"Freak Out," Bill O'Reilly (NSFW)

I want this to be TYR's new intro music.

Not as catchy as "Hope"

(via Obamicon.me via EthanK)

Explorer Force!

I just realized I haven't posted Explorer Force, a fun superhero comic by fellow improviser Mike Short.  

Good weeks of entertainment

24 started again on Monday.   Seeing Harold Night on Tuesday.  New The Office on Thursday.  Last I saw Code Duello improv at The PIT and then there was the return of Summer Fridays, topped off with the return of Battlestar Galactaca.  (I knew BSG was going to get darker before it showed hope... but... damn.)  Tonight TYR at the Village Latern followed by teching The Stamp & Coin Club show at The Red Room.  Coming on Wednesday is the return of Lost.  Thursday, the Improvised Shakespeare Company at Barrow Street.  Next Saturday, the improv Shakepeare workshop.  And TYR in The Inferno next Sunday.

Spinkle in writing and many gaming sessions (I'm sorry about today, Anna... I would rather be home gaming and not listening listening to this particular moron).

Oh yeah.  Obama become the President of the United States on Tuesday.

Woot.

Cult of Snuggie

Wear the Sacred Robes and wield the Wand of Enlightenment.

For only $14.95.

(via Jezebel)

How many A's in "KHAAAAN!"?

(via Flashman via Negatendo via Boing Boing)

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're are only hope... oh, shit..."

Here is a darkside Obi-Wan Kenobi designed for the Star Wars Battlefront III being developed by Free Radicial... until Free Radical closed up shop.

Pretty bad ass.

(Kotaku also snagged cel phone video of an in-house presentation of the game back from November.  Looked pretty awesome, most because half way through it appears you can play an Ewok in crotch biting attack.)

(via Kotaku)

Before Sunrise / Before Sunset

I finally got around to watching Before Sunset last night.

I remember seeing Before Sunrise when it came out.  I was about the same age as the characters (a bit older) and not in a relationship and a romantic.  It clicked hard with me.  It's not like it is a brilliant film.  But it is exactly what it is, nothing more and nothing less.  A man and woman meet on a train, spontaneously get off in Vienna and spent the afternoon and night being in the moment.  They kiss on a Ferris wheel and have sex in a park.  At the end, he gets on a plane for America and they agree to meet back in Vienna in 6 months.  Film ends.  It's an honest little movie, acted well.  The characters are flawed and young, but I bought into the romance.  That movie made me hopeful about people and, well, love.

I rewatched Before Sunrise last night before watch Before Sunset.  It was like returning to an old memory.  It was exactly as I remembered it but I had changed.  Ethan Hawke's character was more of an ass and awkward and Julie Delphie's character was more naive and awkward than I remembered.  But, you know, I kind of loved them all the more for it.  And the ending, which years ago filled me with hope and expectation, now felt bitter-sweet and sad.  Because I knew they didn't meet in six months.  The movie now hung on me like a regret that you don't actually regret.  How to explain it... Sometimes you do something that, in the long run fail and causes some sort of pain and ache, but you wouldn't go back and change it.  That's how I felt about the character's night in Vienna.  (And in reflection of my time since 1995.)

Before Sunset takes place nine years after the first film.  Now in Paris, Hawke's character has written a book about that night.  Delphie's character comes to a book signing in Paris.  And they hang out for a while until Hawke has to get on a plane for New York.  They never met in Vienna and try in a few short hours to catch up on the passing years... and to figure out what that night meant to them.

And I bought it.  (Although seeing how thin to the point of looking sick Hawke looks... and the fact that Delphie has just become more attractive....)  Again it is honest and sweet and fully taps into what has happened to me in those years (at least emotionally).  And they look back on Vienna not just with fondness but with a bit of anger... how that night may have twisted them.

I fully understand why people might dislike either or both movie.  But has character study and a rumination on what love might be... I love them.

Everyone Poops

Mars makes methane.

Help wanted: No extinct animals

(via BolgerNow)

Crank 2: High Voltage aka High F-bomb count

One, NSFW.

Two, I never saw Crank. Still have no desire to. But this trailer appeals to me because, well, it is extreme. And probably offensive. And weird.

"They go to this planet full ofthe brown Muppets..."

Star Wars, Episode IV-VI, as told by someone who has never seen it before.



(via Bonnie via Boing Boing)

Check Mates

Posting for posting sake

I feel like posting something but my brain is also running a 2/3rds speed.  It might be the cold.  I don't know.

There are some Thank You, Robot shows this weekend which you should come to.  Or at least come to one of them.

Friday, 10:30pm, Under St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place, New York).

Summer Fridays show returns.  We have two amazing teams with us: Wilder and Krompf. I love Wilder and Krompf was on of the first teams I saw that blew my mind and had me crying with laughter.

$6.

Saturday, 7:00pm, Village Lantern, 167 Bleeker St., New York).

We are honored to be invited by Action Pals to play at their show.  Dogbasket (who are great fun) and Boy Girl Party (who have yet to see but is made up of two people I adore) will also be there.

Free.  (And if you come before 7pm to eat and mention "action pals," you  get 25% of food.  This improv show will save you money!)

Next week on Sunday, 1/25 at 9:30pm, at TYR will be in The Inferno at the Magnet Theater (254 W. 29th St., New York).  It's a audience vote show, so some gettin' some audience to come in and vote would be awesome.  And they give teams challenges!

$5, I believe.

And keep late night Feb. 20th open.  Seriously.  You'll want to.  It will be a very special night.

In other me news...

The whole roleplaying this is going very well.  It is a lot less pressure this time and I am spending A LOT less time on it but gaming more.  It is getting close to the point were characters can actually start interacting which I think will be great fun.  I am spending a lot much time having the players develop their own characters and view points but not letting them influence each other.  When they do come together it will be interesting to see how they view each other.  I like giving different people different pieces of the puzzle and then seeing if they put it together.

This actually screws me sometimes because I have huge plot points that I want them to figure out themselves but they never do.  But in this case it won't be a problem... because I have no plot.  I have fed them bits and pieces of viewpoints and bits and pieces of backstory.  They can act on them or not.  Or go on to something else.  I am really trying to set it up so they'll have control.

Although their is a backstory and stuff happening.  If they never follow it, there will be consequences.  There are always consequences.

Otherwise, life is good.   Work is slow but at least it is there.

Dream a Little Dream of Me

(via Boing Boing)

Zelda

Confession: I have never played a Zelda game in my life. I've never owned a Nintendo product.

My coffee with Dylan

Dylan has turned around in his chair to talk to me.  (Apparently grandma isn't much of a conversationalist.)  Here is a bit of his wisdom.

"In February I turn three.  And then it will be my birthday.  And Roseanne will come over and we'll play with trains."

"I don't like loud noises.  When I hear a noise I call my mommy."

(After almost choking while making a face with his fingers in his mouth) "Wow.  I just choked a lot."

"Sometimes when I stuff my mouth with goldfish, I choke really hard... and then I cry.  But it's okay because I like goldfish."

"I sleep in my bad the whole night.  Not always but mostly."

"I like to sit on the bench but when other people are sitting there grandma and I have to sit over here.  But if they move, then we can sit there."

"And sometimes... I have a problem with poop."

"Coffee is not for kids.  But champagne..." (long thoughtful pause) "...is not for kids either."

"Coffee can't get hurt."

Bad Movies

What with The Room and watching The Hillz (which is what you get if you mixed Less Than Zero with a white trash Boyz in the Hood, threw in Paris Hilton and then took out all the good parts), bad movies have been haunting me lately.

Well here is the upcoming Hybrid which is not about a Prius.

(via shocktillyoudrop via ohnotheydidnt via Gizmodo)

Against All Odds: An Improvised Breakup

Last night was a last minute whipped together System Error show at the Parkside Lounge.  I still had tons of fun (big props to JR and LBizzy).

Since it was basically un-attended (thanks Bozarth for coming out... and LBizzy and LBizzy's friend who wasn't wasted like the Bizz-master), Nikki D. and I decided to try something we had talked about earlier in the week.

When I say "earlier in the week," let me be clear.  On Wednesday night I had an idea of a two-person improv form I wanted to try with Nikki.  On Thursday, I IMed her about it.  I believe our entire discussion about it was about 60 gChat lines from 10:30am to noon.  That was it.

So 80 hours later, without talking about it anymore than those 60 lines (besides saying "This seems like a good idea"), we were up on stage doing it.

And it was fun.  And I think it was funny.  And ripe with potential.  It's not a wholly original form or anything.  But it allows me (1) to do two-person improv which I've wanted to do for awhile, (2) do slower improv, (3) focus tightly on the relationship in a scene, (4) walk closer to that edge of sad and emotional and funny which is a space I enjoy, and (5) work with Nikki D. who I makes me happy, both as an improviser and a person.

It's very nice when things work out so well.

Anywhozits, Against All Odds: An Improvised Breakup is available for bookings.