Broken Saints Blog-a-Plenty

Dr. Pong!

(posted by tobias)

This is it, folks. Perhaps the greatest drinking game of all time. Yes, I know it just looks like ping pong, but it’s a very special variation. The Germans call it “Rundlauf Tischtennis” (roughly, round-running table tennis) and it is one hell of a lot of fun. So much so, in fact, that Berlin has a bar devoted more or less exclusively to the pursuit of the perfect rundlauf – the one and only Dr. Pong!… Basically, a bunch of people gather around the table, and one person serves to the person opposite, who returns it to the next in line, and so on, moving (for some reason) counter-clockwise. If you miss a shot, or a return, you are out. It goes from polite and friendly to fast and frenzied pretty quickly, and the last two players on the table play to five. Then it starts again. The serious players do it with drinks in hand…

p.s. that’s my partner in crime Athanasia at the table – having just made a spectacular return, of course! (I taught her everything she knows…)

-tobias

LOVING the Propaganda

The Second VfV trailer is up.

And, strangely, I just finished re-reading 1984 last night.

John Hurt as the face of the Ministry?

Exponential awesomeness.

I’m starting to feel MUCH better about this.

Picture good – video better!!!

BS booster Daniel Bishop dropped me a line regarding his plans to use the classic Shan image you see here as a tattoo! I was pretty moved by the mail, and wanted to share it here (hope you don’t mind, mate!):

“Hello again, I am glad you are pleased by my plans, I’ve attached the picture I have chosen, the beauty in the simplicity and the parody of the crucifix. Alternatively (or also) I may get some of the quotes/ haikus that are used in the openings of Broken Saints.

A little about myself, my name is Daniel Bishop, 19 and studying Philosophy with Creative Writing at university in England, so Broken Saints is important to me in many ways, in political and religeous thought, and in the art of story telling, I want to say thank you again for the pleasure and the experience. I am not religious myself, although I am enjoying deep study into the Buddhist faiths. I only have one tattoo at the moment, an original Maori design on the top of my back to symbolise my birth in New Zealand.”

We’ve had a couple of folks use ink to saintify themselves, and seriously…you have no idea what it means to us that you’d even CONSIDER a permanent display of this nature. So to Daniel – and to all of you who have taken the time let us know how the saga has affected you on a deeply personal level – THANK YOU. That’s why we started this crazy ride in the first place.

Okay…and now it’s time to bring some balance to the proceedings. As a reminder of the need for humility, and the constant struggle to take oneself or one’s work MUCH less seriously, here are a couple of recent (and less-than-flattering) looks at BS. From hipster media hub Pop Matters (who I submitted the DVD set to for review nearly a YEAR ago) and the keepers of all things ‘four-panel-sacred’ over at the Webcomics Examiner (Wednesday – no matter what flavor your venom, I’ll still drink it down, baby :P).

Enjoy, and don’t become a casualty on the retail battlefield this weekend!!!

I am in Hellacious negotiationals
to representify the most fearsome foursome –
and you may call them Horsemen.
Fantabba-Cabbalistic!!!

(FROM THE CNN ‘SITUATION ROOM’ – and you know that these are the types of ‘situations’ we should really be barraged by on a crucial international newscast – 4:00 PM EST)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Don king is known worldwide as a big-time boxing promoter. But has also taken some new fights on recently…

You love George Bush?

DON KING: I love George Walker Bush because I think he’s a revolutionary. He’s a president that comes in with conclusiveness. What they’re doing in tomorrow in Iraq is a demonstration of that for the vote for democracy. The fundamental process of democracy is freedom of speech, law and order, being able to have freedom, working with people and working and governing yourselves. George Bush is that. He included in…

BLITZER: Do you have any regrets supporting him? Take a look at that picture when you and I were there at the diner last year. Do you have any regrets supporting him as enthusiastically as you did?

KING: No, I don’t. In fact, I want to support him more now because it seems like everybody is punching him. You know what I mean? But he’s fighting back, and he’s throwing great combinations. And I think he’s the guy that is really a revolutionary president.

I think he’s a president that cares about the people he represents, but doesn’t compromise himself to the extent that he acquiesce and accommodate. He goes out there and says like it is, and tries to make things better. Inclusiveness, education, is fighting for that.

These are the things that many guys that don’t fight for — George Walker Bush is a tremendous advocate to America, a great president for the great American people, and he’s decisive. He’s doesn’t equivocate.

(I…just…but…he…my…head…won’t…stop…Iraq…election…sham…please…must…
kill…tv…and …hire…stylist….arrrrrrrrrrgh 🙁 )

NOT HALF AS DRUNK AS HE LOOKS…

Andrew captured here

work that axe tonight!!!

(if anyone in Van can make it out to the BRICKYARD by 9PM or so, you can catch Drew shredding it up with his band ‘My Paranoia’ – the whole crew should be in attendance with our beer goggles strapped firmly in place :P)

“We’re all voyeurs…let them watch.”

Weekend Warrior

glass shields and cotton armor

broadsword for a tongue

too many teeth?

(posted by tobias)

In my daily ramblings I stumbled across something that, given some of the forum debates I’ve been a party to, I simply couldn’t resist: I present to you the Theory of Incompetent Design!…
(make sure to click on to page 2 – the song is quite delightful!… besides being about as far out on the nerd index as it’s possible to go…)

Granted, it’s probably a little too subtle to win over many committed creationists – whatever they’re calling themselves this month – whose armor is, like that of the US administration hawks, generally impervious to fact… but amusing and insightful for the rest of us.

Hmmm, it occurs to me that when very simple logic becomes ironically amusing, it is perhaps evidence of some kind of kink in the old garden hose of perspective…

– tobias

Harold Pinter at the Nobel Academy

Hi folks, tobias tinker here. (!)

To explain… Brooke, being pretty snowed under with DVD deadlines and such, has asked me to share in the blogging duties for a while to keep things fresh around here. He also ‘dared’ me to be brief (those who know me a little know it doesn’t exactly come naturally)…

So, I’m letting an able surrogate stand in for me: Harold Pinter, winner of this year’s Nobel Prize for literature. EVERYONE should read his acceptance speech. It’s hard-hitting and heavy going, but hardly anyone is talking as openly and as passionately about what’s really going on as this, in as visible a forum. Read it in full before you believe the spin that will doubtless be applied in the mainstream press.

And hey – while I’m assigning massive reading assignments – when you’re done that, if you’re not sufficiently disturbed, and/or if you have the slightest doubts about the verity or the gravity of his assertions, read this too: Maureen Farrell’s fact-filled (and fully supported) tour of the history that has led us to this quite terrible place in history. And that’s only part I – when you get to the bottom, click on parts II and III. I know it’s a lot, but in the face of what’s at stake, we owe it to ourselves to get educated and start stripping away the lies.

Sorry my first installment is all doom-and-gloomy, but these are – no matter how you slice it – dark times. And I know I cheated on the brevity bit, but it’s for a good cause: knowledge, awareness, possibly even – dare I say it – hope for change?

-t

JANYSE WANTS SOME MISTLETOE…

If I can plug the goods of strangers, then I can certainly get all cheerleady for our talented friends, right? We get asked to pimp stuff a LOT – and I’m more than happy to help those who’ve bolstered the BS banner – but it’s extra nice when you don’t need to turn on the spin machine and polish a turd 😉

To the right is a current pic of Janyse Jaud, who many of you know as the busy local voiceover actress that SMOKED as Shandala in the DVD version of our series. But did you know that sweet Janyse was also a smoldering holiday songstress? T’is true! She got in touch last night to share news of her sexy Xmas-themed Jazz-Swing CD…and the samples over at her site (entitled “Santa is Mine Ho Ho” and “Home Sweet Home” – both oldschool odes to the troops overseas) deserve to grace your ears.

The psycho-empathic Shanstress I expected – that’s what she was cast to do. The award-winning Ed, Edd, ‘n’ Eddy schtick – the gal’s proven to be a wee bit wacky (just watch the audio featurette). But this? The girl coos! She croons!! She even composes!!! I always rave about our talented pals…but this is just getting silly 😀