hoopleheads unite

alas and alack, deadwood is over. the final season of deadwood just rolled out last sunday. was it all that? nah, it seemed a little loose and disjointed for me. that possibly could be attributed to hbo's decision to pull the show, when a fourth and final season seemed an eventuality.

the show, based on all the colorful characters that populated the town of deadwood, south dakota during the gold prospecting days of the 1870s was based on the times and trials of actual characters...well, embellishments are present, but this is fucking tv.

i was a bit late on the deadwood bandwagon, but i devoured the first 2 seasons in 2 days (must buy dvds). and i am only sorry i didn't catch on to it quicker. the show though, belonged to one person, the vile, cunning and despicable al swearengen, played by the awesome ian mcshane. ultimately, he was a man of his times, and mcshane nailed the role.

now all you "san francisco cocksuckers" needn't feel too bad, because deadwood will be back for one final hurrah next year with 2 2-hour movies on hbo. all i have left is a heartfelt thank you to milch and co for making this show.

picture courtesy: http://www.evolver.at/

venting...

FUCK!!! imagine me screaming the expletive extremely loudly multiple times. that's the kind of day it's turned out to be. the day started innocuously enough...until the speeding ticket! now, that's cool with me, i'll pay the fucking fine and move on.

but then the day started getting really interesting. like someone said, when it rains, it fucking pours. i know there's a few of my friends reading this thing, so i am not going into the specifics of what happened. suffice to say, i would love to break something right about now. i try to remind myself that my personal shit wouldn't creep into my blog, unlike most people's blogs.

this was going to be me trying to be me putting a new song in someone's head; or a new movie on someone's greencine queue; or a new book in someone's hands. and i swore i wouldn't put personal shit on here. but that doesn't mean i can't vent, rave or rant! does it now? i feel like i need to go to a fucking bar and get a couple of bottles of JD, and get shit faced. why do people have to fucking bring up things that were fucking dead and fucking buried...especially people who you've liked for a long time?

FUCK!!!

sax rohmer

if you had a turn of mind towards this kind of thing, you would know who arthur henry ward was. (big fucking clue? look at the subject line!) i got a chance to browse through some of the books at the LA public library (segue...if you are ever in the area, check out the jewelry district and the moca); and i came across "the drums of fu manchu". nayland smith and kerrigan, hot on the heels of "the insiduous chinaman" yet again. took me back a few years it did, back to when i first read, "the bride of fu manchu".

so what if his books were sinophobic, pulpy, and repetitive? they were entertaining as hell. the portrayal of chinese as a scheming and cruel race was widely accepted during the late 19th century...those were the days of "the yellow peril." why, even the movie adaptations had fu manchu being portrayed by the legendary boris karloff, the frightening christopher lee and the hugely talented peter sellers (check some of the awesome posters here)...let me draw you a picture, none of them were asian.

it's easy to see the parallels drawn by rohmer's flawed perception of asians versus today's society's perception of arabs and muslims. would rohmer's books be welcomed today? perhaps not, but during the '20s and the '30s, rohmer was one of the world's most successful magazine writers. there's also another curious parallel that can be drawn between fu manchu and another mastermind of terror, osama bin laden.

and just for curiosity's sake, check out this california-based stoner rock band.

picture courtesy: http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton

lee marvin

the basic premise of this post is that you don't fuck with lee marvin. he's dead now, but he could still kick your silly ass with his rotten lower jaw falling off. anyone who's seen "the dirty dozen" will vouch for this (and sadly, i found out recently that they are making a remake).

now, i haven't seen a lot of marvin movies (cult classic "the delta force" and "the professionals" aside), but all you have to do is see him as major reisman in d12, to know what kind of kickassery he's capable of. it seemed like every movie i've seen him in, he's kicking somebody's ass.

the funny thing is, i am pretty sure that he was all that, because he received the purple cross during the battle of saipan in wwII. what's even more funnier, is the existence of a secret society based on lee marvin. it's called "the sons of lee marvin". there's only one category to be a member of this society...that you have to have atleast a passing resemblance to marvin. jim jarmusch (love "ghost dog"), nick cave and john lurie are all apparently, members.

i wish i had an...

entourage like the boys in "entourage." hbo's multiple emmy nominated show has been knocking my socks off, for the last 2 seasons. and this season looks like the shit. will somebody give jeremy piven his own movie, please? piven's character ari gold's immortal line "let's hug it out bitch!" pretty much made the show. plus, he's got the hottest wife this side of brangelina, perrey reeves.

they say it's pretty much "sex and the city for guys." beg to disagree, but if i were to see kim catrall's saggy ass one more time, i would pretty much saw my leg off with the rusty blade from "saw" (btw, saw III releases in october). i agree that it is a guy show, but i think men are sick of seeing idiots like the guy from "king of queens" and jim belushi in "according to jim (come on man, you are fucking john belushi's brother!), and it's about time we had a decent show we could watch.

and of course there's cameos galore...james woods, james fucking cameron, and executive producer, mark wahlberg. the internet rumor mill's churning out some interesting possibilities for vince and the crew, but i suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

picture courtesy: http://houseofirony.com

i think i need to get this bitch going again.