Spider-Shame
For your dog.
Thanks to Randy for the link.
More Spinal Tap
New Spinal Tap Video
from JimD
Stok Caffeinated Coffee Creamer
A caffeinated coffee creamer? Seem redundant? That's because you don't know how to ride the Pony Espresso, Leaguers. WHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Yup. I put this in my 7-11 coffee this morning. Sure, some extra jolt of caffeine was entirely possible, but I couldn't really tell. Perhaps tomorrow. Anyway, adding caffeine to your coffee is a novel concept. I'm no longer the caffeine junky I once was (Vivarin is a cruel mistress), but I still like the idea. Why be just a little peppy when you could be vibrating your way to Earth-2?
I'm just a little sad I never found a can of this little marketing error.
Steve Nash's Nose
I don't really care who wins the Spurs/Suns series. But I also think it's a fun series, and it may be one of the best in this year's play-offs. Sure, I'm pulling for the Suns as the Suns have been my team for the past few years. But I've always enjoyed the Suns/Spurs/Rockets tri-fecta.
And the Suns might have pulled it out had Steve Nash not been a bleeder. Poor fella.
Paris Goes to Jail
Is there any greater feeling that the one you get when you hear Paris Hilton's prosecutor sent her to jail? No.
And I'm not sure that hoping someone hits her with a lunch tray makes me a bad person.
Lost to End
Apparently ABC has decided that running a show into the ground may not be a great policy. Looks like Lost will actually build to a conclusion.
Mellies '07
Someone asked about the '07 Mellies.
Sigh.
Every time I sit down to think about The Mellies, I really can't think of any good questions. I've had a lot less time for pondering the imponderables of pop culture and the human heart this year, and usually I ask questions that somehow reflect topics that are on my mind. I also sort of have a "been there, done that" feel about a lot of the media/ pop culture questions, but I think those questions are a sort of necessary evil.
I dunno.
Steven's also been working very hard on the application which will collate the responses into a usable format. And then he got busy with work and school. So probably sometime after Steven finishes the semester and after I come up with some questions.
It IS a Small World After All
So yesterday I was making a mention of some of our Saturday Free Comic Book Book day adventures, and I used some unfortunate grammar that made it sound as if Austin Books had not provided some of the free Steve Rude's Nexus comics. Let me assure you, Austin Books had a really nice FCBD set-up which included the comic in question.
At any rate, today I received an e-mail from Brad, the proprietor of Austin Books, who was very concerned that I hadn't found the Nexus comic, and who promised to place a copy aside for me for my next visit. THAT, Leaguers, is customer service.
Realizing that I had, in fact, made a grammatical error which not only confused my message but might lead folks astray, I quickly rewrote the offending sentence. I hope that set things square.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Austin Books does a heck of a job, and it was kind of cool to see the owner doing his due diligence to see how their event did in the public's eye. And when he found waht looked like a dissatisfied customer, working to resolve the problem. I assure you, Leaguers, this is not the industry norm for comic shops.
After the recent adventures on this site and Saturday night's beer-fueled conversation about the Clambake Jake incident from recent posts, I've been thinking a bit about how the world is a shrinking place. And, sure, Google's relationship with Blogger is most likely shoving LoM posts closer to the top of the Google search results. A bit of blogging now seems to lead to contact with businessmen in a manner which I would never consider communicating in a face-to-face. After all, unless I have a question, I don't usually start telling shop owners what I'm thinking. How business owners will learn to engage bloggers is probably an open question, but I look forward to seeing how it plays out here at the League.
I'd be curious to see what the algorithm might be for size of city, likely number of customers/ attendees, readership of a blog, content of the blog in question, etc... for how likely a business owner is to actually contact the blogger.
Is this a new mode for a more democratic mode of consumer awareness? Or is the ability for any jerk with an internet connection merely the new nightmare for any business smaller than a Big Box Store?
I dunno. But it's a trend to watch. After all, this isn't the first time we've been found by the very subjects we've mentioned in a blog post. Which is why The League will be name dropping Lynda Carter a lot more in the future.
Anyway, thanks to Austin Books for caring about a Nexus-less comic geek!
Monday, May 07, 2007
weekend
FCBD
How was your Free Comic Book Day weekend?
What? FCBD isn't treated as a Holiday in your home? You're an anti-comic-bookite.
Saturday we rose around 9:30, Jamie made some breakfast and we puttered around for a while.
Finally about 1:00ish we left the house and headed to Southside Comics where Ty pointed us toward the FCBD offerings, and then said "back issues are by the game tables. Oh, and if you want to look for more, they're in that room behind the yellow door."
So poor Jamie had to stand there for somewhere near 45 minutes while I rifled through the backstock Ty had put out, and then passed through the yellow door where many, many more boxes remained.
I found some interesting back-issues of The Flash, Green Lantern, and some copies of Kirby's "Eternals". All in all, I had quite a stack, and noted that none of the issues were actually priced. My plan was to have Ty put them somewhere safe, and I would buy the issues up slowly (this is how I got my run of Mister Miracle, some of Kirby's Forever People and an issue of "The Demon" featuring the first appearance of Klarion the Witchboy). Instead, Ty decided to give me the stack at a deeply discounted flat price, as he said, "I want to get rid of that stock and knock down that wall". Well, Ty's impatience was my gain. I paid literally a fraction of the value of those comics.
Next we headed to campus/Lamar for lunch, then picked up Pat Sanchez, and headed down to Austin Books to see their offerings. Austin Books had set aside a separate area for local comic creators to set up and hawk their wares. I bought two comics from a local artist whose stuff I found sort of dreamy and pretty. I'll be reviewing her stuff either here or at Comic Fodder at some point.
Pat picked up some stuff from two guys whose spiel was kind of annoying me, but he liked it, so... you know... they made a sale.
Inside Austin Books I picked up Adventure Comics 364, which features one of my favorite covers in all of comicdom. I think it may end up framed in my reading room.
Plus a handful of MORE free comics.
Typical of Southside, they had not ordered any FCBD copies of Steve Rude's "Nexus", which is slated to make a comeback. (editor's note: I DID find a copy at Austin Books!*). I missed Nexus the first time around, so I'm hoping they begin releasing the old issues in a format I can afford and not just the $50 HB editions (come on, Steve Rude!).
All in all, a fun FCBD.
COOK OUT!
And Juan Diaz hosted a cookout! It was very nice. Matt was back from Colorado, but is holding up pretty well, I think. I played fetch with Levi, met Juan Diaz's lady-friend, talked a bit about work with Pat and Matt, and generally had a good time.
Well done, Juan Diaz.
We shall host the next. Levi will be welcome.
Getting healthy, '07
Among many other tasks, today Jamie and I joined Gold's Gym. After having a less than satisfactory experience with Fort Fitness (aka: Lifetime Fitness), we've opted for the straightforward, more economical model of Gold's Gym. Plus, their equipment has the TV built right in. That's cool.
I've gotten really out of shape, which has led to an increasingly odd body shape which is beginning to resemble a ham perched atop sausage legs with floppy sauasage arms. I don't think it's readily apparent unless you're me seeing me in the mirror en route to the shower, but... man...
So, okay. I was assigned a standard chair at work in Day 1. A week and a half ago, I heard the chair's plastic arms (and back support) make a loud "POP", as the plastic gave away in one location, making the chair uncomfortable but mostly okay.
Wednesday my co-worker was in a phoen conference and I was quietly working on a schedule when a second loud "POP" occured, and the whole left side of the chair gave away and I yelled "WOHOOOOOOAAAHHH!!!" into her conference call as I listed severely to the left.
So Thursday afternoon I bit the bullet and asked for a "big boy chair". "This chair must sipport more weight than the average chair," I explained. "My girth is trememndous and must receive support or I will break the next chair."
Working with the office-runner, I found a chair in the "Big and Tall" section of the Office Depot website. "I'll have to check with Anne," Cassie told me. "We can't just buy a chair this expensive."
"We can either pay the money now," I warned, "Or go through two or three more chairs, and then end up buying my Big Boy Chair."
So it went to Anne, who runs Internal Relations. Anne looked a bit nervous. "It's over $100," she explained. "I need it approved by (The VP)."
"Fine," I sighed. "They saw my girth when they hired me. They had to know this was coming." Nothing like the cumulative effects of your fat ass drawing the attention of the VP. But such is the fate of The League.
Bear in mind, I share an office with two people, who welcome a constant stream of co-workers. So, yeah, any hopes of doing this quietly or on the sly were long gone as I had to explain to a great number of people (a) what the conversation was about, and (b) why i was sitting on the floor.
The good news: The new chair will be here this week. The bad news: Week three and already I'm breaking furniture.
Grande Ryan strikes again.
So, yes. I joined a gym today. Shut up.
*Editor's Note: Apparently Austin Books is concerned with customer satisfaction. Brad from Austin Books somehow found the post, contacted me and promised to set aside a copy of the Nexus FCBD book. THAT is customer service, Leaguers. I already picked up the copy on Saturday, and my poor grammar is to blame for the miscommunication. It was my usual shop that had no copies of Nexus.
I just want to point out what a class act they are at Austin Books. Three huzzahs for Brad and his shiny new sign!
How was your Free Comic Book Day weekend?
What? FCBD isn't treated as a Holiday in your home? You're an anti-comic-bookite.
Saturday we rose around 9:30, Jamie made some breakfast and we puttered around for a while.
Finally about 1:00ish we left the house and headed to Southside Comics where Ty pointed us toward the FCBD offerings, and then said "back issues are by the game tables. Oh, and if you want to look for more, they're in that room behind the yellow door."
So poor Jamie had to stand there for somewhere near 45 minutes while I rifled through the backstock Ty had put out, and then passed through the yellow door where many, many more boxes remained.
I found some interesting back-issues of The Flash, Green Lantern, and some copies of Kirby's "Eternals". All in all, I had quite a stack, and noted that none of the issues were actually priced. My plan was to have Ty put them somewhere safe, and I would buy the issues up slowly (this is how I got my run of Mister Miracle, some of Kirby's Forever People and an issue of "The Demon" featuring the first appearance of Klarion the Witchboy). Instead, Ty decided to give me the stack at a deeply discounted flat price, as he said, "I want to get rid of that stock and knock down that wall". Well, Ty's impatience was my gain. I paid literally a fraction of the value of those comics.
Next we headed to campus/Lamar for lunch, then picked up Pat Sanchez, and headed down to Austin Books to see their offerings. Austin Books had set aside a separate area for local comic creators to set up and hawk their wares. I bought two comics from a local artist whose stuff I found sort of dreamy and pretty. I'll be reviewing her stuff either here or at Comic Fodder at some point.
Pat picked up some stuff from two guys whose spiel was kind of annoying me, but he liked it, so... you know... they made a sale.
Inside Austin Books I picked up Adventure Comics 364, which features one of my favorite covers in all of comicdom. I think it may end up framed in my reading room.
Plus a handful of MORE free comics.
Typical of Southside, they had not ordered any FCBD copies of Steve Rude's "Nexus", which is slated to make a comeback. (editor's note: I DID find a copy at Austin Books!*). I missed Nexus the first time around, so I'm hoping they begin releasing the old issues in a format I can afford and not just the $50 HB editions (come on, Steve Rude!).
All in all, a fun FCBD.
COOK OUT!
And Juan Diaz hosted a cookout! It was very nice. Matt was back from Colorado, but is holding up pretty well, I think. I played fetch with Levi, met Juan Diaz's lady-friend, talked a bit about work with Pat and Matt, and generally had a good time.
Well done, Juan Diaz.
We shall host the next. Levi will be welcome.
Getting healthy, '07
Among many other tasks, today Jamie and I joined Gold's Gym. After having a less than satisfactory experience with Fort Fitness (aka: Lifetime Fitness), we've opted for the straightforward, more economical model of Gold's Gym. Plus, their equipment has the TV built right in. That's cool.
I've gotten really out of shape, which has led to an increasingly odd body shape which is beginning to resemble a ham perched atop sausage legs with floppy sauasage arms. I don't think it's readily apparent unless you're me seeing me in the mirror en route to the shower, but... man...
So, okay. I was assigned a standard chair at work in Day 1. A week and a half ago, I heard the chair's plastic arms (and back support) make a loud "POP", as the plastic gave away in one location, making the chair uncomfortable but mostly okay.
Wednesday my co-worker was in a phoen conference and I was quietly working on a schedule when a second loud "POP" occured, and the whole left side of the chair gave away and I yelled "WOHOOOOOOAAAHHH!!!" into her conference call as I listed severely to the left.
So Thursday afternoon I bit the bullet and asked for a "big boy chair". "This chair must sipport more weight than the average chair," I explained. "My girth is trememndous and must receive support or I will break the next chair."
Working with the office-runner, I found a chair in the "Big and Tall" section of the Office Depot website. "I'll have to check with Anne," Cassie told me. "We can't just buy a chair this expensive."
"We can either pay the money now," I warned, "Or go through two or three more chairs, and then end up buying my Big Boy Chair."
So it went to Anne, who runs Internal Relations. Anne looked a bit nervous. "It's over $100," she explained. "I need it approved by (The VP)."
"Fine," I sighed. "They saw my girth when they hired me. They had to know this was coming." Nothing like the cumulative effects of your fat ass drawing the attention of the VP. But such is the fate of The League.
Bear in mind, I share an office with two people, who welcome a constant stream of co-workers. So, yeah, any hopes of doing this quietly or on the sly were long gone as I had to explain to a great number of people (a) what the conversation was about, and (b) why i was sitting on the floor.
The good news: The new chair will be here this week. The bad news: Week three and already I'm breaking furniture.
Grande Ryan strikes again.
So, yes. I joined a gym today. Shut up.
*Editor's Note: Apparently Austin Books is concerned with customer satisfaction. Brad from Austin Books somehow found the post, contacted me and promised to set aside a copy of the Nexus FCBD book. THAT is customer service, Leaguers. I already picked up the copy on Saturday, and my poor grammar is to blame for the miscommunication. It was my usual shop that had no copies of Nexus.
I just want to point out what a class act they are at Austin Books. Three huzzahs for Brad and his shiny new sign!
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Welcome Maximillian Jude Cone!
Samantha Cone has a brother!
Congratulations to Nathan and Renata Cone! Maximillian Jude Cone came in at 19 inches and around 7 lbs. 14 oz's.
It sounds like the birth went pretty quickly from contraction to MJ's arrival, so you probably can't complain about that. The kid just isn't patient.
Anyhow, mom and baby are okay, Nathan sounded all giddy when we talked,
Of Loyal Leaguers, Nathan seems to be increasing his voting power on the League Board of Directors at a greater rate than the rest of you.
Welcome, Max! We're happy to have you onboard!
Congratulations to Nathan and Renata Cone! Maximillian Jude Cone came in at 19 inches and around 7 lbs. 14 oz's.
It sounds like the birth went pretty quickly from contraction to MJ's arrival, so you probably can't complain about that. The kid just isn't patient.
Anyhow, mom and baby are okay, Nathan sounded all giddy when we talked,
Of Loyal Leaguers, Nathan seems to be increasing his voting power on the League Board of Directors at a greater rate than the rest of you.
Welcome, Max! We're happy to have you onboard!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
#1 Son
So this evening we headed over to Casa de Peabo to bear witness to the miracle of DNA recombination that is Owen Jefferson Peek.
As expected, 01 is quite small. He's a week old and his primary interests seem to include sleeping, occasionally thrusting his arms around as if he suddenly had a good idea, and then getting some more sleep.
He's got quite a head of hair, this kid. And he looks quite a bit like his mom. Which is probably all for the best.
Adriana's parents were there, and being parents, in the brief time we spoke, they tried to feed us. Nice folks.
Overall, it's an interesting thing seeing this crossing of the generations. Both Peabo and Reed are people I've known for a long, long time, so seeing your friends as parents, when you've also seen them in the hallways of middle or elementary school, is an odd, odd thing. You have to take that moment to think "Yes, this is the same guy who wanted to go capture rattlesnakes by hand, but we're going to have to trust that his judgment is now a bit more sound." Even when you know darn well that we may all have jobs and a mortgage now, but we're essentially the same goofy people we were in middle school. And it wouldn't surprise us if, tomorrow we were to find ourselves in the woods again being berated for NOT wanting to use our shirt as a rattlesnake bag by this guy who is now responsible for the care and handling of an entire human being.
As fast as time flies, I know that we're probably not too far off from showing up at some of Owen's first soccer games. Or receiving Christmas Cards with photos containing more than one child in Peabo's brood. But when I think I'll be 50 when that kid graduates high school... Well, time marches on.
Congrats to Peabo and Adriana. That is one heck of a kid you've got there.
I cannot wait for him to attend high school with Carla's kid, who will pummel him mercilessly.
As expected, 01 is quite small. He's a week old and his primary interests seem to include sleeping, occasionally thrusting his arms around as if he suddenly had a good idea, and then getting some more sleep.
He's got quite a head of hair, this kid. And he looks quite a bit like his mom. Which is probably all for the best.
Adriana's parents were there, and being parents, in the brief time we spoke, they tried to feed us. Nice folks.
Overall, it's an interesting thing seeing this crossing of the generations. Both Peabo and Reed are people I've known for a long, long time, so seeing your friends as parents, when you've also seen them in the hallways of middle or elementary school, is an odd, odd thing. You have to take that moment to think "Yes, this is the same guy who wanted to go capture rattlesnakes by hand, but we're going to have to trust that his judgment is now a bit more sound." Even when you know darn well that we may all have jobs and a mortgage now, but we're essentially the same goofy people we were in middle school. And it wouldn't surprise us if, tomorrow we were to find ourselves in the woods again being berated for NOT wanting to use our shirt as a rattlesnake bag by this guy who is now responsible for the care and handling of an entire human being.
As fast as time flies, I know that we're probably not too far off from showing up at some of Owen's first soccer games. Or receiving Christmas Cards with photos containing more than one child in Peabo's brood. But when I think I'll be 50 when that kid graduates high school... Well, time marches on.
Congrats to Peabo and Adriana. That is one heck of a kid you've got there.
I cannot wait for him to attend high school with Carla's kid, who will pummel him mercilessly.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
A bit of catch-up
Real Life Superhero Files
Remember my post on Mr. Silent from a while back?
It appears I left the greater Phoenix area all too soon. Phoenix now has its own superhero, Citizen Prime.
Read here.
And here.
And, of course, his MySpace page.
I was pretty bored in Arizona, so I can only imagine what thoughts would have been running through my head if I had remained in the desert. Perhaps I, too, would have joined Citizen prime in the battle against evil. Perhaps we could have teamed up with others and formed some sort of crime fighting alliance. Could I afford a costume? Was I prepared to take on the menace of crime? Was it going to hurt when the cops shot me?
It's really worth checking out this guy's MySpace page to note how many OTHER real life superheroes seem to have linked to his site. Apparently Grant Morrison's prediction that the 21st century would see real-life superheroes is already very much a reality.
Also, I would have made Octavio team up with me, using his soccer skills to battle crime. He would always deliver the knockout punch by performing a bicycle and launching a soccer ball right into the crook's head. It would be awesome. And his codename would be: Soccer Lad. And his outfit wiuld be a shiny green and yellow so the crooks would shoot at him, first.
Also, we'd have jetpacks.
Really, it would be worth it to have a whole story about me in the paper running around in a superhero suit simply for the look of utter disappointment on Jason's face.
SPIDER-MAN 3
So I guess Spider-Man comes out on Friday. I don't plan to see it for two weeks so the crowds can die down a bit before I catch the movie, but...
I can't believe it's already out. I can't believe the summer is already here. And I can't bleieve Spidey has already made millions of dollars and it hasn't opened yet in the US. ComicMix was reporting that the movie had already made $30 million overseas.
Go SPURS!
Until you play Phoenix, and then I will probaby cheer for Phoenix.
52 Wind UP
I was surprised by how much I liked the final issue of 52.
But now I think Dan Didio is a bit of a moron. I suspect that if I were on the 52 team, I would not care much for the man.
A LuLu of a Comic
For the past few years, the comic series "Little Lulu" has been enjoying a bit of a resurgence among certain comic circles. I've been too invested in DC, some Spidey, etc... and learning about Uncle Scrooge to pay much mind.
But after Mike Sterling's post the other day, some of the Lulu I recall reading as a kid came flooding back to me. It is a clever series.
I think Dark Horse publishes those Lulu collections...
Remember my post on Mr. Silent from a while back?
It appears I left the greater Phoenix area all too soon. Phoenix now has its own superhero, Citizen Prime.
Read here.
And here.
And, of course, his MySpace page.
I was pretty bored in Arizona, so I can only imagine what thoughts would have been running through my head if I had remained in the desert. Perhaps I, too, would have joined Citizen prime in the battle against evil. Perhaps we could have teamed up with others and formed some sort of crime fighting alliance. Could I afford a costume? Was I prepared to take on the menace of crime? Was it going to hurt when the cops shot me?
It's really worth checking out this guy's MySpace page to note how many OTHER real life superheroes seem to have linked to his site. Apparently Grant Morrison's prediction that the 21st century would see real-life superheroes is already very much a reality.
Also, I would have made Octavio team up with me, using his soccer skills to battle crime. He would always deliver the knockout punch by performing a bicycle and launching a soccer ball right into the crook's head. It would be awesome. And his codename would be: Soccer Lad. And his outfit wiuld be a shiny green and yellow so the crooks would shoot at him, first.
Also, we'd have jetpacks.
Really, it would be worth it to have a whole story about me in the paper running around in a superhero suit simply for the look of utter disappointment on Jason's face.
SPIDER-MAN 3
So I guess Spider-Man comes out on Friday. I don't plan to see it for two weeks so the crowds can die down a bit before I catch the movie, but...
I can't believe it's already out. I can't believe the summer is already here. And I can't bleieve Spidey has already made millions of dollars and it hasn't opened yet in the US. ComicMix was reporting that the movie had already made $30 million overseas.
Go SPURS!
Until you play Phoenix, and then I will probaby cheer for Phoenix.
52 Wind UP
I was surprised by how much I liked the final issue of 52.
But now I think Dan Didio is a bit of a moron. I suspect that if I were on the 52 team, I would not care much for the man.
A LuLu of a Comic
For the past few years, the comic series "Little Lulu" has been enjoying a bit of a resurgence among certain comic circles. I've been too invested in DC, some Spidey, etc... and learning about Uncle Scrooge to pay much mind.
But after Mike Sterling's post the other day, some of the Lulu I recall reading as a kid came flooding back to me. It is a clever series.
I think Dark Horse publishes those Lulu collections...
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Johnny Clambake's, cont'd... Again
HIATUS INTERRUPTED
Well, The League did not see this one coming...
From the comments section.
Part of my initial conversation with Mr. Hauser was that I thought I had a readership of less than 20, and mostly out of town. So my itital thought is: This is terrific, but there's no way we can pull it off.
In fact, I think I can count the number of current Leaguers in Austin up to possibly seven. Including me, Jason and Jamie. And one of you just had a baby and probably disappeared on us for the next three months or so. And the one of you in San Antonio has a baby due in, what..? A few days? So you're out, too.
So while I think maybe I can dig up a few more folks who would be up for a free meal, I have to get some show of hands to know who could attend an event any time in the near future. I can appreciate the lunchtime scheduling. Hopefully Mr. Hauser could accomodate on a Saturday or Sunday as I'm not sure if I could make it work on a weekday, what with the work schedule and all.
Whether you've always been an anonymous reader or whatever, I'd like to see what we could pull together to make this worth Mr. Hauser's time. So speak up.
I'd also like to point out
(a) this blogging thing just gets weirder all the time
and
(b) considering my initial post, I can see where Mr. Hauser is coming from trying to get folks to check out his place and make up their own mind. First one's free, right?
So in the spirit of fair play and free food, who is up for working with me to schedule a free meal?
You know, the dividends the initial post is paying, I shall next complain how Lynda Carter never just stops by (the Wonder Woman suit is optional) and that the US treasury is awful stingy with their gold supply.
Well, The League did not see this one coming...
From the comments section.
Dear All,
Can we do a "League" event at Cannoli Joe's? All bloggers are welcome. I will cover entire cost of the event. I would prefer a lunch and cap the number of attendees at 20.
Lunch for 20 free.
Support your local meatball rollers, Union #270.
Let me know (Greedy capitalist pig that I am)
Sincerely,
Bob Hauser
(512) 892-4444
www.cannolijoes.com
Part of my initial conversation with Mr. Hauser was that I thought I had a readership of less than 20, and mostly out of town. So my itital thought is: This is terrific, but there's no way we can pull it off.
In fact, I think I can count the number of current Leaguers in Austin up to possibly seven. Including me, Jason and Jamie. And one of you just had a baby and probably disappeared on us for the next three months or so. And the one of you in San Antonio has a baby due in, what..? A few days? So you're out, too.
So while I think maybe I can dig up a few more folks who would be up for a free meal, I have to get some show of hands to know who could attend an event any time in the near future. I can appreciate the lunchtime scheduling. Hopefully Mr. Hauser could accomodate on a Saturday or Sunday as I'm not sure if I could make it work on a weekday, what with the work schedule and all.
Whether you've always been an anonymous reader or whatever, I'd like to see what we could pull together to make this worth Mr. Hauser's time. So speak up.
I'd also like to point out
(a) this blogging thing just gets weirder all the time
and
(b) considering my initial post, I can see where Mr. Hauser is coming from trying to get folks to check out his place and make up their own mind. First one's free, right?
So in the spirit of fair play and free food, who is up for working with me to schedule a free meal?
You know, the dividends the initial post is paying, I shall next complain how Lynda Carter never just stops by (the Wonder Woman suit is optional) and that the US treasury is awful stingy with their gold supply.
Monday, April 30, 2007
hiatus
The League is going on hiatus for a while. We have a bruised ego to nurse and some imponderables to ponder on the very nature of The League of Melbotis itself.
I'm not really sure how to respond to many of the complaints of the past few days as some very valid points were made. That said, I stand by my decision, and that's something I need to think about for a while before we move forward.
We'll be back.
I'm not really sure how to respond to many of the complaints of the past few days as some very valid points were made. That said, I stand by my decision, and that's something I need to think about for a while before we move forward.
We'll be back.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Johnny Clambake, Cont'd
So readers looking for the post on our visit to Johnny Clambake's will find that I've taken down the post. This was not a decision that I came to lightly.
Folks who've followed this little drama know that I was contacted by the owner of Johnny Clambake's. Now, I've been at this long enough and worked on enough blogging projects to know that the internet is a funny place, and occasionally when you discuss someone or their work, they may pop up and argue with you.
Some time ago, when Nanostalgia was in existence, I made a stray remark about a web-comic creator, and wound up in an online debate with that creator. It was sort of surprising, but I thought kind of cool. And Lea Hernandez turned out to be really cool.
When we were using HaloScan for comments, musical composer "Meco" once commented upon remarks made here about the Star Wars Christmas album.
The internet is the world's biggest small town, depending upon what kind of Google Search you're performing.
Here's the thing: I'm a big ol' softie. I love people. And I also don't exactly feel like LoM is the blog of record, so I feel only a minor responsibility to ensure my journalistic integrity.
So I pulled the post not for Johnny Clambake himself. I pulled it for these guys...
These are the employees of Johnny Clambake's who were photographed making meatballs BY HAND (how about that?). I am told they do not live at the restaurant, but have no doubt that they're working hard to make good meatballs. (Now if someone can tell me how noodles are made...)
And I don't want for some random Google search results resulting in even one of these people to lose their job. Look at 'em. Those guys are all right.
Folks who've followed this little drama know that I was contacted by the owner of Johnny Clambake's. Now, I've been at this long enough and worked on enough blogging projects to know that the internet is a funny place, and occasionally when you discuss someone or their work, they may pop up and argue with you.
Some time ago, when Nanostalgia was in existence, I made a stray remark about a web-comic creator, and wound up in an online debate with that creator. It was sort of surprising, but I thought kind of cool. And Lea Hernandez turned out to be really cool.
When we were using HaloScan for comments, musical composer "Meco" once commented upon remarks made here about the Star Wars Christmas album.
The internet is the world's biggest small town, depending upon what kind of Google Search you're performing.
Here's the thing: I'm a big ol' softie. I love people. And I also don't exactly feel like LoM is the blog of record, so I feel only a minor responsibility to ensure my journalistic integrity.
So I pulled the post not for Johnny Clambake himself. I pulled it for these guys...
These are the employees of Johnny Clambake's who were photographed making meatballs BY HAND (how about that?). I am told they do not live at the restaurant, but have no doubt that they're working hard to make good meatballs. (Now if someone can tell me how noodles are made...)
And I don't want for some random Google search results resulting in even one of these people to lose their job. Look at 'em. Those guys are all right.
FREE COMIC DAY MAY 4th 2007
Hey, Leaguers. A little FYI.
Next weekend sees not just the premiere of Spider-Man 3 (which I will not see opening weekend), but 2007 Free Comic Book Day.
In years past, we've visited shops on Free Comic Book Day, but hadn't actually hit FCBD ourselves last year (or the year before, possibly. I can't recall.).
Anyway, FCBD is exactly what it sounds like. It's a day when you can get yourself some free comics. In recent years it has also meant that comic shops have been having events in-store as part of the fun.
For example, one store in Greenville South Carolina will have a battalion of Storm Troopers and an appearance by Spidey, himself (which you gotta figure is going to help move some Spidey product). Anyway, its now not just dropping in on a comic shop, it's a carnival of comic chaos, and that, kiddies, is kind of cool.
Here's some additional information from the Free Comic Book Day official site.
Honestly, I have no idea if my local comic shop, Austin Books, or any other shop is doing anything special. We'll see.
Next weekend sees not just the premiere of Spider-Man 3 (which I will not see opening weekend), but 2007 Free Comic Book Day.
In years past, we've visited shops on Free Comic Book Day, but hadn't actually hit FCBD ourselves last year (or the year before, possibly. I can't recall.).
Anyway, FCBD is exactly what it sounds like. It's a day when you can get yourself some free comics. In recent years it has also meant that comic shops have been having events in-store as part of the fun.
For example, one store in Greenville South Carolina will have a battalion of Storm Troopers and an appearance by Spidey, himself (which you gotta figure is going to help move some Spidey product). Anyway, its now not just dropping in on a comic shop, it's a carnival of comic chaos, and that, kiddies, is kind of cool.
Here's some additional information from the Free Comic Book Day official site.
Honestly, I have no idea if my local comic shop, Austin Books, or any other shop is doing anything special. We'll see.
Trailer for Death of Superman
The trailer has been released for the upcoming straight-to-video DVD release of "Death of Superman" or "Superman/Doomsday" or whatever they're calling it.
The copy written for the VO on the trailer sounds like it came from the desk of a WB Home Video intern, or else the studio totally missed the attempt at retro trailer copy with lines like "See! The Amazing Superman! See! Him Perform Amazing Feats!" Anyway, I think if you just look at the footage itself, it looks pretty cool.
It looks like the story has been greatly altered from the comics, cutting out all of the extra storylines and, it seems, dumping the "Rise of the Superman" storyline, which leaves the "Return of Superman" storyline in some serious doubt. But he does come back with the Super Mullet, and that's got to be good.
The copy written for the VO on the trailer sounds like it came from the desk of a WB Home Video intern, or else the studio totally missed the attempt at retro trailer copy with lines like "See! The Amazing Superman! See! Him Perform Amazing Feats!" Anyway, I think if you just look at the footage itself, it looks pretty cool.
It looks like the story has been greatly altered from the comics, cutting out all of the extra storylines and, it seems, dumping the "Rise of the Superman" storyline, which leaves the "Return of Superman" storyline in some serious doubt. But he does come back with the Super Mullet, and that's got to be good.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
OWEN JEFFERSON PEEK: ROCKING THE FREE WORLD
I have not yet seen the little nipper, but Jeff (aka: Peabo) and Adriana Peek are now the proud parents of a wee little man. I don't have any details yet, and I'm awaiting some sort of "all hands proud poppa e-mail", but I do have a voicemail message telling me that there's an additional Peek onboard spaceship Earth.
So, The League of Melbotis formally welcomes young Owen to this groovy thing we call life.
Congratulations to Jeff and Adriana, Phyllis, PK and Adriana's parents (whose names I do not know).
So, The League of Melbotis formally welcomes young Owen to this groovy thing we call life.
Congratulations to Jeff and Adriana, Phyllis, PK and Adriana's parents (whose names I do not know).
Ann-uh-ver-sur-ry
Saturday (today) marked our seventh wedding anniversary. Hooray for us. I'm sure we've now defeated some statistical challenge regarding our ability to remain married. (The secret, you ask? I'm on a steady regimen of vicodin and Jamie is allowed one free punch, head or gut, once a week.)
So, we were unable to get a reservation for Saturday at our restaurant of choice, so we went out Friday. We got married at this place called "Green Pastures" in South Austin, and it's not a bad little place, so we went back for our anniversary dinner as we'd done once upon a time when we used to live here prior to Arizona. The place costs an arm and a leg, but that's okay. The food is phenomenal, service excellent, and Green Pastures has a lovely atmosphere. Plus, I was in a good mood as it seems like many of the risks we took in picking up stakes from Arizona are panning out. So I think we were celebrating that as well.
As I mentioned, the place is a bit pricey. And it took us a while to get seated (we were given cocktails and the staff kept talking to us, so we weren't just sitting there. It was nice.) But I think they were a little concerned we were unhappy before we ever sat down (we were not). So, apparently, when I said "Salmon" to the waiter, he believed I said "Sampler", referring to their Game Sampler. And he panicked a little, but... as The League is up for new experiences (some of which meet with mixed results and angry letters) we gave the waiter a pass and went with the Game Sampler.
So to celebrate my seventh wedding anniversary, I ate Bambi and, I think, a quail. I dunno. Anyway, it was lovely.
Today we were going to try to go to Austin's annual party in the park, "Eeyore's Birthday". Yes, for those familiar, Eeyore's Birthday is the dirty hippy party at Pease Park. But we wanted to do something outside today as it was lovely out, and we wanted to hang out with the dogs. With this plan in mind, we were between breakfast and heading out when Jamie kicked the wall. Jamie kicks lots of things in any given day, but today she was trying to kick a tennis ball for Lucy, missed and did some internal damage.
We still made it to dirty hippy park party, and Jason posted some pics, so here you go. What you can't see here is Jamie getting hit on by some 19 year old dudes. That's two for two weekends. Anyway, all i heard was Jamie say "It's a boy, his name is Mel."
To which her young suitor replied, "No. What's YOUR name? Heh heh heh..."
To which I turned around to see what was going on, and saw the 19 year old, who saw me (and, I assume, Jason) staring back, to which he gave us a "Whoop. My bad." and went on his way.
My wife is in demand. I am hoping she is flattered.
Unfortunately, as we were leaving, Jamie began to show signs that her foot was hurt and had a tough time getting to the car.
So tonight we were going to hit a small party and then possibly go see "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", but as we rested up post-dirty hippy party, Jamie began complaining loudly about her foot. I mean... loudly.
I knew that she was under the impression that her foot was broken (I had my doubts), so off we went to the ER.
I can't tell you how much better the Austin ER is than the ER situation in Phoenix. I think it's a mix of Austin having a greater number of medical facilities per capita, and that people here don't seem to go to the ER unless they think there's really something really wrong. You do not see people walking in with minor symptoms. Like the guy who fell off his motorcycle who came in right before us. That dude was really ragged up.
Unlike the Arizona ER, they also not only had three tracks (fast track for things like broken feet which are a straightforward diagnosis, cardiac track for people who might die immediately, and everyone else), but appear to have a much faster process for getting people from the waiting room to the ER. It was kind of impressive.
Anyhow, Jamie's foot is NOT broken, so we can all be glad about that. She was given a big boot to wear, crutches with which to walk, and a shot of pain killer to make the night groovier.
She's now gone to bed. After being in a really chipper mood thanks to Mr. Pain Killer.
So happy anniversary to us.
Seven years. I'm a lucky guy, Leaguers.
So, we were unable to get a reservation for Saturday at our restaurant of choice, so we went out Friday. We got married at this place called "Green Pastures" in South Austin, and it's not a bad little place, so we went back for our anniversary dinner as we'd done once upon a time when we used to live here prior to Arizona. The place costs an arm and a leg, but that's okay. The food is phenomenal, service excellent, and Green Pastures has a lovely atmosphere. Plus, I was in a good mood as it seems like many of the risks we took in picking up stakes from Arizona are panning out. So I think we were celebrating that as well.
As I mentioned, the place is a bit pricey. And it took us a while to get seated (we were given cocktails and the staff kept talking to us, so we weren't just sitting there. It was nice.) But I think they were a little concerned we were unhappy before we ever sat down (we were not). So, apparently, when I said "Salmon" to the waiter, he believed I said "Sampler", referring to their Game Sampler. And he panicked a little, but... as The League is up for new experiences (some of which meet with mixed results and angry letters) we gave the waiter a pass and went with the Game Sampler.
So to celebrate my seventh wedding anniversary, I ate Bambi and, I think, a quail. I dunno. Anyway, it was lovely.
Today we were going to try to go to Austin's annual party in the park, "Eeyore's Birthday". Yes, for those familiar, Eeyore's Birthday is the dirty hippy party at Pease Park. But we wanted to do something outside today as it was lovely out, and we wanted to hang out with the dogs. With this plan in mind, we were between breakfast and heading out when Jamie kicked the wall. Jamie kicks lots of things in any given day, but today she was trying to kick a tennis ball for Lucy, missed and did some internal damage.
We still made it to dirty hippy park party, and Jason posted some pics, so here you go. What you can't see here is Jamie getting hit on by some 19 year old dudes. That's two for two weekends. Anyway, all i heard was Jamie say "It's a boy, his name is Mel."
To which her young suitor replied, "No. What's YOUR name? Heh heh heh..."
To which I turned around to see what was going on, and saw the 19 year old, who saw me (and, I assume, Jason) staring back, to which he gave us a "Whoop. My bad." and went on his way.
My wife is in demand. I am hoping she is flattered.
Unfortunately, as we were leaving, Jamie began to show signs that her foot was hurt and had a tough time getting to the car.
So tonight we were going to hit a small party and then possibly go see "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", but as we rested up post-dirty hippy party, Jamie began complaining loudly about her foot. I mean... loudly.
I knew that she was under the impression that her foot was broken (I had my doubts), so off we went to the ER.
I can't tell you how much better the Austin ER is than the ER situation in Phoenix. I think it's a mix of Austin having a greater number of medical facilities per capita, and that people here don't seem to go to the ER unless they think there's really something really wrong. You do not see people walking in with minor symptoms. Like the guy who fell off his motorcycle who came in right before us. That dude was really ragged up.
Unlike the Arizona ER, they also not only had three tracks (fast track for things like broken feet which are a straightforward diagnosis, cardiac track for people who might die immediately, and everyone else), but appear to have a much faster process for getting people from the waiting room to the ER. It was kind of impressive.
Anyhow, Jamie's foot is NOT broken, so we can all be glad about that. She was given a big boot to wear, crutches with which to walk, and a shot of pain killer to make the night groovier.
She's now gone to bed. After being in a really chipper mood thanks to Mr. Pain Killer.
So happy anniversary to us.
Seven years. I'm a lucky guy, Leaguers.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli
So while I was at work today, apparently the owner of Clambake Jake's called my house. Jamie took the call, but for some reason picked up while she was asleep, so she was a little sketchy on the details.
You kind of have to think that this fellow is not real happy with The League right now. We're coming up a little high on the 'ol Google search when one looks for his restaurant online, and our commentary was full of opinions. And that makes me feel a little bad. After all, Cannoli Joe's is a new place and they're trying to make a buck. And The League isn't out to put anybody under. We have our opinions, and we feel entitled to them, but we also think it's OUR opinion. Go get your own.
Anyway, apparently we're now in one of the sites that pops up when you Google Clambake Jake's, and that puts me square in the sights of an irate restauranteur. I may wind up buried in the end zone of Giants' Stadium.
I'll keep you posted.
You kind of have to think that this fellow is not real happy with The League right now. We're coming up a little high on the 'ol Google search when one looks for his restaurant online, and our commentary was full of opinions. And that makes me feel a little bad. After all, Cannoli Joe's is a new place and they're trying to make a buck. And The League isn't out to put anybody under. We have our opinions, and we feel entitled to them, but we also think it's OUR opinion. Go get your own.
Anyway, apparently we're now in one of the sites that pops up when you Google Clambake Jake's, and that puts me square in the sights of an irate restauranteur. I may wind up buried in the end zone of Giants' Stadium.
I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
How to leave The League speechless #215
courtesy: Chris's Invincible Super-Blog
PLUS: This story on why the Batmobile may be more trouble than its worth.
NAME PEABO'S KID
Hey, Leaguers. In less than 24 hours, Peabo and Adriana will have a new human being to watch over. An as yet unnamed human being.
So let's help out this kid.
Now taking suggestions for names. And, yes, it's supposed to be a boy.
My suggestions:
Grand Funk Peabo
Grover Cleveland
Vincent Young
William Travis
Stephen Austin
John Wayne
Thomas Jefferson
Flipper
Mr. Pinchy
Ryan J.
Susan
Coolio McGuillicutty
Grimace
Alfred E.
Boris Yeltsin
Red Lobster
Bruce Wayne
Kool-Aid Man
Carl Edward Walls IV
Sinestro
Richard Milhouse
Tonto
Timothy Duncan
Dwayne Wade
Stretch Armstrong
Joseph Montana
Cobb Salad
Ishmael
Cobra Commander
Star Scream
Moose N. Squirrel
Nehemiah Deuteronomy
Job Habakkuk
Grandmaster Flash
Whelan William
That's it. I've got no more in me. You help out.
So let's help out this kid.
Now taking suggestions for names. And, yes, it's supposed to be a boy.
My suggestions:
Grand Funk Peabo
Grover Cleveland
Vincent Young
William Travis
Stephen Austin
John Wayne
Thomas Jefferson
Flipper
Mr. Pinchy
Ryan J.
Susan
Coolio McGuillicutty
Grimace
Alfred E.
Boris Yeltsin
Red Lobster
Bruce Wayne
Kool-Aid Man
Carl Edward Walls IV
Sinestro
Richard Milhouse
Tonto
Timothy Duncan
Dwayne Wade
Stretch Armstrong
Joseph Montana
Cobb Salad
Ishmael
Cobra Commander
Star Scream
Moose N. Squirrel
Nehemiah Deuteronomy
Job Habakkuk
Grandmaster Flash
Whelan William
That's it. I've got no more in me. You help out.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Tonight we dined IN HELL!!!
So when we were moving in, I noticed that someone was putting in some sort of new building on the Lamar/290 frontage road just north of Brodie. Sort of an odd location, but forward thinking as that whole area by Burger Center is turning Sunset Valley into a little economic engine like nobody's business.
Anyhoo... this winter I noticed it was going to be an Italian place with the dubious name of (name redacted by agreement w/ restaurant owner. It's a long story). The outside was brightly painted, indicating that it was a tiny Italian villa. I'm not sure. I'm usually going 50 over there, and I don't usually slow for such things.
This evening we were considering tacos at Serrano's by 290, and I recalled there was the new restaurant on the other side of the road. "Let's try Johnny Clambake's..." I announced from the back seat (Jason sat in front and Jamie drove). Of late, I've acquired my mother's ability (or inability) to recall proper nouns, but go ahead and assign them a name I feel works for me. (We did not watch Saturday Night Live. We watched Saturday Night Alive! We ate at Chick-a-Fillet. Yet she knew who all the Star Wars characters were. It's odd.) Jamie swerved in and out of lanes as we tried to decide where we were going, and finally we settled on Johnny Clambake's.
Upon pulling into the lot we noted that the place was an all-you-can-eat buffet. Never a good sign for a promising meal, but even The League tires of tacos upon occasion, and so we decided it would be a bit of an adventure, to pioneer Johnny Clambake's and be able to say "Oh, yes, I ate there. Oh, yes."
So the entry way at Johnny Clambake's was really pretty nice. Obviously designed to hold a great number of waiting diners, but not quite as EPCOT-ish as Olive Garden, but not exactly what one might think any self-respecting actual Italian would recognize as Italian. Heck, even a self-respecting Italian-American.
I knew we were in trouble when, as new customers, we were offered "the tour". The tour took up through "Il Vilagio" which really was an odd buffet line broken up into various ideas about one might want to eat. Anti-pasta, salad at one end. Dessert at the other. All nicely appointed. And the food didn't look like middle-school cafeteria food, but they also weren't shy about moving you through The Vilagio as quickly as possible. "And it's all you can eat!" the tour guide insisted four or five times, just in case we were worried we might not get our money's worth.
And then the tour took a curious turn as we were lead past several "dining pods", you might describe them, down a hallway, past the restrooms, and I suspected we'd be out by the dumpsters when we emerged in a new dining pod with about fifteen tables. The tour guide then directed us to the table crammed into a corner, directly next to the only other occupied table in the pod, complete with kids crawling right up on to the table. Luckily, not Jason, Jamie or I were too shy as we stepped on each other's words requesting a table across the room. Actually, I think Jamie wandered over to a table and Jason said "we'll sit there."
The dining pod was painted a nice shade of fancy-dining room red, and covered in reproductions of art you kind of maybe thought looked like something that was supposed to be nice (including an 18th century picture of hunting dogs), and gave off the illusion that one was somewhere okay... but the little plastic standee on the table then announced our meal would be $13.00 a head. This did not include $2.00 for a drink.
"Let's go," I said. "We can leave."
"We came here for something new, let's try something new."
"Okay," I agreed. But I knew... Hell, Golden Corral is about the same price. I don't know what I expected.
The tables were also all squeezed remarkably close together, which was part of our decision not to sit next to the kids. It would have been like sitting at the same table. But the dining pod was mostly empty and we decided we were far enough away. After all, Jamie loves to drop the f-bomb to punctuate dinner conversations.
Also, Johnny Clambake's had this weird table inventory system visible at the entrance to each dining pod. It looked like a security grid, but included a touchscreen interface so the tour guide could determine which tables were sat. I wanted to monkey with it, but feared retribution should I be caught in the act.
After placing drink orders and having to witness the tour guide do some paperwork to note that we'd changed tables (no, reallY) we wandered back out into the winding maze of (editor's note: name removed to protect the innocent meatball manufacturers). "If this place caught on fire," I said to Jamie as we squeezed past a patron going the other way, "It would be a firey deathtrap." The hallways were ADA, but they were hallways in a buffet restaurant. Where people must get up multiple times and get food (now, you could be reasonable and get one plate of food, but who would do that? Not the Steans Boys, I tell you that much.). Luckily the place was sort of slow, but I had horrible visions of Saturday night at Clamshack Steve's.
"Go for the meat!" I insisted loudly as we broke apart at Il Vilagio. "They want for you to get cheap stuff like bread and salad! That's a con game! The meat costs them! Don't fill up before you get your money's worth!"
But, it being an Italian place and not a grill, I saw a lot of bread sticks, salad and pasta, but very little meat. Except for some meatballs listed as "Homemade Meatballs", which is a lie. Unless the cooks actually live at (editor's note: name removed under suggestion from legal council), this place is nobody's home, and I don't much care for the fib.
Other offerings included meatloaf and fried fish. But, yeah, for the most part it was sort of vaguely Italian-ish faire.
But I was mostly just confused by the whole operation. $13.00 for dinner and the food was, at best, the low end of the Olive Garden spectrum. Plus you had to fetch it yourself, and there flat out weren't that many "entree" type options.
And some guy who was just lingering in Il Vilagio had some nasty BO that surrounded him like a bubble and stung my eyes.
Upon returning to our table, they'd packed in more families (that table LED system was lit up like Christmas, I tell ya), and despite there being multiple empty tables far from us, the tour guide had chosen to pack them in around our table. We immediately noticed that if both tables sat back to back, neither could stand to return to the buffet line, which might save them money, but certainly seemed to defeat the purpose of the buffet concept. The League must be free in his movements when going back for soft serve ice cream.
We weren't the only ones to notice as the room became more densely packed and the family seated behind us got up and moved on their own, causing a landslide of paperwork for somebody.
And the food I got? Okay. Nothing great. Nothing that suggested they needed to clear out Deck the Walls' post-Holiday sale to decorate the joint. I'm an American. If the food is hot and there isn't vermin dashing across the table, color me pleased with my dining surroundings.
Then I noticed the bottom of the table was covered in that super-dense carpet they use in elementary schools. "There's carpet under the tables!" I exclaimed.
"Yes," Jamie blinked.
"No, on the bottom of the tables," Jason said, noting the odd texture. "Not the floor".
I do not understand Johnny Clambake's. I don't get the dining pods, the narrow, deathtrap hallways, the chocolate fountain they would not let you touch, Il Vilagio, substandard food, too many "fancy-lookin'" prints on the walls, and a 9:00 closing time.
At 8:15 Jason told the waiter, who was fishing around to see if we wanted our bill, "Oh, no. We're going to sit here for an hour, digest, and then go back for more." He sort of blinked and then said "We close at 9:00." Apparently someone had put our plan into action.
Oh, Johnny Clamshack! You are one senior citizen taking a spill in your narrow hallways away from closing your doors. Or someone noticing that the pizza bar is not dissimilar to the one in the Jester Dormitory cafeteria.
Oddly, the place (we found out because Jason likes to ask questions) is owned by the same folks who own (editor's note: name removed to preserve future dining experiences) (also a place where I expect I could meet a firey end). And I like (editor's note: name removed to preserve future opportunities for BBQ). I think I get where they're going with Jimmy Clamshack's, but there's a lot of work that has to happen with the menu if they want to make it. Or not. They could drop the price, and then, really, who cares? Ain't nobody going to Cici's because the pizza is good.
If the place does fold, it would make a swell Laser Tag arena. Otherwise, I have no idea what they could do with the oddly shaped space.
Anyhoo... this winter I noticed it was going to be an Italian place with the dubious name of (name redacted by agreement w/ restaurant owner. It's a long story). The outside was brightly painted, indicating that it was a tiny Italian villa. I'm not sure. I'm usually going 50 over there, and I don't usually slow for such things.
This evening we were considering tacos at Serrano's by 290, and I recalled there was the new restaurant on the other side of the road. "Let's try Johnny Clambake's..." I announced from the back seat (Jason sat in front and Jamie drove). Of late, I've acquired my mother's ability (or inability) to recall proper nouns, but go ahead and assign them a name I feel works for me. (We did not watch Saturday Night Live. We watched Saturday Night Alive! We ate at Chick-a-Fillet. Yet she knew who all the Star Wars characters were. It's odd.) Jamie swerved in and out of lanes as we tried to decide where we were going, and finally we settled on Johnny Clambake's.
Upon pulling into the lot we noted that the place was an all-you-can-eat buffet. Never a good sign for a promising meal, but even The League tires of tacos upon occasion, and so we decided it would be a bit of an adventure, to pioneer Johnny Clambake's and be able to say "Oh, yes, I ate there. Oh, yes."
So the entry way at Johnny Clambake's was really pretty nice. Obviously designed to hold a great number of waiting diners, but not quite as EPCOT-ish as Olive Garden, but not exactly what one might think any self-respecting actual Italian would recognize as Italian. Heck, even a self-respecting Italian-American.
I knew we were in trouble when, as new customers, we were offered "the tour". The tour took up through "Il Vilagio" which really was an odd buffet line broken up into various ideas about one might want to eat. Anti-pasta, salad at one end. Dessert at the other. All nicely appointed. And the food didn't look like middle-school cafeteria food, but they also weren't shy about moving you through The Vilagio as quickly as possible. "And it's all you can eat!" the tour guide insisted four or five times, just in case we were worried we might not get our money's worth.
And then the tour took a curious turn as we were lead past several "dining pods", you might describe them, down a hallway, past the restrooms, and I suspected we'd be out by the dumpsters when we emerged in a new dining pod with about fifteen tables. The tour guide then directed us to the table crammed into a corner, directly next to the only other occupied table in the pod, complete with kids crawling right up on to the table. Luckily, not Jason, Jamie or I were too shy as we stepped on each other's words requesting a table across the room. Actually, I think Jamie wandered over to a table and Jason said "we'll sit there."
The dining pod was painted a nice shade of fancy-dining room red, and covered in reproductions of art you kind of maybe thought looked like something that was supposed to be nice (including an 18th century picture of hunting dogs), and gave off the illusion that one was somewhere okay... but the little plastic standee on the table then announced our meal would be $13.00 a head. This did not include $2.00 for a drink.
"Let's go," I said. "We can leave."
"We came here for something new, let's try something new."
"Okay," I agreed. But I knew... Hell, Golden Corral is about the same price. I don't know what I expected.
The tables were also all squeezed remarkably close together, which was part of our decision not to sit next to the kids. It would have been like sitting at the same table. But the dining pod was mostly empty and we decided we were far enough away. After all, Jamie loves to drop the f-bomb to punctuate dinner conversations.
Also, Johnny Clambake's had this weird table inventory system visible at the entrance to each dining pod. It looked like a security grid, but included a touchscreen interface so the tour guide could determine which tables were sat. I wanted to monkey with it, but feared retribution should I be caught in the act.
After placing drink orders and having to witness the tour guide do some paperwork to note that we'd changed tables (no, reallY) we wandered back out into the winding maze of (editor's note: name removed to protect the innocent meatball manufacturers). "If this place caught on fire," I said to Jamie as we squeezed past a patron going the other way, "It would be a firey deathtrap." The hallways were ADA, but they were hallways in a buffet restaurant. Where people must get up multiple times and get food (now, you could be reasonable and get one plate of food, but who would do that? Not the Steans Boys, I tell you that much.). Luckily the place was sort of slow, but I had horrible visions of Saturday night at Clamshack Steve's.
"Go for the meat!" I insisted loudly as we broke apart at Il Vilagio. "They want for you to get cheap stuff like bread and salad! That's a con game! The meat costs them! Don't fill up before you get your money's worth!"
But, it being an Italian place and not a grill, I saw a lot of bread sticks, salad and pasta, but very little meat. Except for some meatballs listed as "Homemade Meatballs", which is a lie. Unless the cooks actually live at (editor's note: name removed under suggestion from legal council), this place is nobody's home, and I don't much care for the fib.
Other offerings included meatloaf and fried fish. But, yeah, for the most part it was sort of vaguely Italian-ish faire.
But I was mostly just confused by the whole operation. $13.00 for dinner and the food was, at best, the low end of the Olive Garden spectrum. Plus you had to fetch it yourself, and there flat out weren't that many "entree" type options.
And some guy who was just lingering in Il Vilagio had some nasty BO that surrounded him like a bubble and stung my eyes.
Upon returning to our table, they'd packed in more families (that table LED system was lit up like Christmas, I tell ya), and despite there being multiple empty tables far from us, the tour guide had chosen to pack them in around our table. We immediately noticed that if both tables sat back to back, neither could stand to return to the buffet line, which might save them money, but certainly seemed to defeat the purpose of the buffet concept. The League must be free in his movements when going back for soft serve ice cream.
We weren't the only ones to notice as the room became more densely packed and the family seated behind us got up and moved on their own, causing a landslide of paperwork for somebody.
And the food I got? Okay. Nothing great. Nothing that suggested they needed to clear out Deck the Walls' post-Holiday sale to decorate the joint. I'm an American. If the food is hot and there isn't vermin dashing across the table, color me pleased with my dining surroundings.
Then I noticed the bottom of the table was covered in that super-dense carpet they use in elementary schools. "There's carpet under the tables!" I exclaimed.
"Yes," Jamie blinked.
"No, on the bottom of the tables," Jason said, noting the odd texture. "Not the floor".
I do not understand Johnny Clambake's. I don't get the dining pods, the narrow, deathtrap hallways, the chocolate fountain they would not let you touch, Il Vilagio, substandard food, too many "fancy-lookin'" prints on the walls, and a 9:00 closing time.
At 8:15 Jason told the waiter, who was fishing around to see if we wanted our bill, "Oh, no. We're going to sit here for an hour, digest, and then go back for more." He sort of blinked and then said "We close at 9:00." Apparently someone had put our plan into action.
Oh, Johnny Clamshack! You are one senior citizen taking a spill in your narrow hallways away from closing your doors. Or someone noticing that the pizza bar is not dissimilar to the one in the Jester Dormitory cafeteria.
Oddly, the place (we found out because Jason likes to ask questions) is owned by the same folks who own (editor's note: name removed to preserve future dining experiences) (also a place where I expect I could meet a firey end). And I like (editor's note: name removed to preserve future opportunities for BBQ). I think I get where they're going with Jimmy Clamshack's, but there's a lot of work that has to happen with the menu if they want to make it. Or not. They could drop the price, and then, really, who cares? Ain't nobody going to Cici's because the pizza is good.
If the place does fold, it would make a swell Laser Tag arena. Otherwise, I have no idea what they could do with the oddly shaped space.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Some Excellent News
A) It sounds like The League's own CBG is packing up her belongings and returning to the Capital City. Read her announcement here.
That's excellent news for The League who is quite fond of CBG, and was pleased to find he enjoyed the company of CBG's husband as well. Let's all hope baby Xander doesn't spoil it for everyone with an anti-Texas stance.
We're glad to hear that you're coming back, CB! We'll leave a light on for you.
Oh, and there's no reason for Xander to know he was born anywhere but Texas. We'll cover for you.
B) It seems The League's own Peabo knows not just the day, but the time of his soon to be arrived child's, uhm... arrival? Birth. Yes, birth.
So this Friday everything changes for Peabo as he transforms from irresponsible purveyor of hare-brained schemes to irresponsible purveyor of hare-brained schemes involving children. Huzzah!
I need to get that kid a present.
Ah, who am I kidding? That kid is going to be a baby and won't know if I've picked it out a present until it's at least four. And it's not like Peabo will be keeping track...
Big doings here among Loyal Leaguers...
That's excellent news for The League who is quite fond of CBG, and was pleased to find he enjoyed the company of CBG's husband as well. Let's all hope baby Xander doesn't spoil it for everyone with an anti-Texas stance.
We're glad to hear that you're coming back, CB! We'll leave a light on for you.
Oh, and there's no reason for Xander to know he was born anywhere but Texas. We'll cover for you.
B) It seems The League's own Peabo knows not just the day, but the time of his soon to be arrived child's, uhm... arrival? Birth. Yes, birth.
So this Friday everything changes for Peabo as he transforms from irresponsible purveyor of hare-brained schemes to irresponsible purveyor of hare-brained schemes involving children. Huzzah!
I need to get that kid a present.
Ah, who am I kidding? That kid is going to be a baby and won't know if I've picked it out a present until it's at least four. And it's not like Peabo will be keeping track...
Big doings here among Loyal Leaguers...
Some Links
1) To nobody's surprise, there shall be a toyline associated with the upcoming Transformers movie. I will not buy any of these toys as I like to keep my Transformers classic. Here is "Barricade" from the upcoming film, in toy form.
Thanks to Jamie for the link.
2) Maxim magazine (the magazine for guys too chicken to ask for the magazines behind the counter at 7-11) has rated the top ten comic "babes".
I do not know who did their rankings, but I guarantee you, any real fanboys' rankings would shake out much differently. Not that we keep a laminated list of our favorite comic leading ladies in our pocket, but if we did... you know, the list would be different.
There's really no arguing this one without going into some deep, dark places I really don't want to explore.
Thanks to Randy "This Doesn't Seem Weird to Me" T. for the link.
3) Jim D. sends along this link from "Ask" about Superman's costume. Specifically, why does Superman wear his underwear outside of his clothes? The person who answers rambles a bit, but then fails to answer the question.
The answer is that Shuster designed the costume based upon a recognizable symbol for strength in 1938, the circus strongman, who often would wear a leotard with some sort of briefs over the top (for reasons which should be fairly obvious). In the first issues of Action Comics, Superman also wore circus-style lace-up boots, and the cape appears to have been added as a bit of flourish and after-thought.
This isn't really any different from why Dracula is dressed as a carnival magician in the movie Dracula from 1933 (Do you really think nobility ever dressed in big capes with pointy collars?) or why Bettie Boop has an enormous head (Flappers' heads were believed to grow to gigantic size due to their consumption of bathtub gin and cheap Canadian whiskey*).
Why does Superman still wear his drawers outside his tights? Because a single blue outfit with red boots looks silly. Also, he needs a pocket for his wallet.
4) As Jim D. was heard to remark "It would be a far, far better thing to go to that amusement park than I have ever done before." Coming Soon: Dickens Land!
5) CNN finally proves itself a reliable news source.
According to CNN, somebody in Serbia discovered a compound with the same chemical properties as Kryptonite...
CNN's not-so-in-depth report which focuses on the many types of Kryptonite. God bless you Mort Weisinger.
Uhm. I'm a pretty big Superman nerd, and I have NO idea what they're talking about... There was a mention in Superman III of the chemical make-up of Kryptonite, and again in Superman Returns (on a label at the museum where Lex obtained his Kryptonite).
But, honestly, the whole point of Kryptonite was that it was composed of elements which were formed in the destruction of Krypton... and thusly could not be duplicated, per se, on Earth...
Well, CNN is owned by Time Warner, as is Superman and DC Comics, so this reporting must all be accurate.
6) Say it ain't so, Cap! (link courtesy JimD)
7) And... this. Which makes me both ashamed and jealous.
Plus a reminder that the original is still the best.
*this is a lie.
Thanks to Jamie for the link.
2) Maxim magazine (the magazine for guys too chicken to ask for the magazines behind the counter at 7-11) has rated the top ten comic "babes".
I do not know who did their rankings, but I guarantee you, any real fanboys' rankings would shake out much differently. Not that we keep a laminated list of our favorite comic leading ladies in our pocket, but if we did... you know, the list would be different.
There's really no arguing this one without going into some deep, dark places I really don't want to explore.
Thanks to Randy "This Doesn't Seem Weird to Me" T. for the link.
3) Jim D. sends along this link from "Ask" about Superman's costume. Specifically, why does Superman wear his underwear outside of his clothes? The person who answers rambles a bit, but then fails to answer the question.
The answer is that Shuster designed the costume based upon a recognizable symbol for strength in 1938, the circus strongman, who often would wear a leotard with some sort of briefs over the top (for reasons which should be fairly obvious). In the first issues of Action Comics, Superman also wore circus-style lace-up boots, and the cape appears to have been added as a bit of flourish and after-thought.
This isn't really any different from why Dracula is dressed as a carnival magician in the movie Dracula from 1933 (Do you really think nobility ever dressed in big capes with pointy collars?) or why Bettie Boop has an enormous head (Flappers' heads were believed to grow to gigantic size due to their consumption of bathtub gin and cheap Canadian whiskey*).
Why does Superman still wear his drawers outside his tights? Because a single blue outfit with red boots looks silly. Also, he needs a pocket for his wallet.
4) As Jim D. was heard to remark "It would be a far, far better thing to go to that amusement park than I have ever done before." Coming Soon: Dickens Land!
5) CNN finally proves itself a reliable news source.
According to CNN, somebody in Serbia discovered a compound with the same chemical properties as Kryptonite...
CNN's not-so-in-depth report which focuses on the many types of Kryptonite. God bless you Mort Weisinger.
Uhm. I'm a pretty big Superman nerd, and I have NO idea what they're talking about... There was a mention in Superman III of the chemical make-up of Kryptonite, and again in Superman Returns (on a label at the museum where Lex obtained his Kryptonite).
But, honestly, the whole point of Kryptonite was that it was composed of elements which were formed in the destruction of Krypton... and thusly could not be duplicated, per se, on Earth...
Well, CNN is owned by Time Warner, as is Superman and DC Comics, so this reporting must all be accurate.
6) Say it ain't so, Cap! (link courtesy JimD)
7) And... this. Which makes me both ashamed and jealous.
Plus a reminder that the original is still the best.
*this is a lie.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Dog Tired
1) I have not made a peep regarding the massacre at Virginia Tech. I've kept mum partially because any words I've tried to summon on the topic have felt woefully inadequate.
This evening the South Mall at UT (which lies in the shadow of the UT Tower) was filled with thousands of students, alumni and folks from the Austin community for a candle ceremony to commemorate the victims. If any school understands the long memory of such a tragedy, it's the UT community.
Best hopes go out to the families of the victims and the Virginia Tech community.
2) Our dogs are attempting to bankrupt us. Last week Lucy managed to wind up at the vet almost every day, and will need to be continually monitored for a while at home. She's been having odd GI problems which are not providing us with any obvious diagnoses or solution. Things culminated in a 30 hour stay at the animal hospital over Saturday and Sunday. She seems fine now, but...
And tomorrow Melbotis will be visiting the vet to have a lumpectomy. The lump is not believed to be malignant, but the vet wants to remove it before it does become a problem. Poor Mel.
Poor Lucy.
Jeff the Cat is fine.
3) I am hopelessly behind on Comic Fodder work.
4) I am hopelessly behind on providing questions to Steven G. Harms for The Mellies.
5) I am hopelessly behind on keeping up with Steven and Lauren since their move northward. I warned them that once you pass the river, you are dead to me...
6) I need to call Cousin Susan and explain what happened with the weekend.
7) I minorly screwed up at work today. My first @#$% up! Hurray!
8) I now own "Star Spangled War Stories #139" featuring the origin of Enemy Ace. If you are me, you think that is totally rad.
9) On a related note, Jamie won herself a suitor on Sunday at Austin Books. I had wandered off to price back-issues of "New Gods", and Jamie was sort of standing there with a copy of the latest American Splendor collection in her hand when a young gentleman took the opportunity to break the ice by declaring his admiration for Harvey Pekar. He just kept talking. And talking. Clearly not picking up on Jamie's "please go away..." vibes.
Because The League is a curious sort of fellow, we decided to let the events unfold naturally, with no intervention despite Jamie's telepathic cries for rescue. (a) I wanted to see how Jamie would handle it, (b) there's a chance jamie's just looking for the right opportunity to jump ship, and (c) did I really want to be the guy who puffs his chest and goes all monkey crazy because some dude is talking to his lady?
I think Jamie let the chap down rather easily, properly showing zero interest and letting him verbally paint himself into a corner from which the only escape was to feign interest in some nearby comics and wander off. This was after he talked a bit too much about how his ex-girlfriend just didn't get Harvey, even though she tried for his benefit.
At this point I re-entered the scene, excited to know that this gentleman would then tell his friends "And then she left with some dork who was looking for back issues of 'New Gods'! Who reads 'New Gods'? NERD!"
Being a girl in a comic shop is a frightening, frightening proposition. Still, I hope Jamie was at least a little flattered.
In reviewing the scene, I suspect that were The League flying a solo mission, we'd fair no better in trying to break the ice.
10) It. Just. Keeps. Raining.
Well, better than 110 days of continuous sunshine, I guess.
11) As soon as my membership to Hollywood video begins, I end it. I still am physically incapable of watching rented movies or returning them.
12) Today I bought these mints. How many mints come with a warning not to eat them if you have high blood pressure? Not too many. But my Mogo Mints sure as @#$% did. Scroll to the bottom left here to see the many, many health warnings associated with enjoying a Mogo Mint.
I'm working near campus which is why I think I'm discovering caffeine supplements again (I had Jolt Mints last week). I've been told a Quix near campus sells caffeine that, my co-worker informs me "you can mainline". I guess you can buy small tubes of powdered caffeine now.
If those items had been available in 1993-1998, I shudder to think of what a short, jittery life I might have led.
11) I shall not be viewing "Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School". Take the craziest girls from the first two seasons of Flavor of Love, remove Flav, give the girls semi-sociopathic advice that makes no sense... it's like watching someone disturb bee's nests for an hour.
What concerned me most was that the girl kicked off on the first episode clearly had rage issues, if not downright issues with her mental health, and she reached out to show host comedienne Mo'Nique. She was subsequently kicked off the show for showing weakness.
Apparently I missed the part of where becoming a better person means being a cut-throat jerk and refusing to see a shrink when you clearly need one.
I wanted to like the show. I really did. I was honestly shocked at the criteria the judges used in the elimination round.
12) Even more surprising for sheer evil is the new VH1 documentary show about the making of "The Jerry Springer Show" entitled "The Springer Hustle". Free of anything resembling scruples, the producers on Springer don't hide a thing as they work to get their guests into a fighting mood prior to releasing them onto the stage. Totally amazing to see folks who've so clearly lost sight of (or never had) basic human empathy as they try to outdo their fellow producers on a show that, ultimately, has absolutely no redeeming value.
13) I've also beenw atching Dogfights on History Channel. For some reason I find the show completely fascinating.
This evening the South Mall at UT (which lies in the shadow of the UT Tower) was filled with thousands of students, alumni and folks from the Austin community for a candle ceremony to commemorate the victims. If any school understands the long memory of such a tragedy, it's the UT community.
Best hopes go out to the families of the victims and the Virginia Tech community.
2) Our dogs are attempting to bankrupt us. Last week Lucy managed to wind up at the vet almost every day, and will need to be continually monitored for a while at home. She's been having odd GI problems which are not providing us with any obvious diagnoses or solution. Things culminated in a 30 hour stay at the animal hospital over Saturday and Sunday. She seems fine now, but...
And tomorrow Melbotis will be visiting the vet to have a lumpectomy. The lump is not believed to be malignant, but the vet wants to remove it before it does become a problem. Poor Mel.
Poor Lucy.
Jeff the Cat is fine.
3) I am hopelessly behind on Comic Fodder work.
4) I am hopelessly behind on providing questions to Steven G. Harms for The Mellies.
5) I am hopelessly behind on keeping up with Steven and Lauren since their move northward. I warned them that once you pass the river, you are dead to me...
6) I need to call Cousin Susan and explain what happened with the weekend.
7) I minorly screwed up at work today. My first @#$% up! Hurray!
8) I now own "Star Spangled War Stories #139" featuring the origin of Enemy Ace. If you are me, you think that is totally rad.
9) On a related note, Jamie won herself a suitor on Sunday at Austin Books. I had wandered off to price back-issues of "New Gods", and Jamie was sort of standing there with a copy of the latest American Splendor collection in her hand when a young gentleman took the opportunity to break the ice by declaring his admiration for Harvey Pekar. He just kept talking. And talking. Clearly not picking up on Jamie's "please go away..." vibes.
Because The League is a curious sort of fellow, we decided to let the events unfold naturally, with no intervention despite Jamie's telepathic cries for rescue. (a) I wanted to see how Jamie would handle it, (b) there's a chance jamie's just looking for the right opportunity to jump ship, and (c) did I really want to be the guy who puffs his chest and goes all monkey crazy because some dude is talking to his lady?
I think Jamie let the chap down rather easily, properly showing zero interest and letting him verbally paint himself into a corner from which the only escape was to feign interest in some nearby comics and wander off. This was after he talked a bit too much about how his ex-girlfriend just didn't get Harvey, even though she tried for his benefit.
At this point I re-entered the scene, excited to know that this gentleman would then tell his friends "And then she left with some dork who was looking for back issues of 'New Gods'! Who reads 'New Gods'? NERD!"
Being a girl in a comic shop is a frightening, frightening proposition. Still, I hope Jamie was at least a little flattered.
In reviewing the scene, I suspect that were The League flying a solo mission, we'd fair no better in trying to break the ice.
10) It. Just. Keeps. Raining.
Well, better than 110 days of continuous sunshine, I guess.
11) As soon as my membership to Hollywood video begins, I end it. I still am physically incapable of watching rented movies or returning them.
12) Today I bought these mints. How many mints come with a warning not to eat them if you have high blood pressure? Not too many. But my Mogo Mints sure as @#$% did. Scroll to the bottom left here to see the many, many health warnings associated with enjoying a Mogo Mint.
I'm working near campus which is why I think I'm discovering caffeine supplements again (I had Jolt Mints last week). I've been told a Quix near campus sells caffeine that, my co-worker informs me "you can mainline". I guess you can buy small tubes of powdered caffeine now.
If those items had been available in 1993-1998, I shudder to think of what a short, jittery life I might have led.
11) I shall not be viewing "Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School". Take the craziest girls from the first two seasons of Flavor of Love, remove Flav, give the girls semi-sociopathic advice that makes no sense... it's like watching someone disturb bee's nests for an hour.
What concerned me most was that the girl kicked off on the first episode clearly had rage issues, if not downright issues with her mental health, and she reached out to show host comedienne Mo'Nique. She was subsequently kicked off the show for showing weakness.
Apparently I missed the part of where becoming a better person means being a cut-throat jerk and refusing to see a shrink when you clearly need one.
I wanted to like the show. I really did. I was honestly shocked at the criteria the judges used in the elimination round.
12) Even more surprising for sheer evil is the new VH1 documentary show about the making of "The Jerry Springer Show" entitled "The Springer Hustle". Free of anything resembling scruples, the producers on Springer don't hide a thing as they work to get their guests into a fighting mood prior to releasing them onto the stage. Totally amazing to see folks who've so clearly lost sight of (or never had) basic human empathy as they try to outdo their fellow producers on a show that, ultimately, has absolutely no redeeming value.
13) I've also beenw atching Dogfights on History Channel. For some reason I find the show completely fascinating.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
GRINDHOUSE
I am not a child of the 70's, nor was I raised in Southern California or any of the other places where "Grindhouses" may have once existed. I'm a child of the 80's, and multiplex theaters built into shopping malls. (For reason I cannot fathom, I always associate the Willowbrook Mall theater with my first viewings of Jurassic Park and Freejack, although I saw literally dozens of movies at that theater. And why Freejack, for God's sake?).
Anyhow, I don't think the "Grindhouse" idea was ever as prevalent in the US as Mssr's Tarantino and Rodriguez would have us believe. At least seeing a series of crappy movies on a single bill wasn't as fondly remembered.
But if you're going to see two movies on a single bill, Alamo Drafthouse is the place to go. We intentionally broke up our orders into appetizers and a main course over the two movies and managed to really settle in. And, prior to the movie, the Alamo showed trailers from classic "Grindhouse" movies such as "Vanishing Point", "The Thing with Two Heads" and "Dracula Meets the Seven Brothers (and their one Sister)".
So how was the actual movie?
It's possible that the entire movie might have been better off as nothing but a series of trailers. After all, trailers always show the best parts of movies, and in some ways the directors seem to know that trailers are more fun than what you actually get in a movie.
So, yes, the "trailers" between the two movies are almost more fun than the two features.
"Planet Terror" is a fun zombie movie. Flat out. I would have gladly paid to see this movie without any of the additional Grindhouse baggage. It's gross, it's an action movie, it casts Freddy Rodriguez as a bad-ass, and someone finally makes good use of Rose McGowan for the first time I can think of since the first "Scream" film. In fact, I predict that "Cherry Darling" will become one of those staples of fanboyish-ness that will lead to a new cult following for McGowan. Michael Biehn gets his best role since, possibly, The Abyss, and everyone, including Bruce Willis seems to behaving a grand time.
one more item to add to the list of "What The League Looks for in a Woman"
In a way, "Planet Terror" is critic proof as it never tries to do more than be a really fun movie (albeit not for kids or the squeamish), and I can't really think of anything that bugged me about the movie. It sets out to be an over-the-top zombie movie, and from that perspective, I think they knocked it over the fence. Winding subplots, hokey call-backs and catch phrases. A good bad movie.
Prior to "Planet Terror", Rodriguez had tacked on a trailer for what I can only refer to as an Hispanic-Sploitation action movie called "Machete". And, man, yes... I would probably go see Machete.
Between the films, Rob Zombie's trailer for "Werewolf Women of the SS" was absolutely wrong, and, yes... I would totally see that movie. Perhaps less so Eli Roth's "Thanksgiving", but in keeping with the bad-movie tradition of turning seemingly innocent Holidays in a small town into a bloodbath... sure. I could absolutely see where Roth was coming from. He had me at the turkey mascot decapitation.
I was less enthusiastic about Tarantino's "Death Proof", which surprised me. I do enjoy the purity of a good car chase, although I don't know that I've ever even seen any of the films that's comprised of almost nothing but car chases (unless you count "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Empire Strikes Back" - oh, come on! "Empire's" entire Han Solo sequence was pretty much Smokey and the Bandit in space).
The problem with "Death Proof" was two-fold:
a) A lot of the Grindhouse movies that Tarantino professes such a love for were pretty dull, when you get down to it. There's a lot of talking and standing around because that's a lot cheaper to film than action sequences. This wasn't unique to car-chase featuring C-movies of the 70's. Go back to the black and white sci-fi cheapies and serials, and you'll find endless, pointless discussion between scientists speaking in utter gibberish.
b) Tarantino writes like a 20 year old film student. He's hopelessly in love with his own dialog and the minutia of what people say to each other when sitting in cafes and bars, believing these conversations (and characters) to be far, far more compelling than they actually are.
For some reason, Tarantino decided to give a mad shout out to Austin in "Death Proof", which is sort of cute. His characters name drop and go to eat at Guero's and the Texas Chili Parlor. Two of the stars of "Rollergirls" who wait tables at the Texas Chili Parlor play themselves. The odd "Jungle Julia" billboards that were up the week I moved back to town finally receive an explanation. They were props for the movie. Apparently Mr. Tarantino is unaware that in Austin, for whatever reason, DJ's don't really splash their mugs on billboards. But it does solve the mystery Doug and I tried to solve of why a radio station would advertise their DJ and then fail to note the actual frequency of the station.
Anyhow, it seems Tarantino has a school-boy crush on Waterloo.
SPOILERS
I suppose it's possible Tarantino is presenting an homage to Hitchcock's set-up of Janet Leigh as the heroine in Psycho with his extensive set-up of four female friends at the beginning of "Death Proof", but the problem is that this ISN'T Psycho, and he ISN'T Hitch. In fact, as a 70's style horror flick, the audience expects for all but one of the female leads to die. So establishing all of the characters just doesn't seem like such a neat narrative trick when the game plan is to kill them all off.
SPOILERS END
Longtime readers will know that The League is a big fan of narrative economy, and here we get the polar opposite. The middle of "Death Proof" is essentially a fifteen minute conversation between four gal pals in a coffee shop (possibly Jo's, which I've never actually been in). Then a lengthy, lengthy conversation about driving a car and who can come.
Whenever Kurt Russell is on screen, the movie is fine. Whenever Kurt Russell is not on the screen, it's like letting air out of an impossibly irritating balloon.
When the cars are rolling, the movie is fun. I won't deny that. But it's also not really anything you haven't seen before. And that's sort of Tarantino, isn't it? He's a master art forger, but without Roger Avary around to move the story along, his movies don't seem to move beyond imitation.
Where Rodriguez seems to have seen that Achilles Heel of the C-Movie was the horrendous sense of pacing, Tarantino demonstrates slavish devotion to the drudgery of those movies and assumes his dialog is hilariousness enough to carry us through vast, vast stretches of inane conversations where, as an audience member, you want to stand up and shout "Okay, I get it! They like cars!"
It is true that Russell hands in a great performance, and I think Jason developed a crush on stuntwoman Zoe Bell (playing herself) during the course of the film. But, yeah... in some ways all "Death Proof" does is remind the audience that these films are usually remembered for brief set pieces rather than for the overall whole of the movie.
Anyhow, I don't think the "Grindhouse" idea was ever as prevalent in the US as Mssr's Tarantino and Rodriguez would have us believe. At least seeing a series of crappy movies on a single bill wasn't as fondly remembered.
But if you're going to see two movies on a single bill, Alamo Drafthouse is the place to go. We intentionally broke up our orders into appetizers and a main course over the two movies and managed to really settle in. And, prior to the movie, the Alamo showed trailers from classic "Grindhouse" movies such as "Vanishing Point", "The Thing with Two Heads" and "Dracula Meets the Seven Brothers (and their one Sister)".
So how was the actual movie?
It's possible that the entire movie might have been better off as nothing but a series of trailers. After all, trailers always show the best parts of movies, and in some ways the directors seem to know that trailers are more fun than what you actually get in a movie.
So, yes, the "trailers" between the two movies are almost more fun than the two features.
"Planet Terror" is a fun zombie movie. Flat out. I would have gladly paid to see this movie without any of the additional Grindhouse baggage. It's gross, it's an action movie, it casts Freddy Rodriguez as a bad-ass, and someone finally makes good use of Rose McGowan for the first time I can think of since the first "Scream" film. In fact, I predict that "Cherry Darling" will become one of those staples of fanboyish-ness that will lead to a new cult following for McGowan. Michael Biehn gets his best role since, possibly, The Abyss, and everyone, including Bruce Willis seems to behaving a grand time.
one more item to add to the list of "What The League Looks for in a Woman"
In a way, "Planet Terror" is critic proof as it never tries to do more than be a really fun movie (albeit not for kids or the squeamish), and I can't really think of anything that bugged me about the movie. It sets out to be an over-the-top zombie movie, and from that perspective, I think they knocked it over the fence. Winding subplots, hokey call-backs and catch phrases. A good bad movie.
Prior to "Planet Terror", Rodriguez had tacked on a trailer for what I can only refer to as an Hispanic-Sploitation action movie called "Machete". And, man, yes... I would probably go see Machete.
Between the films, Rob Zombie's trailer for "Werewolf Women of the SS" was absolutely wrong, and, yes... I would totally see that movie. Perhaps less so Eli Roth's "Thanksgiving", but in keeping with the bad-movie tradition of turning seemingly innocent Holidays in a small town into a bloodbath... sure. I could absolutely see where Roth was coming from. He had me at the turkey mascot decapitation.
I was less enthusiastic about Tarantino's "Death Proof", which surprised me. I do enjoy the purity of a good car chase, although I don't know that I've ever even seen any of the films that's comprised of almost nothing but car chases (unless you count "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Empire Strikes Back" - oh, come on! "Empire's" entire Han Solo sequence was pretty much Smokey and the Bandit in space).
The problem with "Death Proof" was two-fold:
a) A lot of the Grindhouse movies that Tarantino professes such a love for were pretty dull, when you get down to it. There's a lot of talking and standing around because that's a lot cheaper to film than action sequences. This wasn't unique to car-chase featuring C-movies of the 70's. Go back to the black and white sci-fi cheapies and serials, and you'll find endless, pointless discussion between scientists speaking in utter gibberish.
b) Tarantino writes like a 20 year old film student. He's hopelessly in love with his own dialog and the minutia of what people say to each other when sitting in cafes and bars, believing these conversations (and characters) to be far, far more compelling than they actually are.
For some reason, Tarantino decided to give a mad shout out to Austin in "Death Proof", which is sort of cute. His characters name drop and go to eat at Guero's and the Texas Chili Parlor. Two of the stars of "Rollergirls" who wait tables at the Texas Chili Parlor play themselves. The odd "Jungle Julia" billboards that were up the week I moved back to town finally receive an explanation. They were props for the movie. Apparently Mr. Tarantino is unaware that in Austin, for whatever reason, DJ's don't really splash their mugs on billboards. But it does solve the mystery Doug and I tried to solve of why a radio station would advertise their DJ and then fail to note the actual frequency of the station.
Anyhow, it seems Tarantino has a school-boy crush on Waterloo.
SPOILERS
I suppose it's possible Tarantino is presenting an homage to Hitchcock's set-up of Janet Leigh as the heroine in Psycho with his extensive set-up of four female friends at the beginning of "Death Proof", but the problem is that this ISN'T Psycho, and he ISN'T Hitch. In fact, as a 70's style horror flick, the audience expects for all but one of the female leads to die. So establishing all of the characters just doesn't seem like such a neat narrative trick when the game plan is to kill them all off.
SPOILERS END
Longtime readers will know that The League is a big fan of narrative economy, and here we get the polar opposite. The middle of "Death Proof" is essentially a fifteen minute conversation between four gal pals in a coffee shop (possibly Jo's, which I've never actually been in). Then a lengthy, lengthy conversation about driving a car and who can come.
Whenever Kurt Russell is on screen, the movie is fine. Whenever Kurt Russell is not on the screen, it's like letting air out of an impossibly irritating balloon.
When the cars are rolling, the movie is fun. I won't deny that. But it's also not really anything you haven't seen before. And that's sort of Tarantino, isn't it? He's a master art forger, but without Roger Avary around to move the story along, his movies don't seem to move beyond imitation.
Where Rodriguez seems to have seen that Achilles Heel of the C-Movie was the horrendous sense of pacing, Tarantino demonstrates slavish devotion to the drudgery of those movies and assumes his dialog is hilariousness enough to carry us through vast, vast stretches of inane conversations where, as an audience member, you want to stand up and shout "Okay, I get it! They like cars!"
It is true that Russell hands in a great performance, and I think Jason developed a crush on stuntwoman Zoe Bell (playing herself) during the course of the film. But, yeah... in some ways all "Death Proof" does is remind the audience that these films are usually remembered for brief set pieces rather than for the overall whole of the movie.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Howdy, Leaguers.
Well, this week has been quite busy for The League. The new job has thrown me in head first, but by accident. I was supposed to shadow a producer, but unfortunately her mother took ill, and now I'm filling in for that producer. So I've been dropped in the deep end.
Aside from a constant low level feeling of confusion, and an additional creeping sleepiness that pops up like clockwork at 3:00 each day, I'm liking the new job quite a bit. They are making an effort to make sure I'm properly trained, despite the missing producer, and everyone I talk to takes time to answer my questions. I'm honestly a bit thrown off by not working in a crazy public sector setting and all that that implies.
Last night I had not yet even arrived home when I was informed that Lucy had puked twice. It seems that the allergic reaction from the weekend had some latent effects of the GI-tract variety, and so it was that I made a mid-week return trip to the Doggy ER. They're theorizing that Lucy's troubles were a further portion of her allergic reaction to whatever it was she got into this weekend. I'm happy to say she seems much, much better this evening.
In addition to that, I'm tyring to adjust to a work schedule again, and, honestly, that schedule is a bit deeper to keep than waking up between 9:00 and 10:30 for a big day of watching daytime TV and looking online for job postings. So I'm going to bed a bit earlier and trying to get adjusted. Look for normal blogging to resume in the not-too-distant-future.
Well, this week has been quite busy for The League. The new job has thrown me in head first, but by accident. I was supposed to shadow a producer, but unfortunately her mother took ill, and now I'm filling in for that producer. So I've been dropped in the deep end.
Aside from a constant low level feeling of confusion, and an additional creeping sleepiness that pops up like clockwork at 3:00 each day, I'm liking the new job quite a bit. They are making an effort to make sure I'm properly trained, despite the missing producer, and everyone I talk to takes time to answer my questions. I'm honestly a bit thrown off by not working in a crazy public sector setting and all that that implies.
Last night I had not yet even arrived home when I was informed that Lucy had puked twice. It seems that the allergic reaction from the weekend had some latent effects of the GI-tract variety, and so it was that I made a mid-week return trip to the Doggy ER. They're theorizing that Lucy's troubles were a further portion of her allergic reaction to whatever it was she got into this weekend. I'm happy to say she seems much, much better this evening.
In addition to that, I'm tyring to adjust to a work schedule again, and, honestly, that schedule is a bit deeper to keep than waking up between 9:00 and 10:30 for a big day of watching daytime TV and looking online for job postings. So I'm going to bed a bit earlier and trying to get adjusted. Look for normal blogging to resume in the not-too-distant-future.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Internet: DOWN!!!
Oh, Leaguers...
So this weekend we had some guys doing some stuff in our yard and they cut the coaxial line to the house. So, from about 9:30 AM Sunday to this evening, I've been more or less without an internet connection at home.
here's a quick run down of life in the past few days:
1) Saturday I attended funeral services for Liz Pieper. Liz had a lot of good friends, and she'll be missed.
2) Judy is already home from the hospital and she's doing pretty well. We're waiting for some lab results to come back, but I would describe the mood as cautiously optimistic. Right now things are looking much more promising than they appeared when the surgery was announced.
3) Sunday Lucy was acting as if she was having a bit of an allergy attack, but I thought maybe she'd feel better if I took her to Jason's to play with Cassidy. En route, I noticed her face was a bit puffy. About twenty minutes after arriving, she's developed large welts all over and looked weird and freakish. I didn't want for my dog to die, but I also didn't want to spend $5000 getting her checked out at the Dog ER if she just needed a few Bendaryl and some rest. However, she was getting noticeably worse within an hour, so I took her to the Dog ER where they gave her a shot and I was out around $100. Small price to pay so you don't need to explain to your wife how you let the dog die while she was gone.
4) Jamie got back Sunday night.
5) I've been working. I actually like my job. I like my co-workers so far. I am in a bit of a state of confusion as the place fairly well staffed and my usual mode of "I'll do it" that's always been my survival mode in small, underfunded offices isn't working. I am going to learn that the world is not made up of Octavio, Tom and Eric, all already given too many tasks.
6) The lead on the technical side of my latest project wrote part of his Masters' thesis on Crisis on Infinite Earths. I think I know my DC, but he puts my critical thinking skills to shame. I am in awe.
7) We now have internet again. Did I mention that?
8) It rained all day today. All day.
9) I am going to lose weight. I am not trying, but there's a difference between being home all day and only leaving the couch to eat, and being at work with regular meal times. Plus, part of my job is wrestling ferocious tigers.
10) I still think getting up before 10:00 AM is a sucker's game.
So this weekend we had some guys doing some stuff in our yard and they cut the coaxial line to the house. So, from about 9:30 AM Sunday to this evening, I've been more or less without an internet connection at home.
here's a quick run down of life in the past few days:
1) Saturday I attended funeral services for Liz Pieper. Liz had a lot of good friends, and she'll be missed.
2) Judy is already home from the hospital and she's doing pretty well. We're waiting for some lab results to come back, but I would describe the mood as cautiously optimistic. Right now things are looking much more promising than they appeared when the surgery was announced.
3) Sunday Lucy was acting as if she was having a bit of an allergy attack, but I thought maybe she'd feel better if I took her to Jason's to play with Cassidy. En route, I noticed her face was a bit puffy. About twenty minutes after arriving, she's developed large welts all over and looked weird and freakish. I didn't want for my dog to die, but I also didn't want to spend $5000 getting her checked out at the Dog ER if she just needed a few Bendaryl and some rest. However, she was getting noticeably worse within an hour, so I took her to the Dog ER where they gave her a shot and I was out around $100. Small price to pay so you don't need to explain to your wife how you let the dog die while she was gone.
4) Jamie got back Sunday night.
5) I've been working. I actually like my job. I like my co-workers so far. I am in a bit of a state of confusion as the place fairly well staffed and my usual mode of "I'll do it" that's always been my survival mode in small, underfunded offices isn't working. I am going to learn that the world is not made up of Octavio, Tom and Eric, all already given too many tasks.
6) The lead on the technical side of my latest project wrote part of his Masters' thesis on Crisis on Infinite Earths. I think I know my DC, but he puts my critical thinking skills to shame. I am in awe.
7) We now have internet again. Did I mention that?
8) It rained all day today. All day.
9) I am going to lose weight. I am not trying, but there's a difference between being home all day and only leaving the couch to eat, and being at work with regular meal times. Plus, part of my job is wrestling ferocious tigers.
10) I still think getting up before 10:00 AM is a sucker's game.
Friday, April 13, 2007
I was tired
regarding my concern over the title of the post and then my quote, I did a little googling, and figured out that Journalista was actually referring to the article further down in the body of the article.
Apparently the title referred to a now defunct comic strip featuring cartoon animals with colorful names. As we've noted before, The League doesn't end up reading web comics for reasons that remain a mystery. But web comics are exactly the kind of territory that Journalista! does cover.
So, anyway, looks like being tired and alarmed was not a good combination.
Here's a link to the comic in question.
The name of the site is not G-rated.
Apparently the title referred to a now defunct comic strip featuring cartoon animals with colorful names. As we've noted before, The League doesn't end up reading web comics for reasons that remain a mystery. But web comics are exactly the kind of territory that Journalista! does cover.
So, anyway, looks like being tired and alarmed was not a good combination.
Here's a link to the comic in question.
The name of the site is not G-rated.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
He Lives! He Walks! He Conquers!
Who? Who? Who?
This was all over the internet today, plus I received an e-mail or two linking the pic.
The first pic from the upcoming Iron Man movie has been shown.
It's the original, gray Kirby Iron Man armor.
The thing to keep in mind is that Iron Man changes his armor like you or I change our socks. Expect multiple suits of armor.
This was all over the internet today, plus I received an e-mail or two linking the pic.
The first pic from the upcoming Iron Man movie has been shown.
It's the original, gray Kirby Iron Man armor.
The thing to keep in mind is that Iron Man changes his armor like you or I change our socks. Expect multiple suits of armor.
birthday thanks, spit curl, Judy, notoriety
The new job goes well. I'm a bit shell-shocked as I expect to be when starting a new job, but things are looking good. As per the hair from Day 1 of work...
Jamie's car is in the shop, and I needed a ride to work as Jamie needed my ride on Wednesday. My new job is literally five blocks from Jason's office, so he took me in. The stipulation was that he didn't want to tack an extra half hour onto his commute to go South and then north again, so I slept at his house. The hair care products in Jason's guest bath are different from my own, and I think what you're seeing there is what happens when I stray from my own hair care plan. Longtime pals know that when my hair grows out, I get the spit curl whether I like it or not. In AZ I mostly kept my hair too short for the spit curl, but here in Austin, the barbers do not give you a crew-cut no matter what you ask them to do. Here they left me with some length, and with some humdity, the spit curl has made it's return. In the picture in question, the spit curl just looks silly.
The chubbiness is, however, completely self-induced.
Thanks a million for the birthday greetings and well wishes. It means a lot to me. Aside from mandatory birthday greetings at work, etc... I do not believe I've ever had so many wish me a happy birthday. You Leaguers are tops.
I'd like it if everyone could put some positive vibes toward my mother-in-law, Judy. She's having surgery tomorrow, and we're all hoping it goes well. Jamie is up in Oklahoma with her now, as is Doug and Kristen. Starting the new job, I couldn't go, and I'm feeling no small bit of guilt over that. Judy is always here for us when we need her, so I'm feeling a bit like I'm not holding up my end of the bargain.
Anyhow, well wishes are welcome.
Here's the risk of going online with your opinion. Dirk at Journalista! has chosen a less than flattering way to describe either me, my post or the state of comics. It's unclear who, really, he's referring to. I confess to not being a regular reader of his blog, so I really hope I'm missing some context, but I have to assume it's not flattering.
And on my birthday! Egads.
Why is it when I get linked to, it's invariably by someone pointing out that I'm an ass? How come nobody ever links back to the League or Comic Fodder from well read comic blogs and says, "That Ryan kid is really on to something!"
I know I'm an ass. I just didn't know it was so obvious...
Anyhow, I'm a little perplexed by the quote, and, in my self-centered, defensive way, I think he's taking a line from a very lengthy post out of context, but, heck... I wrote whole history papers in college the same way. So more power to Journalista!, I suppose.
You wants to writes the comics reviews, you's gots to learn to roll wit' the punches.
Jamie's car is in the shop, and I needed a ride to work as Jamie needed my ride on Wednesday. My new job is literally five blocks from Jason's office, so he took me in. The stipulation was that he didn't want to tack an extra half hour onto his commute to go South and then north again, so I slept at his house. The hair care products in Jason's guest bath are different from my own, and I think what you're seeing there is what happens when I stray from my own hair care plan. Longtime pals know that when my hair grows out, I get the spit curl whether I like it or not. In AZ I mostly kept my hair too short for the spit curl, but here in Austin, the barbers do not give you a crew-cut no matter what you ask them to do. Here they left me with some length, and with some humdity, the spit curl has made it's return. In the picture in question, the spit curl just looks silly.
The chubbiness is, however, completely self-induced.
Thanks a million for the birthday greetings and well wishes. It means a lot to me. Aside from mandatory birthday greetings at work, etc... I do not believe I've ever had so many wish me a happy birthday. You Leaguers are tops.
I'd like it if everyone could put some positive vibes toward my mother-in-law, Judy. She's having surgery tomorrow, and we're all hoping it goes well. Jamie is up in Oklahoma with her now, as is Doug and Kristen. Starting the new job, I couldn't go, and I'm feeling no small bit of guilt over that. Judy is always here for us when we need her, so I'm feeling a bit like I'm not holding up my end of the bargain.
Anyhow, well wishes are welcome.
Here's the risk of going online with your opinion. Dirk at Journalista! has chosen a less than flattering way to describe either me, my post or the state of comics. It's unclear who, really, he's referring to. I confess to not being a regular reader of his blog, so I really hope I'm missing some context, but I have to assume it's not flattering.
And on my birthday! Egads.
Why is it when I get linked to, it's invariably by someone pointing out that I'm an ass? How come nobody ever links back to the League or Comic Fodder from well read comic blogs and says, "That Ryan kid is really on to something!"
I know I'm an ass. I just didn't know it was so obvious...
Anyhow, I'm a little perplexed by the quote, and, in my self-centered, defensive way, I think he's taking a line from a very lengthy post out of context, but, heck... I wrote whole history papers in college the same way. So more power to Journalista!, I suppose.
You wants to writes the comics reviews, you's gots to learn to roll wit' the punches.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
32
Transdermal Celebration
by Ween
Transdermal celebration
Caused a slight mutation in the rift
It toppled down a nation
And left the people runnin' for the hills
But the mutants that I see
Shine their beauty unto me
I wish you could see them
Tectonic tribulations
Formed a crust of green beyond the reef
Waves fell in formation
Caused the plants to bend with spiked leaves
I'm growing with the land
Time has taken my hand
And let me touch them
Hey, hey, a million miles to mark A
Lay on the lawn
He's already home
When the morning rain hits his face. . .
Transdermal celebration
Jets flew in formation I could see them
Dropping their crustaceans
Leaving trails of flame in their wake
But where is the mutation
That once told me it was safe?
I can't find him
Hey, hey, a million miles to mark A
Lay on the lawn
He's already home
When the morning rain hits his face. . .
by Ween
Transdermal celebration
Caused a slight mutation in the rift
It toppled down a nation
And left the people runnin' for the hills
But the mutants that I see
Shine their beauty unto me
I wish you could see them
Tectonic tribulations
Formed a crust of green beyond the reef
Waves fell in formation
Caused the plants to bend with spiked leaves
I'm growing with the land
Time has taken my hand
And let me touch them
Hey, hey, a million miles to mark A
Lay on the lawn
He's already home
When the morning rain hits his face. . .
Transdermal celebration
Jets flew in formation I could see them
Dropping their crustaceans
Leaving trails of flame in their wake
But where is the mutation
That once told me it was safe?
I can't find him
Hey, hey, a million miles to mark A
Lay on the lawn
He's already home
When the morning rain hits his face. . .
New Job = Light Posting
I started my new job this week. Please forgive me for lighter blogging than usual.
This unfortunate photo was posted to the company's intraoffice blog welcoming me.
My hair was not doing well today.
Anyway, the company seems super cool, and I am very excited.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Hey, Leaguers.
Hope you Easter Weekend was fabulous. Ours was unseasonably wintery and freaky. There's nothing sadder than an unshaven, weeping Steanso sitting on your front stoop looking out at the mud and the rain and asking why he can't hunt for eggs. I never want to go through that again.
After more interviews than I want to think about a lot of self-loathing, Friday I may have finally found gainful employment. As always, I'm keeping details to myself, but this place is a lot more in line with what I had in mind when we came back to town. I'm pretty darn excited. Should be starting pretty quickly.
Last night we had an early meet-up with Leaguers Carla and JAL and their respective spouses as well as Hilary and Stuart of The Flyin' A's. It was a Canyon Vista Middle School/ Westwood High mini-reunion, and was wildly entertaining. Finally met the man brave enough to marry CB, not to mention be her baby daddy (baby Xander was not there as he had some errands to run). And it'd been a while since I'd seen Justin and Tania. Hit the Draught House, and then popped over to Waterloo Ice House for a late dinner. And ice we had. In our freakish Texas storm, sleet came down on the roof of the Waterloo, and formed on our cars. But, luckily, nothing stuck.
That said, I was supposed to go to a karaoke party after the Warrior engagement, and ended up skipping out when the weather seemed to be just getting worse. I feel pretty bad about skipping, but The League fears Austin drivers on Saturday nights under the best of conditions.
We also watched the film adaptation of "Running with Scissors". I don't really understand why the director omitted certain vignettes and plot points from the memoir. Or why they cast a guy who was pretty clearly much older than the 14 years old that Burroughs was supposed to be, or why they added in certain elements, some of which seemed to stem from press that came out after the release of the book. On the whole, not a great movie.
This morning I woke up late. We met up with Jason, then headed to iHop for a sort of bleary Easter lunch.
This afternoon I was checking the new grass growing in our yard to see if last night's storm had taken out my Bermuda seedlings, and Jamie detected the scent of gas. I have a few theories on why, but Jamie's car apparently developed a drip from her gas tank, which should be nice and expensive to repair, and now I have to figure out how to get gas out of my driveway.
If it's not one thing, it's the other.
Hope you Easter Weekend was fabulous. Ours was unseasonably wintery and freaky. There's nothing sadder than an unshaven, weeping Steanso sitting on your front stoop looking out at the mud and the rain and asking why he can't hunt for eggs. I never want to go through that again.
After more interviews than I want to think about a lot of self-loathing, Friday I may have finally found gainful employment. As always, I'm keeping details to myself, but this place is a lot more in line with what I had in mind when we came back to town. I'm pretty darn excited. Should be starting pretty quickly.
Last night we had an early meet-up with Leaguers Carla and JAL and their respective spouses as well as Hilary and Stuart of The Flyin' A's. It was a Canyon Vista Middle School/ Westwood High mini-reunion, and was wildly entertaining. Finally met the man brave enough to marry CB, not to mention be her baby daddy (baby Xander was not there as he had some errands to run). And it'd been a while since I'd seen Justin and Tania. Hit the Draught House, and then popped over to Waterloo Ice House for a late dinner. And ice we had. In our freakish Texas storm, sleet came down on the roof of the Waterloo, and formed on our cars. But, luckily, nothing stuck.
That said, I was supposed to go to a karaoke party after the Warrior engagement, and ended up skipping out when the weather seemed to be just getting worse. I feel pretty bad about skipping, but The League fears Austin drivers on Saturday nights under the best of conditions.
We also watched the film adaptation of "Running with Scissors". I don't really understand why the director omitted certain vignettes and plot points from the memoir. Or why they cast a guy who was pretty clearly much older than the 14 years old that Burroughs was supposed to be, or why they added in certain elements, some of which seemed to stem from press that came out after the release of the book. On the whole, not a great movie.
This morning I woke up late. We met up with Jason, then headed to iHop for a sort of bleary Easter lunch.
This afternoon I was checking the new grass growing in our yard to see if last night's storm had taken out my Bermuda seedlings, and Jamie detected the scent of gas. I have a few theories on why, but Jamie's car apparently developed a drip from her gas tank, which should be nice and expensive to repair, and now I have to figure out how to get gas out of my driveway.
If it's not one thing, it's the other.
Showbiz Nightmare Fuel
You have seen nothing until you've seen The Rock-Afire Explosion perform "Smooth Criminal" about 2/3rd of the way through this video. Also note how iPod stole the look of their commericals from the Rock-Afire Explosion.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Pics from April's First Thursday with Mono E
I didn't announce it as it was approaching, but I should have. Jason and Reed's band, The Mono E(nsemble), played last week. Here are some photos.
Mono E takes the porch/stage at Ben White Florist (the "bwf" to the hip*).
My brother doing what he does best: taking up space
Jamie
World's Greatest Drummer: Reed Shaw
Some kids goofing around on the hill. I don't know who they are. I just like this picture.
Reed's kid, Meredith, explains something to Jen and Anna
The band rocks out
And you can tell things get out of control when guitarist, Frank, has to work and isn't there to keep things under control. The Reed drum solo came to a nerve shattering conclusion with Eric stepping in for a climax worthy of the Rock-Afire Explosion. Also, note bassist Jim (not OUR Jim, but A Jim, nonetheless) in the back, hiding in shame.
Rock on, gentlemen. Rock on.
*this is a lie. Nobody has ever said "bwf" to my knowledge. But it IS on their free refrigerator magnets.
The name Ben White Florist isn't actually terribly accurate, and every time I try to go to the location on So. Congress, I first go to S. 1st by accident. It is only when I ponder why theya re playing, usually somehwere near Polvo's, that I remember where I'm supposed to be going.
Mono E takes the porch/stage at Ben White Florist (the "bwf" to the hip*).
My brother doing what he does best: taking up space
Jamie
World's Greatest Drummer: Reed Shaw
Some kids goofing around on the hill. I don't know who they are. I just like this picture.
Reed's kid, Meredith, explains something to Jen and Anna
The band rocks out
And you can tell things get out of control when guitarist, Frank, has to work and isn't there to keep things under control. The Reed drum solo came to a nerve shattering conclusion with Eric stepping in for a climax worthy of the Rock-Afire Explosion. Also, note bassist Jim (not OUR Jim, but A Jim, nonetheless) in the back, hiding in shame.
Rock on, gentlemen. Rock on.
*this is a lie. Nobody has ever said "bwf" to my knowledge. But it IS on their free refrigerator magnets.
The name Ben White Florist isn't actually terribly accurate, and every time I try to go to the location on So. Congress, I first go to S. 1st by accident. It is only when I ponder why theya re playing, usually somehwere near Polvo's, that I remember where I'm supposed to be going.
Liz Pieper
Jamie and I wish to express our heartfelt sympathy to the family and friends of Liz Pieper. Liz passed away this weekend after a long battle with cancer.
Liz was a good friend of my brother's, and a good friend to a great number of people. She will be missed.
You can read more atJason's site.
Liz was a good friend of my brother's, and a good friend to a great number of people. She will be missed.
You can read more atJason's site.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Hey, Leaguers!
Last night we headed down to Ben White Florist to see drummer Reed Shaw and Jason's band, The Mono E, play a show for the First Thursdays thing they do on South Congress. Those guys put on a good show, considering their usual guitarist was AWOL and Jason and Eric had to step up a bit.
And I missed the context was, but there was also an Easter Egg hunt. (Oh, I know it's Easter. I don't know who the people were or how they knew about the Egg Hunt). There were all of these families with little kids who rocked to the sounds of the Mono E, and then, in what's probably a first, the Mono E had to pause for the egg hunt. Anyway, I've now learned why egg hunts exist. Watching little kids toddle around with an oversized basket and try to find eggs is just good comedy. I first came to this conclusion when Jamie, Doug, Kristen and I came upon the egg hunt at the Hotel Coronado in San Diego and saw some poor hotel employee in a bunny suit get mobbed...
So congrats to the Mono E on another show successfully pulled off! And congrats to Reed Shaw for a stellar drum solo (man that Reed Shaw can rock the HOUSE)!!
That said, I may arrive late to the next First Thursday as I'd like to actually walk First Thursday at some point and see what the rest of the street has to offer. I like flowers and all, but...
So I don't know if this is all part of the "Day After Tomorrow" scenario of global warming or what... but it's supposed to be crazy cold here in Austin this weekend in the evenings. One report suggested it might even fall into freezing temperatures. I don't think that's likely to ccur, but it could drop into the low 40's or high 30's, and that, Leaguers, is not the usual lovely Easter weather one sees in this berg.
Meanwhile, the UN released a report forecasting that the Southwest is to be become a dustbowl thanks tp global warming. I've already lived in one desert, thank you.
This is on my mind as Saturday I'm scheduled to catch up with some old pals at Freddie's, which is a mostly outdoor venue. Our plan may need some re-adjusting.
I felt like I've been just dropping links and stuff for a while. I need to put nose to grind stone and work on the Mellies questions so we can get some real content up and going once again.
Last night we headed down to Ben White Florist to see drummer Reed Shaw and Jason's band, The Mono E, play a show for the First Thursdays thing they do on South Congress. Those guys put on a good show, considering their usual guitarist was AWOL and Jason and Eric had to step up a bit.
And I missed the context was, but there was also an Easter Egg hunt. (Oh, I know it's Easter. I don't know who the people were or how they knew about the Egg Hunt). There were all of these families with little kids who rocked to the sounds of the Mono E, and then, in what's probably a first, the Mono E had to pause for the egg hunt. Anyway, I've now learned why egg hunts exist. Watching little kids toddle around with an oversized basket and try to find eggs is just good comedy. I first came to this conclusion when Jamie, Doug, Kristen and I came upon the egg hunt at the Hotel Coronado in San Diego and saw some poor hotel employee in a bunny suit get mobbed...
So congrats to the Mono E on another show successfully pulled off! And congrats to Reed Shaw for a stellar drum solo (man that Reed Shaw can rock the HOUSE)!!
That said, I may arrive late to the next First Thursday as I'd like to actually walk First Thursday at some point and see what the rest of the street has to offer. I like flowers and all, but...
So I don't know if this is all part of the "Day After Tomorrow" scenario of global warming or what... but it's supposed to be crazy cold here in Austin this weekend in the evenings. One report suggested it might even fall into freezing temperatures. I don't think that's likely to ccur, but it could drop into the low 40's or high 30's, and that, Leaguers, is not the usual lovely Easter weather one sees in this berg.
Meanwhile, the UN released a report forecasting that the Southwest is to be become a dustbowl thanks tp global warming. I've already lived in one desert, thank you.
This is on my mind as Saturday I'm scheduled to catch up with some old pals at Freddie's, which is a mostly outdoor venue. Our plan may need some re-adjusting.
I felt like I've been just dropping links and stuff for a while. I need to put nose to grind stone and work on the Mellies questions so we can get some real content up and going once again.
some enjoyable links. sorta.
I don't know how funny this is to folks who've never worked a helpdesk, or to people who've never worked in a tech-based arena.
At any rate, both Jamie and Steven G. Harms sent this to me in the past 24 hours.
Go to the link. I plead of you, go to the link.
And the video below is NOT parent friendly. There is repeated use of some bad words and some generally grim stuff. But I think I'd be remiss if I didn't share. Thanks to Randy for the link.
So much like Jason in high school, it's creepy
Jim, you had a good unicorn related link and I failed to post. Please resend.
At any rate, both Jamie and Steven G. Harms sent this to me in the past 24 hours.
Go to the link. I plead of you, go to the link.
And the video below is NOT parent friendly. There is repeated use of some bad words and some generally grim stuff. But I think I'd be remiss if I didn't share. Thanks to Randy for the link.
So much like Jason in high school, it's creepy
Jim, you had a good unicorn related link and I failed to post. Please resend.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Comic Fodder Needs Writers
Hey, Leaguers!
Comic Fodder needs writers!
Do you read an unhealthy number of comics?
The Fodder Network is looking for writers to help us build Comic Fodder into a must-read site for every comic geek with an internet connection. Are you a reader of comics who can put a critical eye to the comics they love, and who isn’t afraid to get a little scrappy defending their opinions down in the comments section?
Read the whole article here.
Comic Fodder needs writers!
Do you read an unhealthy number of comics?
The Fodder Network is looking for writers to help us build Comic Fodder into a must-read site for every comic geek with an internet connection. Are you a reader of comics who can put a critical eye to the comics they love, and who isn’t afraid to get a little scrappy defending their opinions down in the comments section?
Read the whole article here.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Acceptable TV
Acceptable.Tv
New show in which they show several new "shows" each week, and viewers vote on which ones they want to see the following week. Only two of the five shows make it. In addition, viewers can create short shows and send them in.
And, the show claims, the clips are only as long as the average attention span.
TV for the internet age.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Spider-Man week in NYC
Apparently it's pretty difficult for Spidey to get the fear and loathing in the real world which he gets in the comics.
Somebody... I'll say it's Bloomberg, but who knows... has declared the end of April, beginning of May "Spider-Man Week" across the five burroughs.
go here
Sadly, Austin has no local superheroes in either the DCU or Marvel Universe (although The Initiative will surely change that fact). I read once that the current Hawkgirl is from Austin, and, in fact, was getting a film degree when she received her powers or wings or whatever, but no mention has been made of that fact in years.
But we do get Spam-A-Rama this weekend.
Somebody... I'll say it's Bloomberg, but who knows... has declared the end of April, beginning of May "Spider-Man Week" across the five burroughs.
go here
Sadly, Austin has no local superheroes in either the DCU or Marvel Universe (although The Initiative will surely change that fact). I read once that the current Hawkgirl is from Austin, and, in fact, was getting a film degree when she received her powers or wings or whatever, but no mention has been made of that fact in years.
But we do get Spam-A-Rama this weekend.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Opening Day
Well, both the Astros and the Cubbies lost the season opener. I watched a good chunk of the Astros game, but was then sidetracked by my decision to grill some burgers. So today also marked the start of the cook-out season, although we kept it simple at League HQ. I suppose we'll need to have some folks over for some grilled meat.
The 'Stros were doing okay until the 8th inning when one of the Pirates hit a homer, and I think that was the beginning of the end. I'll never know. For some odd reason we were taping two shows, which meant we couldn't watch a live show on our DVR. So I didn't see that, but I did see the conclusion of Season 1 of "I Love New York". Yes, yes... I'm still following the "Flavor of Love" programs, and will leap right into "Charm School" later this month. God bless you, VH1.
I'll also be watching the behind-the-scenes show about how the Jerry Springer show is put together. Longtime Leaguers will know that I firmly believe that the endless line of nimrods they find to put up on the stage represents the real America in many, many ways. So much poor decision making.... so very much... And not afraid to air their laundry before a national audience.
I do watch a few minutes of Springer now and then. Just as I catch myself watching a few minutes of Maury, and my new favorite... The Greg Behrendt Show. Sadly, Greg's clueless style of trying to help people by utilizing the sage wisdom of an aging LA hipster did not pan out and we will only get one season of the program. But I will always remember it as a show that had absolutely no point, and even the host looked like he didn't want to be there.
I do get to watch a considerable amount of television as an unemployed person, and I'm this close to picking up the phone and calling The Everest Institute. They've now convinced me I could be making more money.
We went and saw Blades of Glory on Sunday at The Alamo South. The movie is exactly what one would expect from the trailers, and, yes... John Heder isn't actually very funny. He mostly plays the straight man to Will Ferrell's... Will Ferrell.
Amy Poehler and Will Arnett play a competing skating duo, and some of their stuff is okay. JD asked me if this was a theatrical must-see of one to save for Netflix. And I gotta say... Netflix. At times the directors and writers weren't trying hard enough, and at other times, maybe a little too hard. Still, it's comfortable middle ground for Will Ferrell. And this is going to reveal a bit more than I'd like, but I expected more out of the skating than what I got. Yes, I wanted silly CGI skating, but for anyone whose spent as much time as The League keeping his wife company during the winter olympics, I'm not sure why they didn't employ more actual skating stuff.
That said, the movie features Scott Hamilton, Peggy Fleming, Sasha Cohen and other skating greats. But, curiously, no Michelle Kwan.
Oh, and The Office's Jenna Fischer is in the movie, but you sort of get the feeling she's barely able to keep it together in most of her scenes. That's okay.
What else...?
Oh, yes...
Somehow this little video of Bully locating the famed Forbidden Planet comic shop was both funny and sweet.
Which makes me want to go ahead and link to...
Ah, Audrey...
The 'Stros were doing okay until the 8th inning when one of the Pirates hit a homer, and I think that was the beginning of the end. I'll never know. For some odd reason we were taping two shows, which meant we couldn't watch a live show on our DVR. So I didn't see that, but I did see the conclusion of Season 1 of "I Love New York". Yes, yes... I'm still following the "Flavor of Love" programs, and will leap right into "Charm School" later this month. God bless you, VH1.
I'll also be watching the behind-the-scenes show about how the Jerry Springer show is put together. Longtime Leaguers will know that I firmly believe that the endless line of nimrods they find to put up on the stage represents the real America in many, many ways. So much poor decision making.... so very much... And not afraid to air their laundry before a national audience.
I do watch a few minutes of Springer now and then. Just as I catch myself watching a few minutes of Maury, and my new favorite... The Greg Behrendt Show. Sadly, Greg's clueless style of trying to help people by utilizing the sage wisdom of an aging LA hipster did not pan out and we will only get one season of the program. But I will always remember it as a show that had absolutely no point, and even the host looked like he didn't want to be there.
I do get to watch a considerable amount of television as an unemployed person, and I'm this close to picking up the phone and calling The Everest Institute. They've now convinced me I could be making more money.
We went and saw Blades of Glory on Sunday at The Alamo South. The movie is exactly what one would expect from the trailers, and, yes... John Heder isn't actually very funny. He mostly plays the straight man to Will Ferrell's... Will Ferrell.
Amy Poehler and Will Arnett play a competing skating duo, and some of their stuff is okay. JD asked me if this was a theatrical must-see of one to save for Netflix. And I gotta say... Netflix. At times the directors and writers weren't trying hard enough, and at other times, maybe a little too hard. Still, it's comfortable middle ground for Will Ferrell. And this is going to reveal a bit more than I'd like, but I expected more out of the skating than what I got. Yes, I wanted silly CGI skating, but for anyone whose spent as much time as The League keeping his wife company during the winter olympics, I'm not sure why they didn't employ more actual skating stuff.
That said, the movie features Scott Hamilton, Peggy Fleming, Sasha Cohen and other skating greats. But, curiously, no Michelle Kwan.
Oh, and The Office's Jenna Fischer is in the movie, but you sort of get the feeling she's barely able to keep it together in most of her scenes. That's okay.
What else...?
Oh, yes...
Somehow this little video of Bully locating the famed Forbidden Planet comic shop was both funny and sweet.
Which makes me want to go ahead and link to...
Ah, Audrey...
Transformers: Robots In a Slide Show
Here for Movie Transformers photos. Here for trailers.
Dear Hollywood,
Was it really that hard? I've been asking for one thing out of a movie since 1991 or so... and that was to see giant robots blowing up the landscape. Why did this take 16 years?
Hollywood, I don't want much out of a movie, but here's what I want:
Fire
Explosions
Robots
Giant Robots
Superheroes
Kung-Fu
Apes or Monkeys
Fighter Planes and/ or Spaceships
Laser weapons
Alien Beings
Heroic archaeologists
Michelle Yeoh
Cowboys
Shoot outs
I do not need, nor really desire, all of these items in a single movie. But it doesn't hurt to include most of this list into your summer faire.
So, thanks, Hollywood, for the movie featuring giant robots and explosions. I owe you one.
Sincerely,
League of Melbotis
Dear Hollywood,
Was it really that hard? I've been asking for one thing out of a movie since 1991 or so... and that was to see giant robots blowing up the landscape. Why did this take 16 years?
Hollywood, I don't want much out of a movie, but here's what I want:
Fire
Explosions
Robots
Giant Robots
Superheroes
Kung-Fu
Apes or Monkeys
Fighter Planes and/ or Spaceships
Laser weapons
Alien Beings
Heroic archaeologists
Michelle Yeoh
Cowboys
Shoot outs
I do not need, nor really desire, all of these items in a single movie. But it doesn't hurt to include most of this list into your summer faire.
So, thanks, Hollywood, for the movie featuring giant robots and explosions. I owe you one.
Sincerely,
League of Melbotis
Lawyerbear
There are four total posts here today. Let's start with the one for the lawyers in the audience.
here.
here.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
LaLa Weds, Provides Booze and Food
The League's own LaLa got hitched up over the weekend. No pictures, sorry.
LaLa married a gentleman named "Michael", who, by all accounts and my own observations, is a decent sort of a fellow. Michael and LaLa had been seeing one another for quite some time since our sojourn in Arizona, and we'd begun to believe Michael to be a fiction as LaLa would make many an appearance when we'd be in town, but her gentleman friend was never anywhere to be seen.
We adore LaLa (she's the potty-mouthed embarassment-to-the-family I never had), and we wish she and the husband the very best. She won't read this as she's going to be in Mexico for a while, soaking up sunshine and pina coladas in equal measure. I just really hope she likes the wooden hangers I got her for her wedding gift. Nothing says, "Enjoy a life full of love" like the gift of neatly creased trousers.
Matt and Nicole rode out to Driftwood with us for the wedding, and Dan and his fiancee, Ilana (sp?), flew in from Chicago. Matt still refuses to dance, so I was skeptical of my own chances, but who can turn down "Sex Machine"? Not Mr. & Mrs. League, that I can tell you.
I hadn't met Ilana, and I was waiting to kick the tires before agreeing with everyone else that she was okay. Ilana passed my rigorous questioning with flying colors, and they now have my approval to proceed to the altar. Well done, Dan.
A lovely evening at the newly established Mandola's Vineyard out in Driftwood, kind of past The Salt Lick, and then down a bit on the left.
Anyhow, congrats to LaLa and Michael. The League of Melbotis wishes you buckets of happiness.
LaLa married a gentleman named "Michael", who, by all accounts and my own observations, is a decent sort of a fellow. Michael and LaLa had been seeing one another for quite some time since our sojourn in Arizona, and we'd begun to believe Michael to be a fiction as LaLa would make many an appearance when we'd be in town, but her gentleman friend was never anywhere to be seen.
We adore LaLa (she's the potty-mouthed embarassment-to-the-family I never had), and we wish she and the husband the very best. She won't read this as she's going to be in Mexico for a while, soaking up sunshine and pina coladas in equal measure. I just really hope she likes the wooden hangers I got her for her wedding gift. Nothing says, "Enjoy a life full of love" like the gift of neatly creased trousers.
Matt and Nicole rode out to Driftwood with us for the wedding, and Dan and his fiancee, Ilana (sp?), flew in from Chicago. Matt still refuses to dance, so I was skeptical of my own chances, but who can turn down "Sex Machine"? Not Mr. & Mrs. League, that I can tell you.
I hadn't met Ilana, and I was waiting to kick the tires before agreeing with everyone else that she was okay. Ilana passed my rigorous questioning with flying colors, and they now have my approval to proceed to the altar. Well done, Dan.
A lovely evening at the newly established Mandola's Vineyard out in Driftwood, kind of past The Salt Lick, and then down a bit on the left.
Anyhow, congrats to LaLa and Michael. The League of Melbotis wishes you buckets of happiness.
Maxwell Propagates the Species
...and you can already tell it's Maxwell's child...
From Maxwell's e-mail:
As some of you already know, our first child arrived Wednesday March 28th at 4:14 pm. We're in love with all 7lbs and 7oz. Her name is Sophia Mari Scott, but you can call her Sophie. She's named for Mari Scott, Eric's wonderful grandmother. Mom, Dad, and Baby are all healthy and very happy.
So, a new chapter for our own Cowgirl Funk. It seems like just yesterday that I was driving this little Drama Club freshman home and was amused that she was pleasantly less annoying than most of the rest of her class. God bless 'er.
Congrats to the whole Maxwell clan on the arrival of Sophia.
When the time is right, the League of Melbotis shall be ready and available to teach her The Robot.
A Post for April 2nd
From Mark Twain:
Yes, the announcement of the conclusion of The League of Melbotis was an April Fool's Day sham. I sincerely appreciate the words of encouragement even in the face of the unlikelihood that we'd shuttered our doors and cut the pilot light.
As with any good lie, there's some truth to the post. Of late, I feel much of the relevancy of League of Melbotis has tipped it's hat and ridden off into the sunset. But I think that comes with each spring time and each anniversary. After all, I think April 2nd marks the 4th anniversary of LoM, and after all this time...
Well, a lot of ink's been spilt.
Happy April 2nd, Leaguers.
At certain periods it becomes the dearest ambition of a man to keep a faithful record of his performances in a book; and he dashes at this work with an enthusiasm that imposes on him the notion that keeping a journal is the veriest pastime in the world, and the pleasantest. But if he only lives twenty-one days, he will find out that only those rare natures that are made up of pluck, endurance, devotion to duty for duty's sake, and invincible determination, may hope to venture upon so tremendous an enterprise as the keeping of a journal and not sustain a shameful defeat.
- The Innocents Abroad.
Yes, the announcement of the conclusion of The League of Melbotis was an April Fool's Day sham. I sincerely appreciate the words of encouragement even in the face of the unlikelihood that we'd shuttered our doors and cut the pilot light.
As with any good lie, there's some truth to the post. Of late, I feel much of the relevancy of League of Melbotis has tipped it's hat and ridden off into the sunset. But I think that comes with each spring time and each anniversary. After all, I think April 2nd marks the 4th anniversary of LoM, and after all this time...
Well, a lot of ink's been spilt.
Happy April 2nd, Leaguers.
FINAL POST
Hey, Leaguers
After much consideration, I've decided that this post will be the final post for League of Melbotis. We've been in business for somewhere in the neighborhood of four full years, and it's been, I can say, a fantastic ride. I've gotten to know a lot of new people, caught up with long lost pals, and kept up with a lot of folks I might have otherwise lost touch with in our years in the desert.
I think I've accomplished some of the goals I had in mind when I started this blog, and other goals have become less important as time has marched on. I'll leave it to your imagination to guess which was which.
But I think the day of The League has passed. I can only hope that you all have enjoyed peeking in on our life.
After much consideration, I've decided that this post will be the final post for League of Melbotis. We've been in business for somewhere in the neighborhood of four full years, and it's been, I can say, a fantastic ride. I've gotten to know a lot of new people, caught up with long lost pals, and kept up with a lot of folks I might have otherwise lost touch with in our years in the desert.
I think I've accomplished some of the goals I had in mind when I started this blog, and other goals have become less important as time has marched on. I'll leave it to your imagination to guess which was which.
But I think the day of The League has passed. I can only hope that you all have enjoyed peeking in on our life.
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