October 18, 2011
April 2, 2011
I got around to seeing The Green Hornet
On an entertainment scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 6.5
It wasn’t boring. It wasn’t edge on my seat riveting. I did want to watch it all the way to the end and came away with a positive impression.
Honestly, the Green Hornet isn’t a compelling character if taken seriously. Inspired by The Shadow, he’s a precursor to other more intriguing characters… such as Batman. He is mostly remembered for a brief TV series with a great contribution by Bruce Lee. That being said, taking it tongue in cheek is the only way to make it palatable to a m ore Comic Book Movie savvy public… and even then, it is limited in marketability.
Had I paid to see it in the theater, I would have been less enthusiastic as it would have been a wasted night out. It’s a good midweek renter.
December 26, 2010
Merry Christmas!
The Weekend festivities are accomplished!
Thursday was the visit to the holiday lighted Jungle Gardens. Donna and I brought our kids… toasted marshmallows and made s’mores… visited Santa.. and strolled through the brisk evening hand in hand.
Love is grand.
Friday was a quiet evening waiting for The Claus to pop out.
Saturday was kid’s heaven, followed by an afternoon and evening at Donna’s for Christmas dinner (and Mead!!!).
Today… recovery.
December 22, 2010
DADT Repealed
I am well aware of all the arguments against it…
… but tough shit.
It was the right thing for it’s time… but it was never more than a transitional step toward the US military finally figuring out what other nations already knew…that it doesn’t matter one way or the other.
Whatever rump you range or muff you dive… you follow the rules of conduct and everything will be fine.
Oh… and about the marines, who some suggest are more against this… it really depends on the way it’s presented. If people are asked to confront something that makes them uncomfortable… they will answer to what is familiar and comfortable.
However, if you get a bunch of marines in an assembly and ask them if would be willing to fight next to a soldier that is homosexual who wants to kill the Islamic scum that would cut our throats, enslave our women and bring our nation to it’s knees… then you will hear a rousing yell of affirmation that would rip the roof off.
November 2, 2010
Halloween was a stone groove, baby.
This is Donna and I at the Cock and Bull Pub in Sarasota Florida. I’m going as a Dead Hippy and she is dressed as the sexy Fire Pixie that she is. I totally love the shirt I bought for this and it has become my favorite article of clothing. As conservative as I am politically, I love me some tie dyes.
I bought this shirt from a local Head shop. I walked in and saw this groovy shirt, snatched it up and sauntered proudly to the cashier…one aged person of the long haired variety. As I freed my plastic to purchase my booty, said long hair commented that they are a “cash only” establishment… nodding sagely, I collected my minions and drove to the nearest ATM machine, which was in a corner Walgreens drug store.
After paying the small homage fee for the use of the convenient box, I collected my duckets and migrated back to the home of my soon to be adopted shirt. With a fistful of dollars, I bought the shirt… and as the long haried one was bagging my wares, I commented that it was very convenient to have an ATM a block away as the nearest bank was about a mile distant… to which the unwashed one snarled “Dude, you just paid a fee to get your own money! And you paid it to …A BANK” (said with a snarl best kept for child rapists).
I was in shock at the stupidity of what I had just heard. Here I was…enriching this dirty hippy and helping to put bread on his table and a roof over his deadhead, and he is giving me grief for paying a bank 3 dollars for providing access to my money by installing and maintaining a very expensive piece of telecommunication banking hardware in a local drugstore! That 3 dollar fee put food on the table for that technician who works on that machine which is allowing me to buy this shirt and keep this dirty hippy in business. Look around you, oh dirty hippy… see the houses and the shops and the organic foodstores… and know this… there would be none of these things without “banks!”.
… and I wouldn’t have to have done so if you ponied up a card machine in the first place!!!
Geez…
Well, anyway… I had a great Halloween… 
October 23, 2010
Mighty Isis
I honestly thought this week was going to be drek. In an earlier episode, they showed the Amulet of Isis, and I knew they were going to go ‘there’: That absolutely terrible Saturday morning show ‘The Mighty Isis’. They were going to do a show on it… and I knew they were going to have Lois wear it and become Isis. That is the exact kind of crappy idea that ruined most of the previous season’s pacing and tone. Dumb filler episodes.
However… They pulled it off and made it one of the most memorable episodes in the series.
This is a comic book show, so outlandish ideas are par for the course. The good news is they did it with seriousness and a good dose of the actual Isis mythology, which tied into the character development with each of the principles of the show.
Oliver, Tess, Clark and Lois: each one is traveling in their own story arc about managing great love with personal fulfillment and growth… and in the case of Tess (and Alexander, the child clone of Lex Luther)…redemption.
Oh, and the ending was just about as good as it gets.
This, the last season of Smallville… is damn good.
October 19, 2010
Geekly Roundup
The Fall season has started and there are a few notables in the roundup…
Smallville has finally become a show that is worth looking forward to every week, instead of dreading. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Superman fan. As such, Smallville has always been a guilty habit for me, and quite frankly… the show has sucked for the most part… always tantilizing my fanboy nature with the potential of the source material, yet 9 times out of 10 giving me crap.
But this final season appears to be all about living up to the legend.
Supernatural is also back, but I’m not really sure why. There seems to be little point in the series. Don’t get me wrong, I love the show and don’t necessarily want it to end… but they have yet to justify why a new season is warranted after last seasons powerful ending. Also, there is very little of the Winchester vibe that made the show for me. Sam and Dean are simply not themselves and are not particularly interesting.
A new show that has me hooked is HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. IMO, it is a superior bit of entertainment and should be pursued if you have the premium channels.
Boardwalk Empire is an American television series from premium cable network HBO, set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era. Starring Steve Buscemi, the show is adapted from Nelson Johnson’s book, Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer Terence Winter of The Sopranos.[1]
September 10, 2010
Starfish and Coffee
I named my daughter Cynthia Rose, as inspired by a charming Prince song off the Sign O The Times album. The song is about an autistic little girl who approached the world in her own idiosyncratic way. Princes view, and my own… is that such differences can by truly wonderful and uplifting. The song is a celebration of people who view the world in more intriguing … and even magical ways. This idea… and the song… resonates with me. And so I launched my first offspring into that world under the namesake of that inspiration.
Prince was asked about the song in 1998:
Q: There’s been a discussion going on around the ‘net about what “Starfish and Coffee” means. Can u explain that song? Is it about a mentally challenged girl?
Prince: Let’s say mentally alternative, or “gifted,” shall we?
Here are the lyrics:
It was 7:45 we were all in line
2 greet the teacher Miss Cathleen
First was Kevin, then came Lucy, third in line was me
All of us were ordinary compared to Cynthia Rose
She always stood at the back of the line
A smile beneath her nose
Her favorite number was 20 and every single day
If U asked her what she had 4 breakfast
This is what she’d say
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine
And a side order of ham
If U set your mind free, baby
Maybe you’d understand
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
Cynthia wore the prettiest dress
With different color socks
Sometimes I wondered if the mates were in her lunchbox
Me and Lucy opened it when Cynthia wasn’t around
Lucy cried, I almost died, U know what we found?
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine
And a side order of ham
If U set your mind free, honey
Maybe you’d understand
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
Starfish and coffee
Cynthia had a happy face, just like the one she’d draw
On every wall in every school
But it’s all right, it’s 4 a worthy cause
Go on, Cynthia, keep singin’
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine
And a side order of ham
If U set your mind free, baby
Maybe you’d understand
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
August 31, 2010
Knife In The Neck
I saw The Expendables. This is not a review… it is a celebration.
If you have balls, you need to see this movie. It’s not a fine piece of filmmaking by any means, but it does kick ass in ways movies have not kicked ass in a long time.
Hollywood has made “Action Stars” a laughing matter. Matt Damon… as an action star? Really? Please! I dismiss your nancy boy affectations. And whats-his-name? In the Avatar movie… and also the T4 flick… and clash of the titans…? What the hell it that guy’s name? Sorry… he’s a poser. Mickey Rourke would wipe his ass with that guy.
Say what you want, but Sly Stallone KNOWS what makes an awesome action movie. It’s isn’t CGI (this movie has none)… it isn’t over the top machines. It’s big bad ass f***ers with guns and knives carving up the bad guys with laser precision.
Oh, I’m sorry… does that offend? Knife throw in the neck!!!
Opps, does that seem too violent? Automatic Shotgun cuts you in two!!!
Yes… BAD ASS is the best description for it.
There was this scene, and my 6 year old boy walked in on it… had the big goose water plane dive bombing with machine guns blasting bad dudes on the ground…ending their existence with a fiery explosion. My son shouts out “AWESOME!!!”. He gets it, my boy.