Change Your Image
Spokaliman
Home: Spokane, WA, USA (it's where I got the name)
Status: Dazed, Confused, and cravin for Chicken
Basically I was a mindless working class hero until I saw Neon Genesis Evangelion...but anyway this is some quick quips about the man in the pants (THAT'S ME!!!)
Fav Movies:
1. Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
3. The Matrix Trilogy
4. Citezen Kane
5. Godfather: Part II
6. Godfather
7. Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke) (tie) Sen to Chihirono kamikakushi (Spirited Away) (tie)
Fav TV Shows (excluding anime)
1. Star Trek: The Next Generation
2. Daily Show (Comedy Central)
3. Tales of the Gun (History Channel)
4. The Brak Show (Cartoon Network)
5. Family Guy (Cartoon Netwok, TBS)
Fav Anime (all these are higher than the TV shows, except ST: TNG, that's #2 overall)
1. Neon Genesis Evangelion
2. His and Her Circumstances
3. FLCL
4. (tie)Boogiepop Phantom/Seriel Experiments: LAIN
5. Cowboy Bebop
Fav Historical People
1. Buddah
2. Henry David Thoreau
3. Jean Jaeque Rousseau
4. Mohandus Ghandi
5. (tie)Karl Marx and Henry IV aka Henry of Navarre (French King from 1589-1610)
Fav People (alive)
1. (tie) My Best Friends, Zack Pepper and Brandon Wilder
2. The Dhali Lama
3. Dennis Kucinich
4. Victor Yuschenko
Fav Songs
1. Jesus, Joy of Man�s Desiring- Johan Sebastian Bach
2. Beethoven�s 9th Symphony, Ode to Joy- Ludwig Von Beethoven
3. Air on G-String- Johan Sebastian Bach
4. Canon in D-Dur- Johan Sebastian Bach
5. Champagne Supernova- Oasis
And something to tingle the brain...
"Some people don't realize they expend tremendous amounts of energy just to be normal" � Camus
�Religion is the fallibility of man�s knowledge. It fills the gaps in man�s knowledge until such time that philosophy and science fills those gaps. Unfortunately, religion, in a very short time, becomes less of a belief system and more of a dogma and way of life; this is when stupidity and naivity take a hold of the human psyche.� Jonathan Agnew, March 11, 2003
�Because it is my name! Because I will not have another like it!�-John Proctor from Arthur Miller�s, �The Crucible�
�No matter how many people put you down, no matter how many times you are insulted, abused, pushed aside and shut down, you will always have value as long as you have confidence in who you are and what you believe in.�-Jonathan Agnew, April 15, 2003
�Children, who play life, discern its true law and relations more clearly than men, who fail to live it worthily, but who think that they are wiser by experience, that is, by failure.� Henry David Thoreau
�Be it life or death, we crave only reality. If we are really dying, let us hear the rattle in our throats and feel cold in our extremities; if we are alive, let us go about our business.� Henry David Thoreau
�Morning is when I am awake and there is dawn in me. Moral reform is the effort to throw off sleep. Why is it that men give so poor and account of their day if they have not been slumbering?� Henry David Thoreau
�The millions are awake for physical labor; but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion, only one in a hundred millions to a poetic or divine life. To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake. How could I have looked him in the face?� Henry David Thoreau
"Don't work so hard, don't worry so much, get more sleep, relax. Cause in the end, everything tastes like chicken, and chicken...tastes good."-Anonomous
"Looks like pork, smells like fish, tastes like chicken."-Zack Pepper
"No matter your race, creed, religion or color, you're not immune to stupidity." -Jonathan Agnew, January 21, 2004
"Grownups don't play enough Ping-Pong." Jonathan Agnew, March 28, 2004
Reviews
The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)
One of the Greatest Achievements of Cinema in the 20th Century
In the book of acts, Jesus Christ turns water into wine, a single loaf of bread into a feast, and travels with downtrodden fisherman, who bring back the greatest catch of their lifetime. Jesus Christ was the son of god, who in his lifetime would change the course of humans history.
Nigh back in 1941, a simple bookeeper living in Brooklyn, NY traveled to the coast on Coney Island for a day of simple pleasures and relaxation. Before the day was out this man would be changed into a fish by forces unknown to embark on one of the greatest journeys of all time...that man's name, was Henry Limpet.
Over the course of the next couple of years he would single-handedly protect the shores of the United States from the attack of Nazi U-Boats, leading to the eventual victory of the allies in World War II. This story was transposed into film in 1963 and brought to audiences in 1964, the events were true, and the story...riveting.
The movie was a cinematic spectacle of epic proportions as traditional live action scenes melded with state of the art animation to create the perfect aura of authenticity and entertainment. All those who see this tour de force of the silver screen can and will be enlightened to the truths of humanity, revealing the secrets of the universe to those who dare to tread in the murky waters of the metaphysical nature that which is at the core of our spiritual psyches.
A man finds truth in his own existence by changing the truth of his own physical form, he re-defines his raison d' extre by sheer will alone, the audience all at once realizes the truth of reality through their own perception and their own eyes. A single man can change his destiny by will alone, and that man can change the world, with nothing more than a dream.
By how, you ask! How could a film of such mediocre standing, production values and worth in cinematic history? The answer, oh dear enlightened friends and comrades, loved ones and hated alike, those of you who seek truth and those of you who must be given the truth as it is, not as you wish it to be! OH THOSE WITH THE HUBRIS TO BELIEVE THAT WHAT IS BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES COULD NOT BE THE END ALL OF REALITY IN THIS UNIVERSE!!! My friends I tell you this...the answer to your inquiry goes no further than a name...a simple name...a name that is known to all in our inherent knowledge of what the Greek philosophers referred to as, "Logos," this name...is...Don Knotts.
Don Knotts is, without any possible room or reason for doubt, the greatest actor in the history of humanity, for he transcends not only the genre of acting...but humanity itself.
One must first consider the main character in question, Henry Limpet. A simple man who re-creates himself as a fish and changes the outcome of the greatest conflict in human history. He has the power to overwhelm and thwart the attacks of any sea-creature who might oppose him, the power to swoon any woman who comes across his path and to defeat any evil that threatens the life of any innocents whom he deems to be as such.
This character is more than likely the most complex creation in the history of literature, an existentialist being trapped within the confines of a G-rated family affair. Simply put, what kind of a man...nay, what sort of being could portray the infinite truths contained within this character?! It is not a simple task, not for the faint of heart, and certainly not for the weak of talent. The being that would be capable of such a feat would have to be in tuned with what the Mayan people called, the "chroma," this man would have to be nothing short of being birthed of the essence of the universe itself to physical entities on this humble planet earth. This man would need the power to destroy worlds with a thought or a word, yet the humility and gentleness to make a child gleeful with laughter and joy.
Who is capable of all this, destroyer of worlds, yet bringer of joy to innocent children, character actor, yet being who is connected with the very basis of creation? The fact of the matter is that this film is of the greatest creations in the history of humanity and it's message shall carry on far into the future, inspiring generations of artists, leaders, spiritual men and of course, actors of all types and all lineages. This all was made possible by the acting prowess of one man, he who played the creation who created existence from personal truth...he is Don Knotts.
But what do we say past this? What is to be pondered upon past the conclusions drawn here? Don Knotts now is the being who can understand and truly advance the simple race of illogical apes known as humans. Without his word, without his truth of reality and without his frieking awesome voice is totally the coolest voice friekin ever...seriously listen to, like, the Spanish version on the DVD and it's friggen crazy, it like sucks because the guy who does his voice friggen sucks it hard man, it's crazy, no one can do that voice man...friggen...like...that voice, he is the man...*ahem*...for it is this being who shall be worshiped as he is, an existence of pure knowledge and power, one who brings forth the truth of all reality...he who is called...Don Knotts.
Shin seiki evangelion: Koutetsu no girlfriend (1997)
Please avoid
Apparently this is a dating sim based on the alternate reality that takes place in Episode 26 of the series. For those who don't know what a dating sim is, it's basically a video game where you buy presents for pixels arranged in such a manner to resemble the human form in an attempt to have a virtual date with them, or in worse ones to have sex with them. They're kinda popular right now and fairly sick to play.
I found some screenshots on the IGN message board under, "What is the PS2 Evangelion Game Like?"
It seems to revolve around Shinji, Toji and Kensuke simply trying to get some booty, using the nomenclature of our times, and apparently Shinji dating Rei, which creates a whole new level of wrong quite frankly.
There are other Evangelion games, including two non-US released games for N64 and PS2, both are poor action/mech/shooter games that I would recommend trying if your a fanboy and obsessive, but don't hold it against yourself if you don't.
Kareshi kanojo no jijou (1998)
Most Touching Love Story since Romeo and Juliet
That's right, you read it, this is the best love story since Romeo and Juliet. Actually, in terms of content it's better than R&J, because that's love at first sight and it's Shakespeare so it's just very well written. This isn't just the story of two people falling in love, but the story of that love. They fall in love and start dating by the fifth episode and it's no secret to anyone that they are. It goes into so much detail about not only their relationship, but the reasons they love each other, who they are and whay their relationship is. It really is beutiful, but what do you expect from the man who made Neon Genesis Evangelion, he did the screenplay and he directed (up to episode 16 i believe).
The characters in this show is what really gets me interested. Yukino is this shallow attention hungry person who has some serious inferiority complex problems she fixes with good grades and being the best, Souichiro is similar in that he must proove to his family (himself, let's be honest) that he's a person worthy of life and that he is a good human being, as opposed to his parents, who he subconciously takes after but conciously denies. They fill in each others emotional gaps so well, Yukino's energy can support Arima and Arima stoic persona creates a air of confidence for Yukino, they are absolutly perfect for each other in every way. Plus the way the show is presented they look perfect for each other. The other characters deserve mention to, Tsukino and Kano are probably my two favorite characters, there eccentric and cool to watch, Yukino's friend are lively as is Tsubasa.
That aside, the style of this show overall is mind bogglingly good, the constant change in shape, size and color of the world is constantly changing in connection to the characters psychological and emotional state, when they kiss in episode eight, the simple outline style excentuates the emotions exponentially. The way the environment is always an allagory for state of mind and in same ways connectivity and in some ways seperation of the characters is simply amazing, I was thoroughly impressed the first time I watched the series and intellectually involved the next ten times (I've lost count how many times I've seen this series). And one last kudos, the music as always is this laughable combonation of Japanese pop-rock and Bach, just what I would expect from Hideaki Anno. I love this series and it is absolutly my second favorite anime behind Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003)
The Best Review for this Movie You'll read
I'm writing on behalf of every sane person in the universe...*clears throat*...THIS MOVIE WAS THE MOST PATHETIC WORTHLESS HOPELESS SELLOUT PIECE OF UNORIGINAL DISNEY MONKEY POO I HAVE EVER SEEN!!! First of all i know the show, i have a sister and she watches the show and won't talk about anything else except it and the next pop music "sensation." (GASP! She's 14!) I saw the movie on a free ticket and with a deal with my sister that right after it we would clense ourselves and go to the Matrix Reloaded, which ruled. Back to the movie though...everything was MTV cliches, I couldn't stand it, i had to MST3K this movie and yelled out a few good ones mind you. I hade the entire plot set out in my mind before the movie started and i was 100% right. Girl goes somewhere (I don't care where, because the culture in that place is always misrepresented, and surprise, surprise, the Itlalians aren't realistically shown at all), girl has problem (99% of the time its that she isn't cool enough, or doesn't have the right friends or her boobs aren't big enough, and Disney does a disgusting job of getting rid of that problem, and that sure is setting the good old example of being yourself and beauty from within to our already media brainwashed kids), girl meets stereotypical pretty boy (nuff said) girl has stereotypical happy ending set to some Brittany Spears song. This movie does throw me a curveball for all of .02 seconds in the fact that she doesn't even "discover" happiness by not having her dreams fulfilled, but to my utter disgust, she becomes a big flashy, fake, talentless, brainless, MTV driven, fan brainwashing freak of a "singer" (even though it was painfully obvious her voice was altered to sound good by computer, i was the only one in the audience that noticed. Why do i know this? I stood up after the movie and asked!). This movie was 90 minutes of unoriginal, unimaginative, cliched, brain cell killing CRAP! (note: my night was salvaged when i went to Reloaded, Agent Smith rules!)..."Don't work so hard, don't worry so much, get more sleep and relax. Cause in the end, everything tastes like chicken, and chicken...tastes good."-Anonymous
Gangs of New York (2002)
Advertising won't trick me
I don't care who directed it, this movie sucked. The acting is terrible, the characters aren't beleivable at all, the storylines and main points of this movie aren't imaginative, their just stupid and ridiculous, in fact the only good part in this movie is the actual historical facts (which have nothing to do with the storyline, and aren't exactely diffacult to do whatever you want with seeing as it was a friggen riot). First on the acting, De Caprio still is just as bad as he was in Titanic, unbeleivable, inconvincing and overall, he doesn't come off as 'badass' he comes of as just being an paumpus ass. He's supposed to be Irish but he continualy slips in and out of accent. Cameron Diaz should stay in the stupid pop-culture movies because her 'blonde cheerleader' acting style obviously is way out of place in this movie set in the 1860's. And Lewis as 'Bill the Butcher' just comes off as a jerk, not as the leader of the 'Native American' party during the war (which are badly represented since although they were politically active group, they were not a common street gang, which makes sense since they hated both the Irish and the blacks, why would they have to hang around in the slums?). Now for the story, it starts off somewhat interesting with the battle between obviously persecuted Irish and some other unknown group (which since you don't know they're the 'Native' party yet, makes the fact ok). But in this scene, the main character Amsterdam is an 8 year old, and not Leo. But then the time warp happens and it's 16 years later, enter Leo. The storylines don't display the chaotic and desperate struggle between natives of New York, Irish immigrants from the potato famine and freshly freed slaves, struggling for jobs, food and houses. Where there was scuffles and fights, they were random and not organized, gangs were small and primarily nothing more than names of small groups of teens, rather than the personality and colorful differences in the movie. Lastly, this movie shows an organized slum of gangs who meet at conferences to plan fights, this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. And to top it all of, for about 30 minutes this is a friggen porno, bubes, sex and whores which is obviously there to distract from the fact that there are 10 second pauses in between each line! With all these lovely little elements put into place, what the hell to all these people and critics who say this is so good and Oscar calibur, see in this crapfest of a movie?
Shinseiki Evangelion (1995)
Not just entertaining but engaging
This series is the gretest anime of all time hands down. Not becuase it has great giant robots (and it does) or great characters, acting and character development (and it does) and not just a great story line (and it...well..does, gese, pretty much is already a great show already huh?) but because this isn't just a show that begins, ends and leaves you entetained, but leaves investigating the very depths of your mind and soul (and possibly your faith, it did for me anyway) by the end. When the show ends (there are techinically two endings, the movie and the last two episodes of the series, personally I watch both) you don't feel like it has concluded as much as it's just over, you will sit in your chair or couch and ponder all the ideas and revalations presented by Hideaki Anno (the shows creator) and pretty soon see the world in a new light. Unfortunately some scenes and storylines are a little racy for those who don't see the metaphorical value in them (which is very common, if you do a little research on the internet for the show or movie and you come across the words, "hentai," DON'T TOUCH IT!). I always like to say that watchers of this show are split up into two groups, viewers who say, "I didn't get it and it was a sick perverted show," and people who say, "I got it, and it is NOT a sick pervereted show." In a very true sense at one scene in the movie when two of the main characters are laying on top of each other nude in what can only be discribed as a lucid dream to those who haven't seen it, one person will say, "They're haveing sex." Another will say to themselves, "This is a metaphor for the collective conciousness of all human beings in this primordial soup they're in." (uhhh...you'd need to see the movie to get that) and this is most of all something that's just as good the fifth, tenth, even twentieth time through the series, you pick up new metaphors, you get storylines you didn't get before, or even knew exsisted! Everything in this series is above and beyond excellent (except for the acting through about the first half of the series, but don't worry, all the good acting happens when it counts), so if you're sick of me talking by now, you should know i've seen the series about ten times and i'm a huge fan, so borrow, rent or buy this series, it is truly one of the great masterpieces of our time.