On the way to work, I saw a car with a big waving flag atatched to it cut off a fire engine that had its lights flashing. A person unclear on the concept of patriotism, and/or amnesiac about who the heroes of 9-11 actually were that his flag is most likely intended to salute.

I’ll bet the guy didn’t vote today either.

Tuesday was one of those days when, as a critic, you just have to grin and bear it — sitting home watching videos all day for an upcoming film festival.

Doesn’t sound so bad, right? Think about it again. You have no time to leave the house. You must watch videos all day, and pay attention. They are movies you have never seen or heard of before, and most are super-low budget. You have an adequate TV, and a couch into which you sink like quicksand. Trust me, it’s work.

But on the plus side, after weeks of prep for being Robby the Redneck on Halloween night, it feels so good to color my hair again. For those of you knifeheads out there who want to copy me, I thoroughly endorse the brand “Raw Color” and the colors known as Peek-a-blue and Hot Rod red.

Catch me tomorrow (Thurs) at the AFI fest premiere party, and Friday midnight at the Nuart to introduce “Cool as Ice.”

Let me just say that I’m a little fucking disappointed in those of you who didn’t come out for “Cool as Ice.” Not like I hadn’t told you multiple times or anything. What, water falling from the sky deterred you? Funny, it didn’t deter me. And I didn’t have a car. I’ll explain in a moment. But seriously, if you were wondering why this website is such a self-serving, egomaniacal, self-promotional tool, here ya go. Clearly almost no-one pays attention to what I say, and I have to promote myself, or no-one else will.

Anyway, to back up: It’s been raining for two days straight in L.A., and they’re already calling it “El Nino” again. This wasn’t a very warm California year to begin with; ironic to think that “The Kid” is in fact caused by global warming.
[Continue reading Reign of Ice...]

was written very much in the emotion of the moment. There are indeed some folks I’m rather disappointed in, but I don’t mean to tar everyone with the same brush.

This is what I meant about being candid in the journal. Not sure yet if it’s a good idea, but it probably makes for a better read to strangers.

Vote tomorrow. Angelyne’s on the ballot for Hollywood City Council; I endorse her but oppose Hollywood secession, which won’t pass and thus makes her position irrelevant anyway.

Camejo for governor is my choice, though Gov. Gray Matter will of course take it.

If you’re black and in Florida, bring ID and don’t be deterred!

My review of Mike Leigh’s latest working-class Brit film “All or Nothing” is up at dallasobserver.com, while my “Femme Fatale” review (Brian De Palma’s Parisian erotic thriller) is making the rounds in Phoenix, Cleveland, Houston, and KC. I recommend the Phoenix and KC versions, as the other two have been trimmed for space.

Not much to add today. Spent most of Sunday either watching TV (new Simpsons Halloween special wasn’t up to par, except the final segment, a Dr. Moreau parody with Dr. Hibbert; New King of the Hill was better, but I miss Beavis and Butt-head) or sleeping. And worrying about my future.

It’s hard to know how candid to be on this board. I know for a fact that some of my employers may know this url, so I can’t say anything bad about them; and all my friends have it, so if I’m mad at one I shouldn’t publicly bitch…several of you have said you wanted to see my uncensored Reagan rant.

I dunno. Should I be candid no matter what and invite controversy, a la Courtney Love, or ensure that everything I let out about myself is carefully controlled, like the new modest Madonna? You can let me know on the message board.

I get to see the new Harry Potter tonight. Haven’t read the book this time, so I know very little about it. Should be fun.

For those unaware of Irish pronunciation who bastardize the word above,it’s pronounced like “sound” but without the “d” on the end. Thus it’s kind of a tortured pun. Samhain is a pagan festival held Nov. 1 that became All-Saints Day, but it’s also the Irish name for the entire month of November.
[Continue reading Samhain judgment...]

This journal program has its problems. You may have noticed that when the new month rolled around, all the links disappeared. If it turns out we have to manually add them every time, a new journal program may be sought.

Meanwhile, use the back button on your browser to take you to a page with all the links.