Shit, It's October!

It's managed to slip my mind several times that it's October meaning lots of Horror movies and Halloween. My two favorite things. I don't know what to be for Halloween, it's been a few years since I dressed up for it. I want to be creative but that is hard to do.

• Any good horror movies I should see (and by that I mean 70s and 80s ones)?

We probably won't decorate our yard...we never do. When I live by myself I'll try and do that. There is this guy who lives down the street from my grandparents and decorates his whole yard. I might take a picture or two this year and post them.


Also this month Fear Clinic premieres on FearNet, they have been pimping that series very much all over FearNet...I can't wait for it!

My mother's birthday is this month and my cousin's wedding anniversary. They bought a new home recently.


[TRAILER REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE]

New "Nightmare" Trailer. I know they wanted Freddy Kreuger to look like a real burn victim, but he looks like a fish to me. And the southern accent will take some getting used to.

Sold Your Soul for Twilight?

Honestly, I don't remember when Twilight truly became a fad. I remember having a keen interest in the book after it was reviewed/recommended in "Teen Vogue" years back. I remember thinking the plot sounded interesting and I love vampires. I remember anytime being at a bookstore trying to buy the book, but I never did. I thought about reading it for two years, all the way back in 2005 when it was published. It took about two years to finally purchase and read. I loved the first book, albeit it wasn't the most original idea and not written very well. People could connect to it no matter how young or old you were. But, then this thing happened, and the series has been destroyed for me. (Oh and fuck the rest of the series, I don't need an explanation for every little detail about the book, the anonymity of the first was enough to please me. My only regret is Jacob Black is better in the sequels, I wouldn't have cared much for this character otherwise.)

I'm not going to rant because I rather avoid having fans chewing my ass out. I like the movies. I do, but it seems unnecessary. I have liked Robert Pattinson since Harry Potter but the shit that follows him is silly. All the fodder and paparazzi, just damn silly. I like the soundtracks for the movies, they contain many artists I enjoy and I listen to them quite a bit. It's a little shocking how such a hightlighted film has a indie/alternative soundtrack. I figure because it's a love story the music choices are obvious.

I am a person that hates fads. So anytime something feels like it's become too much and it's clearly being overun by people that don't seem to have redeeming qualities to be fans the whole fandom is destroyed for me. That is just a jab at all those 12-year-olds whom I can't imagine seeing the complexity in story lines unless they are all geniuses. I know I'm being a little cruel and the truth is the Twilight Saga isn't complex. It's like bread and butter.

I need to go back to my lovely horror movies. I want Anne Rice's suave and timeless vampires, The Lost Boys with their sex, blood, and rock n' roll...just the 1930's Bela Lugosi version.

I don't think of Twilight as vampires really either...they're like a kind of animal, predator which I hardly relate to the vampires I'm familiar with.



Okay, that's it. I need to get off this subject. This is bogging me down.

In Between

I post. Life has been busy, tiring, and all over shitty. I don't have anything to particularly discuss in this post. I wanted to talk about the Chris Farley biography "The Chris Farley Show" but I'm too lazy to really do all that typing. Maybe another post.

October is here, finally, and I'm excited. Halloween is this month, my favorite holiday and I expect to be seeing some awesome soundtracks pop up over the month. If there is one thing I'm always interested in is Halloween related music. Plenty of Halloween Mega Mixes too! I thought about doing one of my own but I don't think I could pick just a few songs.

I may make a more informative post after this about something. Peace out.

What is with this "Jordan Catalano" fellow?

I just made my way through all 19 episodes of "My So-Called Life", a 90s teen-aged related television show that was rather well done but managed only a short life over an expansion of two years. The show aired from 94-95 and only produced 19 episodes. The show centered around 14-year-old Angela Chase played cleverly by Claire Danes and all the conflicts in her life. I won't get too detailed on what the show was about but the show was very realistic compared to many television shows I have ever watched. There is always a dramatic scent upon each show, but MSCL never once felt like you were watching a TV show. Many of the conflicts that arose throughout the episodes were never resolved and usually things would come to be more complicated than originally derived which was caused by the characters involved. The dialogue was not neat or clear, in fact "like" is among the show's favorite words. And "like" is very common for teenagers to use. Same goes for "I don't know", we like that one too. My concern is not with the show, but with the character "Jordan Catalano".

In the pilot episode, we find Angela to be confused and harboring a crush with silent "Jordan Catalano". Weirdly enough, I thought it to be typical to crush on him, he was cute, older, and vastly different from her. As the show progressed, he was quickly established as the character that was more discussed than seen which became annoying for me. Jordan only uttered several sentences in one episode, and they were not anything profound. It was merely a "hey", or something that was completely irrelevant to anything. Among his lack of expression, he could not read because he was dyslexic, which was nice to learn something about him, but they never really acted on it. His condition was brought up and discussed briefly, but that was as far as the story line went. Halfway through, I was wondering why so many people were commenting on how great Jordan was... I didn't see what made him so wonderful. He never said anything, he never did anything, and Angela was infatuated but he seemed hardly interested. So, I came to two conclusions about why people love "Jordan Catalano"...

One: Because he is played by Jared Leto and if you are a fan of his you pretty much love anything he is in. I did not like "Jordan Catalano" at all. I love Jared Leto. He is a wonderful actor and musician. I love him in "The Last of the High Kings" as an Irish boy named Frankie in the 70s. American Psycho, Requiem for a Dream, and Urban Legend. He's played some great
characters. I love 30 Seconds to Mars too, I have both their albums and listen to them often. I realize the man is gorgeous, he has amazing eyes. I will say the long hair and black eyeliner does not look great on him. I like him with short hair and no make-up. In fact, I don't really like make-up on anyone, I believe natural beauty is much richer.

Two: These people are idiots. I know this is a mean statement, but face it, the only time Jordan became a real character was by the final episode. He started expressing himself to others. He didn't do this to Angela because I think there was a fear of losing her permanently so he got Brain Krakow to help him. That idea was not smart and makes me not like him worse. I know he can't write or read well, but really why make Brian write the total letter solely, shouldn't Brian have helped him instead? Jordan had the capabilities to do it but he didn't! It's like he's trying to get her through a false pretense. So not the right thing, Angela is very smart and beautiful and I think she did not deserve it. Ultimately, if the show had continued, it would have been wonderful to see Jordan as he truly is, no evasive stoner-like methodology, okay? He would have had a great developing character, too bad he did not get the chance!

The obvious idea of Jordan Catalano was the "fantasy" character. Angela had this idea of who this guy was in her head. He was beautiful and exactly what she wanted because she didn't even know the real him. Many crushes develop this way and the fantasy gets washed away when the dreamer finds the fantasy in their minds hardly to be the person they are crushing on. I think it happened to Angela as she attempted to get closer to Jordan, but he wasn't as she imagined for so long. He did some unforgivable things and it added up to her love turning to hate. Jordan comes to find he loves Angela and I think the reason behind it is because she is very different from any girl he had been with. She has standards and cares for him, wants to know things that he would never share with others. But none of this is actually admitted, just several hints in different episodes. Clearly, the fan fiction world lives on past the short life of the show. Speaking of, I'll have to look into some. To clear it up, I don't hate Jordan, how he was on the show bugged me and in many ways I don't think he deserved Angela's attention or love. But I can see where they cared about each other. I may feel different if more of the show had been produced and had seen where the characters would have gone.

Somehow, I would like to believe that Angela would not end up with either Jordan Catalano or Brian Krakow because Jordan was too different from her and Brian was too selfish most of the time. Brian was more on her level as a person, but I don't think it could work, there could have been dating. Especially if she knew he wrote that letter to her which she finds out in the last ten minutes of the final episode.

The show ended in a cliffhanger because they were unaware if they would get picked up for more, but it did not. If you haven't seen "My So-Called Life", I recommend it because it's very about day-to-day life and dealt with every day problems. Watch out for Angela's little sister, Danielle, and her funny one-liners.

Keanu Reeves stars in "Sparhusen"

My mother mentioned this to me the other day. Everyone in my household knows I'm a freak of nature when it comes to Keanu Reeves. He is now officially raiding the internet in My Damn Channel's original web series called "Sparhusen". It's looks pretty humorous but I don't know how I feel about him playing a Danish character, he has a bad time with accents (Remember Coppola's Dracula? The British accent? ...See?) but thankfully it's all in jest. I'm looking forward to watching it...check out the trailer!



Besides that, I heard that write-ups were going down on the "Cowboy Bebop" script that Reeves has signed on for as Spike Speigel. I wonder what they could be? They are probably minor adjustments, but I hope nothing drastic. I actual like this anime and they could fuck it up if they tried.

"Sparhusen" starts on October 8th, this fall.

A Supernatural Article

When my brother came home from work last night, he slapped this article down in front of me.


It's always a pleasant surprise when someone writes about your favorite show especially when it's one that's constantly getting underrated. You have no idea how elated I was when Entertainment Weekly did a 1-2 page spread for the show! However, that's about as big as article's come for Supernatural fans. Anyone is better off buying the official magazine or some of those Sci-Fi ones to read about the show.

Just wanting to share/vent about this.

Criss Angel's an island of his own.

I was at my newly refurbished library yesterday for new books to read. I was browsing the nonfiction section and this was there:


I first heard of Criss Angel probably a little over two years ago from a friend. I didn't think much of him even after she was trying to sell me on him. It was just banter about new shit that each of you are into at the time. It wasn't until I was flipping around channels and came upon "Criss Angel's Mindfreak" on A&E and watched one of the episodes that I was sold on his "freaking". I had never seen a single person pull the stunts and illusions like he did, it was like he was born to do it. Watching his show opened up my mind to possibilities I didn't even think existed in space and time. Of course I wanted to write away that it was fake and no way anyone have those capabilities Angel displayed. The more I watched, the more it become less about trying to prove him a fraud and just about being in awe of everything he did. I'm not sure what Criss Angel is, very talented and more than just a magician maybe, but it was truly unbelievable what he did every week.

Now his book, "Criss Angel: Mindfreak, Secret Relevations" is part autobiography, part guide to life/magic/spiritualism(?). It was easy to read and included pictures of some of Criss's amazing feats. I never new much back story about his life or how he wiggled his way to the top of the world of Magic, but this book gave me a peek into it. Criss narrates parts of his life from being a boy to trying to scrap money together for an off Broadway show. He talks about himself and the journey that has brought him to where he is today. Throughout the narration are quotes from his family and friends about Criss and trials and tribulations he's preserved through. Criss appears egotistical at parts but he stated at more than one time that he is ego-driven. It can be annoying to the reader but after reading through the whole book, it only makes sense that he carries that personality trait. He only looked to himself to get where he wanted to go and in the long run it led him where he dreamed of since he was a boy. Some facts I learned about him that I never knew was he originally wanted to be a musician but found magic to be more lucrative for him and now he fuses both together, he built this robots/mechanical creatures that he used in his stage shows, and that he basically never sleeps (only three hours, he said).

A good portion of the book talks about how Angel feels about art and I thought many of his points were valid if not plausible. He uses art in what he creates and actively does, perhaps more visually than actors or artists. He discussed how people didn't understand his look calling him out as gothic when he explains it as a personality he created. Criss Angel is a personality, he always wanted one so an audience could identify him, dissociated from others. He wanted "mindfreak" to be his word so people could identify him as he was. Of course, when I hear the word I think "mind fuck" but it really isn't en masse friendly word hence the change to freak. His work and world is freaky so the title suits him well.


The latter part of the book is 40 tricks a reader can learn that Criss has performed. It's detailed and easy to follow but looks like these tricks take plenty of practice to master (and he admits that you should give yourself plenty of practice before taking the tricks to the public!). I'm not much of magician and I have never dabbled but these were cool to read about. Criss Angel is known for all the incredible stunts he pulls on his show "Mindfreak" and out of all the insanity there is one I just love. In one episode, Criss walks across a Las Vegas pool, partial with shoes and partial without them (Picture to the left). It's not the coolest stunt he's pulled but there is something about this particular one that makes me think. Criss Angel has somehow unlocked parts of his mind that remain dormant that allows him to levitate. I realize it's a stretch but we only use 7-8% of our brains, just think of the what could be hidden away! Criss explains that you have to open your mind to the possibilities and have faith and just believe in what you do. It's a good philosophy to have and I wish I could carry that around with me whenever I can't feel that positive. People surprise me everyday, but that's a good thing. He also brings up a good point not to rely too heavily on other people or their promises, not everything someone tells you is true. Better to take it with a grain of salt.

Overall, if your a fan you've probably read this and if you have not, I think you should. As a fan myself, it allowed me to learn a little more about Criss Angel and even to believe that anything is possible. Criss Angel needs to write a self-help or spiritual guide or something. He opened my mind while I was reading several parts that dug into subjects like art and the people who inspired his work. Now I'd love to do something with my life, it gave me a little hope. Knowing that someone can endure so much and overcome it a much stronger person is astonishing and inspiring. He's entered my list of great entertainers and it does no good to be skeptical, some things are better left unexplained...