Yodelling Llama

April 29, 2008

Channel 101: LA Roundup (April 2008).

Filed under: Channel 101 — Chris @ 8:49 pm

Can someone explain why, in an unregulated environment such as Channel 101, in executing “Stop It” #8′s “addicted to nudity” storyline, genitals were blurred? Oh, right: the rules of parody. The wearing of shoes, the idea of supernudity (c.f. nevernude), and Dan Harmon’s delightful cameo made this a great episode. A-

The look of horror on the psychiatrist’s face in the third installment of “2 Girls, 1 Cup: The Show” made my day. B+

Newcomer “Water and Power” is pure genius, melding a “Law and Order”-style investigation show with the uber-mundane world of utilities bill adjusting. The gagging upon seeing the excessive use of power, the repetitive use of the phrase “black baby,” the gloriously campy lines, and the real emotional undercurrent make this a triumph. Except for the stock photo opener. A-

The Bed & Breakfast Club,” on its third outing, may or may not use green make-up on Eric Acosta, may or may not have a brilliant monologue by guest star Dan Harmon, may or may not have an amusing moment in the freeze-frame finale (especially re Willy Roberts’ expression), and may or may not be an uneven mess with the promise of imminent improvement. C+

Return to Supermans” numero quatro introduces “space clowns” in the form of costumed rock band Kiss. I particularly liked David B Lyons’s turn as the bored-with-the-situation Peter Criss stand-in, as well as the snake fight. Keep up the good work, Mr. Moles. B+

Canceled this month was “Rambo: No Blood,” which left a bad taste in my mouth. D

Failed pilot “Jim Henson: Muppet Ops” didn’t really manage to overcome its absurdly low budget premise and execution. No wow, no second episode. C-

I’m reasonably certain I’m missing something when it comes to “Hating with Romanski.” Because otherwise, this is a clear contender for the rejected pile that inexplicably got screened. F

Time Assassins” had a promising premise, a few solid gags, and some high caliber production design. But the pacing overall was too slow. Pack it a little tighter, fellas. C+

I found “Kittenless Future” a fairly charming affair, what with my affinity for kittens and all. I mean, what’s not to like? B

Portland.

Filed under: Personal — Chris @ 5:07 pm

D and I went down to Portland on Saturday with E and J (D’s friends from Rainier) to visit T (who just bought a house; nice pad in a nice neighborhood), attend a party, sampled the Underground, and saw Doughty at the Wonder Ballroom. Good times.

April 28, 2008

“Whip You With A Strap.”

Filed under: Music — Chris @ 7:42 pm

How do you improve on the delicious J Dilla twitches and Ghostface‘s smoothness on “Whip You With A Strap“? By adding Granddad belting Riley for not acting proper around Martin Luther King, Jr. A highlight of the free unofficial soundtrack to first season of “The Boondocks,” Hip-Hop Docktrine.

April 26, 2008

Tetris vs. Dishwashers.

Filed under: Gaming — Chris @ 7:43 am

Working hypothesis: people who played a lot of Tetris at some point in their lives are better at efficiently loading dishwashers than people who rarely or never played Tetris. Evidence?

Spring Arts Walk 2008.

Filed under: Olympia — Chris @ 7:18 am

Maker’s got my buzz on, so Arts Walk was not a total loss. But the Penny Dreadful players bailed, the Playing with Fire Dancers were sort of lame, and I could barely contain my laughter in the ballroom in the old hotel when several women played with white sheets while Madonna blared from a boom box. Also, the Curbside has terrible nachos. And apart from the llama playing a guitar in Wind Up Here, most of the visual art was mediocre at best. Still, enough people were wandering the streets to make it have a festival atmosphere worthy of some fun, even if the reason for the gathering was somewhat muted by crumminess.

April 24, 2008

Interview.

Filed under: Job Search — Chris @ 5:25 pm

Went to a job interview in Seattle yesterday morning. Thought it went pretty well, although I believe both the interviewer and I came to the tacit conclusion after an hour or so that I may not be the best fit for the position. Indeed, I’m sort of regretting not being more forthright about my desire to get away from rubberstamp grunt work, and get into complex and novel legal issues, and how I want to reinvent the wheel on all documents I use because I get frustrated by others’ writing style. Good things, though? I felt not at all dangerously under-qualified, despite being very much on the low end in terms of number of years of experience, as compared with the others in the office. Also, it didn’t seem that hard to actually get the interview in the first place (especially as compared with my experience during the Summer and Fall of 2006); I must be getting the sort of experience in my current position that I can parlay into at least some civil law jobs.

Infrastructure.

Filed under: Politics — Chris @ 5:19 pm

I keep hearing about how the infrastructure is deteriorating–how bridges are collapsing, roads are crumbling, storm drains are bursting, sewers are leaking, and the electrical grid is prone to shutting down at the first sign of a falling tree. I keep hearing how the economy isn’t doing all that well, and various stimulus packages are being introduced. Perhaps I’m missing something, but is there some reason why these two birds cannot be killed with one stone?

On poetry.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chris @ 5:11 pm

Poetry is lyrics in search of a song.
Poetry concatenates clever turns of phrase with an unnecessary obtusion.
Poetry is overly edited narrative.
Poetry is description without story.
Poetry sucks.

April 19, 2008

Updated look.

Filed under: Administrative — Chris @ 7:06 pm

Decided to upgrade to WordPress 2.5 and give Yodelling Llama a new visual theme. Are you excited, dear readers? I know I am.

County Convention.

Filed under: Olympia,Politics — Chris @ 2:29 pm

As an alternate delegate for Obama, today I attended the Thurston County Democrats‘s Convention. Unfortunately, enough delegates from my precinct showed up, such that I was not seated. Oh well. Also, because the alternates were seated in extremely uncomfortable bleachers, combined with the cursory manner in which party business was being handled (at least with regard to some matters, the voting was done by counting “ayes” and “nays,” and occasionally conducted only by counting “ayes”), I decided to leave early. And remove my name from the running for the congressional district and state conventions. As well as not make a stink over the anti-atheist sentiment lurking in the supposedly so-bland-we-won’t-have-to-bicker-about-it platform (which contained the line “We believe that we bear the responsibility to preserve Creation.” in its pro-”Clean Environment” section). And forego promoting Alternative A of Resolution 4, which urged the state party to “drop the caucus system in favor of a primary.”

However, I still spent three or so hours seated amongst about fourteen hundred charged up Dems, and cannot help but be somewhat charged up myself. The Clinton camp’s choice of propaganda (the slightly disturbing and dated “Rockus the Caucus“) was inferior to the Obama camp’s choice (the “Yes We Can” video), which was encouraging. Some of the Dems running for statewide office, like John Ladenburg, were actually sort of inspiring. And Chris Gregoire even showed up to say a few words. Not bad at all. Shame about the bleachers, though; oh, my aching back.

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