I crossed yet another distance barrier this morning. Putting me closer and closer to 2000 and Apple HQ, which I hope to reach by my 15th anniversary.
Meanwhile, I have been maintaining my two miles/day average since last Saturday, drawing closer to a week. The next objective on the daily distance will be to “bank” extra miles for when I am in Vegas. I highly doubt I will have any serious opportunity to exercise thanks to the hotels charging a ridiculous fee for staying fit.
Onward to 1800!
It’s not too late to wish my first ’98 friend in Austin a happy birthday plus this is valid for an additional two hours thanks to him living on the West Coast!
I’m hoping the girls will have made him cake, cards, the whole shootin’ match. I sent him a rather funny card. When he visits Austin next time, we can go out and enjoy an adult drink together.
My OCD and Creative Itch had to be scratched last week when I walked by the Lego Store. I blame not getting to finish the spaceship I was trying to build when we went to the Lego Movie a couple weekends earlier. Although I couldn’t get all the bricks to be color coordinated, I’m proud of the results. I regret my Qatar-residing nephews weren’t present. We’ve had some great times building stuff plus I would receive an ego boost in how Cannon and Wyatt requested Uncle Steve-based creations.
Miss Penelope’s airplane is propeller-driven because I couldn’t find any jet-like looking pieces. I think it turned out better with props.
It does bear a resemblance to an X-Wing Fighter or the recently released Z-95 Headhunter precursor from the novels. The canopy/cockpit isn’t completely sealed so Miss Penelope can only take it up to the same altitudes as WWI era craft.
I put the colored blocks on the wingtips in case Miss Penelope tries to her crazy contraption at night or through fog.
Next challenge…a road vehicle but I’m open to your suggestions.
The Simpson women: Marge, Lisa and Maggie
This pair featuring America’s longest-running animated family was acquired last Summer but I never got around to lacing them up. Judging from the background, I didn’t photograph them neither.
The Simpson men: Homer and Bart
I love how they put the characters on the rubber part of the Chucks to use up all the real estate. What the Converse site didn’t do a good job showing was all the Springfield residents in the background. That or they originally planned to have the Simpsons on a white background.
The final touch is the blue laces, they come with yellow tips.
Somebody (or somebodies) made Lego versions of bands mostly from the Nineties. The article says they’re my favorites. Ummm, maybe one. The rest I’m OK with and several I would rather stab my ears with knitting needles before enduring their so-called music. Hopefully the “master builder(s)” will treat us to another go. They don’t have to be my real favorites, I just want to see more demonstrations of toy creativity.
I didn’t have my picture taken with Gary because I wanted to be polite to the other autograph seekers at Waterloo Records. Being first in line (for once), I felt obligated to not be that asshole who gobbled up his brief window of time.
As much as I talk smack about SXSW due to it being a magnet for NYC, LA and other major cities’ jet trash (an accurate expression coined by a co-worker), I always make an effort to attend at least one Waterloo Records showcase. Waterloo is my number one store for new stuff, long-time friend Chip helps book the artists, it’s free and it is nice to take an afternoon off from work, ride the train downtown, enjoy Spring. The people watching is often amusing, especially the influx of Hipsters, ©Rappers and self-important members of the Industry, the latter you can usually spot with their badges representing which dying outlet they will be laid off from eventually.
This Spring the cool show was New Wave legend Gary Numan. Yes, yes, he’s still around and like many artists…he never went away. His sound has changed over the years as he has embraced Nine Inch Nails, Filter and Orgy. It took a few listens to gain an appreciation but I grew to like the new Gary. I have yet to pick up his catalog between The Pleasure Principle and the 2005 album I found through Alternative Classics to get a better idea about his sound’s evolution.
When I discovered Gary Numan was performing at Waterloo Records, I made sure I scheduled the time to see him.
Once I arrived at the store, I spotted Chip and kept him company in the nice weather. During the shows, Chip guards the small parking area next to Waterloo so the acts can get in/out quickly, load/unload their gear, etc. Besides keeping him company, I make sure he has plenty of water, assist should he need a little break and catch up since we’ve last talked. Gary cut it pretty close to show time. We kept waiting and looking for the car or van that would bring him. I also amused myself with a little game called, count the number of idiots on their phone while driving at a super-busy intersection. Result? 13. Roughly a quarter of the passing cars. All drivers were solo, mostly ladies.
Getting into the new Gary Numan sound paid off. I was familiar with his current appearance. He and his appeared under the wire via pedi-cab! I couldn’t stop laughing. It was amusing, not ridiculous. To me it demonstrated a concern for the environment and/or a willingness to help a cycling enthusiast make some money.
Well Gary hit the stage, did four numbers. Mostly newer material which I liked and played his crowd-pleasing hit “Cars.” He’s still got it! Especially when he took off on the keyboard solo.
For my brief face time, I was thrilled to see Gary Numan smiles and laughs when off the stage. I didn’t think he is all serious and somber all the time. You just get accustomed to the public persona musicians present in concerts or (if they’re aired) music videos. I thanked him for coming, let him know his sequence from Urrgh! A Music War remains a favorite performance of mine despite the giggling you hear from the audience in theaters. He smiled, said, yeah it’s kind of silly now. I followed up with “do you still have the cart?” Gary turned to his wife to ask and she said, “Yes, it’s at your dad’s place.” Awesome!
It’s not over the price increase which is really nothing compared to how much of a rip off Cable/Satellite have become…$100/month to watch 20 minutes of commercials an hour and channels that push crap reality shows as “entertainment.” Anyway, we’re letting our trial period end next month because its streaming capabilities are inferior. Netflix may stall out on high-peak days or times but Amazon Prime, all the time. I tried to finish out Ugly Americans through it. Every episode, there was a “loading” incident at least five times while Netflix pushed something of equal length without issue.
The SCLM is missing the point as always. Amazon Prime will probably continue to be a weak alternative to Netflix and Hulu Plus over its technical or content issues, not price.
The Austin Lego Store is displaying a fitness club or gym created from scratch by a local user group It’s pretty impressive. There’s a rock-climbing wall, a pool, tennis court, common exercise gear and the best touch is on the roof…
I’m confident that Bill O’Reilly will waste the energy arguing about Lincoln never saying this neither.
Seven years later, 300 receives a sequel. A “coquel” is what many seem to call Rise because this movie depicts how Themistocles and the Athenian navy kept Leonidas and his 300 Spartans from being flanked by the Persians. Any further facts to the story evaporate pretty quickly. The Onion review was pretty critical about the characters’ ranting on how this was a war for freedom when the Greeks practiced slavery. I think the reviewer missed the point. Americans have a D+ average at History and Civics, otherwise Zack Snyder, Tom Clancy and Aaron Sorkin would be unemployed. Rise fuels the continued misinformation but the History Channel, A&E and TLC do more ongoing damage by airing the Adventures of America’s White Trash.
Back to the movie…
It begins with a long exposition that makes Tolkien seem brief. We see what happened at Marathon ten years earlier, why the Persians want to invade again, how Xerxes transformed from a wimpy king to a Lady Gaga wannabe and the story of Artemisia, the Greek admiral advising Xerxes. Next, Themistocles convinces Athens to gather its forces to defend Greece despite the other city states bowing out or trying to go it alone. Unlike the Spartans, the Athenians are citizen soldiers who aren’t well trained nor have much battle experience. Based upon the blood, guts, violence and gratuitous slow-motion shown on the screen, the Athenians prove to be pretty formidable as they defeat several Persian waves trying to get a beachhead. There’s some conversation, flashback and a sex scenes to break up the monotony. One cool element the producers brought in was the actual one-mile bridge of boats the Persians used to shave a year off the journey to invade.
Did I like it? More than I expected. I just know it isn’t for everyone. The D&D geek in me found some inspiration from Rise. My History gene was left at home, I knew it would be annoyed.
Alamo Extras: The Robot Chicken gag 1776 as if it went like 300, a Leonidas exercise video, a horrible parody combining 300 with United 97, a Lego version of 300, the trailer for 300 Spartans and a great joke from Honest Trailers.
I caught this on the way to the train Thursday (leaving SXSW). Not sure who was behind the skywriting which involved possibly five planes or one with a very specialized ability. After the declaration of “Pi in the sky,” the skywriters went on to display the geometric constant out to many places. No luck getting a picture of that, the beginning was in the sun and the writing started to go in a circle. I gave up watching after the second nine.
The pound (or hashtag) symbol at the beginning implies a Twitter handle but I have interest beyond this display. Should you be curious, share with the rest of us what the heck it was all about.
A big virtual shout out to a friend who has stuck by me with his regular phone calls for over 22 years! Nelson is either a true friend or a masochist, I doubt both. Well, he is the biggest Star Trek fan I know and the franchise has been tested by Shatner and Abrams directing.
This year I sent him the coolest Star Trek card I recently found. It had the Enterprise in a black velvet-like background. Maybe it was felt. Whatever it was, the darned thing attracted cat fur so I should’ve kept the card in a safer place. To keep the nerdy inside joke, I apologized for there being tribble fur on his card.
If you know Nelson and are friends with him, give the guy a call damn it. He deserves some good news people other than me.
One of the great comedians I used to see on Johnny Carson when the adults let stay up late. I remember his jokes about Thanksgiving, the cool side of the pillow and how only mosquitos make noise. David was definitely the predecessor to the bigger names from the Eighties and Nineties using his schtick, namely Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno.
Hopefully Marc Maron will have tribute or interview posted this upcoming Monday.
