Somara’s extra birthday present to Ebeth for the Scavenger Hunt of 2014. A really cool artist was commissioned to do his take on the ending joke from “The Suitor.” I love the slow-motion effect, similar to the ending in Fight Club.
A genuine and great actor passed away. Maybe James wasn’t Laurence Olivier or Richard Burton (both) but he was certainly someone who illustrated the American journey.
Two really solid obituaries are available from the Old Gray Lady and the paper I prefer because it pulls fewer punches.
My love for James’ acting dates back to the Seventies when Dad would watch The Rockford Files on NBC, usually Friday nights. Then were all the Polaroid commercials he did with Mariette Hartley. They had such chemistry people thought they were married. By high school, I had a better awareness of James through his past movies shown on the late show (namely the hilarious How Sweet It Is!) or whatever B-schlock he did in theaters; Tank isn’t deep nor clever yet he carried the by-the-numbers flick and beat up James Cromwell. Murphy’s Romance was more clever, sadly I’ve only seen part of it. I can never find the movie in streaming or a cheap DVD.
College was a great time to appreciate his work. Every Sunday night after the ten o’clock news on WTMJ, The Rockford Files would be on in syndication. My roommate Paul and I would usually try to catch it, sometimes throwing in our improvised harmonicas to the theme song. We even did a parody opening once on WMUR (Marquette’s so-called radio station) with Paul’s imitation of Rev. Jim leaving a message.
Throughout my adult years I gained a greater appreciation for James’ true body of work via TCM. About a decade ago, they did a mini-marathon to celebrate his birthday. The selection was probably limited to what the network had the rights to which was the mid-Sixties. They did a killer job going back n’ forth between his dramatic and comedic work. He had the rare talent of being able to do all the three key genres including action. The comedies were rather disposable (The Wheeler Dealers, Boys’ Night Out), it were the dramas when he showed his true chops (The Americanization of Emily, Mister Buddwing). He also had a knack for the absurd as Victor Victoria proved.
In James’ personal life he became a minor hero to me. Despite being an Okie, he never was part of the Orange Curtain mindset his fellow transplants are infamous for. He was also an advocate for the civil rights movement, fought in the Korean War (this shuts up the Chickenhawks, aka Clint Eastwood a WWII lifeguard or Reagan’s propaganda movies at Fort Roach) and put his money where his mouth was.
It was sad to see him gradually fade away after the stroke in 2008. Love it or hate it, The Notebook did give James a final boost to his career.
Other recommendations I have are listed below:
Somara hasn’t made a cool cake in a while so we were stoked at the opportunity she received for my friend Ebeth’s group celebration, more on that later. Ebeth wanted to go with her favorite joke from Adventure Time‘s episode “The Suitor.” It’s pretty funny and it appears to be a catchphrase amongst the ladies. Watch the episode, be patient, you’ll bust out laughing when this punchline happens along with the context. I hope Somara has a copy of the special drawing she had commissioned for Ebeth as an additional gift.
Here’s a bad-ass view of the cake from an angle to show it’s in 3D!
Last weekend, NPR aired a story about Chuck Taylor, the man behind the shoe which is what most people know him for. I for one did my homework about the guy years ago but click here to learn more.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is so far my number one pick for the Summer ever since I watched the trailer last Winter. Whether or not I’m right will be disclosed later but overall the Summer 2014 movie season blows. There have been noticeable gaps in releases, Godzilla sucked, Amazing Spider-Man 2 was fair and the X-Men sequel wasn’t a slam dunk for me. I probably also have a strong bias for the Apes franchise because I’ve always loved the original 1968 flick. Its four followups degrade with each release. Compared to Tim Burton’s horrendous reboot though, the low-budget Battle and Conquest are high-brow affairs.
On to Rise the do-over that made this Summer’s Dawn chapter feasible.
Now or in the near future, well-meaning scientist Dr. Will Rodman (James Franco, there’s the first Sci-Fi McGuffin in the story) is trying to make a vaccine for Alzheimer’s Disease. A very noble and worthy goal, especially when his own father has the destructive sickness (a credible John Lithgow). Just as Rodman sees signs of progress through a chimpanzee named Bright Eyes, the drug’s development is scrapped thanks to Bright Eyes going ape-shit in front of the investors. Rodman’s boss is the obvious villain; he orders all the lab’s primates to be exterminated. Rodman and the ape wrangler later discover Bright Eyes’ actual source for the aggressive outburst, she was protecting her child. The drug didn’t have the side effect they feared. It’s too late though, the wrangler already put the other test animals to sleep so Rodman smuggles the baby ape out to live at his house.
Rodman’s father names the baby Caesar (from the Shakespearean play) and the two raise him in secret. Ten years pass. Caesar demonstrates great intelligence for an ape plus he can communicate by sign language. The ape’s progress leads to Rodman testing the last batches of the vaccine he stole from the lab on his father. It works! Dad is functional again, especially when he plays the piano.
Inevitably man’s genetic tampering and cruelty to animals leads to Caesar starting a primate uprising with a climatic battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. The story ends with the apes escaping into the Muir Woods and a deadly pandemic spelling the demise of humanity’s dominance.
I’ll quickly kick off with the nitpicking, and yes, I know, it’s just a movie. However, the animal rights’ losers may still use this flick as ammo in their flawed arguments. First off, apes or chimpanzees wouldn’t be used for neurological experiments this soon. Rats are the more logical choice. If there’s success, the scientists would work up to larger more compatible species long before primates. Getting monkeys, apes, etc. is very expensive plus the Western governments have regulations, hence the African poachers in the opening credits are a huge stretch. Finally, chimpanzees have proven to be ineffective in helping us test vaccines, drugs, etc. Adults are very dangerous due to their impressive strength and short fuses. They turned out to be a bust in AIDS testing, hence one of Clinton’s first tasks as president was to set up a refuge for a bunch to live out their remaining years down in Louisiana because they couldn’t go back to their original environments. Many were too adjusted to life amongst humans.
The bigger glitch is the virus element. Somehow the Alzheimer’s cure is delivered via this method. If the affliction were a virus like polio, then I could buy it yet this would only prevent healthy people from contracting the condition. Those already suffering are screwed. I need to ask my friend Dr. Deb, who has a PhD in biological sciences, on the validity of viruses delivering anything beneficial, namely genetic manipulation.
Now to the what I loved. Andy Serkis is the Laurence Olivier of motion-capture based acting. His Caesar rocks. This movie is also a rare demonstration of how today’s special effects assist or enhance the story without being the star. The original Conquest was the product of its time (early Seventies), the fourth episode in a 1968-based franchise, Hollywood didn’t spend much on makeup and CG wasn’t even imaginable. Rise serves as a worthy replacement for Conquest in the saga. The other element I enjoyed was the attention to detail with the other species: gorillas and orangutans resembling the real things, not just people wearing different colored appliances and faux fur.
Sure the story is predictable and a tad heavy-handed. It’s a precautionary Sci-Fi tale while being the new “prequel” explaining how the Planet of the Apes came into being given the world’s changes since 1968. Applause to Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa for saving a beloved series from the turd bomb detonated on to it by Tim Burton’s textbook example of how not to reboot (or tamper) a classic franchise. If you’re fan of the original, you’ll catch all the references the writers snuck in. One I will spill is a mentioning of the USS Icarus leaving for Mars and then being reported lost.
I would highly recommend seeing this before attending Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
A thoughtful little gift from Somara when she attended the recent Austin Comic Book Convention last weekend. I have it posted up in my cubicle. Hopefully this will inspire me to run my ass off to thinness and victory.
Yesterday was Kristin, who I prefer to call KK, but I need to find a new handle because Jeremy (the husband) gets confused due to another relative in his life with the same moniker. We celebrated her big day with an awesome dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant in my neck of the woods. How was it? Pretty cool. I never gave it much thought in how much in common Ethiopian food has with Greek via two courses we all shared. However, I never gave the restaurant much thought despite all the Ethiopian and Somalian people hanging out at my nearby Starbucks.
Somara took care of the gift via her recent good time at the Austin Comic Book Convention. A mashup of Adventure Time and Doctor Who, ergo Doctor Ooo.
Today was Summer. Besides being a very smart support engineer at Apple (retired), Summer is a talented singer/songwriter with her husband Roger. She’s also a helluva’ an athlete. Triathlon anyone? I just get exhausted thinking of riding a real bike outdoors.
For Summer, I contributed some money toward a charity focusing on the Syrian refugee crisis…ah, it’s the UNHCR, had to look it up. This was her wish in lieu of a book or whatever.
Anyway, if you know Kristin or Summer, or you don’t. Still wish them well. They’re awesome, talented, great mothers and an inspiration to us all, even us non-gyno Americans.
Nick’s Summer diorama featured a super-villain Jeopardy tournament sponsored by the Red Skull, Arnim Zola running the computers and Dr. Victor von Doom as the host. The contestants were Boba Fett, Darkseid and comic-relief villain Dr. Klaw. I think Captain America was the prize to the winner but as you see Wolverine, Wonder Woman, Iron Man and Batman (break through the ceiling) have come to the rescue. Good ol’ Cap has Baron Zemo eating tile. Not sure what Madame Masque and a Talon from the Court of Owls are doing; helping or waiting it out?
Looks like a standard day on MoPac with the usual idiots in their F-350 pickup truck chasing down a Smart car.
Courtesy of the site The Brick Fantastic.
After living around our yard for a couple years and dropping off three litters of kittens, we made Isis officially our kitty. The day we brought her back from the shelter was declared her new birthday.
The first week was a big upsetting because Isis had to stay in a cage while recovering from surgery to stop producing kittens. Then she got free reign around the house. The towering near the back door has become her main roosting location. Maybe I should’ve renamed her Rapunzel. The other cats are alright with Isis because she keeps a low profile. Some days she gets too aggressive when you pet her but Nemo had the same problem when he was younger. The other legacy of her outdoor life remain, Isis hides in fear whenever there’s lightning or fireworks.
Today is the first time we get to celebrate with your new friends Elizabeth and Matt. If I never told you online friends, Ebeth (her nickname) is someone I met waiting in line to meet George Takei last Fall. We all hit it off (meaning us and our spouses) and now I run a semi-regular D&D/PF game.
This evening we celebrated her day at Chez Zee. A very Austin restaurant with solid entrees and bitchin’ desserts, the place’s star attraction.
As a gift, we gave her a Blu-Ray of Buckaroo Banzai which was an awesome exclusive from Waterloo Records. Some movies aren’t widely distributed. My guess is they have a niche market making them unprofitable to make in larger numbers for retail barns.
There should be another celebration of sorts because Somara is making a cake for Ebeth and Matt to enjoy.
Before Evan Dorkin started writing Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast, Shin Chan and Yo Gabba Gabba! There was Milk & Cheese, Dork! and these losers…The Eltingville Club which ridiculed the dark side of fandom when it wasn’t publicly acceptable, nor profitable. You know, the late Eighties and throughout the Nineties. Some of you may recognize the name from the failed [adult swim] pilot over a decade ago. Maybe it was too soon since Robot Chicken contains similar digs yet thrives. (For the record, I love Robot Chicken.)
The story begins with the club’s de facto president Bill landing the coveted job at the local comic-book store. Despite the quartet being friends, Bill’s gig leads to jealousy, name-calling, a brawl, disaster and eventually the club being disbanded by the parents. Dorkin’s two-part arc promises to be the characters’ finale unlike the numerous Motley Crue and Who farewell tours. No idea what lies next in the second issue beyond them reuniting a decade later at San Diego Comic Con.
I’ve always enjoyed Eltingville since it pokes fun at the stuff I’m into. It also serves as a mirror to hold oneself up to. If I’m not as awful as these guys, I’m doing alright. Dorkin even stated in an interview, he’s not mocking fandom, he’s ripping a new one into the fanatics who make it unenjoyable for everyone. Back when I was living in Illinois, there was a guy that was the embodiment of the same problem so Dorkin hit close to home. Those are the books and comics I feel are the best, the titles which resonate to your own personal memories.
When Dark Horse publishes the Eltingville compilation this Fall, I will be buying it immediately and having it around to loan. If you can’t wait like me, give this book a try. Non-fans (or as my friend Steve Bryant called them, “straights,”) will laugh as well.
Things have certainly changed over the last few years at Image Comics. They’re no longer the creator-owned publisher of superheroes that are knockoffs of existing Marvel and DC characters. Nor are they exclusively the company relying solely on The Walking Dead. Image has become the company pushing the envelope on story telling harder than Dark Horse does in my opinion.
Black Science is my first example. The story focuses on Grant McKay, an unorthodox scientist developing the means to cross dimensions through his invention called the Pillar. His motivations are also shaky; this creation will save mankind by leading us to alternate realities where we can just steal the inhabitants’ technical advances so we won’t have to create them at great expense.
The inaugural “flight” with McKay and his Dimensionauts goes awry because someone sabotaged the Pillar, flinging them to an alien earth. Now they’re trying to return home but the contraption keeps taking them somewhere else at random. Adding to the stress, McKay foolishly chose to take his two children along thinking there was no risk. No, he figured it was a good opportunity for them to get to know his mistress better.
Currently, Black Science is on a brief hiatus after issue number six. There’s a trade paperback for 1-6 and the story will pick up later in the Summer.
Sex Criminals is a bit trickier. It isn’t for kids yet it isn’t pornography, even the milder R-rated kind shown on Cinemax. It’s what I prefer to call an adult story like some R-rated movies which earned the rating for the subject matter, not for showing pointless nudity; case-in-point Caddyshack. There’s a point to why the main characters have sex.
The focus is on Suzie and Jon who occasionally break the fourth wall with the audience reminiscing about the events. Both protagonists have an odd gift, when they have sex and climax, time stops. How long varies but they each discovered this power during their adolescence. Suzie calls this limbo state The Quiet, Jon has a more vulgar term.
They both meet at a party and through their mutual love of Nabokov, one thing leads to another that night and they discover both have the same ability. So Suzie and Jon decide to use their time-stopping powers to rob banks. Their motives aren’t necessarily selfish. The corporation they’re sticking it to wants to close the library Suzie works for unless its debt is paid in full. The lender hasn’t been very reasonable neither, fueling their rage further. Jon is a low-level employee at said bank and he hates his boss (you have to read how he expresses this). Getting him to join Suzie’s scheme didn’t take much effort.
Success is short-lived when the duo quickly discover there are others capable of traveling through The Quiet and they seem to be the Sex Cops.
Criminals is a humorous and frank comic book. There are parodies/pun names in the backgrounds or details if you look. The sex element isn’t pornographic, it’s a plot device and anyone looking for smut would be disappointed especially when it can be found on the Internet for free.
Great suggestion from Cindy and we’re both shocked it came from GQ. However, the author forgot one thing…stupid people tend not to read, they’ll be waiting for the miniseries or film of his advice.
Naming a child is something Somara and I have never had to experience. This turned out to be a good thing because it would be a huge bone of contention. I thought the debates over naming a new cat could turn ugly; I still say I’m better at this since Spumoni is superior appellation for a Calico than Ninja.
We agreed on a daughter being called Athena. Not after the weak single by the Who or the character from Battlestar Galactica (the Mormons in Space version). Athena is the goddess of democracy, defense and wisdom. Ergo the patron for Athens and its Athenians we idealize despite numerous misconceptions. Plus my name is Greek in origin, my first nephew too, why not hers.
The son was when the arguing kicked off. I pitched Apollo. He’s the god of music, poetry and philosophy. Carl Weathers’ performance as Apollo Creed has held up over the decades. Somara thought it would lead to teasing and ridicule. She never gave specifics so I dismissed the argument as emotional tripe. Now that I see it in writing, I guess the Spanish speakers could snicker for it resembles “chicken” in Spanglish.
Apollo derailed everything yet I do have other names if the “replacements” ended up being two boys or two girls. Daughter number two: I was leaning toward Penelope, the wife of Odysseus yet the goddesses may have been more appropriate, don’t want to give the kid a complex, so Demeter, Gaia or Artemis. Son number two: Hermes or Heracles.
It’s probably best we’re kept to just cats. However, I’m adamant against naming anyone after another living person. I find it to be an exercise in vanity with uber-needy people.
My Lego attempt isn’t perfect, but the Lord says to love thy neighbor. Shut up Flanders! Okaly dokally doo!
This month’s header is the big tribute to the Summer of 1989, the best Summer I ever had in college. All the lessons I learned and mistakes I made in 1988 were perfected to make 1989 not suck. I did pretty well, having my new girlfriend Carrie in the picture was just the gravy.
I’ll go from left to right on these four pictures.
Number one is obviously the box to my favorite console game I was playing obsessively on the Nintendo NES I bought on an impulse. What happened originally was a guy on our wing at Mashuda received one as a present from his girlfriend. The time we should’ve spent studying instead of playing hockey, basketball, Duck Hunt and Super Mario Brothers, makes my head spin. I gave in to getting one during an expedition to gets José his own VCR at Highland or American (Milwaukee appliance stores). Super Mario Brothers 2 was something I rented a couple times from the nearby Best Buy. It was a very different game. No points, just a story. Carrie scored it for me as a 21st birthday present.
Number two is Technique, the cover to the worst New Order album I ever owned. It gets displayed because Carrie and I bought tickets to see them at Summerfest. They were one of four bands featured at an Alternative showcase featuring them, the Sugarcubes (pre-solo Bjork), PiL and the Violent Femmes. Since the latter went on last, we left in a hurry. I can only stand the Violent Cheese in small doses and if you throw in a homecoming, it’s unbearable. New Order though was much, much better than when I saw them three years earlier for their Brotherhood tour. I think they finally received the negative feedback we fans had been sending about their lack of stage presence.
Number three is Milwaukee’s best grocery store chain. A grocery store? Seriously? Well it was part of a weekly ritual every Friday. José and I would finish our Summer jobs, I would get cleaned up thanks to paint crew being dirty work. Phil would be waking up from sleeping all day (he had an overnight job). We’d all pile into Phil’s car with our coupons to buy groceries. I hated this kind of shopping growing up. As I was wading into the ocean of real adulthood, I began to enjoy it. Flex some independence muscles. Save some money. Phil had his own little mischief ritual of stealing candy from the huge Brach’s setup. How I hated that. Not just for the stealing but if Phil got busted, we lost our ride. I blame my cultural Catholicism’s built-in guilt for this riling my ire. Years ago, I reminded Phil of his shoplifting exploits. Obviously he had no memory of it. How does Pick n’ Save stack up against HEB? No idea. There’s 20-plus years of distance between them. I can safely say HEB clobbers anything in North Carolina.
Finally is Rolemaster. The D&D competitor Neal and Deb Baedke introduced me to in 1988. I liked it enough I spent my Christmas ’88 dough on the essential books as we continued to play in Neal’s Witch-King of Angmar campaign. RM was a more appealing game in the late Eighties. D&D was still known as AD&D and for GenCon ’89, TSR’s big release was the new AD&D 2nd Edition. I recall Phil buying a copy right away. I wasn’t impressed courtesy of the RM snobbery was now enrolled in. The game catered to the detail and realism gap D&D lacked then. Just this week though the new D&D 5th Edition basic set appeared. Things have come full circle. What about RM? I eventually grew disenchanted with the ruleset by the mid-Nineties. RM’s a great game if you keep it confined to its core but the publisher drowned the product in too many supplemental materials (aka the Companion books). It never had a very developed campaign world neither. Some of RM’s DNA did make its way into 3E D&D and Pathfinder; skills, Monks not sucking and I recall it was a bigger proponent of giving the monsters character levels.
There were other great times, those four things were chosen for being very specific aspects with the Summer of 1989.
