first look: fantasia 2007 lineup

i think this will be year 5 for me attending the fantasia film fest in montreal. i've had some really great experiences: meeting ray harryhausen, who presented jason and the argonauts, seeing directors and actors present their films like tim sullivan and paul naschy, seeing fun films like high tension, (someone in front of me had to leave to throw up!) izo, evil aliens, hell, (horrible thai movie) accion mutante (de la iglesia!!!!) bubba ho tep and soooo much more.

this year's festival opens July 5 and looks to be another great year! the new miike film (as always) tons of guests including fred vogel and jean rollin!!!!!!

here's the preliminary lineup on fangoria.com

don't know what i'll make it to this year, depends on when the films are and what my wife will stand for. ben? greg? erik? anyone else up for a few trips up north?

yet another great reason to move to canada

quite a few years ago on a trip to montreal, i discovered a beautiful thing. lay's smokey bacon chips. that's bacon fume en francais. apparently, the frito lay company has quite a different selection above the border.

you say, "another post about pork products????!!!!"

yup.

man, these were my favorite chips for a long time. authentic smokey flavor, great crunch - artificial and natural flavor! any time someone went north of the border, we would beg them - "get smokey bacon! get smokey bacon!" my friend bryan and i even went so far as to contact frito lay national (bryan made the call) and ask why we couldn't get the same wonderful snacky goodness as the rest of north america. they very politely said no. and that was it.

check out the lay's canadian website. you will see smokey bacon and ketchup flavor (both of which i have tried, they also have ketchup flavored doritos!) as well as several new flavors:

roast chicken!!!!!!

fries 'n gravy!!!!!!

spicy curry!!!!!!

chili garlic!!!!!!

i guess i'm goin' to canada!

the bridge

i saw this documentary on friday night called the bridge. for a year in 2004, filmmaker eric steel camped out at the golden gate bridge in san fran and documented with several telephoto lenses, people committing and attempting to commit suicide. i found this to be a compelling examination of the subject and quite disturbing. to me what was most disturbing was the shock of watching people die right before your eyes, and then becoming adjusted to it, almost numb. it may seem that this could be very exploitative, but the subject matter was not handled that way. it was very real and honest. the footage of jumpers or attempting jumpers was cut together with family and friends talking about the jumper. this film was banned from several festivals, although after seeing this, i'm not sure why. perhaps the subject was too taboo, i'm not sure. here's a great interview with the director. one of the best moments of the film was an interview with a still photographer who happened to be shooting on the bridge when a jumper came up next to him and stepped over the rail and onto the ledge. he continued to shoot pictures for a while, until realizing what the jumper was about to do. he eventually ended up grabbing the person off the ledge and lifting them back on to the road. he talked about how when looking through a camera lens you sometimes forget that what you are seeing is really happening, that you become detached from your subject. The film inter cut interview footage with actual long lens shots of this happening and the still photos that the guy took. this made for an utterly compelling viewing experience. you get to here the tale told and see it happen at the same time. if you like to be challenged, watch this film.

haiku, f. u.

boy george: the sad clown
i saw behind the music
unrequited love

the 9 dollar hot dog

let me start by saying that i love pork. nation of islam, i feel sorry for you. for me, pork is the ultimate meat - let me count the ways:

1. bacon

2. pork loin

3. ham steak

4. ham cold cuts

5. canadian bacon

6. pig roast

7. pulled pork

8. holiday ham

9. hawaiian pizza

10. pork chops

11. ribs!!!!! (you are right, jim, how could i forget???)

this leads me to the 9 dollar hot dog.

big fatty's on main street in burlington has this gastronomical giant on the menu. a couple of months ago, my family and i tried their ribs and chicken. fantastic. the best real barbecue i've ever had (not that i've had a ton, mind you)

take one foot long hot dog and bun. pile on a mountain of pulled pork, cole slaw and extra barbecue sauce, plus a nice cool switchback, and man, you are wanting for nothing. if i could improve on this idea at all, i would say using a corndog would be nice, or a bun made out of corn bread.

this thing must've weighed close to 5 pounds! regrettably, i couldn't finish it. i came close. my friend greg came much closer. anyway, if you love stupid ridiculous over-the-top food and pork, you will be into this.

mmmmmmmmm. pork.

lara logan, i feel for you

cbs chief foreign correspondent lara logan, you are the bomb. i can't get you out of my head. of the 5 celebrities on my "list," you are currently number one. you make me feel like one of those teenage girls you see on the footage of the beetles playing live, screaming and clawing at my face and crying, "please god, oh please." you look good. so good. even with a helmet on, covered in sand and dust. in fact, i think you look better that way. and you have a british accent. and you used to be a swimsuit model. and your reporting. your reporting. you are really good at that. which is pretty rare.

once i saw lara logan live. she had no makeup on (still looked amazing.) they went to a short, short package (less than a minute) and came back and she had full makeup on. wow. quick. and great.

anyway, lara logan. the only reason to watch corporate news.

greg said blog this

the images found here are what i hope, even a small section of heaven will be like when i die. or whatever you want to call it that happens when you leave this earth. good god. i want to crawl up in these pictures and live there forever. you see, i am obsessed with classic arcade games. these vintage photos just make me sooooo nostalgic. i grew up in vermont. we had our fare share of arcades, but nothing like this. i mean... currently we have funspot, but it doesn't have the sparkling sheen that this had. this is right up there with my dream to own flynn's arcade from tron. and live upstairs in a sweet studio pad. if you love tron, you know what i'm talkin' bout.

ahhhh, the 80s. lived it. loved it.

thanks, ben

i want to thank ben for recommending roman polanski's the fearless vampire killers. we watched it last night, and boy! was it great! I was expecting a culty, low budget 60's British romp, which I got. But I was also expecting something that was cheesy and unintentionally funny which this was not. It was genuinely funny and had great comic timing and a fun, jokey energy. and sharon tate. mmmmm. sharon tate. it sucks to think how she got murdered by those manson a-holes, 'cause she was so young and amazingly beautiful.

i really enjoyed the setting of vampire killers. the snowy landscape was an interesting take on the whole vampire story. it looked like they did a lot of day-for-night shooting, but they pulled it off quite well. the camera work was also quite masterful. it really felt ahead of it's time for sure.

a great double bill would be fearless vampire killers and young frankenstein. i would love that. so thanks, ben and keep those great recommendations coming!

a list of things that smell good to me

1. freshly cut grass

2. freshly showered woman

3. real pit barbecue

4. sharpie markers

5. brewing beer

6. brewing coffee

7. a brand new dvd amaray case

8. newly printed mimeographs - don't exist anymore :(

9. funspot in weirs, nh

10. burning fireworks

11. burning campfire

12. my wife's cooking

13. my dog, zeffer

14. vietnam restuarant

15. new sneakers

16. sunday paper

17. my farts

an open letter to vincent gallo

dear vincent,

i just wanted to say that i really enjoy you as a person. ever since i saw buffalo 66 in the theater, i knew that i dug your vibe.

seeing buffalo 66 and the brown bunny have had a profound effect on me and my life. they make me want to create and give me a reason to live.

you seem like a pretty wacky guy. some stuff i don't understand, like the whole conservative republican vibe.

how can someone who makes art say stuff like that? are you just simply being contrary? anway that's what makes you, you.

also things like giving roger ebert cancer, and selling your sperm on your website. and being a breakdancer. and a model.

anyway, i just wanted to say thanks for making a few great movies and being true to yourself, whatever that means.

i wait patiently for your next film.

r2d2 usps

awwwwww!

i love this idea! r2d2 mailbox! it's such a natural fit. the usps has been having a star wars 30th anniversary promotion for the past few months. you could win prizes and vote for your favorite stamp designs (which have been chosen and are now available!)

i wonder how this idea came down for the r2d2 box wrap. did rabid postal employee star wars fans notice the obvious similarities between their post box and r2?

or, did rabid star wars fans who love the post office get this going?

was it the brain child of george lucas? did he originally design r2 based on the mailbox? maybe the answer is out there...

okay, this has already been blogged a ton, but its just so fun and nerdy! i've only seen the one in burlington, wish there were more.