Tim Burton

I once thought Tim Burton was a genius, then I turned sixteen.

His hair wasn't always crazy, but his teeth were always bad.

I don't want to completely hate on Tim Burton.  He's got some good flicks.  I like Ed Wood, Big Fish, Beetlejuice is alright, and of course Pee Wee's Big Adventure is a timeless classic.  Yes, Burton has accomplished a lot since his modest days as the host of "Goth Talk".

But lets be real, this guy gets way too much cred for his quality.  It's like he is continuously trying to remake Edward Scissor Hands (from 1990!) every time he gets behind the camera.  

Every one of his movies is a little dark, a little whimsy, has a lot of people dressed in dark clothes looking very pale, and Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter acting "quirky".  Okay, not everything he makes is like that, sometimes he is ruining Planet of the Apes with Marky Mark.

Let's see, stay and be king of all humans with a super hot wife and probably anything else I want OR fly through a worm hole that will take me... somewhere. Hmmm, well guess I should get going! Oh and one more thing, I like the ape lady better!?

His movies always do really well in the B.O. and get pretty strong reviews, so I'm not going to try and deny he has talent, but if he is going to tell an off beat story he could at least make it original.  His last three movies wereCharlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd, and Alice in Wonderland.  All three of them remakes and all three of them look exactly the same.

Are you really being original if you just make everything look unusual yet exactly the same?  Look at Stanley Kubrick.  The Shining, Clockwork Orange, 2001.  All twisted and great, and all unique.

Ah, it seems like only yesterday.

So this and the fact that Kevin Smith does a pretty good job at making Burton seem like a prick (one of the only things Smith does well these days) and you'll excuse me if I don't go crazy over this guy's next movie.  Tim Burton, you're Overrated.

Ladies, Stop Acting All Crazy and Ruining My Life.

Now, I don't usually do this (Check out the by-line) but I have been having a seriously problem with this lately and it needs to be addressed.

It seems more and more that every time I go out I meet some chick hell bent on pulling a bait and switch and throwing my night into a tailspin of "what just happened?"

Take the "Ask a Hater" segment from this week.  Not the most exciting post, short and no pictures, kind of like this one (man that looks boring).  the girl who asked that "Leah", actually didn't ask that per se.

This was a girl I met at a local bar last week.  She seemed cool at first, a little quirky, but whatever that's cool.  Then she tried force feeding me her sushi, two separate times, after I had already told her I didn't like sushi (I had a bad experience).

It didn't really bother me, in fact, I thought it was kind of cute.  But for the rest of the night it was like she was pissed at me cause I refused to eat the sushi.

I had a bad experience.

She started acting a little bitchy, and nearly everything we talked about involved her being a prodigy at everything (and not in that jokey, flirty way.  Like a serious "I'm a prodigy at everything" sort of way).

Then when I leave I say goodbye, and she says "whatever".  What?  What just happened?

So her actual question was, "Why can't some people read body language? (Not so subtle hint)"  But after talking to her I thought the question I used was more appropriate.

But that really didn't bother me as much as it did confuse me.  And it really didn't do either nearly as much as this other girl.

I was out again (at the same bar) and it was pretty crowded (by this places standards at least).  I'm standing at the bar and these two girls next to me are pretending they're lesbians so these guys hitting on them will leave them alone.

I end up striking up a conversation with the one further away from me about being irish (it's the night before St. Patty's) and I end up saying jokingly that my family has a castle in Scotland (which is sort of true) but this gets her friend to turn around and rub my arm saying "You have a castle?"  Now, she was joking, but still physical contact initiated right there.

So me and the closer of the two girls end up hitting it off and talk most of the night to each other.  She offered me to sit in her seat (cause my legs were sore from standing and her back was sore from sitting, or so she said).  She bought me and another person we were talking to shots at midnight for St. Patty's.  She was performing, and asked if she could borrow my guitar (even though her friend told me later that she was great at piano and, in fact, she was).

So end of the night rolls around, we've been hanging out together for about three hours, she says she is taking off and I ask for her phone number.  And she says, quote, "I'll give you my e-mail?"  That in itself is a pretty strong kick in the nards but it was also the way she said it.  Like she was trying to negotiate with me.

So, I didn't want to, but I took it and went to the bathroom.  Come back, she's still there saying goodbye to some other people she met.  I walk up to her and she turns to leave then just quick over her shoulder says something like, "see ya."  And leaves.  What the hell is that?  She just spent nearly the entire night talking to me and she can't even say, "Nice to meet you"?

Anyway, long story short I've seen this girl twice since this night and things have become completely awkward.  And I'm going to blame it all on her.

I definitely noticed she was cute when I met her, but I only started talking to her because she was right next to me and seemed cool.  And I could totally handle being friends with her, but she's just acting like I'm a creep or something, which is freaking ridiculous.

I am not a Creeper!

I'm pretty sure neither of these ladies read this blog, but if you do, and you disagree, please explain what happened to me.  I'd love to understand this insanity.

This is my favorite bar and crazy people are starting to make it difficult for me to hang out there.

Polaris: Music From The Adventures of Pete and Pete

Of course, anyone born in the 80s remembers that magical show from Nickelodeon's better days called The Adventures of Pete and Pete.  Slightly less memorable is the very 90s rock intro song the show had.

The song comes from a little known band called Polaris.  They not only recorded the opening theme for the show, but they recorded a whole album's worth of music.  in fact, it was the only album they ever recorded.

The band was formed by three of the four members of New Haven band Miracle Legion for the sole purpose of recording music for the show.  

I can't say for sure what compelled me to do this, but one day I downloaded their entire album.

And surprisingly, or not considering how classic the show was, the album is really good.  With the exception of a few 60s recordings about outer space peppered around the album there a lot of gems on this hidden masterpiece.

Go check these guys out, or at least listen to some of their songs on youtube.  They're definitely Underrated.