Miscellaney

I think that most of the time, commercials are a waste. They spend millions of dollars on them, and how often do you actually say "I'm going to switch to that beer because I saw it on the Superbowl?" One deviance from that rule, personally speaking, is my choice of shaving cream. Back in the mid-to-late 1980s, Edge was a sponsor of the WWF tv shows, and I've used it ever since. The reason I started buying it is what still runs through my head every time I use it: Lord Alfred Hayes' measured pronunciation of the phrase "Edge Shaving Gel; the first defense...against ray-zore irritation!" I love the way he pronounced "razor".

I saw 300 yesterday. I thought it was okay; it wasn't stunning, like Sin City was. I liked the gritty, grainy look of the film. I liked the multiculturality of the Persian forces. I liked the nipples. I loved the soundtrack. I loved the animated end titles. I guess it just didn't seem as tight as I would've liked. There were some plot holes and strategy holes and gratuitousness that distracted me from the overall experience. I thought the oracle priests looked far too much like The Emporer from Star Wars, pale warts and hoods and all, and The Immortals were far too Darth Vadery; their masks were certainly reminiscent, and when we first see them, their breathing actually sounds like it was sampled from A New Hope. And Spartans don't throw pro-wrestling dropkicks. (However, huge towering beastmen definitely do pro-wrestling chokeslams. My friend Brantley leaned over and whispered "Undertaker.") Oh, and I kept watching Leonidas and flashing back to Brian Blessed in Flash Gordon. "Hawkmen? ...DIIIIVE!!!!"

I just tripped across this Sesame Street parody.

Two days until you'll never see me again, as I lock myself away with God of War 2.