This year is a super special birthday for my friend of 13 years. I can finally share the upcoming news regarding the pending arrival of his first child with his wife Kristin. No idea about the kid’s gender yet.
I think this tops the PHB2 I bought him a few years back.
It’s not getting as much support or hype as last year’s (hence why I’m a week late) and it was something I had thought about while 1982 was winding down. However, I can’t say I’m as emotionally invested in it because the actual Summer of 1983 for was a mess plus I recall being in transit most of the season.
We went to one movie the entire Summer, The Return of the Jedi. About half of the other titles I just remember from commercials. Most were awful or not interesting enough to bug my parents into going. That year was bigger on comedy. I think Alamo will have better luck next Summer with 1984. Quite a list then.
I’m wondering where’s Krull, Easy Money, Strange Brew, Superman III, Mr. Mom, The Man with Two Brains, Class, Cujo and Doctor Detroit. I didn’t claim they were all good. I guess 1983 was a tough call since it appears to have been a comedy-heavy summer. The ones Alamo chose, I barely remember being in theaters at the time, I caught the key choices on cable within two years.
I will make a big effort for Vacation due to it being a quote-along.
Anje’s day was Tuesday but I’ve been slogging through what I am going to call Malaise 13 (I think it’s a sinus thing now). We will be celebrating this later when we visit College Station over the Memorial-Day weekend. Maybe get Anje some peace of mind away from the boys.
Kris is my second Austin benefactor, the first is Lee because he brought me here in 1994. I give Kris credit for the return 15 years ago. With her daughter being all grown up, I hope she has a great day and squeezes in a trip to Las Vegas soon. Kris has the magic touch when it comes to gambling. One night after we all had dinner at Caesar’s Palace, I saw her nail a royal flush on a video poker machine. It could’ve been skill though. My system is still in the works.
A great pioneer in special effects before computer-generated stuff took over. Ray laid down the groundwork for other films that integrated miniatures with live action, namely The Empire Strikes Back‘s Hoth battle involving the walkers. His material even influenced the digital stuff we have today: Jurassic Park, Starship Troopers.
Ray’s own movies remain impressive despite the “flaws,” namely how the action blurring is off: Jason and the Argonauts, the Sinbad franchise and my personal favorite (the only one I actually saw in a theater) Clash of the Titans.
Thanks Ray for all the cool stuff you brought to life to make certain movies impressive!
This design may have lost the Teefury duel to something based upon the IT Crowd, an equally interesting show but I can’t help going with anything using Bryan Cranston.
I recently scored the mad scientist figure from Playmobil and used his gear to modify my hazmat team I bought a decade ago. Below is a closeup of them. Now I just need an RV.
Any movie with the number three in its title screams “SUCK!” in my mind. Namely The Hangover 3, Lethal Weapon 3, Doctor Dolittle 3. There are exceptions which whisper “mediocre,” like Star Trek III, Spider-Man 3. Iron Man 3 was leaning toward the former camp because its predecessor could be summed up with one word, turgid. I know the definition from Webster.com is different yet I feel my usage is accurate as per the spirit of Roger Ebert. We went for a couple reasons despite the cynicism: to celebrate the Summer kickoff and to see Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin…finally, a real opponent from the Iron Man mythos.
You’ve seen the commercials/trailers, you know what is going down so I won’t waste the electrons there.
I’m glad to say that the new director (Shane Black, famous for writing the first Lethal Weapon flick) breathed new life into Iron Man. It still runs a tad long but there are fewer boring gaps in the action, what one friend’s son called “too much chit chat,” aka scenes involving the hero’s girlfriend. Due to all the cross-pollination the Marvel studio is able to achieve in their shared universe, references are made about last Summer’s The Avengers plus Thor and SHIELD. Makes you wonder why aren’t the others involved in the fight, namely Captain America if the Mandarin is the new bin Laden. (I know, it’s just a movie.) As much as I prefer DC comics, the Marvel films have continued to impress me and Iron Man 3 did it again by re-inventing the Mandarin into a plausible nemesis for the 21st century. Maybe DC needs to stick to where they succeed, on the smaller screen before they make another Catwoman or homoerotic Batman movie.
I say ignore the critics who’ve given it weak reviews. They either don’t know squat about superheroes, they were expecting a Woody Allen story or they already decided to hate it. Trust me, I’m a stickler about the umbrella genre known as Nerdcore and since I’m boycotting Star Trek Into More Explosions and Lens Flares (I read a spoiler to confirm my reasons why JJ Abrams is the worst thing to happen to Star Trek), you can take my review to the bank.
As always, sit through all the ending credits for the traditional surprise and I’m not spoiling anything by saying Marvel promises Tony Stark will return.
The Alamo treatment was a funny mix of the cheesy Sixties Iron Man cartoons written by Ralph Bakshi and the not much better contemporary versions. Interjected between these snippets was an old movie of Robert Downey Jr. goofing around in front of a mirror, his short-lived recording career videos, a humorous commercial Ben Kingsley did for Prada, the Iron Baby movie, some guy at a convention who spends way too much time making the armor and Don Cheadle as Captain Planet in a Funny or Die bit.
What started out as an inconvenience resulted in yet another failure on Visa Security for the third time in the last several years.
My Saturday rounds were going alright: Rogues Gallery, Waterloo Records, 24 Diner…then I hit a snag at Pinballz with the card being declined. The attendant and I figured it was the usual issues they have with their system. I switched over to my debit card, played some games while I mentally cursed because CEFCU was closed after 3 PM.
While I was sitting at my desk, doing some overdue bookkeeping and waiting for Somara’s shift to end, I receive a phone call from Visa Security. My card was cut off due to a suspicious charge. So we reviewed them until the gentleman told me about the failed attempt in El Cajon, CA at a restaurant. Great. Somara’s card would remain open. As for me, I wouldn’t receive a new one for 7-10 days. Thankfully my credit union has better customer-service options; the nice lady cancelled the Visa order, made their own for me and I will be back in the loop by Wednesday night.
We were more prepared after the last lapse in Visa security or the vendors I’m suspecting (Netflix or Teefury). Somara’s credit union set us up with our back-up cards, we usually have them on hand when in Vegas to prevent a complete shut down in the middle of our annual pilgrimage.
My annoyance level has been downgraded from pissed to resigned. Visa, MasterCard and the other Too-Big-to-Care corporations will never get their collective crap together, not while the Teabagger Taliban, Republican and Republican Lite Parties remain in power. It wouldn’t have mattered. I check the card’s balance at least every other day, I would’ve caught this discrepancy.
Just remember to pay attention to yours!
The Saturday celebration that laid down the groundwork for Record Store Day and the lesser-known Roleplaying Day, turned 11. To me it remains relevant plus it coincides with the unofficial kickoff of Summer. The coolest titles they gave away were a new Tick adventure (the Tick and Arthur go on vacation), origin stories for several Walking Dead characters and a preview comic tied into the next Batman cartoon.
For me it’s also great to see all the excited children of various ages and both genders.
FCBD also lined up with the Star Wars holiday. Despite my disdain-to-indifference toward the franchise, I prefer to participate in the humorous side. It’s also the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi‘s debut. After the prequels, everyone shit talks this movie unfairly. In its defense I say, if you remove the Ewoks, then Jedi is decent. It is no Empire or Star Wars but the space battle between the Rebel fleet and Imperial armada totally rocks.
I didn’t get any photos because I arrived late (there was a pressing work matter) and the Rogues Gallery crowd doesn’t do costumes. I did break out a special pair of Chucks I’ve been saving for such an occasion…
Lego Catwoman showing them off.
I had the a touch of Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt added.
Friday night was a bit tense as our Stars finished off Milwaukee to advance to the next round. Two things come to mind regarding the outcome. Firstly, it was revenge for the last time my Stars went to the playoffs (two years ago) because it was the Admirals who eliminated them. I wasn’t terribly invested in the outcome due to the Stars not having much left in the tank, Houston knocked the Admirals afterwards. Secondly, it was the battle between my former home city against my current (and probably true) one. I don’t bear Milwaukee any ill will. The older city’s major drawback is its terrible winters.
The Barons upset the higher ranked Checkers. They were closely ranked so I guess it wasn’t unexpected. Now we face them and I’m confident we’ll send the Okies packing on way to the Calder Cup.
Sadly, the Aeros were defeated, thus ending 19 seasons of IHL/AHL hockey for the city of Houston. I do hope they get a new team soon. I’m guessing it will require a new venue due to the Rockets’ management being a big factor in the relocation to the booming city of Des Moines.
Go Stars!
The only wish for Grandma I have was that she enjoyed her life more when I knew her. Unlike most people my age/generation, my grandparents were almost a generation older than everybody else’s. By the time my memory kicked in, Grandma was retired from teaching and oddly she didn’t enjoy the life she had afterward. Not everything was unpleasant. I think the issue was a general cluelessness about contemporary life, aka the generation gap.
Despite the disagreements, arguments and other negative things, Grandma was a positive factor toward my development. Namely for providing the drive and later on, the means to earn a university education. There were numerous matters to be grateful for but my educational level is the biggest.
It would be nice to have a time machine. Then I could meet a younger, more coherent version of Grandma. Say thanks and have an adult discussion. Not an adult to grandchild level conversation or young adult to terminally ill person talk.
The man who is synonymous with the expression “Dude!” celebrates his sailboat birthday up there in Dallas. We spoke earlier (back in April) to confirm he’s taking a three-day weekend. This should go well with his new iMac I helped him buy, well, he paid for it, I was just the go-between. Since it will have a built-in iSight camera, maybe we’ll do some FaceTime or work on our long overdue, 20-years-in-the-making screenplay!
The card I need to send Jose will be late because I’m always in “April mode” when his birthday comes around. Wish him well too! He’s a good cat.
Sadly Alamo isn’t doing a Summer of 1983. Not sure why and I won’t press. I may have to come up with my own…right after I watch Blade Runner to conclude 1982, I’ll pretend it’s the 30th anniversary of catching it on cable. New Zealand doesn’t have that many well-known acts to make another montage.
Thus, why not go with Brian May. He is the lead guitarist of Queen and has a PhD in astrophysics/astronomy! What could kick ass more? If you listen to the track “39” from A Night at the Opera, it’s a great demonstration of Rock meets Science since Relativity is a key element to the song. Listen to the lyrics. I promise, your head won’t hurt.
Brian’s distinctive sound has influenced many guitar players and you can hear it with bands like Muse and early OK Go. Tell me others should they come to mind. I’m posting this in a hurry.
The Summer movie season kicks off this weekend with a Marvel-based character making it official. Should we be surprised it coincides with the annual Free Comic Book Day? Before we launch into what a great run (2012 was eventful) or an awful streak (most years), Somara and I wanted to catch what many have dubbed the John Carter of 2013. Personally, I think both flicks will be slowly vindicated. People are starting to come around to Speed Racer, anything is possible.
Oz is a prequel explaining how the Wizard (nee Oscar Diggs) came to the mythical land and became its ruler 30 odd years before Dorothy Gale sought his assistance. I liked how the writers made Oscar a womanizing stage magician because it plays into how events unfurled in the 1939 film: why did the people of Oz make him their ruler and why do the wicked witches hate him, namely Theodora (aka the Wicked Witch of the West). The movie also makes Theodora a more sympathetic, tragic character who was transformed into an evil person by Oscar’s actions. It was more plausible than Darth Vader’s origin eight years ago.
My only complaint with Oz is technical. Thanks to movies being presented digitally, the flaws in the special effects (CG characters, makeup) were more obvious. With traditional film, it wouldn’t have been as noticeable. I still enjoyed the story which was more important, I just prefer not to detect the visual shortcomings during my first viewing.
There were a handful of things I loved immensely to push me into the “pro” camp: the colors, the imagery, the witches’ costumes…namely Theodora’s, Oscar’s magic tricks and the black and white opening. Some reviewers hated the latter claiming it was pandering. I disagree, it’s a tradition. The “real” world is supposed to be bland, dull and the Land of Oz is bright, alien and enormous. If you pay attention, the screen gets wider when Oscar lands too.
Alamo’s extras were amusing: the trailer for Return to Oz circa the mid-Eighties, past versions of The Wizard of Oz (a Chuck Jones cartoon, a silent movie, a weird Russian take), scenes from The Wiz and finale to Kentucky Fried Movie‘s parody of Enter the Dragon.
Today was pretty decent. The nasal spray the Apple-based doctor put me on may be getting results. I cough, wheeze and hack much less. Let’s see if I drop to zero tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I wanted to show off the cool gadget the dietitian gave me. She seems to be on my side regarding diabetes (I probably don’t have it) and a series of samples should prove it.
The trend is running in my favor according to the parameters Bayer follows. Will the doctors agree, that’s the million-dollar question.
I hope to keep this around afterwards, do occasional testing and eventually donate it to a needy diabetic.
