FilteringCraig

For the last couple years, I have been criticized by (ahem) certain parties, who wonder why I don’t remember my dreams in the morning and why I won’t talk about the ones that I do remember. For whatever reason, I just don’t remember that many of them, and maybe I am too easily embarassed, but today I am going to make an exception because this morning has been too weird.

The alarm went off this morning and I fell back to sleep for my first snooze, and my last dream of the night. I was outside a party, or a concert or something and I am on the roof of a small building across the street. I am hanging out, and drinking with… my bass player, Kiddicus. Not sure why Kiddicus is in one of my dreams, but at least we were just hanging out and drinking.

So, we are sitting up there and there is a pickup truck parked in the parking lot in front of the building across the street where the party is happening. Kiddicus and I have a real bird’s eye view.

A guy walk’s out of the party and gets in the pickup truck, when all of a sudden another pickup truck comes flying through the parking lot and slams into the bed of the first pickup. It looks like a very weird kind of accident, until the second truck backs up and loops around for another run into the side of the first pickup. This happens five or six more times as both pickups start to show some serious damage.

Then someone comes out of the building where the party is happening and they have a gun. The two pickup drivers get out and have handguns as well. This is when I realize Kiddicus is gone from our vantage point. He walks across the parking lot with a gun pointed at the other three. Not sure where he got the gun, but shots start ringing out and all four people are dead as I am looking down at all their lifeless bodies.

And then I wake up.

I didn’t try to go back to sleep after that. I was just up. So, I went in and took a shower got ready to go and headed for the door. Got in my car drove to work, pulled in to the parking lot only to find that I was at work over an hour early.

Very weird morning.

Things that I am going to take away from this…

Why was Kiddicus in my dream?
What was the party across the street?
Why did the guy in the truck start ramming the other one?
Why did everyone have to die?

So, answer those four questions if you feel like. And this is why I never talk about my dreams.

I really do hope that nobody was hurt, but this is really funny in that whole Bob Saget voice-over with wacky sound effects of a spring bouncing or the screaching tires of a car kind of way.

Although we are only four episodes into the second season of Entourage, I am going to have to say that it is going to be one of the biggest television DVD sellers next year. This season has all the entertainment factor of last season, with 100% more cool cameos (Hugh Hefner, Chris Penn, Pauly Shore, Ralph Maccio, and Jaime Pressly) and enough plotline to raise the show another level from last year.

If you haven’t seen it, the show follows for friends from Queens through stardom in Hollywood. Vince is the star. Eric is the friend with street smarts who is acting as Vince’s manager. Johnny is Vince’s washed up actor brother, and Turtle is the lackey who is along for the fun.

The end of last season had Eric (E) getting the big promotion to manager, which has him acting as a go-between for Vince and the agent, played masterfully by Jeremy Piven. (If you don’t think you know Jeremy Piven, he played the Dean Wormer character in Old School.) Eric’s character is really what drives the show as he is the catalyst for most of the decisions, from what scripts need to be read, all the way to how much they should spend on cars and houses.

Again this season, the show explores the ins and outs of Hollywood life that we don’t get to see. I certainly don’t know how much truth there is to the whole thing, and I guess I don’t really care. I feel like it gives me some window into how the game works, and I like that, regardless of how genuine it might or might not be. But I digress.

Eric is in control and he is guiding Vince through his career. Vince finished the indie film and is now trying to land the comic book mega-blockbuster. The ups (Cannes Film Festival, the pajama party at the Playboy Mansion) are held in stark contrast with the downs (not knowing if the big payday is ever coming) and the viewer is left with a captivating show about characters who are easy to care about, while not being so perfect that you just have to hate them.

So grab some HBO and check this show out, or wait for the DVD’s to be released.

Season 1 is already available.

While I do love Anna Paquin (Rogue from X-Men) this movie just didn’t cut it. It was one of those tag-along movies where someone is trying to make a quick buck off a formula that they think is working. (think “Saw,” “The Ring,” “The Grudge” etc.) Unfortunately, this movie seemed to be wrapped up more in cliche when it should have been inventing something that the viewer could take away from it.

What cliches you ask?

1. Kids as ghosts are creepy, especially if they appear out of nowhere in the background.

OK, we know. We get it. If you are going to use the same scare device as “The Shining” make sure you do it well.

2. Surprise endings are always good.

Oh, wait a minute. They aren’t. Just ask M. Night Shyamalan who has had good ones (Sixth Sense, Unbreakable) and really bad ones (The Village, Signs.) If you don’t have a good surprise ending, then just give us a regular ending. A decent regular ending trumps a bad surprise any day.

3. Characters need to change over the course of the movie in order for the story to develop.

While I agree with this whole-heartedly, having the Grandfather just up and change all of a sudden in the middle of a scene is an extremely poor display of writing.

Why am I going on and on about this movie?

Don’t bother. Just re-watch “The Ring.”

(even if you really dig Anna Paquin…)

Spending more than an hour driving around to (not) find a parking spot in this city might be on the top ten list of most infuriating things known to human kind. I don’t care what is going on here this weekend. I have never had this much trouble finding a parking spot. And the pay garages, while an option don’t work too well because overnight parking here starts at 5 pm…

Oh and did I mention that over half the meters will be off limits after 5 pm tonight due to the Gay Pride Parade rolling down a main street tomorrow?

I hate parades. Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s Day, Gay Pride… whatever…

Hell, I even hate the little league walking parade that rolls down my street once per year. The little leaguers are cute, but I can’t leave my house, and they throw candy which lands in my yard only to get chewed up by my mower. Invariably, I have someplace to go and am unable to get out of my house.

I have no desire to hold young children hostage. Why are they intent on holding me hostage?

Oh yeah… I hate trying to park here in Chicago… must focus.

Grrr.

Here is your random update for the week.

On the way to work, I followed a dude who was using an electric razor. Quite honestly, I thought that only happened in the movies and on TV when someone would use the electric razor on the way to work. How disgusting would it be to have all those tiny bits of hair all over the front seat of your car?

Then, I look to my right and this guy is rapping with the force of 50 Cent as if he was in a battle with The Game. (How funny is it that I was able to pull that reference out of my ass?) He is rhyming and waving his hands in the air (and waving them like he just don’t care), his head is bobbing. Then to confirm the thought that he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him, he gives me a glance, and without any embarassment continues to rap and pull away.

I get into work to find nothing but emergencies and problems and I have taken a half day off so I can drive to Chicago to see Jen this weekend. Always happens on the day that you are trying to get away. I should stop taking half days and just take whole days so I don’t get peppered with surprises when I have something I want to do.

So there is your random Friday update. Unfortunately, I still feel too cheesy to tell you about the photo shoot that we did at band practice last night. I guess they were just pretty normal pictures of the band, but I feel really weird about the band taking pictures as if anyone should really care, but we are trying to put packages together to send to clubs so that we can hopefully get some more shows. So, my friend came over to take some shots of the band, but it still felt kind of weird.

I don’t really know when it turned weird. I guess when Kiddicus suggested we all do at least one nude shot, it kind of weirded me out. But as he said, “You know, its just a few bandmates, hanging out, getting to know each other.” What could be more natural than that?

So, we will see how the photos turn out. Maybe I will post some of them here next week.

And with that, I am leaving town…

(Quotes taken from an article in the Washington Post

…Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said the “cop killer” video game, called “25 to Life,” had hit an “all-time low” and discouraged the sale and distribution of the title, due out this summer.

“‘25 to Life’ makes ‘Grand Theft Auto’ look like ‘Romper Room’,” Schumer said on Monday in comments e-mailed by a spokeswoman. The blockbuster video game series “Grand Theft Auto” from Take-Two Interactive is frequently criticized for its violence…

First of all, if you want people to take you seriously, you need something more effective than a kids show that originally aired in 1953 like “Romper Room.”

The article goes on to talk about “25 to Life” which is like Grand Theft Auto and allows a player to choose to either be the thugs or the cops. It is an ultra-violent game about crime. As a criminal, you can kill cops. As a cop, you can kill criminals, etc.

Do I think this game is wholesome? Nope.

Do I think that kids should be playing it? Not at all.

Does that mean, it shouldn’t be produced and available for sale? No.

Schumer continues…

“The last thing we need here in New York is to reinforce a destructive culture of violence and disrespect for the law. Little Johnny should be learning how to read, not how to kill cops,” Schumer said in separate comments.

Nice soundbyte, you trite, politician, douche-bag. I agree with you that “Little Johnny” should not be learning to kill cops, but I have no idea why that HAS to be tied to this video game. The video game industry has ratings which should keep young people from owning them. If that doesn’t work, then video games have price tags around the $50 mark, and these kids presumably have parents, so they shouldn’t have $50 bucks sitting around unaccounted for by their parents, to buy this game. Finally, parents should know what their kids are playing. That is the bottom line.

You can’t censor a product because a kid might accidentally get his or her sweet little television-watching hands on it.

On top of that, we need to expand our minds a little bit. VIDEO GAMES ARE NOT JUST FOR KIDS!!! I grew up in one of the early video game generations. I missed out on Pong and some of the Atari stuff, but I grew up playing Nintendo and Sega games.

Yes, I did grow up.

I still play games.

IE Games aren’t just for kids anymore.

While I am at it, this goes for cartoons too. Just because a TV show, or movie has animated characters and funny voices does not mean it is for kids or is automatically being marketed to them as a result of it being a cartoon. We are now adults, and we haven’t given up cartoons or video games. Adults represent a market with a lot more disposable income than kids, so it only makes sense that cartoons and games will be targeted at older audiences than they used to target.

And by the way… this isn’t to say that the game isn’t tasteless. It is. But, tastelessness has never been a good excuse for censoring something in this country before. It shouldn’t start today.

“25 to Life” carries an “M” rating — for those 17 and older — from the Entertainment Software Rating Board for blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language and drug references, according to the Eidos Web site.

If this offends you, then don’t buy the game. I won’t be buying it, but mostly because this game style bores me too quickly. It is a choice that I am making as a consumer over the age of 18. Don’t deny me my right to choose because of your moral judgements, Chuck.

If you want to pass legislation in your state making it illegal to sell this to someone under the age of 18, be my guest, but don’t try and stop these things from coming out altogether.

And please can you answer one question for me, Mr. Schumer?

Aren’t there issues in your state that might be a little more important and a little less “newsworthy?”

I’m just saying…

“For a year now, I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep,” the ad � signed “Rock on and may God bless you! Billy Corgan” � reads. “But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams.”

I am sure some people are just tired of Billy Corgan’s ego and all the trials and tribulations that he seems destined to go through/put all his fans through, but the quality of the music can’t be denied. I hope he gets The Pumpkins back together and makes a few more albums. We saw a hint that he was on his way back, with Zwan, but apparently those weren’t the right pieces to the puzzle.

Hopefully he can take all those great ideas and filter them through the only lineup that has worked for him in his career. It will be interesting to see if D’Arcy, Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha have any interest in “getting the band back together” in Chicago.

James Iha, specifically might be a hard sell due to the fact that he is now playing with the ultra-successful band A Perfect Circle with Billy Howerdel, and Tool’s Maynard James Keenan.

Let’s hope so.

If you have seen the video for “Walking Shade” (click here to download) then you will know why I want the Pumpkins back so badly.

Scarlett was supposed to be in the cast of Mission Impossible 3 (MI:3) but was removed from the cast due to “scheduling conflicts.” Those “scheduling conflicts” might (or might not) have included her unwillingness to put Scientology into her life after Tom Cruise allegedly tried to recruit her.

Cruise invited Johansson to a Scientology center where he showed her literature about joining his controversial church, according to a report. �After two hours of proselytizing,� according to RadarMagazine.com, �Cruise opened a door to reveal a second room full of upper-level Scientologists who had been waiting to dine with the pair, at which point the cool-headed ing�nue politely excused herself.�

Thank goodness.

I can give up Katie Holmes to the dark side, but losing Scarlett Johansson would have been much worse because she is talented to levels that Holmes could only dream of.

This weekend, I went to The Pit in Cleveland’s near West Side to see a band that a friend of mine put together. The show was being put together by Jennifer who runs Starloft.com. She is the person who is promoting The Company Line’s next show at Pat’s In the Flats on July 2nd, so I decided to go support a friend and meet Jennifer all at the same time.

I introduced myself to Jennifer and we talked for a while about her show promotions, and The Company Line, etc. She is also trying to get some investors together to open a rock club in Old Brooklyn (just south of Cleveland’s west side.) So we had a very interesting conversation.

Then toward the end of it, she said, “After talking to you over email, I expected you were much older.”

Either she was commenting on my boyish good looks, or she was commenting on the way I write codgerly old emails.

I guess I don’t write like a person my age. I know for a fact that I write emails more formally than anyone my age. I am not sure why that is, but I am thinking I will take this as a compliment.