And now the news...

I would like to vent about today's media, specifically the news. With the entire world to report on (tragedies being the most noticable), there is rarely a shortage of stories to report. However the sensationalistic nature of most news programs can be nauseating!

"We are back now with our Live continuing, round the clock, cross country,non-stop, in depth team coverage"

I mean come on, do we really care about the cousin of the man who once saw the sister of the guy who used teach the delivery man who first called in the _________? (Fill in the blank with shooting, fire, kidnapping, etc.) Now let me say that I am not insensitive to events such as the recent Virgina Tech tragedy. There is most definitely a need to have enough exposure to cover the details and find some healing in knowing the whole story.

But other times, the news comes out with a breaking story about a local fire and the next thing you know they are interviewing some guy who is not even connected to the incident and asking him if he knows anything further. What??!!! Or how about the one time I watched this reporter go live to his man on the scene in the local news chopper and it went something like this....

Reporter: We've been reporting on a warehouse fire that has broken out over near the north side of town. At this time we still don't know how the fire started or if there are any casualties. But more on this developing story now as we go to Chuck Wood who is live at the scene. Chuck tell us what you have learned.

Correspondant: Well Skip, there is some confusion her at the scene as firefighters are trying to subdue these flames and there is still no word from the administrator of this facility. At this point we do not know if this is a chemical fire, whether arson was involved, or if there was anyone in the building at the time the fire started.

Skip: Chuck, can you tell me if they know whether or not there was an explosion or did report come in as just a fire that started mysteriously?

Chuck: Skip we don't know as of yet the exact cause, but I can tell you that the fire chief I spoke to just moments ago did call in a second alarm or it could have been a third alarm, the details are sketchy.

Skip: Chuck I can see dark black smoke coming from the center of the building, is that possibly produced by some kind of chemical product that was stored there?

Chuck: Well right now we don't know what kind of facility this is, nor what was stored here. We are not certain if it is active site or just a storage location.

Skip: Okay Chuck keep us up to date. If you are just joining us, we are bringing you live pictures of a fire over in the North side of town, possibly the northeast. We do not know at this time what caused the fire, and we do not know if anyone has been injured. We will continue to bring you live, continuing, round the clock, non-stop, in depth team coverage as we learn more.

I watched this and I was like...."You broke into my daily programming to tell me that you have no clue what is actually going on??"

Give me a break!!

• Today's Cure song is Shake Dog Shake from The Top CD-(1984) Classic mopey goth rock with a hard bassline from a CD that doesn't get much talk time even among hardcore fans. According to Robert: ...me hating myself ... but a fab open guitar tuning ...!

"Your face
I'll never see you this way again
I captured it so perfectly
As if I knew you'd disappear away"

CJ

Hostel

Welcome To Your Worst Nightmare!

Paxton(Jay Hernandez), Josh (Derek Richardson) and Oli (newcomer Eythor Gudjonsson) are backpacking across Europe when they are told about a hostel in Slovakia. Once they hear that this hostel is THE place to find beautiful European woman who only want tourists, they quickly get on a train to the wonderful promise land. As soon as they get there, they start having the time of their lives until one of them turns up missing.

Eli Roth (producer of Cabin Fever) and the world renown Quentin Tarantino bring us a gore fest worthy of a #1 slot in a Halloween horror-thon! Although is starts out slow, (that is slow to those who are not looking for a lot of breast shots a la spring break) it doesn't take too long to get to the action. The bright colors and vibrant music are soon replaced with dark corners, gore, and a sense of dread. Criticized by many for being too campy and tasteless, I think it flys above the average B ranking of a bad gore movie manly for it's clever ending.

With special effects by award winnning Greg Nicotero (of Day of the Dead fame) there is no let down what so ever in the gore department. As this was trailered to be an ultimate shocking horror movie, the special effects department was tasked to out do others in it's genre. Over 150 gallons of fake blood were used to convey the various depths of torture and death depicted in this slaughterhouse extravaganza!

Interesting note: This film knocked "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (2005) off the top spot both at the box office, and when it was released on DVD. The production budget of "The Chronicles of Narnia" is nearly 50 times the $4 million dollar production budget of Hostel, which earned $20 million dollars in its opening weekend alone.

I can't wait to see part 2 due out June 8th 2007!!

• Today's Cure song is "In Your House" from the Seventeen Seconds CD -(1980) ...feeling uncomfortable in someone else's presence, but still always returning...

"Silence
In the empty rooms
I drown at night in your house
Pretending to swim"

CJ

Hellraiser 2: Hellbound

Time to play!

The fantastic sequel to the classic “Hellraiser”. Tony Randel directs this 1988 movie still built on the foundation of Clive Barker's book.

Kirsty Cotton (played once again by Ashley Laurence) returns, and at the beginning of this film has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital. As Doctor Channard (played by Kenneth Cranham), and his assistant, Kyle MacRae interview Kirsty, she tells her account of the events depicted in the first film. She pleads with them to destroy the bloody mattress her murderous stepmother, Julia Cotton (Clare Higgins) died on. MacRae is the only one who seems to believe her. However, it is revealed that the obsessive Dr. Channard has been searching for the doorway to the world of the Cenobites, for years.

After hearing Kirsty's story, Channard has the mattress brought to his home, and has one of his deranged patients lie on it, and cut himself with a straight razor. The resulting blood-letting frees Julia from the Cenobite dimension, and the murder and mayhem begin anew! In an effort to stop Dr. Channard, Kirsty and Kyle befriend Tiffany (Imogen Boorman), who hasn't spoken for years, but has demonstrated an amazing aptitude for puzzles, the Lament Configuration is no exception.

What I found intriguing about this next part of the Hellraiser series is the plot. I think Peter Atkins who scripted the screenplay, did an outstanding job of staying true to Clive Barker's vision of Hell according to the Cenobites. As the characters move through the realm of darkness, the images and instances of what takes place are in true horror taste! Graham Longhurst does a great job with the special effects and some of the new cenobite arrangements are ghastly awesome!!

So check it out, have some fun being gore-ily entertained.

• Today's Cure song is "Snow in Summer" from the Join The Dots: B-Sides and Rarities Collection - (2004) Here a tune that Robert admits he doesn't like all that much. A B-side to Just Like Heaven from 1987, it sings of being happy in love.

"Slipping in your soft white heart
I drink you as I swim
And I'm falling
And I'm falling with you
Fall beneath my skin"

CJ