My last ten movies, most to least favorite:

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Tweaks and enhancements

• As a number of you reported, a service interruption impaired sending and receiving notifications for a couple of days. This was due to an avalanche of snowflake cookies. We've removed the free snowflake cookie and unclogged the pipeline. Timely notifications should resume shortly. Please note that there's a backlog in our queues, so you'll be getting earlier notifications first. For more details, check out this post at lj_maintenance.
• In anticipation of the new year, we've embarked on a self-improvement kick to boost our backend (pun semi-intended). This will allow us to offer you a holiday promotion in the next few weeks (yes, we're listening and working very hard to make it happen). We sincerely appreciate your continued patience and support.

Holiday vgifts are here!

We've added some fantastic new vgifts to help you spread holiday cheer. We also hope you'll honor AIDS Awareness Month by purchasing virtual red ribbons. Priced at $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine.

Introducing: LJLimerick

We cordially here do invite you
To craft a fine limerick. Might you?
Each week, a new theme,
Then a poll, that's our dream
Winner posted on news to delight you!

In honor of all the brilliant writers on LiveJournal, we've created a brand new community: ljlimericks! Each week, we'll enter a handful of limericks into a poll (which we'll tuck snugly under an LJ-Cut). The winning poem will be published in the following newsletter. In addition, the author will receive a virtual blue ribbon! If you have the time, come drop us a rhyme. Please keep the "Nantucket" stuff on the downlow, since this is a youth-friendly community. Our first prompt is: Insomnia in winter.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible images from our global photography community. Congratulations to sempre_marseeya, who has been awarded a virtual blue ribbon as the winner of our second lj_photophile poll.

We hate to squelch your creativity, but, as a courtesy to other users, please post only one photo at a time and keep the main photo no larger than 350x350 (so images display properly via mobile and on friends pages). You can link to a larger image and/or post photos under a cut. Just so you know, we select photos for the poll blindly, based on user comments and staff feedback. Please continue to vote, comment, and, of course, enjoy. You can check out the week in pictures and view more awesome user content after the jump!

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Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay warm and safe out there!

doorwindowwall
A stunning collection of images sure to delight anyone with a penchant for architectural elements, this talented community, largely from New York, is hoping to attract new members from around the world. Featuring an eclectic variety of photos depicting doors, windows, and walls, there's an interesting balance of interior and exterior shots, many from urban streets, some from ramshackle rural farmhouses. Wonderful!

You know you live in Hawaii when the local newscaster says the job market is "gnarly."

Biggest waves in a generation in past days. D. and I hiked to a cliff overlooking Jaws and watched a couple pros tearing it up.



I've been accepted to a distance graduate program through the University of Hawaii. I have heaps of paperwork - financial aid, blahblah - and then everything goes full-force starting January 8th. It starts with an orientation on Oahu, so I need to book tickets and make arrangements. And after that most of the work will be done online. I'm sure my lifestyle will have to change a bit. I hope I can still manage to juggle work.

Life has gotten a bit out of balance recently. Lots of movie-watching and tons and tons of work. Plenty of time spent with my dude, too, which is nice. But I need to fit in more exercise, more sunshine, and more Christmas shopping. More updates would be good too.

Yesterday (today back home) was the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The New York Times has this great essay, reflecting on what led up to the event. In 1905, that bloated imperialist asshat, Teddy Roosevelt, won the Nobel Peace Prize (sound familiar?) for helping to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War, in which he absolutely favored the Japanese and sold out the Koreans, resulting in 40 years of brutal colonial occupation on the peninsula.

An interesting read: both an expose' of American diplomatic naivete', and a must for anyone who can't understand the Koreans' distrust of US intentions in this neck of the woods.

I, for one, am buying the book.

Monday December 7th............................................................................................................................ November 24th

December 2nd

A full moon night. My 11th back night in LA. – flew in 11/22 now it’s 12/02. Oh I grew up here in LA, and I lived here for a stint after college in the early to mid nineties, but I’d been on a worldwide, whirlwind, disorientating odyssey for the last 13 years, so LA is kind of new to me, in a way.

Thanks. I’m glad to be back. First day back, 10 days ago, I was chatting up this smoking hot girl at the DMV, we had side by side chairs in the waiting area, I was renewing my license, she’d lost hers and was there to replace it. I told her how I just got back into town after years in Asia. She’s all, “Welcome Back!” It was pretty sweet. She was stunning, her mother Filipina. She sold Hondas – pre-owned, not used. I remember her job because I need to buy a car. I’d taken the bus to the DMV in Santa Monica.

The last time I was in LA, I was here for 6 nights, 7 days. I had a job to be at Monday morning, an apartment, and possibly even a girlfriend…all on the other side of the world. I wasn’t really back in LA. I was on vacation in LA. I was about fun. I’d rented a convertible PT Cruiser and drove that the entire time I was LA. Airport to Airport.

This time, I’m back. For real. For the long haul. The only thing I left behind on Cheju Island or anywhere in Asia are friends who are doing fine with me.

Because I have no automobile of my own just yet, nor bicycle, nor any means of transportation, I’ve been hoofin’ it a lot. Taking busses. Walking. Busses. Walking. Mostly walking, as I hate waiting for the bus. I don’t mind the bus, it’s the waiting. Plus, LA is not a bus friendly town, so basically, as Robbie said, and it’s so true, “The bus is cool, for about a week. Then it gets lame.” It’s true. Still, you see a lot of stuff when you ride the bus that you’d never see if you drove. Especially if you’re doing the driving.

Today, from my brother’s house on Beverly Glen near Santa Monica Blvd, I walked down Overland Blvd, past the boulevards of Olympic, Pico, Palms, National, Venice to Washington Blvd. This one Barbeque place looked really good. A few massage parlors, some that do nails and other womanly stuff as well – things I saw along the way. At Washington, I turned left and walked past the long Sony Studios with the large billboards of current releases, SJ Parker and HughG flashing their big blue eyes opposite the huge white satellite dishes across the street and I continued along Washington to the main stretchy intersection with the Triangle Bldg, the oldest bldg in Culver City where Culver meets Washington – downtown Culver City. It’s little sprawling but easily traversed by foot what with the super wide sidewalks. Downtown Culver City is very posh, a little upscale, kind of like Pasadena, but not so far from LA. You have the Kirk Douglas Theater, the Culver Plaza Theater, the Pacific Movie Theater, Greek, Mexican, Korean cuisine. Other restaurants are there obviously, but those were the three that stood out to me. I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten a thing all day. It was 3 o’clock, just minutes before my movie began. I was there to see a movie. I’d walked for ninety minutes from my brother’s house. My mp3 player’s battery had died along the way. I was carrying an old paperback copy of The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. My friend phoned me. I felt the vibration. I mentioned the book and he’s all,

--Yeah, Ken Kesey.
--No, he’s in it but he didn’t write it.
--I read that back in Berkeley.

Had we been face to face, I would’ve blathered on about Tom Wolfe and the Merry Pranksters and Kesey and One Flew and lots of other literary and psychedelic jibber-jabber. But I don’t like talking on the phone. Plus, I’d just bought a phone on the cheap so I pay for each call by the minute whether I place the call or not. I kept it short.

The cute girl with braces behind the counter at the Pacific Theater told me there’d be almost 12 minutes of previews. It was just three o’clock. The movie started five past. I had a good seventeen minutes before show time. I went outside though the glass doors in the long glass wall of the theater. Iron benches dotted the large courtyard. There was outdoor seating outside the three nearby restaurants. On the sly, of course, I filled a small bowl and took one monster hit and held it in till very little smoke exited my lungs. I smoked a cigarette simultaneously and took my sweet time about it. I can be invisible if I want to be, and I had to be. Lots of commerce and shops and banks and rests and cops and people milling about the wide manicured sidewalks and clean streets.

Funny thing is, I bought my ticket outside the theater at an ATM looking metal box attached to the side of the theater. There’s a line of them. Push some buttons, choose your movie and time, swipe your card, cha ching – your ticket sir/madam. No voice required. Self service ticketing, if you got a card.

Another funny thing is this.

The Acid Book that I was just by chance reading, was about LSD and hippies in the 60’s and at the same time, actually 10 years prior, the US military was using LSD in mind control experiments. LSD had been invented/discovered/first chemically synthesized in April 1943, by Albert Hoffman, and he immediately published his findings.

The events of the first LSD trip, now known as “Bicycle Day”, after the bicycle ride home, proved to Hofmann that he had indeed made a significant discovery.

A psychoactive substance with extraordinary potency, capable of causing paradigm shifts of
consciousness in incredibly low doses, Hofmann foresaw the drug as a powerful psychiatric tool;
because of its intense and introspective nature, he couldn’t imagine anyone using it recreationally.

‘Bicycle Day’ is the name given to the day he accidentally exposed himself to the substance (he wasn’t wearing gloves!) and then subsequently rode his bike home and started tripping along the way. Three day later, he dosed himself in a more clinical setting. From there he began writing about the power of LSD. It wasn’t long before many people were taking it and trying to utilize its energy towards some goal. Kesey and Leery were speaking of an evolutionary breakthrough of the mind where humans can harness the power of psychedelics and evolve – create a more perfect world.

Point of clarification – back in the day, the 60’s when LSD first achieved widespread usage, it was classified as a hallucinogenic. This is since been changed to psychedelic. The reason, and it’s pretty simple to understand, is that to hallucinate is to see something that isn’t there. A hallucination is a creation by a person’s mind. It is now believed by many that what is seen while on a ‘trip’ is ‘there,’ it is not imagined; it’s just that a person couldn’t see it was there. People write books about this stuff, I don’t want to go there, suffice it to say that in the 60’s LSD was seen by many as a gateway to human evolution, by where a person could harness the power of controlling one’s own mind and do amazing things. Invisibility? The ability to pass through walls? MK7000, where the US military gave does of LSD to soldiers under observation. Perhaps, in addition to other purposes, perhaps one chapter or one unit of the military was trying to create Jedi like soldiers who can use their mind to defeat an enemy. Good idea for a movie.

Movies and LA. Every time I come to LA I see at least one movie. More if I have the time. So many movies play each day in LA. UCLA film archive, the Nuart, Beverly, Fairfax and Aero Theaters. Funny thing about the Aero theater in Santa Monica, once I went to a double feature with a bottle of rum. I ended up passing out and waking up long after midnight. I set off the motion detector alarm as I walked around. I grabbed a Kit Kit, got let out, walked home. Somebody probably got fired over that.

Anywho, because there are so many movies playing and because you can’t possibly see them all you gotta be selective. I love Adam Sandler movies but I’d never pay 10 bucks to see him on the big screen. He’s just as funny on the small screen. I like cinema. I like big movies on the big screen. That’s why of all the movies playing this week, first week in December 2009, I chose The Men who Stare at Goats. And that’s why all this LSD jive is appropriate because it is true that the US government funded US army experimental operations with LSD and other types of mind altering agents and this does make a good premise from which to make a movie and George Clooney was very believable as a jedi trained soldier and Jeff ‘the dude’ Bridges was awesome as his CO, guru. Add Kevin Spacey and Ewen McGregor to the mix and you have yourselves a wonderful movie. It was funny, poignant, interesting, well shot and acted – it dragged a little bit at times but that’s why the theater experience is necessary in a film this big. The Iraq war. Lots of ideas passed on from this film. Lots of wonderful ideas. Optimum Trajectory.

There is more truth to this story that you would believe.
Find out where your destiny lies. And the river will take you there.
Just another day in LA.

**FINAL EDIT Thu Dec 10 02:15:47 UTC 2009**

So there is the final update... Over the past day we have processed around 11 million jobs out of the 12 million that were in queue at that time. Please bear in mind that over this past day, more jobs for notifications are also created. So while the queue has been dropping, we are still not fully caught up at this point, due to backlog and new jobs. We have roughly 3 million jobs still pending that involve the notification system in some manner. We had hoped we could have fully cleared the queue in a day, but unfortunately we can't clear it too quickly, since we need the rest of the site to operate normally. From our current perspective on the amount of jobs that are left in queue, and how many it has processed thus far, we believe it will take around another 8 - 12 hours to process everything.

And finally some answers to some questions:

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freeskiers
While some of us long to escape the cold, dark stretch of winter for hot tropical beaches, for others, there's nothing quite like whoooooshing down those shimmering sugar alps. If you're fond of freestyle skiing, get ready to slide down the slippery slopes in good company. This passionate, international community shares travel/gear tips, anecdotes, photos, and videos for those who can't get enough of the sweet stuff.

seasonal_icons
Need some extra twinkle to decorate your place? Check out these dazzling holiday-themed icons. If you're an artist, you can post your own creations, provided you abide by the simple rules (which is to say, all cheer and no politicking). Be sure to comment and give credit if you wish to borrow a little spirit (no direct links, please). If you're feeling a touch of humbug this season, this is an instant shot of festivity.

handmade_gifts
High on creativity, but low on cash? You'll find tons of brilliant suggestions for do-it-yourself crafts sure to please everyone on your holiday gift list. Offering detailed instructions, photos, budgets, timelines, and active support, you'll soon turn spare remnants of fabric and time into cherished keepsakes. Be sure to search entries and read user guidelines before you post for help!

Yes, sometimes a picture IS worth a thousand words:



I know I'm not the first to pick up on this story, but isn't there something just a little disingenious about someone literally waving the "green banner" from THE COCKPIT OF HIS MOTHERDICKFUCKING PRIVATE JET???

What does he need a jet for, anyway? I was unfortunate to witness that abortion of a film, "Michael." That asshole has angel wings!!!

Fly, Johnny! Fly!!!

We are all doomed.

The Hyundai Apartments lie on the hill of Yangjeong, looming over the city and the vacant walled-in compound that used to be the US Army base, which, three years back, re-located to more strategically useful environs. Busan, it seems, no longer needs defending. The apartments are a city unto themselves, housing a good twenty thousand people in clusters of imposing, obscene concrete towers. These housing blocks aren't so different than any of the countless others found on The Peninsula; they are efficient and impersonal, a corporate take on the socialist experiments that one finds in Europe. Contrary to those Stalinist nightmares, however, these ones are mostly clean and crime-free. Children play unattended, impromptu fruit markets come and go without incident, mothers gab on the sidewalks, and grandfathers kill the afternoons playing baduk (a game with black and white round tiles) and sipping rice wine with their friends, trading literal war stories and relaxing in the warmth of the rough, milky booze.

( WALK THIS WAY )

LiveJournal: The First Decade

Just in time for holiday shopping, we're thrilled to announce the release of our ten-year anniversary anthology. Published by Blurb.com, the book showcases a decade of extraordinary talent drawn from LiveJournal users around the world. This must-read compilation features stories, memes, photos, comics, editorials, graphic content, and more, including:

1. Excerpts from Oh No They Didn't (a/k/a ohnotheydidnt), the largest community on LiveJournal, covering celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and pop culture
2. A look at post-Katrina New Orleans from the journal of Poppy Z. Brite
3. Gripping narratives, including a poignant reverie on a blind date
4. Photography that spans the globe, ranging from old-fashioned Polaroids to underwater photography
5. Mouthwatering dishes from food_porn

What began as a late-night inspiration back in Brad Fitzpatrick's college dorm in 1999 has grown to encompass nearly 25 million users worldwide, with journals and communities covering every conceivable hobby, passion, and topic. To get your copy, please visit the Blurb Bookstore. For updates and entries from book contributors, please join lj_turns10.

Tweaks and enhancements

• You can now ban a user from all of your communities and journals at once. To access this feature, hover over the person's userpic and choose Ban user everywhere from the drop-down menu.
• Follow LiveJournal on Twitter!

Give a little to help a lot!

In honor of National AIDS Awareness month, we've added a new charitable vgift. For each red ribbon you purchase for $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine (we'll cover credit card fees). You can read more about IAVI at lj_cares. While we're on the subject, we raised $740 from our November fundraiser for Love Without Boundaries, which supports emergency healthcare and adoption of Chinese orphans. We thank you for helping us help others.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible pictures from our super-talented LiveJournal photographers. Congratulations to ilya_gorokhov, who is the winner of our very first lj_photophile poll.

We hope you'll continue to post, vote, and comment! A gentle request: Please post only one photo at a time and limit size to 350x350 (so images display properly on friends pages). And now, without further ado, get ready to cast your ballot and view more awesome user content after the jump!

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Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay safe and snug out there!

The last ten movies I saw, ranked from my favorite to least favorite.

( Read more... )

**EDIT Thu Dec 3 23:24:15 UTC 2009 **

Hey Everyone, we are about to run the last alter job that we need to on our database servers. This will effect userpics / scrapbook / vgift images for the next few hours. Have no fear, your images aren't lost, there is just a really intensive process running on the servers which store the information for mogilefs. Thank you for your understanding and all the LJ love...

Hey LJers,

I just wanted to let you all know that we are going to be performing some mogilefs maintenance over the next few days. We will be upgrading our current version to latest stable as well as changing some db config information to better handle the amount of files we are currently hosting. This shouldn't cause a big impact on site stability, but you may see some minor delays with userpic / scrapbook images appearing or other requests associated with our mogilefs. We would love to not have that happen, but unfortunately with some of the steps we need to take we have to cause a delay with images. I figured this was a better solution than taking down all of LiveJournal because well lets face it, we all need our daily LJ fix ;)

Thanks,

backpacking
Want to embrace your wanderlust on the cheap? If you're high on adventurous spirit, but low on funds, this community can help you plan a trip to anywhere. Offering plentiful tips on how to travel light, you can post about inexpensive hotels and youth hostels if you're into urban exploration or discuss camping gear and mosquito netting for the great outdoors. Hitch your backpack, pitch your tent, and carpe diem!

bookfails
Planning to do your part to help boost the declining publishing industry this holiday? Better check here first. Sure, there are plenty of folks who post glowing reviews of their favorite books. But what about the epic fails? Compose and/or discuss snarky, incisive critiques on the books you despise most.

foundphotos
Ever stumble across a frayed photo in your grandmother's attic? How about a faded picture tucked in the sleeve of an old novel at a used book sale? This is the place to post them. An amazing, eclectic collection of photographs sure to delight anyone with a penchant for history or nostalgic memorabilia.

note_to_cat
Having trouble conveying the concept of accountability to your cat? Now you can share letters to your significant felines and give public witness to your declarations of love and domestic negotiations. Whether you want to publish an apology for falling short on your cat-nip obligations or you need to raise a delicate hygiene issue.

The last ten movies I saw, ranked from favorite to least favorite. (Yesterday's list was because I got behind a bit on posting.)
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The last ten movies I watched, in order from my favorite to least favorite:

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