I had such a nice surprise waiting for me on Saturday … an amazon.com box was sitting on the porch. Inside that box was the double feature dvd of “Village of the Damned/Children of the Damned” sent by Danny. Danny, you are such a sweet fella buying me something off my DVD Wishlist!!! You other folks can be sweet to me too.

The arrival this week of “The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume One” LaserDisc set has made life a wee bit more fun. I just need to get ahold of Volume Two to make me the happiest man on the planet. Last year when Warner Bros. started releasing Tom and Jerry on dvd I got “wet my pants” excited. But that excitement turned to bitter resentment when I found out that the cartoons released on the dvds were edited versions of the originals. Apparently in our evil politically correct times we can’t have any racially motivated jokes in cartoons that hail from the 40’s and 50’s. Gone are black face jokes, Chinese references and the like. Even Mammy’s voice has been redubbed to make her sound less ethnic. The super cool thing about “The Art of Tom & Jerry” LaserDisc sets is that they were released in the early 90’s before we became a nation of “I don’t want to offend.” It’s Tom & Jerry in all their original Hanna-Barbera splendor. It remains to be seen whether the “Tom & Jerry Spotlight Collection” that hits dvd in October will have the censored version or the originals. The press materials claim that the set will contain “40 restored and remastered shorts.” Hopefully “restored” will mean what it’s supposed to.

For lack of anything better, here’s a list of what’s in the cd case:
01. ABC “The Lexicon of Love”
02. The Beastie Boys “To the 5 Buroughs”
03. The Cardigans “Long Gone Before Daylight”
04. Concrete Blonde “Group Therapy”
05. The Creatures “Hai!”
06. The Cure “The Cure”
07. The Cure “Join The Dots: B-Sides & Rarities, 1978>2001” Discs 1-4
08. Depeche Mode “Violator”
09. Depeche Mode “Ultra”
10. DJ Shadow “Endtroducing”
11. Joy Division “Heart & Soul” Disc 1 & 2
12. Morrissey “You Are the Quarry”
13. Nine Inch Nails “The Fragile”
14. Radiohead “Hail to the Thief”
15. The Smiths “The Smiths”
16. The Smiths “The Queen is Dead”
17. The Smiths “Louder Than Bombs”
18. Superchunk “Cup of Sand”

I woke last night to the sound of my front door being kicked in. I thought my roomie might be up to some mischief again, so I crawled out of bed for a look-see. To my total surprise, my house was being overrun with Russians … super evil Communist Russians. I was held at gunpoint (think “Red Dawn” without a lot of hot teenage boys) and forced to redesign my site so that it can be a tool for their Communist dogma. I can only pray that they are pleased and don’t kill me. Damn. Where’s Joesph McCarthy when you need him?

In exactly one month I will be in Atlanta to see Siouxsie. Whoo!

What was it that Mel Brooks said?

“It’s good to be the King.”

I don’t know that I agree with that one. At least not right now. I, as “king” of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” get to deal with about 30 people every night. It constantly amazes me how someone’s egos will make them behave. I am sitting on a powder keg right now. One of my leads has dropped from the show and I was pressed by an ensemble member last night for the part. The departure of “Judge Turpin” isn’t known by the cast at large. I wanted it that way so that I could conduct my replacement search in peace. You know, kinda like the Bush Administration hiding the truth of … well, about everything they do … so they can do their business without interference from the world at large. So, besides pissing off people that I either didn’t cast at all or cast in parts they didn’t really want, I now have the fun of dealing with this ensemble member when a new “Judge” walks through the door. I hope that his ego isn’t so big that he quits the show because of this. It really wouldn’t surprise me if that happens. So, I’ll deal with it. That’s why I get the big bucks … right?

Rehearsal went well last night. Everybody seemed far more relaxed than they did last week. Which is very good. Last week I expected half the cast to kick out on me. We are working on only the music right now and it’s hard.

While the ensemble screetched it’s way through “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” and various other tunes, I worked on the Powerbook trying to get caught up on some freelance work. I came to a sad and scary conclusion. I care about my computer far more than I could ever care about somebody. If I could get my computer to talk to me (well, it can … just not the way I want it to) I would program it to. I talk to my computer a lot. Maybe I should give it a name …

If this track is any indication … the new Bjork album (out on August 31st) is gonna be fucking amazing. No instruments. Everything is vocal.
Bjork – The Pleasure Is All Mine [4.65 MB]

Wanna see some images from the Director’s Cut of the “Dawn of the Dead” remake? It’s out on dvd later this year. Check out the cool shiznit here.

One of the fun things about dealing with a big cast is that there are a lot more people than can just drop out for various reasons. So far, after one week of rehearsal, we have lost two. Fun!

I must have had more of a life this past weekend ’cause I only saw three films instead of eight (like the previous weekend). Oh wait, I had yard work to do. That’s what it was.

1. “Wrong Turn” 2003
I dug this movie. A straight up slash and burn horror film … cheap thrills and gore filled kills (plus Desmond Harrington … yum). Fun stuff! It made me spill my coffee.

2. “Secret Window” 2004
Cool little movie made all the better by Johnny Depp’s acting and a good screenplay/directing job by David Koepp.

3. “Collateral” 2004
I like Michael Mann movies. Another solid piece of entertainment from the guy that brought us “Miami Vice,” “The Insider” and “The Last of the Mohicans.” Oh, yeah. That Tom Cruise fella is in it as well. And, Mark Ruffalo as well. Oh, yeah!

“This is a dangerous time,” Bush said. “I wish it wasn’t this way. I wish I wasn’t the war president. Who in the heck wants to be a war president? I don’t. But this is what came our way.”
[Editor’s Note: Didn’t want to be the war president? You could’ve fooled me.]

Whoo. It’s been a busy couple of days here at work … and that’s a good thing. Makes the day go by faster. Big plans for the weekend? Nah, not me. Gonna watch some horror, read some books, work on some freelance stuff. Actually feeling creative (and a little inspired). A new look for the site is percolating in the ole noggin. My “instant gratification” complex is demanding that my “Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume One” laserdisc set arrive in the mail today or tomorrow. Please. Oh, please. Oh, please. Y’all have a good ‘un and be bad while doing it.

Camille Rose Garcia “White Diamonds” (2004)