I've been on the fence over the idea of buying a storage shed. I'd like a place to keep tools and the lawnmower and whatnot, but doesn't it seem a bit... i don't know... douche-y to have a house AND a shed? i just feel like, when do we have enough junk? i know its not a big deal, i've just been wishing we didn't have so much junk. years of collecting junk have to stop somewhere.

i might sell one of my pins at a bargain basement price just to get rid of it. i'd like to scrap it and keep the backglass framed, but its not in THAT bad of shape to junk it. Pins are like limited edition works of art to an extent, and once they're destroyed, that's it. i dont think i could make that choice. i know some have to die so that others may live, but its not a pin that other people are scrambling for parts for.

eh.

maybe i'm just undersleeped.

i want to create new words.

like undersleeped. and lawnmover.

i've been listening to La Roux a lot lately and feeling like a fruity teenage girl... i dont know why i'm indulging in this gumball music that is played on terrible radio. i thought La Roux were some one hit wonder type pop group, and i guess to some extent they are, but i just found out they are waaaaaay less popular than i though. they topped at #170 on the Billboard 200, and #22 or something on the heatseekers chart. 'I kissed a girl' they ain't.

my ears reinterpreted a new Vampire Weekend song for the first time last night. I never really noticed 'Giving Up the Gun' before, but it might be the best song on Contra.

I just did mini reviews of 24 Xbox 360 Indie Games. Check it out here.

I did it quickly, on a netbook, so the punctuation is a mess, but I found a couple gems today.

Last night, I watched the second half of the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.

The last time I actually watched a television program in my home, on TV, with commercials, not on DVD, was an episode of The Late Show with Conan O'Brien. It was before I was married and Interpol was performing. I set up an antenna just to catch that performance. I didn't realize it until I was watching Conan last night, that it had been that long.

I didn't plan on watching it. I was instead watching 'The Larry Sanders Show' on DVD. The episode was from the early 90's and Larry said something like 'you'll see Conan O'Brien, its not as easy at it looks'. That reminded me that the Tonight Show was on at the moment. Kind of a weird coincidence. Not only that, but Garry Shandling (Larry Sanders) was offered The Late Show before Conan was, but turned it down to focus on 'The Larry Sanders Show'. Kinda weird that all those stars aligned in my bedroom last night.

The final episode was good, but man... are there always that many commercials? It seemed like they would talk for a minute, then there would be 4 more minutes of commercials. The actual ending was great... lots of guest stars, and a somewhat epic, or triumphant, ending. And where does Billy Gibbons get his hats? He's always wearing that weird dreadlock beanie...

Poll #1515188
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

Which one is less beat?

CDs.

Laura Veirs - July Flame
Vampire Weekend - Contra
OKGo - of the Blue Colour of the Sky
Fair - Disappearing World
Miike Snow
Manchester Orchestra
Matt & Kim
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Probably other stuff since I last updated this.

Poll #1500663
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

For years, I thought these were the same person.

So before I get into it... look at the dude with the card on his head yelling... i thought FOR SURE that was Jimmi Simpson who plays Liam McPoyle on 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'. Here's a picture of Jimmi as McPoyle:



But after some careful searching on imdb, it turns out its Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey, whom I've (naturally) never heard of, but here's another picture of him:



For those who have seen the film, am I nuts? Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey played the part of Winnetou in Basterds.

***

AND SO... (how very CS Ware of me.) A pretty well completely spoiler-free rundown.

'Inglorious Basterds' was fantastic. I know myself well enough that Tarantino could crap in a bag and I'd call it gold, but really.... it was great. And even above that, its not only a great Tarantino film, but it's a great film period. So much of the film is lengthy conversation, that I could see 'Kill Bill' fans losing the plot, but I loved the slow pacing. It really gave an edge to the tension. There are SEVERAL scenes that go on much much much longer than they 'should' as a scene in a film, but the scenes are so interesting that it was satisfying to get to spend time with the characters and see how every little twitch played out.

At it's core 'Basterds' is a spy film. A very high tension, jew-killing, Nazi SS fuel-ed, spy film. It's not 1% as graphic or gory as we would expect from Tarantino, and that was a refreshing turn as well.

Many of these high tension scenes expose several exits for the situation. Several resolutions are presented to the audience and the pins-and-needles aspect comes from not knowing what is actually going to happen next.

I really really really loved it. It's not a film you can watch over and over probably, but man... GO SEE IT ONCE. Anyone, go see it. Even if you're not into big budget films, the tone presented comes across as a tiny fraction of the paranoia and tension that must have existed in Europe during the war.

Seriously. It was great.

***

on a totally different note...

Jay-Z - The Blueprint III
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt II

what's with the 'sequel' albums? is there such a thing? i could see like maybe Lou Reed doing a metal trilogy that was totally different from his VU stuff or something, like that kind of movement in Gm kind of deal, but a sequel 5 or 10 years later? How can a musician even write from the same place as they did years ago?

or like... maybe a live springsteen recording where he played in some crappy bar he started in or something. like a 'revisited' deal. like Brian Wilson's 'Smile' from a few years ago. there is no way its the SAME thing, or even an extension of it, but its a reworking of a similar theme, not a sequel. i dont know... just seems weird. i guess Rae just wanted to make a cocaine-centric record again and chose to bank off the first one.