Another Prediction

This one's a longshot, but what the hell. I just saw the preview for the new Chocolate Factory today and while it looks bad-ass as a whole, I have this feeling that Depp is going to be ludicrously bad. He seemed to be channeling Michael Jackson as best as I can tell, which is disconcerting.

And, shit, I just googled that search string and it appears that this has occured to others as well. I realize that I should reserve judgement considering the brilliance on display in Donnie Brasco, Fear and Loathing, etc etc.

Still. Still.

- serazio

First Day of Summer

And the living's easy. Summer is such a kick-ass season. Unless it's 110-degrees, in which case it's not.

The three idiots are again stateside and web-page photos will be forthcoming. If Aden could somehow digitize those wedding pictures with his Khmer bride, I think we'd all sleep a little bit easier at night. When he put on that royal tunic, Cambodian culture pretty well hit its low (or is it high?) point since constructing Angkor Wat and reigning over Southeast Asia in the 12th century. Company finished the trading day even.

So I've got a theory on something and I'd be curious to get some takes from all two people who tune in here. In the land of American pop culture, few machines are more powerful than the Nostalgia Factory. I don't know if, among previous generations in the 20th century, there was such a fascination -- and moreover cool quotient associated with unearthing the slightly outdated. But I think I have it pegged to about a 15-year cycle. In the early '90s I noticed that disco was suddenly de rigeur; that's about the time it took for wink-wink public irony to crest over what had been unhip detritus. By 1997 or so, The Wedding Singer was doing much the same for the '80s. Subtract 15 and that puts you at 1983. Just slightly beyond memory, much like Denver Nuggets throwback jerseys and the soundtrack from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City that followed. Following that rationale, this year's San Andreas installment signals the impending onslaught of early '90s culture. Take 15 from 2005 and you land squarely in the realm of Fresh Prince fashion and... what else?

Or am I completely wrong on this? And at what point does the slow-moving present get passed up by the past?

- Serazio

The Return...

Are the 3 fools back in country from their little jaunt to Southeast Asia?

I just got back from another trip to New Orleans...and it just gets worse every year. Check the photos at http://jessenull.fotopages.com (if the site is finally working).

- Cory