2003-05-16 - 4:10 a.m.

Just finished eXistenZ. The movie. The Roommate�s pick.

I love watching movies when I have absolutely no idea what they�re going to be about.

OK--so Laurie Anderson�s O Superman just came on the ol� puter, and I gotta listen to it.

OK--song done. That�s gotta be one of the most chilling songs ever. I mean, it just works on all levels. I mean, if that song comes on, I just gotta listen to it, to the exclusion of all else. It should give me nightmares, but it doesn�t. Maybe �cause it explains �em in a way that should give me even more nightmares, but then my brain just shuts down.

So anyway, I pop eXistenZ into the ol� puter, and I get a pretty good sci-fi world outta it. I wasn�t expecting sci-fi. I was actually expecting some stupid and slick commentary about something equally stupid and slick. I mean, for chrissakes, the movie is called eXistenZ.

I like sci-fi, too. But so much of it is cheez cheez cheez. (And nothing more.) Good sci-fi should be good, first off. Good, period. Just like any other form of literature, genre of film. Then, of course, since sci-fi is kinda meant to be cheezy, I�ll make an exception and allow (and I daresay, encourage) a bit of cheez.

My other qualm with sci-fi is that many books or films fail to adequately suspend my disbelief. The first fifteen minutes of any sci-fi film (or the first chapter of any sci-fi book) should introduce all of the rules of the universe inhabited by the characters. It should have a reasonable and plot-relevant explanation as to why those rules exist. There should be no gaping holes. New rules should not be introduced later on as deemed necessary by the plot--that�s shoddy writing. I am not a man of science. Convincing me to believe in a plausible alternate universe, for just two hours, should not be that hard to do.

Good example of a functional sci-fi film? Until the End of the World.

Obviously, the books (and the films) 1984 and A Clockwork Orange qualify as excellent science fiction.

That being said, eXistenZ was a pretty good film. The cheez was there, and played up pretty frickin� well. I liked the way the film got started, I liked the stupid what IS really real? I mean, dude, like what if we weren�t really real, but woah, dude questions it raised--it challenged the audience. Some good acting, some good special effects.

Good movie.

OK--so Nico�s Chelsea Girls is on. That�s my cue to hit the bathroom. It�s a good song, but damn girl, does it have to be eight minutes?

Well, I guess if you�re Nico, it does. I can�t explain why that Nico song has to be eight minutes, or why it makes sense to me that it does. That�s just Nico. There�s the loop.

As long as we�re talking about science (we kind of are, aren�t we?), I�m a little pissed that I missed the lunar eclipse tonight. The moon--my favourite thing in the sky, was covered by the earth�s shadow tonight. Tonight. Not while I was at work. Not at 5:35 in the morning. Observable away from city lights OR in the city. For goddamned once.

My moon, doing some moon tricks for all to see, but apparently shy for the rowdy Boston crowd.

It�s too cloudy. It�s too cloudy here in Somerville, it�s too cloudy out in some field in Natick. So we�re all screwed. Why does that make me a bit giddy? It shouldn�t, mind me.

OK--so why did the �puter follow up Chelsea Girls with Alex Chilton�s cover of Femme Fatale? 4,011 songs to choose from. That�s just creepy.

And then Low Red Moon by Belly. Lou Reed Moon? Sleep like a baby? Shining knives shining around me brightly? Coincidence as an excuse is really wearing itself thin tonight. Why can�t my weird luck work as well with lottery tickets?