hey!  me again.....



the noise supergroup that i am in with jared, veronica, gerry and nicole has our first EVER live set planned for this Sunday afternoon, 3/18/07, at one of the re-occuring Sacramento Audio Waffle shows!  it's going to be a fun time, i can pretty much bet on that, and it will be the first time we've played together in our BRAND-SPANKIN' NEW 5 person line-up!  nicole just joined the band recently, and this should prove to be a loud, interesting set for us!  i'm really excited, and can't believe that it's really already happening the day after tomorrow!!!  WOAH!!!  fun fun fun.....!



i've just finished reading Thomas Harris' "Red Dragon", the first in the 'Hannibal Lector' series.  i had seen the movie made from this book (in the 80's), Michael "Miami Vice" Mann's "Manhunter", a few times and so really enjoyed the book!  "Manhunter" has a lot of scenes from the book, but it really just feels like it was based on Cliff Notes of the book, as it had about 1/2 of what went down in the book.  films made from books usually leave some things out, but this was a major exclusion of some really important parts of the book.  for instance, the relationship Dollarhyde/Red Dragon get into with the blind woman Reba is reduced to a seemingly "long night" together, wherein the book it was stretched over time.  so, because of this, the releationship becoming what it is so fast really doesn't work.  then they left out all the interesting parts of the end of the book, filming a cheesy "cop movie" ending instead of the twist that makes the last bits of the novel so crazy!  i like "Manhunter" for what it is, though.  now, i have to get ahold of a copy of the 21st century remake named, of course, "Red Dragon".  i haven't really heard too much about it, but i'm curious as to how they handle the story.....



so, i decided to start reading Bukowski's "Women", instead of re-reading the "Zodiac" book.  i'm going to pick up the new version of Graysmith's "Zodiac", which has extra parts added to it about the making of the David Fincher "Zodiac" film, and i'll read that probably after i read "Women", and then Harris' "Silence of the Lambs" (the 2nd book in the 'Hannibal Lector' series), which i just picked up yesterday for $5!



i must say, Bukowski's "Women" really reminds me of the kind of women i've been with romantic-wise - crazed, powerfull, beautiful, violent, intelligent, etc. etc.  one girl in particular was quite violent towards me during parts of our looooong time together, off and on.  she broke many things of mine, hit me, scratched me, spit on me, kicked me.  Bukowski went through so much more then i ever did with his women, that i really wonder how he kept his love with the type of girls he went with.  they just all seem insane, though that could just be the point Bukowski is trying to get across.  it's amazing how, once people started to know who he was, he bacame a sort of female sex magnet, well into his 50's.  maybe they could see through his hard-shell exterior and into his gold heart.......



i just finished the sci-fi/adventure computer game "Dreamfall: the Longest Journey", which is the sequel to the successful "Longest Journey" from a few years back.  i never played the first installment, but i really *REALLY* loved "Dreamfall"!  really well written, well acted (man, i couldn't believe the talking actors actually got most of the emphasizing correct with what they read - amazing!!!), all around well done game!  it has puzzles, which i usually stay far, far away from (you won't catch me playing any of the "Myst" series, for instance), but this game had a great mix of adventure, drama, and puzzle-solving.  i was quite sad when i beat it today, but i've read they are going to continue the game in episodic game releases, like they've been doing with Half Life 2.....i'm really looking forward to that!  "Dreamfall" had some interesting music from a solo artist who calls himself "magnet", so that was nice!  my only complaint with the game was that some of the graphics were rather poorly rendered, but i can easily look past graphic clunkiness if there's a good story and intersting gameplay, which i found in abundance in "Dreamfall".  cool cool stuff!!!  GO PLAY IT!!!!!  heheh.....



i finally (after years of wanting to see it) got a chance to see the Japanese movie "Battle Royale", which was AWESOME!!!!!  my Texas pal Kevin said a long time ago that it was really cool, and i have to agree!  really fun to watch!  i want to see it again soon.....



well, all that and i've been trying to spend as much time as i can with my dad, Mark Thrall, who is really sick with a terminal illness.  he's been seeming really weak and tired when i've visited last, depressed and thinking that he might be leaving us soon.  i know it's hard for him, but he's been keeping it tight like a soldier, which is what i can only expect from such a strong man as my dad.  he's not going to go without a fight, i can tell this and it makes me happy, though i don't want him to be in pain.  it's all mixed up inside of me.  i just want to be with him as much as i can.  we'll keep it from his door together.......



okay!  that's it for now.....hope to hear from some of you soon!  feel free to comment on this page and let me know what you think, how you're doing, etc.!  i hope all is well out there!



-cory