It’s been a full year since I linked to all the sketches from Lenny Dee’s Fall ‘08 show, Welcome to Lenny Dee Town. Now another fall show has come and gone, leaving in its wake chuckles a-plenty. Thanks to Henry Moskowitz for use of his camera, my brother Jim for filming, and Nathan Riemer for tripod and putting the video on YouTube. Not coincidentally, you can find links to all the sketches on YouTube just below!

1. I’m a Mac
2. Bros (here titled “Don’t Trust a Bro”)
3. Custody
4. Mario & Order
5. Building a Party (currently only sound, no video… hopefully to be remedied soon)
6. Just Dance
7. Morning Television
8. Happy Hour (same problem as “Building a Party”)
9. One and a Half Men
10. Telekinetic and Telepathic Bros (in the program titled “Telekinetic Bros”)
11. Study Break (again no video)
12. Requiem for a Breakfast
13. Heavily

And the program from the show:

Dee-rector’s commentary to come soon!

Last weekend, Lisa and I rented the 2004 thriller/gore movie Saw, the first in a seemingly never-ending series of similar films, each subsequent one progressing more toward the “gore” end of the spectrum. The group of films, with an upcoming video game and amusement park ride, shows no visible signs of an end to the narrative, something that I think is crucial to any successful work (see Lost during season 3, when it was announced that the show would end after six seasons). In fact, Saw VII was just announced for release, presumably around Halloween 2010, which is a nice segue to the movie we rented last night, 1995’s Seven (also marketed as “Se7en,” and will be referred to as such here). It stars two dudes you’ve probably heard of, namely Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. As it turns out, Saw is based on is Se7en, only made nine years later and dumbed down greatly, though not beyond recognition.

Se7en is also the name of a South Korean pop singer.

So what does Se7en have going for it that Saw lacks? I’m glad I asked.

Both films have a serial killer antagonist who murders people in order to teach them/society a lesson about humanity (or lack thereof!). Both killers are semi-creepy, bald, white dudes. Se7en’s “Jigsaw Killer” (a.k.a. John Kramer) doesn’t have an end game for his killing, though, leaving the door open for torture and mutilation in dozens of victims, and allowing it to be carried on by his apprentices in sequels. The killer in Se7en (a literal John Doe) has a more concise vision: kill one person for each of the seven deadly sins, as an example to society.

• The winner here is Se7en, although it has a slight advantage in that John Doe has a fair bit of screen time and dialogue with the two detectives on his trail, whereas the Jigsaw Killer’s identity is only revealed at the end of Saw, in a pretty cool twist (and if you’re into sequels, the Saw series is full of twists).

Both films depict unnamed cities, full of heartless criminals at its worst and hopeless, jaded citizens at its best. The killers hold a grudge against these cities and the people in them, taking out the proverbial trash in order to make them better places. The Jigsaw Killer makes this clear to his victims in films shortly before their deaths, while John Doe reveals his motives to the detectives after being captured.

• In Se7en’s city, it’s always raining. The sky isn’t even shown onscreen until the detectives take John Doe out into the desert, where his final victims (Envy, Wrath) are revealed. Other than Pitt and Freeman, law enforcement officials are unscrupulous and easily bribed. The streets are full of trash. All in all, it’s not a nice place to be. Meanwhile, the city in Saw lacks any real character. A somewhat cliché parking garage scene makes for a nice mise-en-scène, but is too isolated. The industrial bathroom in which the film’s “protagonists” are chained is filthy and falling apart, but also set apart from the actual city. Here Se7en wins again.

Finally, both films feature an older, more experienced but also jaded African-American detective mentoring a fresh face, ready to fight crime. Both black detectives express discomfort with the city and society, similar to the killers’ but with (obviously) different ways of dealing with it. The winner?

• Morgan Freeman vs. Danny Glover? You knew the answer before the question was even posed. Se7en wins again.

There are other aspects to these films that I haven’t covered, but in the interest of concision and due to the fact that the newer of these films is already five years old, I’m cutting this comparison off here. Feel free to post your own thoughts below, in the comments section. I’ll leave you with the parting words in Se7en: “Ernest Hemingway once wrote, ‘The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.’ I agree with the second part.”

Now imagine those words spoken with Morgan Freeman’s soothing, satisfying voice.

Last October, I wrote about an ongoing project (directly stolen from inspired by things like this and this) wherein I took a photo of myself every day and made a video of the stills. Easy, yeah? It should be. In practice, it’s full of starts and stops and extended periods where I’m not around my laptop (my camera). For instance, I was hiking in New Zealand for two weeks, in the (mostly) technology-free wilderness last December.

I even started this same project (without much success) in October 2006, the year the videos above became über-popular. Here’s the very first image from that (featured prominently in my earlier post):

That’s actually what I looked like freshman year of college! Unbelievable. Anyway, last July I started the project again, with somewhat more success, and kept a pretty good rate of 90% going for a while (that is, I took a photo of myself 9 out of every 10 days). As of July 28, however, it’s decreased to about 65%. Still over half, right? So yesterday was my one-year anniversary for taking pictures of myself. Here’s what I looked like then (yesterday):

Man, am I into myself. But I’m probably boring you. If you want to look at me some more, you can watch the titular video here. The first few seconds are a little messed up quality-wise, and there’s no music. I recommend opening an awesome song in another tab and listening to that while you watch the video. Also, maybe I didn’t link to that video enough. Here it is again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ53lcCZJrY

Honestly, I’m having trouble justifying why I do this. Leave me a comment regarding that. Thanks.

Two weeks ago, the final Lenny Dee performance of the year was staged, 10 PM each night from the 7th to the 9th. This spring’s show brought two sketches written by Dee outsiders (one a Dee-lumnus), and tons and tons of animal costumes. There weren’t any goat-rabbits in the show, but once our T-shirts get printed, you’ll get to meet the horrid beast that spawned our show’s title: Lenny Dee: You’re Outta Line! As always, Dee member (but currently not Carleton student) Nathan Riemer put our sketches all on YouTube, plus a special feature Dee-rectors’ intro (it took kind of a while, as you’ll see). Watch them now:

1. (but actually 0.) Dee-Rectors’ Intro (Vote for Chase Kimball!)
2. Dee-rotica
3. Raised by Animals
4. Where’s… Surgery?
5. Room or No Room
6. That’s Still Wolf Andy! Pt. 1
7. Monitoring the Recession
8. Where’s… Chariots of Fire?
9. That’s Still Wolf Andy! Pt. 2
10. Twitter
11. You’re Beautiful
12. A Bunch of Sketches
13. Apocalypse, Version Y2K(9)
14. Surprise in the Dark (Tribute to Hal Edmonson)
15. Marco, the Sly Hitman from Houston
16. Where’s… An Off Day?
17. She’s Flying High
18. Lincoln vs. Darwin
19. That’s Still Wolf Andy! Pt. 3
20. A Complexx Rap Group
21. Apocalypse, Version Z

Here’s our program, which highlights Lizzie’s formidable Photoshop skills (she could perhaps compete with Jameson and I someday… someday):

As always, I’ll be returning shortly for insider information, including information about the two mystery non-Dee writers and which sketches they wrote. Keep coming back for more!

A couple months ago, you were welcomed to Lenny Dee Town. It’s a beautiful place, no? I hope you watched all those videos on the edge of your seat, because only then will you be ready for the show Lenny Dee put on last weekend (February 19-21). Our alternate show title in the fall, and our actual show title this winter: Lenny Dee Goes There. I encourage you to watch all of the following videos (over and over again):

1. The Man with the Golden Mullet
2. Emogene Cop/Bad Cop
3. Dex
4. Gerald Winkler Pt. 3 (you read that right)
   
5. NorDiCorTiSol
6. DeuSexMachina
7. That’s Wolf Andy! Pt. 1
8. To Kill a…?
9. Jimmy (here titled “Jimmy the Bad Asker Outer”)
   
10. A Rough Deal
11. Gerald Winkler Pt. 2
12. That’s Wolf Andy! Pt. 2
13. Bro-in’ Out
14. Wake Up in Moloch!
15. A Wii Bit
16. That’s Wolf Andy! Pt. 3
17. F.A.S. P.S.A.
18. Gerald Winkler Pt. 1
19. Dusk
20. The Magic Bathtub

Here’s the Valentine-themed program from the show:

It’s a long show, to be sure. But it’s also well worth your time. In keeping with tradition, I will be bringing you all the inside director’s information that you could ever possibly want. OR COULD YOU?

Also, I got a haircut today. It is a bi-yearly tradition. Also, I think I will be updating Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from now on. I guess this is pretty big news? Keep reading!

Our show, Welcome to Lenny Dee Town, (also tentatively titled Lenny Dee Goes There), just finished its three-day run this weekend at the renowned Nourse Little Theater. I wrote about Lenny Dee in a previous post, but had nothing to offer you in the way of ultra-new, ultra-exciting things. This has all changed! Courtesy of Nathan Riemer (for creating the YouTube channel) and Eric Handler (filming), we now have Welcome to Lenny Dee Town in all its glory on YouTube. Here are links to all the sketches (in show order):

1. Welcome (here titled “Screw Dates,” also “Screw Dates and Deerectors’ Welcome”)
2. Above The Influence
3. Speckler & Speckler
4. I Can’t Let You Do That (here titled “GPS Trouble”)
5. World War I (here titled “Rise Through the Ranks #1: World War I)
6. Sweethearts on Parade
7. Wise Old Owl
8. Jarley & Jarley (here titled “Jar Jar at Home”)
9. Bon Bons (here titled “The Truth About Bon Appetit”)
10. World War II (here titled “Rise Through the Ranks #2: World War II)
11. Crime (here titled “Lineup”)
12. The Vietnam Conflict (here titled “Rise Through the Ranks #3: The Vietnam Conflict)
13. Jizzle Diamond (here titled “Old People”)
14. Guns A-Blazin’ (here titled “Catch Phrase”)
15. Here At Last (here titled “Big Chuck Wilmer’s”)

Director’s commentary and insider information coming tomorrow! Also, here’s the poster, designed by me and Lisa:

A little over two years ago, after seeing time-lapse videos of people who took photos of themselves every day for several years (watch this and this), I decided that that would be a fun thing to do. About a month and a half later, I fell out of the habit and stopped. Here is very first picture I took about two years ago to start it up:

The first one. My hair's much shorter now.

Now, I’ve been doing it with pretty good regularity (90% of the days?) since the end of July of this year. That’s over 70 photos, which I organized into a 7-second movie (10 photos/second). You can watch it here.

I haven’t added any music but I’m very open to suggestion. Of course, it’s pretty short, so it may be a few years until I’m able to add a full song. Expect an update to this every couple of months!