Here’s to my friend who mastered speaking two additional languages in an English-speaking desert! Aka Central IL. She also taught me the Jedi Mind trick for job interviews, ask me someday.
I managed to find a lion-themed card for against all odds at Papyrus too.
Now is my favorite commanding officer…Sisko! He’s not my choice to be weird or contrary. To me Benjamin Sisko is the most human of the starship/starbase commanders. Unlike the others, he was married and he almost quit Starfleet because his wife died in the Battle of Wolf 359. Sisko also demonstrated to Q he wasn’t a diplomat like Picard when he punched the omnipotent being in the schnoz.
Sadly, I couldn’t find a great picture of the first-season cast. This looks like an outtake as they’re staring in different directions.
I was more affected by Wayne Gretzky since The Great One’s scoring streaks happened during my adolescence through college years while Gordie was pretty much retired for the second time.
However, Gordie’s legacy will always remain. His popularity and skill enabled the NHL to expand from six teams to 12 in the Sixties with more to follow.
Then comes his tough style of play which has been immortalized as the Gordie Howe Hat Trick: a goal, an assist and a fight. Oddly, Gordie isn’t the record holder, it’s Brendan Shanahan unofficially.
I want to close with a little connection to Gordie. Although I never met him nor watched him play live, Somara did in the Seventies when Mr. Hockey and his two sons played for Houston’s Aeros during the WHA days.
Saw the doctor to review the steps I’ve made going forward and backward but overall I feel forward is winning. Does he agree? I think he’ll tell me next week when I have a follow up.
Jason with his girlfriend
I only received the news last week over my cousin’s passing in April. I won’t go into the details of the hows or whys because they’re not relevant here. I want to honor him for the good times we had as kids and teens; we never really met again after Grandma’s (Maggi) funeral.
In short, Jason was pretty funny and good-natured when we were kids. At Maggi Family gatherings my brother Brian and me would play with him and Cousin Ronnie. Being the oldest, I often tried to be the boss to no avail. The most memorable kid gatherings involved riding bikes with training wheels around Grandma’s house; the tricycle races in our basement (Jason figured that if we’re going in circles, just wait until your competition was lapping, then you’re ahead!); and making up goofy lyrics to pop songs during the big 1977 Maggi gathering at Uncle Skip’s house. The teen period was comprised of the usual things Eighties teens were into: video games (I played his miniature Space Invaders to death over a weekend), BMX bike races (Brian drew a great “no wimps” logo on Jason’s leg cast, the null symbol over Wimpy’s face), music/MTV (he along with Brian got me into Oingo Boingo, Black Flag) and girls (the usual stupid ideas boys have).
As I mentioned earlier, we never really saw each other nor communicated directly after the funeral…not to my recollection. My exile to ND for senior year happened, then college, then graduation/job hunting, the usual self-interesting stuff. We had one chat through FaceBook yet it was brief; Jason explaining why he wanted the 2016 Olympics to come to Chicago.
Jason, thank you again for the positive memories and contributions you made in my life.
ST:NG in their final TV incarnation of the primary crew wearing the nicer uniforms with the high collars.
picture by Vania Zouravliov
The picture above is a representation of my ongoing illness, not what a doctor visit is like. That would be something showing efficiency.
It was a stroke of luck he could see me a day sooner than planned. Lately, the medication he had me on was making me all agitated in a physical sense. Interacting with me was adequate, no angry outburst yet you’d think I was sitting on a hot plate. Just couldn’t sit still which isn’t helpful when I’m trying to get well. Gotta’ love the ol’ Psych 101 Fight or Flight lesson we all learned. Living it is another and I have to tell you…it sucks.
First, the bad news. Whatever I had been on would have a half-life of a couple more days once I stopped it cold turkey. So he had no immediate panacea beyond “tough it out.” Argh! Yet if I were a celebrity I bet I could have a bottle of Xanax instantly.
The good news, which there’s more thankfully. The doctor switched me to something which will attack what ails me by the traditional means. I feel like a guinea pig GSK, Otsuka and the others should be reimbursing me given the additional trials I’m doing despite their claims of success. I got to take it before bed, it makes you drowsy which changes the routine of first thing in the morning. What else? It seems his prediction on the bad meds working their way out has been mostly true. Mostly. Mostly in I have the Fight or Flight suppressed through exertion. I’m hoping tomorrow I won’t have to make any effort, you know, like in the good ol’ days.
I want to close with a big thank you for all of you supporting me. It has been a rough year. I think 2016 will be a year of serious healing and changes for the better. I couldn’t haven done it without your good wishes, invitations kind words.
It’s in the north where the old Steinmart used to be (the latter moved closer to Alamo Lakeline, coincidence?). This location is way larger too plus it has a kitchen and a full bar, thus private parties and team-building ventures will be conducive here. The nearby competition have their moments: Main Event and D&B. However, I think Pinballz has them beat out. D&B isn’t cheap for team-building and they have too many redemption games with little to cash in for. Main Event is more of a bowling alley. Sure I’m writing down my bias since I talk to the owner from time to time but Pinballz is a better balance for children and adults.
As I warned back in April, output was going to be slow with Picayune since I’ve been ill and I’m doing what I can to combat my illness, so thanks for any positive vibes you’re sending my way. I could use them.
However, I want to through in my two cents on something making the national news.
Last weekend, the people of Austin (17% of them) rejected Proposition 1 for the Spring election. In short, it said that Uber and Lyft drivers do not have to go through the same background checks as cab drivers, aka fingerprinting. This isn’t anything new because Houston and San Antonio require this and the “ride-sharing” companies threatened to leave there too. Last I read/heard, Houston is still waiting for Uber to pack its bags. Withdrawing from the third or fourth largest US city doesn’t sound smart.
The real issue over Prop 1 was this. Who gets to write the laws? The Austin City Council many Austinites elected or corporations, one of which is trying to recall one council member it doesn’t like. Hint, its name rhymes with goober. We know who writes legislation for the State Lege…ALEC, a shell company for the Kochs and their ilk; Washington, DC has theirs written by K Street. Austin has the right to stand up for what it wants via the majority. “Local rule” has often been the battle cry of the Republicans, ergo, we along with Houston and SA exercised this. Fingerprinting does seem a tad extreme but it’s standard procedure with teachers, daycare workers and others who interact with children in Texas. To get a part-time job at the used Lego Store, employees are subject to this due to birthday parties and after-school workshops; those workers fall under the teacher umbrella.
Why should Uber and Lyft get an exception over cab drivers? I’ve heard the rhetoric, especially Cedar Park’s mayor (nee North Reaganstan) and other CyberLibertarians (nee the new Me Generation) saying existing laws already cover criminal activity. They’re forgetting how these companies are supposed to be competing with cabs, their original purpose. They want us to overlook how they’re working the refs to gain an unfair advantage. There’s also the other angle of attack…keeping people from using cheaper, more environmentally-sound public transportation. I’ll take the light rail any chance I can to avoid the downtown mess and gouged parking during SXSW. Paying for an Uber/Lyft ride just adds to the congestion for it’s another car in the mix.
I’m confident we’ll have either a crappy compromise via Bloombergian mayor Adler or this will be rammed down by the state lege like they did to communities that banned fracking on their land.
Lastly, making “extra” money as a driver sounds nice initially. Then I recall it sounds about as logical as pizza deliveries. People wearing out their cars, a continuously depreciating asset, for a pittance along with increasing their insurance risk. The rewards an be easily destroyed by the cost. I love my car too, I only drive when necessary to preserve it.
Let’s hear it again for the Marvel Express Train of Success! If you think Civil War was going to be the end of the streak…nope. In many ways this corrects the “repeat” complaint I did have over Ant-Man (Iron Man 1) and Age of Ultron (bore some resemblance to Avengers 1). Those were still great, especially when you compare them to the horrendous Bats v. Supes mess. I just feared Marvel movies getting into a rut on recycling their plots too much.
Although this is primarily a Captain America movie with Iron Man and Black Widow as the guest stars, it’s practically Avengers 3 thanks to all the cameos, introductions (Black Panther and Spider-Man join the Marvelverse) and screen time. Another impressive job by the directors at keeping all these characters/egos juggled into a cohesive narrative. In the past, animation was the only way achieve this. The score? Marvel is now 13-0, if you start from Iron Man and ignore Amazing Spider-Man (Sony), X-Men and FF4.
The premise isn’t terribly new. Civil uses the premise posed by The Incredibles and why Batman fought Superman…superheroes create a ton of collateral damage in their wake against their enemies. The focus here is human casualties, there’s no discussion about property damage as The Incredibles brought up. After the opening action-packed battle between the Avengers and Crossbones (I thought it was Taskmaster) results in some deaths, Cap and the gang must accept UN supervision. Obviously there would be no movie if they all agreed. The re-emergence of the Winter Soldier (aka Bucky) provides even further reason for Cap going AWOL and Iron Man leading the call to cooperate. The other details…you’ll have to see because Disney did a good job hiding the rest from all the trailers! Maybe they’ve mastered the art of surprising the audience like they did with The Force Awakens.
For me, this was the more suitable Avengers sequel despite how much I did like Ultron. There was a real schism amongst the superheroes on what their roles are. Vigilantes or World Cops? I personally sided with Captain America since in real life, if the UN got involved, they’d fall under the Security Council and given Russia and China’s contrarian attitudes toward world peace/security (Iran and North Korea respectively), the Avengers would be sitting on their thumbs forever. Besides, there was a huge McGuffin at the beginning. The Avengers could’ve pointed out how many would’ve died if Crossbones succeeded based upon what he stole. Plus, where the hell was Vision? His ghost-like abilities would’ve made it a short fight.
Now it’s not continuous action, action like say Star Trek: Into Explosions. There are slower moments, exposition, arguments, drama, etc. They just don’t bring the pace to a screeching halt. They help move the story forward, namely why is Iron Man prominent in Captain America’s movie?
The bad news. No more Captain America movies with no new Avengers in 2017 neither.
The good news is Doctor Strange later this year, Spider-Man is next Summer in the Marvelverse with Iron Man as his mentor and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will be the Summer of 2017 kickoff.
Alamo Extras (which were new, they repeated some lately): Sixties Marvel cartoons showing Captain America meeting the Avengers and the origin of Baron Zemo; Iron Man meets an anime character; Mego toy commercials!; the exploits of a “real life” Iron Man in Germany; Animals dressed as Captain America; Scene from the Late Seventies TV movie of Cap America, Death Too Soon; Indian Super-Man and Spider-Man Bollywood number; Spider-Man in Turkey; Metal Man clip, it’s an Iron Man rip off; a Chinese medical ad for urinary-tract infection medicine starring an Iron Man rip off; Pizzaz commercial (a magazine like Teen People in the Seventies); BDB’s Avengers kung-cubit; Captain America can take a beating set to music; the 1987 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade showing Marvel’s float/skit; Parody of the Avengers using Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary for the audio over movie scenes; the movie was then prefaced with a contest between two attendees representing the factions.
Last week I went to a place located adjacent to Zilker Park. For me this well-loved Austin location hosts ACL Fest and other outdoor things people around the world flock to. I never gave it much thought about what lived there in terms of animals.
I found out. Turkeys. I wish I had a photo yet it became camera shy at the right moment.
These weird, dumb birds manage to wander beyond the park and explore the neighboring businesses or whatever. I was trying to leave a parking garage but the stupid creature got in front of my car. I think it tried to peck at my tires like dogs try to bite them. I held up the traffic out of fear. If I injured or killed the turkey I figured Austin would fine me and I didn’t want harm it anyway. These turkeys weren’t keen on people getting too close so I was able to shoo it further off into the bushes.
Afterwards, the guy behind me asked if it was my bird.
For May we’re finally up to the first incarnation of Star Trek: The Next Generation which took up the torch from Kirk’s crew in 1987 on TV. The first season was shaky thanks to Roddenberry recycling his less interesting ideas from Star Trek: Phase II and whatever oddities I guess he thought were possible, namely the Ferengi being even more lecherous and male crewmen wearing miniskirts. The pajama-based uniforms were never missed but you’ll still see them on extras during the third season when the costumes shifted to the better, high collars. The color change was welcome too even if was done for appearances; Patrick Stewart in gold and Brent Spiner in blue would’ve appeared jarring.
When NG was pitched, the plan was to have it carried on one of the four commercial networks. After two (I wish I knew which two) passed, Paramount gambled on syndication which was pretty risky despite the deal they made on the advertising. OK, I took a gamble on Wikipedia. NBC and ABC were offered the show but would only accept a pilot. CBS wanted to go with a miniseries (this was before Viacom owned them and Paramount in 1986-7) and Fox would only order a 13-episode miniseries plus they wanted it in March 1987. The ad deal was Paramount getting national spots for seven minutes and the local stations took care of five with them getting dibs on reruns later, should the show make it. Sounds like a major gamble initially. However, it was a reasonable move. The number of independent (non-network) TV channels had tripled since 1980, I remember Bloomington-Normal finally powering up channel 43 in 1985 before getting devoured by Fox years later. Cable/satellite TV usually was just 40-50 channels with few specialized networks too; no SyFy, BBC America, etc.
I didn’t get to see “Encounter at Farpoint” the night it first aired. I did have a friend who did record it so I borrowed his tape to watch at my roommate’s parents’ house during Fall Break. It failed to impress. I didn’t give up though. A bad Star Trek show was still better than no Star Trek. A small clique of us managed to catch the first airings every Friday night on Paul’s portable black-and-white TV during the first season; yes, those types of TVs still operated in the Eighties, I doubt you could buy a new one though.
Recently, I did see the first season of NG, they’re not as terrible as I recalled. The show lacked its voice but it was getting there. Captain Picard and his crew survived that rough, almost cancelled after the first season to go on and be an equally loved, respected part of the mythos shared by Kirk’s team. I’m glad. I’ve always felt the show’s real star was the setting/history and it was always big enough to accomodate a few crews.
The main reason why I attended HavenCon which in my opinion was a letdown, it was more of a costume convention than gaming. Regardless, meeting Janet made the whole process worth it.
You many know her from You’re the Worst, the mom from Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer and a few seasons of being co-host of TBS’s Dinner and a Movie with Paul Gilmartin. For many of us nerds, Janet will forever be remembered as the Korra’s voice in The Legend of Korra, a really great sequel to the well-loved cartoon The Last Avatar. If you know how Legend ends, Janet being the big guest at HavenCon made it rather obvious. I’m fine with the ending, it’s only a story about a fictional world, besides, not everything Nickelodeon does is necessarily made for children.
I congratulated her on getting a part in Dana Gould’s new, upcoming show Stan Against Evil and told her he said “hello” from the Moontower ComedyFest.
The autograph I received I have donated to the other “Korra” (it’s not spelled this way) as a gift to her parents. That little girl is going to be awesome when she grows up. Korra is a cooler name with a backstory than anything from Game of Thrones.
It was another collection of great shows. I’m glad I went despite being a rather meh mood these days, but I have a note to remind me to get out there, don’t stay cooped up. I only did a couple nights.
Thursday:
Janeane Garofalo: I practiced spelling her name altogether since I’m accustomed to Janine and then vowels are unpredictable in Italian. In short, I think Janeane still has it as a comedian. She wasn’t as political as I expected, then again, I might was accustomed to her former Air America show. Was Janeane genuinely funny? Absolutely. More of the jokes were about being over 50 (I thought she was closer to my age, she’s more line with the Marc Maron and Dana Gould generation); life in NYC; wisely saving her money from how good the Nineties were to her (I don’t know, she was on a lot of TV in the Aughts I thought); and some self-deprecating material.
I didn’t like her stuff initially when I was younger. Not because she was a female comic, trust me, I used to enjoy Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller growing up plus Shari Lewis. It was the indifferent attitude stuff she used to do. However, Janeane showed her range in numerous things in the Nineties (good and bad) through Copland, Larry Sanders, Reality Bites and of course…Ratatouille. I’m glad I finally saw Janeane live. Would I again. In a heartbeat.
Friday:
This evening was an opportunity to see a new venue I’ve never visited, the Townsend. It’s a pricey Congress Avenue bar across the street from the Paramount. In the back, there’s a small stage room! The back wall resembles a giant couch. Probably for sound dampening when a live bad plays. The mirrors on the wall make the back room/stage less claustrophobic.
The Next: I arrived early so I took a chance on the Townsend’s first show which was a collection of Austin’s best, up-and-coming comedians. A couple were past winners of Funniest Person in Texas (I think). Three I had seen before as openers or MCs for Cap City which made them known quantities (and they’re good, they’re certainly braver than I am). The host was Joe DeRosa, a pretty skilled guy who works on Inside Amy Schumer. The other local comedians I hadn’t seen were pretty impressive as they all gave us a taste of their best five-six minutes. Will any of them get as big as the A-listers who came to visit Austin? I wish I knew. Comedy and people’s tastes are unpredictable, fickle. I hope they all have success. There were some great zingers about Texas amongst them.
The Tinkle Twins: This was my main goal for Friday, seeing the show Dana Gould co-hosts with his friend Arden Myrin. From what I recall, they do this often in LA, probably to stay sharp, try out new material and have a good time with their friends. Did they entertain, absolutely. Their guests were other great comedians I have seen before: Jackie Kashian, Andy Kindler (he killed); some I have wanted to see: Erin Foley, Brendon Walsh; lastly those I’ve never heard of, namely Johnny Pemberton (he proved that most impressions of Matthew McConaughey are a variation of Bill Clinton and eventually if you put them together, you have proof of a singularity).
Hard to believe, this is Austin’s fifth festival in a row. Has Austin arrived? In terms of a comedy? Probably. I do hope to have the opportunity to attend again next year but with a couple friends in tow. Live jokes and laughter is contagious, the would could use more especially with what a butt-head year 2016 is panning out to be.
Totally sucks that he passed away at only 57, the guy remained prolific to the end and somehow I doubt this is another publicity stunt like when he legally changed his name to break a record contract. Although Bill Maher had a field day with the symbol, I think in hindsight Prince made a calculated move to just be a nuisance to Warner Brothers.
When Prince first came on the scene in the early Eighties, I wasn’t impressed nor exactly into him. He certainly was an early adopter of MTV much to the annoyance of other (true) Black artists…who they were was beyond me. Being 14, Prince’s stuff came off as “weird” and silly yet this is expected with a White kid ingesting what would become Classic Rock.
By college, I was starting to come around because Prince wrote great songs which he lent to others: Bangles, Sinead O’Connor and Sheena Easton for starters. His big album Sign ‘O’ The Times made a positive impact on the “purist” I was transforming into at Marquette. He was an exception in my book while I continued to spurn other R&B acts (Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, etc.), for Prince showed how he was influenced (and would integrate) by other genres.
Years passed and Prince’s output did continue steadily. The huge fan base he had in the Eighties evaporated as younger people got more into Rap/Hip-Hop. He did run into the hurdle of becoming an “Oldies” act. You can always count on radio stations to take the lazy route…sticking to the hits. His “never quit doing new things” attitude is how my admiration for him grew. I didn’t buy everything for some was disappointing and Prince often had a problem with “more is less” when a bit of quality control could’ve kept in the public consciousness. Then again, he had a stubborn streak in him and I can’t disagree, I have a similar problem.
Somara and I had the good fortune of seeing Prince live in Las Vegas during a six-month stint he had at the Rio. We were really close, we could see his facial gestures, etc. Prince was a really short dude but like all performers, he appeared seven-feet tall on the stage! This live concert proved to me that he was a generous performer. He let Maceo Parker lead a couple numbers, he had an audience member sing lead on “Play That Funky Music,” and he did four encores if memory serves me well, it was a decade ago. After this, I suspect most of his bad press came from the media as retaliation for not giving them the level of access they thought they deserved. Unlike other Pop stars, Prince had more in common with Johnny Carson, their private lives are rather unknown, shrouded in rumor.
Farewell Prince. You helped put Minneapolis on the map for music with your Funk, R&B, Rock and Everything! This made the city sound more diverse than poor “grungy” Seattle. I do hope there will be a nice, accurate bio picture made about Prince since he never got to do the role I recall he desired, Jimi Hendrix in a similar type of movie.
