kevspace's blog

I enjoyed Clerks II

"I enjoyed Clerks II" is a statement which, coming from me, adds nothing whatsoever of value to anything or anyone. It means nothing when I say it, because I have so far enjoyed all of Kevin Smith's efforts* and I had no reason to believe that I'd have anything other than a very good time watching this one. I know they're not great movies but I still went to go see the guy open up his comic book store, so an endorsement from me is pointless. But what I can admit is that I was actually touched, in a strange way, by some surprising themes present in a movie that (by its TV-ad appearances) is primarily concerned with pop culture references and unspeakable sexual acts. I will be the first to admit that Clerks (the original) is certainly not a good movie, and is most assuredly overrated even by the people who would claim that it is at least just a funny movie. I won't even try very hard to defend the overstuffed, verbose dialog, as funny as it may or may not be. (I just really like big words.) But: Clerks meant something to me when I first saw it about ten years ago. So it's probably no coincidence that, as its titular characters have also aged about the same amount of time, these clerks still have something to represent for me this time around, too.

I was having trouble putting my finger on it; I've read quite a few reviews of Clerks II but this last paragraph of the one on salon.com (linking to Salon is a guaranteed annoyance) is as close as I'm likely to come:

"Clerks II" has its problems: It rambles into sentimentality, and it doesn't need to -- the movie is more affecting when the characters are just cracking jokes. But Smith, an inherent optimist, has made a movie full of crude humor that also manages to explore the enduring qualities of friendship. And "Clerks II" gets at something even more elusive: In this country, we assume that every kid has to go to college, which will help him or her get a great job and build a happy, satisfying, productive life. A life lived any other way is probably destined to be inferior. That's not just a fallacy; it's also a way of setting people up for huge disappointments. At one point even Randal, who generally doesn't seem to be bothered much by his directionless life, says that the time he's spent lounging around, working at not-very-demanding jobs, hasn't been meaningless: "It's all building toward something," he asserts, a truth "Clerks II" stands by. Smith seems to be suggesting that there are many ways to build a life, even when you're not making much of a living.

*(I haven't gotten around to "Jersey Girl" yet.)

(B)eat drums

Who is your favorite Muppet? Why?
QotD submitted by knitwitology.vox.com.

I don't know how to embed a YouTube video. That makes it hard for this to just stand on its own without commentary, because all these words I'm typing now kind of count as commentary. Oh well, click here to have your face drummed off by awesome.

"With Sound"

Sometimes, I look around at my favorite blogs and worry that I am not quite geeky enough to be part of the club. But then I see something like this and I feel a stirring in my heart, an overwhelming yearning in my soul, a desire to max out my credit card, and I realize... if I may contain insufficient geek, I am certainly stuffed with abundant dork.

QotD: Summer Music

"What's the one CD that will totally remind you of the Summer of 2006?"

Oh, that's easy. No contest. Not in a long time have I discovered a CD and listened to it this obsessively. Somebody put it on their stereo and my first reaction was "wow, she has a very distinctive voice, I wonder how many people that hear this are annoyed by it?" and my second reaction was that it was very good. My third reaction was to get a piece of paper and a pen so I could write down the name of the artist and the title of the CD. My fourth reaction was to download it. My fifth through nineteenth reactions were to listen to it (except for the eighth reaction, which was to Google the lyrics) and my twentieth reaction was to purchase it even though I am pretty much broke. When I am happy it sounds upbeat and when I am sad it sounds melancholy. I even love the lyrics, which means a lot coming from me.

It's Joanna Newsom's "The Milk-Eyed Mender."

 

The Milk-Eyed Mender

Joanna Newsom

I look like a crazy person

My eyelid is still twitching, which made me Google the phrase "eyelid twitch," which reminded me of one of my favorite words ever. I'd completely forgotten it! It's "Blepherospasm."

Twitchy twitchy little eye

The muscle that controls the movement of my lower left eyelid is totally freaking the fuck right out! It's all, "boodleyboodleyboodleyboodley!" It's been doing that on and off since I woke up. If you know anyone who has jurisdiction over the muscle that controls the movement of my lower left eyelid, please put me in touch with them. I'd like to fax in a formal request for this to STOP HAPPENING AAAAAIEEEEEARARGH

I guess they're both female...?

Lately I have been obsessed with, and repeatedly listening to, if not the most unlikely pairing of music albums then certainly an unlikely pairing.

 

The Milk-Eyed Mender

 

Impeach My Bush

Of course, one of them I expect to tire of almost immediately whereas the other seems capable of providing years of meaningful musical moments for me. Guess which is which!

*cracks knuckles*

I came here to kick bubblegum and chew ass.

And I'm all out of ass.

Lore Amore

Opinion: the Internet is better off for having Lore Sjoberg on it. Wired.com in particular is exponentially improved. (new game controllers - grumpy gamers - the murse problem)

QotD: Brush with Pseudo-Celebrity

I've never had a brush with a celebrity "in the wild" (as far as I know)... but I did go see Kevin Smith in his store once.