BASTERDS

i loved Inglorious Basterds... i am so pleased that Q still has his edge... i was a bit concerned after 'Deathproof'; the painful interminable banters in Deathproof made for some low points in Tarantino cinema but he has more than redeemed himself here (well assuming he really needed to)...

the layers of film references are great fun but i was mainly taken with the long dialogs (here because its a period piece we are not subjected to conversations about Madonna's sexual activity or Burger King)... for me some of the Quentin long ass dialog scenes in previous offerings work and some dont, some are annoying and some are brilliant; in Kill Bill we have back to back scenes that are brilliant (Uma and Don Esteban the old pimp) and then annoying (the end long scene between Uma and 'Bill' for me didnt make it in spite of some great bits like the 'Clark Kent is how Superman sees humanity' thesis)

but the long scenes in Basterds all held me, they all were played over underlying tension... even the 'language barrier' was somehow an addition

also i thought Brad was fucking fantastic, i am seeing that his performance is a bit overshadowed by that of Christoph Waltz as col. Landa but Pitt's deal was just terrifically subtle while Waltz just played his part bigger and therefore stood out all the more... Waltz is a fantastic find for Tarantino, i couldnt even find a picture of him on imdb.com, very funny... no doubt he will shoot up the hollywood ladder quickly now

some of you know me as a WW2 buff so there's that... i wrote a list of "my favorite movie weapons" for Dick Manitoba's "Book Of Punk Rock Lists" a year or so back... well i certainly would have added the oss glove gun that is featured in one of the finale scenes... the glove gun is one of the weirder weapons that came out of WW2, it can be found in most collections of special forces memorabilia and oddities (like the one shot Liberator pistol that was distributed to the resistance fighters by the allies)... anyhow the glove gun is a real thing and putting it in the film gets may points from your narrator here... after much looking i found a pic of one, see above

BROOKLYN GIG

this then was the Brooklyn show; Aug. 13 at Asser Levy Park in Coney Island...

pic is courtesy Debra Garcia the director/producer of the events there...

word was it was the biggest crowd of the series; close to 18 thou

now we are in Chicago, show tmrow

i have been taking my own pics i'll put some up in a day or so

just saw the new Rambo movie on the bus, way behind in movie watching... i think we need to see "RAMBO VS. PREDATOR" made

no sleep till...

the Coney Island show is tomorrow and we look forward to some good old fashioned chaos; as its a freebee with the usual hordes attempting to access whatever small area is designated as the deluxe vip thingy... we are planning several levels of non-admittance, that is velvet ropes and people with clipboards preventing entry into other areas that are guarded by people with clipboards these in turn surrounded by the same etc etc ad infinitum... at the end in the interior superior vip area there will be nothing, like unto the proverbial matter sucking black hole:

the shows continue to be amusing... we will return to Europe and the UK though probably not till next year, i keep getting queries about that

thanks so much to everyone who has turned out this summer to see us

i'll put up some pics from the tour soon...

tour IS ON SCHEDULE

the tour (and ourselves) is covering a lot of ground... we will have crossed the country maybe twice

thanx to all who are showing up... the whole pairing with Pat seems pretty succesful, brining in new people for both acts

the Donnas are also a lot of fun, i must confess to not being familiar with them previously

so back in the bubble as we used to say; the road crew are pirates, in pirate mode that is, the busses, sound checks, hotels, monitors, the whole 9 yards

some memorable shows, and the band is very 'tight'... tight is a musical term that means everyone plays the same song at the same time but with precision

i dont have any specifics right at the moment

we are in Lake Winnipesaukee NH... i only know how to spell it cause there is a poster right over the desk here with a picture of a canoe at the edge if a wood and the heading "pleasant memories of the vacationists paradise"

the place we are in looks like twin peaks: rustic charm la la, maybe a murderer or two but i havent seen em

another fabulous hotel room