Happy 15th Birthday Hunter!

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Steve

The nephew I’ve spent the most time celebrates his day right before he leaves the States to go back to his new home (as of last Fall) of Qatar. Hunter and his family were here for about a month too. We got a couple opportunities to hang out, let me play “cool” uncle, mainly by taking him to Pinballz, Rogues Gallery and having a little Lego party. You wouldn’t believe how overpriced those little bricks are in the Middle East.

Due to a family matter, he missed out on hanging with Cannon and Wyatt last Sunday to see Guardians of the Galaxy, Terra Toys (he’s too old for this I guess) and Dragon’s Lair. However, when he returned from Houston, we (as in Aunt Somara and me) got to take him out to Rudy’s for dinner and then wrap up at Waterloo Records. Here I had to gear him up with some new tunes for Qatar: a little old, Led Zeppelin remasters (Led Zeppelins, II and III) and Austin, Spoon’s latest and Gimme Fiction.

Thanks Hunter and his parents! I hope he does a bit more writing to us when he gets settled into school. Definitely can’t wait for his next visit, probably next Summer.

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OH! MY! GLOB! Light a match would you! It’s burning my lumps

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Steve

thethroneroom

The new, well, the first, design on my comic-book store’s bathroom door. I myself have issued a few edicts from here.

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KMAG (v. 3) turns 12

Posted on August 9, 2014 by Steve

It’s late…as always, but I wanted to celebrate the milestone for my personal thing of tunes or the closest I’ll ever have to a radio station.

QuickTime Streaming Server may have been put out to pasture in 2011 yet I have to see its successor function or attempted.

Meanwhile, here’s where KMAG is for this milestone occasion.

  • Number of songs in rotation: 11,997, covers are less than 11% of this.
  • Number of songs played since its launch: 1,616,318 after midnight 8/7/14.
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1974: Tricky Dick resigns in disgrace

Posted on August 9, 2014 by Steve

I can always remember this date because it’s also my dad’s birthday, what a gift he received! The overrated Princess Diana wedding happened on mine in 1981, I will never understand Americans’ obsession with a foreign royal family when we have our own inbred morons: Kennedy, Bush, Kardashian, Hilton, Taft, Rockerfeller, etc.

Anyway, I clearly remember the day before too. Mom was rather stoked for she had no love for America’s first president from California. I was walking into the kitChen in the apartment we were renting. I think I asked what was up, mainly on the TV. Mom answered there will be a new president. I had little idea what the heck that meant. I did know Nixon was the butt of numerous jokes around the house and Rich Little.

I was so disgusted over the whitewashing he received at his funeral 20 years ago. Especially the “genius” move of going to China, aka the cynical mindset known as “the enemy of my enemy is my ally.” It sure backfired, namely with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan; in case you don’t follow history or the news, they contained future members of the Taliban and al-Qeda.

The true story the GOP likes to cover up is why Nixon bailed. Earlier into his second term, vice president Spiro Agnew took off to avoid going to prison regarding different corruption matters. The Watergate matter was happening concurrently which led to another Senator confirmation hearing to appoint a new veep; this happened in the Sixties to install Hubert Humphrey after JFK died. Fearing the outcome, Nixon’s flunkies did pre-interviews to make sure who they nominated would cooperate. House Minority Whip Gerald Ford got the nod; higher ranking Republicans didn’t have a great loyalty to Nixon and probably knew they’d be committing political suicide. Many recalled Tricky Dick’s ruthlessness in the Fifties.

The worst-case scenario eventually happened, the process to begin an impeachment was underway in the Democratic-controlled House. It was still early. Then Teabagger Godfather Barry Goldwater rushed in to tell Nixon how badly the Senate vote was going to be should the trial go through; FYI, the Senate acts as the jury and 67+ saying “guilty” results in the president’s removal.

Nixon being the coward he always was (spoiler alert, it’s a major hint in the new X-Men flick), resigning and getting VP Klutz to pardon him was the way out. He went on to provide hours of fodder for SNL thankfully.

For years, Tricky Dick fleeing like a third-world dictator made the Republicans seethe. How they wanted revenge despite their St. Reagan dismantling the nation (firing PATCO, emptying the mental hospitals, blaming the poor for being poor, out-of-control military spending, etc.). Bill Clinton didn’t quite give it to them on a silver platter, billionaire misogynist Richard Mellon-Scaife needed to fund the Arkansas Project to keep picking away. And again, like their failure against Andrew Johnson, they didn’t have a compelling case made with the public beyond them not liking the guy in the White House.

It’s days like these I’m grateful we don’t have cable. There’s probably endless cycles on “the news” with Nixon minion Gordon Liddy spinning a yarn of new lies.

If there is a Hell, may Nixon be in it. Not for Watergate necessarily, mainly for his red-baiting with Senator Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn.

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I’ve ditched Dropbox for Spideroak

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Steve

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last couple years, cloud computing has been the overhyped rage. Sure it’s a nice back-up and way to have your stuff on hand through multiple devices…until the big fat EMP we’ll probably experience in the next decade renders your crap gone. The uglier issue is how the storage companies just hand over your data to the NSA and their ilk without a fuss, plus they can’t disclose the activity to their customers. One provider does the opposite, they can say they haven’t been bugged, when the sign “drops,” it will inform everyone the NSA has come snooping with a rubber-stamped warrant from the 20 special judges (19 of which are Republicans, imagine that).

For Mac users who miss the iDisk mounting in the Finder, a huge feature lacking in iCloud, many went to Dropbox. It’s free, you gain more space by liking them on FaceBook, blah blah blah. I also attended their job fair last Summer, see what my options were to keep Apple from taking me for granted. I wasn’t impressed with their weak revenue stream (subscriptions) and concerned about how quickly they were pissing it away; one executive bragged about how much they spend on band gear at the CA office.

The final straw beyond all the Russians they employ was Condi Rice joining their corporate board. Really? One of the architects of the snooping state we have is now getting her corporate welfare check from them. No thanks.

Edward Snowden, love him or hate him, mentioned Spideroak in an interview for The Guardian. I jumped aboard right away because Spideroak encrypts everything before it syncs, therefore, they have no idea what’s in your cloud storage nor do they want to know. I’m sure if people store illegal, egregious stuff like child pornography, they’ll want to know in order to stop the account, distance themselves. I know encryption isn’t perfect plus it’s debatable whether or not the State has the keys. Either way, I feel better that the terrible corporate flunkies we’re governed by will have to work a little harder to see my D&D NPCs in their witch hunt for non-existent, domestic terrorists on the Left.

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First try!

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Steve

legobatmanawesomeInspired by the jokes from the How it Should Have Ended episode of the Lego Movie, I had to have this shirt as a tribute to Batman’s 75th birthday and a counterpart to Adam West’s goofy antics.

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Congratulations Becky Hammon!

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Steve

Winning a fifth NBA title wasn’t enough for the Spurs! They’ve finally helped the sport break the gender barrier by bringing aboard a lady assistant coach who was no slouch as a player herself. I was puzzled over the picture I saw of Mrs. Hammon wearing a Russia jersey since she didn’t seem to have a Slavic/Cyrillic name. Whatever it takes to play in the Olympics, they’re rather meaningless to me.

I’m glad to see this opportunity finally happening. The fundamentals to basketball are unisex and the Spurs don’t have as horrible of an off-court track record like the Portland Jailblazers. Ergo, I think the vets and rookies will listen to Becky’s wise advice.

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Last Simpsons Pair…for now

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Steve
Running for the couch…

Running for the couch…

…and there's the gag!

…and there’s the gag!

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The Maggi Republic is now in the Black (or Green)!

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Steve

For the first time in 13 years with me personally but it’s the absolute first time since Somara and I officially consolidated our money, hence what I call the new constitution to form the Third Maggi Republic. The First is when I finally no longer lived under my parents’ umbrella, a rickety, debt-ridden ex-colony established in 1989 that slowly became somewhat more reliable by 2003. The Second Maggi Republic was short lived, like the propose two-state solution for Israel-Palestine, it fared better but was lopsided.

As you can tell, the eight-year-old merger has been a roaring success. Two new cars (one paid in full), lower mortgage payment through refinancing, 20-year’s worth of education debt truncated to probably 11 at its current pace and three timeshare deeds (two paid off, one half way) have moved this Third Republic into the AAA class.

Anyway, during an audit in which I go over all the accounts, especially our credit card that acts as a rolling line of credit; I discovered our joint assets finally exceeded our liabilities this May. Woo hoo! The trend has carried over into June by even more. July promises to keep going but I won’t know officially until late this month.

Just wanted to share this, not rub it in. Plus to all those Conservatives/Republicans who claim we Libruls/Socialists are tax-and-spend, debt-accumulatin’ job destroyers, I say “screwwwwwww, yewwwwwww!” as my financial house is in way better order. The benefits have started to roll our way and it should snowball by year’s end. From being four digits in the black to five easily. Many would cite psycho Dave Ramsey’s advice. Nope, my parents taught me the jerk’s so-called patented strategy decades ago. I’m confident they learned it when Home Economics used to teach useful stuff in the Fifties.

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The Universe going my way a little

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Steve

Despite all the annoyances I’m dealing with at work and home, I was rewarded for filling up my Prius before bed time. I found a 20 on the ground. Still good since the gasoline it absorbed didn’t destroy it.

Going to apply it toward the Alex R fund.

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This tribute isn’t overdone but it might be dry

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Steve

bobsburgers-hopperMuch to my wife’s annoyance, Bob’s Burgers has lately become a favorite show on Netflix (we don’t have cable or bother with broadcast). Fear not, nothing has been pushed aside, Bob’s has just joined the lengthy list. As it approaches its upcoming fifth season on Fox (hard to believe from the network that OK’d The Cleveland Show), releases an album of its songs this Fall and gets an additional boost through [adult swim], I was stoked to grab this mashup shirt to accompany the Big Boy one.

Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks is often parodied/imitated in terrible prints in my opinion: there’s an Austin one (weak) and the one with Elvis, Marilyn and Bogart is lame. I do like the quick glimpses cartoons have given the iconic painting, namely The Simpsons.

The Bob’s Burgers is pretty strong. Key characters are in the positions of the real painting’s denizens while essential elements to the cartoon are integrated to make it feel more original: the soft-serve machine, the coffee pot, Bob in the order window, the kids gathered around Gene’s Casio keyboard and Jimmy Pesto’s being the restaurant in the background.

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Worth Seeing

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Steve

dawnofapesI’m wondering if every horrendous Tim Burton reboot will eventually get another attempt and result in a good franchise like Apes. Probably not since all the others had little to go on beyond their original flicks.

Anyway, the same team behind the rather good Rise do-over for 1972’s Conquest is reunited to tell the next chapter in the Apes saga ten years after the pandemic has decimated the human race. During the opening credits you see the virus spread via passenger planes followed by outbreaks then civil unrest, unnatural disasters (at least one nuclear reactor meltdown) and human civilizations collapse until there’s only one survivor for every 500 killed (theoretically 15 million people remain).

Meanwhile the apes who escaped into the Muir Woods have flourished and are ruled by Caesar. His lieutenants Rocket, Maurice and Koba remain by his side but they also have spouses and offspring: Cornelia, Blue Eyes and Alexander. Humans are becoming a distant memory because nobody has spotted one in two years. Caesar figures they’ve destroyed themselves which he sees as a great pity.

Seems the apes’ ears were burning!

Alexander and Blue Eyes stumble upon a wandering human. Unlike past encounters, he’s in good shape, well equipped…and armed as he panics, wounds Alexander. This leads to several tense standoffs: Humans v. Apes obviously; Caesar v. Koba about what’s the next move; Malcolm (the human engineer) v. Dreyfus (the human leader) because the damned monkey leader can speak! A quick minor spoiler over the last conflict. West of the Muir Woods are the ruins of San Francisco where an ex-soldier named Dreyfus (the incomparable Gary Oldman!) presides as the de facto mayor. The struggling colony has managed to hold it together yet it will run out of fuel in two to three weeks. Malcolm is in charge of getting a nearby dam functioning which makes him the ape-appeaser who thinks Caesar can be reasoned with if the humans are honest.

There wouldn’t be any movie if either side didn’t re-enact the current Gaza debacle times a thousand. I loved it though. Dreyfus isn’t a two-dimensional villain, he’s just doing what someone like him would naturally do as the human leader, defend the settlement when everything hits the fan. Caesar also tries to be a wise, thoughtful leader as he tries to keep the ‘hawks’ Koba, Blue Eyes and Rocket restrained. He understands their mistrust of humans but he knows they’re not all are evil plus a war will lead to needless deaths on both sides.

Dawn definitely lived up to my expectations in nailing the spot as the best movie for the Summer of 2014 (from May thru August is my definition). Not just due the other entries being weak, Dawn was well executed even if Godzilla, Amazing 2 or X-Men:DFP were stronger. Sure there were several key McGuffins undertaken to make the inevitable fight happen; I tend to hold low expectations of humans too. The story was a decent balance of drama and action which surprised me, usually this type of film is released during the doldrums.

I do have one major complaint, it isn’t a dealbreaker though. With the exception of Gary Oldman, all the CG-based characters are more expressive than the “real” actors, namely Keri Russell, the poor-man’s Olivia “Wood” Wilde. Sure, Andy Serkis is the Laurence Olivier of the motion-capture suit but the human cats had no excuse.

Overall, Dawn like Rise has earned the right to replace the next chapter in this dark future will unfold. Dawn goes where (or when?) Battle for the Planet of the Apes once stood. Now what’s next? Another installment illustrating how the apes took over and subjugated the humans, say a century or two after Dawn or do we jump ahead millennia like the original Planet? Fingers crossed for either in a couple years.

Alamo Extras: Again, we were too late to catch anything extensive. A CG gorilla batting in a Korean baseball game and a Japanese chimp playing T-ball was all I remember. I was hoping for clips from the original movies and short-lived TV shows (live action, cartoon).

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I don’t know officer, droids do all look alike

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Steve

droids14An overdue mashup from a new place I scored some shirts from, Teepublic. Normally I’d pass on most Star Wars jokes but if Bender is involved, then I’m sold. Although everyone’s favorite binge-drinking, kleptomaniac has no political loyalties (beyond himself, making him a Randroid), he should be on the short list for stealing the Death Star’s schematics.

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1994: Looking back on why I take my birthday off

Posted on August 3, 2014 by Steve

Phew! What a delay in writing thanks to allergies and other obligations popping up, namely me taking on the bulk of the house/catsitting once I was well enough…I better not have broken anything in my right foot!

I wanted to navel-gaze about my 21st birthday but it seems I did this already! The only thing I could do to “punch up” that reminiscing would require a specific photo not for the faint of heart. It was 25 years ago so I’m over the embarrassment.

Instead I want to pontificate over why I always take my birthday off because 20 years ago was the last time I didn’t, no wait, I did go to my awful job in 1998. I don’t count this for a couple reasons. I was quitting in order to move back to Austin in three days and I had stopped “working” at NorTel ever since I got the green light from Adecco/Apple. Besides, it felt like a day off with the bitchin’ dinner I had at il Sogno paid through the expense account of my inept employer.

Back to 1994.

Having a Summer birthday always meant I had the “day off” until I turned 16. Thirty years ago, I landed my first gig at Farrell’s the day after. Had I known what a trying experience it was for my immature brain/personality, I would’ve stayed “unemployed” and a prisoner of the parents’ generosity. Earning my own spending money did rock after a few months.

I was spared the “agony” at 17 thanks to it being the day we left Tampa with our virtual tail between our legs. Living there remains a 50-50 matter to me; could’ve been awesome or horrendous.

I got the opportunity to establish the tradition I’m yammering about at 18. The Summer of 1986 sucked big time. It was a countdown to my first semester of university starting. I never thought I’d live to see the day when I would be thrilled when school began! For many friends, graduation from high school was usually a mix of celebrating, saying goodbye and working in preparation for the next level of life. Well, it’s what I thought it should be. My parents transformed post K-12 life into a new disappointment and anxiety source. I had to start working immediately, they didn’t have any money to help me attend Marquette. By July 29, 1986, I had burned through two crappy minimum-wage jobs and couldn’t care less anymore. The more forward-thinking maternal grandparents pulled through in the clutch to my relief; they were right to predict my old man would fail in the higher-ed department.

So for the inaugural me party, I saw Aliens, wandered Eastland Mall a tad and I’m certain I read some comic books I bought at Dreamth.

The streak carried on every July 29th. South Street in Philly; bus trip to visit Grandma and Brian; Milwaukee pukefest; comic-book show and then dinner with Cousin Leesa; enjoying the finer things I loved about Milwaukee; and taking a pause from GDW’s impending Ishtar release at GenCon! The meal from Denny’s was free in 1992.

When the chain got broken in 1993, it was more of a time mismanagement matter I caused. I hadn’t been employed by DG long enough to have the vacation days I needed to play hooky legally, attend GenCon and go to the Silder Wedding. The middle choice should’ve been the one I sacrificed. The wounds of my GDW firing were still too fresh to enjoy the convention. It was like being a recently released rehab patient going to the Electric Daisy Festival (a Grateful Dead concert for Millenials). The occasion also being my 25th birthday heightened the depression I felt.

The bad luck continued the following year. I had to work at University Towers and my relationship with Doc was souring. The regret I was feeling over moving to Austin started to shift into high gear. I did receive an encouraging phone call from Helen that night so it wasn’t a total wash. Such a pisser otherwise. Here I was, living “the dream” after toughing out the cold, sad winter of 1993-94 in the Land of Having a College Education is a Liability; today I call it Northern Kentucky while official maps say it’s Central Illinois.

It all was changed in time with 1995 and my day being a Saturday didn’t hurt. I love my 27th birthday too. I spent a chunk of time with every person whose company I enjoyed as soon as Friday night began. Matters between Doc and me had been patched up way back in May and I had flown to Chicago twice! Despite the busy agenda, I made a more conscious effort to establish one thing I have always kept going…reflecting on where I am, where I’ve been and where I think I’m going.

Therefore the successive, weaker birthdays in 1996-98 weren’t a complete waste. If nothing else, I didn’t have to endure the grind of work in addition to the thinking about what really I wanted to do, besides not be at work!

From 1999 on, my birthday has been a great celebration with friends near and far, with Somara and most importantly, it’s just not “another day” as Patton Oswalt built a whole routine around to hilarious effect. Thanks for being a part of one or more!

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Rest in Peace Caliban

Posted on August 3, 2014 by Steve
Caliban hanging out on my in-laws' back porch.

Caliban hanging out on my in-laws’ back porch.

I couldn’t get a definitive answer from my mother-in-law on when or how Caliban died beyond being this Summer. Carolyn’s memory isn’t what it used to be I’m realizing. I just was told yesterday he passed away while I was searching for him during a family visit; to see the Qatar faction primarily.

Not having the chance to tell him goodbye and thanks for all the great memories was saddening yet I’m going to eulogize sweet Caliban here because he had a pretty rough life before I met him.

Well over ten years ago, we all sensed a feline presence in the front yard courtesy of my über-territorial Molly. Unlike other stray cats, this guy didn’t care to bug Molly by banging back on the window nor did he pay attention to her intimidating howling. He seemed pretty content to sunbathe on the grass during the day, then disappear at night. I tried to approach but he would bolt for the nearby storm drain.

His trust was quickly gained by leaving out food. Within a month he didn’t mind coming to the front door to eat while I pet him. Being a cat, our relationship rapidly moved to the “I’m waiting for grub” stage every morning when I opened the door to leave for work and/or him running to the house as my car pulled up. I really didn’t mind though. Molly would beg to differ.

Caliban received his name from The Uncanny X-Men comic book character who lived in the New York City sewers with the other Morlocks. It seemed fitting with his tendency to use the storm drain as his resting place. He also barely spoke too. Caliban’s voice was this really weak mew which boggled my mind given his size (over 14 pounds).

Plans to have him neutered were moved up one Saturday morning thanks to what I thought was his girlfriend joining him to eat brunch. I later learned that Akuma was male, already sterilized and just a mooch. Dr. Todd did a great job treating Caliban; the poor dude needed a couple rotten teeth pulled plus the several white/gray streaks of fur were the results of fight injuries. I had no idea black cats’ fur grows back white/gray over scars. Dr. Todd’s estimate put Caliban between two and four so he was very lucky to be alive given the short lifespan of feral animals.

My in-laws readily took Caliban in because he needed a place to recuperate from the surgery. A decade ago, their older cats Boris and Dolph were alive so Caliban’s easy-going demeanor made him fit right in. I’m grateful Carolyn and Tom did me this favor. For the rest of his days I always made sure to pet him during a visit.

Over the years Caliban grew comfortable with being picked up, stroked and cuddled. He never trusted anyone to rub his belly and Dr. Todd suspected he had a minor spine injury which explained his biting if you tried to pet him near the tail base. As he grew older, thinner and attained an odd funky smell, Caliban continued to recognize me. I remember he had a unique purr with gurgling to let you know he was content.

I will remain saddened over Caliban’s departure for some days yet I am relieved we all made 10 or more years of his 12-plus on Earth happier.

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