Reason enough for me to break and buy an X-Box?
Justice League videogame coming!
With this and the coming Superman Returns game, I am freaking out.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Monday, March 20, 2006
Question NUMERO DOS:
Most questionable release from a major movie studio (theatrical release)
Eric Nordtrom: Bewitched. I will never, ever see it.
Tamara: War of the Worlds=Waste of My Afternoon. Just stop it, Stevo! For
the love of your legacy, just stop it!
Natalie: Oh, there are so many, but because I've had to watch this one umpteen times (and want to cry in frustration every time), I'm going with "Son of the Mask."
Jim D.: Every release from a major movie studio is questionable. Is it possible to narrow it down to just one? There are easy, easy targets like Big Momma's House II and the Deuce Bigalow sequel. There is self important detritus like Crash (wherein Hollywood finally lets us, the great unwashed in flyover country, know that we really all do need to get along). The burden is on the studio to prove that their latest release is not crap, and this is a burden the studio execs are either unaware of or (more likely) simply don't care about at all. (I had to ad the "at all" to that preceding sentence so that it wouldn't end in a preposition, but even with that addition, it still is lazy writing. Sigh.).
Ryan V.: King Kong.
Peabo: War of the Worlds. Seriously, the story line wasn’t that great the first time around when we didn’t know it. I expect more of Spielberg. You can’t just expect to put Spielberg and Cruise on a poster and expect us just lap it up because you’ve entertained us before. I mean give us some kind of Mark Singer pealing aliens fake rubber human faces off, anything, something !
Denise: -Sahara. I was forced to watch this stinker while flying to New York. The movie plot includes buried treasure in Nigeria(as if), American Civil War flashbacks, toxic waste potentially killing all life on the planet, Doctors Without Borders, Matthew McConaughey getting fired out of a 150 year old cannon, and evil warlords. The only reason I did not pluck my eyes out to prevent watching this was that McConaughey was a nice piece of eye candy.
RHPT: Rent and The Producers. I really like Rent, having seen it at least four times, and was very excited to see it turned into a motion picture. However, the movie fell flat. It lacked the energy and passion of the play.
I've never seen the Broadway version of The Producers, but I thought the movie was boring and overly long. I excepted much more from a play that garnered so many accolades.
Nathan: Duece Bigalow: European Gigolo.
Social Bobcat: -The Shaggy Dog - who the eff thinks that Tim Allen + poorly done CGI of a man knocking over an old lady equals comedy gold? (runner-up: just about any movie that Steve Martin has come out with in the last five to ten years. Steve, is that new boat worth the cost of your dignity?)
Maxwell: Did they really release a film this year based on the "Have you checked the children..." scary story? Did anyone else think of Joey on Friends and "but she's been dead for seven years..." bit?
Harms: Wow, I saw two horrible "scary movies" in 2005: "Hide and Seek" and "White
Noise". What absolute stinkers. The latter had an interesting premise and it's clear that the writer decided to go hump grass or something when writing the ending rather than refer to the first half of the screenplay at which the second half was totally at odds."
I discuss this failure at: http://www.stevengharms.com/archives/000415.html
The former was terrible. It's a horrible black mark on the career of R. DeNiro. It's predictable, formulaic, with a flat, boring menace. Dakota Fanning was creepy, but that may just be a side effect of hanging around Tom Cruise a lot that year.
DeNiro is a great actor when given material that breathes through an Italian-American respirator. His appearances on SNL are abysmal and as flat as his work in this movie. Terrible. Terrible. I hope the director or producers are friends of his because they really got a big favor out of his lending his name to that steamy pile of gorilla urine.
Steanso:The Dukes of Hazzard
Do we really need to recreate this? Do Confederate flags and redneck values need more of a push at coming back into fashion? (CrackBass) will argue that we got a good Jessica Simpson video out of it, but I would counterargue that we still would have gotten something out of Jessica Simpson this year in which she would have been rolling around half naked, even if this movie had never been made ?
CrackBass:
The Ape
The guy who plays Harry Osborne in the SM movies stars (and wrote, and directs!!!)this one about “A young writer, nearing a mental breakdown caused by his family and boss, moves into an apartment occupied by a walking, talking, foul-mouthed ape in a Hawaiian shirt and Converse High Tops” And they couldn’t get funding for the remaining two films in M. Night’s Unbreakable trilogy????
Reed-o: There's so many each year. Even though I didn't see them, I guess I
will go with
Duece Bigalow: European Gigolo
I would say Catwoman, but the initial premise itself isn't bad. Just poorly written, and executed. Everything about Duece Bigalow strikes me as bad. Did the first Duece Bigalow really gross enough to warrant a second movie? I hate Rob Schneider.
Jamie: Over the Hedge. This CG (as if there is any other kind these days) animated tale has yet to be released, but has already elicited groans from the League household. I believe there have been no fewer than three 'cartoons' in the past year featuring talking animals forced out of their comfortable environments.
The League:
Movie I saw: Probably Son of the Mask. Why would the studio want to punish us for enjoying the first film, even as a lazy Saturday afternoon lark? Luckily I saw this on cable. Not exactly free, but a fraction of the cost of paying to see a movie with a discernable odor.
Movie I did not see: Impossible to say. So much out there. Lots of stupid looking kids movies (Chicken Little), pointless romantic comedies (Rumor Has It) moronic horror flicks (How is their a 3rd Final Destination? For the love of @#$), movies for 9 year old girls which brutally reinforce gender roles (Aquamarine), movies about dudes in the hood trying to make it as a rapper (one of these, I believe, was Oscar nominated) and just a lot of junk (why are they still paying Martin Lawrence to do anything? Oh, yeah... #1 opening weekend, eh?) . There was probably a lot of bloated, self-indulgent junk, but I think I missed a lot of it.
RESULTS
Man, ya'll really do not like Rob Schneider. That's three of you that singled out Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalow. Spielberg's War of the Worlds also seemed to draw quite a bit of ire. I did see War of the Worlds, and I liked the original better. None of the additions Spielberg added made any damn sense.
Jim gets the "Boo" for taking the snotty way out and condemning each and every movie made and/ or released by a studio (very film school of you, Jimbo). However, it's tough to argue with some of his examples.
CrackBass scores special points for his identification of a movie nobody ever heard of, and, I think, actually sitting through a movie with an ape in sneakers.
However, it is Steanso who brings up the best point about a completely unnecessary movie, Dukes of Hazzard and his astute observation re: Whatsername Simpson's inevitable decline into rolling around the hoods of cars.
Most questionable release from a major movie studio (theatrical release)
Eric Nordtrom: Bewitched. I will never, ever see it.
Tamara: War of the Worlds=Waste of My Afternoon. Just stop it, Stevo! For
the love of your legacy, just stop it!
Natalie: Oh, there are so many, but because I've had to watch this one umpteen times (and want to cry in frustration every time), I'm going with "Son of the Mask."
Jim D.: Every release from a major movie studio is questionable. Is it possible to narrow it down to just one? There are easy, easy targets like Big Momma's House II and the Deuce Bigalow sequel. There is self important detritus like Crash (wherein Hollywood finally lets us, the great unwashed in flyover country, know that we really all do need to get along). The burden is on the studio to prove that their latest release is not crap, and this is a burden the studio execs are either unaware of or (more likely) simply don't care about at all. (I had to ad the "at all" to that preceding sentence so that it wouldn't end in a preposition, but even with that addition, it still is lazy writing. Sigh.).
Ryan V.: King Kong.
Peabo: War of the Worlds. Seriously, the story line wasn’t that great the first time around when we didn’t know it. I expect more of Spielberg. You can’t just expect to put Spielberg and Cruise on a poster and expect us just lap it up because you’ve entertained us before. I mean give us some kind of Mark Singer pealing aliens fake rubber human faces off, anything, something !
Denise: -Sahara. I was forced to watch this stinker while flying to New York. The movie plot includes buried treasure in Nigeria(as if), American Civil War flashbacks, toxic waste potentially killing all life on the planet, Doctors Without Borders, Matthew McConaughey getting fired out of a 150 year old cannon, and evil warlords. The only reason I did not pluck my eyes out to prevent watching this was that McConaughey was a nice piece of eye candy.
RHPT: Rent and The Producers. I really like Rent, having seen it at least four times, and was very excited to see it turned into a motion picture. However, the movie fell flat. It lacked the energy and passion of the play.
I've never seen the Broadway version of The Producers, but I thought the movie was boring and overly long. I excepted much more from a play that garnered so many accolades.
Nathan: Duece Bigalow: European Gigolo.
Social Bobcat: -The Shaggy Dog - who the eff thinks that Tim Allen + poorly done CGI of a man knocking over an old lady equals comedy gold? (runner-up: just about any movie that Steve Martin has come out with in the last five to ten years. Steve, is that new boat worth the cost of your dignity?)
Maxwell: Did they really release a film this year based on the "Have you checked the children..." scary story? Did anyone else think of Joey on Friends and "but she's been dead for seven years..." bit?
Harms: Wow, I saw two horrible "scary movies" in 2005: "Hide and Seek" and "White
Noise". What absolute stinkers. The latter had an interesting premise and it's clear that the writer decided to go hump grass or something when writing the ending rather than refer to the first half of the screenplay at which the second half was totally at odds."
I discuss this failure at: http://www.stevengharms.com/archives/000415.html
The former was terrible. It's a horrible black mark on the career of R. DeNiro. It's predictable, formulaic, with a flat, boring menace. Dakota Fanning was creepy, but that may just be a side effect of hanging around Tom Cruise a lot that year.
DeNiro is a great actor when given material that breathes through an Italian-American respirator. His appearances on SNL are abysmal and as flat as his work in this movie. Terrible. Terrible. I hope the director or producers are friends of his because they really got a big favor out of his lending his name to that steamy pile of gorilla urine.
Steanso:The Dukes of Hazzard
Do we really need to recreate this? Do Confederate flags and redneck values need more of a push at coming back into fashion? (CrackBass) will argue that we got a good Jessica Simpson video out of it, but I would counterargue that we still would have gotten something out of Jessica Simpson this year in which she would have been rolling around half naked, even if this movie had never been made ?
CrackBass:
The Ape
The guy who plays Harry Osborne in the SM movies stars (and wrote, and directs!!!)this one about “A young writer, nearing a mental breakdown caused by his family and boss, moves into an apartment occupied by a walking, talking, foul-mouthed ape in a Hawaiian shirt and Converse High Tops” And they couldn’t get funding for the remaining two films in M. Night’s Unbreakable trilogy????
Reed-o: There's so many each year. Even though I didn't see them, I guess I
will go with
Duece Bigalow: European Gigolo
I would say Catwoman, but the initial premise itself isn't bad. Just poorly written, and executed. Everything about Duece Bigalow strikes me as bad. Did the first Duece Bigalow really gross enough to warrant a second movie? I hate Rob Schneider.
Jamie: Over the Hedge. This CG (as if there is any other kind these days) animated tale has yet to be released, but has already elicited groans from the League household. I believe there have been no fewer than three 'cartoons' in the past year featuring talking animals forced out of their comfortable environments.
The League:
Movie I saw: Probably Son of the Mask. Why would the studio want to punish us for enjoying the first film, even as a lazy Saturday afternoon lark? Luckily I saw this on cable. Not exactly free, but a fraction of the cost of paying to see a movie with a discernable odor.
Movie I did not see: Impossible to say. So much out there. Lots of stupid looking kids movies (Chicken Little), pointless romantic comedies (Rumor Has It) moronic horror flicks (How is their a 3rd Final Destination? For the love of @#$), movies for 9 year old girls which brutally reinforce gender roles (Aquamarine), movies about dudes in the hood trying to make it as a rapper (one of these, I believe, was Oscar nominated) and just a lot of junk (why are they still paying Martin Lawrence to do anything? Oh, yeah... #1 opening weekend, eh?) . There was probably a lot of bloated, self-indulgent junk, but I think I missed a lot of it.
RESULTS
Man, ya'll really do not like Rob Schneider. That's three of you that singled out Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalow. Spielberg's War of the Worlds also seemed to draw quite a bit of ire. I did see War of the Worlds, and I liked the original better. None of the additions Spielberg added made any damn sense.
Jim gets the "Boo" for taking the snotty way out and condemning each and every movie made and/ or released by a studio (very film school of you, Jimbo). However, it's tough to argue with some of his examples.
CrackBass scores special points for his identification of a movie nobody ever heard of, and, I think, actually sitting through a movie with an ape in sneakers.
However, it is Steanso who brings up the best point about a completely unnecessary movie, Dukes of Hazzard and his astute observation re: Whatsername Simpson's inevitable decline into rolling around the hoods of cars.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
THE 2006 Mellies Results:
Okay, the results are in. We had a startlingly large number of nominees/ responses this year. A few people didn't bother to send anything in despite what I assumed was regular reading of the site. No harm, no foul. The results will be coming out in a slow trickle over the next two weeks.
So, on to the show....
Question 1:
The person who is always on TV, but whom drives me insane
Eric Nordtrom: Ann Coulter
Tamara: I don't own a television, so I think that I'm ill-qualified to answer this one.
Natalie: Bill O'Reilly. Someone please shut him up!
Jim D.: This is a difficult question to answer, as in the era of DVR, I really only watch what I preset my Tivo to record, and I am not in the habit of recording programs featuring people who are always on TV and who drive me insane. If pressed, I would have to say celebutante/heirhead Paris Hilton, someone who is not famous for any talent or contribution to society, but rather because she is dumb, sordid, and (at least in her own mind) trendy. In fact, looking at her guest appearances on IMDB, she is always on television. I was particularly irked when she appeared on the usually clever "Veronica Mars," the producers of which appeared to be slumming it by casting this wealthy oxygen thief. I think she appeared in an unnecessary throwaway cameo on "The O.C.," back when that program was worth watching. Perhaps that was the beginning of the end?
Ryan V. :
Oprah.
And my wife loves her. (And DVRs every episode.)
There is no escape.
Peabo: Bill Maher (I know, it’s not t.v., it’s HBO). I used to like him, back when he was funny and made a little bit of an effort to see both sides of an issue, but now he is such an apologist for anything that is anti-Bush he has zero credibility. There is plenty of legitimate criticism to be made of Bush without having to resort to idiotic sensationalism and hyperbole.
Denise: -Close tie: Michael Moore or Al Frankin. Two completely delusional and paranoid idiots. Get your schizoaffective disorders in check! Take the damn Haldol!
RHPT: The kids who are on MTV's insipid shows.
Nathan: The Geico gecko. I used to like him until he started talking in a bad British accent. (note from the editor: The Geico gecko is not technically a person, but a lizard. And is also, technically, a cartoon. We accept Nathan's response based upon the fact that we went to the same high school and are aware of the poor quality of the science curriculum at said high school)
Social Bobcat: - John Gibson - normally i wouldn't know of his existence but our TVs at work are constantly on FOX News. i think he's inflammatory (war on christmas!) and he looks weird
Maxwell: Dr. Neil Clark Warren, founder of eHarmony. He's orange. Does he drink too much carrot juice? Or is he an alien who has already infiltrated the Christian conservative right and who plans to eventually breed the entire globe based on 29 points of "similarity" in order to produce the yummiest humans ever?
Harms: Thanks to a Tivo and an HDivo I rarely see TV but that I want to see, thus I'm not particularly driven insane by it. I'll just say Paris Hilton because I'm tired of her being in every medium possible.
Steanso: probably Katie Couric. No, Barbara Walters. Nope. It's gotta be Katie Couric. Damn you, America's sweetheart! Every time I watch you I can feel IQ points melting out through my ears.
CrackBass: Donald Trump. I know that is his role. But I really, really dislike him.
Reed-o: I don't know if this qualifies, but I'm getting real sick of the voice actor for those "Priceless" MasterCard commercials. You know what would be priceless for me - seeing the MasterCard priceless commercial campaign come to an end.
Jamie: Nancy Grace. So maybe she's not on TV ALL the time, but each night that I make dinner I turn on the telly for some background noise and there she is, shrieking about all current injustices!
The League:
The dude I can't stand most: I'm trying to think of a "TV Personality" who makes me want to run screaming from the room, and I'm hard pressed. I tune so much out. My first thought was the salivating moron of "Mad Money", but then I thought Wolf Blitzer probably should snag this one this year if I'm too pick someone from a "news" network. Nay, I'm going obvious and giving it to Tom Cruise for being such an insufferable jack-ass. Nobody speaks to Lauer that way, Cruise! NO ONE!!!
Lady: Not so long ago, the answer might have been Oprah, and then I watched this thing on PBS about her life and, dammit, it made me respect her. It's just not fair. She used to really bug me. So, for the woman I can't stand most, I gotta go with Steanso's selection. I just can't @#$%ing stand Couric. From my responses, you'd think I watch a lot of Today Show, but I don't. I'm a Diane Sawyer man all the way. Good Moring America, indeed...
The Results:
Paris Hilton got the most responses if you don't count my own regarding Couric. That should come as a surprise to nobody. By this time, 2008, she'll be a footnote, people. If you ignore her, she will go away.
Well, special shout out to Ryan V. for his mournfully poetic response. I could almost feel the quiet desperation.
Reed-o gets a nod for the most random person to dislike, considering it is a disembodied voice. Reed-o hears so many voices in his head, we figured one more wouldn't bug him.
Tamara gets a special "Boo Award". Just imagine me "boo-ing" you. As endeared as I am that you were honest, The League will have no loftiness in it's pages. Instead, we shall now make fun of you for not being a part of the latter-20th Century and refer to you as "Cave-Dweller Tamara". We shall also wonder aloud if Tamara fears other gifts from the her primitive gods such as running water and fire to heat her cave.
I think Maxwell wins for most colorful response. I literally have not been able to see an eHarmony commercial since reading her response and still see that carrot-colored goober the same way again.
Paris, I'm sorry doll... We all applaud how hard you were sort of trying in your megalomaniacal, sociopathic sort of way. If you could just try not to fill up any more space in our collective conscience for, oh, the next fifty years..? Great. Thanks. See you in the obits!
Okay, the results are in. We had a startlingly large number of nominees/ responses this year. A few people didn't bother to send anything in despite what I assumed was regular reading of the site. No harm, no foul. The results will be coming out in a slow trickle over the next two weeks.
So, on to the show....
Question 1:
The person who is always on TV, but whom drives me insane
Eric Nordtrom: Ann Coulter
Tamara: I don't own a television, so I think that I'm ill-qualified to answer this one.
Natalie: Bill O'Reilly. Someone please shut him up!
Jim D.: This is a difficult question to answer, as in the era of DVR, I really only watch what I preset my Tivo to record, and I am not in the habit of recording programs featuring people who are always on TV and who drive me insane. If pressed, I would have to say celebutante/heirhead Paris Hilton, someone who is not famous for any talent or contribution to society, but rather because she is dumb, sordid, and (at least in her own mind) trendy. In fact, looking at her guest appearances on IMDB, she is always on television. I was particularly irked when she appeared on the usually clever "Veronica Mars," the producers of which appeared to be slumming it by casting this wealthy oxygen thief. I think she appeared in an unnecessary throwaway cameo on "The O.C.," back when that program was worth watching. Perhaps that was the beginning of the end?
Ryan V. :
Oprah.
And my wife loves her. (And DVRs every episode.)
There is no escape.
Peabo: Bill Maher (I know, it’s not t.v., it’s HBO). I used to like him, back when he was funny and made a little bit of an effort to see both sides of an issue, but now he is such an apologist for anything that is anti-Bush he has zero credibility. There is plenty of legitimate criticism to be made of Bush without having to resort to idiotic sensationalism and hyperbole.
Denise: -Close tie: Michael Moore or Al Frankin. Two completely delusional and paranoid idiots. Get your schizoaffective disorders in check! Take the damn Haldol!
RHPT: The kids who are on MTV's insipid shows.
Nathan: The Geico gecko. I used to like him until he started talking in a bad British accent. (note from the editor: The Geico gecko is not technically a person, but a lizard. And is also, technically, a cartoon. We accept Nathan's response based upon the fact that we went to the same high school and are aware of the poor quality of the science curriculum at said high school)
Social Bobcat: - John Gibson - normally i wouldn't know of his existence but our TVs at work are constantly on FOX News. i think he's inflammatory (war on christmas!) and he looks weird
Maxwell: Dr. Neil Clark Warren, founder of eHarmony. He's orange. Does he drink too much carrot juice? Or is he an alien who has already infiltrated the Christian conservative right and who plans to eventually breed the entire globe based on 29 points of "similarity" in order to produce the yummiest humans ever?
Harms: Thanks to a Tivo and an HDivo I rarely see TV but that I want to see, thus I'm not particularly driven insane by it. I'll just say Paris Hilton because I'm tired of her being in every medium possible.
Steanso: probably Katie Couric. No, Barbara Walters. Nope. It's gotta be Katie Couric. Damn you, America's sweetheart! Every time I watch you I can feel IQ points melting out through my ears.
CrackBass: Donald Trump. I know that is his role. But I really, really dislike him.
Reed-o: I don't know if this qualifies, but I'm getting real sick of the voice actor for those "Priceless" MasterCard commercials. You know what would be priceless for me - seeing the MasterCard priceless commercial campaign come to an end.
Jamie: Nancy Grace. So maybe she's not on TV ALL the time, but each night that I make dinner I turn on the telly for some background noise and there she is, shrieking about all current injustices!
The League:
The dude I can't stand most: I'm trying to think of a "TV Personality" who makes me want to run screaming from the room, and I'm hard pressed. I tune so much out. My first thought was the salivating moron of "Mad Money", but then I thought Wolf Blitzer probably should snag this one this year if I'm too pick someone from a "news" network. Nay, I'm going obvious and giving it to Tom Cruise for being such an insufferable jack-ass. Nobody speaks to Lauer that way, Cruise! NO ONE!!!
Lady: Not so long ago, the answer might have been Oprah, and then I watched this thing on PBS about her life and, dammit, it made me respect her. It's just not fair. She used to really bug me. So, for the woman I can't stand most, I gotta go with Steanso's selection. I just can't @#$%ing stand Couric. From my responses, you'd think I watch a lot of Today Show, but I don't. I'm a Diane Sawyer man all the way. Good Moring America, indeed...
The Results:
Paris Hilton got the most responses if you don't count my own regarding Couric. That should come as a surprise to nobody. By this time, 2008, she'll be a footnote, people. If you ignore her, she will go away.
Well, special shout out to Ryan V. for his mournfully poetic response. I could almost feel the quiet desperation.
Reed-o gets a nod for the most random person to dislike, considering it is a disembodied voice. Reed-o hears so many voices in his head, we figured one more wouldn't bug him.
Tamara gets a special "Boo Award". Just imagine me "boo-ing" you. As endeared as I am that you were honest, The League will have no loftiness in it's pages. Instead, we shall now make fun of you for not being a part of the latter-20th Century and refer to you as "Cave-Dweller Tamara". We shall also wonder aloud if Tamara fears other gifts from the her primitive gods such as running water and fire to heat her cave.
I think Maxwell wins for most colorful response. I literally have not been able to see an eHarmony commercial since reading her response and still see that carrot-colored goober the same way again.
Paris, I'm sorry doll... We all applaud how hard you were sort of trying in your megalomaniacal, sociopathic sort of way. If you could just try not to fill up any more space in our collective conscience for, oh, the next fifty years..? Great. Thanks. See you in the obits!
Friday, March 17, 2006
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO STEANSO
Part Deux
Today Steanso turns 33. I have not yet sent him a present thanks to a weird combination of events and the fact that I have a new policy of refusing to send a present unless I have been given a decent idea of what the presentee might want.
Well, Steanso, your present is now sitting on the floor of my office. You'll get it when I locate a box and get to the post office.
I am sure you will, once again, make the most of another year here on Planet Earth and bring the smallest amount of shame to our family name as you can muster.
I know this year had been frought with challenges. The loss of a job and subsequent selling out for benefits and job security. The loss of Hobbes. The Steanso-v.-Satellite Television battle. Your shameful bout with illiteracy. The restraining order. Your epic battle with E.D.
But you made it through it all with flying colors. And we expect you'll do it all again and with your usual panache.
You're more or less my brother, and while I wouldn't normally claim you, we look enough alike that the resemblance makes it hard to deny any accusations of shared parentage. And so I guess I just want the world to know that, here, on your 33rd Birthday, you're not the total disgrace Mom always insists that you are. And no matter what she says, people can overlook the fact that you smell like an old bag of Doritos.
So Happy Birthday, Steanso. Again, my gift to you is my full support that one day you will, if you're lucky, kiss a girl.
Part Deux
Today Steanso turns 33. I have not yet sent him a present thanks to a weird combination of events and the fact that I have a new policy of refusing to send a present unless I have been given a decent idea of what the presentee might want.
Well, Steanso, your present is now sitting on the floor of my office. You'll get it when I locate a box and get to the post office.
I am sure you will, once again, make the most of another year here on Planet Earth and bring the smallest amount of shame to our family name as you can muster.
I know this year had been frought with challenges. The loss of a job and subsequent selling out for benefits and job security. The loss of Hobbes. The Steanso-v.-Satellite Television battle. Your shameful bout with illiteracy. The restraining order. Your epic battle with E.D.But you made it through it all with flying colors. And we expect you'll do it all again and with your usual panache.
You're more or less my brother, and while I wouldn't normally claim you, we look enough alike that the resemblance makes it hard to deny any accusations of shared parentage. And so I guess I just want the world to know that, here, on your 33rd Birthday, you're not the total disgrace Mom always insists that you are. And no matter what she says, people can overlook the fact that you smell like an old bag of Doritos.
So Happy Birthday, Steanso. Again, my gift to you is my full support that one day you will, if you're lucky, kiss a girl.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
LAUNCHING COUSIN JIM INTO SPACE
So do you remember how I was complaining that we've lost our nerve when it comes to discovery, especially in aviation?
Well, Cousin Jim (not to be confused with Jim D.) has inadvertently decided to challenge me on my disappointment in humanity. He, himself, is an aviator, and just today decided to send me some information of a venture he's considering.
THE ROCKET RACING LEAGUE
This, Leaguers, is exactly the salve to my woes. This was what I needed to see, people with more courage than common sense tearing through the stratosphere.
If Cousin Jim decides this is what he's doing, Leaguers, I will find some way to get involved. I am sending Jim into space with high hopes of bringing him back.
I suggest visiting the website as it also has a contest to name the first Rocket Racer. I submitted "The Bradbury" because I am a nerd.
So do you remember how I was complaining that we've lost our nerve when it comes to discovery, especially in aviation?
Well, Cousin Jim (not to be confused with Jim D.) has inadvertently decided to challenge me on my disappointment in humanity. He, himself, is an aviator, and just today decided to send me some information of a venture he's considering.
THE ROCKET RACING LEAGUE
This, Leaguers, is exactly the salve to my woes. This was what I needed to see, people with more courage than common sense tearing through the stratosphere.
If Cousin Jim decides this is what he's doing, Leaguers, I will find some way to get involved. I am sending Jim into space with high hopes of bringing him back.
I suggest visiting the website as it also has a contest to name the first Rocket Racer. I submitted "The Bradbury" because I am a nerd.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2006 Mellies
We'd be delighted to have you participate. Nominations will end on March 15th, 2006. For official guidelines, go here.
We'd be delighted to have you participate. Nominations will end on March 15th, 2006. For official guidelines, go here.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Parents and In-Laws
Well, boy howdy.
This weekend The League's parents and The League's In-Laws arrived. And The League is now a very tired League.
We did NOT go to Ostrich Fest. After 140 rainless days, it rained all day on Saturday. Literally, from when i woke around 7:30 until when I went to bed at 11:00, it rained. So no Village People for us.
Sunday we tried to go to Ostrich Fest, but someone decided the all dirt parking lot wasn't dry enough, and that nobody could park at the Ostrich Fest. So, maybe 150 yards away we could see all the rides whilring and twirling, but completely empty. And all 6 of us were packed into a Mazda 5, just stuck.
The gomer in charge of traffic redirected us to the Community College parking lot directly across from our neighborhood, where we would have been one of the first 150 or so cars to arrive. The line, however, reflected the carloads of people form the first batch of cars. The teen-age kid directing traffic informed us "the" shuttle (I assume meaning one) would be by in 20 minutes. Quickly doing the math that the first shuttle hadn't yet arrived, and that there was a mile long line headed into the Ostrich Fest (where people would be told there was no parking) led me to believe it could take up to two hours just to get to the Ostrich Fest. Let alone depart in the evening.
Anyhoo, no Ostrich Fest.
We did go see the movie, "The World's Fastest Indian" which I plan to review at some point over at Nanostalgia.com.
Sunday the MEN jumped in The Admiral's pimpin' rented white Taurus and headed to Tucson to visit the Pima Air and Space Museum. Leaguer's, you wouldn't think Tucson would be much of place for a museum, but aviation and electronics development are big business down there, and it's reflected in the sprawling complex with hundreds of planes on site.
A brief list of what's on hand of note
SR-71 Blackbird
A-10
A-6
F-15
F-14
F-102
F-104
F-111 (a big thrill as I had a poster of one of these and a B-1 when I was in middle school)
F-4
F-4U Corsair
Super Guppy
three presidential planes, including a prop plane used by Kennedy and Johnson which we got to tour
three B-52's
B-29
B-17
B-26
T-38
C-130
and a B-36 which was being restored.
Very nice day.
Two items struck me as we toured the museum:
1) I was reading the plaques near each plane and noticing the dates of development and use for planes. We are no longer living in an era of wild progress. We've given up the pioneering spirit of discovery and invention for multiple redundant safety systems and iPods. I am certain new planes are being developed, but it's impossible in this age to imagine so much innovation occuring simultaneously as companies rush to create perfection in flight once again. Faster processors? Check. Bigger TV's, check. Feasible mission to Mars or Moon Colony? uhhhh
The SR-71, able to travel Mach 3 at a ceiling of 80,000 feet (that's as much as has been declassified) is now sitting there collecting dust while we let satellites do the work. The SR-71 was developed more than 10 years before I was born.
You have to think there's value to the development of such aircraft. And moreover, there's got to be value to the world in knowing that development of faster and better aircraft is possible, if, for no other reason, than to spark the imagination. What value does a 747 have to kids growing up today? It's a bus that flies. I am sure there's a highly classified follow-up to the SR-71 (just as it took a while for us to learn about the B-2). But the era of innovation, of multiple new jets entering the skies each year and seeing what can be done... that era is over. Give us our repairs on our 737 and begone with you.
The museum sat close to he local Air Force base, and it's a hell of a thing to watch a C-130 doing touch-and-goes, and to see people training in an A-10.
2) The other thing to see, the thing that's heartbreaking, was to first walk through Hangars 3 and 4 and see the bombers from World War II and look inside. As magnificent as the planes are fromt eh outside, on the inside it's all sheet metal and wire. You forget watching these things in the movies that it's a 1/8th of an inch of metal that stood between the crew and flak, metal that looks like it would peel away with a good hit from the claw of a hammer.
Looking into the B-17 (beautifully restored and housed in a special hangar/ museum dedicated to the 390th) reveals a cramped and confined space with wooden platforms for walking or sitting, and areas exposed directly to the elements. And this is what we used to bomb Berlin.
Anyway, once every few years I get a chance to hit an aviation museum, and this may have been the best one I've toured since the Smithsonian's Aviation Annex.
And... today...
Cubs fans poured into Mesa, AZ for a Spring Training match between the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago Cubs. In my old age basebell is finally growing on me. I'm no longer too ADD to sit for 3 hours and appreciate a game as it unfolds.
Unfortunately I didn't keep up with the Cubs last year, so I have no idea who any of the players are anymore. They appear to need some work, but they did get a few runs in.
I love baseball crowds. Everybody comes out to see baseball. And to sit in a park where you're closer to the pitcher than the outfielders if fantastic. Terrific afternoon.
Anyhoo, Doug comes in tomorrow evening.
Get your Mellie Nominations in.
Well, boy howdy.
This weekend The League's parents and The League's In-Laws arrived. And The League is now a very tired League.
We did NOT go to Ostrich Fest. After 140 rainless days, it rained all day on Saturday. Literally, from when i woke around 7:30 until when I went to bed at 11:00, it rained. So no Village People for us.
Sunday we tried to go to Ostrich Fest, but someone decided the all dirt parking lot wasn't dry enough, and that nobody could park at the Ostrich Fest. So, maybe 150 yards away we could see all the rides whilring and twirling, but completely empty. And all 6 of us were packed into a Mazda 5, just stuck.
The gomer in charge of traffic redirected us to the Community College parking lot directly across from our neighborhood, where we would have been one of the first 150 or so cars to arrive. The line, however, reflected the carloads of people form the first batch of cars. The teen-age kid directing traffic informed us "the" shuttle (I assume meaning one) would be by in 20 minutes. Quickly doing the math that the first shuttle hadn't yet arrived, and that there was a mile long line headed into the Ostrich Fest (where people would be told there was no parking) led me to believe it could take up to two hours just to get to the Ostrich Fest. Let alone depart in the evening.
Anyhoo, no Ostrich Fest.
We did go see the movie, "The World's Fastest Indian" which I plan to review at some point over at Nanostalgia.com.
Sunday the MEN jumped in The Admiral's pimpin' rented white Taurus and headed to Tucson to visit the Pima Air and Space Museum. Leaguer's, you wouldn't think Tucson would be much of place for a museum, but aviation and electronics development are big business down there, and it's reflected in the sprawling complex with hundreds of planes on site.
A brief list of what's on hand of note
SR-71 Blackbird
A-10
A-6
F-15
F-14
F-102
F-104
F-111 (a big thrill as I had a poster of one of these and a B-1 when I was in middle school)
F-4
F-4U Corsair
Super Guppy
three presidential planes, including a prop plane used by Kennedy and Johnson which we got to tour
three B-52's
B-29
B-17
B-26
T-38
C-130
and a B-36 which was being restored.
Very nice day.
Two items struck me as we toured the museum:
1) I was reading the plaques near each plane and noticing the dates of development and use for planes. We are no longer living in an era of wild progress. We've given up the pioneering spirit of discovery and invention for multiple redundant safety systems and iPods. I am certain new planes are being developed, but it's impossible in this age to imagine so much innovation occuring simultaneously as companies rush to create perfection in flight once again. Faster processors? Check. Bigger TV's, check. Feasible mission to Mars or Moon Colony? uhhhh
The SR-71, able to travel Mach 3 at a ceiling of 80,000 feet (that's as much as has been declassified) is now sitting there collecting dust while we let satellites do the work. The SR-71 was developed more than 10 years before I was born.
You have to think there's value to the development of such aircraft. And moreover, there's got to be value to the world in knowing that development of faster and better aircraft is possible, if, for no other reason, than to spark the imagination. What value does a 747 have to kids growing up today? It's a bus that flies. I am sure there's a highly classified follow-up to the SR-71 (just as it took a while for us to learn about the B-2). But the era of innovation, of multiple new jets entering the skies each year and seeing what can be done... that era is over. Give us our repairs on our 737 and begone with you.
The museum sat close to he local Air Force base, and it's a hell of a thing to watch a C-130 doing touch-and-goes, and to see people training in an A-10.
2) The other thing to see, the thing that's heartbreaking, was to first walk through Hangars 3 and 4 and see the bombers from World War II and look inside. As magnificent as the planes are fromt eh outside, on the inside it's all sheet metal and wire. You forget watching these things in the movies that it's a 1/8th of an inch of metal that stood between the crew and flak, metal that looks like it would peel away with a good hit from the claw of a hammer.
Looking into the B-17 (beautifully restored and housed in a special hangar/ museum dedicated to the 390th) reveals a cramped and confined space with wooden platforms for walking or sitting, and areas exposed directly to the elements. And this is what we used to bomb Berlin.Anyway, once every few years I get a chance to hit an aviation museum, and this may have been the best one I've toured since the Smithsonian's Aviation Annex.
And... today...
Cubs fans poured into Mesa, AZ for a Spring Training match between the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago Cubs. In my old age basebell is finally growing on me. I'm no longer too ADD to sit for 3 hours and appreciate a game as it unfolds.
Unfortunately I didn't keep up with the Cubs last year, so I have no idea who any of the players are anymore. They appear to need some work, but they did get a few runs in.
I love baseball crowds. Everybody comes out to see baseball. And to sit in a park where you're closer to the pitcher than the outfielders if fantastic. Terrific afternoon.
Anyhoo, Doug comes in tomorrow evening.
Get your Mellie Nominations in.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Possible Hiatus! Get your Mellie Noms in!
Hey, Leaguers! Here's my schedule for the next week:
Tonight, my in-laws are here.
Tomorrow, my parents are here.
Wednesday, I think everybody leaves.
Wednesday night, Doug and K arrive
And, I assume, they're leaving at some point.
So, anyhoo, I just realized my time spent in the wild world of blogging will probably be nil for about a week.
You guys are on your own.
In the meantime, send in your Mellie noms. If you're Steanso and you thought it was okay to send in one word answers, try again.
We'll be back as events warrant. In the meantime, go over to Nanostalgia.
Hey, Leaguers! Here's my schedule for the next week:
Tonight, my in-laws are here.
Tomorrow, my parents are here.
Wednesday, I think everybody leaves.
Wednesday night, Doug and K arrive
And, I assume, they're leaving at some point.
So, anyhoo, I just realized my time spent in the wild world of blogging will probably be nil for about a week.
You guys are on your own.
In the meantime, send in your Mellie noms. If you're Steanso and you thought it was okay to send in one word answers, try again.
We'll be back as events warrant. In the meantime, go over to Nanostalgia.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Orson Welles: Dark Knight Detective
Check it out. Shoemaker sends an article from a few years ago by comic scribe Mark (Ultimates) Millar.
I knew that American icon Orson Welles had once portrayed "The Shadow" on a radio show, but I wasn't aware that at one point Welles had been in development on a "Batman" movie.
Read more here.
This sounds totally amazing, if true. I'd never heard this before, and I've seen no evidence any other place. But, what the hell... I choose to believe it because it sounds pretty kick-ass.
Check it out. Shoemaker sends an article from a few years ago by comic scribe Mark (Ultimates) Millar.
I knew that American icon Orson Welles had once portrayed "The Shadow" on a radio show, but I wasn't aware that at one point Welles had been in development on a "Batman" movie.
Read more here.
This sounds totally amazing, if true. I'd never heard this before, and I've seen no evidence any other place. But, what the hell... I choose to believe it because it sounds pretty kick-ass.
Shall we to Ostrich Fest?
It's the 18th Annual Ostrich Fest here in Chandler, AZ this weekend. Completely unrelated, I've got both Jamie's folks en route, but the Admiral and KareBear shall be here on Saturday. That's a lot of parents by anybody's count.
So, realizing I shall have to entertain a lot of grown-ups, I am wondering, do I take them to the Ostrich Festival? After all
Friday night's entertainment is... JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS (and you know what, Leaguers..? I DO love rock 'n roll).
Saturday: The Village People and The Little River Band.
Sunday: CHARO!!!! Yes, Charo shall be gracing our fair little hamlet with her oversized... uh, personality. Huzzah! It's Charo.
Who knows what mysteries await us this weekend? I really, really have to think of someway to entertain the parents before The Moms get into some kind of knife fight or parenting stand-off.
I dunno. I'm considering taking the four of them out to the desert and letting them try out the whole survivalist thing.
It's the 18th Annual Ostrich Fest here in Chandler, AZ this weekend. Completely unrelated, I've got both Jamie's folks en route, but the Admiral and KareBear shall be here on Saturday. That's a lot of parents by anybody's count.
So, realizing I shall have to entertain a lot of grown-ups, I am wondering, do I take them to the Ostrich Festival? After all
Friday night's entertainment is... JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS (and you know what, Leaguers..? I DO love rock 'n roll).
Saturday: The Village People and The Little River Band.
Sunday: CHARO!!!! Yes, Charo shall be gracing our fair little hamlet with her oversized... uh, personality. Huzzah! It's Charo.Who knows what mysteries await us this weekend? I really, really have to think of someway to entertain the parents before The Moms get into some kind of knife fight or parenting stand-off.
I dunno. I'm considering taking the four of them out to the desert and letting them try out the whole survivalist thing.
Former Beatle to save monkeys in Chandler?
Dolph sends this article.
I, for one, would like to think no monkeys will be injured in the making of this suburb.
Look, what am i supposed to say? I like people jabbing monkeys? I don't want bigger and better medicines approved and distributed?
This is a pickle, people. A pickle.
Now, I'm actually pretty anti-animal testing for cosmetic products. I see no reason to shove makeup in a bunny's eye at this late stage to see if it will be a problem. Have you SEEN the make-up aisle at Target? You can't get that many different colors of red if you spent all day mixing paint at Home Depot. We're done. No new lipstick colors.
Anyhow, I'll be curious to see how this pans out. I'm really excited about the prospect of running into Sir Paul at the grocery.
Dolph sends this article.
I, for one, would like to think no monkeys will be injured in the making of this suburb.
Look, what am i supposed to say? I like people jabbing monkeys? I don't want bigger and better medicines approved and distributed?
This is a pickle, people. A pickle.
Now, I'm actually pretty anti-animal testing for cosmetic products. I see no reason to shove makeup in a bunny's eye at this late stage to see if it will be a problem. Have you SEEN the make-up aisle at Target? You can't get that many different colors of red if you spent all day mixing paint at Home Depot. We're done. No new lipstick colors.
Anyhow, I'll be curious to see how this pans out. I'm really excited about the prospect of running into Sir Paul at the grocery.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
The Year of Superman
Hey, at League of Melbotis, every year is the year of Superman. But at Warner Bros. they've gone ahead and made it official for 2006.
Check out the new website
The site features a great montage of clips from various incarnations of Superman in film and in the movies as well as information of the upcoming film "Superman Returns" and all of the DVD sets coming out.
The League has a lot of catching up to do.
Hey, at League of Melbotis, every year is the year of Superman. But at Warner Bros. they've gone ahead and made it official for 2006.
Check out the new website
The site features a great montage of clips from various incarnations of Superman in film and in the movies as well as information of the upcoming film "Superman Returns" and all of the DVD sets coming out.
The League has a lot of catching up to do.
Power Girl
Somebody put together a Power Girl fan film. You can watch it here.
These guys need a much better editor, or better coverage or a better sense of timing or something. The video itself isn't all that great, but for those of us who've long found Power Girl charming, the video is kind of funny.
If nothing else, you get to see what Power Girl would look like in real life. Extra kudos to the actress playing Karen for:
a) wearing the Power Girl costume and not looking embarassed
b) wearing the costume in what looks like several inches of snow (if you skip tot he end)
Extra points to the video for including Beetle and Booster, and, I assume, Black Canary.
I hadn't thought much about it before, but the recent Power Girl run in JSA: Classified pitches Kara as a good character to be spun off into her own movie or TV series. Well, maybe not the story, but the attitude is right. She's very girl-friendly as the "I'm really, really good at being a super-hero, but in everything else I do, I am a complete wreck." And boys would lihke her because she wears tights and she's bullet proof.
Anyhoo, hurray for Power Girl for getting a fan movie made, even if the creators needed to spend more time in post production.
Somebody put together a Power Girl fan film. You can watch it here.
These guys need a much better editor, or better coverage or a better sense of timing or something. The video itself isn't all that great, but for those of us who've long found Power Girl charming, the video is kind of funny.If nothing else, you get to see what Power Girl would look like in real life. Extra kudos to the actress playing Karen for:
a) wearing the Power Girl costume and not looking embarassed
b) wearing the costume in what looks like several inches of snow (if you skip tot he end)
Extra points to the video for including Beetle and Booster, and, I assume, Black Canary.
I hadn't thought much about it before, but the recent Power Girl run in JSA: Classified pitches Kara as a good character to be spun off into her own movie or TV series. Well, maybe not the story, but the attitude is right. She's very girl-friendly as the "I'm really, really good at being a super-hero, but in everything else I do, I am a complete wreck." And boys would lihke her because she wears tights and she's bullet proof.
Anyhoo, hurray for Power Girl for getting a fan movie made, even if the creators needed to spend more time in post production.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Godspeed, Dana.
Dana Reeve, wife of actor and activist Christopher Reeve, has died of lung cancer.
Read more here.
Dana Reeve, wife of actor and activist Christopher Reeve, has died of lung cancer.
Read more here.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Birthday Madness
Here's a link to Steanso's blog. See KareBear and The Admiral in action as my mother gets hosed, arms herself with a sword and dons a large hat.
Go now.
Here's a link to Steanso's blog. See KareBear and The Admiral in action as my mother gets hosed, arms herself with a sword and dons a large hat.
Go now.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Weekending, March 5th.
This weekend marked my mother's big birthday. Jamie and I did not attend as my folks and Jamie's folks will be here next week. I hope her birthday was a good one.
Friday night we headed out to Mesa, just north of Chandler to see a band at a coffee house. Asleep in the Sea rocked most of the coffee house. But, because this is PHX, the show was cut short. Cheba Hut, a local stoner-themed sandwich shop chain was next door. Apparently the rocking and rolling was disturbing the patrons of the coffee shop, so there were exasperated sandwich shop and coffee shop employees causing a fuss during the brief set. And I thought the whole thing about being a stoner was that you were supposed to be mellow... You stoners sit on a throne of lies.
For whatever reason I was wearing my Superman shirt at the show, and was approached by a very, very drunk gentleman who explained that he was a wizard, mumbled something about his wife, daughter and the Mormon Church, something about "the seventeenth is big (bleep) day", then did some tai-chi. I suddenly remembered why I used to like going out.
A short while later, a middle-aged lady and her teen-aged son came by and the nice lady engaged me in a conversation about Superman comic books. Apparently she's been collecting since the early 60's and has vast runs of several series. I was quite jealous.
Still, once the band was done they turned on ugly overhead lights which is sort of the universal sign in a nightspot for "get out". It was only 9:10ish. On a Friday night. At a coffeeshop.
For those of you who like to tell The League that he needs to find the good out here in the desert, please understand that there is a pattern we've picked up here. Fun cannot last past the hour of 9:00pm.
So we ended up at The Village Inn near our house, a place I only like to go to when I'm feeling sort of Marge, and I had a bowl of soup and tried hard not to think too much about the alt-rock guys running the coffee shop being pissy about rocking too loud and too late into the night.
The freezer in our old fridge gave up the ghost some time ago. This week it started to smell badly. So badly, in fact, that the smell went out into the fridge as well, contaminating food that was not vaccuum-sealed. So we went and got the new fridge. Peabo, my friend, I never made it to Home Depot. Sears was running the same deal as Home Depot and Jamie had identified the fridge of her dreams.
Ice maker with ice holder in the door (more freezer space). Crushed ice or cubed. Pur water filtration system for both water and ice. Clear plastic shelving. Moveable shelves... Yes, it was a middle-class consumer's dream.
The guys showed up literally five minutes before the end of their 10:30 to 12:30 window. They took out the old fridge (leaving the filter in our front yard, I might add), brought in the new fridge which was not the correct fridge, removed the wrong fridge, wheeled in the new fridge, connectyed it and then broke the water main into our house, elaving us without water. Pretty cool. So we called Sun Devil Plumbers and Carl not only fixed the problem, but put a new valve on our main that had a swing arm valve rather than a stem. Hurray!
I did not tip the delivery guys who ended up setting me back more than $100. They did tell me "that's a million to one, that happening." Well, lucky me. I should have played the Lotto this week.
I also watched "Smokey and the Bandit" this weekend. I hadn't seen it since I was very little. Almost all of Jackie Gleason's lines were overdubbed, so I don't know if he was cursing or making racial epithets or what. I am not clear as to what the point of the movie was, but it's a flashback to a part of American culture that seems to have fallen by the wayside. At least it doesn't exist in any tangible form in AZ.
Tonight are the Academy Awards. Jamie will watch. I will be organizing comics. The League cares not for fancy dresses. He also saw only a smattering of the nominated movies and thinks it's silly to give awards to movies and actors. At least we think it's silly when movies like Gosford Park which were not very interesting, or original and were made-up as the movie went along win for "Best Screenplay".
But, we know you people love the Awards shows, so go to town on your Oscars. We do not hold it against you.
This weekend marked my mother's big birthday. Jamie and I did not attend as my folks and Jamie's folks will be here next week. I hope her birthday was a good one.
Friday night we headed out to Mesa, just north of Chandler to see a band at a coffee house. Asleep in the Sea rocked most of the coffee house. But, because this is PHX, the show was cut short. Cheba Hut, a local stoner-themed sandwich shop chain was next door. Apparently the rocking and rolling was disturbing the patrons of the coffee shop, so there were exasperated sandwich shop and coffee shop employees causing a fuss during the brief set. And I thought the whole thing about being a stoner was that you were supposed to be mellow... You stoners sit on a throne of lies.
For whatever reason I was wearing my Superman shirt at the show, and was approached by a very, very drunk gentleman who explained that he was a wizard, mumbled something about his wife, daughter and the Mormon Church, something about "the seventeenth is big (bleep) day", then did some tai-chi. I suddenly remembered why I used to like going out.
A short while later, a middle-aged lady and her teen-aged son came by and the nice lady engaged me in a conversation about Superman comic books. Apparently she's been collecting since the early 60's and has vast runs of several series. I was quite jealous.
Still, once the band was done they turned on ugly overhead lights which is sort of the universal sign in a nightspot for "get out". It was only 9:10ish. On a Friday night. At a coffeeshop.
For those of you who like to tell The League that he needs to find the good out here in the desert, please understand that there is a pattern we've picked up here. Fun cannot last past the hour of 9:00pm.
So we ended up at The Village Inn near our house, a place I only like to go to when I'm feeling sort of Marge, and I had a bowl of soup and tried hard not to think too much about the alt-rock guys running the coffee shop being pissy about rocking too loud and too late into the night.
The freezer in our old fridge gave up the ghost some time ago. This week it started to smell badly. So badly, in fact, that the smell went out into the fridge as well, contaminating food that was not vaccuum-sealed. So we went and got the new fridge. Peabo, my friend, I never made it to Home Depot. Sears was running the same deal as Home Depot and Jamie had identified the fridge of her dreams.
Ice maker with ice holder in the door (more freezer space). Crushed ice or cubed. Pur water filtration system for both water and ice. Clear plastic shelving. Moveable shelves... Yes, it was a middle-class consumer's dream.
The guys showed up literally five minutes before the end of their 10:30 to 12:30 window. They took out the old fridge (leaving the filter in our front yard, I might add), brought in the new fridge which was not the correct fridge, removed the wrong fridge, wheeled in the new fridge, connectyed it and then broke the water main into our house, elaving us without water. Pretty cool. So we called Sun Devil Plumbers and Carl not only fixed the problem, but put a new valve on our main that had a swing arm valve rather than a stem. Hurray!
I did not tip the delivery guys who ended up setting me back more than $100. They did tell me "that's a million to one, that happening." Well, lucky me. I should have played the Lotto this week.
I also watched "Smokey and the Bandit" this weekend. I hadn't seen it since I was very little. Almost all of Jackie Gleason's lines were overdubbed, so I don't know if he was cursing or making racial epithets or what. I am not clear as to what the point of the movie was, but it's a flashback to a part of American culture that seems to have fallen by the wayside. At least it doesn't exist in any tangible form in AZ.
Tonight are the Academy Awards. Jamie will watch. I will be organizing comics. The League cares not for fancy dresses. He also saw only a smattering of the nominated movies and thinks it's silly to give awards to movies and actors. At least we think it's silly when movies like Gosford Park which were not very interesting, or original and were made-up as the movie went along win for "Best Screenplay".
But, we know you people love the Awards shows, so go to town on your Oscars. We do not hold it against you.
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