Never have I been so excited and then so very very sad.

as long as you commit, it will always work:

So after a brief server meltdown I’m back online. I took the opportunity to update some software and redo some links, so things should be quicker and easier to use / find.

So the new band had its first show last week. It went really well — something like 125 people came and we all danced our asses off. Here’s a clip of our second song, “Devotion.” I’m on the left there, on top of the subwoofer. UPDATE: the audio has been fixed.

Jesus, from this thing to the most popular blog in the world. So it goes. All my stuff here, if you’re feeling so inclined.

Victory!

It’s true. Third Annual, this year.

Will Long Day. December 30th. Please be sure to celebrate in your own special way.

You are on what is probably a first official date, perhaps a second, depending on your need to label things neatly in boxes.
You are in Chicago’s Chinatown district, making your way to a restaurant that is inevitably named “Three Happiness,” even though it is not affiliated with the identically-named restaurants across the street, down the way, next door, and directly above the establishment you eventually settle upon.
You find yourself following the young lady in question into a Chinese novelty shop, which is full of the implements of casual flirting: sticks with which to poke, masks with which to make silly voices, a set of bongo drums on which to beat out a tribal rhythm that will convince your date to remove her top. You have seen such moments on a National Geographic television special. You pound the drum. Nothing happens.

But then. Oh, then.
Then you see the wall of swords.
Without hesitation, you confidently approach the sword-woman. She looks at you. You look at her. Somehow in this look a message is conveyed. The message is “I do not speak English. Also, I am terrified that you are about to ask me a question.” You choose to ignore this message.
Instead, instinctively, you open your mouth and say what you now believe to be the most alarming thing ever asked a young Chinese woman by a man who is on a first (possibly second) date. You say:
“Excuse me. Do you have any swords that can cut a full-grown man into up to seven slices?”

At moments like these, you feel almost like taking a bow.

The date, interestingly enough, ends very, very late at night, in a honky-tonk bar.

i am graduating from law school in 11 hours. i am terrified of what happens now.

look. i understand you somehow felt the need to “re-envision” a period piece in which everyone spoke with twangy american accents and listened to new wave. i understand that you felt you needed to cast jason schwartzman as louis xiv and kirsten “we’ll fix her teeth in post” dunst as marie antoinette. i need to do some stuff to with kirsten dunst too, and, let’s be honest, i wouldn’t mind her wearing a corset and having some beats on the stereo while it happens. perfectly understandable.

what i don’t understand is why you hate america.

american trailer
french trailer

i mean, what the fuck? “ceremony” is so obviously the better new order song.