Sep 27, 2008

Bathtub Danzig

So, I went out to Cat & Fiddle with my friend Nikki, Mike, & some other dude who's name I totally forget right now (Sorry dude! He was cute, too. Anyway...) and after a raucous game of Photo Hunt & a tormented game of Music Trivia she told me to look up "Danzig Shopping List" & look for her video response after watching the original and omg I just have to say kudos to her. First of all for discovering the Danzig Shopping List video in the first place (I obviously missed it) & Secondly for memorizing the lyrics enough to sing it. How awesome is that? She's so wicked.

Here's Nikki & Me @ CF:



As you can see, I'm making my crazy face. LMAO. I dunno what I was thinking... Must've been those black & tans. *blush*

Here's the original Danzig Shopping List:





And here's my friend's YouTube-famous *drum roll please* Bathtub Danzig:



Oh, Nikki, you crack me up!

Sep 26, 2008

Really? TV Episode 2 with special guest

Portia and Dean, Cabbage Patch kids, discuss important hard hitting issues. With Special Guest, Jeremy Graham, gaffer. Really?


Sep 24, 2008

Dark Delicacies, Indeed! (feat. Lloyd Kaufman)

So I got this text message from Lloyd Kaufman suggesting I check out this DVD signing he's participating in at a bookstore called Dark Delicacies because he thinks I'll dig the store. Well, he was right! I wicked did AND I highly recommend ALL horror fans to go there enmasse NOW! Stop reading this, turn off your computer, & get in your car/hop on your bike/beg for a ride to The Book of Lists: Horror's Del Howison's store Dark Delicacies pronto.

I'll just sit here and listen to iTunes until you get back.



Ok, back? (I know you didn't really go, so just play along.)

I met Del & chatted him up with Lloyd (I left my memory stick in the computer having just uploaded my REALLY? TV footage for editing so I had to make due with a borrowed camera phone):



A surprise meeting was Tony Todd. That was cool. He's on 24 now, so I introduced him to Jeremy because he did the first 3 seasons. Small town:



Here are some more photos from the evening, including my fave horror flick proudly displayed:









I bought a copy of the DVD BRYAN LOVES YOU and had it signed by everyone except Lloyd. I didn't do that on purpose though. (As a side note, I realize what I Twittered about autographs, but I forgot how much fun it is to pick through books on a shelf and find the personalized touch of a signed one, like Dark Delicacies up above or one of  an author that Lloyd recommended, Joe Shirley, below. If I had more money I would've bought the signed SNUFF for Care!):



Mine's two-sided. It was not on purpose... I'm just a dork & forgot to pull out the inside cover for everyone to sign properly. See, I'm just not well versed in the art of DVD signing. *sigh* Oh well...





All in all it was a supertronic time! I got to meet some wicked cool folks that I look forward to seeing again at maybe Screamfest
or future signings at Dark Delicacies.

Cheers!

Melissa

Sep 23, 2008

Why should I stop blogging? (a rant)

I'm trying to embrace the "who gives a shit what other people think about what I do with my time" approach to life.

Hence blogging. Certain folks close to me have oft suggested I cease to blog. My question is why? Why should I cease? I enjoy blogging. I don't even care if anyone reads my blogs. I'm just a compulsive writer.

Then I get the, oh, well, then you should just write your thoughts down in private.

Um, what makes you think I don't?

I have notebooks & journals & random crumpled up pieces of paper spilling over the brim of my apartment with all my private thoughts. Some of these thoughts are screenplays, some are poems, most are just me ranting away about my day, but all are private... except what I decide to share via my blog (or other avenues). And so what if I do share? I'm not not making money by blogging. Blogging doesn't hold me back creatively. If anything it fuels me. Heck, why write something & not share it? Especially if you're proud of it. (And even if you're not. I don't know if I'm proud of this blog yet. This is sponateity baby.)

People tell me MySpace isn't real. The internet isn't real. You want more. Well, then, what is real? My thoughts are real. These words you read are real. I am real. So what if my chosen form of expression is a corporate sponsored blog machine. I like MySpace. I like YouTube, too. And Flickr. I like sharing what I make with whomever cares cause maybe we'll find a connection there. Maybe I'll make a new friend. Or maybe I'll touch another soul who knows how shitty things can go and maybe I'll inspire someone to pick up a pen and share their thoughts, too. Or maybe I wont.

Point is, you don't unless you do, ya dig?

So to whoever secretly reads my blogs and then tells me to my face, "You're wasting your time," fuck off.

Really? TV

Portia and Dean, Cabbage Patch kids, discuss important hard hitting issues. Really?


Sep 22, 2008

Fine


I don't mean to be a shitty friend
I'm just too narsissistic in the end
So you say goodbye
Well you've said that before
Just another lie
Then you'll be back at my door
You won't give me some slack
Always on the attack
I'm sorry I said
You said you didn't want that
Fine fine fine
Fine fine fine
I'm fine leave me alone
I'm fine hang up the phone
I'm fine I'll go it alone
I'm fine
Fine fine fine

Sep 21, 2008

Remember Floppy Colon? No? Then read me!

So, I was in therapy today and I had a decent session but it seemed like the general theme was I don't focus enough on myself (and here I thought I was narcissistic). So, in an attempt to shine a light back on me & show the world what I see, I give you *dun dun dun* Floppy Colon!
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

Created in 2007, Floppy Colon was a way for me to redirect negative energy -- the depression & anger & hormonal imbalance -- that my ovarian cysts were giving me.

Floppy Colon itself was born from the lips of my surgeon, who informed me, shortly after removing my appendix & sucking fluid out of my ovaries, that my colon was too floppy. Well, I thought that was the funniest thing I ever heard. I was like, "So, what? I have a floppy colon." And in total seriousness the doctor was all, "Yes, you have a floppy colon and I highly recommend you blah blah blah..." He didn't skip a beat. I was like, um, hello, why is this only funny to moi?

So, a few months later I was messing around with my Sharpie when lo & behold I drew my floppy colon just randomly and I fell in love... Then, of course, I had to draw the ovaries, which were really killing me, thus the attack of the killer ovaries.

Good times. Good times.

Not.

But I made the most of it.

Check it out some time & add Floppy as a friend. He gets lonely sometimes, especially since I killed him off. LMAO.

Floppy Colon MySpace Page

Sep 19, 2008

The Day Love Died

Just give her love
It's all that's left
When death has caught
The final breath
Sing a Song
Sing it Just For Me
Lucy
Lucy
Lucy

lucy02_071501


IMG_0002

Img_0028



"Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.
Cellophane flowers of yellow and green,
Towering over your head.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,
And she's gone.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmellow pies,
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers,
That grow so incredibly high.
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore,
Waiting to take you away.
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds,
And you're gone.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds,
Picture yourself on a train in a station,
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties,
Suddenly someone is there at the turnstyle,
The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes."

-The Beatles
PS: The best vet in the west is Dr. Melissa Fogel. Her practice is called Media City Animal Hospital if you should ever be in need... Tell her I sent you. She has incredible bedside manners.

Sep 18, 2008

Random Waves of Thought

Energy waves come spiraling in
repeating all my past sins
they want names & numbers
I just can't tell
secret is I'm going to hell
that's what they say
that's what they think
maybe I'll have another wink
before I tell you that you stink.

Liars lie they lie all the time.
I'm telling you this honestly.

Ppl call me a liar
that's no lie
they just never
seem to recall
when I call
them on it
just what lies
been made unsecret.

Maybe I've lied
but you knew all the time
so let's move on
I'm sick of this hard on
with self destruction & debt
our country needs a new president.

Sep 16, 2008

Let it Roll

Sometimes just gotta sit and be
Still with yourself
Breathe
Believe
Time does fly
Capture the good moments
Let the bad roll on by

Let the bad roll on by
Bye Bye
Baby
By and by
Let them roll on by
Baby
by and by
Let them roll on
Baby blues
Let yourself
Rock it all out
Back & forth
Baby blues

Sometimes you just gotta be silent
Feel the beat smooth and sweet
Let it rock
Let it roll
Let it all go...

Throw the dice
Thick as ice
I'm not vanilla
I'm not chocolate
I'm whatever you want
Whipped up quick.

I give it all away for free
Take it - don't you see
I need you I need this...*

 Words
Splash at my feet
Sound
Trickles in my ears
The music flows over my body
    Like strong Atlantic waves
    Beating on the rocky shore

I need this
I need you
Your heavy breaths of smoky language
 Like dewy fog

    You lead me through dark seaweed
    As a lighthouse shines
     On the blinding way

I am floating on your melody
    And drowning in your dirge
    Save me with your watery words

*The 1st half just written now
**The 2nd half written 1992 & published in:


Shards
Tenth Anniversary Edition 1992
Editors: The Quabbin Poetry Club

I call this: GARBAGE IS REVERSIBLE (photo)

GARBAGE IS REVERSIBLE

Sep 4, 2008

Net Neutrality: Which Side Are You On?

http//blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/03/comcast-adoptin.html


Lloyd Kaufman asked me to blog about Net Neutrality a little while ago but I haven't yet for two reasons: 1) I was travelling & had little to no access to a computer and 2) I wasn't really sure what to blog exactly.
Well, today, after falling asleep beside my Dad's pool and turning into a lobster, it occurred to me that most people might not even know what net neutrality is or why they should even care, nevermind why I would get so excited by it that I'd 1) create a graphic design devoted to it & 2) be conversing with Lloyd in the first place over net neutrality!
So, what is net neutrality and why should you care?
Here's what Wiki has to say:
"Network neutrality (equivalently net neutrality, Internet neutrality or simply NN) is a principle that is applied to residential broadband networks, and potentially to all networks. A neutral broadband network is one that is free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, on the modes of communication allowed, which does not restrict content, sites or platforms, and where communication is not unreasonably degraded by other communication streams."*
Let's pretend you actually read that. Now let's pretend you didn't.
What it says basically, is that net neutrality means that your ISP has NO CONTROL over what YOU CHOOSE to download. So, if you, oh, I dunno, want to pirate SLiTHER (a James Gunn film) from a BitTorrent (a popular peer-to-peer software/internet slang for downloading) site because you're, oh, let's say too poor to buy it, then, well, you'd be able to no problemo because NO ONE would be paying any attention to what you are downloading.
So what's the problem?
The problem is this: pirating is wrong. When you download James' movie you are stealing from him and all the good folks who worked their butt's off making the film (well, at least those who get royalties).
So here's the question of the day/year/decade: who should police pirating?
Of course many feel the FCC should swoop in and Big Brother the heck out of the internet, but who wants that? Do you really want your daily internet activity to be the equivalent to Fox nightly news?
Why do you even go onto the internet? I won't even touch porn with a ten foot pole, that's your business. Most people I know, including my folks, best friends and MySpace Pals, use the internet for information (where else would James come up with such great ideas as Humanzee?!?!).
The internet is the last great bastion of untapped, unfiltered information.
Net Neutrality -- and the politicians who stand behind it -- want to keep the internet just that: untapped, unfiltered information!
Now let's get back to choosing sides. The design at the top was created by me as my own personal FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, posted to Flickr under the CREATIVE COMMONS license, & picked up by WIRED magazine's blog for an article on Net Neutrality and the uncomfortable relationship between Comcast and BitTorrent. That's right: relationship.
There's a link to the article in my photos section, but to save you the trouble have at it right here: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/03/comcast-adoptin.html
The title of the article alone makes my skin crawl: Comcast Makes a Deal with BitTorrent.
What exactly does that mean? What is BitTorrent doing sharing a bed with Comcast and why should you care?
Comcast is a massively popular ISP (Internet Service Provider). If your email address ends with "@comcast.net" then Comcast is providing you with internet service and is "watching" what you download to a certain "degree." (To know more, please, I beg you, just read the article.)
Here's the beginning to get you started (and hopefully spark your interest enough that you actually will go read the article):
"Comcast, under federal inquiry over its throttling of BitTorrent traffic, said Thursday it will deploy a so-called "agnostic" approach to traffic management and treat all data equally by year's end."
Agnostic? Isn't that what my parents put on my birth certificate when I was born because they didn't want to force a religion on me? I'm already not liking the sound of this "merger."
Let's skip ahead:
"Digital rights groups were not so sure. They urged the Federal Communications Commission to continue its inquiry into Comcast and other internet service providers that had been delaying or blocking BitTorrent packets. The BitTorrent protocol, while having legitimate purposes, is among the technologies of choice for distributing pirated material online."
So, like me, others weren't so sure of this whole idea either... Hmm, I wonder why...
Pirating materials. It's all about big business and control. The movie industry is hardcore when it comes to protecting its intellectual property, like movies. Big business wants to watch your ISP and make sure you don't download Pirates of the Caribbean like I did and if you do, even, oh, just to test the waters, you'll get a lovely piece of email straight from your ISP berating you for doing such a thing.
I wonder how my ISP knew what I was BitTorrenting?
Think about it. Go back, read Wiki, educate yourself, then go check out that article. Seriously. This is not a joke. Net Neutrality is es muy importante, people! Know your rights BEFORE they are taken away.

"The issue of net neutrality is bigger than Comcast and BitTorrent," he said. "This agreement does nothing to protect the many other peer-to-peer companies from blocking, nor does it protect future innovative applications and services. Finally, it does nothing to prevent other phone and cable companies from blocking. Innovators should not have to negotiate side deals with phone and cable companies to operate without discrimination. The internet has always been a level playing field, and we need to keep it that way."
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality

Killer Bee Pic I Took @ Tower Hill in Mass

Check it:
Tower Hill 2008 136
And if you like that, here's a link to the set: http://flickr.com/photos/melissa/sets/72157607097697840/