skullblog is the work of kalavinka, a californian with roots on both sides of the pacific. see more.
November 2008
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Another "project" of mine is to minimize my life and I'm starting off by selling (and a few trades) most of my music collection. For now I am only listing about 200 pieces at a time, otherwise it becomes too much to deal with. half.com, ebay, amazon.com, lala.com

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reading: feed your head.

no place to hide

while visiting with my grandmother, she told me of a book she recently purchased. she had read the obituary of david bradley last month and decided to purchase his book ">"no place to hide", which is about the nuclear testing... [more]

lotr: the return of the king

i finished reading "the return of the king" today which means i've finally finished "the lord of the rings" trilogy. now i have to read appendices to get a better scope of what's going on. one day i might tackle... [more]

catching up on reading

recently i've caught up on some reading and finished two books. first was "if on a winter's night a traveler" by italo calvino. this is a book i've had for awhile because it was recommended reading for a film class... [more]

lotr: the fellowship of the ring

i finally finished reading "the lord of the rings" book! just the first one though. i'm not going to read "the two towers" right away. there's some other books i would like to tackle first, but nothing big. i just... [more]

juries, virgins, and queers

as you can tell by the entry title, what a day! i went to jury duty today. yeah, they finally got me. the first time i ever received a notice, if was for a county i didn't live in anymore.... [more]

sin city: the hard goodbye

we pretty much stayed in all day because our day was messed up due to staying up late and the time change to daylight savings time. at night i finally started to read "the hard goodbye" that came with the... [more]

a clockwork orange

i finally finished reading "a clockwork orange". sometimes it takes me forever to read a book. not because it doesn't interest me, but simply because i never sit down and devote the proper time and attention for reading. this was... [more]

the pinche code

i finally read "the da vinci code". one of the last ones in the world to read it, it seems. i was curious in the book for two reasons. first, because it is so popular. it is very rare that... [more]

counter-clock world

i finished reading "counter-clock world" by philip k. dick tonight. it's the book i started reading a couple days ago at the okinawan picnic. i could've finished it in one day but i saved it so i would have something... [more]

dirk gently part 2

i finished reading "the long dark teatime of the soul", the second in the dirk gently series by douglas adams. i think that perhaps the first in the series was a more interesting story, but this second one definitely had... [more]

writing for the first time

i've been feeling artistically frustrated lately. i have had ideas for projects for ages, both music and films, but never really did much about it. in college i trashed most of the songs and lyrics/poems i had written in high... [more]

the rules of attraction

i just finished reading bret easton ellis's second novel, "the rules of attraction". "less than zero" was what the spoiled 80s kids do during vacation and "the rules of attraction" is what they do while at school. clay makes a... [more]

less than zero

as a kid i enjoyed the film "less than zero" probably because of the new wave 80s music, robert downey, jr., and LA setting. i haven't seen the film in years but the ending is set along the road to... [more]

lies, inc.

i devoured "lies, inc." by philip k. dick tonight. i spent the morning being lazy and the afternoon cleaning. i read the entire book in the evening because it's rather short, just what i like in length at the moment.... [more]

firestarter

i saw the film version of stephen king's "firestarter" when i was a little kid. i hardly remember anything about it other than i really liked it. i think i started imitating the dad too and massaging my temples the... [more]

the beach

i thought the movie "the beach" was good and kept it in mind while i was reading the book by alex garland. i could list all the things that are different between the two, but what's the point in that?... [more]

ubik

i finished reading "ubik" by philip k. dick. damn, it was so good. i imagined it as part film, part animation. i would like to make that film. it's short, a very quick read. the first part is the setup... [more]

bonfire of the vanities

this morning i finished reading "bonfire of the vanities" by tom wolfe. i picked up this book in auckland, i think. twiddle thumbs read it first as usual. i was curious about it only because i remember it was a... [more]

why not me

last not i finished reading "why not me?" by al franken. this book is hilarious! it's a fictitious account of the making and unmaking of the franken presidency. al franken used to write for and be on "saturday night live".... [more]

the hobbit

what surprised me most of all about "the hobbit" was the ease of the reading itself. i thought that a tolkien book would be a difficult read as it would be complicated due to the many characters and places to... [more]

the princess report

i finished reading "the princess bride" by william goldman yesterday and got started on reading "the minority report" by philip k. dick, which i finished just now. "the princess bride" i really wanted to read the book because i love... [more]

behind the screen

finished reading, or finished skimming "behind the screen: how gays and lesbians shaped hollywood, 1910-1969" by william j. mann. i really enjoy the classic period of cinema, namely the 1930s. i was a little bored during the silent era because... [more]

short stories by stephen king

i finished reading "night shift", a collection of short stories by stephen king. i've never read his stuff before. i tried once to read "thinner" but could only read a few pages. this collection of stories was good. it was... [more]

that galaxy hitch hiker guy

i finished reading "dirk gently's holistic detective agency" by douglas adams. since they're finally coming out with the film version of "the hitch hiker's guide to the galaxy", i thought i better get a move on it and read some... [more]

the color purple

i finished reading "the color purple" by alice walker. it's a quick read. i really enjoyed it. it's so sorrowful, painful, but the ending is so happy. all nicely tied up in a way. that's my criticism, the happy american... [more]

cry to heaven

i finally finished reading "cry to heaven" by anne rice. i haven't read an anne rice book in a long time. she's twiddle thumbs's favorite author. i read rice's books to discuss them with twiddle thumbs. i really enjoyed most... [more]

galatea 2.2

i finally finished reading "galatea 2.2" by richard powers. i had started this book some time ago when i lived in america. (humorous laugh as i haven't been in new zealand that long!) i had a hard time reading this... [more]

deadeye dick

i finished reading "deadeye dick" by kurt vonnegut while on the grand canyon trip but i haven't had a chance to write about it until now. this is the second vonnegut book i've read. the first one i read was... [more]

don't try this at book soup

twiddle thumbs and i went to dave navarro's book signing at book soup in west hollywood. we got there a bit early as i thought the signing was at 6pm but it was actually at 7pm. we met twiddle thumbs's... [more]

don't try this at sam goody

twiddle thumbs and i went to dave navarro's book signing at sam goody at the universal city walk. we left later than we planned to and the traffic was bad, but we got there in time. the signing was in... [more]

diarios de motocicleta

i finished reading "the motorcycle diaries". it wasn't as detailed as the film was. i guess i will have to read alberto's book about the trip as well. i noticed a few things that were different in the film and... [more]

the pillars of the earth

twiddle thumbs borrowed "the pillars of the earth" from heliosphan a long time ago because it's her favorite book. i wanted to check it out but the size the book was daunting. i had to focus on school so i... [more]

vegan books

2 vegan books that i ordered arrived today. one of them is how it all vegan because i read that it is a great vegan cookbook for semi-lazy people who don't want to spend too much time preparing delicious food.... [more]

do androids dream of electric sheep?

i first saw "bladerunner" maybe 13-14 years ago. i really liked it. then i saw it again a couple years later and didn't like. i don't think i've watched it since then. it's been a long time, so i don't... [more]

new york trilogy

i've been reading "the new york trilogy" by paul auster. it is a collection of three short stories. we had to read one of the stories, "city of glass", for a class i took last year. i wanted to finish... [more]

propaganda or 'everything i know about christianity i learned from comics'

wow... i am in shock. i came across a website today for christian propaganda. i am not in shock at the message of the propaganda. actually, i know it well. i am merely shocked to come across them again. i... [more]

we

over the weekend i finished reading "we" by yevgeny zamyatin. i read it in my spare time within a week--it was a very quick read. i wanted to read this book because it is the first in what i think... [more]

macrobiotics

yay! most of the used books i have ordered on macrobiotics have arrived. i've been interested in this stuff for awhile but never looked into it too much because i just can't get that interested in the subject matter. my... [more]

amerika

i finally finished reading "amerika" by kafka. i think my friend let me borrow it one year ago. i read the first chapter or two but then academic obligations got in the way. these past few days i have made... [more]

the crying of lot 49

there is a lot of down time when using final cut pro. there are moments when the software is busy and the user is waiting. those moments are a great time to read. i can see how a small-time filmmaker... [more]

damn it janet, i love you

i finished reading the siouxsie and the banshees authorized biography book today. it was great! i ordered it from a web site for a pretty good deal. it arrived on thursday and i immediately read the first 100 pages. i... [more]

cooking with old food by old folks

grey bears are a respected seniors for seniors group in the community. my former boss who's remained a friend is an active volunteer with them. they put together a cookbook as part of a fundraiser. she said they needed some... [more]

2001 series

today i finally finished reading the 2001 series by arthur c. clarke. (2001, 2010, 2061, 3001) in 2001 i took a course in which 2001 was one of the films covered. as a kid it bored me to death so... [more]