Google makes spying easy: Audit API. How’s that for Big Brother? Google isn’t the thought police but your boss will be when they start paying for Gmail for Business services.

I’m excited about the fall lineup, though I’m heartbroken that Law and Order, Cold Case, Flash Forward, The Forgotten, Raising the Bar and Heroes are axed. Okay, not Heroes… but I did kinda hope they could have made it end less lamely. Flash Forward was an honestly exciting show and I’m pissed there’s not another season to develop it. Forgotten was just another crime show, but it had some appealing faces… yea, some hot chicks (Elisha Cuthbert too!) but also the weird artist dude and the homely repairman. Gonna miss seeing him. Raising the Bar was a quality law show… too bad law shows these days are a no-go. New stuff? Nikita reboot (hot… perhaps), Terra Nova (Spielberg and Land Before Time!), Ridealong (crime fix), Off the Map (okay, I’m not excited about a new medical drama, but it has Caroline Dhavernas in it… Wonderfalls has gotta be the best show of all time, and sadly, died before anyone noticed. Her stint as a crazy nurse’s aide killing with her boyfriend on Law and Order CI: genius.), Blue Bloods (a dynastical cop show? Please!), The Defenders (could suck… law in Vegas? But it has Belushi?), Chase (Bruckheimer and crime, YES), The Cape (regular guy turns superhero, and Summer Glau? As much as I love her, she’s killed a bunch of shows already.), The Event (replaces my Flash Forward fix, hopefully), and JJ Abrams doing his thing again with Undercovers (tho Mr. and Mrs. Smith has been done… how will it go over as a whole season?). Finales: Greys Anatomy and Private Practice have pretty large audiences, meaning they’ll come back. As I didn’t like the setup for PRivate Practice and thought GA went downhill immediately after season 2… I would like to see them cancelled in favor of better shows? But I guess they still have a (mostly female) audience… grumble grumble. Thank god Survivor didn’t win most viewers… prize goes to the Mentalist, followed by CSI. Two solid shows getting seen rather than the tripefest that’s Survivor. I can’t wait to see the rest of the finales (just finished Castle and that was a pretty good way to wrap the season).

UPDATE: OMG, Law and Order might be coming back – to TNT!

Also: Futurama going back to Comedy Central for a 22 episode run! HOT! Let’s hope this revival sticks, Family Guy style.

Good movies! Saw The Good The Bad The Weird the other day. A Korean Western… really well done, I gotta say. Storytelling wasn’t crippled like it usually is in Asian movies, though Korean movies haven’t been the worst culprits for story fail. The action scenes were exciting, the still of the desert came across and the Western motif was respected throughout. A few conessions to martial arts movies, but for the most part a good old-fashioned blazing guns justice Wild West style. Of course, it’s set in Mongolia against the backdrop of Japanese occupation into the Chinese hinterlands, a privilege the Koreans had in centuries past but lost. A historical session Koreans will know but a lot of North Americans will be clueless about. The “sheriff” dude is well-cast, as is Finger Chopper. The cool guy has nothing to do but strut, the only weak part of the movie – but can’t really blame him for something the script doesn’t have for him. I got to check out Winter’s Bone as well. It won Grand Jury prize at Sundance, and was well-deserving. A 17-year old girl has to support her 2 siblings and a mentally-ill mother, while her crank-cooking dad is off somewhere. The sheriff tells her that her dad set their house as his bond, and if he didn’t show up in court, they’d lose everything – so look for him she does. It’s a gripping tale – not because much happens, but because the mannerisms, the suspicion, the family bonds (or lack of)… speak to a world we city people know exists but know little about. There were some mutterings when the sister shows her little siblings how to shoot squirrels, and then proceeds to gut the squirrel on camera. The brother asks what parts they’re gonna eat. If you’re a hunter, and are hungry, then shooting and skinning an animal ain’t no big deal. And of course, there’s the economic depression of the entire area that forces everyone to become meth and crank cookers and dealers. And how the Army is seen as a way out but the realization that responsibility should play a bigger role than easy opportunities… at once saddening and enlightening, but also heartwarming. Not in some Hallmark movie way, but in that the main character takes the hard road, and makes very responsible decisions in an impossible situation, at once earning the respect of everyone she is in contention with and everyone watching her, aka me. It’s too bad both of these movies are gonna get seen by old people who have nothing to do, film festival geeks who watch everything anyways and basically no one else.

Started drinking at 1 PM. Finished drinking at 2 AM. Wow. This is how a reunion happens: Parc at Rittenhouse for some victuals. A dirty campus house for some freshening up. The Alumni picnic at Hill Field where I see alumni who actually paid, and I try and steal free food. GCGC at Irvine, where we drink bad wine and sing songs. Bridge over Troubled Water. JOHN PEEL. “Taste of Penn”… a $20 food and drink meet and greet. And then finally, the 05 dance party on Wynn Commons. Calling anything a dance party makes it seem lame… and even more so when it’s $80… but I guess premium open bar costs money? Pretty sure I got my money’s worth. The worst part was I almost skipped the dinner and party stuff because I though no one was going… well, true enough, a lot of the friends that I hang out with a lot now didn’t bother… but it’s always about those other people you almost forgot about but remember in the nick of time. Lots of those in attendance.

Pics below… though these are the only ones I bothered taking. The problem with having other people take pictures is that you have to wait for them to post. And I’m in so many random pictures too, good luck finding those ones. Gizelle says a picture of my favorite team, and I’m in a picture with 3 people I just met. Yay team!

At the GCGC with Nord, on his 10-Year.

Cassie!

Sankovitch… editor at Marvel???

La mia cara donna.

The pic got all bent up in my pocket. The Double L’s, a beaver, Alex pulling a Kanye-being-a-tool and my AWESOME inflatable guitar.

Hannah is some sort of State Department spook. All nondescript about her job, and then her friend was in Consular Services. That’s what all the spooks say, “just something in Washington.” Sure, it’s just Americans in trouble overseas. You mean like terminate with extreme prejudice and dagger in the shadows trouble…

Ich bin ein Berliner.

Bidet-ha! Friends in high places? She’s 06 and crashing my reunion. O, the places we’ll go. Rooftop of College Hall sounds good.

Neha, this is how you take a candid.

Watching Cold Case and realized 30th Street Station in one episode had no resemblance to the real 30th Street Station… yeah, nice job. Could have made it an unspecified station but had to say it was the most recognizable metro transportation building in Philly: NICE JOB COLD CASE. And then I find out that they aren’t filming in Philadelphia any more. Sigh. Still love the show, but the Philly love is gone when I know it’s all LA.

The Broad St. station, demolished in 1953 to make room for newer stations. Not 30th Street… but a nice train station nonetheless.

Cheap lessons. Take them.

So a pretty hot week, though a bunch of my friends were out sashaying across the wide wide world… Hawaii, Florida, Japan. Where apparently fun was to be had and the good times rolled. I sulked. Cait came back with a tan, and then had a friend from P-burgh come by. The Girl Who Loved Cemeteries, should be a Stephen King novel or the name of some emo band. So there was a recommendation for me to visit the Laurel Hill Cemetery (which apparently is a great place to visit on some Saturday afternoon) with its 70 acres of prettiness overlooking the river. Peace, solitude, a quiet torpor around midday after a picnic luncheon of pate and champagne.

Neha wanted to party next week…. I think next week is going to be such a problem. Neha on Friday, apparently; 5th year reunion outings; Brenna passing by; other friends graduating and such. Enough time in a day? Night?

We honor Kesha by…

Dirty Frank’s. I love the cheapass Philly Special… which technically is a wishy and PBR basically everywhere else, but at Frank’s, it’s a Kamikaze and a Miller High Life. So it shouldn’t be called a Philly Special then, whatever. Nobody calls it the Dirty Special. I got yelled at by some douchebag because on the way out, I was waiting for Kate to get out the bathroom and took a swig from my flask. He says I should know bar etiquette and the bar is there to serve alcohol not watch me drink it. I was like fine, fine, whatever. Inside, I was like yo, I just poured a good deal of money into this bar that I like except for you, and I’m seriously at the freakin exit waiting to leave. I’m not takin up space at the bar or in one of the nooks, I’m at the freakin exit. And then I turned up my chin and walked out with my entourage. Late-night at Midtown II but no tranny hookers this time. Interesting stories about a tranny possible-hooker nemesis, and then public drunkenness all around Pennsylvania. All sorts of awesome.

My man Shook remixes Penguin Prison. He’s apparently good at workin the social, since he just finished a gig in Scotland. Le sigh – that was my intended destination for study abroad had I been able to do it.

Dunno if I mentioned how much I’d like to make sweet music with Jess Delgado. Wink. No, seriously, actually make MUSIC. Love the voice. Here’s her original Song for Sammy.

I love it when regular ppl try and do a pro cover of some awesome song and do a pretty decent job of it. BOB and Paramore are hard to beat, but this is a great cover… and covers don’t need to beat originals, just honor them. Tyler Ward and EPPIC doing Airplanes.

Pictures of Hawaii are crazy – looks SOOOO fun. No windsurfing though, too bad. I got a little Japanese wish thing from Becs. If I wanna wish, I paint one eye. If it comes true, I paint the other one. The Japanese PM is supposed to paint the other eye as his first act in office, to say to the nation that his wishes have come true. Apparently if he doesn’t, he’s cursing his country into a recession or something. Well, that’s too bad.

The original release of this video edit had a promo for some random song on it. Probably just needed some audio… anyways, I re-cut the thing so it works better as a… er… thematic piece. Audio: “A Love Song” by Amanda Blank, dialogue from Sweeney Todd the movie and “Pretty Women (Blazin Hand Remix)” by “Blowzun”. That last one is brilliant. Original video and edit by Benjy Brooke.

“A Little Priest”, from our original production. I believe this was filmed by Will Connell’s dad? I’m not sure though.

Same videographer as above. This time, “Green Finch & Linnet Bird” and “Look At Me”.