ernie and i went to the shooting range after dinner yesterday. it was ernie’s first time, while i hadn’t been to the range in over three years. we shot a rented 9mm and a .40 smith & wesson. ernie did pretty good being the first time out. i was a little rusty but managed to hit the center of the target a couple of times

i’ve been reading comic books again.

it has been several years since i picked up comic books on a regular basis. but late last year i was in a mall and stopped by the comic book store. i picked up two hardback compilations:

• [daredevil: yellow]
• [new xmen: volume 1]

both books were excellent in there own way. daredevil was done by the team of loeb and sales. loeb knows how to write a clean story with excellent dialog, while sales can draw in such a minimal but expressive fashion.

by comparison, the morrison written x-men was dark, brooding and sadistic. it was nice to see the x-men go through pain and deliver it back to the enemy at hand. i didn’t feel confused jumping back into the x-men (which was confusing when i left reading the book due to some characters and subplots). morrison did and is continuing to do, an excellent job with the x-men.

after these two books, i’ve been picking up issues here and there. i enjoyed loeb and jim lee’s run on batman, and lee’s current run on superman (more later on this). i’m also enjoying the batman/superman book by loeb and turner.

i’m taking a different approach to my comic book reading now also. i’m more into the hardbound collection as opposed to collecting individual issues. i don’t know, i can’t stand the ‘bagging and boarding’ of comic books any longer. i guess i’m not a collector any longer. i just enjoy good comic art and a good comic story.

today is a day of graduations: yen is graduating from sjsu and john for sfsu. and here i am stuck working at home, not able to attend either ceremony. hopefully i’ll be able to attend the after parties.

congratulations yen!

congratulations john!

farrah, madelyn and i went to see dido at the berkeley community theater. it’s been about four years since the last time farrah and i saw her perform at the warfield (see the [concerts] page which is still under construction) dido was really trying to throw a different groove to her songs then what is on her albums. she put faster beats to some songs, danced a lot and gave the crowd energy to dance with her. she also talked to the crowd alot, explaining the inspiration for some songs and interacting with the crowds’ hooting and hollering.

we had very good seats in row a, which amounts to about the fifth row. but i need to ask: when did it become ok to bum-rush the stage in a sit down show? there were people standing in the isle way right beside me. didn’t they pay for a seat as well albeit farther back? that was the only annoying part of the concert.

this is a ‘concert’- me list listing all the concerts we’ve been to (so far). updated when another concert comes along.

[Bill Graham Civic Auditorium] 99 Grove Street, San Francisco CA 94102

Who we’ve seen there: Tori Amos (12.21.2002) Oasis (4.13.1996)

[Bimbo’s 365 Club] 1025 Columbus Avenue San Francisco, CA 94133

Who we’ve seen there: Cardigans (6.19.96)

Berkeley Community Theater 1930 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704

Who we’ve seen there: Dido (05.23.04) Cranberries (04.05.95) Jewel Chris Cornell (11.30.99) Ani Di Franco (10.31.97)

[Concord Pavilion] 2000 Kirker Pass Road, Concord, CA 94521

Who we’ve seen there: Tori Amos/Alanis Morrisette (09.19.99)

[The Filmore] 1805 Geary Blvd. S.F. CA 94115

Who we’ve seen there: Fiona Apple (03.18.97) Sundays Lush (04.15.96) Morcheeba (4.11.2008) Lorde (9.27.2013) Greek Theatre-U.C. Berkeley Gayley Road, Berkeley, CA 94720

Who we’ve seen there: Alanis Morrisette Black Eye Peas/Macy Gray

Oakland Arena 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621

Who we’ve seen there: Peter Gabriel Peter Gabriel w/Sinead O’Conner sing backup(11.22.93) U2 (11.15.01)

Oakland Coliseum 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621

Who we’ve seen there: Sugarcubes/Public Enemy/U2 (07.11.92) Oasis/U2 (06.18.97) Oasis/U2 (06.19.97)

Orpheium Theater

Who we’ve seen there: Sarah McLaughlin

Pac Bell Park

Who we’ve seen there: Macy Gray/Dave Matthews Band (5.18.01)

[Paramount Theatre] 2025 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612

Who we’ve seen there: Bjork (10.17.01) Sarah McLachlan (10.30.97) Tori Amos (11.11.01 and some other date)

San Jose Arena

Who we’ve seen there: Garbage/Smashing Pumpkins (08.18.96) INXS (04.08.94) U2 (4.19.01)

San Jose Event Center

Who we’ve seen there: Pearl Jam Soundgarden (06.03.94) Tori Amos (09.19.98) Sarah McLachlan (03.9.98)

Shoreline Amphetheater

Who we’ve seen there: Sting Lilith Fair 97 (07.08.97) (Sarah McLachlan, Tracy Chapman, Jewel, Paula Cole, Suzanne Vega) Lilith Fair 98 (06.24.98) (Sarah McLachlan, Indigo Girls, Natalie Merchant, Erica Badu, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Bonnie Raitt) Lilith Fair 98 (07.14.99) Santana Lollapaloza ‘94 (Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, George Clinton & P-Funk Allstars, The Breaders, Green Day…) - [http://www.jamesiha.org/interview/1994lolla.htm] Lollapalooza ‘95 (Hole, Sonic Youth, Beck, Cypress Hill, Elastica,…) REM (05.17.95) Sade (07.18.01) Sting (08.05.00)

Slims

Who we’ve seen there: Julianna Hatfield (http://www.julianasite.com/touragraphy.html#city) LLoyd Cole Garbage Cibo Matto (10.09.99)

[Villa Montalvo] 15400 Montalvo Road, Saratoga, CA 95071

Who we’ve seen there: Diana Krall (7.19.01) Norah Jones

[Warfield] 982 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

Who we’ve seen there: Smashing Pumpkins (10.18 0r 19.93) Bjork (05.21.98) Portishead (05.31.98) Cardigans Crowded House/Sheryl Crow Garbage (05.20.98) Sundays Dido (08.10.00) PJ Harvey (05.19.95) Sonic Youth Sara Bareilles (12.16.2010)

I know I saw them, but where….

Hole (the Edge) Filter (somewhere in San Jose) Lisa Loeb (well, actually didn’t stay for that one) Pearl Jam @ Golden Gate Park (06.24.95) WOMAD (ft. Peter Gabriel) Golden Gate Park Smashing Pumpkins (2. 7.96) Kezar Pavilion

Tori Amos at the CPA TLC and MC Hammer (Hawaii) New Kids/Tiffany at Great America David Spade (05.30.98) Cassandra Wilson @ Nob Hill Masonic Center(10.24.97) Pharoah Sanders Quartet @Yoshi’s (03.17.01)

dvds are cool aren’t they? it’s almost difficult remember a time without dvds. the things i love about dvds are:

• the crisp picture and sound (compared to vhs)
• the commentary tracks (hopefully insightful)
• the deleted scenes
• the director's cut

but does a director’s cut make a better movie?

can a director’s cut of a bad movie make it better?

these questions have been posed in newsgroups and on websites with vehement responses by purists and idiots alike.

my current rant on this is based on two upcoming dvds/films: [underworld] and [exorcist: the beginning] the latter has yet to be released theatrically ( i’ll get into that in bit).

when i saw underworld i though, eh ok vampire/werewolve movie. but the review on the link provided made it seem like a whole new more full movie experience then the previous version. boy, do i feel ripped off. it’s a different feeling then say the lord of the rings triology where you knew longer versions existed. i just wonder why a movie studio would hesitate to put a better version of a movie out there for public consumption.

as for the exorcist: the beginning [paul schrader] originally directed a version of this movie that might/might not see the light of day. the movie studio (so i hear) thinks schrader’s version is too thriller-type scary. i’m sure renny’s version is more in-your-face-it’s-so-obvious scary. man, what if that is a better movie. i mean, he is a better writer (taxi driver, affliction) and director (affliction, auto focus) than renny harlin (die hard 2, cutthroat island). i’ve heard they might release both versions on dvd. i hope so.

dave and i had lunch today at the new [hooters] in dublin. dave had never been to hooters before, and i hadn’t been to one in over 15 years. when the one in the city opened up they guys at my last work wanted to organize a trip to go there for our “every-so-often-dinner” get togethers. i don’t know what they heard the place is like but whatever they heard it didn’t meet up to their expectations.

in any event, today’s lunch was ok. i’ve never been to dublin which seems to be similar to any other east bay city. hooters itself hasn’t change from what i remember. girls in skin tight outfits, food that is decent but not outstanding and more guy patrons then women. worth the trip? eh???

i gotta tell you, i’m really impressed with this wordpress program. i was able to setup this new weblog, import all the data from movabletype, and start posted within half an hour! i was amazing when compared to all the install trouble i went with movabletype. i’m going to test for a few more days, but the way it looks now i just might be a wordpress convert!

last night i went to a rosary for my cousin who passed way last thursday, may 6, 2004. i didn’t know anthony that well. he was always big quiet person, even as a kid. i remember him being very quiet at family parties when i was younger. even when we got older he always seemed quiet, but a happy person when you talked to him. i can say i’ve never seen him sad or even in a bad mood.

about three or four years ago he started having difficulties with his heart. i don’t know all the details. suffice it to say he had difficult times, but from all accounts dealt with them without complaint and smiled to those who had concern for his well being. i guess the last several weeks something came about again. this time he couldn’t overcome the difficulties plaguing his heart.

the rosary and reading last night was a nice tribute to anthony. i found it very hard to hold back the tears especially when my uncle spoke about his son. he spoke about God putting his family through these ’trials’ and how they would endure. it’s tough when someone passes away, especially someone so young.

i wonder if i should write about such things here on janella.com, but then right now it is my only writing outlet. please excuse any of these writings if they seem to be out of place. i’m just trying to make sense of times like these.

rating: **** out of 5

quick shot: continuing the revenge story of the bride from kill bill volume i.

what i liked about the film: slightly different tone from the first movie.  i like the dialog an interaction between bill and the bride towards the end of the movie.

what i didn’t like: the audience members who didn’t realize movie’s contain dialog.  yeah, this volume is more talk-y then the first but give me a break…it’s tarantino!

rating: ***1/2 out of 5

quick shot: smartly written tina fey comedy.  a cut above your average teenager movie.

what i liked about the movie: the way it treated most kids with some intelligence.  i also liked that the adults weren’t totally oblivious either.  smart script all around.

what i didn’t like: the movie bogged down a third of the way through, though it picked up in the end.

rating: *** out of 5

quick shot: men at sea battling a faceless (for most of the movie) enemy, and amongst themselves. you can feel the isolation at sea, and the camaraderie the crew feels. russell crowe leads by example and charisma.

what i liked about the movie: the chemistry between crowe, bettany (who plays the ship’s doctor) and crew was very good. the chase and battle scenes were excellent.

what i didn’t like: the movie felt a little lengthy. i think it could have lost about 15 to 20 minutes and still been effective.