…I repeat, a piper is down. ‘S all right, he’s just pissed.
It does seem that my site is slowly evolving into a running journal but I’ve been hitting all these landmarks recently.
Yesterday’s involved mileage or distance.
Last year, I was cruising along decently, getting closer to Jose’s house, aka destination number one at 208 miles. Then we all know what followed. This took away a two months. After the treadmill repair, my inspiration fizzled and I closed out 2011 with a disappointing 246.7 miles (397 km).
I have now exceeded this within half the time! The spreadsheet I use to track my progression is going to be seeing some outstanding numbers for the remainder of 2012.
Tomorrow, health, weather and logistics willing…I will cross the 500-mile mark, putting me on schedule to exceed 600 before we go on vacation. The nice lady who works in the fitness center told me she got the two broken treadmills fixed too. Now I won’t have to wait a few minutes for the Fit Club to finish.
I promise not to make a wrong turn at Albuquerque as well.
Mondays are always hard but Jose made my day by sharing his personal good news, then topped it off with his announcement to be in Austin during my birthday weekend!
Last year, his in-laws canceled our plans. This year he said he could until some other matter got in the way; it was important so I recovered quickly.
Now everything is falling into place which is good. Jose and Nancy visited in December. I procrastinated too long to post the pictures for any relevant story.
Be ready for some better ones, reminiscing, new stories and maybe a catchphrase to pepper the weekend. Jose has a knack for this!
Pixar is back on track but not entirely with this release. After the painfully dreadful, insipid Cars 2 (I have sat through this so I can rightfully complain), things could only get better…yes and no.
Yes, because the cast/voices fit the characters not the other way around as per Dreamworks. Pixar also went with real Scots, boosting the authenticity instead of using imitation accents, aka everybody sounds like Darrell Hammond’s Sean Connery gag. The list features: Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltrane, Craig Ferguson, Kevin McKidd and Kelly Macdonald. I guess Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle would’ve exceeded the rule on how many Trainspotting alumni were allowed. The technology is obviously present in the details as much of Brave resembles the 2008 opener Presto.
With the story’s execution, here’s where I’m not sure. I don’t have home access to cable/broadcast TV which means I’ve seen little of the advertising campaign. Sometimes commercials reveal key plot points/twists, same goes for trailers. All I knew going in was the heroine’s desire to change her fate. How this would come about was a pleasant surprise. Either Disney restrained itself or I lucked out. I have to go with the latter knowing the marketing campaigns studios have ramped up every Summer.
No, due to Brave‘s core DNA being a rehashing of Disney’s Princess formula from the Nineties minus the key characters breaking out into musical numbers. I expect this type of film with Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers and especially Dreamworks. Pixar had a reputation for making more daring fare that entertained adults as well as children. Sometimes their movies upset certain political camps, see WALL-E or The Incredibles. This isn’t the case.
Is it really worth seeing? Absolutely. Even a mediocre Pixar movie is better than their competitors despite the quality gap shrinking (Despicable Me, Over the Hedge prove it happened). The positive qualities do outweigh its cynically chosen negatives, just don’t plan on this to break new ground.
In short, Brave is better than both Cars cartoons but it’s no Toy Story; Up; A Bug’s Life; Monsters, Inc. nor Ratatouille. The last one I often find myself defending from the title of weakest/least re-watchable.
The opening cartoon La Luna rocked. Sit tight through the ending credits, there will be a final joke to reward your patience. The 3-D charge was worthwhile. Animation can make the transition more easily than live-action. Our opening trailers were boring: Paranorman, Frankenweenie and Ice Age Flogs a Dead Horse. No Monsters, Inc. prequel.
Alamo’s warm-up show was Pixar’s shorts. Something they do every year. Taking in a mid-morning show means the theater serves these bitchin’ breakfast scones, our actual incentive to go during a rugrat/yard ape screening.
Online T-shirt seller celebrated last week’s solstice by having a 30% off sale. The discount was enough to tempt me into getting a handset for those long calls I actually have on my iPhone. This probably amplifies my status as a Luddite but c’mon, look at the picture below, my handset is pretty cool!
The thing just works too. It has volume control buttons on the side and its “neck” has the hang-up button. I tried to test it out by calling Somara. Unfortunately I picked a bad time. I think she was hanging up on me intentionally, not because she couldn’t hear me. Jose was my next guinea pig. I may have gotten his voice mail yet he followed up to let me know it worked!
The iPhone cover is ten times cooler and better! It’s more like camouflage against anybody under 25 from stealing my iPhone.
Several things would make the cover perfect, maybe I can pull off a couple:
Here’s where the contest comes in, if I haven’t lost you by now. While I’ve been showing this off to my fellow Gen Xers (people born between 1965-1980 roughly) and older, we made jokes about lame bands to write on the cover as another defensive measure.
So I put it to you readers to propose the worst band and/or name for me to write down with a Sharpie®. Currently, the strongest suggestion came from a cool guy in the Apple cafeteria…Bread. Lame and it frightens thieves on a low-carb diet! This beats my plan to go with Little River Band who happen to be one of my favorite 10 acts of the Seventies. I just know LRB is ignorantly reviled by the masses. I want to see if anyone can beat the leading recommendation for a bitchin’ prize worth 20 bucks.
Good luck!
As per his song “Haul Away,” Tim was born in Te Awamutu and has gone on to international fame. Maybe not as much renown as his younger brother Neil but Tim does have a larger body of work; Chip scored me his latest The View is Worth the Climb (his ninth solo) which probably won’t have an American printing for a while. Let’s not forget the his song that was featured in the first Narnia film, “Winter Light.”
I have had the opportunity to see Tim perform live twice and I was up close both times.
The first was in 2004 with Neil during the Finn Brothers’ tour, Everyone is Here remains at the top of my Best Five in the Aughts list. Had I known Tim was around for autographs, I would’ve hung out because the second opportunity was a bust. However, number two was an even better performance, just Tim and a guitarist at the Cactus Cafe (a booking the current KUT regime will never do again). My friend Mark M and I were in the front row. It was awesome to just see the older Finn have the spotlight to himself, do his take on songs he co-wrote with Neil and demonstrate upcoming material for what would be The Conversation. I was disappointed over Tim leaving immediately, Eileen Rose (his opener) explained how he tended to turn in early and/or spend time with his young son. I’ve never been angry about it. Tim has provided me hundreds of hours of entertainment, joy and reflection through his lyrics. My only wish was the thank him in person, get my picture with a person whose music became a part of my DNA.
Personal five faves by Tim (singing lead or written):
“Hyacinth”
“Good Together”
“Homesick”
“Weather With You”
“Birds Swim, Fish Fly”
Hot Topic’s favorite incompetent alien invader gets a proper mashup with Star Wars. I love the added detail of GIRbacca’s zipper and seam being visible.
We are now hitting the home stretch to the official Summer of 1982 celebration with the only remake in the batch. As I’ve often confessed, Horror isn’t a strong topic for me so I recruited some local expertise from Jarrett, a co-worker/great guy who is a huge Carpenter aficionado, namely with the bullet points and history below.
The Thing is a significant movie in its own right for these reasons:
Some additional facts regarding The Thing provided by Jarrett:
Alamo stuck with their bulk 1982 material. Some was the same from past showings but here are the things I had failed to mention: Spark’s video for “I Predict,” and this guy from PC Magazine giving pointers on to get the most from a Commodore 64. I snickered over his emphasis on keeping the manual handy.
Thanks to Fandango’s servers sucking, the only seats we could get for the sold-out showing were in the balcony. Their $20/each price tag irked me until we were escorted to them via Adam (an assistant manager, nice dude too). Getting there consisted of a special elevator ride followed by a quick walk through the projection booth (they still use platters!). We exited via the four flights of stairs the wait staff utilizes, then passed the kitchen…reverse Goodfellas! Adam showed us how the newly installed recliners worked and left to fill our drink orders. Oh yeah. We’re doing the balcony again should there be a movie playing that’s super close to our hearts.
MC Zack and his buddy (I will find out his name by TRON) greeted the crowd, then handed things over to Scott Weinberg from the co-sponsor Movies.com. Scott was in the minority of guests they’ve brought who had something worthwhile to say. Maybe diehard Carpenter fans would disagree, much like my statement about Star Trek II‘s speaker, yet I was touched by his funny statement about Austin. To paraphrase, he said in other cities he’s an expert on movies, in Austin he’s just a guy on stage talking. I do admit my adopted home has a higher proportion of film geeks than anywhere else I’ve lived. Many are also more polite than you’d expect. Scott brought up Jarrett’s points and a few more I hadn’t thought about. You can read his essay to see. My favorite is how the lack of any women in the base prevented the other characters from demonstrating any bravado so they bicker like panicked teenage boys. I would attend another screening with Weinberg as a host/guest. His enthusiasm and expertise was on par with Joe Bob Briggs.
Afterwards, Zack had to tell everyone the sad news. Alamo planned to have a surprise guest…co-star Wilford Brimley. He played the biologist Dr. Blair (I forgot!). Currently he’s in the hospital for an emergency situation yet Wilford told Zack on the phone he promised to visit us as soon as he’s well. I hope he recovers.
No news about Blade Runner. It seems everything will officially wrap up with TRON. I am seeing The Wall with my friend Jeff and I’m on the fence about Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I don’t have a strong affection toward the jokes because people like Spicoli weren’t amusing, they were dicks.
On to the mood-setting trailers: Swamp Thing and Escape from New York. Then TRON to remind everyone to return in two weeks.
How is The Thing 30 years later? Impressive. The dated technological elements don’t hinder how tense and scary the situation is. I think the men on the base would still be screwed in 2012 since Antarctica’s winter storms can defeat even today’s gadgets, thus preventing any reasonable chance of rescue. Carpenter’s use of humor was great; don’t want to give the audience a heart attack from being wound up all the time. The pre-CGI special effects have held up. They weren’t as vomit-inducing as I remembered. I might be more de-sensitized now; If I covered my eyes when the Nazis melted in Raiders circa 1981, I’m confident I would’ve at least turned my head a few times when the Thing made its moves against its victims. Other factors of note. The Thing doesn’t have a happy ending, it’s an ambiguous-to-tragic finale with the last two survivors probably freezing to death, each suspecting the other is infected. The majority of Horror movies I’ve seen tend to have at least one hero/heroine defeating the foe, living to tell the rescuers what went down: Alien, all the Friday the 13th splatterfests. The Thing lacks any hints as to which people were infected until there’s an attack; no musical cues, no foreshadowing (except Norris, this may be my memory at work) and no symptoms. All these traits vindicated Carpenter’s masterpiece within a matter of years. When it debuted, The Thing was poorly received by audiences outside the usual Horror crowd and critics were less than kind. The latter was unusual, many praised Halloween. Today, this movie is well-regarded, a gold-standard in the genre.
Ratings:
1982 (13-year-old me): B+. Outside of Escape from New York, I usually approached Carpenter with trepidation. He had a (perceived) reputation for splatter films. I tried to watch The Fog on HBO in 1981 and had to change the channel. I may have enjoyed violent movies when I was pre-teen, I just didn’t like gruesome murders or attacks by monsters. However The Thing proved me wrong. Sure it was gross yet it wasn’t gratuitous gore or violence. Seeing it through our puny 13″ color TV probably helped.
2012: A+. Again, Carpenter was vindicated thanks to VCRs and Cable giving The Thing a second wind. My perfect grade is more for the movie’s technical merits the adult version of me notices. It is a great story too. The only nitpicky matter is the Thing’s magical ability to disguise and/or shed all the mass it acquires from the accumulation of victims. If I had the opportunity to teach my nephews and nieces the essentials of film/suspense (I might, Wyatt is a budding auteur), I would make The Thing mandatory once the kid is old enough not to have nightmares from it.
The Thing‘s life lessons as per other 1982 features:
Today and tomorrow the weather will have temperatures exceeding 100F/40C. It appears that matters are going to crest and Austin then returns to the equally awful mid 90F/upper 30C climate. This isn’t exactly a shock other than the heat wave being early. Normally we experience such high temperatures by July-August, same goes for all the damned crickets getting into everything.
Ten years ago, the weather was milder, at least around the June weekend Somara and I planted the 20-gallon crepe myrtle out front. The builder didn’t privacy was important with the dining room window. Never mind how the view at night results in a straight shot into the living room with the lights on. We agreed on purchasing the tree/bush because this plant flourishes here.
The fun began around dawn. We rushed to Home Depot, bought the 20-gallon and a 10-gallon (it’s doing great in the backyard; it’s much, much taller) and I figure some other crap. Somara’s pick-up truck wasn’t sufficient for transporting the gear, thus we rented the special, larger pick-up Home Depot has. We had to get in queue thanks to someone else sharing our need; we passed the time eating breakfast at McDonald’s.
Once all the vehicles were ironed out, we got down to digging a hole deep enough for our new purchase. The first few inches…easy, probably 15-20 minutes of work. The remaining couple feet took several hours. Stray pieces of limestone, clay, whatever. Dynamite would’ve been more efficient!
It was pretty satisfying to achieve the task by noon. As you can see from the photo above, the crepe myrtle appears rather, well, wimpy. The tree/bush obscures the window adequately plus has a nice color. Blends in with its surroundings too.
Today the crepe myrtle looks like this…
I’d say our 20-gallon investment has exceeded our expectations for privacy. With the blistering hot Summers, the tree/bush does a good job at providing shade for the dining room and the cats’ viewing perching in the window sill.
Matt Groening finally threw in the towel on what launched his career; Back in the Eighties someone gave James L. Brooks a poster version of “Nine Ways to Die in LA” as a gift, thus inspiring the Oscar® winning producer/director to recruit the cartoonist.
After Life in Hell disappeared from the Austin Chronicle, I figured the strip had ended. Seemed logical, it’s impossible to find the darned thing online. What I’m hoping for is a future book containing as many strips as possible, namely Groening’s annual list of forbidden words and a particular dig at tattoos in the Nineties.
Never underestimate the power of random flyers! But let me start off with answering the question that must be ringing in my minds regarding the lovely and talented singer Beth Wood. Some of you may recognize her name because we used the song “Already Yours” on our wedding mix. After seeing Beth open for Angie Aparo in 2003, I always kept mental tabs for new material and/or her return to Austin (graduate of UT, grew up in Lubbock). A couple months ago, I was having dinner at a Rudy’s, spotted her name on a flyer, discovered Beth would be playing this June at a nearby church! This led to getting back up to speed on her Web site, scoring the latest record and writing her an e-mail which Beth replied to!
Fast forward to last weekend. Beth was the headliner at this Presbyterian Church near my house; the church sponsors music on a monthly basis is my guess. It was a great intimate acoustic affair with mostly songs from the current release The Weather Inside yet she did a fave from You Take the Wheel (I ignorantly can’t remember the original album “Late Night Radio” originates from). I really hope Beth comes through town again soon, Somara missed out due to cake experiments.
Opening for Beth was Ben Mallot who I discovered is a co-worker at Apple! He was a great choice too. Ben’s voice and style reminded me of Charlie Robison, then after my brain had more time to digest his sound, it clicked with Hoyt Axton. The funny part was in a follow-up e-mail I sent him, Ben said I wasn’t the first to relate him with the famous troubadour from Gremlins. Since this gentleman lives and works around my neck of the woods, Somara and I should see if we can recruit his talent for a party.
The post-show element was enjoyable. I quickly burned Beth a copy of said wedding mix to give her. We wanted to share this as a thank-you and see the artists whose company we put her in: XTC, Matthew Sweet, LRB, Jenny Morris, Finn Brothers, Aquabats and Queen to start, I’d say Beth held her own quite well! I just recall so vividly the Summer evening in 2003 when she performed “Already Yours” at the Cactus Cafe. It’s a lovely tune. I sat there thinking, getting married to Somara in Las Vegas…this is gonna’ work out thanks to the lyrics’ imagery illustrating why I enjoy my future wife’s company. Anyway, Beth thought the CD-R was a nice gesture. I think she sincerely was surprised and looking forward to it. Believe me, I’ve seen numerous artists given stuff while there’s a glint of “ugh!” in their eyes. Looking back nine years later, I do admit the wedding mix could use some refinement. I did do better on our fifth anniversary and come the tenth, watch out.
Lastly I asked Beth if she still spoke to Angie (Aparo). She replied yes and he’s doing alright. Maybe they’ll collaborate again.
Meanwhile I’m looking forward to more Beth Wood material. I’m on an active mailing list so Somara will get to see this songstress in action. If I was right about Paul Kelly, Beth will be a slam dunk.
Well, I haven’t taken a true, hard Physics class in over 26 years so I’ll have to trust this shirt’s validity. It probably came from Think Geek.
Here’s the big shock, it’s raining in Austin for a change. I can hear the thunder and we experienced some sprinkling on the way in.
I have another question/peeve too. Why is our calendar all set up this way? Shouldn’t the longest day of the year or Solstice be closer to the middle? Maybe the beginning of the year? I was just pondering because when I was a kid, it felt somewhat like a ripoff to experience the day with the most sunlight this soon…it would be all “downhill” for the remainder of my Summer Vacation.
Enjoy! I know I’m making the best of it, trying to sit tight until I squeeze in a true vacation before the First Day of Fall.
Today I virtually passed through Clovis, New Mexico. I readily admit the gap between this destination and Ft. Stockton was much smaller than say my first target (Jose’s first Dallas abode at 208). I just have to go with what I find on the maps. The town stuck out for two reasons.
The first was in a Star Trek comic John Byrne wrote/drew, it’s pretty cool too since it involves the Enterprise‘s adventure a few years before Kirk was in command. Anyway, Clovis comes into play when the landing party is bombarded with arrows and somebody (not Spock) notes the designs.
The second was infrequently mentioned by an ex-friend who may have been trying to use the Clovis findings to validate the events in the Book of Mormon. Not likely. Besides, fair-skinned Europeans didn’t have a monopoly on certain architectural designs. Look at the pyramids found in Central America, Thailand and Egypt. It means the structure is something humans like, not proof of Egyptian colonization.
Moving along, the progression bar has been pushed back to target number five, the place Bugs Bunny keeps making a wrong turn at. Even with my recent success of three miles/day, I think the next 220 miles will take all Summer and Fall. As I look over my spreadsheet, I do have a good shot at finishing before the year ends.
Thanks for all your support!
For a mere ten clams, I’m willing to show my support of Round Rock’s best store and it’s close to my house!
On June 30 they will be hosting comic-book writer/artist Ty Templeton who I can’t wait to meet because he has worked on Bongo’s The Simpsons and various DC titles.
