the oscars were almost perfect...at least if entered a pool i would have batted .1000 in all major categories...except for one...Best Picture...the one movie that is the retarded step-child that gets all the best toys b/c they're "special". need i even state what film i'm speaking of??

here's DEFAMER to explain why...here.

and here's Roger Ebert...who's obviously still reeling from his stroke, to explain why "movie that shall not be named" deserved Best Picture...here.

though you knew as soon as Ang Lee won for Best Director, he wouldn't get Picture and so logically, our worst fears would be confirmed.

please remember this:

haggis

n : made of sheep's or calf's viscera minced with oatmeal and suet and onions and boiled in the animal's stomach

This is who directed Best Picture...doesn't this concoction remind you of his movie too?

Like Wine, They Only Get Better With Age.

Belle & Sebastian @ The Nokia Theatre 3/3/2006
Expectations / Another Sunny Day / Women's Realm / Sukie in the Graveyard / To Be Myself Completely / Electronic Renaissance / The Boy Done Wrong Again / The Blues Are Still Blue / Piazza, New York Catcher / Funny Little Frog / (Stuart sings a bit of "Don't Stop Believing" a cappella) / Like Dylan in the Movies / Your Cover's Blown / Act of the Apostle I / I'm A Cuckoo / The Wrong Girl / White Collar Boy / Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying // Simple Things (brief, aborted) / Judy and the Dream of Horses / You're Just A Baby

I first saw these guys way back in 2002 at the Hammerstein and i was blown away then...now mind you, they were a little rough around the edges, a band that was trying to get comfortable in their own skin, playing to larger crowds. the evolution continues...and on friday nite, what i saw was belle and sebastian on super happy pills. never has the band sounded so tight and so energetic. their set was so evenly paced with the new catchier tunes from the "The Life Pursuit", threw in some old faves from "Sinister", "Tigermilk", and "Fold Your Hands..." in-between for good measure. what's up w/ these curfues for shows? people were saying that they had to stop playing by 11:30...did this happen when we were younger? anyway, no longer are B&S the shoegazers of old, the whole band was jumping around, joking with the overenthusiastic audience members (i heard that stuart, the lead singer, crowd surfed the night before, WOW!)--kinda wondered how much zoloft they took before the show! they were so good that even the sexy one has become one of the converted, if only she had the endurance to stand for that long.

all in all, one of the best shows i've seen...i mean up there with those cure and radiohead shows...this one ties seeing d.Mode at the Bowery, and not by much...and only b/c we were front row. plus..."the life pursuit"...best album since "if you're feeling sinister", hands down...i say that b/c i can't stop listening to it, damn it!! just like when i first picked up a demo of "sinister" at an old CD store almost a decade ago...i'm still blown away by these guys and consider them to be the smiths of the new century. that's right...i went there.

and yes, the fanboy that i am, saw them at the virgin megastore a few hours before the show and kissed their pale white scottish asses as they signed my copy of the new album, which will be framed, of course.

If you missed it tonite, Stephen Colbert's interview with syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington, was one of the funniest moments on TV that i've seen in a long time.

see for yourself tomorrow, as it repeats at 8:30pm...

as for me, i'm getting my 2nd dose of "TRUTHINESS", as i head to the Report and check out Monsieur Colbert live.

man, nothing fascinates me more than this.

ever since kirk douglas was fighting one onboard the Nemo's Nautilus, i've been totally obsessed with Giant Squid...yes, sharks frighten me, but once one of these bad boys get a taste of man flesh, then i'll definitely be staying poolside.

unfortunately, London's got this bad boy on display, asking artist, Damien Hirst, known for a piece with a dead cow and babe sliced in half preserved in formaldyhyde, for some techniques on being able to both display and study it.

and only now do i find out that there's even a bigger friggin' squid out there...a Colossal Squid
how big you say? the body alone is bigger than one of London's double decker buses...only adolescent C-squids have been caught and dead ones at that, so the full size is just an estimate. and these bad boys have a much larger beak, and teeth that can spin 360!!! this thing would rip your arms off faster than a dress on prom night!!

makes you wonder why we're wasting money on a space program when there is so much we still need to learn about from our oceans...

we got friggin' sea monsters, man!!!



thank you for indulging in my geek tendencies.

bah, buh-buh-ba, bah, buh-buh-ba, baby...don't for-get--to be--born today.

and in the tradition of milli vanilli,---today, on the 28th, the last day of February, in the year of our lord twenty hundred and six at 7:19AM PST, the velvetde and her lord, Eric have a new addition to the Foreign Embassy.

born today is Rory Claire Kurzenburger, 7lbs. 14 oz, with blond hair, blue eyes and all.

and just like her Gilmore counterpart, she will be going to Yale and talking at lightning speeds; conversation laced with pop culture references galour!!

congrats to the new parents.

and realize the that the picture is just a placeholder until a suitable one can be put into place.

that is, in fact, not a real baby.

Because I Love You Guys...(and I mean those of you who would be interested, but I love the rest of you guys who couldn't care less too.)

Two Very Special Nights With:
THE FLAMING LIPS
(with Pink Mountaintops)
March 31 (Fri) & April 1 (Sat) / 6:30pm doors
$35 advance - $40 day of show / 18+

at Webster Hall, I believe.

on sale Wednesday...probably on ticketweb.

BLIZZARD: the Aftermath

**WARNING!! this is certainly not for the squeamish and not for those who are intimidated by true manliness!!***

You were warned.

Now mind you, i could not show you the full extent of my manliness so i CG'd clothes onto my body, as i was only in my boxers when i cut down this tree.

and you will notice my trusty sidekick LumberJubs standing by to haul off the dismembered parts of that foul tree that dare fell. if there was audio, you would hear my maniacal laughter as i was sawing off the limbs, sap splattering over my overdeveloped pectorals and wood splinters attempting to pierce my biceps or "Guns", as i call them, in vain.