In Memoriam: Joe Ranft of Pixar (1960-2005)

So, it's been awhile. W.O.H. has barely been on life support, and
I know my legions of readers have been breathlessly waiting for a new
dispatch from blogland.

That said, I wanted to take some time to honor the memory of Joe Ranft
of Pixar Animation Studios, who died in a car accident last Tuesday.
I didn't know Joe, but I was certainly touched by his work. Joe was
the head of Pixar's story department. And at Pixar, story comes first.
I am a huge fan of Pixar's work. I became interested in computer
animation after seeing one of their early short films, and followed
their progress as they evolved from being creators of landmark computer
animation software (Renderman) to a full fledged animation studio,
delivering one memorable film after another.

Joe was one of the their chief storyboard artists. When we watch these
amazing films, we're seeing his visions. We were seeing the worlds
of Buzz and Woody, and Princess Atta and Flick through Joe's eyes.
He also shared co-writing credits on "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life",
as well as "The Lion King" and other Disney films. Not only that,
but Joe voiced some of the most beloved of the Pixar characters,
including Wheezy, the asthmatic penguin of "Toy Story 2", and Heimlich
the caterpillar from "A Bug's Life".

That life could have so cruelly been taken from this amazingly
talented person in his prime, leaving behind a wife and two young
children, is to me, one of those Marge Gunderson "I just don't
understand it" moments. It hurts to think about it. I didn't know
you, Joe, but I am certain that I will miss you. Peace to you,
my brother.


Wheezy

My Kingdom For A Horse...

Finally...

The new Sparklehorse website is up. Yay! I have gone to that site
religiously (i.e., daily) ever since a rudimentary, and then prettier
"Under Construction" page replaced the previous It's A Wonderful
Life based site. No concrete word on a release date for album the
fourth, but it's being coaxed forth right now. Somewhere, on the
acetate-wound reels of a vintage 16-track reel-to-reel or on the
helical platters of a hard disk drive, or (knowing Mark) both,
there is new Sparklehorse music. The new record is being made on
a vintage recording console called a Flickenger, a hand built titan
of analog recording, of dubious build quality but incomparable sound
quality. Linkous has staked his professional life on this behemoth,
and after four years of money spent and untold frustrations, he has
resurrected the monster. Incredible to me that this man would invest
so much of himself into a venture like this, how steadfast he has
remained in his quest to capture the best sounding music possible.
Despite my own frustration over the dearth of new SH music, I think
I better understand why it's been taking so long, and I think we're
going to get yet another masterpiece.

Go there now:

(UPDATE: AUUGGH!! The site is closed again, back to
"Under Construction" status...sorry.)

For Megan...

Pour vous, mon bel ami...

une chanson merveilleuse

We Now Bring You This Important WOH Update!!

Sorry about the lack of postings lately. It's summer, I was away,
I don't have a lot new to say, and don't really want to expound
upon the status quo here at this point in time. Some of it is
close to home and I don't think this is the place to deal with it.
I will return, I will not burn, as Elvis C. so memorably stated
in Two Little Hitlers.

In the interim, I am very happy to report that I picked up
a copy of A Very Long Engagement on DVD today and hope
to watch it over the weekend. I've been waiting a long time
to see it and I don't think I'll be disappointed. I'll report on it
(probably) once I've seen it. Audrey Tautou....sigh.

Which One's Pink?

So it happened. The Pink Floyd reunion at Live 8 actually occurred.
And it was amazing. After all this time, they still sound great. I was
actually suffering through another Cubs loss at Wrigley when it went
down, but through the wonder of the internet I was able to locate
video of the complete performance. I never thought I'd see it, and it
probably won't happen again, but who knows? For now, I'm happy
that it even happened at all. Great job, guys...

Happy Birthday, Dog...

Happy Birthday wishes to my brother Michael, who's enjoying a weekend
outing to the Pacific. See you soon you old bastid...

Back for a bit...

Well I'm back. Didn't realize I'd been gone for so long. I have to admit
that I haven't been in the mood for posting lately. Summer's here and
it seems a bit absurd to spend it in front of the computer. I'm sure that
you have all been waiting breathlessly for the latest WOH missives,
and I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.

Heavy Rotation

Stuff I've been listening to recently:

Corrupt & Immoral Transmissions [EP] - Shivaree
Unreleased Demos 1990 - Matt and Mark Linkous
Discover A Lovlier You - The Pernice Brothers
Baby Blue - Mary Lou Lord
Take Fountain - The Wedding Present
Blame The Vain - Dwight Yoakam

Apology

This one goes out to a brother.

Apology (Chuck Prophet) [ from the LP The Hurting Business]

Everybody
Wants an apology
Me from you, you from me
The accursed from the blessed
The great Northeast from the Old Southwest
Everybody
Wants an apology

Everybody
Wants an apology
CBS from the MTV
But it always takes too long
And it always comes out all wrong
Well I don't even want
Your apology

Someday soon, the Vatican is gonna call
One day even the warden
Is going over the wall
The shoulder from the road
The Cancer from the Scorpio
Someday soon, the Vatican is gonna call

How can I swallow
Every little thing she says?
She don't even, she don't even
Know Elvis from El Vez
If The King was here today
You know he'd make that sucker pay
She don't even know Elvis from El Vez

Everybody
Wants an apology
Me from you, you from me
Tell me what good would it do
If I got down on my knees, just for you?
Everybody wants
An apology

Listen to it

El Vez

Hi Sam...

A shout out to my lovely niece Samantha, who reportedly reads w.o.h.
over her morning coffee and Cap'n Crunch. Bless you my dear, and try
not to be too traumatized. I do take some dramatic license now and then,
after all.

A couple of summers ago

A Quick one...

Went to the Cubs game tonight with my sister and her family. They lost.
The Cubs, that is. My sister and company won, because they got to spend
the evening with me. So, no joy in Mudville tonight, but I got a cool pic of
Wrigley field that I posted below.

Came home and it was still warm outside so I went for a midnight swim.
Trying to relax, but that doesn't seem to be too easy to do at the moment...

Best. Video. Ever.

By way of the venerated Stereogum, this shit is whack. Prepare
to smile, and to be very entertained by this guy.

Shiva-Redux

Good news, it appears that Duke McVinnie is still playing with Shivaree.
He's on that Black Sessions recording, which was recorded following the
show from which he was absent. I'm sure you're all as relieved to hear
this as Y.T. My bad for assuming there were hostilities involved. I guess
I was just projecting...

Women Have The Power...

The fairer sex seems to be dominating my listening lately:

Shivaree - The Black Sessions
Pink - Try This + Can't Take Me Home
Lucinda Williams - Live @ The Fillmore
Shelby Lynne - Suit Yourself

Also

Van Morrison - Magic Time
Big Audio Dynamite - No. 10 Upping Street
Drive By Truckers - Decoration Day

Shivaree update

So, I heard from my email buddy Bob Gannon out in LA that Duke
McVinnie apparently abruptly parted ways with Shivaree. Duke was
the guitarist and wrote a lot of the music, so I'm thinking this can't
bode well for the band. I'm fairly confident that Ambrosia will soldier
on, but I guess we'll have to see if this is a permanent thing. Duke
can't be too happy, because all references to Shivaree have been
removed from his site, and frankly, he seemed pretty darned cranky
when I saw them play here last February. I guess sudden and
emnity-filled fallings-out are the order of the day.

As it would happen. I just today received my highly anticipated
copy of Shivaree's Black Sessions recordings from early May of this
year, and it is likely one of the last shows McVinnie recorded with the
band. Too bad.

New SW Stuff

It's nice to have friends that understand you. My friend and work
cohort Sherwin ended up at a movie theater over the weekend where
there were several cast members from various Star Wars pictures.
Dr. Green seized upon the opportunity to bring me an awesome
autographed photo of the lovely Amy Allen as Jedi Knight (Knightess?
Dame?) Aayla Secura.

Amy Allen as Jedi Knight Aayla Secura

And from another of me mates at work, Mac-daddy and DJ
extraordinaire Gil Burns contributed this lightsaber cereal spoon.
TAKE THAT, COUNT CHOCULA!!!

The forks will be with you....always.

The State of WOH Address...

Well....I'm back, for now anyway. When I started this thing, I thought
it would be a good outlet for some of the things that have been on
my mind. Sure, I've invited a few friends and family members to
have a look-see. But this is still my place, and it's about me. And
I should be free to say whatever I want. Having done so, one of
my readers basically ridiculed me over something extremely
important to me. I sounded off about it and fired back, and now
a week later, an old friendship has been fractured, perhaps
irreparably. Would it have to come to this anyway? I don't know.
Probably. The foundation was cracking and the dam was close
to bursting anyway. Still, I'm gutted. I wish things were otherwise,
but I'll be damned if I take the blame this time. When you neglect
something, eventually, it dies, and that's what happened.

SO, I pressed the "History Eraser Button" and deleted some
content from here and made other changes, and I think I should
not have. It was an emotional reaction. This is supposed to be
my journal and I have to take the good with the bad. I know
the past can't be erased as easily as I would like sometimes.
Things have been said and they can't be taken back. Sometimes
you cross a line and and there's no going back. All you can do
is try to move on. So no more editing or deletions.

After all this, I was ready to just pull the plug on this thing.
But it makes me feel good writing this, even if nobody is
reading. So for now, I'll press forward.

In time, all shall be revealed...

Cool. A longtime mystery was unexpectedly solved today. Like 10
minutes ago. I was reading an article on the Rolling Stone website
about the re-release of the 101'ers record. The 101'ers were the late
Joe Strummer's first band. It got me thinking about what Joe's partner,
Mick Jones was up to, so I Googled "Big Audio Dynamite" and found
a fan site. On the site, was an extensive section with attributions of
the myriad samples used throughout the BAD canon.

One of my favorite songs from B.A.D. is a little number called
"Dial-A-Hitman", which features a great telephone conversation
over a whacking gone wrong. It sounds as if it was taken from a film,
and is falsely credited on the sleeve as being from "Lafayette Zero-6",
directed by a "Jan Jarmusch", which is of course, a nod to filmmaker
Jim Jarmusch. The thing that drove me nuts was the familiarity of the
two voices heard in the conversation. Finally, I have the answer.
The dialog was scripted by the band specifically for the song, and the
voices belong to none other than Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne.
How cool is that?

I've got nothing better to do, so here's the "scene". The caller is Matt
Dillon. Fishburne is Carson King.

******************************************************

(Sound of dial tone and then a rapid burst of touch tones)

Operator: May I help you?....May I help you?

Caller: Yes, is this the operator?

Operator: Yes sir.

Caller (impatiently): Give me Lafayette Zero-6, person-to-person with
Mr. Carson King. That's King with a "K".

Operator: Oh I got it. (?) Thank you, one moment...

(ringing)

King (answers): Wrong number!

Operator: Carson King, please. Long distance calling...

Caller (interrupting, angrily): Is this Mr. King? Is this Mr. Carson King??

King: Yeah, that's me. Who's this?

Caller: You dirty little shitheel!! I paid you 5 C's of my hard-earned cash
and now look what you did!!

King: Who is this??

Caller: I paid you to bump off my wife, and then, then you...

King: Look man, I gotta check the file.

Caller: Check the file.

King: Yeah, target address?

Caller: 4275 South Brooklyn Avenue, Apartment 42-C.

King (checking file):4275.....Uhhh...okay, okay....I got it. Uh, let's see.
Target was attractive caucasian woman, early thirties. Name:
Mar-tha Lee.

Caller (very angry): Yeah, but you got the WRONG GIRL!!!

King: Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute. Payment was made on our
easy-pay credit plan, monthly installments...

Caller: Yeah, yeah, never mind all that! Look...

King: And we have...

Caller: Look, you motherf...

King: We have a completion report on this file, target was hit 7:15 PM,
4275 South Brooklyn Ave, Apartment 42-B.

Caller: NOT "B" YOU FOOL!!! IT WAS "C"!!! "C"!!! 42-C!! SO MY WIFE
SCREWS AROUND WITH THIS GUY NEXT DOOR AND THEN THE
MONKEYS COME DOWN AND SHOVE *HIS* WIFE OUT THE
WINDOW!!! HOW'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME FEEL?!?!

King (calmly): Lookit man, it says 42-B on the report. It not our fault.

Caller (sarcastically): It's not your fault! Well I ain't paying!! HA!
So go ahead, sue me, hahaha!!!

King(still calm): So you're not gonna pay, huh?

Caller: I'm not paying!

King: Okay...uhhh. 42-C?

Caller: 42-C, yeah, that's it, you got it...

King: Yeah, well we'll be calling.... (click)

(dial tone)

Caller: Operator!! Hey, come on now! Operator!.....

*************************************************

Download the MP3 (6 MB):
http://home.comcast.net/~spiritditch/hitman.mp3

Sweet Ambrosia...

Oh yeah. More eBay goodness was awaiting me when I got home
tonight. Not a Sparklehorse-related item, but rather a Shivaree-
related one. We haven't talked about Shivaree yet, have we?
Shivaree is my other favorite band. They are led by the ethereally
lovely Ambrosia Parsley, who is the female apposite of Sparklehorse's
Linkous. Like Sparklehorse, the music of Shivaree is sad, haunting,
and unconventional. One of the loveliest songs that they do, Mexican
Boyfriend, is about a young man with whom a young Ms. Parsley
was smitten, and who was hit by a car and killed. You get the idea.
Shivaree is best known for the semi-hit "Goodnight Moon",
a Halloweenesque tale of things that go bump in the night and
strangers at the door, which was used to great effect in the epilogue
of Kill Bill Vol. II.

The item I received today was a still-sealed French promotional
copy of Shivaree's "lost" second album, Rough Dreams,
accompanied by a photo booklet featuring pictures of the stunning
Ambrosia, sleep-masked and corseted. WOW!!! RD wasn't really lost.
However, Capitol records refused to release it in the U.S., and it is
not widely known here. Capitol wasn't as patient with Ms. Parsley
as they have been with Mr. Linkous. This is sad indeed, because
RD is an amazing record, and one of my all time favorites.

I wish that Mark and Ambrosia were my brother and sister.
(No offense to any past or present family members is intended here.)
They are just two very cool, unpretentious and enormously talented
people. (And if any of you have a problem with that, tough luck.)

Here's a scan for your viewing pleasure:

Rough Dreams French Promo Booklet

Delicious Irony...

I see that Brent Bozell and his band of TV Nazis (a.k.a. The Parents
Television Council) have their panties all in a bunch over the Carl's Jr.
Paris Hilton ad in which she is washes her SUV in skimpy attire whilst
munching on a CJ "Six-Dollar Burger". Out of purely scientific interest,
I watched the potentially offensive ("Think of the CHILDREN!") spot
on the Carl's website. Big deal. You see more on televised beach volleyball
games. The irony of which I speak is that while these no-good do-gooders
don't want to pollute the virgin eyes of their undoubtedly righteous
and heaven-bound children, they don't seem to care about the mass
marketing of another zillion-calorie megaburger. According to the CJ
website, here's the "nutritional" breakdown for the aforementioned
burger:

Total Calories: 960
Carbohydrates: 61g
Protein: 38g
Fat: 62g
Saturated Fat: 25g
Cholesterol: 135mg
Sodium: 1690mg

Now that's obscene. More here: http://www.carlsjr.com/home

Time Magazine's Top 100 Films...

So I see that Time has published their list of the "best" 100 films.
Let's just say I don't concur with some of their picks. They selected
Barry Lyndon, but not 2001: A Space Odyssey. Finding Nemo,
rather than Toy Story 2 or The Incredibles. And Miller's Crossing
but no Fargo??

Here's the List: http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/index.html

Speaking of movies, here's a link to very cool art project inspired by
Dr. Strangelove:

http://www.cbcradio3.com/issues/2005_02_11/main.cfm?IssueId=175&page=08

Partners in crime

Albert had a little incident this morning, and tangled with a chipmunk.
He didn't eat it, but he must have picked it up in his mouth or something,
because the thing was pretty badly hurt, and I had to do the humane
thing and put it out of its misery. Not a great way to start a Monday
but frankly there are just too many of those things around anyway.
I told Albert after the deed was done that we were in it together now.

As this is the first day I had to work and leave him home, I set up
a "baby gate" in the kitchen doorway, and made sure it was extra tight,
because he's already nosed his way under it once. The intention here
was to confine him to the kitchen, where I'd placed his comfy, comfy
bed. So imagine my surprise to come home and find the gate exactly
where I'd placed it, and Albert camped out comfortably on the living
room couch. He either scaled or jumped over the gate. Either way,
I'm impressed.

Otherwise, a bit less cranky today, but concerned for various crises
of friends and family of which I've recently learned. Why the hell does
everything seem to be so damned heavy lately?

I asked you a question
I didn't need you to reply
Is it getting heavy?
But then I realized
Is it getting heavy?
Well I thought it was as already as heavy as can be

Is it overwhelming to use a crane to crush a fly?
It's a good time for Superman
To lift the sun into the sky
Cause it's getting heavy
Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be

Tell everybody waiting for Superman
That they should try to hold on the best they can
He hasn't dropped them, forgot them, or anything
It's just too heavy for Superman to lift

Cause it's getting heavy
Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be

Tell everybody waiting for Superman
That they should try to hold on the best they can
He hasn't dropped them, forgot them, or anything
It's just too heavy for Superman to lift
-The Flaming Lips - "Waiting For A Superman"

...

By now, you've probably noticed my predilection for using ellipses. Call it a stylistic quirk, and if you need to blame someone, that person would be one of my literary heroes, David Foster Wallace [Hi, Megan ;)]. DFW uses ellipses rather frequently in his writing, and I guess I just coppped that device from him.

In a weird bit of synergy, check out the main graphic used for this blog (i.e., the one at the top of this column). I didn't select the template I'm using because of it; I just liked the color scheme. But now, in restrospect it seems quite appropriate...

Shrinkage...

"I WAS IN THE POOL!!"

Went in the pool this afternoon for the first time this season. It was a beautiful afternoon here, and with the long range forecast indicating a typically cool and rainy Memorial Day weekend, I decided to take a dip while I could. At 73 degrees, the water was a tad chilly, but very refreshing indeed.

Albert, is just hanging out and chillin' today. The A-dog seems to have made himself at home quickly, and is doing well.

Now I gotta head out to the grocery store. Ugh...I hate grocery shopping.

"Weird Al Yankovic blew his brains out in the eighties when people stopped buying his records."
-Hank Hill

Albert - Day 1...

Albert seems to be settling in okay. I can tell that he misses home, and his foster mom for the past year, but I think he's handling it okay. I can already see that he's a really good dog with a very sweet temperament, and I think we've already started to bond a little. I like him and he seems to like me, and that's not a bad start.

The Sparklehorse scans...

From the it's a wonderful lfe promo envelope:

(click thumbnails for full-size pictures)

The Beagle Has Landed

This is Albert:


"Where's my mom?"

Dog Day Morning

I am getting a new dog this morning. Another stupid beagle. (Don't get me wrong; I love stupid beagles.) Name of "Albert". He's not really a "new" dog. He is of indeterminate age, probably around 4 or 5 years old. Nobody knows because his previous owners either ditched him or allowed him to run away, and he bore no identifying tags. Albert has a little problem called Addison's Disease. It requires some management, but his reputation is stellar, and that's what counts. I can't wait to bring him home, and I hope he's not going to totally flip out when he learns he's now going to have to live with me.

Welcome, Albert.

The envelope, please...

I broke down and opened the Sparklehorse envelope last night. It appears it was distributed at a screening of the short films that were made for it's a wonderful life, of which, sadly, I have seen only a handful. Inside the envelope was a promotional flyer for IAWL, a copy of the CD, and 5 beautiful A5-sized publicity photos of Mr. Linkous, none of which I'd seen before, and highly suitable for framing. They are so cool. I'll scan and post them a bit later.

Heavy rotation

Recent musical selections:

• ryan adams - cold roses
• new order - waiting for the sirens call
• bruce springsteen - devils and dust
• richard buckner - the hill
• eels - blinking lights and other revelations
• frank black - honeycomb
• elvis costello & the attractions - imperial bedroom
• cardigans - long gone before daylight
• various mash-ups

So very tired

So I saw the Star Wars movie last midnight. Silly me. Had to get there two hours early just to get a seat in the googolplex. I could've waited a week, but I do like seeing a new, pristine print, and this movie has so much eye candy that seeing a scratched up, dusty print ain't gonna cut it.

So it was...cool. Certainly entertaining, and pretty grim for a Star Wars movie. It was nice to see a lot more space-battle type stuff. I think CGI has become so ubiquitous that it's become ho-hum, and I think it's kind of a shame that a lot of people watching this stuff on screen don't fully realize that what they're seeing is not real. And I don't mean the space battles, but I'm talking about the Coruscant vistas, and the incredible level of detail imbued into the buildings and structures in the background. From that perspective, it is an awesome and awe-inspiring technical achievement, and that's enough for me. And I found it a hell of a lot more fun to watch than Sideways.

A "Wonderful Life" indeed...

IT CAME!!! I came home and jutting awkwardly out of my mailbox, a padded mailer with a "Royal Mail" stamp on it. As soon as I got inside I carefully opened it to reveal the precious cargo within. A funeral black envelope measuring approximately 8x6" with a translucent sticker sealing it shut. A pale gold scrawl across the sticker bore this message: sparklehorse - it's a wonderful life. Yes, I had received my latest eBay purchase: an ultra-ultra rare promotional copy of the aforementioned masterpiece by Mark Linkous and his estimable company. If you read this blog, you're going to read about Mark Linkous and Sparklehorse, because I could not imagine my life without this man's music. I want to open it, because there are photographs inside, and possibly other goodies. But I cannot. Not just yet. For now I have to simply admire it.

Now I'm going to enjoy a late cup of joe so I won't sleep through Star Wars tonight. I already went by the theater to pick up my ticket and there were already many people in bad Jedi robes with plastic lightsabers. Good lord. I may not have the regalia, but...I *am* one of them.

Internet, eh?

Okay, more day 1 musings. I wanted my address to be worldofhurt.blogspot.com. No dice. So I dropped the "f" and voila (and no, dammit, it's not walla), I was in. So I decides to check. Seems that whoever grabbed "worldofhurt" made a single post almost 2 years ago and hasn't done anything since. I was needlessly and cruelly denied. But that's the point of my being here, I suppose.

Screw it, I got tickets to "Star Wars" tonight.

Here I go...

The first post is not the deepest. Frankly, I don't know what to even say. But I'll get there.

Welcome...