...Or Central Texas

You see, The GreatMoose's sister-in-law Jodie, has just released a new album, and it's pretty dang good. She's been working on it for over a year, and it shows. It's quality stuff. You can order a physical CD here (or if you're local, get one from me), or you can buy it on iTunes or Amazon.



Give it a listen, catch a concert (she's on a regional tour thing), and/or grab a copy. It's good stuff. My personal favorites are "Let's Go Back" and "In The Waiting". We're so very proud of her!

Apparently, You Have To Go To Iceland For Good Music

That's right, Iceland. See, there's this band called Sigur Ros, and they create these incredibly beautiful, very haunting songs. Some of thier songs are sung in Icelandic, and just because, the rest are sung in a language that the band completely made up. I can't tell the difference between the two, and it's really not important. The important part is the music. The style is unlike pretty much anything else, and not usually something I would enjoy. But thier stuff is incredible. The lead singer's high falsetto, the band's use of background noise, and thier musical integration is fascinating. Thier music is designed to provoke intense emotional reactions in listeners, and it works. It's not "easy" music by any means, it takes some work to listen to, but it's 100% worth it. Here's a video for one of my favorite songs of thiers, Glosoli:


And another version with Scripture added, that really adds something, I think.



That's the other thing: thier videos are works of art. there's another, called Hoppipolla, which is frickin' sweet. Love the old people going all childlike mayhem. For some reason, youtube can't embed it, so here's a link and then a crappy MTV embed:

Sigur Rós - New Music - More Music Videos

They also hold the title of most depressing song ever (even though you can't understand it).



Actually, maybe save Hoppipolla for last, since it's pretty happy.

Shooting At Ft. Hood

Right in our back yard.

At least seven people are dead and 12 wounded in a shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, the base's public affairs office told NBC News on Thursday.

So far, looks like 3 possible shooters. That dramatically lowers the chance of it being a crazy dude not wanting to redeploy. Not to jump the gun, but it's starting to sound "jihad-ish".

One shooter? PTSD.
Two shooters? Conspiracy.
Three shooters? This is going to get much nastier before it's over.

UPDATES

Killeen ISD says all Fort Hood schools are on lockdown.

Temple ISD is on a "soft" lockdown. Parents will be able to pick their children up at the normal times, though they may experience delays.

At 4:40, Dear Leader Obama is going to SPEAK. I feel better already.

12 killed, as many as 30 wounded.

III Corps Commander says all three shooters are soldiers...

Primary shooter's name: Malik Hassan. Interesting.

The other 2 people arrested have been released.

Hassan had been reported shot and killed, but his condition has been upgraded to "alive". This should be VERY interesting.

More as it develops...

AICN Reviews Where The Wild Things Are, And It Is Win

Harry reviews it here. Some snippets:

...Spike Jonze’s WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is a staggeringly brilliant encapsulation of the intent and contents of Sendak’s book, but more so… of childhood itself. The result is a film of immense and unquestionable power that has the power to shake you more than any of you are really expecting.

At a private moment, mere minutes after the screening, I found myself blubbering. I had no idea it was coming. It wasn’t just the movie. It was what the movie did to me. What it opened up. It made me remember the way I looked at my mother when I was 9 years old. When she was awesome. Before the divorce, the alcoholism and her tarnished image. It made me wish I could go back and spend time with that version of my mom. Introduce my wife to her. It made me miss her. And I haven’t missed her in years...

...Now. Should you take the kids to see WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE?

That depends. Honestly, I wouldn’t take a kid under the age of 7. Even then, you need to realize that you’re gonna need to be an awesome parent, when you take your kid. This is a brilliant movie. One that conjures a lot of emotions, your child will feel every last one and you should be there to answer any questions, to hug and to experience the film with them. AND if any of this makes you nervous. See the film first and make the call about whether or not your kid is ready for this.

For many audiences, this will be a difficult film. This isn’t an obvious version of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. In a world where we’ve seen films like Ron Howard’s GRINCH and that abysmal CAT IN THE HAT adaptation – there’s a possibility that kids and many audiences are numb to a genuine and beautiful film about the very tough and difficult realities of childhood...

...This is a children’s film, like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is a kids film. And TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is a great kids movie. One, that every parent should watch with their kid. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE could be an incredible film for you and your child. It could help you to understand & remember what it means to be a child. Not to look down at them, but to admire them. Because we were all there at some point...

Vern's review is here. The scariest part of his review is what WTWTA could have been had Hollywood been allowed to get thier mitts on it. Praise allah for Spike Jonze.

How is it possible that this movie was made with the voices of James Gandolfini, Chris Cooper and Forest Whitaker instead of Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen and Snoop Dogg? Huh? Can we give Obama credit for this? It seems like a miracle to me. You know what the trailer would've been like: Starts out real dramatic, Harry Pottery orchestral score playing as the camera floats through a beautiful CGI ocean, onto an island, into a forest. The sound of giant feet plodding through dirt. The camera comes to the unmistakable shadow of a large, horned monster. Then...

"Wild thing. You make my heart sing. You make everything... groovy." The computer-animated wild thing leaps weightlessly in the air doing air guitar. Then a wacky record scratch and Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" comes on. And some sort of dated MATRIX reference maybe. Or American Idol. The wild things make little quips, puffs of smoke come out when they dart around waving their arms everywhere, and there's jokes about cell phone minutes or 401Ks or something. Ha ha, because why would a wild thing have a 401K. Funny stuff.

The teaser poster: white background. A wild thing standing with his arms folded like a lost member of Run DMC, wearing Snoopy Joe Cool sunglasses. Max next to him, similar pose, backwards baseball cap, skateboard in hand. Below that it says "BORN TO BE WILD."

You know this to be true. It's much, much more likely that that would happen than what we got from Spike Jonze. It's like that speech Dr. Nudity makes on Mars in WATCHMEN. Out of all the possibilites, for this to be the outcome is a miracle.

I can't wait to see this.

The Coolest Show You're Probably Missing

Is on Fox, and it's called Glee. It's about a bunch of kids roped into a glee club that probably shouldn't be there, but the end result is incredible. It's like High School Musical in the REAL world. It's hilarious, and the music flat out ROCKS.

Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" (one of my favorite songs, always give me goosebumps*):

Glee - Don't Stop Believe
by Bugabookas

Seriously, how much did that kick @$$? Almost makes me wish I was back in high school, doing the whole choir/men's glee all over again. Awesome times.

Heart's "Alone" (TV Version-shorter)



*man, I miss the '80's...

40th Anniversary of Monty Python's Flying Circus

In honor of the 40th anniversary of what turned out to be the funniest series ever aired, here's a few of my favorites:

The Parrot Sketch:



"He pining for the fjords!"

Dirt Hungarian Phrasebook:



"My hovercraft is full of eels!"

The Lumberjack Song:

Julia Stiles Is Freakin' Awesome

Always been a big fan Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You, the Bourne Trilogy, etc...), and now she's gone and taken the awesome to a whole new level: She's brought the beat-down to all those smarmy, holier-than-thou, "Green" celebrities (I'm looking at YOU, Gwyneth, Katie, and Leo). She's launched a new "green" "fashion" line, and it's hilarious. Her commercial:



I love the dude's face when the guy with the "shants" comes out. Win. Her website, JuliaStilesStyles.com.

Ted Kennedy Sent To Meet His Maker; Meeting Does Not Go Well

Ted "I Killed a Woman Once" Kennedy has died at age 77 from a brain tumor. Elected to the Senate in 1962, he's been drunk, er...serving ever since. Every one is wailing about "The End of Camelot!!", but I must tell you, I do not care. What is the farking fascination with the freaking Kennedy's? They're just ridiculously rich Massholes. Royalty they ain't. But it's sucha tragedy when one of them dies. Sorry, my snark is in full swing today. As momma always said, "If you can't say anything nice about someone, post a funny picture!" So, on to the pics!

Final Trailer For The Best Movie In Years

There's so many different trailers out there for District 9 that a lot of people have no idea what they are going to see. And I must tell you, even if you DO have an idea, YOU DON'T. Simply put, it's absolutely stunning. Amazingly original, superbly directed (by a first-time director, no less), and incredibly acted (by a lot of first-time actors, no less), and shot for $30 million, it's an astonishing piece of filmmaking. And honestly, it's a FILM, not a movie. It's so well written, that even sci-fi HATERS will love it. Go see it. Now.

Oh Man, This Suuuucks...

John Hughes has died.

The genius that gave us The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, National Lampoons Vacation, and countless others has died of a heart attack in Manhattan. He was 59. Over on AICN, Massawyrm has written a great eulogy for Mr. Hughes.

Everyone of his characters - no matter how brazen, no matter how popular, and no matter how lucky with the opposite sex they were - was absolutely terrified of being found out, disliked or humiliated. Their fears were our fears. And in his opus THE BREAKFAST CLUB, he took what was on the surface a popcorn comedy about school kids stuck in detention and showcased a microcosm of the terror and detachment we all felt (or feel) and let us all know that it was all okay…because we were not alone. Not even close.

And that went for every single one of his characters save one: his super hero. His teenage James Bond. Ferris Bueller. Of course rather than the ability to fly or super strength or invulnerability to bullets, Ferris had a power that made him a god amongst high school students. Self confidence...

...After all, if you can convince a snooty/snotty waiter that you are Abe Froman, Sausage King of Chicago, how hard can high school really be?

Mr. Hughes' films are one of the main reasons I love movies so much today. They are true classics. He will be deeply missed.

The More Things Change...

The more they stay the same.



Saw this and thought it was really funny. The Coke logo did have a couple of small changes over the years, but they were extremely minor. Funnier this way, too.

My Gift To You

Oh, yeah. That's right.

Don't Ever Go To This Site

Ever. Seriously.

Wow. I Need To Travel More...

Sorry for the lack of posting, been really busy. Anyway, saw this on the tubes, and really thought y'all would enjoy it. The Most Alien Landscapes on Earth. Some incredible photography. Oh, and I've actually been to #9 (didn't see THAT, though). A teaser:

Major Iran Update

Huge happenings over the weekend:

21st of June.

Two major events happened today:

- Grand Ayatollah Montazeri went directly against Ayatollah Khamenei's wishes and declared a 3-day mourning period in Iran, while Khamenei had ordered mosques to avoid making ceremonies in the memory of the fallen victims of governmental violence.

- The Guardian Council admitted that in 50 cities, there were in fact more vote recorded than there are registered voters and said they were looking into the situation. Seeing as the GC is under direct control of Khamenei, this is very likely an attempt at damage control from people who have yet to grasp how deep the schism in Iran is. This could be an attempt to ultimately blame Ahmadinejad for the irregularities and throw him under the bus in order to save their skin, which would be a sign they don't fully realize yet what is happening.

- Aside from that, as expected there were clashes all over Iran, but subsided since the 20th. The Iranian Government went on the offensive, kicking out a BBC correspondent and attacking Western countries for what they see as meddling in Iranian internal affairs. Tomorrow Mousavi has called for a general strike all over Iran. It seems that business activity that the already paralyzed country will be stopped completely.

From the 19th to the 20th of June. post-Khamenei speech.

If anyone doubted this is a Revolution and that this was bigger than the election, there is no such doubt anymore. While Khameini directly called for them to stop, the population took the street more numerous than ever. This is direct defiance to the Supreme Leader. Here are the major events that happened between the end of Khamenei's speech and midnight on Saturday.

- Before the protest even began, heavily armed men were waiting for the dissidents, planning to prevent them from reaching the rally point. It didn't take long for the peaceful protests to turn into full-fledged riots. Security forces had also closed off the Tehran university to prevent students from leaving to protest or entering to take shelter. Basij, some security forces and what is suspected to be members of the Revolutionary Guard assaulted the protesters. The protesters fought back while chanting "Death to Khamenei" and "Down with Khamenei". The security forces used water cannons and tear gas to try and disperse the protesters. While the tear gas was partly successful, the water cannons were mostly useless, as they were quickly over ran by the protesters.

- A lot of eyewitnesses report that the Basij now fighting appear to be barely older than teenagers, most of them between 16 and 20, taking a real pleasure in the violence. Others report that up to hundreds of both security forces and Basij were injured in the last series of clashes. The Basij forces are using pvc tubes filled with concretes, bats, even knives and are assaulting people everywhere, down to metro stations.

- A bomb exploded at the Khomeini Shrine, killing one and injuring at least two. Most believe that the government is in fact behind it. Khamenei was a major figure of the previous Revolution, and they used a similar tactics then, destroying buildings and blaming it on the Shah in order to turn the population against him. The State television is of course blaming Mousavi for it and calling for a harsher treatment of the protesters. This is also very convenient for the Regime, has Mousavi said he would take refuge there if he feared for his safety, but now all access is blocked.

- In return, the harsher the treatment of protesters by the security forces, the harsher the rhetoric and reaction of the protesters. They are calling for the death of the regime, the death of Khamenei, the death of their oppressors and that they will avenge them. Once the gun shots started, the protesters went wild, beating down security forces and basij forces they caught to a pulp, while the Basij and security forces are showing absolutely no restraint, even less than they previously had.

- There are many reports that the security forces and Basij still ever present in hospitals and clinics. Basij are kidnapping some of those injured, while the security forces is identifying those participating in the protest. In order to arrest protesters, security forces raided the Khomeini Hospital in order to arrest injured protesters. There are rumours that Basij forces have hijacked ambulances and use them as a trap to brutally assault already injured protesters seeking help, or shoot at them. Iranian journalists, Reformist intellectuals and feminists are still being arrested and rounded up to prevent from reporting the news or reaching out.

- As the protests grew, extreme measures started to used by those trying to repress the Iranians asking for freedom. Gun shots were first fired in the air, but it did not take long for them to be fired at the protesters. A liquid was dropped from helicopters, creating severe skin burns on protesters. We are unsure what the liquid was. They are also openly opening fire on the crowds, 40 to 60 people at least were killed in a single day, and scores more injured according to protesters. There are also reports that Revolutionary Guard Helicopters dropped firearms crates to 500 Basij fighters, as they are more willing than government forces to use them on civilians.

- The protesters are fighting back, taking over anti-riot trucks and burning them, attacking Basij bases and burning another one to the ground. There are report that a security forces truck was actually blown up by the protesters. In many instances, government forces have been force to fled under the constant assault of the people. Another report mentioned a security forces post was burning as well.

- The Iran Fatemiyeh Hospital in Tehran has confirmed at least 40 dead as well as 200 injured. Other sources report that hundreds of security forces and hundreds of basij fighters were injured as well.

- At night the protesters joined each others on the roofs in Tehran, shouting "Allah-u Ackbar", "Margh Bar Khamenei" and chanting "I will welcome death, I will welcome death, but no subjugation, but no subjugation". None of the rhetoric is addressed to Ahmadinejad anymore, all of it is directed to Khamenei and the regime. Many of the popular chants throughout the day were "I will kill those who killed my brother/sister", "Death to the Government", "Death to Khamenei" and "Seyed Ali Pinoshe, Iran won't be Chile".

- China has been censoring all news coming from Iran. Obama's restraint has been useless, as the Iranian government has shown a video of him with a false translation where Obama declared his support for the protesters, and that they should keep on protesting.

- Mousavi gave a speech and declared that if he is arrested, then the whole nation should strike. He also told the people that he is ready for martyrdom.

- There are unconfirmed reports that the Army is now refusing to follow orders and will not attack the protesters. The newest strategy from the government seems to be arming the Basij, dressing them in riot gear, team them up with IRG soldiers, and try to prevent massive rallies and keep them localized instead, as they are easier to stop spreading.

Istill don't think people realize the hugeness of all this. This is one of the most hardline Islamic countries attemtping to overthrow thier Islamic dictators.