In Traffic...

So this morning I got cut off rather forcefully during my commute. So forcefully, if fact, that I had to swerve a bit onto the shoulder, coming dangerously close to the ditch. I had Jackson in the car with me. Jackson's reaction was: "Woah, Daddy!"

The guy who almost hit me was driving a Hummer. He was on the phone, not paying attention to what he was doing. He was severely overweight. He had a "W: STILL The President" sticker affixed to the back of his gas-guzzling monstrosity. He was arrogant and Rude, and I thought to myself: You are everything that is wrong with this country.

-JP

Okay, so...

I had a dream last night where near the end, I had to punch out Walter Mathau.

That is all.

Look how cute my kid is!

I mean, seriously.

More here.

-JP

What I will be saying next year...

If I haven't jinxed just now, is that 2008 was a pretty rockin year. I have high hopes for the coming presidential election, though I had high hopes for the last two, and was severely disappointed. "They won't vote for Bush," I thought. "They're smart people.
D'oh!
Well, this time people will get it right. At least I will. They are already turning.

So in addition to having two boys running around, an awesome wife, Settling into a great job, and being debt-free(as in no student loans, credit cards or car payments*), I will be very well entertained this year.
I thought Cloverfield was awesome. I know a lot of people did not, but I did. You all know of my love for Godzilla, and this was the first decent giant monster movie out of the states in a long time. Maybe ever. That kicked off what might be the geekiest year ever for movies. The sad fact that Star Trek has been moved from December to May of next year is the only blemmish on the year of the Nerd. This is our time.

Iron Man gives me little tingly feelings in my nether regions. This looks to be one of the best and most faithful comic adaptation since the first Spiderman. (the obvious exception being Persepolis**) Robert Downy Jr. seems to embody Tony Stark completely and with much gusto.

The Dark Knight will be equally cool, and as Heath Ledger's swan song, I hope his talent shows through, and lets everybody know that he truely was one fearless motherfucker.

And then there is the new Indiana Jones movie. Looks like the bad guys are no longer the Nazis, but The U.S. Army and maybe the Roswell aliens. Giggidy.

More Comic Book/Super Hero/Nerd Movies:
The Incredible Hulk: Ed Norton should do a bit better. The last one looked like it was made out of silly putty.
Speed Racer Why does Christina Ricci still get to play teenagers? She almost 30. Oh, right. She's a cutie.
Hancock Even though Will Smith is slipping down the Scientology slope, I will give him the benifit of the doubt on this one.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army Yay!
X-Files 2 Wait, what?
The Clone Wars Hopefully this won't be a crapfest. The animation looks cool, but that means squat.
Wanted This movie has veered really far away from the comic, but for some reason looks cool anyway. Others:
Choke We finally get another movie based on a novel by Chuck Papahniuk, of Fight Club fame. This one looks just as weird.

It looks like George Romero is borrowing a page from Cloverfield with Diary of the Dead. I love Zombie movies, and Romero is the King.
Be Kind Rewind I am getting to be a big fan of Mos Def.
Semi Pro If you don't know about this movie then you have been living in a fisherman's boot.
10,000 B.C. This just looks so wonderfully innaccurate and weird. Wooly Mammoths in Egypt? Do tell.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Run, Fat Boy, Run
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
And those are just the ones I really wanna see, and have the patience to post links to. We also get: Get Smart, Mongol, In Bruges, Death Race 3000, Quantum of Solace, The remake of the Day the Earth Stood Still, Harry Potter, and the second Narnia movie.

Pony up yer sawbuck! We're going to the movies.


*You have no idea how little stress there is when you have no payments other than the house. :)

** Go read this book RIGHT NOW, then see the movie.

In which I update my loyal fans...

First off, let's get the baby pic out of the way--->

Aaawwww!

The boys are doing fine, and Jen is doing awesome. Good things all around.

I don't know if you guys are following any of this Anonymous vs. Scientology stuff that's been going on, but I have because I am totally fascinated by it. For one thing, the Tom Cruise Video is friggin' hilarious, and I truly believe that these idiots deserve to be put out of business. It is after all, a cultish scam based entirely on a dare. Last weekend, across the world, a bunch of protests were held at the behest of a group of internet nerds calling themselves Anonymous. That's fine and all, good for them. Won't do a bit of good, but A for effort. What I don't get is that the protestors took to wearing masks, probably because of Scientology's habit of photographing, identifying, and suing the pants off of anybody who doesn't like them. Okay. I get that. But what you don't realize is that putting on masks, gathering in large nimbers and acting like weirdos makes you look like a cult. That being said, I think this picture is oddly arousing.

So I guess there is an election coming up? I think I eard that somewhere. I think I have finally decided who I want to back. Although I am firmly in the "ANYBODY else!" camp, and think either democrat would do a good job, I really like Obama, and here's why:

“When I am this party's nominee, my opponent will not be able to say that I voted for the war in Iraq; or that I gave George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran; or that I supported Bush-Cheney policies of not talking to leaders that we don't like. And he will not be able to say that I wavered on something as fundamental as whether or not it is ok for America to torture — because it is never ok… I will end the war in Iraq… I will close Guantanamo. I will restore habeas corpus. I will finish the fight against Al Qaeda. And I will lead the world to combat the common threats of the 21st century: nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. And I will send once more a message to those yearning faces beyond our shores that says, "You matter to us. Your future is our future. And our moment is now.”

Or as Patrick Neilson Hayden puts it*:

"I’m for Obama knowing perfectly well that, as Bill Clinton suggested, it’s a “roll of the dice”. A roll of the dice for Democrats, for progressives, for those of us who’ve fought so hard against the right-wing frames that Obama sometimes (sometimes craftily, sometimes naively) deploys. Because I think a Hillary Clinton candidacy will be another game of inches, yielding—at best—another four or eight years of knifework in the dark. Because I think an Obama candidacy might actually shake up the whole gameboard, energize good people, create room and space for real change.
Because he seems to know something extraordinarily important, something so frequently missing from progressive politics in this country, in this time: how to hearten people. Because when I watch him speak, I see fearful people becoming brave."

Can't beat that. I hope.

That is all.

-JP

*WAY better than I ever could.

In which I show you some Art I like....

Well, as far as babies and what not go, there is little to report. Joey is just concentrating on growing, so that keeps him pretty busy. Jackson is a spitfire these days. His imagination is taking off like Yuri Gagarin. You can always see pics of the boys here, here, and of course here.



So in lew of anything interesting happening, I give you some really cool art I have found lately:


This is Mark Khaisman, and he makes art out of tape. I remember in college, we had an assignment where we were to create a piece using what the professor called "non-traditional" materials. I wish to God I had thought of this back then. I don't really remember what I did for that assignment. I remember all the other's projects a lot clearer than my own.
One guy found a maniquin in the dumpster by his house, and did a lovely landscape painting on it. The resident pretentious, femi-nazi, I'm-only-a-lesbian-for-political-reasons(and only for the duration of college), dread lock having, over-alls and green Doc. Martins wearing chick* got all up in his shit for "objectifying the female form". Whatever. I'm glad Ani DeFranco isn't popular anymore.


This is Andrew Bell, and he draws a different monster every single day, and has for over 6 years now.



I wish I had that kind of determination.



This is a poster by Shepard Fairey of Obey Giant fame. He has formally endorsed Obama, but would like everyone to vote regardless.

I love this guy's poster and street art. Right up there with Banksy.


And let me tell you this: I love street art when it is doene properly.
I cannot stand tagging and that kind of shit. Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of graffiti artists are very talented. I just wish they would put more effort into "going legit", like Banksy, Basquiat, Keith Herring, and the like, instead of just writing the equalivant of "Johnny was here" over and over again.

Could be it's a tough guy thing. I guess I could see that if you came from a rough and tumble neighborhood, and were interested in art, but knew you would get your ass kicked if you persued it, you would have few options other than Street Art or Tattooing. No tough guys use oils, I guess.

Another rememberance from college: In one art class, there was this tough looking straight-edge skinhead guy (which blows my above theory ). I don't remember his first name, but his last name was Flower. This was ironic enough, him being a skin with a name like Flower and all, but he would make these art pieces that were really dark, violent and usually politically motavated. Lots of skulls and blood and whatnot. So you'd get these greusome pieces that could be used as cover art for Skinny Puppy, but in the corner would be the word Flower. Kind of Magrite, if you think about it.



I think that's all I got.



-JP




*Through out the '90s, there was one of these in every single art class I ever had.