I mentioned that I went to see Superman Returns the other day and was really let down. I really WANTED to love it. I guess I just expected way too much. I’ll try to explain without giving away any major spoilers…

See, I was under the impression that this Superman movie was a whole new movie and that it would be able to stand on its own…Instead, this was more like PART 6 to the Christopher Reeves films. I had hoped for them to go back to the beginning and have a whole new take on it[like "Batman Begins"] rather than the one measly little Smallville flashback. The story had so many holes in it too…The more I think about the movie, the more I really hated it(and mostly for reasons I can’t say without giving away the lame-ass plot). I kept waiting to be blown away and found myself a little bored in quite a few spots.

Ok…now that that’s out of the way, there were some things I did like about it. I laughed at a few of the jokes[that was unexpected]… I thought it was cast well and the acting was just dandy… The FX? They were just fine… but again…nothing made me go "WOW!" Mainly…the story was boring.

Maybe If I walked in knowing that this film was basically Part 6 to the old Superman Movies I wouldn’t have been so let down. Technically, it’s a great looking film and it was good to see Superman back on the screen again….just don’t get too excited about it and you might actually enjoy some of it. I give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

Some folks clapped after it ended…so some of you might still love it…who knows.

Have a Happy 4th of July Weekend!

Well now…

I’m super excited about the good news I got today…I can’t really say anything about it right now but when I get more details on it all, you can bet I’ll be as shamefull as I can be with Promotion though Hopefully in the next day or so I’ll have more to say about it all …but I’m really stoked!

Speaking of "Super Excited"…Has anyone seen Superman Returns yet? I can’t wait to see it but I need to make some time for it and to figure out when I want to fight the crowds…Meanwhile, I don’t mean to steal super powers from Superman’s Thunder but a friend sent me the new SPIDERMAN 3 Trailer yesterday and it looked so …Spidey-Tastic! Makes me wish 2007 was already here!

UPDATE: I SAW SUPERMAN RETURNS

As much as I wanted to LOVE it, I didn’t :-[ Sure, it’s worth seeing if you’re a Superman fan. I just thought the story was lame. You be the judge though

I need some new pictures taken (as if I don’t have enough already). I actually have a monster hard drive stuffed with (mostly) old unusable shots. It’s basically like a scrapbook though. It’s nice to glance back at ever so often. And then, once in a while I’ll see a shot that I like now that I didn’t like at the time they were taken. Funny how that works.

Call me weird, but I do enjoy getting my photo taken, hoping to catch that 1 out of 100 that might look OK. No, It’s not because I enjoy looking at myself for hours and hours. I suppose anyone who keeps a public blog could easily be accused of being narcissistic…it’s all part of the game I suppose.

I’ll admit, there was a time when I was posting WAY TOO many pictures of myself. I tell myself, I was just documenting life as it was happening and trying to gain exposure. I remember offending a few of the guys out there by posting this picture [with a hole in my jeans] a while back. That photo actually got me some “hate mail” LOL OVER-EXPOSURE … I suppose I can see now how the picture could offend someone but Fuck ‘em if they can’t handle seeing my underwear. [Oddly enough these same people keep reading the blog.]

I’m rambling on about nothing…

I guess the main idea is… I’m a starving artist type who’s out to share some of what my life’s like. Some of this includes trying to get a good publicity picture for shameful self-promotion. Perhaps I share too much…or not enough (I do hold back quite a bit with what I write sometimes; deep down I’m evil and have three 6’s on my head). I struggle just as we all do… and I’ve come so close way too many times to “making it”. Perhaps if I keep at it long enough something will finally break for real.

Next week I have a birthday and it marks another year of the struggle. And with each birthday that comes along, I wonder if I should be on another path…I wonder quite a few things actually …like how I can get the year on my ID changed to be legally younger.  In a business where age is a huge factor, I wonder when am I too old for it…or if I’m already too old. Did I mention I hate birthdays?

ooops…this post vanished

I watched a movie on DVD last night called Night Watch (click for the trailer) and was totally AMAZED at the visual FX. Yes, it’s a Vampire-Type Blood and Guts typical "guy movie" but what I liked most about it was how they did the Subtitles (98% of the film is in Russian).

I’m not usually a fan of reading subtitles in movies (though I ‘d rather read them than listen to someone try to overdub the voice) but these were very artistically done. For example…when the "spooky voice" was saying something…the subtitle would be blood red and drip off the screen. Or… I recall the letters all shattering in one point in the film. Quite clever actually!

I’m not saying this is a one of the best movies ever but it certainly was some very nice Eye Candy! If you’re not into Vampire type films with gore and gloom and wild FX…avoid this film.

New Subject:

Let’s see…tonight we get to watch plagiarism at it’s best/worst…I’m talking about THE GONG SHOW disguised under the name of "America’s Got Talent". I’ll watch [I loved The Gong Show]… but the name of the show sort of bugs me a little. It’s sarcastic to say America’s Got Talent and then show a David Letterman "Stupid Human Trick" …at least The Gong Show was saying "hey, we’re going to show you some messed up crappy people with maybe one or two folks who have real talent mixed in there but we’re going to gong the hell out of them"… From the few commercials for A.G.T. that I’ve seen, it’s painfully obvious that they REALLY should have called it The New Gong Show…Instead, they’re pumping it as some fresh new idea created by American Idol’s Simon Cowell.

I don’t mean to rip on the show…I haven’t even seen it yet but I can’t help but feel a little jaded. The Winner gets a lousy Million Dollars? Compared to other shows, the cost to put on this show isn’t much at all… and they’re going to make a killing off advertisements as it’s riding the coattails of Idol. Why not raise the prize money to 5 Million a season? That’s chump change for these people and they could still make killer profits. Ah well…I guess I need to wait and see what the show’s actually like before I vent on and on about it. But one last thing … I sure hope it isn’t a DUD like that other lame ass show "America’s Great Inventor" (or whatever it’s called).

Excuse the snippy manic blog..I’m still going through these damn nicotine withdrawals. I know it’ll eventually get better and easier but for now I’m cranky as hell.

49 hours, 41 minutes and 2 seconds since my last cigarette. But who’s counting?

It’s also been about 50 hours of HELL. I try to keep my mind off of it but it’s tough. I figure 3 days and my body should be nicotine free…the rest is just going to be spent explaining this to my brain.

The laser zapping worked just fine (again)…it really does help with the initial craving but I’m still struggling. I’m always going to struggle. It feels like there’s this internal "joy button" that isn’t being pushed any more.

I’m trying to avoid certain situations and unnecessary stress for this next week. Snapping and going off the edge would come way to easily right now.

Well.. I just spent the last hour writing a blog about how I’m feeling due to not smoking for the last 21 hours and since going in for my Laser Treatment…and then? I hit a wrong button and the whole entry is now lost. No big deal I guess…it really wasn’t anything too important. Just me bitching.

I’m feeling miserable, shaky, fidgety, sweaty, clouded, short wicked, angry, and a little like I lost my best friend. I know the feeling eventually goes away but I know it’s not entirely ever going to leave me either.

I walked away from the Laser Zapping place like I was part of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"…the zapping helps by putting you in this dream-like mode but I’m not going to lie…My body really does want a cigarette right now. I’m thinking I need to stay away from my computer today. Probably best if I stay away from some people too. Is there a way to avoid myself? hmm.

GOD, I HATE THIS!

I’d almost forgot that today I was picked as Track of the Day on GB.com. The song Upside Down had already been "Track of the Day" in the Pop/Rock genre but this times it’s in just the Rock Genre. I’ll not complain As of now it’s #25 [I mean #18]on their charts. Not too shabby I reckon…so far it’s my highest ranking song on that site. Boy it’d be nice to crack the top 10 but right now I’ll settle for what it is and be happy.

I just returned from having lunch/dinner with my manager…Little did I know there is a great little Thai place less than a mile from me with parking and good food. I’m not sure which is more important …the food or the parking. I ate the green curry and I’m still alive so this place gets a thumbs up from me.

I’m getting more and more excited about performing and getting things together for that. I keep getting steps closer.

Yesterday was quite fun. I spent most of the afternoon making music with a bunch of musicians looking for new players for the band. Some pretty good players popped in for auditions. There were some moments when everything was clicking and feeling great. I’d forgotten that feeling…It’s been a while for me. I was pretty rusty but by the end of the day I was starting to find my place again. I hate to use the expression “like riding a bike” but it fits well even though it still might take a while before I’m able to pop a wheelie again

Everyone who showed up was very nice. There were about 8 guys who showed up altogether and it was pretty interesting to play the same 3 songs over and over and hearing each guy play the songs. Pretty neat to hear the subtle differences each person brought to the table. The caliber of playing was good though…  it’s going to be tough to nail it down but this is not a bad thing. It beats having it the other way around. I’m not sure when the next days of auditions will continue but I can’t wait.

I’ve got a hockey game tonight at 10pm.  Our team has been sucking these last few games… Hopefully we can win tonight. We’re getting better as a team for sure…but so are the teams we’re playing. It’s been pretty hot here this last week… so “ice time” sounds good to me right about now.

Oh, I’m going Friday to get ZAPPED again. More to come on that.

Wowzers…sorry about the “downer post” yesterday. I guess we all get in funky moods sometimes…I’m human and I mess up. I closed the comments on the post mainly because I figured there wasn’t really much anyone could say on the subject…but I just wanted to write it down.

Back to life…

Yesterday I went to see Tony B play down the street at a club on Fairfax. It was a cool place that I’d never been to and the sound wasn’t so loud that I came home with my ears ringing …that was nice. Sometimes loud music is nice but I like to keep my hearing if i can

Today, I’ll be making my own noise with some players…looking forward to that. Actually, I should start getting in gear before I’m late.