Backyard kittens remain missing, mama cat appeared

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Steve

Buttercup made an appearance tonight. She’s always a sucker for a free meal and petting. Too bad I don’t have the means to read her tiny mind, get an idea of where the quarter of kittens happen to be. The most frustrating thing about this whole situation was canceling Buttercup’s examination for Saturday. Now I need to call the vet again, see if I can get a conditional situation, namely our success in locking her up Friday evening.

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Willie Nelson statue in downtown

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Steve

Finally got to see the statue erected to the Red-Haired Stranger. It’s located in front of the relatively new Austin City Limits (aka Moody) Theater. Willie’s is certainly easier to find than Stevie Ray Vaughn’s off Town Lake.

At least I have another attraction to show my guests when we poke around downtown but I figure it won’t be enough to persuade them against the day trip to San Antonio.

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Backyard kittens update mid May…catnapped again?

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Steve

Sorry if I don’t have any cute movies of the feline foursome, I hope to get one soon because their wrestling/chasing antics in the backyard are pretty cute. They’re growing like weeds too. Personalities are forming: Panthra is the boss, very aggressive, likes attention; Leona is shy, runs away; Tigra and Lynx-o I’m still figuring out.

Once again, they’ve gone missing since I couldn’t find them this morning when I went out to feed them and give them each a quick hug…part of making them accustomed to people, less feral. Somara theorizes they’ve gone wandering with their mother (not seen in a day but has a vet appointment Saturday). I fear the neighbors have stolen them back. Yes, stolen. It’s a rather harsh term yet this is my point: animals are classified as property by law and they were born in my yard. We’ve also spent the money to ensure they’re healthy, ergo these kittens are our property.

I’m probably just getting too worked up and Somara’s right. They’ll wander back when they’re starving. Fingers crossed.

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RIP: Peter Jones, drummer for Crowded House

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Steve

My evil-twin doctor brought this up during our monthly session and I had to quickly clear it up a tad.

Although the SCLM is bringing up how Peter was the drummer for Crowded House, albeit after Paul Hester went AWOL during the band’s final 1994 tour through 1996 when Neil Finn officially dissolved CH; I think they’re fishing for a sequential or coincidental angle, anything to sell ad space. Sequential? Coincidental? Many people remember that CH’s first drummer and co-founder Paul Hester killed himself in 2004. Ergo, all the poor-taste Spinal Tap jokes will come rolling in. My money is on permanent adolescent Howard Stern.

So fear not, Matt Sherrod remains the current drummer since joining the re-united Crowded House circa 2005. There isn’t some dark cloud looming over the band or its primary songwriter Neil Finn a la Eric Clapton.

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Happy 60th Birthday Mr. T!

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Steve

I pity the fool who doesn’t send him a gift or card! Meanwhile, I think the stars were specially aligned this week over his birthday. Why? Because I am going to see Mr. T in the role which made him famous (Clubber Lang) in Rocky III at Alamo Ritz next Friday!

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Summer of 1982 II: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Steve

I had to delay this installment by a day because Alamo Drafthouse’s official showing was a Rolling Road Show down at a racetrack in Kyle, TX. It sounded really awesome, or in ’82-speak…awesome to the max (for the record, I never spoke in such a moronic manner when I was 13). First there was a demolition derby between four post-Apocalyptic cars followed by the Punk band Rocktansky that only does songs about Mad Max films. Then the movie started around 9 PM. However, I prefer to watch movies inside so I missed out on the introduction from The Film School Rejects. It might have been for the better, I did encounter a couple guys at my screening who went. They said it was OK but the racetrack controlled the concessions and all the decent seats were occupied early. The Saturday screening was fine; the Conan showing got me addicted to the fanfare I missed.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is a relatively important flick in its own right:

  • It contributed to Mel Gibson’s rise as an Action movie star.
  • It was the first truly successful Aussie movie in the States raking in $23 million (over $50 million today) not bad for something costing $4 million Oz dollars; its predecessor Mad Max had a tepid American reception despite being the first International Aussie blockbuster. I do recall Mad Max making the rounds on cable and VHS with certain circles of classmates.
  • It paved the way for directors Baz Luhrman, PJ Hogan and Jane Campion.
  • It added to American interest in Aussie culture which was spearheaded that year by Men at Work’s hit songs “Down Under” and “Who Can It Be Now?” Not all worked out. Remember Young Einstein or the dude from the battery commercials?
  • Vernon Wells, who played the main antagonist Wez, also got noticed and became mainstay villains in other Eighties faves: Commando and Weird Science. The former SAS soldier continues to work if you check out his imdb.com page.

The Alamo Ritz did get everybody fired up with the pre-show material. This consisted mostly of car chase-sequences; trailers for Smokey and the Bandit, Deathrace 2000 and Crazy Larry, Dirty Mary; Apocalypse humor such as an Onion: In the Know debate, Epic Tales from the Internet Post Apocalypse and the best one was by an actual Aussie; hilarious without using a torrent of profanity (some people like the other douche and his lazy game reviews). They’d be negligent to omit the two trailers for Mad Max and Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome.

I never did see MM2:RW in theaters. Once again, the R rating meant an automatic veto from my parents. The movie’s existence wasn’t even known until I saw an incredibly long trailer for it during TRON in late July/early August. One friend commented, “I think I’ve seen this so why do I need to go.”

I saw it on TV within a couple years. I want to say it was an edited version on NBC yet my memory is hazy on this due to viewing the actual film later on. MM2:RW is definitely the strongest of the Mad Max Trilogy. Mad Max feels like a low-budget cop-revenge flick set in the Australian equivalent of America’s Deep South. There’s no clear indication of civilization unraveling from what I could tell; Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome just plain sucked all way down to the goofy Tina Turner song. The latter does live on in the Pop culture lexicon via Thunderdome’s main rule…two men enter, one man leave!

How was Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior 30 years later? Beyond all the drama regarding Mel Gibson’s life over the last decade, I think it remains one of the best Post-Apocalypse films ever produced. Some elements are dated which honestly can’t be avoided when dealing with a story set in the near future. The main highway battle at the end is a hundred times better on the big screen and remains one of the best five “car chases” in film history. I had forgotten how young Mel was then (25-26, he looks 30-plus) and how little he spoke…16 lines total. Alamo showed the Australian cut which didn’t appear radically different. It’s about a minute longer so no additional insight was gained.

Ratings:

1982 (13-year-old me): A-. Contrary to Reagan’s apologists, a nuclear war between the US and Soviet Union was a strong possibility; the B-movie actor’s saber rattling was a huge factor. This story was more cathartic than The Day After or Wargames because it gave me a desire to move Down Under in order to be amongst the probable survivors. What did the Aussies have for the Soviets to nuke other than their major cities? The minus comes from the Feral Kid’s presence. I hated “cute” additions to gritty stories or more appropriately what I would call a Disneyfication.

2012: A+. Post-Apocalypse films preceding this were pretty weak, cheap and/or dumb: Damnation Alley, The Omega Man, The Ultimate Warrior and Logan’s Run. The genre after the Eighties shifted from nuclear war as the catalyst to the improbable, namely these films now being littered with zombies: too many to list except for The Road which is a vague ecological disaster. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior remains one of the ideals in this genre thanks to the story, its action scenes and the focus on how much people will prey upon each other when energy becomes scarce.

I will conclude with the movie’s life lessons Somara and I figured out in order to keep up with Conan‘s precendent:

  1. When it all hits the fan, raid a sporting goods store for armor and weapons; I’m not sure how Aussies got ahold of American football and hockey gear though
  2. Law enforcement can’t ticket you anymore but seatbelts remain a good idea
  3. Canned dog food is as appetizing as Chef Boyardee or Dinty Moore Stew…if you close your eyes

Next up in the Summer of 1982: Rocky III.

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Happy 17th Anniversary to Linda & Brian

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Steve

My sister-in-law and brother have been married since 1995. It’s not really a surprise they’ve made it this long. I wish I had empirical evidence to back up what appears to be a hunch, something I’m not a fan of. I do know my brother pretty well so I do know that he wouldn’t have gotten married on a whim, urge or obligation. Brian probably shares my opinions on being certain and cautious because our parents made divorce seem pretty distasteful, a major reason why they’ve always worked out their stuff…yet I remember some pretty ugly days I thought we’d be joining our friends’ club.

I don’t want to be all maudlin n’ preachy. I want to congratulate them and I need to get a belated card in the mail.

Wish them well too, I’m giving a stern look at my “dates” who shared in the booze at the reception! Better yet, check out Brian’s new Web site. It may have a very specific audience but I think what he’s talking about has universal applications on occasion.

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The Avengers: Worth Seeing

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Steve

Joss Whedon achieved what I consider a Herculean task in making this movie. There could only be two outcomes: really impressive or incredibly awful. He had to harness and integrate three characters from successful features, one with poor results (twice) and two obscure heroes who had minor roles in the successes. Fans of all levels (diehard to casual) know these superheroes all come from the same shared comic-book universe yet a larger, broader audience doesn’t know this, thus he has to overcome the movie’s first major hurdle. Here Whedon scores a hat trick* through The Avengers because he pulled off the equivalent of writing/directing a team-up picture starring James Bond, Indiana Jones, Sherlock Holmes, John McClane and Lara Croft fighting Professor Morarity and his army of Predators. Either concept is like a sensitive machine with over a dozen moving pieces to integrate and balance. Should one component break down, the entire thing will collapse into a huge steaming heap of crap. Whedon probably has an ulcer named after The Avengers and it went away when the movie raked in a billion smackers.

Enough praise for Whedon’s feat, on to the actual movie…

The story begins sometime after Thor and Captain America with Loki materializing in a SHIELD base courtesy of the same Nazi-Asgardian tesseract from the “prequels.” Loki then starts blowing crap up, turning people into his flunkies and takes the tesseract SHIELD was trying to harness. Nick Fury decides that the Norse god of mischief is too much for SHIELD so he re-activates the failed Avengers Initiative. Captain America is already under his command but the other two heroes need to be convinced to join: the egocentric Iron Man and reluctant Hulk. Thor soon joins the fight since Loki is messing with his beloved Midgard. As per the Marvel Comics tradition, the good guys battle each other due to misunderstandings, mistrust and hormones (Marvel Comics appeal more to pre-teen/teenage boys). With the obligatory infighting completed, Loki is captured. Everybody returns to SHIELD’s flying headquarters to figure out where Loki took the tesseract but realize too late how they all played into the villain’s larger plans. It would be a short movie if it went any other way. I’m not spoiling anything by revealing the inevitable alien invasion Loki fosters, it’s the core of every commercial for The Avengers. For an event movie, it’s the perfect conclusion and dramatic climax. Sit through all the closing credits too. You will see a preview of what’s next and a little dose of humor for such a heavy movie.

The additional 3-D glasses were worth the extra few bucks during the first hour. Afterwards, my brain started to treat it as a flat film; ergo no panics caused by my fear of heights. I even peeked without them a couple times and couldn’t tell the difference. Maybe the 3-D will be more effective on the eventual Blu-Ray.

For comic-book purists, I believe Whedon went mostly with the rebooted take of the Marvel Universe known as The Ultimates. The original Sixties version of The Avengers entailed Thor, Iron Man, Ant Man and Wasp banding together to stop the Hulk who was under Loki’s influence. Whedon chose wisely to go with the more recent continuity despite it being a ripoff of DC’s The Justice League of America‘s origin story involving an alien invasion as the catalyst to form a super team. I think Whedon’s time spent writing various Marvel titles certainly paid off and proved he was the right person for the job. It still doesn’t change my opinion of the overrated and incredibly boring Firefly, he just gets a pass from me regarding anything involving superheroes. Maybe DC can convince him to make a live-action movie that doesn’t suck with the exception of Donner’s Superman and the Nolans’ Batman flicks.

Additional Alamo Drafthouse perks: Whedon stuff I’d seen before (yawn!) like Dr. Horrible; an ongoing gag of Nick Fury showing up at the end of non-superhero movies such as Black Swan and Twilight; some old Sixties Marvel cartoons Ralph Bakshi worked on; and a couple How it Should’ve Ended cartoons.

The Summer of ’12 is off to a strong start. Maybe in 30 years, Alamo Drafthouse will have another festival showing at least eight well-loved movies that stood the test of time.

*-baseball and its analogies bore me

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Finally tried out Car2Go

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Steve

Last December I joined the Austin branch of Car2Go which is a really cool idea, I just never go around to using it. Thursday evening after the Caddyshack quote-along at the Alamo Ritz (downtown) was the opportunity I needed. Since the train doesn’t go north well after 8-9 PM, it was an excellent test.

The first downside I encountered was the phone-based application. You can only reserve the car immediately with the phone versus the computer-based version which can be several hours later.

With the reservation figured out, finding the actual vehicle was a brief adventure. I may not roam downtown Austin as often as I used to, but 368 San Jacinto Blvd is an address I can find relatively quickly. That’s where the car was supposed to be. When I discovered it wasn’t, the phone app sprung to life to give me further directions showing how the thing was really way east on 2nd Street. Hmmm.

The fleet Car2Go uses in the US, Canada and Europe is the Smart Car. Definitely well suited for inner city driving. Taking north on MoPac gave me some concern but then again, I only drive an automatic vehicle a couple times a year. Computers still can’t change the gears as well as a human. I did love the GPS built into the console to make sure I knew where I was going, namely to find the place to return it.

Sadly, the farthest northern point Car2Go has currently is the Domain, the pricey fashion mall on the city’s northwest side. Somara had to meet me there. The vehicle shaved the drive she would’ve had to take to get me in half at best.

Leaving the car behind led to a new technical glitch which required me to call the toll-free number. I was parking it in the appropriate location at the Domain yet it refused to end my session by locking itself. The nice customer-service lady was very helpful. Through GPS she confirmed I put it in the proper location so she remotely reset the car and gave me back 10 minutes; about how long I had been struggling with it.

Overall, Car2Go has some glitches which I blame half on me due to unfamiliarity. Will I use it again? Sure. The trip only consumed 33 of the 100 minutes I received for signing up last year. I think it will come in handy whenever Somara needs the car and I wanna go downtown outside the train’s operational hours.

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Caddyshack!

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Steve

Yeah, I went to yet another damned quote-along but it was for one of the most quoted movies I knew through high school and college. To me, it’s a source of great Midwestern pride too. It stars two Murray brothers (Bill and Brian Doyle) and Harold Ramis, all residents of Chicago and/or vets of Second City. Plus it was Rodney Dangerfield’s debut in a movie. Personally, he only made two great films, this and Easy Money because dirty stuff was his forte.

As you can see, I was rather decked out. I scored a mediocre costume kit since I didn’t have the time or patience to hit the thrift stores. All I really needed were the hat and jacket. I will probably find other stuff later on. The toy club and golf bag with built-in gopher were loaners from co-workers (thanks Wil and Zane!). The costume and props helped me get the opportunity to be called up for the contest before the movie started. Unfortunately, I’m a terrible putter (Somara knows, it’s why she always beat me in our annual Maggi Invitational at Austin’s Pizza Park). I was accurate but not enough muscle to go up the ramp entirely. No major loss. The prize was a gopher doll and a spiked Arnold Palmer.

Caddyshack remains pretty damned funny. The hosts brought a good point, this movie probably couldn’t be made today thanks to golf being so damned boring. I think it would be impossible due to the committees involved with scriptwriting. I do wish I could have some parts of it removed from my memory. Then I would laugh harder at those key gags.

For this quote-along, everybody was given a duck whistle for Al’s fart scene at the banquet; Silly Puty to sculpt into a varmint a la Carl; and a little popper thing for the explosions at the finale. During the infamous pool event, the wait staff came by and left each attendee a little water cup with a bite-sized Babe Ruth in it. Now how can anyone not love the Alamo Drafthouse for this dedicated demonstration of humor?

I’m seriously going to find out how much it would cost to have a work outing there with a particular quote-along. I know Office Space isn’t allowed.

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Countdown to Futurama podcast!

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Steve

Sure they’re pretty late to join the Podcast Party but it’s better than never; I’m one of the show’s biggest fans (sadly, not the best due to my third place standing in Austin/GWD).

The upcoming seventh season will be kicking off in mid-to-late June so David Cohen and Matt Groening are whipping together weekly previews of what’s to come.

You can find it easily by just doing a search in iTunes, Comedy Central’s Web site or if you’re a “friend” via FaceBook, you’d already have the link.

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Summer of 1982 I: Conan the Barbarian

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Steve

Friday evening was the kickoff to the Alamo Drafthouse’s Summer of 1982 series…it’s going to be a damned good time thanks to the hosts and partners.

Was it the best Summer of movies ever? This is a matter of opinion and it’s often easier to say in hindsight. In 1982 I was 13 going on 14 and there’s a cliche I’ve read in The Onion’s AV Club saying you experience your own personal Golden Age of Pop culture between age 12-15. I agree with Alamo’s eight key choices for being memorable films, but they’re not all the greatest as the inaugural feature proved.

Conan the Barbarian is a relatively important flick though:

  • It was Arnold’s first real starring vehicle to utilize his physique…outside of a documentary or porno.
  • It was the Fantasy flick that led to other numerous knockoffs trying to mop up the spillover money: The Sword and the Sorcerer, Fire and Ice, Sorceress, Krull and The Beastmaster. D&D’s rising popularity also contributed.
  • It was co-written (from a legal/WGA standpoint) by John Milius and Oliver Stone. Both gentlemen went on to direct other well-remembered Eigthies standards, Red Dawn and Platoon respectively. You think a debate on Crossfire is contentious? Imagine the idealogical fight between those two.

The Alamo’s two co-hosts donned their best fake muscles, loincloths and swords to get everyone fired up over this brand new 35mm print from Universal. (It was impressive to see the movie with so few scratches.) Before we all got to watch, Drew McWeeny of HitFix spoke briefly regarding Conan. His tale about how hard he worked to see this movie as a 12-year-old kid was touching…and relatable. At least he succeeded, I had to settle for snippets on HBO the following year. I can visualize the horror on his parents’ faces as they sat there wondering, “What the hell kind of movie is this?” when the first set of breasts appeared.

Alas, I never saw Conan in the theater because of its R rating. My folks were pretty set against letting me seeing such flicks unless one was present, they had already watched it and it was on cable; Dad usually made sure Mom wasn’t around or awake when he knew a boob scene was about to happen. Maybe he wanted my brother and me to watch some female nudity to make sure neither of us were gay.

I did watch Conan in its entirety a few years ago courtesy of a friend’s DVD. The movie loses a lot of ground on the small screen plus it was fodder for a Sick Day Marathon; I kept nodding off from the side effects of cold medicine. Barbarian is quite different from the sequel Destroyer which I had seen several times; the latter is a kinder, gentler Fantasy film. I do wonder why I never bothered seeing Barbarian sooner.

How was Conan the Barbarian 30 years later? Beyond the bigger joke Arnold’s overall acting and political career transformed into, the movie hasn’t aged very well. It looks very dated via the effects, the plot, the costumes, etc. It does play out better on the big screen, especially during the climatic battle near the end and when showing the immensity of Thulsa Doom’s following. I had forgotten about how many stretches of no dialogue there were. Combine this with its frequent lulls of inaction and it can be a struggle to stay awake through.

Ratings:

1982 (13-year-old me): A. I was a huge D&D geek, enjoyed violent fare and wasn’t familiar with Howard’s original stories so it didn’t take much to cater to my tastes. The sex stuff didn’t move the plot at all, just secured the R rating.

2012: C. The acting is wooden other than Max von Sydow and James Earl Jones’ performances. Too many slow points which hinders the overall pace. Remove the nudity and graphic violence, Conan could be a long episode of Xena since special effects have gotten cheaper. Compared to its competitors, Conan the Barbarian was the best of the bunch except for Krull.

In conclusion, here are the movie’s life lessons as highlighted by evening’s hosts, hopefully the other seven features contain such nuggets of wisdom:

  1. To crush your enemies
  2. See them driven before you
  3. (and) To hear the lamentation of their women

Next up in the Summer of 1982: Mad Max 2, aka The Road Warrior by its US title.

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Ft. Stockton achieved, on to Clovis

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Steve

My treadmill was finally repaired this weekend. It burned up most of our Saturday afternoon but the repair tech was such a nice fellow. Currently, I have to really focus when running on it too, he applied a generous amount of liquid wrench under the new belt. I suspect the original belt developed its crease from the huge, cracked dry patch of wood that is sandwiched (or encompasses) the belt. This is where the bulk of my weight has been pounding on the treadmill.

We chose to use the work gym due to our Avengers agenda and today my insomnia kept me from rolling my big fat ass out of bed. Thus, I took my gear in case I felt the inspiration after work. With only 1.5 miles remaining to tackle running/distance goal number three, I chose to go for it.

Success!

Now the countdown widget has been adjusted for destination number four which I think I can pull off by my birthday in 75 days. Clovis is less than 74 miles away and if I’m averaging over two miles/day, I might be there before June ends.

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Backyard kitten update, trip to the Vet

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Steve

We decided to take them in mainly over Leona’s eye condition (as you can see in the photo); it also started to spread to Tigra and Lynx-o. Plus it doesn’t hurt to get a general assessment on how these little buggers are doing.

The good news: the brown goop in their eyes is nothing terrible. Dr. Hamby thought it meant they had an upper respiratory infection which is the equivalent of human babies having a cold. He gave us some eyedrops to apply four times a day. This stuff made a dramatic difference with Leona in half a day.

The bad news: None! Other than the eye situation, they’re in great shape. The nice tech lady helped wipe them down with some flea stuff and backed Somara’s theory about the kittens having different fathers. I’m not an expert on cat reproduction other than they’re pretty prodigious.

Panthra, Tigra, Lynx-o and Leona will be returning in a couple weeks since they will be old enough for their first round of vaccinations. Afterwards, they should be old enough for adoption to loving homes. Panthra I will miss the most. The little stinker has worked very hard at being my favorite.

Their mother (now), Buttercup will dealt with soon.

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RIP: Donald “Duck” Dunn

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Steve

It was sad to see the news on The Guardian and it’s odd how they put relatively obscure musicians/celebrities on the front page; I guess the British newspaper shares my priorities.

Back to Donald since it’s really about him.

You may recognize his name because it was said aloud at the end on both versions of “Soul Man.” The Blues Brothers’ take (the one I grew up with) and the original by Sam & Dave. Plus Dunn was the bass player in the movie The Blues Brothers. As his various obits show, he contributed to numerous Rock/Pop/R&B standards.

Dunn was always easy to spot for me. His curly hair and beard were very discernable; hence I saw him in an Eric Clapton and John Fogerty video. Sometimes you would see him smoking a pipe while he played. Maybe it was a trademarked prop or he could multi-task that well.

Farewell Duck Dunn. Thanks for all your contributions and inspiration to aspiring bass players despite the ridicule many receive.

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