fest) that features no other but Chow Yun Fat and it looks GOOD. Coming in Summer 2007, it will be available for next-gen video game consoles. I don't know what that means, but it sounds hot. I doubt I can play it on my Sony Playstation from 1998 though. Drat.

The tagline for the video game is as follows:

Honor is his code.
Vengeance is his mission.
Bloodshed is his only option.

Dude, it sounds like such a classic John Woo film, it's awesome!

Thank you for "A Christmas Story"

Director Bob Clark, who is well known for directing the films A Christmas Story, Black Christmas, and Porky's, has died after being involved in a car crash outside of Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 4. Both he and his 22-year-old son died after their vehicle collided head-on with an SUV of a drunk driver veering into Clark's lane.

Rest in peace, my friend. "A Christmas Story" is genius and one of my favorite films. It made me appreciate sarcasm on another level. And for that I am forever grateful.

Yet another 10 year anniversary

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Biggie's death. He was gunned down on the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire, only a couple of blocks from where I reside, after attending a Soul Train Music Awards after-party at the Peterson Automotive Museum. I believe the LAPD has yet to resolve the case and determine his murderer(s).

I remember hearing the news that day and feeling sad. Biggie was one of the best hip hop lyricists EVER. Whether you're a hip hop fan or not, no true music aficionado's collection is complete without Biggie's "Ready to Die." At the ripe age of 24, Biggie's death is a monumental loss in hip hop. No one has even come close to the talents this man had. His legacy remains.

RIP: Anna Nicole Smith

Some people don't believe this, but I really like Anna Nicole. I was rooting for her from day one. She deserved all the money that her late husband bequeathed to her. The Anna Nicole show was hilarious. The whole Trim Spa thing was fascinating. She loved pills, and I loved how spacey she was on them. She didn't give a fuck. Anna Nicole is a classic superstar. I'm gonna miss her.

Here's a good article in the Houston Chronicle about her. It shares my complete sentiments.

A letter from Gitmo

Reading this today made me so sad and angry.

Feeling ambivalent and strangely sad

Saddam Hussein is executed. He was hanged just before dawn on Saturday in Baghdad.

This whole ordeal is so fucken disturbing. Is justice truly served when one evil leader (Hussein) and his administration are removed by an another evil leader (Bush) and his administration?

Hungry polar bears are no fun

The Bush administration has decided to propose listing the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, putting the U.S. government on record as saying that global warming could drive one of the world's most recognizable animals out of existence. Rising temperatures in the Arctic are shrinking the sea ice that polar bears need for hunting.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials had concluded that polar bears could be endangered within 45 years. "We've reviewed all the available data that leads us to believe the sea ice the polar bear depends on has been receding. Obviously, the sea ice is melting because the temperatures are warmer."

Polar bears normally swim from one patch of sea ice to another to hunt for food, but they are not accustomed to going long distances. In September 2004, government scientists observed 55 polar bears swimming offshore in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea, which was considered unprecedented, and four of those bears died. In a separate study that year, federal scientists identified three instances near the Beaufort Sea in which polar bears ate each other.

Dude, that's sick. We humans need to stop ruining the earth for other living creatures. Stop Global Warming Now! Hey, that could be a nifty t-shirt for 2007...

Seattle Mayor says, "Rave on!"

Despite seven violent deaths last weekend, the mayor gave a reassuring message for the youths who love the all-night music and dancing of the "rave" party scene: Rave on.

That's right, bitches, rave on! Just make sure to be prepared to defend yourself... you could keep your semi-automatic weapon in your glow stick. That's where I keep mine.

If the glove don't fit...

Poor Johnnie. I wonder if he would have ever suspected his white associates to take over his firm when he died? I give mad respect to Johnnie, but it's his bad for trusting whitee in the first place...

In Bomb the Suburbs, William Upski Wimsatt, a white "hip hop" writer from Chicago, writes, "...But let me offer this advice to black artists: Next time y'all invent something, you had better find a way to control it financially, because we're going to want that shit. And... you won't even get to hear us say 'Thanks niggers'."

RIP Ms. Octavia

Octavia E. Butler, an internationally acclaimed science fiction writer whose evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human, died on Friday, February 24, 2006 after a fall near her home in Lake Forest Park, Washington. She was 58.

I was shocked when I heard of her death on NPR. BF just lended me one of her books, Parable of the Sower, a week before. It's one of his favorite books. I've been reading it this past weekend and I'm very impressed. I'm far from being a sci-fi aficionada, but I find Octavia's description of the future compelling. Her story also parallels current concepts of the present. Plus, I like strong heroines ... so does she apparently.

Here's a short description from the book's sleeve: The time is 2025. The place is California, where small walled communities must protect themselves from hordes of desperate scavengers and roaming bands of "Paints", people addicted to a drug that activates an orgasmic desire to burn, rape and murder. When one small community is overun, Lauren Olamina, an 18 year old black woman, sets off on foot, moving north along the dangerous coastal highways. She is a "sharer", one who suffers from a hereditary trait called "hyperempathy" which causes her to feel others' pain as well as her own.