Uncle Bill

From Monkeypeaches.com: "Hong Kong actor Tung Piu (Bill Tung) died yesterday of lung failure. In fact, acting was only a hobby of his and his life was closely related to horses. Born at a Hong Kong stable in 1933, Tung Piu began to ride at 9 and became a jockey at 12. Like his father and grandfather, he was also an excellent horse trainer. In 1967, Tung began hosting horse-race shows for local TV and radio stations. In the 1970, he began taking cameo roles in film and TV series and by late 1990s he had appeared in over 60 movies and hundreds hours of TV shows. The police chiefs in Jackie Chan's Project A sequel and Police Story series were the most noticeable roles he played.

LINGUA

The MOGpac is well known for it's unique lingo (or as Dan Hamill would call it, "lingua"). It's such a unique language that it's very difficult for people to understand what is being said. Since in their adult years the MOGpac is scattered about and not always in the same room, I have decided to use this forum to keep a running record of additions to our lingua so everyone is abreast (relax, Ash) . This is a list of new MOGpac Lingua from last night in Chinatown:

1. You do not download..you DANload
2. When someone is weak and annoying, usually a girl..she is "Direct to Internet" because she's too weak to even be direct to video.
4. "As long as (insert name) is happy" said in the most insincere way possible.
5. Though this is not part of the lingua, the following was overheard and said way too loudly by an annoying old woman while we were eating: "HER UTERUS IS THE SIZE OF A SOCCER BALL!"
6. There is no more .com, it is now .cock
7. "New Big Wang" aka the Anti-Kidd
8. Colorist: Thats the term for a female who poses as a gay man's woman. This was formerly known as "beard"


I would encourage fellow MOGpac members to continually add to this growing dicktionary (spelled correct).

Happy Birthday Summerman

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The Weekend in Photos....

You saw the previous blog entry to get the idea of the shit that went down on Friday night after we saw the semi-cool Russian film NIGHTWATCH. On Saturday night, Irene and I babysat my little cousin J.T. (initials given of course in honour of the author of this blog). J.T. has a knowledge of all thing Egyptian that rivals my knowledge of STAR WARS
Usually, Brandt and I work on Saturdays, but scheduling changes, had us meeting up yesterday morning. It was a pretty and bright Sunday at the studio (Special thanks to B for picking up lunch)...

Brandt was spinning a classic when I arrived, Julian Cope's WORLD SHUT YOUR MOUTH...

Here are some examples of things insipring us in the studio right now...Obviously, all things Manchester
(That's Hooky's first solo band, REVENGE, which is dear to my heart. This magazine ad went four years hung up on my wall at NYU)

Hypefactor has momentum, which is always a positive and I'm getting excited about our musical future. Plots and various schemes are hatched throughout the day. This allows me to look semi cool, and occasionally pretentious, as seen here...

And during this long and productive day, Brandt (with some occasional assistance from myself) put together a sweet demo of the HF album opening track THE MORNING AFTER THE LIFE BEFORE

Later that night, at Dorg's birthday gathering, there was a special guest, straight otta the streets of Stewart Manor, Dan Hamill's sister Jacky...


She's pretty goddamn funny and really entertaining, and as you can see here had us rolling in the beer garden aisles...

Lurch in particular was having a hell of a good time as he was consuming beers from a mug the size of his extremely large head.

However, the schnitzel hit the fan when Jacky so astutely observed that lurch was in fact "A girl....just a SITBACK BITCH", which of course is the body blows of body blows, especially when it comes from someone who has the guts to still live in Stewart Manor

You would think here that the evening would take a turn for the worse, and it almost did when Lurch, thinking he was Thor, used his oversized beer mug to crush a smaller, weaker beer glass, but it truly did not (though it might have later for all I know) and despite Dan Hamill's expression here, he should rest easy knowing that his younger sister entertained his friends and never ever slept with Tom Whitfleet, which is a relief to all.

It's Olympic Time!!

GO FOR THE BRONZE!!HARLEM: 1, QUEENS: 1

Shambles

How I wish this were true:

http://www.gawker.com/news/pete-doherty/fun-with-the-rumor-mill-the-pete-doherty-hoax-155558.php

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POSH

G and the Kidd have discovered PURE COMIC GOLD this time by discovering POSH NOSH, a cooking show starring the massive genius Richard E Grant and some woman. They are FUNNY:

"POSH NOSH is a non-traditional sitcom in the form of eight, nine-minute cooking fillers set in the kitchen, dining room and garden of the country house of two self-styled celebrity chefs. You've never seen anything quite like Minty's and
Simon's show before. Or anything quite like their presenting style. Or anything quite like their 17th-century mansion where Minty sweats away in the kitchen while Simon "supervises" his wine-cellar and practices his backhand with his
live-in tennis coach. Learn how to "relax" an avocado, "embarrass" a parsnip and shave a fennel on POSH NOSH — the only cooking show that really matters! " Learn more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/poshnosh/

This is gonna be strong and basically the UK version of G and the Kidd, so it's double sweet!

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Buried

Welcome to Hoth, formerly known as New York City. Today, we have no choice but to enjoy a Sunday indoors. Luckily, Irene and I repared for this blizzard (which is now approaching 2 feet of snow) and have supplies to last us quite awhile. Its another great excuse to catch up on missed TV episodes and movies (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, which is a fucking riot, was last nights choice). This photo, by the way, was taken at about 9am this morning and the shit has like doubled out there since (I'm just too lazy to go take another pic).

Before the elements made going outside somewhat annoying, My day was spent yesterday back in the studio after missing a few days this past week due to injury and wackness. Realizing there could be a Bliz-ard, Brandt actually agreed to starting early, so there I was down for the HF Experionce before 11 (a record) and away we went on our usual Satuday of edits, arrangements, bagels and beer. This week's song is CLEAN UP, the first track on the new album where you will hear the wonderful vocal stylings of Peter Saintface. This one is one of my favourites and while B did his techie shit, I laid out my idea for the video to him, which at first he didn't get, but then totally got as I kept rambling. Since none of you, except Anus McAnus, know the song, the them is basically "I AM here...REALLY" but you're NOT. Ponder.

However, the early start was a very good idea as it gave us sufficient time to get the song in order and this one took a bit longer than previous tunes, but brandt kicked it in the ass and I have spent my morning here listening to the rough demo quite a bit and loving it more than ever.The day was constantly threatened by the impending doom of harsh weather as the Brooklyn sky turned a serious GRAY for most of the morning and afternoon. Also, we couldn't venture far because we had to wait for the Fed Ex Man to bring Brandt his brand new road case for his amp, which is great considering we have no live dates planned at all. But again, planning ahead is always a smart idea




My back issues have slightly improved, but sadly not 100%. Once again, these backyard wrestling injuries will force back to the streets of Stewart Manor later this week and see the sports doctor who cracks me into shape every few years. Happily, this is actually a very fixable thing and not a back problem per se, so I should be up and running soon. Does this photo suggest I'm in pain? Cause I'm not, really. I'm just being deep there. Really. Or maybe I was just looking for Ash

OW, MY BACK

I apologize for the lack of posts as my recurring back injury has plagued me since the weekend and it makes me a tad cranky. This has basically forced me to stay at home which is actually not a bad thing as we have a nice house. I'll give you the brief rundown...

Last week saw MOGpackers G and the Kidd move into a new, more subway accessible abode in Queens. Evan, Lurch and I helped them break the place in with a screening of the best Hong Kong film in years, SPL. We also ordered Pizza and food from some place called Sacks (which I later learned is one of my Dad's haunts) and learned very quickly to order multiple apps if you want to feed 4 hungry men. So, kudos to the lads on their new place.

On Saturday, Brandt cancelled on me last minute for the HF experionce moments after my back injury returned, thus making me double cranky. I returned the favour by cancelling last night but that's only cause Irene forced me to rest my back before I did something stupid on the Subway.

So we watched CRASH cause it was on PPV and it's supposedly nominated for an Oscar (I don't really follow those things) and man that movie made me uncomfortable. It's a good movie but it's too much, not in terms of it's content, but in terms of the storytelling, which I felt was a bit too clean for it's own good. Things are too convenient and when you are dealing with such a tricky subject matter such as racism, convenient doesn't always work. The actors, minus of course Ryan Phillipe, are really good, especially Ludacris, who has a future in acting.

In keeping with the theme of uncomfortable movie watching, Lurch and Irene made me watch the documentary TARNATION, a film in which the director uses home video footage that he has shot over the course of his entire life to chronicle his beginnings in rural Texas and eventual life in New York. All of this is centered around his mentally ill mother, a victim of poor mental medicine (read: Shock Therapy) in the1960's who goes in and out of his life while being rasied by his grandparents. I'm not describing it properly but you get the idea. It's a great concept, a great idea, and often very powerful, but in the end, I felt it failed because the director failed to address many issues surrounding the circumstances of his life and I constantly felt like I was only getting a small percentage of what was going on in his life. I was genuinely curious about it and I wanted to know more. In the hands of a more experienced filmmaker this could have been groundbreaking.

There was a loose idea to see MUNICH, but after the two above brow-beating films and constant back pain, the thought of sitting in a theatre for 3 hours while people killed each other was less appealing than it normally is. Instead, stupidly ,we watch something called MUST LOVE DOGS which I stupidly agreed to because hey, Diane Lane is hot and John Cusack can't be in a shit movie (I totally forgot SERENDIPITY) cause there's NO way he could be a paycheck actor. Boy I was wrong. The worst. Ever. It's not even a movie. I think 15 minutes into it I was back on my computer reading comic book message boards. Yes, the film was that bad.

In other random thoughts:

Should 7 year olds have school dances? My 7 year old cousin, a ladies man if there ever was one, has been asked by a girl, Claire, to a school dance this week. I mean, what the hell is that about? I couldn't handle school dances in High School. Are these kids gonna be drinking before? Jesus.

Dominic Dunne (who inspired this blog by the way) has finally returned to Vanity Fair after a long absence, thus making it a magazine worth buying again. However, I bought it and it has Scarlet Johanssen on the cover and man what happened to the chick from GHOST WORLD and LOST IN TRANSLATION that I was aching to go to jail or Tokyo for? She's even naked in the cover and I still no longer find her attractive. Kiera Knightly, who I adore, still needs a bite to eat, but man, Scarlett is so Hollywood that it sickens me. It's like the issue tried very hard to make me dislike women. Sienna Miller has her boobs out in this and yet still manages to look blah. Weird. Bad issue and I usually dig those annual Hollywood issues.

I finally entered the Time Warner Center uptown today. I was not moved. It reminded me of vegas for some reason. The nice new part of Vegas that no one can afford but still walk through. Plus Borders is budget. However, then I had a drink with a French colleague at the Mandarin hotel which had a nice view, sot hat was pretty sweet. But Time Warner? Wack.

This is more than enough for now...

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Save your Pennies

From today's DAILY NEWS:

Is indie-movie denizen Vincent Gallo so desperate for attention — even if it's the bad kind?
Apparently, the answer is yes.

The 43-year-old Gallo — or someone claiming to be the "Brown Bunny" writer-director-star who was pleasured onscreen by Chloe Sevigny — was selling himself on eBay yesterday.

"For the modest fee of $50,000 plus expenses, I can fulfill the wish, dream, or fantasy of any naturally born female," reads the indecent proposal, under a glassy-eyed photo of Gallo, an avowed Republican, with one hand resting on his crotch.

"Heavy set, older, red heads and even black chicks can have me if they can pay the bill," it goes on. "No real female will be refused. … Scanning for STD's is required as is bathing and grooming prior to our encounter."

The sales pitch continues: "Potential clients are advised to screen the controversial scene from 'The Brown Bunny' to be sure for themselves that they can fully accommodate all of me." He also suggests a hands-on approach I won't repeat here.

Understandably, there were no bids by press time, and when Lowdown asked eBay about this, the online auction site reacted severely.

"This is the first we'd heard of it. The listing is being pulled down as we speak," said eBay spokesman Hani Durzy. "It's a clear violation. We don't allow people to offer escort services or services of a sexual nature."

Gallo — whose alleged sperm was offered on eBay last fall at the megalomaniacal price of $1 million — didn't respond to Lowdown's messages, and Sevigny's spokesman was mum.

The New Imperial Order

I dont know how I feel about this:

A Staten Island bus driver allegedly organized a fight club amongst the middle school kids on his route, urging them to fight one another and use scissors as weapons. It may not seem funny, but:
• The driver called himself The Emperor
• The Emperor rallied kids with his “sick Jedi mind trick”
• The bus was called The Death Cheese (a “mini Death Star on wheels”)
• The toughest fighters were nicknamed Darth, Sith Warrior, and Jabba, according to “sources”


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V For Victory

So thanks, as always, to the wonderful Byalick, Irene and I found ourselves in the Warners screening room here in the city checking out the highly anticipated movie adaptation of the classic graphic novel V FOR VENDETTA. Despite the Wachowski's involvement, my expectations weren't low, but weren't high either. It's a tough book to adapt and it has tons of shit in it that I would never have thought would have made it to the screen. Luckily, I was wrong. As the lads have been hearing me preach about for the last two days, the movie starts of REALLY FUCKING GOOD and then gets REALLY FUCKING GREAT. Now, I'm sure some fanboys are gonna find issues with it, because of the stuff that's not in it, but it's true to the source material as it IS the story as it was in the novel and they don't fuck with it. Yep. Seriously. It cannot be argued. They also did a very gutsy thing by visually setting it in modern London (albeit with slight tweaks to make it seem like the future), thus giving the whole a movie a contemporary feel that suggests this could happen today...now..and that gives the movie an edge that it would not have had it had been all CGI'd to make it look like a world we don't know.

Hugo Weaving, despite wearing a mask the entire time, gives another blow away performance, just with his body and voice. Every actor who ever gets a mask wearing super hero role should learn from this. And his chemistry with our Nat is off the charts. Nat really takes the material and elevates it to an emotional level I have never seen from her. There's acting and then there is ACTING and she owns this fucking role. Her british accent is spot on and man when she cries, she cries from the pits of her tiny soul. Dang.

There's really only one problem I have with the movie and I'm not going to get into it here. It's in the trailer if you look close enough. Think MATRIX and you'll get what I'm saying. It didn't hurt the film, but it was the one time I was taken out of the film while watching it. There's something that keeps this movie from being a total classic, but I hold it up there with CONSTANTINE and the X-MEN movies and just under BATMAN BEGINS. Don't get me wrong, this movie is amazing.

I think only the Wachowski's could get away with making this kind of film and they have done a tremendous job. How do you market this kind of film in this country? I have no idea, but I think it's gonna do well internationally and of course with the fan boys. The poster calls it an "uncompromising vision of the future", but I'm more pleased that they didnt compromise Alan Moore's fantastic story. This movie is a must see.