The missing piece(s) I needed to have the rack installed from last week arrived yesterday. Mike, the guy who sold everything I bought, put it all together and now I can transport two bikes via my car. Two? Why two? I decided to be helpful and generous to helping others enjoy their bike, exercise, the whole thing. I love the brand name too. Küat. For Star Wars fans, this is the name of the corporation or shipyard responsible for building the Empire’s Star Destroyers.
Reopen Texas, my vape/head shop is dying!
One horrible downside to Austin is that carnival barker Alex Jones lives here and spouts off his horseshit from his parents’ basement via the Internet. Today he gathered up a few hundred Ammosexuals to protest Science, Reality and not being able to masturbate to Atlas Shrugged in a Panera restroom. Rather odd they chose the state capitol building when it was the governor who made the decision on the closures, stay-at-home orders. I’m guessing they can’t find the mansion Gov. Shitbag doesn’t reside in. Travis County is somewhat stricter because we’re a Liberal stronghold (Translation: Educated, trusts what Science has to say) which also upsets these disgruntled Firefly fans. Some friends say many are from out of town. The suburbs I can see but sadly Austin has its fair share of Kook-Aid drinkers due to our heavier Internet usage. You can always count on finding a tech worker here and there who is a Libertarian-Conspiracy Prick. It comes with the territory when technology is involved.
This gathering made the New York Times which will result in more Brooklyn exiles moving here to devour what little affordable housing we had.
I’m really hoping the majority contract CV-19 and the maximum possible die. Something went horribly wrong with their DNA, namely in the intelligence section. It’s hard to fathom they’re descended from Europeans who experienced the Bubonic Plague since the deniers were killed 99% of the time.
A Horror movie with a new twist I was willing to investigate. Quiet receiving a sequel wasn’t a surprise though, about half of all new Horror franchises do well enough to get another: Happy Death Day, SAW, Candyman, etc. I think Quiet earned it because it’s hard to keep an audience’s attention when there’s little dialog (the only other success being WALL-E) and this pulled it off.
It’s been a couple years so I’m past the law on Spoilers so I will state what I need to on why this lived up to the hype.
Around now, some weird monsters kill off the majority of people. There’s no explanation of their origin but they attack anything making sound over a certain decibel level or whatever is loudest in an area. Other details regarding the monsters aren’t important as the story’s focus is on a family that survived the initial slaughter. A major reason why they’ve fared well is the eldest child being deaf, so they all can communicate in ASL, ergo they converse effectively in the new reality.
After the loss of a member through a noisy toy, time zooms forward a couple years. The family has settled into life with the monsters lurking around with their farm. The key is to stay quiet: somehow humans can only move silently barefoot. It’s interesting how there’s still electricity to power the network of cameras and lights protecting them. Everybody is on edge over the mother getting ready to give birth; babies don’t know how to stay quiet. Most efforts are being put toward a soundproof bunker for the new family member to hide in. The son must also overcome his ongoing fears about leaving the compound to help the father round up food (fish namely) at a nearby river. Lastly, the father has been working furiously on replacing the daughter’s hearing implant with scavenged electronics.
Was it scary? Not too much for me. Maybe it would’ve been in a theater where it’s dark and no house-based distractions (my cats, sirens, etc.). The part which made me cringe the most was when the mother stepped on a nail and had to give birth in a bathtub with no water or help or painkillers.
Now that I’ve seen this, I’m willing to give the sequel a shot at Alamo whenever it’s rescheduled.
For a long time, Brian was the original “You know…that guy…he was in…umm, Cocoon and I think Tommy Boy!” actor. I was guilty of forgetting his name too until Cocoon which would’ve been around 1985. What can you say though. Being “forgotten” because you blend in as an everyman is the sign of being a great actor as you can play numerous parts!
Brian was often cast as the heavy which is how he received his first major break in the original Rambo: First Blood movie. I think he was the corrupt sheriff harassing the character (the actor managed to dodge Vietnam). Away he went. I was always glad though too see him as a good guy or at least someone who wasn’t causing harm, especially after he was cast as the boogey-man of the Seventies, John Wayne Gacey (sic).
Thank you Brian for all the entertainment you provided me and it turned out, you were a really nice person in real life. Patton Oswalt worked you into his funny story regarding a premiere party involving Batman Begins which shows geeks like Patton and me always appreciated you!
I saw it late last night in my checking account after friends told me they received theirs too. Yes, I’m talking about America’s woefully inadequate $1200 to keep its fragile Kapitalism Uber Alles religion alive. Given how much it costs to live in Austin, it’s a punch in the throat, even for those who remain employed (grocery stores, the bike shop I went to, etc.). I am fortunate and will never forget that so I have contemplated giving some of mine to a person who needs help because they’re self-employed.
Let’s also hear it for EFT with the IRS/Treasury! Due to his bruised and delicate ego (a GOP standard), people receiving the physical checks have to wait a little longer thanks to Orange Foolius demanding his name on said checks. It’s not a surprise no matter how much he and his toadies deny it. This asshole loves to vandalize everything in sight with his surname like a dog that has to piss on something to prove it’s his. I would’ve loved to be fly on the wall when someone had to speak up, explain to him how he can’t have his signature mass printed on them to give the false impression he gave what Congress chose to do. He will do whatever desperate thing possible to get re-elected. Nevermind how this tactic utterly failed 12 years ago aid the dying Sen. John McPhony campaign.
Meanwhile, I have a refrigerator to plan and buy. What I picked out is so cool, I will probably post a story about it!
These jerseys came in from Geeky Jerseys last Fall and I forgot to photograph them. Shame on me given how much I love Futurama! The people behind the site were awesome to me on a special request you’ll see below.
Firstly, what does the headline mean? It’s esoteric, stretched reference to the Fox Network (the main commercial one) airing hockey in the Nineties. They introduced the glowing puck to help the audience follow along on TV. Allegedly there was a special modification similar to how you can see the necessary yardage for a first down with the NFL now. This made the pucks cost much more. Rumor has it around $50 so the network (or NHL) wasn’t keen on letting players keep them for monumental goals or whenever a fan caught one. What was inside? I’ve heard electronics to something radioactive, yet not dangerous. It didn’t go over well in the end. Canadians and other diehard fans mocked the “glowy” puck to help fair-weathered watchers.
Next up, the “player” I had to immediately have when this design appeared!
I had to indulge in adding Bender’s first initial, his middle initial (stands for Bending) because Rodriguez is fairly common in hockey. To save you the trouble of pressing your Google-search skills, 6C1 is Bender’s favorite number. However, in order to get it to fit, I had it sewn on in hexadecimal which is even funnier/super nerdier. Robots will know what it means immediately, same goes for Math and Computer Science fans for 6C1 = 1729 in human readable terms. Why is it Bender’s favorite? It’s first number that is the sum of two different cubes: 1 cubed plus 12 cubed or 9 cubed plus 10 cubed. How Geeky Jerseys pulled it off and how I knew is for a different style altogether.
I have little regret on this weird choice but it was hard to pick a second character from the plethora on Futurama so I went with Old Man Waterfall who is the funniest member of Phil Hendrie’s Waterfall family. You may remember him as Zoidberg’s attorney for flag eating. Old Man was such a First Amendment absolutist, everything he backed and believed was unpopular, even with his inevitable Waterfall death.
I have one more to photograph and display then another pair ordered, awaiting to being made and delivered with specific, hidden correlations.
America’s traditional deadline to make sure the IRS is paid or else they go after your paycheck…if you’re not stinking rich or a corporation hiding its profits in Delaware, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. Thanks to the Pandemic, the due date has been pushed back to mid-July. Works for me. According to my rough math when I ran TurboTax in February, it looked like I owed for 2019 which is weird; I should’ve broken closer to even with the divorce because they move you to one income for the whole year.
Well, I burn that bridge when I come to it and now I have a more current portable (I plan to be a two computer person) which can run TurboTax directly.
Wish me luck, this house needs all the money it can get.
One upside the Pandemic has given us, Disney moving this mediocre Pixar movie to Disney+ since movie theaters are shuttered indefinitely. I was glad because I saved money, Alamo isn’t cheap when anything doesn’t deliver. The first warning sign I saw was its delayed release. Originally slated for Thanksgiving/Xmas 2019 and then it was pushed back to Spring 2020, much like other stinkers…The Good Dinosaur and Brave.
The premise is built around a Fantasy world akin to D&D minus humans but all the magic and medieval tech have been replaced by 21st Century gizmos over the centuries. All the RenFaire trappings remain through the fonts on signs, the Tudor-style buildings regardless of function and mythical creatures everywhere but repurposed; e.g. unicorns behave in the same manner as raccoons.
Enter two brothers, Barley and Ian. Their father passed away before the younger Ian was born while Barley has decent memories for he was about three when dad passed. So for Ian’s 16th birthday, their father setup a visitation spell to be cast which permits him to return from the dead for 24 hours. The spell doesn’t work entirely leading to the brothers’ quest to find the means to recast before time runs out. Since Barley is fanatical about the world’s magical past, he’s the perfect guide to solve the dilemma.
If this were the typical dreck from Blue Sky, PDI and all the Pixar wannabes, Onward would be pretty decent. However, I hold Pixar to a higher standard of storytelling and execution and they just phoned it in. It’s no Cars or (worse) Cars 2 thankfully. It just isn’t on par with their recent successes Toy Story 4, Coco or Inside Out. I’m also tired of Chris Pratt. He needs to take a break from his overexposure and playing the same character.
Anything good? A couple cameos of D&D-trademarked monsters: the Gelatinous Cube and a Beholder. Voice actress Grey DeLisle getting a key guest spot. Julia Louis-Dreyfus returning was cool. Brandi Carlisle singing to the closing credits was a nice touch.
Still…I was rather bored and felt nothing. I hope Pixar re-assesses what’s next and figures out what made Coco work. I sense they won’t. The Pandemic is too convenient of an excuse for explaining why Onward tanked alongside Monsters University.
The Wisconsin GOP with its gang of thugs (known as their majority in the legislature and supreme court) were suprisinging defeated despite doing all they could to suppress the votes of any brown people in Milwaukee and Madison. Although the main driver outside their state would be the Democratic Primary, the election for a state supreme court seat coincides at the same time. The seat was super critical because the GOP plans to purge 200,000 “ineligible” voters from the rosters, again, another code phrase for brown people who don’t live in Fitzwalkerstan proper.
Any thinking person claiming to be a sensible Republican should be ashamed of what transpired in Wisconsin. People had to gamble with their lives during a pandemic to vote. Rescheduling was an “unreasonable” alternative. Bullshit! The GOP did it due to CV-19 outbreaks being more likely in urban areas since we humans transmit it to each other and density is a factor. The rural parts of America have fewer cases for there are fewer people, quite similar to why rural counties are also more likely to have poverty, stupidity and racism. Case in point, my time in North Dakota.
Let’s hope enough people are mobilized to prevent Wisconsin from being responsible for Orange Foolius’ reign of error to continue on another technicality. Texas remains a lost cause for another decade because President Grant didn’t completely dismantle the Neo Confederacy here.
So glad to see Drive return to Netflix. I’m indifferent to Ryan Gosling movies, at least he’s not irritating like Justin Timberlake and I was impressed with in La La Land which keeps getting shit on by White Guilt. I was also sold on seeing it because of the supporting cast: Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks. The latter was a surprise because he isn’t the funny man (his movies) nor the comic villain (he was spectacular in Out of Sight).
This came out nine years ago, therefore it’s well past the “no spoilers” rules.
Gosling is an unnamed part-time stunt driver, part-time mechanic and part-time getaway driver for bank robberies. The movie’s opening sequence demonstrating his talent evading the LAPD blows away Baby Driver and was reminiscent the jarring beginning to Strange Days in how it demonstrated SQUID tech. He’s also the strong, silent type but he has a good samaritan streak which leads to his involvement in the two plots which inevitably collide:
The performances are excellent. Everything blows away Tarantino’s take on modern crime stories filled with is annoying “voice,” and things are less tidy than Elmore Leonard’s work. People die in horrific ways. No one can be trusted. Nobody gets everything they want beyond living, if they survive. Again, it was awesome to finally see Albert Brooks be someone you don’t screw with and he takes no crap.
If you’re a fan of Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiassen or James Ellroy, I highly recommend Drive. Oh yeah, another advantage of QT, much better music, not some recycled collection of oldies the industry wants to monetize to death. This was based upon a novel and the author wrote a sequel, I would like to see that get made.
Thanks to Jawas appearing in early episodes of The Mandalorian, they confirmed what Threepio said about them…they’re disgusting creatures. Those creme eggs are gross!
I was just getting too stir crazy and missing the gym so I went to Austin’s very nice Sun & Ski franchise to get a new bike. Years ago, I bought one for Somara but never followed up for me. I also scored a sweet Univega in 1994, only to have it stolen in 1995. Man that thief was hellbent on having it, he cut through a Kryptonite lock with a hacksaw for a long time to get it.
Anyway, I decided on Sun & Ski because it’s at the same strip mall as Dragon’s Lair, Precision Camera, Conan’s Pizza and Terra Toys…what luck! I’ve also piggybacked off their WiFi when DL’s is offline.
A really helpful guy named Mike helped me stay within the budget I set, found me a sweet Cannondale hybrid (part mountain, part street) and set me up. I went with a new helmet for I wasn’t sure where the one I had for my GoPro went and I have a rack for the car on order. I bought a rack to carry two bikes to be a nice person who encourages his friends to bring their bikes along, should we live long enough for Austin’s downtown trails to be re-opened.
I took the bike for a ride late yesterday afternoon to break it in, then a trial between my house to MoPac and back. Both closed the green ring (exercise) yet not the red (movement). This was weird. Whenever I use an exercycle at the gym, I often close red first and then green within several minutes. Either way, both forms of exercise get my heart going and my mind off of how bored I have been feeling.
My little in-joke.
Only fitting to watch this flick on Easter weekend! It’s the grown-up and Atheist alternative to being raised with sitting through Moses and the Ten Commandments on ABC every Easter night. It’s also the first movie I heard of to be condemned by the Catholic Church. Obviously, past Popes and their stodgy, humorless, clueless prudes gave this “rating” to dozens of movies well before 1979. I just didn’t know about such a system because I had always known about the MPAA; R meant, it was dirty and there was no way in hell I’d get to see it…unless the parents were asleep and we knew when it would be on HBO! One afternoon, my dad explained it all to me and how it worked until the late Sixties with the MPAA’s system. By the late Seventies, even Catholics didn’t give two craps what the Church thought of a movie. Hell my parents ditched us into Watership Down so they could see Animal House. Nice job Pope Paul VI!
Leave it to the Pythons to do a parody on the life of Jesus. After what I learned in Theology at Marquette, what they did was tame; many KKKristians’ heads explode when they learn there were three to four others claiming to be the Messiah around 30-35 AD. The movie is a much deeper satire than just pointing out how Jesus is really a myth and mocking Christianity; Brian tells people to think for themselves and yet many don’t want to. It’s also a sendup of all those big Sixties productions of the Romans being noble, hence the lisps with Pilate and Bigus Dickus. Then throw in the ridiculing of Far Left Terrorist groups such as the PLO, IRA, Red Army, etc. as they spend more time talking and meeting than acting; there’s something I have to give the Far Right credit for but remember, there isn’t any real intellectualism within their numbers, just violence.
When I went to see John Cleese last year, he told the story about how the Pythons couldn’t get any production company to finance this until George Harrison mortgaged his house. When asked why he did this, Harrison replied, “Because I want to see the movie.” Pretty solid explanation and it lead to the making of Time Bandits via George’s production company.
Having being stuck with taking Latin in high school, the movie’s best joke is this clip below. Now I wasn’t instructed by a cruel English schoolmaster, I can only relate in how clunky and esoteric Latin is when it comes to forming a routine sentence in English. It’s why I have a shirt of this gag.
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Rather neat that these two things (work and Easter) coincide today. I think we’re all in agreement…better circumstances are desired.
Plans? None since it’s Sunday and I’m four-to-nine years off of anything Apple might do to acknowledge my tenure.
Let’s see if I make it to 22 and if I don’t, it wasn’t because I died from the Republicans’ gross negligence. Seems to happen frequently: 9/11, Black Tuesday, The Great Recession, numerous bank panics during the Gilded Age and Sputnik.
Today I pushed forward on a two-pronged attack by starting on the south side of the living room (it’s next to the porch) and tightening up how tidy the guest bathroom is. The toilet and floor are great! The shower isn’t much concern but I’ll make sure the essentials look solid. The bathroom sink needs the clutter removed, then a deep scrubbing from the rings left behind by glasses and candles. I’m more stoked about the initial living room success!
I hope to have a green patch for the guest bathroom; a professional, deep clean will be later this year. Then a split yellow/green for the living room in a week!
