3 Things I Dig (this week)

Back in the dark ages, when I had my very own MySpace page (mostly because everyone else had one and in high school I was the type to cave into peer pressure), I began this series of love/hate mini-rants in order to feel like I actually used my MySpace page. As it stands, I probably only published about four instalments, leaving the rest of my homepage barren and allowing my comment section to serve as a halfway house for migrant spammers. I've decided to reinstate the format (obviously), not only because it's an easy way out when I want to write without an actual topic in front of me, but also because I actually feel like this blog is becoming a bit of a downer -- sometimes a comic downer, granted, but altogether a bit too negative for the tastes of the literally several people who occasionally read this slop. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I don't really want to do the comically angry bit of this, considering that the rest of my blog experience is ranting like a Tea Party member after a particularly moving episode of Glenn Beck, railing against the things in life that make me want to move to Mars. So, in the interest of sanity, this I dig of thee:

Three Things I Dig (this week):

1) Actually doing something at work. I was going to put "Wal-Mart" here, but that might be a bit of a stretch. After of one day of work on the sales floor, I think I accomplished more than a year an a half on the front end. Cashiering was never my gig, but the menial task of schlepping dog food and toilet paper? It's not the best job ever, but I feel like I've actually done something when I come home. Granted, yesterday was the third-busiest day of the year (Black Friday and Christmas Eve being one and two), and I'm assured the novelty will wear off soon, but for the time being, I'm over the moon.

2) Movie: The Wolfman: I'll probably give this film the full treatment later, but I had to mention it now since I saw it at the $1.50 theatre on Friday and I thought it was awfully brilliant -- and by "awfully brilliant," I mean "awful in a brilliantly spectacular fashion." Anthony Hopkins gives a valiant effort, but you always got the sensation that the director just asked him to be Hannibal Lecter crossed with the pith-helmeted hunter from Jumanji, twinned with a rabid version of Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf. Hugo Weaving, the most famous man no one's ever heard of unless you think his name is Elrond or Agent Smith or "V," seems to be the only one who knows that he's in a shitball of a flick, playing a grumpy Scotland Yard man who -- Spoiler! -- turns into a wolf as well, but to no real consequence, neatly opening the door for a sequel, although I don't know if a sequel of a movie this bad will simply reset the "awful-o-meter" and turn into an instant classic. Benicio Del Toro (played by Claude Raines in the original) does his best to mimic the original, and to be honest, as a big fan of the original, I actually got that Raines vibe from him. The problem is that the tone of the original was decidedly different than the tone of the remake; the original knew that it was a low-rent horror flick, while today's version has delusions of grandeur. I never really connected with Emily Blunt's portrayal of Gwen, but mostly because I couldn't get over her amazingly spastic accent -- I actually had to look her up on IMDB to see where she was from (British? Could have fooled me). So much for the brief introduction. Anyway, it was definitely worth my $1.50, but if I'd had to pay full price for that I mightn't have liked it as much. If you don't mind an amusingly bad flick I'd recommend it.

3) Pineapple Dance Studios: I'd been alerted to this show (UK, Sky1) by a twitterer who will remain anonymous (mostly because referring to people by their internet handles in print is something particularly distasteful to me), and was introduced to me thus: "This show will make you question reality. There are no words." In fact, those are about the only words I could think of to describe it. Reality-altering. No words. The closest to a description I've come across can be found here (And while you're there, read some more of his stuff. You're welcome), and even he prefaces it by saying that his whole column is a mere approximation of the alternate dimension on which resides the staff and students of the Pineapple Dance Studios. It's a docusoap, no doubt about it, who claims this man as the closest thing to a main character the show can muster: 

Don't get me wrong, I love the guy -- and he reveals himself throughout the series to be a dancing god -- but really? Really?? And most of the show makes you just want to shout "REALLY??" at the TV screen, in particular the talentless MILF-wannabe Tricia Bitchyface and the infamous dance sequences that appear like a particularly wacky acid trip and disappear just as quickly. As a musician, I can't help but be amused by instructor Andrew Stone and his band Starman's ascent into the upper echelon of derivative crap (see my last post). I completely understand his desire for fame and the "got-to-have-it" attitude you need in order to make it as a recording artist, but I can't help but feel that they're doing it wrong; makeovers, shooting a music video, and recording a demo are all fine and dandy, but when I see them play their first live gig in episode five, after all that other stuff has already happened, I start to think that I've been completely wrong in my 15+ years of musical training, learning it the other way around. You can find the show where all good torrents are pirated (or on your SkyTV account if you happen to be in the UK), and if you're ready to have your mind expanded, definitely give it a watch.

And again, I'm trying really hard to make these little snippets of snark, but with things like Wolfman and Pineapple Dance Studios, it's really, really hard. Most people are going to see Wolfman and intensely dislike it -- and like I said, it's not a particularly well-done flick -- or catch Louie's antics and think I've completely lost my mind. In instances like that, I feel compelled to defend myself, and when I defend myself, I tend to get a little, well, verbose. I might expand on both of them later, if I feel like it or if someone actually cares what I have to say about either. Still, I think it was a positive experience all 'round, and positive is what I was shooting for. I can go back to being the token misanthrope tomorrow. Happy Easter, kids!