Broken Saints Blog-a-Plenty

Posted By Brooke Burgess

There’s nothing I like doing more on an overcast day (with no looming responsibilities or maddening deadlines, of course) than to dig into the wonderful world of the Digital Versatile Disc. I’ve been blessed lately with some excellent additions to the collection, along with some solid swaps from pals who are finally starting to learn my taste. So here’s a list of recommended DVD goodies to keep you in the saintly vibe, or at least somewhere in the extended neighbourhood 🙂

CARNIVALE: Ok, so I buckled out of sheer curiosity and bought the first season DVD set because of my love for Nick Stahl’s acting chops, Michael Anderson’s diminutive presence, and the ‘Dustbowl Apocalypse’ thing. Now I hear that it’s been cancelled after only 2 seasons. Pity. Extremely moody, stylized, smart, and laden with urgent mystery, Carnivale follows a travelling circus in the US during the Great Depression, and how one of their young vagrant workers has ‘messiah’ written all over him. Meanwhile, over in sunny California, a troubled priest develops otherworldly powers and builds a powerful ministry to challenge any and all who oppose. And did I mention the Knights Templar and the hot sex? WATCH THIS!

DEAD LIKE ME: I’m WAY behind on TV (I unplugged from cable four years ago), so I missed out on this cute Buffy void-filler about a young girl who becomes a Grim Reaper. The premise is a little silly – gal gets struck on the head by a toilet seat from the crumbling Soviet space station and suddenly joins a legion of undead union workers who collect souls while being forced to live normal lives and make peace with themselves. It might border on schmaltz, and the acting ain’t always the strongest (with the exception of Mandy Patinkin – one of my heroes from stage musicals, The Princess Bride, and Chicago Hope), but it’s beautifully shot and edited, every Vancouver actor and location gets time to shine (was that Dave ‘Lear’ Kaye humping a bank clerk in the pilot?!? lol), and the Police’s Stewart Copeland is the series composer. You could do worse…and there are even a few misty moments if you’re patient enough to let the characters grow on you.

MR SHOW (Season 4): The most aggressive and subversive sketch comedy show to come out of the US in the last 20 years (Kids in the Hall are Canucks, so they’re exempt from scrutiny!). Bob Odenkirk and David Cross are svengalis of mirth who seamlessly weave absurd and twisted ideas together into comedy platinum. The final season of their live show (though often mixed with hilarious short film segues a la Python) is available now, but I’d start with the 1st and 2nd Season Box Set if you can find it. They’re still hitting their stride at this point, but the musical numbers (including guest wailings by a young Jack Black) and the Metallica spoof will have you buying rubber shorts. Bob and David forever!!!

Posted By Brooke Burgess

Hey Saints – It’s a national holiday on the beer-loving shores of Canuckleland, which means that everyone’s pissed outta town for the long weekend, eh! Read all about the Royal birthday wackiness responsible for this merriest of Spring Mondays here.

And, as the smallest of compensations for today’s general slackery, the photo to the left is the earliest and tiniest of teasers related to the (hoped-for) upcoming (and somewhat secret) NEW project. Fingers crossed, kidlets. More breadcrumbs on the trail throughout the summer, so stay tuned like tenor saxes… 😉

Posted By Brooke Burgess

I walk by this rusted camper van every day between my trips to Brazza (best gelato and espresso in town, made my two Italian brothers who were ex-ENRON employees) and Bikram yoga (90 minutes of stinky 104F “Lower Circle of Hell but you lose 3lbs of water while you’re in there” fun).

I walk by this rusted camper van, and bound merrily towards the new concrete roundabout nearby, cresting over the hump in the road and taking in one of the most beautiful urban vistas in the hemisphere. I am the suburban Fool.

I walk by this rusted camper van and towards my south-facing, 800sq-ft, hardwood floored apartment, on the top level of an old character building, near the local theatre and art museum, and minutes away from a strip of organic produce markets, old world bakeries, and chic sushi houses. I am the fortunate Son.

I walk by this rusted camper van…and I freeze when it starts to move. Shifting and squeaking. Wobbling and rocking. And then a tattered curtain pulls slowly aside. A shadow stares out through yellow glass at the tobacco-stained sun in the distance. It seems to bargain with the horizon. I am the aching Voyeur.

Sometimes, we are like jailors to ourselves. Wardens…who have lost all the keys.

Posted By Brooke Burgess

Popped downtown to drop some signed copies off at our favourite comic haunts – had an actual CONVERSATION with Robin Williams (he was supposedly on Chapter 4 and really enjoying the unique BS vibe!) – and then hooked up with forum oldschoolers Nick (right) and Saggio (left). Foraging for food on Granville street can be a challenging exercise amidst the hipster shops and XXX galleries, but thankfully we ran into Jeff McAdam and he wisely guided us to some divine schwarma and falafel. Jeff (or ‘The New Guy’ as he’s affectionately known on the boards) was largely responsible for us finishing the DVD on time, as he re-rendered gobs of footage, calculated insane compression bitrates, and did the lion’s share of linking in DVD Studio Pro.

But that’s not why he’s the center of this shot. In fact, Jeff can’t HELP but be the center of everything. You see, rumor has it that jazzy J is blessed – or perhaps cursed, depending on one’s inclination and undergarment snugness – with the largest testicles this side of elephantitis. In fact, scientists have postulated that Mr McAdam’s nuts may have their own event horizon. Sadly, I think Nick and Sagg’ got a little too close to escape the pull, and ended up dealing with some compression of their own. 😀

The colors from the fan art below made me think of pastel goodies and painted treats of the bunny ‘n’ Jesus variety. And, tangentally speaking, this got me to thinking about how long it’s been since we’ ve given you a heads up on the big Easter Egg Hunt on the BS discs. A pretty thorough collection can be found HERE (link fixed), thanks to sharp eyes and foraging skills of forum uber-mistress Guppy!

But wait…that list is missing at least THREE tasty tidbits of the hidden a/v variety. Happy hunting, homies 😉

Posted By Brooke Burgess

BS bolster boy Dirk Ykema sent in this trippy re-imagining of the Evil Eye with the tagline scrawled in an almost chalky vortex around it. I stared at the large version for a while, and it began to play some nasty tricks with the ol’ rods and cones – colors shifted, letters twirled, and the central focal point got more than a wee bit ‘vaginal’. Man…I need to get out more.

Handing in the finished development package for my next project to Telefilm today after several months of groundwork. Send some good vibes out into the universe, gang – if the dominoes get placed right, this could really evolve into something ‘special’…

Pics to come later, but for you…whooo boy, take a few minutes and soak up this incredible Senate Committee lashing on the Oil for Food Scandal. Makes me all warm inside. (REAL Player only)

Meow.

Posted By Brooke Burgess

Wanted to throw this up quickly before the Friday Fan Fun posts or any personal response to the thousands of disappointed gamers out there (including myself) go live. Turns out that our sooper dooper mega rez trailer will be playing in Future Shops across Canada once an hour, every hour…for a MONTH! Pretty sweet news for any curious Canucks who wanna scope the saints in glorious HD – so get out there and loiter in front of those giant screens. It may not be as good as a vaporware virtual headset :(, but at least you know we threw our love into it!

Posted By Brooke Burgess

I’m not one for doing – or even having – a ‘regular’. But I’m kinda digging the whole ritual vibe of the blog. Mondays we catch you up from the weekend, usually with some hot BS press goodness. Tuesday is Haiku day. Thursday’s been a linkish and political sorta day so far, hasn’t it? Friday’s for fans. And the weekend leaves room for ranting and slacking of the highest magnitude 🙂

But we’ve been so slammed lately with summer jobs and store launches and E3 buzzy buzz and groundwork on the next project (heheheheh) that WEDNESDAY somehow slipped through the mid-week crack. Yet it was today – when spies confirmed that BS DVDs had been spotted in comic book shops across the US – that the Thunder Gods struck. Every Day of Odin (that’s a double smooch to you Norse-lovers out there) in North America greets geeks like us with freshly folded fingerables at the local reading nook, so I’m going to do my best to either review a book a week, or sling some comic or even fantasy news your way. Sound kosher?