Brando

If you have Comcast On Demand and three or so hours to kill, check out the TCM documentary about Marlon Brando. Even if you're not a Brando fan - or even a big film buff - I can practically guarantee you'll be fascinated.

Brando was a guy who gave so much to life, and to his craft, that by the time he reached his later years he had all but emptied himself out. And yet, he never stopped being Brando - iconoclastic, mercurial and larger-than-life. Seriously, check it out.

Camera No Longer Obscura

I finally got a USB cable for my digital camera, which means I am now able to take blurry, off center photos of stupid shit that only I find amuzing and post them here!

Y'know, like this one.

Aaron Sorkin Is a Tool

I've never watched Studio 60, and now I'm really, really glad. Hey Aaron, how're you liking those sour grapes?

Ohmigod shoes

These shoes rule. These shoes suck!

Wired's Very Short Stories

Apparently inspired by a 6-word short story penned by Ernest Hemingway ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn."), Wired Magazine asked a bunch of writers to submit their own 6-word masterpieces. Some of the results are brilliant, others hilarious. Here's a sampling:

From torched skyscrapers, men grew wings.
- Gregory Maguire

Gown Removed Carelessly. Head, less so.
- Joss Whedon

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood

Wasted Day. Wasted life. Dessert, please.
- Steven Meretzky

It’s behind you! Hurry before it
- Rockne S. O’Bannon

Kirby had never eaten toes before.
- Kevin Smith

TIME MACHINE REACHES FUTURE!!! … nobody there …
- Harry Harrison

Bush told the truth. Hell froze.
- William Gibson

Dinosaurs return. Want their oil back.
- David Brin

Will this do (lazy writer asked)?
- Ken Macloed

Cryonics: Disney thawed. Mickey gnawed. Omigawd.
- Eileen Gunn

Bring On the Horror Flicks!

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I love everything about it -- the change of seasons, the sudden crispness of the air, the pumpkin carving, the creative jack ‘o’ lanterns, the scary movies, the limited edition goodies like little candy corn-flavored pumpkins...I could go on. It's just a rockin' good time.

When I was a kid, I loved to go trick or treating. As a teenager it was all about the costume parties and haunted houses. Now I just love to sit around and watch horror films and all those retrospectives like "The Top 100 Scariest Movie Moments." I don’t always love not being able to sleep after a night of bingeing on horror, but overall it’s worth it. Come to think of it, that’s part of the fun.

It’s only mid-October but already some good stuff is starting to pop up on cable, and last night I stumbled across one of my very favorite Dracula flicks -- the 1979 John Badham version starring Frank Langella and Laurence Olivier (!). Now granted, this is not a film for Dracula purists. It's not faithful to the book, the names of the two heroines are switched (god knows why), and Dracula is repurposed from a hideous blood-sucking fiend to a romantic hero of Byronic proportions. Still, the movie really works. Maybe it's the creepy 70s film stock where everything looks really washed out, but damned if the movie doesn't look like it was really filmed in the Victorian era. The score was composed by John Williams (y'know, the Star Wars Theme guy), and it's arguably one of his best -- super dramatic and vampy and over-the-top. Also, the cast is pretty damned inspired. Olivier is the perfect Van Helsing – sad, weary, yet determined. Kate Nelligan is great as the beautiful, headstrong, progressive Lucy that Dracula falls for. Donald Pleasance is excellent as the obligatory man of science and Lucy’s skeptical father. Tony Haygarth is one of the creepiest, bug-eatingest Renfields I’ve ever seen. And, as long as you can get past the disco-era blow-dried hair, Langella is absolutely arresting as Dracula. He’s arrogance, lust and pathos all rolled into one.

Sure the movie is bursting with fromage, especially the “visual effects,” (screeching bat puppets on a wire? Check.) but this is a vampire movie made in the 70s, people! The cheese is part of the charm. If you’ve got cable On Demand, check it out.

Tonight, I’m moving on to “Scream.” Boo!

Maui? Wowee.

Just returned for a 5-day sojourn on the lovely island of Maui, and I have to say it definitely rates as one of my BEST.TRIPS.EVER.

Despite the fact that I'm still jet-lagged and also seem to have contracted a raging case of tanorexia while abroad (If one more coworker says, "Where'd you get that tan!?" I'm running to the dermatologist), the Aloha Spirit is still coursing through my mai tai-drenched veins.

Last year we went to Kauai, which, while wild and jungly and beautiful, wasn't really the sun, surf and sandy beaches I had envisioned. Maui, however, fit the bill perfectly. It also didn't hurt that we lucked out and got upgraded to a much pricier condo than we could have afforded -- it was the off season and I think our resort had rooms to spare. In fact, the "room" (really more of a condo which included a deck and kitchen) was so nice that we didn't feel much of a need to go out and spend a lot of money at night. We mostly just hung out, pet the feral kitty who suckered us into daily helpings of fresh fish, listened to music, and watched a bunch of YouTube videos (oh yeah, we're that dorky).

I've had some requests for highlights, so here they are, in pretty much random order:

- Snorkeling off the coast of Molokini and seeing a bunch of sea turtles, including one that came up for a breath about 2 feet away from us
- A condo on the beach
- mai tais and lava flows
- sleeping late on the king sized bed
- swimming, swimming, swimming
- the weather - it was perfect
- the beaches - it was like the Hawaii you imagine as a kid

...And a couple of lowlights:
- The fuckin' road to Hana. Half the waterfalls didn't have any water and I felt sick for hours on the windy road.
- Hana itself - what a sad, bedraggled little town. I had the lamest veggie "sandwich" I'd ever had in my life, which consisted of a hamburger bun, half a slice of cheese and some mustard. I wish I'd taken a picture.