Jamie randomly wanted to watch "Batman Begins" this evening. Which reminded me of a link Randy sent me earlier today.
Photos from the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight
go here
The photos reveal that the Batsuit may be the first functional looking Batsuit in any live version of Batman I can think of. For once, Batman can turn his head, and he's not wearing an ill-fitting unitard.
Add in an oddly pragmatic looking Joker, and... yeah. Sure, why not.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Stuck@Work
I am stuck at work.
I am waiting for other people to do things so I can see that they are done. When they are done, I can go home.
In the meantime, here I sit. Alas.
My job is sort of unpredictable that way. It makes for long days sometimes. Especially when i came in early to address other issues and never managed to see daylight at any point. Because its been that kind of day.
Also, Steven Harms has gone dark.
Es Muy Mysterioso.
Just want to go home. Please, co-workers, quit screwing around.
It's been a long week.
And I have another day of it tomorrow. The job is okay, it's just moments like these that I miss actually being somebody else's manager and being able to give my co-workers a moment of pause when I ask if we couldn't be doing something faster or better. Or, at least, quit screwing around and just finish the darn thing.
I am paid to keep things in line. This is something my family is shocked by. They tend to think of me as sorta screwy, so the idea that at work my job is keeping the ball rolling gives them a moment of disconnect.
hey, good news. Jonathan just fixed something for us and he wasn't even on our project. That's rad.
Stuff like that is why I dig working here. Everything is sort of a team effort. Everything at my last office was also a team effort, but we were mostly working on the same projects, as it was a smaller office. Here, you never know when one of 60-odd people is going to wander over and say "Hey, I'm going to fix that. I've got a few hours" when they could totally be heading home.
Still sitting here though. I just want to release the project.
Release! Release!
I am waiting for other people to do things so I can see that they are done. When they are done, I can go home.
In the meantime, here I sit. Alas.
My job is sort of unpredictable that way. It makes for long days sometimes. Especially when i came in early to address other issues and never managed to see daylight at any point. Because its been that kind of day.
Also, Steven Harms has gone dark.
Es Muy Mysterioso.
Just want to go home. Please, co-workers, quit screwing around.
It's been a long week.
And I have another day of it tomorrow. The job is okay, it's just moments like these that I miss actually being somebody else's manager and being able to give my co-workers a moment of pause when I ask if we couldn't be doing something faster or better. Or, at least, quit screwing around and just finish the darn thing.
I am paid to keep things in line. This is something my family is shocked by. They tend to think of me as sorta screwy, so the idea that at work my job is keeping the ball rolling gives them a moment of disconnect.
hey, good news. Jonathan just fixed something for us and he wasn't even on our project. That's rad.
Stuff like that is why I dig working here. Everything is sort of a team effort. Everything at my last office was also a team effort, but we were mostly working on the same projects, as it was a smaller office. Here, you never know when one of 60-odd people is going to wander over and say "Hey, I'm going to fix that. I've got a few hours" when they could totally be heading home.
Still sitting here though. I just want to release the project.
Release! Release!
Monday, August 13, 2007
The New Flash Gordon on Sci-Fi
...totally sucks.
Wow. Monday evening I made poor Jason and Jamie sit through this no-budget train wreck.
Flash Gordon has successfully existed as a comic strip, 1950's TV show, radio serial movie serial, 80's camp classic, 90's cartoon, reprint series, whatever...
Yet somehow with a household name at their fingertips, untold hours of reference material and a public perception regarding the franchise, the geniuses behind this show decided that what they really needed to do was scrap all of that, make up a bunch of nonsense that's never plagued the concept before, and then spend most of the pilot in a Canadian suburb. It seems that, faced with a non-existent budget and a casting director with a pretty specific taste in women, the creators apparently had something other than Flash Gordon in mind and just borrowed the name of the property.
Seriously, nothing resembles anything you know about Flash Gordon.
A list of offenses includes:
-All of the women are thin brunettes with sort of almond eyes. I couldn't tell Dale, the princess or the bounty hunter apart in close-ups
-Flash's mom is, like, three years older than him and sort of uncomfortably attractive
-The show sorta takes a line on Latino immigrants that could be construed as racist
-Ming is the least threatening villain ever. Seriously. Ever. It's like having a record store manager mildly miffed with you.
-they've ditched the now well established, crazy, space opera look of Mongo for generic Sci-Fi channel BSG and Star Trek costuming rejects and bland hip design with no eye to the gilded age wonders of the comics and movies
-the pacing is glacial, nonsensical and meandering
-Flash is given a token black sidekick so someone can say "That's whack!" a lot
-The acting is uniformly awful
-Lines clearly intended to be played for laughs are played straight. Whether this is the director or actors' fault, I have no idea
-No Hawkmen
-No Lizardmen
-No awesome football game
-clearly filmed in a lush Canadian suburb
-Mongo: Also clearly the exact same suburb. Plus a water treatment plant possibly used in several "sci-fi" films from the 80's seen nowhere else but on MST3K
-Zarkov is now a quirky guy who will be play "The Professor" to Flash's "Gilligan"
-The girl who plays the princess seems puzzled as to what show she's on. Maybe the OC?
-absolutely no action to speak of
-And Flash can hop between a field near his house and Mongo at any time. pretty much defeating the point of the entire Flash Gordon concept
On every level possible, the program fails. If you're going to claim you're giving me Flash Gordon, Sci-Fi Channel, then give me @#$%ing Flash Gordon. Don't try to "update" a concept that's been honed and perfected over the better part of something like 70 years. You and your crappy budget are not smarter than the millions of folks who already passed judgment on the idea the way it was.
Leave it alone. Sometimes aliens just need to dress like color blind Prussian generals, weird Eastern stereotypes, pirates and barbarians.
The show is crap in a hat.
Wow. Monday evening I made poor Jason and Jamie sit through this no-budget train wreck.
Flash Gordon has successfully existed as a comic strip, 1950's TV show, radio serial movie serial, 80's camp classic, 90's cartoon, reprint series, whatever...
Yet somehow with a household name at their fingertips, untold hours of reference material and a public perception regarding the franchise, the geniuses behind this show decided that what they really needed to do was scrap all of that, make up a bunch of nonsense that's never plagued the concept before, and then spend most of the pilot in a Canadian suburb. It seems that, faced with a non-existent budget and a casting director with a pretty specific taste in women, the creators apparently had something other than Flash Gordon in mind and just borrowed the name of the property.
Seriously, nothing resembles anything you know about Flash Gordon.
A list of offenses includes:
-All of the women are thin brunettes with sort of almond eyes. I couldn't tell Dale, the princess or the bounty hunter apart in close-ups
-Flash's mom is, like, three years older than him and sort of uncomfortably attractive
-The show sorta takes a line on Latino immigrants that could be construed as racist
-Ming is the least threatening villain ever. Seriously. Ever. It's like having a record store manager mildly miffed with you.
-they've ditched the now well established, crazy, space opera look of Mongo for generic Sci-Fi channel BSG and Star Trek costuming rejects and bland hip design with no eye to the gilded age wonders of the comics and movies
-the pacing is glacial, nonsensical and meandering
-Flash is given a token black sidekick so someone can say "That's whack!" a lot
-The acting is uniformly awful
-Lines clearly intended to be played for laughs are played straight. Whether this is the director or actors' fault, I have no idea
-No Hawkmen
-No Lizardmen
-No awesome football game
-clearly filmed in a lush Canadian suburb
-Mongo: Also clearly the exact same suburb. Plus a water treatment plant possibly used in several "sci-fi" films from the 80's seen nowhere else but on MST3K
-Zarkov is now a quirky guy who will be play "The Professor" to Flash's "Gilligan"
-The girl who plays the princess seems puzzled as to what show she's on. Maybe the OC?
-absolutely no action to speak of
-And Flash can hop between a field near his house and Mongo at any time. pretty much defeating the point of the entire Flash Gordon concept
On every level possible, the program fails. If you're going to claim you're giving me Flash Gordon, Sci-Fi Channel, then give me @#$%ing Flash Gordon. Don't try to "update" a concept that's been honed and perfected over the better part of something like 70 years. You and your crappy budget are not smarter than the millions of folks who already passed judgment on the idea the way it was.
Leave it alone. Sometimes aliens just need to dress like color blind Prussian generals, weird Eastern stereotypes, pirates and barbarians.
The show is crap in a hat.
Slacker Cats
ABC Family, the network which was originally a religious network, then owned by Fox, before ABC bought it out.... is putting on a cartoon about two sex crazed, drug using cats. In prime time.
The League is no prude, but... I guess ABC means it when they brand their programming with "A New Kind of Family".
Anyhow, it appears to be in the mode of Family Guy or perhaps some of the Adult Swim programming on Cartoon Network. And it is on kind of late.
Nonetheless, there's something almost oddly meta-satirical in the commercials, as if these spots are meant to exist as part of the background in some film about a dystopian future more than actually pitching ABC Family's new Fall line-up.
I have a bad feeling about this.
Maybe it'll be great. Who knows?
The League is no prude, but... I guess ABC means it when they brand their programming with "A New Kind of Family".
Anyhow, it appears to be in the mode of Family Guy or perhaps some of the Adult Swim programming on Cartoon Network. And it is on kind of late.
Nonetheless, there's something almost oddly meta-satirical in the commercials, as if these spots are meant to exist as part of the background in some film about a dystopian future more than actually pitching ABC Family's new Fall line-up.
I have a bad feeling about this.
Maybe it'll be great. Who knows?
Child-Free American
So the other night we were at dinner with Steven and Lauren and were seated across from Steven's friends Forrest, Marina and their kid, Blaze. Blaze, you must understand, looks like he should be in grape juice commercials, is talkative without being annoyingly precocious and had not an ounce of bratty in him. In short, a good kid.
Unsure of what else to chat about, Blaze seemed like a good option. And in the course of the discussion someone accurately described Jamie and I as "childless". But that person was quickly shot down in favor of what must be a new term: Child-Free.
Apparently this term was cooked up to spare the feelings of those who would like to have children, but do not. I am both amused and horrified that, for the first time in my life, as a middle class white male I've had a PC label applied to me. My feelings must be mitigated through semantics. I am to be described in a way that suggests I have made a valid choice of alternative lifestyle, and that choice is recognized and appreciated by all.
Were Jamie and I the same age we were when we left for Arizona, the question of the number of children we had left behind with Gorton's fish sticks and Kraft Mac'n'Cheese would never be addressed. Young, recently married, we'd be expected to be having a great time, going to shows, travel the world, etc...
But now...
Now we are in our 30's. In March and April, it will be semi-accurate to describe us as being in our mid-30's. We are past the age when we've gotten our careers going, have had our youthful fun, and its time to bring the next generation of Leagues into existence. For the rest of my life, it will be presumed I'm hiding a couple of fishstick-eaters somewhere.
For anyone who has followed this blog, its not a secret that this is not going to happen. I like kids. Despite all the jokes I make at the expense of folks who are now wrestling with sleepless nights, dirty diapers and paying for college in 17 years... And as much as I like sleeping in, not having dirty diapers and spare money enough to buy Jimmy Olsen comics... Having kids just isn't in the picture. We didn't make the choice, but it's also never been in the cards, and so was never been given much consideration any more than "wouldn't it be neat if we had hands where our ears are".
I want to be very clear here: In no way am I offended by assumptions that we should have kids. I don't think folks who have kids are suckers. I was just left reeling at the idea that I had moved into a category which I had not been aware existed.
Now, here's what I dig about my valid lifestyle choice as a Child-Free American... It may keep me from going through the battery of questions all child-rearing folks (AKA: Breeders) have:
-when we plan to have kids
-why we don't plan to have kids
-why we don't press on and adopt, because, you know, we'd make swell parents (a topic which is sorely up for debate, and would require experiments that no western government would allow. Jason's hypothesis: Feral Children.).
As Child-Free Americans its like we decided on a different path in life. Like, say, we decided to live in a dymaxion home or done something else slightly unconventional, but, you know, it's just something you let slide.
As a Dog-Saddled/ Child-Free American, unfortunately, you have a great love for your pets. And people really, really do not like you matching their stories about how their kid smiles when he farts with how your dog wakes you up in the morning when she's hungry, or how your cat has figured out how to open the pantry door. Still, I must remind everyone that your kid will be in diapers for years and my dog learned to go to the door before she was six months old when she had to pee. I'm just saying.
Pretty sharp, my dogs.
Unsure of what else to chat about, Blaze seemed like a good option. And in the course of the discussion someone accurately described Jamie and I as "childless". But that person was quickly shot down in favor of what must be a new term: Child-Free.
Apparently this term was cooked up to spare the feelings of those who would like to have children, but do not. I am both amused and horrified that, for the first time in my life, as a middle class white male I've had a PC label applied to me. My feelings must be mitigated through semantics. I am to be described in a way that suggests I have made a valid choice of alternative lifestyle, and that choice is recognized and appreciated by all.
Were Jamie and I the same age we were when we left for Arizona, the question of the number of children we had left behind with Gorton's fish sticks and Kraft Mac'n'Cheese would never be addressed. Young, recently married, we'd be expected to be having a great time, going to shows, travel the world, etc...
But now...
Now we are in our 30's. In March and April, it will be semi-accurate to describe us as being in our mid-30's. We are past the age when we've gotten our careers going, have had our youthful fun, and its time to bring the next generation of Leagues into existence. For the rest of my life, it will be presumed I'm hiding a couple of fishstick-eaters somewhere.
For anyone who has followed this blog, its not a secret that this is not going to happen. I like kids. Despite all the jokes I make at the expense of folks who are now wrestling with sleepless nights, dirty diapers and paying for college in 17 years... And as much as I like sleeping in, not having dirty diapers and spare money enough to buy Jimmy Olsen comics... Having kids just isn't in the picture. We didn't make the choice, but it's also never been in the cards, and so was never been given much consideration any more than "wouldn't it be neat if we had hands where our ears are".
I want to be very clear here: In no way am I offended by assumptions that we should have kids. I don't think folks who have kids are suckers. I was just left reeling at the idea that I had moved into a category which I had not been aware existed.
Now, here's what I dig about my valid lifestyle choice as a Child-Free American... It may keep me from going through the battery of questions all child-rearing folks (AKA: Breeders) have:
-when we plan to have kids
-why we don't plan to have kids
-why we don't press on and adopt, because, you know, we'd make swell parents (a topic which is sorely up for debate, and would require experiments that no western government would allow. Jason's hypothesis: Feral Children.).
As Child-Free Americans its like we decided on a different path in life. Like, say, we decided to live in a dymaxion home or done something else slightly unconventional, but, you know, it's just something you let slide.
As a Dog-Saddled/ Child-Free American, unfortunately, you have a great love for your pets. And people really, really do not like you matching their stories about how their kid smiles when he farts with how your dog wakes you up in the morning when she's hungry, or how your cat has figured out how to open the pantry door. Still, I must remind everyone that your kid will be in diapers for years and my dog learned to go to the door before she was six months old when she had to pee. I'm just saying.
Pretty sharp, my dogs.
Mike Wieringo, RIP
The comic fan community was rocked today by the news that Mike Wieringo, age 44, has apparently died of a heart attack.
Wieringo's work has appeared for the last several years in DC and Marvel comics in titles such as Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Flash and many others.
Thanks to the DC title, "Impulse" and several issues of Adventures of Superman, I was familiar with Wieringo's work prior to his run on Fantastic Four (with Mark Waid writing), but that was when I grew to really appreciate his work. I loved his depiction of the the Richards clan, and his Von Doom.
You can read more here.
I'm really going to miss Wieringo's art and the spirit it brought to any title.
Thanks, Mike. You'll be missed.
Wieringo's work has appeared for the last several years in DC and Marvel comics in titles such as Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Flash and many others.
Thanks to the DC title, "Impulse" and several issues of Adventures of Superman, I was familiar with Wieringo's work prior to his run on Fantastic Four (with Mark Waid writing), but that was when I grew to really appreciate his work. I loved his depiction of the the Richards clan, and his Von Doom.
You can read more here.
I'm really going to miss Wieringo's art and the spirit it brought to any title.
Thanks, Mike. You'll be missed.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Sunday Night Post
Folks were here this weekend. Hi Mom and Dad!
Here's a creepy video.
Here's a fun video, thanks to JimD. Requires sound.
My advice that I learned this evening... avoid the Steak 'n Shake on I-35 when headed south out of town. I still feel queasy.
I thought the Steank 'n Shake would be small, cheap steaks (crazy me) and maybe steak fries, but no. Instead it's a chain of lo-fi, incredibly greasy burgers teamed with shakes featuring fake banana flavoring.
Apparently Steak n' Shake is some mid-western transplant that has decided to become even more of a corporate giant and so has set up shop in the new ginormous shopping area that has taken over the land once oocupied by music venue "Southpark Meadows". As goes Austin, Soutpark Meadows is now a huge strip mall with BOTH a Wal-Mart and Super Target. But it has a Jason's Deli, so I forgive it (mmmmm... Bird to the Wise...)
Sigh.
Anyway, Steak 'n Shake is not too far from our house, and I was sort of glad to be trying a new place with only Jamie and myself as the victims. But... It's been 3.5 hours and I still don't feel well.
And I'll eat anything. Seriously. I'm like a goat.
I salute the folks who ate there and didn't feel funky afterward. It was packed, so I assume Steak 'n Shake is going ot make it. It's just unlikely they'll get any more of my shekles.
I honestly think we do a little better than the actual burgers in Texas at places you think of as a last resort such as Shortstop. And, honestly, Shortstop's fries are better. I think I'm just used to a better cut of meat. And Californians who love them some In 'n Out Burger would be more than slightly appalled.
The weird part if that this place is basically a fastfood joint with waitresses. There seems to be no real reason this place isn't an order at the counter sort of joint, but you have to be seated, which seriously raised my expectations for the quality of meal I was going to have. The really weird part is that the price of the food is low enough that I had to round way up to feel okay about the tip I left our waitress (who was hustling, man).
Anyhow, it seems unlikely Steak 'n Shake will see the likes of the League once again. Until some night when I decide I really want a banana shake.
I am weak.
Here's a creepy video.
Here's a fun video, thanks to JimD. Requires sound.
My advice that I learned this evening... avoid the Steak 'n Shake on I-35 when headed south out of town. I still feel queasy.
I thought the Steank 'n Shake would be small, cheap steaks (crazy me) and maybe steak fries, but no. Instead it's a chain of lo-fi, incredibly greasy burgers teamed with shakes featuring fake banana flavoring.
Apparently Steak n' Shake is some mid-western transplant that has decided to become even more of a corporate giant and so has set up shop in the new ginormous shopping area that has taken over the land once oocupied by music venue "Southpark Meadows". As goes Austin, Soutpark Meadows is now a huge strip mall with BOTH a Wal-Mart and Super Target. But it has a Jason's Deli, so I forgive it (mmmmm... Bird to the Wise...)
Sigh.
Anyway, Steak 'n Shake is not too far from our house, and I was sort of glad to be trying a new place with only Jamie and myself as the victims. But... It's been 3.5 hours and I still don't feel well.
And I'll eat anything. Seriously. I'm like a goat.
I salute the folks who ate there and didn't feel funky afterward. It was packed, so I assume Steak 'n Shake is going ot make it. It's just unlikely they'll get any more of my shekles.
I honestly think we do a little better than the actual burgers in Texas at places you think of as a last resort such as Shortstop. And, honestly, Shortstop's fries are better. I think I'm just used to a better cut of meat. And Californians who love them some In 'n Out Burger would be more than slightly appalled.
The weird part if that this place is basically a fastfood joint with waitresses. There seems to be no real reason this place isn't an order at the counter sort of joint, but you have to be seated, which seriously raised my expectations for the quality of meal I was going to have. The really weird part is that the price of the food is low enough that I had to round way up to feel okay about the tip I left our waitress (who was hustling, man).
Anyhow, it seems unlikely Steak 'n Shake will see the likes of the League once again. Until some night when I decide I really want a banana shake.
I am weak.
Birthday for Harms
Happy late birthday, Harms!
Last night we wound up at Manuel's up on Jollyville in N. Austin. (I know! I can't believe they let people in N. Austin eat anything but Lonestar Cafe, either Well, time marches on.)
It was a celebration of Stephen moving into his 30th trip around El Sol. We met some nice folks, re-met Steven's sister and her newly minted husband, had a margarita or two and had a dandy evening.
All in all, a succeful evening for Steven, I think. Unless he was really unhappy, in which case he did a good job of disguising it.
Last night we wound up at Manuel's up on Jollyville in N. Austin. (I know! I can't believe they let people in N. Austin eat anything but Lonestar Cafe, either Well, time marches on.)
It was a celebration of Stephen moving into his 30th trip around El Sol. We met some nice folks, re-met Steven's sister and her newly minted husband, had a margarita or two and had a dandy evening.
All in all, a succeful evening for Steven, I think. Unless he was really unhappy, in which case he did a good job of disguising it.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
The League too old to rock?
So last night Jason and I went to see Ween with a herd of folks. It was my first rock show in several years, and, if memory serves, the first since I saw Bowie in Phoenix.
One seriously weird phenomena I suffered in Phoenix was that I would buy tickets to shows and something either health, work or miscellaneous would come up and I couldn't go. I missed shows by Beck, The Pixies, the Walkmen, Willie Nelson and others in the span of the four years I was there. It was sort of incredible.
I started going to shows as early as middle school thanks to folks who appreciated leniency in such matters, and continued going to shows past the first year or so when we were married. But when we hit Phoenix, the sorts of folks we wanted to see tended to go through Tuscon rather than Phoenix, or would skip AZ all togther.
if you ever wonder who the heck are all the people buying Goo Goo Dolls and Blink 182 albums, look no further than Arizona and its love of Clearstream Communications.
Last night was hot and humid. The heat index for the afternoon downtown was around 107.
It was also my first visit to Stubbs as a venue. Somehow prior to my departure, I'd kind of skipped shows at Stubbs, which seems odd now.
I sort of assumed that once the sun went down, things would cool off and perhaps a breeze would kick in.
Ween hit the stage comfortably early for a dude like me who just put in a week's worth fo work and was sort of uncomfortable with the idea of a two hour set starting at 10:30. Fortunately, they came on before 8:30.
By 9:30, I began to seriously ponder the fact that so many people still actually smoke. In some ways, I'm completely shocked. With the constant barrage of ads and scientific info floating around out there, smoking has sort of become something I expect for folks to do if they're my age or older and seriously addicted or just plain ornery. But not having been a part of any nightlife scene in years, I had forgotten the category of person who "smokes when they drink".
And drinking folks were doing. In vast, vast quantities.
It did occur to me that when I would go to shows in my prior life, I would get very close to the front, and stand off to the side so as not to block anyone else's view with my height or width. So I may not have been aware of the other 3/4's of the crowd who was there to get goofy on overpriced beer and talk with their friends, let alone even have elbow room enough to light up a cigarette without causing themself or someone else some bodily injury.
I was anticipating Ween would play until 11:30 (they payed three hours on Thursday at their first show), and so when it was 10:00 and standing on a sloping incline for an hour and a half started to fatigue me a bit, I realized there's really nowhere to sit down at Stubb's. I paid 30 bucks to stand in a dirt lot.
Add in the sorority girls in front of me who had one dance, the "raise the roof" hip-hop dance, in their repertoire, which they employed no matter how fast or slow the song (which also meant I had to stand a few feet back lest their constant string of Marloboro's might catch my face), and I moved to the edge of the crowd.
I had probably 6 years, if not 10, on a lot of the crowd. I am feeling old. The wackiness that was wacky when I was 18, 20, 22 is all old hat now. You sort of hope the kids will bring something new to the table, but instead it felt a bit like time stands still in the yard at Stubbs. There will always be a new crop of college and post-college folks to fill in the gaps when I'm so used to sitting at a computer all day that my legs start to hurt after standing around for two hours. Their lungs are pink and fresh and their stomachs don't turn as the dork in the ironic beard next to them blows smoke in their face.
It's not that Ween didn't put on a good show (although The League has never been a fan of solo'ing outside of jazz shows, and there was more than enough noodling at the Ween show). It was the realization that I left Austin at one age and came back at another, and I'm old and beat up now. I'm not cut out for standing in suffocating heat in a cloud of smoke anymore. I can't ignore the shooting pains in my legs from standing on a hill in one position for a few hours.
Is The League too old to rock?
Well, we've got ACL Fest passes for three days in the grueling Texas sun to figure that one out.
One seriously weird phenomena I suffered in Phoenix was that I would buy tickets to shows and something either health, work or miscellaneous would come up and I couldn't go. I missed shows by Beck, The Pixies, the Walkmen, Willie Nelson and others in the span of the four years I was there. It was sort of incredible.
I started going to shows as early as middle school thanks to folks who appreciated leniency in such matters, and continued going to shows past the first year or so when we were married. But when we hit Phoenix, the sorts of folks we wanted to see tended to go through Tuscon rather than Phoenix, or would skip AZ all togther.
if you ever wonder who the heck are all the people buying Goo Goo Dolls and Blink 182 albums, look no further than Arizona and its love of Clearstream Communications.
Last night was hot and humid. The heat index for the afternoon downtown was around 107.
It was also my first visit to Stubbs as a venue. Somehow prior to my departure, I'd kind of skipped shows at Stubbs, which seems odd now.
I sort of assumed that once the sun went down, things would cool off and perhaps a breeze would kick in.
Ween hit the stage comfortably early for a dude like me who just put in a week's worth fo work and was sort of uncomfortable with the idea of a two hour set starting at 10:30. Fortunately, they came on before 8:30.
By 9:30, I began to seriously ponder the fact that so many people still actually smoke. In some ways, I'm completely shocked. With the constant barrage of ads and scientific info floating around out there, smoking has sort of become something I expect for folks to do if they're my age or older and seriously addicted or just plain ornery. But not having been a part of any nightlife scene in years, I had forgotten the category of person who "smokes when they drink".
And drinking folks were doing. In vast, vast quantities.
It did occur to me that when I would go to shows in my prior life, I would get very close to the front, and stand off to the side so as not to block anyone else's view with my height or width. So I may not have been aware of the other 3/4's of the crowd who was there to get goofy on overpriced beer and talk with their friends, let alone even have elbow room enough to light up a cigarette without causing themself or someone else some bodily injury.
I was anticipating Ween would play until 11:30 (they payed three hours on Thursday at their first show), and so when it was 10:00 and standing on a sloping incline for an hour and a half started to fatigue me a bit, I realized there's really nowhere to sit down at Stubb's. I paid 30 bucks to stand in a dirt lot.
Add in the sorority girls in front of me who had one dance, the "raise the roof" hip-hop dance, in their repertoire, which they employed no matter how fast or slow the song (which also meant I had to stand a few feet back lest their constant string of Marloboro's might catch my face), and I moved to the edge of the crowd.
I had probably 6 years, if not 10, on a lot of the crowd. I am feeling old. The wackiness that was wacky when I was 18, 20, 22 is all old hat now. You sort of hope the kids will bring something new to the table, but instead it felt a bit like time stands still in the yard at Stubbs. There will always be a new crop of college and post-college folks to fill in the gaps when I'm so used to sitting at a computer all day that my legs start to hurt after standing around for two hours. Their lungs are pink and fresh and their stomachs don't turn as the dork in the ironic beard next to them blows smoke in their face.
It's not that Ween didn't put on a good show (although The League has never been a fan of solo'ing outside of jazz shows, and there was more than enough noodling at the Ween show). It was the realization that I left Austin at one age and came back at another, and I'm old and beat up now. I'm not cut out for standing in suffocating heat in a cloud of smoke anymore. I can't ignore the shooting pains in my legs from standing on a hill in one position for a few hours.
Is The League too old to rock?
Well, we've got ACL Fest passes for three days in the grueling Texas sun to figure that one out.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Opting for sleep
My blogging has been rotten of late. I apologize, sort of.
I just decided that, last night, I needed some sleep after pitching a fit because neither Jamie nor Jason would go to Target with me to buy $10 sunglasses. Granted, I needed sunglasses, but my reaction was greatly out of proportion to the very reasonable arguments for not going put before me.
Anyhow, I was sort of punchy while I was there, bought the wrong dogfood, bought some fairly cheesy 80's-looking sunglasses, came home, watched the Colbert report, read some Jimmy Olsen and then went to bed. I pondered blogging, but it didn't happen.
Going to see Ween tonight at Stubbs. I'm sorta pumped as I've never had opportunity to see them before.
I just decided that, last night, I needed some sleep after pitching a fit because neither Jamie nor Jason would go to Target with me to buy $10 sunglasses. Granted, I needed sunglasses, but my reaction was greatly out of proportion to the very reasonable arguments for not going put before me.
Anyhow, I was sort of punchy while I was there, bought the wrong dogfood, bought some fairly cheesy 80's-looking sunglasses, came home, watched the Colbert report, read some Jimmy Olsen and then went to bed. I pondered blogging, but it didn't happen.
Going to see Ween tonight at Stubbs. I'm sorta pumped as I've never had opportunity to see them before.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
comic post
Today was once again new comic day, as it is so often on Wednesdays.
The highlight of my DC selections this week is Green Lantern. There's a great story going on here called the Sinestro War, which is tying together elements from decades of DC Comics (but doesn't necessarily require a masters in DCU), while adding in new elements. It's just an absolutely huge story, and is infinitely better scoped and written than the ultra-dull Amazons Attack! in Wonder Woman and in its own limited series.
Countdown is rapidly becoming a huge disappointment. I'm beginning to wish the Jimmy Olsen storyline were just a back-up feature in Superman and/ or Action Comics.
Over at Marvel, I've picked up recent issues of Spider-Man, Hulk, World War Hulk, Thor and a few other titles. (Hey, Thor just moved to Oklahoma! Who knew?)
By and large, I think DC is having some serious problems with editorial driving things and rewarding Dan Didio loyalist writers with work they aren't qualified for. It's certainly harming Countdown as whatever scheme Dini is putting together keeps getting mired down in glacial pacing, clumsy dialog and the now grim reminder on the cover of each issue how many more weeks of this we're putting up with.
Further, the limited series tying into other editorial mismanagement, such as the Green Arrow/ Black Canary wedding stuff is leading into half-baked limited series.
I'm caught in a bit of a pickle as I'm the resident DC reviewer for Comic Fodder, and, right now, I'm about ready to give up on a whole bunch of DC. But I'm just tired of shelling out money for comics written by guys who don't deliver and seem to be responsible for huge portions of DC's output.
Meanwhile, guys like Morrison and Mark Waid have kind of disappeared to the sidelines, when DC should really be putting these guys front and center as the controlling factor in the DC Universe. Fortunately, Geoff Johns seems to have no problem maintaining his high profile, and is doing good thinsg with the GL Corps (with Dave Gibbons and Patrick Gleason making GL Corps a solid book).
Right now, though, I'd be putting my money on Marvel. World War Hulk is idiot simple with high concept, and seems to be delaying some ctastrophic event, but at least its interesting. Thor is just out there enough that even a guy like me who could usually give a flip about Thor is picking it up.
Spidey... well, we'll see. I'm just so curious about where this is going that that I really, really hope they don't totally drop the ball on me.
FF is okay, too. But I dig Black Panther. I'm not as crazy about the depiction of Storm, but I haven't been okay with Storm since she gave up the mohawk and leathers. Those were the days.
Overall, the Superman books are better than anything during the Berganza run, aside from maybe the initial No Limits stuff and parts of Our Worlds at War. Actually, no... this stuff is still mostly better.
Batman and Detective, wen not waiting through a fill-in artist, are both really sound Batman books.
And, personally, i've been really digging JLA and JSA, as well as their respective "Classified" sister series.
If anyone feels like going comic shopping, let me know. We may want to just save up for the big Labor Day blow-out at Austin Books.
All you back issues of Jimmy Olsen will be mine! MINE!!!!!
The highlight of my DC selections this week is Green Lantern. There's a great story going on here called the Sinestro War, which is tying together elements from decades of DC Comics (but doesn't necessarily require a masters in DCU), while adding in new elements. It's just an absolutely huge story, and is infinitely better scoped and written than the ultra-dull Amazons Attack! in Wonder Woman and in its own limited series.
Countdown is rapidly becoming a huge disappointment. I'm beginning to wish the Jimmy Olsen storyline were just a back-up feature in Superman and/ or Action Comics.
Over at Marvel, I've picked up recent issues of Spider-Man, Hulk, World War Hulk, Thor and a few other titles. (Hey, Thor just moved to Oklahoma! Who knew?)
By and large, I think DC is having some serious problems with editorial driving things and rewarding Dan Didio loyalist writers with work they aren't qualified for. It's certainly harming Countdown as whatever scheme Dini is putting together keeps getting mired down in glacial pacing, clumsy dialog and the now grim reminder on the cover of each issue how many more weeks of this we're putting up with.
Further, the limited series tying into other editorial mismanagement, such as the Green Arrow/ Black Canary wedding stuff is leading into half-baked limited series.
I'm caught in a bit of a pickle as I'm the resident DC reviewer for Comic Fodder, and, right now, I'm about ready to give up on a whole bunch of DC. But I'm just tired of shelling out money for comics written by guys who don't deliver and seem to be responsible for huge portions of DC's output.
Meanwhile, guys like Morrison and Mark Waid have kind of disappeared to the sidelines, when DC should really be putting these guys front and center as the controlling factor in the DC Universe. Fortunately, Geoff Johns seems to have no problem maintaining his high profile, and is doing good thinsg with the GL Corps (with Dave Gibbons and Patrick Gleason making GL Corps a solid book).
Right now, though, I'd be putting my money on Marvel. World War Hulk is idiot simple with high concept, and seems to be delaying some ctastrophic event, but at least its interesting. Thor is just out there enough that even a guy like me who could usually give a flip about Thor is picking it up.
Spidey... well, we'll see. I'm just so curious about where this is going that that I really, really hope they don't totally drop the ball on me.
FF is okay, too. But I dig Black Panther. I'm not as crazy about the depiction of Storm, but I haven't been okay with Storm since she gave up the mohawk and leathers. Those were the days.
Overall, the Superman books are better than anything during the Berganza run, aside from maybe the initial No Limits stuff and parts of Our Worlds at War. Actually, no... this stuff is still mostly better.
Batman and Detective, wen not waiting through a fill-in artist, are both really sound Batman books.
And, personally, i've been really digging JLA and JSA, as well as their respective "Classified" sister series.
If anyone feels like going comic shopping, let me know. We may want to just save up for the big Labor Day blow-out at Austin Books.
All you back issues of Jimmy Olsen will be mine! MINE!!!!!
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Randy takes it up a notch
Hey, Leaguers. You might notice that Randy is listed as a "host" on the site.
Randy is trying for round 2 of Operation: Domain Name.
This February I spent a few bucks buying a domain name from GoDaddy.com. Randy tried to get it to work then and failed. Just totally, simply, utterly failed.
I kid. I don't recall what happened, but it was one of those "well, why would Blogger do THAT?" sort of moments. Anyhoo, this week he got a bee in his bonnet about the domain again and he's taking a whack at getting that domain up and running again. Go, Randy.
Hope ya'll are having a good day.
Randy is trying for round 2 of Operation: Domain Name.
This February I spent a few bucks buying a domain name from GoDaddy.com. Randy tried to get it to work then and failed. Just totally, simply, utterly failed.
I kid. I don't recall what happened, but it was one of those "well, why would Blogger do THAT?" sort of moments. Anyhoo, this week he got a bee in his bonnet about the domain again and he's taking a whack at getting that domain up and running again. Go, Randy.
Hope ya'll are having a good day.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
New DC Animated Projects
I don't know how many of you have read DC's series "New Frontier". I'm a huge fan of the series, and don't think it's really gotten the appreciation it deserves, especially in comic geek circles. It's one of my favorite DC projects of the past ten years or so, and I sort of think it's what they should probably do if they ever want to make a JLA movie.
Anyhow, they went ahead and made a feature film of "New Frontier". It just happens to be animated. Luckily, it's animated by Bruce Timm's folks, with input directly from Darwyn Cooke.
Check out this promo video:
Also, here's a look at the new season of Batman on Kids' WB. Superman, Lois and Jimmy will be playing a part for at least a few episodes.
And, here's a promo for Season 2 of Legion of Super-Heroes. My understanding is that there are two Supermen this season. One is the one you know, the other is a clone from the 41st Century, I believe.
I also think Legion has a great theme song. But that's just me.
Anyhow, they went ahead and made a feature film of "New Frontier". It just happens to be animated. Luckily, it's animated by Bruce Timm's folks, with input directly from Darwyn Cooke.
Check out this promo video:
Also, here's a look at the new season of Batman on Kids' WB. Superman, Lois and Jimmy will be playing a part for at least a few episodes.
And, here's a promo for Season 2 of Legion of Super-Heroes. My understanding is that there are two Supermen this season. One is the one you know, the other is a clone from the 41st Century, I believe.
I also think Legion has a great theme song. But that's just me.
Hey, Leaguers.
Well, it's been a magical weekend here at League HQ.
Friday at work got seriously Twilight Zone weird at the end. I'll be curious to see how that pans out. When it does, I will re-cap here. We either had some serious corporate espionage, or else my boss was pulling an elaborate hoax for reasons I cannot begin to fathom.
Friday night Jamie and I stayed home and relaxed. I watched "Elvira's Haunted Hills", which was extremely silly. But, as a completionist of sorts, I felt I had to see it. And, hey... it featured Richard O'Brien, too.
Saturday was pretty good. We met up with Jason to go see "The Simpsons Movie". If you were ever a Simpsons fan, its definitely worth catching the movie and seeing the characters back in classic form rather than the by-the-numbers, often saccharine stuff you see on the show these days.
I popped by Matt's new place (in the same place he was living, but in a new unit, and now he actually owns it as a condo), and visited with he and Nicole. After popping by Austin Books seeking a comic that has not yet been released (no worries, I still found some stuff) we wound up at Nicole's last night for some drinks. May the League recommend: Not trying Mike's Hard Lemonade: Mike-a-rita's. Unless you really like the taste of cheap margarita mix, the Mike-a-rita's might be worth skipping.
Today Jason came over for breakfast, and then we headed down to Gus Fruh swimming hole. Man, had I remembered some suntan lotion and lunch, we certainly could have stuck it out a lot longer. It was very nice down there, and Lucy was having fun. Until she got tired. Then she was crying a lot. She's actually dead asleep on my foot right now.
I've long been a fan of a good swimming hole, and today was lovely. Sun, wind, water with a slow current. Dogs, good folks, and no cops to hassle us about our lack of respect for leash laws.
Jamie is now tired, the dogs are tired. It's been a good weekend. Hope yours was swell.
Well, it's been a magical weekend here at League HQ.
Friday at work got seriously Twilight Zone weird at the end. I'll be curious to see how that pans out. When it does, I will re-cap here. We either had some serious corporate espionage, or else my boss was pulling an elaborate hoax for reasons I cannot begin to fathom.
Friday night Jamie and I stayed home and relaxed. I watched "Elvira's Haunted Hills", which was extremely silly. But, as a completionist of sorts, I felt I had to see it. And, hey... it featured Richard O'Brien, too.
Saturday was pretty good. We met up with Jason to go see "The Simpsons Movie". If you were ever a Simpsons fan, its definitely worth catching the movie and seeing the characters back in classic form rather than the by-the-numbers, often saccharine stuff you see on the show these days.
I popped by Matt's new place (in the same place he was living, but in a new unit, and now he actually owns it as a condo), and visited with he and Nicole. After popping by Austin Books seeking a comic that has not yet been released (no worries, I still found some stuff) we wound up at Nicole's last night for some drinks. May the League recommend: Not trying Mike's Hard Lemonade: Mike-a-rita's. Unless you really like the taste of cheap margarita mix, the Mike-a-rita's might be worth skipping.
Today Jason came over for breakfast, and then we headed down to Gus Fruh swimming hole. Man, had I remembered some suntan lotion and lunch, we certainly could have stuck it out a lot longer. It was very nice down there, and Lucy was having fun. Until she got tired. Then she was crying a lot. She's actually dead asleep on my foot right now.
I've long been a fan of a good swimming hole, and today was lovely. Sun, wind, water with a slow current. Dogs, good folks, and no cops to hassle us about our lack of respect for leash laws.
Jamie is now tired, the dogs are tired. It's been a good weekend. Hope yours was swell.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Hey, Leaguers. Sorry about the sad lack of posting. I've just had some busy days, and then, when I wasn't busy last night, I chose to roll over and go to sleep. I suggest you all write my bosses and tell them I'm entirely too busy and its preventing me from blogging, thus, denying the entire world a vital resource.
Minnesota Bridge Collapse
I keep turning the Minnesota bridge collapse over in my head. Of course thoughts and sympathy go out to those folks.
Part of what I find so depressing is that we know these things can happen and we still turn a blind eye. You hope as a kid that adults will make the right, obvious decisions, but...
If its not in the budget to fix the bridge, then we can't fix the bridge. Anyone who reads the paper might know that a vast number of bridges in our country are not considered safe, but there's an economic incentive not to touch the bridges as it would stop the daily commutes of millions of Americans if we were to actually bring those bridges up to code. That, and raising taxes to actually fix the bridges...
I cross an unknown number of bridges into work. I take at least one bridge over train tracks on William Cannon and, of course, I cross the South 1st bridge when I head over Town Lake on my way in to town each morning. For various reasons I took the Congress Avenue bridge leaving town this evening, but generally, it's the expansive S. 1st/ Lavaca bridge two times a day.
I may also pass over smaller bridges as I cross gullies and creeks on S. First, headed toward town. Certainly there's a dip that, when I think about it, certainly isn't flat with the ground, so that's most likely a small bridge.
Jason crosses the Lamar Street bridge twice a day or more.
I do not think about the possibility of the bridges collapsing. Never. Until
today, when suddenly you realize all those "1/3rd of bridges are considered unsafe" statistics apply to you. I am deeply saddened that the bridge collapse occurred. I think we can all see a bit of ourselves in the position of the commuters.
I wish the victims and families of the victims of the bridge collapse my best.
MAY THE LEAGUE RECOMMEND
Hey, it's not just time for a new season of "Who Wants to be a Superhero?", there's a new show on PBS. So, may The League recommend...
Nova ScienceNow
I know, Nova is a show for geeks. BUT... it is informative and very well produced. This new version is hosted by the astrophysicist guy who makes routine appearances on The Daily Show, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Nova ScienceNow is broken up into shorter, roughly 20 minute segments, far briefer than the usual hour-long Nova shows. Each segment focues on a wildly different topic, with Dr. Tyson popping up between segments and then give you "the cosmic view" at the end. Sort of like "Springer's Final Thought", only... not a rambling bit of incoherence.
One of my life's great regrets was that because I struggled with math in grade school and middle school, I sort of gave up on math and the possibilities for a career in anything which required a strong math or science background. Other topics came more easily, or I could skate by. So, before I ever really understood anything about math or science I was vainly deciding that I'd prusue something a bit more abstract or artistic or something. I had good teachers, I think. I loved Physics and Biology in high school, and I took a boatload of Geology in college, as well as biology, anthropology and other stuff (knowing full well I'd be doomed in physics.) I sort of thought of science, at the time, as something completely out of my grasp. Which was kind of sad and dumb of me. But if it came down to getting low marks in a class or getting the easy A in theater arts, I was going for the easy A.
Nova ScienceNow manages to simplify things so that a brain as ill-functioning as my own can understand the concepts. They're going for the coolness factor and skimming over some of how stuff actually works, certainly, but... Hell, you get to see some really neat stuff and understand how science can make a better world. Plus, you know, robots and dinosaurs.
I was particularly interested in a story on the work of Cynthia Brazeal at the MIT AI labs. She's making social robots that are learning to react to human emotions at a certain level. It was one of those moments when you see a small part of the future, and all those Asimov stories don't seem so crazy. And, for some reason, when they showed the POV of the robot, I was profoundly sad. I don't know why. I guess the idea of the little robot's brain being brought into the world and trying to see and understand the world is that first step beyond being merely a machine. It's sort of a beautiful thing, seeing those silicon neural synapses firing, and wish fulfillment of generations of kids. But you can also almost see the thing struggling.
Sure, in fifty years when the robots have driven us all onto the coasts and we've got our backs to the water while the AI gunships are hunting us down, its not going to be pathetic and heartbreaking... But now... Well, let us hope we are kind to the things we bring into this world.
Anyhow, check out Nova ScienceNow. For us armchair science enthusiasts who are still bstunned by shiny objects and promises of a future full of flying cars and cloned dinosaurs, its a great show.
Christmas is coming...
I'm just saying...
Also just saying...
More Prison dancing action!
From Randy. And this time... QUEEN!!!
Astros Win in the 14th!
Of course I wandred off in the 11th thinking they'd lose...
I Am Popeye
Minnesota Bridge Collapse
I keep turning the Minnesota bridge collapse over in my head. Of course thoughts and sympathy go out to those folks.
Part of what I find so depressing is that we know these things can happen and we still turn a blind eye. You hope as a kid that adults will make the right, obvious decisions, but...
If its not in the budget to fix the bridge, then we can't fix the bridge. Anyone who reads the paper might know that a vast number of bridges in our country are not considered safe, but there's an economic incentive not to touch the bridges as it would stop the daily commutes of millions of Americans if we were to actually bring those bridges up to code. That, and raising taxes to actually fix the bridges...
I cross an unknown number of bridges into work. I take at least one bridge over train tracks on William Cannon and, of course, I cross the South 1st bridge when I head over Town Lake on my way in to town each morning. For various reasons I took the Congress Avenue bridge leaving town this evening, but generally, it's the expansive S. 1st/ Lavaca bridge two times a day.
I may also pass over smaller bridges as I cross gullies and creeks on S. First, headed toward town. Certainly there's a dip that, when I think about it, certainly isn't flat with the ground, so that's most likely a small bridge.
Jason crosses the Lamar Street bridge twice a day or more.
I do not think about the possibility of the bridges collapsing. Never. Until
today, when suddenly you realize all those "1/3rd of bridges are considered unsafe" statistics apply to you. I am deeply saddened that the bridge collapse occurred. I think we can all see a bit of ourselves in the position of the commuters.
I wish the victims and families of the victims of the bridge collapse my best.
MAY THE LEAGUE RECOMMEND
Hey, it's not just time for a new season of "Who Wants to be a Superhero?", there's a new show on PBS. So, may The League recommend...
Nova ScienceNow
I know, Nova is a show for geeks. BUT... it is informative and very well produced. This new version is hosted by the astrophysicist guy who makes routine appearances on The Daily Show, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Nova ScienceNow is broken up into shorter, roughly 20 minute segments, far briefer than the usual hour-long Nova shows. Each segment focues on a wildly different topic, with Dr. Tyson popping up between segments and then give you "the cosmic view" at the end. Sort of like "Springer's Final Thought", only... not a rambling bit of incoherence.
One of my life's great regrets was that because I struggled with math in grade school and middle school, I sort of gave up on math and the possibilities for a career in anything which required a strong math or science background. Other topics came more easily, or I could skate by. So, before I ever really understood anything about math or science I was vainly deciding that I'd prusue something a bit more abstract or artistic or something. I had good teachers, I think. I loved Physics and Biology in high school, and I took a boatload of Geology in college, as well as biology, anthropology and other stuff (knowing full well I'd be doomed in physics.) I sort of thought of science, at the time, as something completely out of my grasp. Which was kind of sad and dumb of me. But if it came down to getting low marks in a class or getting the easy A in theater arts, I was going for the easy A.
Nova ScienceNow manages to simplify things so that a brain as ill-functioning as my own can understand the concepts. They're going for the coolness factor and skimming over some of how stuff actually works, certainly, but... Hell, you get to see some really neat stuff and understand how science can make a better world. Plus, you know, robots and dinosaurs.
I was particularly interested in a story on the work of Cynthia Brazeal at the MIT AI labs. She's making social robots that are learning to react to human emotions at a certain level. It was one of those moments when you see a small part of the future, and all those Asimov stories don't seem so crazy. And, for some reason, when they showed the POV of the robot, I was profoundly sad. I don't know why. I guess the idea of the little robot's brain being brought into the world and trying to see and understand the world is that first step beyond being merely a machine. It's sort of a beautiful thing, seeing those silicon neural synapses firing, and wish fulfillment of generations of kids. But you can also almost see the thing struggling.
Sure, in fifty years when the robots have driven us all onto the coasts and we've got our backs to the water while the AI gunships are hunting us down, its not going to be pathetic and heartbreaking... But now... Well, let us hope we are kind to the things we bring into this world.
Anyhow, check out Nova ScienceNow. For us armchair science enthusiasts who are still bstunned by shiny objects and promises of a future full of flying cars and cloned dinosaurs, its a great show.
Christmas is coming...
I'm just saying...
Also just saying...
More Prison dancing action!
From Randy. And this time... QUEEN!!!
Astros Win in the 14th!
Of course I wandred off in the 11th thinking they'd lose...
I Am Popeye
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Jiggity Jog
We're home.
Jamie's procedure was supposed to occur Thursday (it did), and, at most, we expected to go home Friday morning. Well, thanks to the miracles of modern medicine and a doctor who was being properly cautious as we adjusted some of Jamie's meds, we've been at St. David's South Austin on and off since Thursday. I am now properly worn out.
Here's the difference between going into the hospital in AZ and going in here:
Jamie's folks happened to be coming into town Thursday anyway (they're putting an offer in on a house in San Marcos. They shall be living ever so close to Ralph the Swimming Pig), so they were here. Friday Jason and Carla were able to come by. Saturday Wagner was here from Lubbock. Plus the return of Jason and Carla. Throw Matty into the mix, and voila! It wasn't just the two of us sitting there trying to figure out what show on basic cable at 2:00 on a Saturday is least boring.
Thanks so, so much to folks who came by. We really appreciate it.
Jamie is home. She's fine. She's happy to be able to dole out affection upon the pets once again.
Jamie's procedure was supposed to occur Thursday (it did), and, at most, we expected to go home Friday morning. Well, thanks to the miracles of modern medicine and a doctor who was being properly cautious as we adjusted some of Jamie's meds, we've been at St. David's South Austin on and off since Thursday. I am now properly worn out.
Here's the difference between going into the hospital in AZ and going in here:
Jamie's folks happened to be coming into town Thursday anyway (they're putting an offer in on a house in San Marcos. They shall be living ever so close to Ralph the Swimming Pig), so they were here. Friday Jason and Carla were able to come by. Saturday Wagner was here from Lubbock. Plus the return of Jason and Carla. Throw Matty into the mix, and voila! It wasn't just the two of us sitting there trying to figure out what show on basic cable at 2:00 on a Saturday is least boring.
Thanks so, so much to folks who came by. We really appreciate it.
Jamie is home. She's fine. She's happy to be able to dole out affection upon the pets once again.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Out of Pocket
Hey, Leaguers. The week started off busy with work. However, our attention now turns to Jamie.
Jamie had a small medical procedure this morning to look at her heart. So, anyway, I was up at 5:00ish, and I'm now really, really tired.
Jamie is spending the vening in the hospital, and, depending on how things go tomorrow, may be there for a few days. I don't really know. The good news is that she actually feels okay. This whole thing was about checking out her heart for a possible future transplant.
Hope you guys are well.
Jamie had a small medical procedure this morning to look at her heart. So, anyway, I was up at 5:00ish, and I'm now really, really tired.
Jamie is spending the vening in the hospital, and, depending on how things go tomorrow, may be there for a few days. I don't really know. The good news is that she actually feels okay. This whole thing was about checking out her heart for a possible future transplant.
Hope you guys are well.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Additional/ Supplemental
So Saturday evening we headed over to Carla's for "Bad Movie Night". Carla had rented the 1983 Australian produced Alan Arkin-starring superhero musical adventure "The Return of Captain Invincible". Somehow I'd missed it was a musical, and so when the president burst into song, I confess I was more than a bit surprised.
The movie makes some interesting choices, and there's a lot of gratuitous nudity to remind you that it's the 80's. Plus, the female lead somehow keeps getting the buttons to her blouse popped open to remind the viewer why she may have been hired.
If you want to see Christopher Lee participate in a Rocky Horror/ Bob Fosse inspired musical number... If you want to see a man with a salmon-gun... If you want to see a weird green little monkey man... Leaguers... This is your movie.
Anyhow, the story of the movie was actually stunningly close to the story of DC Comics' own Justice Society of America who ALSO disbanded after being called in front of McCarthy and being asked to unmask. This is a storyline DC fans take deadly serious, so seeing the same idea being taken lightly was... well, shall we say I have a different filter.
Carla also showed a film she'd made, "The Perfect Dress", which, apparently, I thought was better than she did. But I can understand being close enough to your own work that all you see are the things you wish you'd done different. Carla's film was actually fun and a musical for which she'd written lyrics. Good stuff.
In addition, she busted out our student film from Film I. All I can see now are the places where my cuts were all wrong, so its a tough one to watch. You kids and your fancy non-linear editing systems will never know the joys of the hand-crank Film 1 editing machinery. So shut up.
Lots of memories tied up in that film. It was fun to watch it with the two other folks who'd been there for the whole thing.
Thanks to Carla and David for having us over. The mini-burgers were excellent!
Tonight Jamie and I went to see the new Harry Potter, which was actually a good, all-ages (not kiddie) adventure movie. I've not read the books, so it's fascinating to see the world which started out being cute little moppets playing silly wizardy games turn into a life or death struggle of fairly epic proportions.
I don't know all what one can say about a Harry Potter movie at this point. Either you're interested or you're not. Daniel Radcliffe and Co. are blossoming into honest-to-God actors, and can easily handle the material being thrown their way.
There's some interesting commentary upon the nature of power in the film, especially of government. It's the sort of confusing lesson one might discover in high school when you begin to realize authority figures are all too often all too human, but that doesn't mean you're in any position to do anything about it. I think the solution in the movie is of the deas ex machina variety, but after time-reversing devices, etc... playing key roles in the conclusion of Potter movies, it's something I can live with.
Anyhow, worth a look see..
The movie makes some interesting choices, and there's a lot of gratuitous nudity to remind you that it's the 80's. Plus, the female lead somehow keeps getting the buttons to her blouse popped open to remind the viewer why she may have been hired.
If you want to see Christopher Lee participate in a Rocky Horror/ Bob Fosse inspired musical number... If you want to see a man with a salmon-gun... If you want to see a weird green little monkey man... Leaguers... This is your movie.
Anyhow, the story of the movie was actually stunningly close to the story of DC Comics' own Justice Society of America who ALSO disbanded after being called in front of McCarthy and being asked to unmask. This is a storyline DC fans take deadly serious, so seeing the same idea being taken lightly was... well, shall we say I have a different filter.
Carla also showed a film she'd made, "The Perfect Dress", which, apparently, I thought was better than she did. But I can understand being close enough to your own work that all you see are the things you wish you'd done different. Carla's film was actually fun and a musical for which she'd written lyrics. Good stuff.
In addition, she busted out our student film from Film I. All I can see now are the places where my cuts were all wrong, so its a tough one to watch. You kids and your fancy non-linear editing systems will never know the joys of the hand-crank Film 1 editing machinery. So shut up.
Lots of memories tied up in that film. It was fun to watch it with the two other folks who'd been there for the whole thing.
Thanks to Carla and David for having us over. The mini-burgers were excellent!
Tonight Jamie and I went to see the new Harry Potter, which was actually a good, all-ages (not kiddie) adventure movie. I've not read the books, so it's fascinating to see the world which started out being cute little moppets playing silly wizardy games turn into a life or death struggle of fairly epic proportions.
I don't know all what one can say about a Harry Potter movie at this point. Either you're interested or you're not. Daniel Radcliffe and Co. are blossoming into honest-to-God actors, and can easily handle the material being thrown their way.
There's some interesting commentary upon the nature of power in the film, especially of government. It's the sort of confusing lesson one might discover in high school when you begin to realize authority figures are all too often all too human, but that doesn't mean you're in any position to do anything about it. I think the solution in the movie is of the deas ex machina variety, but after time-reversing devices, etc... playing key roles in the conclusion of Potter movies, it's something I can live with.
Anyhow, worth a look see..
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