While fighting off my weekend-long stomach ache, I managed to get my work turned in before the deadline on Sunday. I’m thrilled that the teacher liked my breakdown on French Canada and the Southwest (where I live), what they have in common and where they differ, boy do they differ.
Next up, Europe after North America and Middle America.
Friday signaled the end for the Cassini probe as NASA crashed it into the atmosphere of Saturn. It will probably be months before we get a better idea what the ringed-world’s composition was before all contact was last. In high school I think scientists were certain it’s mostly hydrogen and a very high amount of helium, thus the world would float in a humongous glass of water.
When I was a little kid, Saturn was my favorite planet for it was unique with its rings. How I denied NASA’s outcome for Uranus having them in the late Seventies! Despite Uranus and Jupiter having slight rings, Saturn does remain having an incredible set you can observe from Earth.
The probe had an incredible run, 13-14 years of sending back data regarding our system’s sixth planet along with its major moons. Somara and I put off dinner plans on a Friday night to watch what companion probe Huygens beamed back from the surface of Titan, you may not remember but Huygens was carried by Cassini, hence the seven-year journey to get there. I think the multiple gravity assists by Venus, Earth and Jupiter were cost-saving measures because America doesn’t bother to make kick-ass rockets capable of getting our stuff there quickly as we did in the Voyager days; those legendary probes got to Jupiter within three years.
To those who pooh pooh our efforts to learn more about other planets, I say, pull your head out of your ass. Contrary to budget hawks, NASA only costs half a cent for every tax dollar we spend lately. Plus Elon Musk’s private company isn’t going to bother exploring since learning more on how our solar system may have formed isn’t profitable. One new theory I’ve seen is that Saturn may have saved the Earth a couple billion years ago. It provided a strong “counter weight” to keep Jupiter from moving in closer to the Sun.
Hopefully there’s another expedition on the drawing table.
After seeing these guys around for years at Moontower Comedyfest (they’re staples, namely for a ping pong tournament), I finally caught a full set at our local club. Holy crap, they killed! I mean, I’d seen them in showcases, TV shows (ESPN’s Cheap Seats was brilliant) and heard them as guests on podcasts like The Star Wars Minute (they with Dan Teller gave it legitimacy)…so, I knew they’d be good. Instead they were great! They’re excellent storytellers. My favorite involved their childhood in St. Louis and devotion to baseball Hall-of-Famer Ozzie Smith.
As you can see, I had a little face time with them. Had to tell them how much I loved ’em as the conjoined twin brothers on Oblongs and wanted to know if they had recorded their episode of The Star Wars Minute:Revenge of the Sith. I also need to catch up on Better Call Saul for they’re on it.
Should Jason and Randy come to your town, you need to see them perform. I guarantee you’ll laugh your ass off.
Once again, getting removed from Netflix in September prompted me to bumping this up to the top of my bloated queue. It was a rare flick directed as well as starring the late Bill Paxton with help from fellow Texans Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe.
It begins with a troubled man named Fenton barging his way in to the FBI’s Dallas HQ to see who’s in charge of the investigation regarding the God’s Hand killer. Fenton is introduced to Agent Doyle and proceeds to explain why it’s his brother Adam. As Fenton starts explaining, the film goes back in time to when Adam and Fenton where kids living with their widowed father. Life was alright. They went to school, did chores to help around the house. Dad worked as a mechanic in a neighboring town. Nothing out of the ordinary. A typical small-town, blue-collar existence.
Then their father came home saying god spoke to him and said it was his duty to kill the demons living amongst them. Fenton being older is skeptical. Adam is onboard with dad. Maybe it’s just a phase Fenton hopes. When dad comes home with an engraved axe and a list of names, Fenton is horrified…his dad means it! They proceed to drive out to the home of the first name, a female nurse. She’s kidnapped, bound and brought to their shed. Dad even performs this weird ritual of touching the “demon” and reacting like he’s having a seizure to justify why this stranger will be executed. Paralyzed with fear, Fenton and Adam witness Dad murdering the nurse and dismembering her body to hide their crime.
Dad moves on to researching the next name on this mysterious list. Fenton tries to resist yet he’s only a kid, he’s helpless to stop the events which follow.
I’ll stop there because I recommend Frailty. Not just due to my Bill Paxton bias. The movie was a well-done thriller. The acting was first rate and Bill plays this man on a mission with an eerie normalcy. He’s not looney, maybe a tad fanatical but his murder spree has the cold calculations of a home repair operation. There’s no ritual involved like Silence of the Lambs, these are straight-forward execution-style killings of people he’s convinced are not human, they’re demons incognito. All I will say is how things play out take M Night Shyamalan to school.
Great job Bill and Powers. Besides your B-movie prowess in Tombstone and others, you two proved you had serious acting chops. That’s why y’all will be missed for years to come.
It’s been a long week fixing things around the house, watering plants somewhere else and the usual back-to-school craziness throughout the North American continent. Plus a lot more people whose work I’ve enjoyed passed away but I didn’t feel like flooding my main page with a barrage of obituaries. I’ll slip them in between other pieces coming across my fingertips.
The big one that made me smile was a brief comeback for Futurama. I know Groening has talked about bringing the show back one more time while Cohen said he was done. However, they along with several heavy-hitting writers (Verrone, Keeler and I think Burns) chipped in on audio-based adventure for the Nerdist. The only downside was Chris Hardwick being in it. I appreciate the guy’s network for things nerdy. I don’t find his standup routine very good. On the Futurama side, everybody was present except for Frank Welker, ergo, no Nibbler or Walter Cronkite.
Was it funny? Yes, both the Bender-focused story and the usual on-again/off-again relationship plot with Fry and Leela. There’s plugs for their iOS-based game too. I thought the comedy was spot on too. The reviewer on io9.com was full of crap and too focused on the digs against all the terrible podcasts wasting electrons.
You can easily find it, episode 903 of the Nerdist.
The short version…John Wick is a woman duking it out in Berlin circa 1989, days before the Wall is destroyed by the residents. To create the mood, cue up all the predictable Eighties synth tunes that sound German (New Order, Depeche Mode) or are (Kraftwerk, Peter Schilling). Throw in some faux lesbian sex and you have a pseudo John Wick prequel.
This doesn’t mean I hated Atomic Blonde, I just wasn’t impressed nor surprised. The story and its execution follow a predictable path despite the double agent “twist” thrown into the mix. One big problem is when the story was set, 1989. Sure, relations between the NATO states and today’s Russia have continued to suck but the Warsaw Pact countries mostly collapsed so we all know the Stasi will be toothless in weeks. So the exposition from the MI6/CIA handlers saying the list of operatives being exposed will be disastrous lacks credibility.
The fighting choreography was intriguing, namely the stunts the heroine pulls off while nursing her accumulation of injuries…the John Wick comparison which is valid because David Leitch directed both. Ergo, watch the melees and fast forward dialog-heavy parts.
Alamo Extras: A newsreel showing how spies infiltrated Gyrotech (the people who make automatic doors for grocery stores?); Scenes from a UK movie called Deadlier Than The Male; Trailer for Danger Girls and Death Stalks in High Heels; Scene from Girl From Rio; Kurt Russell when he was a kid doing a commercial for a spy/terrorist toy; and a disappointingly not funny Funny or Die bit with Theron’s phone being hacked while she was on the toilet.
Man, I need to catch up on all the other things I have in queue to write about, otherwise my site will just be a Nerdy Obituary blog.
However, I can’t let the passing of comic book writer, editor and creator Len Wein sit too long. Alongside Roy Thomas and Marv Wolfman, Len was one of the first fans to land a job working at the big two. He started off with DC in the late Sixties and then defected to Marvel by the Seventies where Len created Wolverine who first appeared in The Incredible Hulk. His most famous contribution to comic books followed later, turning around an always struggling title Marvel thought about cancelling after 90-plus issues (a third of which were reprints of the first 60ish)…The X-Men. The lineup changes weren’t embraced wholeheartedly for another couple years (Wolverine used to get hate mail) but Giant-Sized X-Men made the franchise the industry’s most popular title throughout the Eighties.
Len had a falling out with Marvel afterwards and returned to DC where he stayed for the remainder of his life. Not sure when he exactly created Swamp Thing there yet I know he oversaw the groundbreaking The Watchmen as an editor and was involved in writing numerous other books, too many to list feasibly. I will bring up a personal favorite though, The New Teen Titans and as far as I’m concerned, he was the invisible co-writer behind Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s 1980 reboot that kept DC in the running against Marvel’s mutant domination. The lineup changes carry on today through Teen Titans Go! and sadly the upcoming Justice League flick.
Thanks Len for all the heroes, villains, organizations and destinations you created. My upbringing gobbled them up and continue to this day.
Science Fiction writer Jerry Pournelle passed away Friday from a long series of health incidents.
For those who read a lot of the genre may recognize his name, Jerry often collaborated with Larry Niven on several books, especially The Mote in God’s Eye which became their shared universe. Many saw Mote was also foundation to Traveller’s default campaign, The Third Imperium.
I stumbled upon his work in 1983 through a trio of random novels my dad gave me via a co-worker who no longer wanted them. After read Alan Dean Foster’s The End of the Matter, because I recognized him, I investigated Pournelle’s The Mercenary which was a precursor story to Mote. It was definitely eye opening for I was 14 going on 15 then. The bulk of the Sci-Fi I had read and seen was very black and white with morality. Pournelle’s protagonist Colonel Falkenberg had little issue being in the gray, especially at the end when he said something to the effect of, “The people are due for monarchy again.” Pournelle’s characters would probably be good friends with war criminal Erik Prince of Blackwater notoriety.
Nevertheless I did read other books to draw the previous conclusion. My personal favorite was King David’s Spaceship also set in the Mote universe. In entailed residents of a world with early rocket technology getting permission from the Empire to visit another planet that regressed to the Dark Ages. On this barbaric world there’s an operational AI the people treat as a god. The computer may provide the solution to get a craft into orbit, which they need to be made full members of the Empire and not a protectorate. So the heroes use the cover of anthropological curiosity to find the AI. Could be a clever episode of Star Trek.
So, the above was his positive contribution to my life. As for the rest, I personally considered him a Heinleinesque flunky with Niven. In short, Pournelle found Democracy to be a nuisance due to it allowing the “wrong” kind of people having the right to vote instead of “rational” thinkers…such as himself. Pournelle unnecessarily contributed to heightening the tension in the Cold War by writing propaganda for SDI (aka Reagan’s Star Wars missile defense). Billions America should’ve spent on infrastructure and other social programs instead of pissing it away on technology that was never going to work, it only takes one warhead to get through to spell game over. Despite his bullshit neutrality, he cooperated in a quid pro quo with the delusional Newt Gingrich. They “wrote” a book together and Pournelle’s son got a government job.
It is a shame he died but I wanted to get out a reality check before all the prolific praising and hyperbole swarm the Internet.
An Eighties spin on the Fantastic Voyage premise with the comedy of Martin Short while he was popular. Hard to believe Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan got together through this, they only share the opening 10 minutes of scene time. I didn’t get to see it in theaters because I was a prisoner of my parents’ house then, aka, “no fun allowed, you need to get all the overtime you can.” Actually, I don’t think I went to the movies once while I was living with them. I do recall Wang Chung had a music video to this movie, their third single from Mosaic, “Hypnotize Me.”
All Innerspace really has in common with Fantastic is the miniature submarine shot into a person. However, ex-Navy pilot Tuck Pendleton was supposed to be injected into a rabbit but right before it happens, mercenaries employed by rival scientists, break in and subdue everyone in the lab. Lab Tech Ozzie manages to escape with the syringe flees to a nearby mall and before he dies from a fatal gun wound, he jabs Jack Putter in the ass. Where’s the comedy? It mostly comes through Short playing a Safeway assistant manager and hypochondriac with all his physical schtick. For example, he thinks Tuck’s communications mean he’s possessed. Later on and inevitably, Tuck’s coaching gives Jack the self-confidence he lacks by the film’s finale.
Although Joe Dante directed this (Gremlins), it could’ve been funnier, maybe with someone more subdued than Short. Trust me, I loved Short on SCTV and SNL, he just doesn’t convey someone who’s “possessed” by a maverick Navy pilot convincingly. It’s the same reason why I barely find Jim Carrey or Jerry Lewis funny, too much is really less. The plot would work with someone more introverted, keeps to him or herself. When Tuck taps into into the host’s eye and ear, Short spazzes when it probably should be like a pin prick, prompting the host wonder, “What the hell?”. In the Late Eighties, I could see Rick Moranis, Chris Lloyd or Joe Piscopo doing this better for they were more subtle. Meg Ryan wasn’t used well either, she’s the stereotypical reporter out to get the story and is Tuck’s ex-girlfriend. The secondary cast is perfect; Robert Picardo as the Cowboy, Henry Gibson as Jack’s boss and perennial villains Kevin McCarthy and Fiona Lewis as the evil scientific team out to sell the shrinking technology to the highest bidder.
Innerspace remains worth watching as a time capsule on far we’ve come in 30 years with computers and biology plus the practical effects (Dante’s strength) are impressive when you see the sub travel through Jack’s anatomy.
Here we are with lead singer Milo S and backup singer Briex
My DJ friend Kathy and I with our puppets checked out Fragile Rock at Cheer Up Charlie’s which rather funny, Fragile Rock’s music does the opposite of cheering you up! Nah, just being a wiseass.
I stumbled upon them by accidentally seeing them on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. If you have the patience, watch below, they do a couple songs and it’s quite hilarious despite any opinions you may have of the Emo genre (Weezer, My Chemical Romance).
Given my shared love of the Muppets with Somara and a few other friends, I was stoked to discover that Fragile Rock is an Austin-based band. So when I saw they were playing at a local venue, I asked if our puppets were allowed to attend. They emphatically said yes! Then Kathy and I pieced together Scarlet (the pink one) and Colby (the organ one, name courtesy of my friend Helen). Waterloo Records had baby onesies with bands that have Indie cred; Velvet Underground and Joy Division.
Another Cocteau Triplet back-up singer!
The show was fantastic. My favorite song remains “Socks Are Murder,” and the band’s banter is filled with chuckles if you know musical genres.
I think I’m going to keep this puppet in his Colby configuration as I calculate a way to do an overdue kid-friendly project involving him and the others very soon. They’re playing some venues in September and October. Meanwhile, I made sure I voted them into a miscellaneous category for the Austin Chronicle‘s Best of 2017 poll.
This lady came dressed as a flower!
Scarlet, Kathy, Colby and Steve. Ready to rock!
I’m certain the decision to bring a “factory” to Austin was an easy one. My favorite place, Waterloo Records, has been expanding the amount of physical space dedicated to vinyl while the CD racks have shrunk. I favor anything that keeps the lights on since numerous new and used music stores have bit the dust over the last 20 years around Austin: Cheapo, Technophilia, ABCD, Jupiter, Neptune and Tower (no one cried over the last one’s “death.”) Half-Priced Books has been jacking their used prices now.
Personally, I don’t plan on investing in the hardware to play vinyl…I might change my mind should the means to digitize via USB is relatively easy. I currently only buy 12″ records because they look even better when autographed as you may have seen with Matthew Sweet, Weird Al Yankovic, and John Carpenter.
Let’s see how it pans out.
His name doesn’t ring many bells but if you were kid like me growing up in the Seventies, he was the indispensable Oscar Goldman, Jamie Summers and Steve Austin’s boss at the OSI on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. I even had his action figure because that exploding briefcase rocked!
The obscurity of this action figure (or doll) was a minor plot point in The Forty-Year Old Virgin too.
I remember Richard doing a long commercial for all the Kenner toys pertaining to Six and when it came to his action figure, he sheepishly mentioned his bias toward it being his favorite. As a kid I found it funny and charming.
Due to Oscar, Steve and Maskatron’s heights (13″), they were often robots, cyborgs or unusual aliens (like Zentradi) in my numerous space operas since GI Joe was 10 3/4″, my concept of what 6′ 1″ was.
Richard has a very long list of credits before and after Six. Perry Mason and The Fugitive gave him recurring spots. I was surprised to discover he was a crew member in Forbidden Planet! Given his height (6′ 3″) and appearance, he often played heavies, cops and military officers.
Thanks Richard for all the appearances and being a vital supporting character to a pair of TV heroes I watches whenever I could.
September is often the month we think of as “Back To School.” I’ve always wondered why because I grew up in the Midwest and we started during the last week of August with a three-day weekend (Labor Day) to take the initial sting off. I’m guessing it’s an East Coast bias thing and the West tends to follow suit (they “colonized” it with their patterns, for example, prime time TV starts at 8 PM, not the more logical 7 PM).
My online class in Geography officially starts Monday but I decided to get a jump on the reading. If there’s one thing I learned from earning my first degree it’s that reading is about half the battle and as you can probably deduce, I did a poor job on this in the Eighties, especially if I found it dull. Hard to believe what counted as distractions then compared to all the Internet access, better game consoles, easier to find porn (hey, I was 18 then and not too wise in this department) and the diversified music/TV we have today. I think if I were 18 now, surrounded by all this temptation, the odds of me flunking out would increase to 1:1 (even). Thirty-one years ago, it was 4:1 against flunking out since I had seen the horrors up close of people who peaked in high school courtesy of Beulah, ND. Plus, I would do whatever it took to be away from my overbearing parents.
The past is done though. The present looks good. I finished Chapter Zero, sat through the Blackboard tutorial which I plan to do again tomorrow night since my Beats don’t work with it for audio. I have a newfound respect for Geography. Holy crap it is loaded with technical terms. I’m also trying to fathom the professor’s syllabus on how participation works in a virtual classroom. I only have eight weeks to get it right. My employer will reimburse me if I get a B- or better; $960 is a solid incentive for an A.
Anyone else starting out, getting back in or doing what I’m doing, expanding? Let’s hear from you. I think in the end, education is one of humanity’s greatest inventions.
I read my earlier post about getting accepted to SNHU and realized I never explained why I’m pursuing math.
Last week I dropped my iPhone and the glass cracked because it landed glass-side down. Initially, it looked fine until I had a background on the screen. Boom! I could see the hairline crack. I was rather pissed at myself. I managed to have no real incidents with three previous iPhones and this would break my streak.
I thought about getting a new iPhone as part of changing carriers. This fell through thanks to Somara’s fantastic research skills; she found a better plan with AT&T, saving us $50/month. Stupid me for sticking with the original based upon the days when they normalized the cost into hardware.
With the cheaper AT&T plan I decided to eat the cost of getting my phone’s display repair at my local Apple Store. It’s a good thing the Mac Genius was late for as I waiting, I pulled the armor for the glass off only to discover that it was “cracked” and the glass underneath was unscathed! The armor did its job (see above). It absorbed all the energy to protect my iPhone as it was designed! New “cracks” appeared from the removal process. Best five dollars I’ve ever spent.
Now my streak of four for four continues and the money I saved, I spent on a recharging cradle I can put my iPhone and watch on.
Meanwhile, I discourage anyone going unprotected. Broken glass isn’t cheap.
