THE SCENE: Doolittle and Tophat watching one of his favorite movies, the underrated Streets of Fire.
DOOLITTLE: When was the last time you watched The Outsiders?
TOPHAT: It’s been a while. Why?
DOOLITTLE: Because I don’t think anyone has ever been more beautiful than Diane Lane in that movie. Ever. You should watch it again just for her. She has the most perfect face I have ever seen.
TOPHAT: Diane Lane was my first crush.
DOOLITTLE: Mine too, apparently.
TOPHAT: Diane Lane and Her Butt Hair.
DOOLITTLE: Wha—?
DOOLITTLE: …
DOOLITTLE: !?!???!
DOOLITTLE: Gross.

So it turns out that Tophat meant to say “butt-shaped hair” in reference to her fabulously feathered Streets of Fire coif. Regardless of intention, our misunderstanding put a new twist on my feelings about Diane Lane. Every time I see her Neutrogena commercial now, that phrase pops into my head. In title caps. And sparkle font.

All things considered, I couldn’t resist when I came across this article about Road to Hell, an up and coming Streets of Fire tribute by Albert Pyun of The Sword and the Sorcerer notoriety. I’m not going to paraphrase here; Mr. Beaks’ article is both thorough and entertaining. Check it out.

Filed under: slowblogger

So here are some pics from the GRIDLINK show I attended last Friday in Baltimore at the fabulous Talking Head club. Hailing from Hoboken, NJ GRIDLINK plays a brand of face melting grindcore that will send all hipsters and posers running for the nearest American Apparel store. If you like abstract scientific concepts and super fast, technical grind then this is the band for you. The band consists of 3 members, all of whom live in different parts of the world like Japan and Texas, that get together for just a couple weeks a year in order to record/practice. This summer the east coast was lucky enough to get pummeled with a handful of shows from Boston down to Baltimore. After suffering through shitty Maryland traffic and battling the crowd of downtown Charm City on a Friday night we managed to catch up with NOISEAR/GRIDLINK/PHOBIA/KILL THE CLIENT drummer and former Albuquerque resident and drummer for hire extrordanaire, Bryan Fajardo. It was great catching up with Bryan and it’s always nice to take advantage of the insane drink specials that all bars in Baltimore seem to have ($2.50 National Bohemian and $5 Beam and tall boy Pabst!!!) Cheers to Bryan (see you in September!) and Andrew Top Hat (for navigating me through the code process)

Filed under: slowblogger

I moved to Austin. It has been about a month and I’m settled in and semi-confident in finding my way around town. I don’t have a job and that stresses me out a little, but I’m going to just keeping moving forward because, what the hell else am I supposed to do? I have money for next month’s rent, and possibly the utilities. There is food in the in the fridge and liquor in the cabinets. I guess I’m doin’ alright.

Austin is in a severe drought and experiencing a nearly record breaking number of +100 degree days. According to the locals, last year Austin experienced 3 days over 100 degrees and this year there have been more than 45 days over 100 degrees. In other words, it is fucking hot. And that is all I have to complain about regarding Capital City.

Yes, it is as awesome as they say it is out here. The people are friendly and helpful, in fact, I witnessed excellent customer service from a State funded institution! It was jaw-dropping. No vacant stare, no mad-dogging. I love my home city of Albuqueruqe, but customer service was swallowed and pooped out by nepotism long ago.

There are so many locally owned restaurants here that the basic standard for a good meal is raised, while frequently the price of the meal is not.

Music. I won’t insult you or “the scene” by trying to sum up the music. It is called the Live Music Capital of the World for a reason.

But my current favorite part of Austin is I Luv Video. One of the two locations is .9 miles from where I live and it is two floors of every movie a movie-dork wants. To name a few of their neatly marked sections: New Hollywood release, Hong Kong action films, Blaxploitation films you have never heard of, Documentaries on Blaxploitation films you have haver heard of, Bollywood movies, a Criterion Film edition section, anime, porn (probably anime porn) and t.v. shows ( I found all of the MST3K episodes) just to name a few. The movie loving employees at I Luv Video are friendly. There is no doubt that these people know more about movies than I do, but they don’t feel compelled to prove it. The membership fee at I Luv Video is $2.50 with a valid i.d and credit card. A fee they will waive if you surrender you Blockbuster card to them. There are cut up bb cards hanging all over the store.

And on Tuesdays after 6pm there is free beer for 21+ members. That’s right, free beer. Oh, did I mention that Tejas has number of miro-breweries and that the free beer is good beer? We enjoyed one of the Real Ale Brewing Company‘s brews, from a cold, cold keg. I don’t even like beer that much, but I’m not stupid. Free, good beer. An array of fantastic films. Fill up me plastic cup!

Filed under: slowblogger

I had some trouble with my internet. I’m having some trouble with my internet. My new Netgear modem isn’t responding to my PPP username and password. It’s detecting my DSL out of the wall but it doesn’t like the funky codes my ISP gave me. So yesterday I called my ISP and after 30 minutes of wasted time they refered me to the customer service line for Netgear. I love globalization. If you down size in Palo Alto then you upisize in Calcutta. Is it a small world after all? Here is a summary of my conversation.

#3040 – Hello this is Kim, Customer Service #3040 how can I provide wonderful customer service for you today?

me -Yes my modem isn’t responding to my PPP username and passwords provided by my ISP and they refered me to you.

#3040 – I’m sorry say that again

me- Yes my modem isn’t responding to my PPP username and passwords provided by my ISP and they refered me to you.

#3040 Okay…can you read me the serial number off of the modem.

Lengthy exchange, (at this point I can’t tell what gender or ethnicity #3040 is, that leads down a dozen dead ends until #3040 give me this classic liner)

#3040 – Okay…can you turn off the modem and restart your computer.

me – Okay, just a second.
long pause

#3040 – So how is the weather in Albuquerque, New Mexico?

me- it’s hot, really hot…where are you located?

#3040 – I am far away…Manila, in the Phillipines.

me- Wow that is far!

#3040 – Yes. How is the weather in Albuquerque, New Mexico?

me – It’s hot, how is the weather in Manila?

#3040 – It has been raining for three days. Has your computer restarted?

me- No, not yet sorry.
long pause

#3040 – Your last name sounds Spanish are you from Spain?

me- No sorry, I’m Hispanic, which is ethnicly Spanish but from the US. They speak Spanish in the Philipines right?

#3040 Yes..I know Spanish.

me- And you guys speak Tagalog too right?

#3040 – Yes, it is our national language. It shares many words with Spanish, as an example the word for five in Tagalog is cinco.

me – Oh wow.
long pause

#3040 – If you could go anywhere in the word where would you go?

me- Hmmm…England.

#3040 – Not Spain?

me – No, England I would go for a soccer game. You?

#3040 – I would go to either Paris, France or Bali, Indonesia.

me- Bali, wow, why Bali?

#3040 – I would go to Bali because my favorite TV show from Korea called Memories of Bali is set in Bali and it’s about love and heartbreak and hope. giggle

me- Oh, that’s great.

#3040 – What do you do besides work on computers?

me- I guess I watch sports and watch movies.

#3040 – Have you seen Wanted with Angelina Jolie?

me – No, sorry.

#3040 – How about The Dark Knight?

me- No, all my friends think I’m weird becuase I haven’t. What time is it there?

#3040 – giggle It is almost six o’clock in the morning.

me – When are you done with work.

#3040 – I work from ten o’clock at night to six in morning.

me- Oh wow, in America we call that a swing shift. Hey, you’re almost done!

#3040 – Yes, giggle You are my last call for the day.

I was his last call…but sadly #3040 wasn’t able to fix my problem. My computer restarted and nothing changed. A few minutes later #3040 signed off with this.

#3040 Okay…I hope that I was able to assist you today is there anything else I can assist you with today?

me- No, thank you.

#3040 Okay then I want to wish you a good day and thank you for using Netgear and godbless.

me- Godbless.

I don’t know if Kim was a man or a woman but I know where the Philipines are and I hope they are Tsunami free this year.

Filed under: slowblogger