Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Dirty Car
So my uncle gifts me over this older Chevy ... it has been sitting for a while and is fairly green at this point.
But, lo and behold! A silver car emerges after two hours of power spraying and with a little tinkering the car runs and no longer smokes, leaks, or stalls.
Now, all I have to do is detail the inside this weekend and we're good to go!
1987 all over
The thing about the huge corporate video places is that they have a ton of copies of new releases.
Back in the day when VHS tapes were expensive and video stores were newer it was sometimes a wait to get to a new release. That just doesn't ever happen any more. At least I thought.
Last week Caprica was released straight to DVD. Basically, every BSG fan needed to go to the video store to rent or buy it to see it, unless they bought a digital download online.
The local big corporate store got two copies.
Every day for a week, and more than once in a day a couple times, I went to the store and tried to get it. It took a week. It felt like 1987 all over again.
Fortunately, it was a good film and I look forward to seeing where the series that is following goes ...
Back in the day when VHS tapes were expensive and video stores were newer it was sometimes a wait to get to a new release. That just doesn't ever happen any more. At least I thought.
Last week Caprica was released straight to DVD. Basically, every BSG fan needed to go to the video store to rent or buy it to see it, unless they bought a digital download online.
The local big corporate store got two copies.
Every day for a week, and more than once in a day a couple times, I went to the store and tried to get it. It took a week. It felt like 1987 all over again.
Fortunately, it was a good film and I look forward to seeing where the series that is following goes ...
I think we have seen what teams will do now ...
Defending the Sounders is tricky ...
It has become very clear that teams in MLS simply do not want to stand and go toe to toe with the Sounders. The Sounders attack and go after the opposing goal in a way other teams in MLS simply do not match and cannot keep up with. After a half dozen games it has become clear that we have a team here in Seattle that is simply loaded and has a better roster than much of the league.
Ljungberg et al are playing like they genuinely are believing that they are the better team.
So ... it looks like we simply need to get used to teams dropping 9 or more players behind the ball and playing the counter. If Seattle scores early or first, then these teams have to stretch it out and the second goal starts to seem inevitable. The longer teams can pack the box and hold off the rave green wave then maybe they can sneak a goal on a counter like KC did.
The "expansion" team that has played 6 league matches has the rest of the league responding to it. A bar has been set that the next wave of teams will be measured by. Good luck, Philly.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Not supposed to be excited about this stuff any more ...
I am not supposed to be excited about this stuff any more ... since I am all grown up ...
But, a couple bands I really, really like had new records come out over the past few weeks ...
I do not want to feel old enough that I cannot get excited about new cool stuff ...
Friday, April 24, 2009
Red Belt
Seattle Tae Kwon Do
Thai Kickboxing Program
Red Belt
April 23, 2009
The last of the color belts ... Deputy Black Belt coming in June ...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Broken Bag Club
Now one of 3 members ... actually there might be four, but I know of three.
For the record; I got the killing blow, but it takes a village to really get these things ready to come apart like this.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Junior ...
Seattle Mariners
Detroit Tigers
Safeco Field - Seattle, WA
04-19-09
My first thought when watching Junior's first Spring Training at bat was that he has lost weight and looks good. His swing looked awesome still. Whether this would be a good baseball move or not was up in the air, but I liked it. The commentators on that Spring Training night seemed to concur. The he hit a homer on opening night. The opening few weeks have made this appear to be a solid baseball move.
I have been looking forward to this for some time. I was able to see one of the 07 Reds appearances at Safeco Field and loved seeing Junior again that day. However, to see him again in an M's uniform would be especially cool.
So, I went down to Seattle early today. Parking was easy. I walked to the International District and got a bowl of Donburi chicken. An hour and a half prior to the game I walk up to the ticket booth, one with no line mind you ... and the cheap seats are sold out. The only tix left are 20-something or more each.
I am broke. I have enough for the 8 buck ticket and a scorecard on me. Payday is a week and a half away.
So ... I trudge on up Occidental past the scalpers. I HATE these guys. They are there at every event. They all have cell phones and blue tooth headsets on and are there as a group, even if standing in different places. I mention that I was looking for a cheap seat. The guy says, "Twenty dollars." He starts to hand me a ticket as if that was all it would take. I shake my head no and put my hands in my pocket. He tries not to look surprised that I have brushed him off. There is no point going to any of the other guys since they all work together. For a few minutes I go up the road and look through the stores, hoping that I might get lucky and find someone looking to unload a ticket because they were in a group and have one too many. It strikes me as stupid to remain, so I leave.
This post does not have pics of the game or a report on how good it was to see Junior again after all ...
Detroit Tigers
Safeco Field - Seattle, WA
04-19-09
My first thought when watching Junior's first Spring Training at bat was that he has lost weight and looks good. His swing looked awesome still. Whether this would be a good baseball move or not was up in the air, but I liked it. The commentators on that Spring Training night seemed to concur. The he hit a homer on opening night. The opening few weeks have made this appear to be a solid baseball move.
I have been looking forward to this for some time. I was able to see one of the 07 Reds appearances at Safeco Field and loved seeing Junior again that day. However, to see him again in an M's uniform would be especially cool.
So, I went down to Seattle early today. Parking was easy. I walked to the International District and got a bowl of Donburi chicken. An hour and a half prior to the game I walk up to the ticket booth, one with no line mind you ... and the cheap seats are sold out. The only tix left are 20-something or more each.
I am broke. I have enough for the 8 buck ticket and a scorecard on me. Payday is a week and a half away.
So ... I trudge on up Occidental past the scalpers. I HATE these guys. They are there at every event. They all have cell phones and blue tooth headsets on and are there as a group, even if standing in different places. I mention that I was looking for a cheap seat. The guy says, "Twenty dollars." He starts to hand me a ticket as if that was all it would take. I shake my head no and put my hands in my pocket. He tries not to look surprised that I have brushed him off. There is no point going to any of the other guys since they all work together. For a few minutes I go up the road and look through the stores, hoping that I might get lucky and find someone looking to unload a ticket because they were in a group and have one too many. It strikes me as stupid to remain, so I leave.
This post does not have pics of the game or a report on how good it was to see Junior again after all ...
Saturday, April 18, 2009
This squirrel is getting cocky
The little bugger has made a break for it - twice mind you - to try and come inside recently. And now, he just sits there and taunts the cat through the window in a real, "Neaner, neaner, neaner!" sort of way. Not that Tiger doesn't deserve some of the taunting, but still ...
LSDiablo at Tony V's Garage in Everett 041709
It had been far, far, far too long since I had seen an old friend perform on stage. So, with that in mind I headed up last night to Tony V's Garage in Everett to watch his current band LSDiablo play.
Very, very cool.
I would also post the video, but my little digital camera was overwhelmed and the sound quality is probably not worth posting online, which is a bummer.
Little square patch
Yes, I wore this yesterday for those of my friends and family that deserve my support.
Pete (The Scarecrow Effect - Snippet 2)
Pete - (The Scarecrow Effect - Snippet 2)
Roger Daltrey can belt it out.
One of the tragedies of my concert going career is that I never saw The Who. I guess in some form they are still touring, but really?
Everyone asks, The Beatles or The Stones? Well, The Stones first, also The Beatles and The Who.
While The Beatles split The Stones and The Who cranked out some of their best work. It was as if they were compensating for some universal loss.
Take Who's Next for example. The cover alone is Punk Rock. Baba O'Riley? The "Teenage wasteland!!" lyric? The way Pete comes in with his oddly compelling, "Don't cry ..." despite being somewhat off? It totally works. in fact, Pete Townshend really isn't much of a singer in the classic sense but has provided vocals on numerous Who songs and some really good solo work. Rough Boys? Punk. Pete Townshend was Punk. Noe one ever seems to call him that, but it is true. And, I mean that as a compliment.
I ran this argument past a friend, a guy who LIKES to argue, even if just as a devil's advocate. after a brief rundown of my points I just made he conceded my point, not necessarily as gospel truth, but as at least a valid starting point for a discussion.
The only time, ever, in any discussion with him, ever, that I get him to concede a point and it is on Pete Townshend as being a Punk Rocker and Who's Next as a "Harbinger of Punk Rock to Come".
When I first saw The Stones I thought that they were really, really #*(%ing old, but a whole new level of cool because of it. I mean, Mick (I cannot call him Sir Mick with a straight face) was ALMOST FORTY at the time. Now, I am OVER FORTY and providing vocals for a punk band that plays six originals and throws out random covers that seem to change every time they are played.
In reality, the point I was only trying to make though, and ended up on a wild tangent on rock music history of the 70s instead, was that there is a difference between being a singer and providing vocals and Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend were my points of order. A vocalist can be really effective like Pete, but he is not the singer Roger is.
I digress into tangents too often and too easily. This will make it hard on my family when I am older.
I am not a singer.
I am providing vocals for The Scarecrow Effect.
For years, I have collected lyric sheets of songs I wish I was able to sing. The stack is huge and includes a wide variety of styles.
Roger Daltrey can belt it out.
One of the tragedies of my concert going career is that I never saw The Who. I guess in some form they are still touring, but really?
Everyone asks, The Beatles or The Stones? Well, The Stones first, also The Beatles and The Who.
While The Beatles split The Stones and The Who cranked out some of their best work. It was as if they were compensating for some universal loss.
Take Who's Next for example. The cover alone is Punk Rock. Baba O'Riley? The "Teenage wasteland!!" lyric? The way Pete comes in with his oddly compelling, "Don't cry ..." despite being somewhat off? It totally works. in fact, Pete Townshend really isn't much of a singer in the classic sense but has provided vocals on numerous Who songs and some really good solo work. Rough Boys? Punk. Pete Townshend was Punk. Noe one ever seems to call him that, but it is true. And, I mean that as a compliment.
I ran this argument past a friend, a guy who LIKES to argue, even if just as a devil's advocate. after a brief rundown of my points I just made he conceded my point, not necessarily as gospel truth, but as at least a valid starting point for a discussion.
The only time, ever, in any discussion with him, ever, that I get him to concede a point and it is on Pete Townshend as being a Punk Rocker and Who's Next as a "Harbinger of Punk Rock to Come".
When I first saw The Stones I thought that they were really, really #*(%ing old, but a whole new level of cool because of it. I mean, Mick (I cannot call him Sir Mick with a straight face) was ALMOST FORTY at the time. Now, I am OVER FORTY and providing vocals for a punk band that plays six originals and throws out random covers that seem to change every time they are played.
In reality, the point I was only trying to make though, and ended up on a wild tangent on rock music history of the 70s instead, was that there is a difference between being a singer and providing vocals and Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend were my points of order. A vocalist can be really effective like Pete, but he is not the singer Roger is.
I digress into tangents too often and too easily. This will make it hard on my family when I am older.
I am not a singer.
I am providing vocals for The Scarecrow Effect.
For years, I have collected lyric sheets of songs I wish I was able to sing. The stack is huge and includes a wide variety of styles.
Friday, April 17, 2009
The answer to THE question of 1992 is ... (The Scarecrow Effect - Snippet 1)
The following is something I wrote that got incorporated into the first part of The Scarecrow Effect; at least at this point as a work in progress. In fact, it was one of the first things I wrote that led me to realize that I could take some of these recent writing snippets and turn them into something.
Double Briefs
In answer to the question that signaled that the dumbing down of America had truly infiltrated our political discourse ...
Briefs.
No.
Double briefs.
Allow me to explain.
It was an absolute WTF? moment.
I staggered out of the shower, dropped my towel - it is safer to drop your towel away from an open window (but that is a story for another day) - and pulled out a pair of briefs and started getting dressed. Noticing my towel next to me and deciding my hair was still too wet, I picked back up the towel and scrubbed my head dry. Sometimes having really short hair is handy that way. At least, I must have done that. See, I was so groggy that is sort of what i remember doing. Not much of it comes through the fog of that morning.
You know how sometimes a drunken binge is remembered better years later? I hope to have a moment of lucidity about this in the future to try and sort it out.
Before I knew it I had a tee shirt over my and and one sock on when something seemed off. Something didn't fit.
The shirt wasn't inside out and I double checked that.
I only had one sock on, but that was hardly a problem.
I patted my hips.
That was it.
There was too much padding there and I am not overweight.
Somehow, in that thirty-some-seconds-ish period I had managed to not notice that I had put on a second pair of briefs.
How #*(%ing groggy and out of it was I?
It snapped me awake.
I actually looked around to see if anyone noticed, yet I live alone at this point and the drapes were closed. I double checked.
That feeling you get when you are tired but stunned? That tingly nauseous one that lingers through a day? Sort of like that.
The problem was solved quickly, pants were put on and the entire day was marred by the incident.
I staggered through that morning. Not being a morning person to begin with, this was compounding a recurrent theme.
There had been no tequila the night before.
The story sort of kicks in from there and discusses the path the main character is taking. Any snippets I put on this blog about the book will be incomplete like this.
Double Briefs
In answer to the question that signaled that the dumbing down of America had truly infiltrated our political discourse ...
Briefs.
No.
Double briefs.
Allow me to explain.
It was an absolute WTF? moment.
I staggered out of the shower, dropped my towel - it is safer to drop your towel away from an open window (but that is a story for another day) - and pulled out a pair of briefs and started getting dressed. Noticing my towel next to me and deciding my hair was still too wet, I picked back up the towel and scrubbed my head dry. Sometimes having really short hair is handy that way. At least, I must have done that. See, I was so groggy that is sort of what i remember doing. Not much of it comes through the fog of that morning.
You know how sometimes a drunken binge is remembered better years later? I hope to have a moment of lucidity about this in the future to try and sort it out.
Before I knew it I had a tee shirt over my and and one sock on when something seemed off. Something didn't fit.
The shirt wasn't inside out and I double checked that.
I only had one sock on, but that was hardly a problem.
I patted my hips.
That was it.
There was too much padding there and I am not overweight.
Somehow, in that thirty-some-seconds-ish period I had managed to not notice that I had put on a second pair of briefs.
How #*(%ing groggy and out of it was I?
It snapped me awake.
I actually looked around to see if anyone noticed, yet I live alone at this point and the drapes were closed. I double checked.
That feeling you get when you are tired but stunned? That tingly nauseous one that lingers through a day? Sort of like that.
The problem was solved quickly, pants were put on and the entire day was marred by the incident.
I staggered through that morning. Not being a morning person to begin with, this was compounding a recurrent theme.
There had been no tequila the night before.
The story sort of kicks in from there and discusses the path the main character is taking. Any snippets I put on this blog about the book will be incomplete like this.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
5 years ...
5 years ago today I took my first Tae Kwon Do class.
So much has happened since then, in life and in martial arts.
Which is worse?
When a performer you loathe does a song you like or a performer you like does a song you loathe?
I had this conversation recently with my son while loading some materials onto his Zune. I mentioned that I liked this one song and that it made me angry since I loathed the performer, and he found that kind of odd.
I mentioned that it happened from time to time and gave him a few examples.
However, then there is the performer you like that does something that you totally loathe.
For instance, this Winter while working an office job we had the radio on and a song came on a couple times over a couple days and I could not stand it. I finally got up the third time it came on and simply changed the station. My co-worker was not upset, but curious as to why I suddenly got up. I hated that song. It is one of the worst songs I have ever heard. It is inane and stupid and needs to be banned from the radio.
Generally I can tune out stuff I merely dislike. I can let the kids have their turn with the radio and let the music simply become white noise. If co-workers have music that I don't like I can usually let it go.
Not this song. We all have our limits.
And last week in kickboxing it came on during our warm up and I wanted to go over and change the music, but new better.
For the record, the song is Human, by The Killers.
I had this conversation recently with my son while loading some materials onto his Zune. I mentioned that I liked this one song and that it made me angry since I loathed the performer, and he found that kind of odd.
I mentioned that it happened from time to time and gave him a few examples.
However, then there is the performer you like that does something that you totally loathe.
For instance, this Winter while working an office job we had the radio on and a song came on a couple times over a couple days and I could not stand it. I finally got up the third time it came on and simply changed the station. My co-worker was not upset, but curious as to why I suddenly got up. I hated that song. It is one of the worst songs I have ever heard. It is inane and stupid and needs to be banned from the radio.
Generally I can tune out stuff I merely dislike. I can let the kids have their turn with the radio and let the music simply become white noise. If co-workers have music that I don't like I can usually let it go.
Not this song. We all have our limits.
And last week in kickboxing it came on during our warm up and I wanted to go over and change the music, but new better.
For the record, the song is Human, by The Killers.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
It's like I was at the Boston Tea Party ...
... okay not really.
But, for the first time EVER I have waited until April 15th to file my taxes.
Also, for the first time EVER I have to pay.
See, even though I make $#!+ money as a substitute teacher, some of my employers consider me to be a contract worker and so I have to pay "self employment tax" on top of regular income tax. And, since the kids don't live with me; even though I pay a quarter of my income in child support and have to rent a bigger apartment for when they are with me I don't get to claim them or get any of the tax benefits. Plus, being single and not married I am taxed at a higher rate.
Not only is this the first year I have waited until April 15th, but it is just about the 2nd or 3rd time I haven't had the taxes in the mail the first week of April. Typically I laugh at all the late filers scrambling to get their taxes done when I already have my refund weeks earlier.
They don't pay interest on tax funds they hold all year, they can wait til the last minute to get mine.
But, for the first time EVER I have waited until April 15th to file my taxes.
Also, for the first time EVER I have to pay.
See, even though I make $#!+ money as a substitute teacher, some of my employers consider me to be a contract worker and so I have to pay "self employment tax" on top of regular income tax. And, since the kids don't live with me; even though I pay a quarter of my income in child support and have to rent a bigger apartment for when they are with me I don't get to claim them or get any of the tax benefits. Plus, being single and not married I am taxed at a higher rate.
Not only is this the first year I have waited until April 15th, but it is just about the 2nd or 3rd time I haven't had the taxes in the mail the first week of April. Typically I laugh at all the late filers scrambling to get their taxes done when I already have my refund weeks earlier.
They don't pay interest on tax funds they hold all year, they can wait til the last minute to get mine.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Library manners ...
Okay ... some talking in the library is okay.
I talk to my kids about their "library voices".
There are signs informing people that cell phone use is not allowed. The one by my computer terminal today at the Shoreline library had a picture of a phone with a red circle and line so it is not necessary to be able to read to know this.
And yet ... there was a guy on the phone getting talked through a web search.
Now, let me tell you what I mean about "getting talked through" here.
For over half an hour, he was loud enough that I could hear him over my headphones with the volume cranked, even though he was around the corner on the other side of an aisle facing a wall. My hearing sucks too.
Other people were glaring his direction. More and more people put on headphones.
A guy shelving books - aka a library employee - was between him and me and did nothing to quiet him. I saw a couple people get up and leave.
As I left to go back to work there was a kid screaming near the door and some other guy being really loud near the magazines. This was the loudest library I have ever walked through.
Library manners anyone?
I talk to my kids about their "library voices".
There are signs informing people that cell phone use is not allowed. The one by my computer terminal today at the Shoreline library had a picture of a phone with a red circle and line so it is not necessary to be able to read to know this.
And yet ... there was a guy on the phone getting talked through a web search.
Now, let me tell you what I mean about "getting talked through" here.
For over half an hour, he was loud enough that I could hear him over my headphones with the volume cranked, even though he was around the corner on the other side of an aisle facing a wall. My hearing sucks too.
Other people were glaring his direction. More and more people put on headphones.
A guy shelving books - aka a library employee - was between him and me and did nothing to quiet him. I saw a couple people get up and leave.
As I left to go back to work there was a kid screaming near the door and some other guy being really loud near the magazines. This was the loudest library I have ever walked through.
Library manners anyone?
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Off to see the Wizards ...
Seattle Sounders FC 0
Kansas City Wizards 1
XBOX Pitch at Qwest Field
Seattle, WA
April 11, 2009 7:30PM
After this game I am down to a handful of MLS clubs that I have not seen at least once in person. The list is down to Toronto, Houston, New England, Chicago, and Columbus. I have tix to see Houston and New England, so if I manage to get a few more games in I should be down to only a couple teams to see next season along with the future expansion teams. My MLS list will never be perfect though, since I never saw the two contracted Florida teams from Tampa Bay and Miami ... so be it.
However ... to lose to a carpy team like the Wizards that played a negative and defensive game while up a player was awful. It is especially awful when the red card was not necessary. KC was clearly not willing to go toe to toe and your veteran captain and keeper overreacts to a through ball in the first half of a game you are likely to win and now you don't have him for the game against the other top team in your division next weekend?
And for the record according to the Seagals website .... that is Tina and Trina with my flag. I cannot make that up.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Star Trek Fan Films
Less than a year ago I went to see an episode of a "Star Trek Fan Film" (Star Trek Phase II's World Enough And Time) at EMP in Seattle. I must admit I did not know what to make of it going in and was totally shocked by how much I liked it. Of course, I immediately went online and found the other episodes from that group and watched them.
I looked online and realized that there are a lot of low quality parodies and some really solid production value projects. I am really not into watching parodies beyond a few skits and the like, so I turned to the more serious productions only.
So, over the past year I have watched Borg War and Of Gods and Men, and the various episodes of Phase II, Intrepid, and Hidden Frontier, amongst others like Farragut, Exeter, and Stone Trek.
There are a few times where it is clear the intent outmatches the finished project in regards to acting talent, scripting, directing, and effects. So be it. These projects are fun and in some instances of truly professional quality. The amount of work that goes into these productions deserves a certain amount of ... tolerance. For the most part, these are actually really good.
Star Trek alums have pitched in on and off camera in many of these productions and add a respectability to them that is very cool. There are those that comment how these actors are desperate and pathetic for stooping to the fan film level. I beg to disagree. These are homages or tributes and are opportunities for these actors to interact with their audience.
I have no respect for anonymous types that post about how stupid these people are for trying or that some sort of green glow on the screen offends them. Create and do something yourself.
Almost a year has passed now and I have watched an awful lot of this stuff. I now actually look forward to new episodes of these productions. A year ago I was skeptical, now I am a fan and caught up ... and looking forward the next adventure on The Helena and others ...
I looked online and realized that there are a lot of low quality parodies and some really solid production value projects. I am really not into watching parodies beyond a few skits and the like, so I turned to the more serious productions only.
So, over the past year I have watched Borg War and Of Gods and Men, and the various episodes of Phase II, Intrepid, and Hidden Frontier, amongst others like Farragut, Exeter, and Stone Trek.
There are a few times where it is clear the intent outmatches the finished project in regards to acting talent, scripting, directing, and effects. So be it. These projects are fun and in some instances of truly professional quality. The amount of work that goes into these productions deserves a certain amount of ... tolerance. For the most part, these are actually really good.
Star Trek alums have pitched in on and off camera in many of these productions and add a respectability to them that is very cool. There are those that comment how these actors are desperate and pathetic for stooping to the fan film level. I beg to disagree. These are homages or tributes and are opportunities for these actors to interact with their audience.
I have no respect for anonymous types that post about how stupid these people are for trying or that some sort of green glow on the screen offends them. Create and do something yourself.
Almost a year has passed now and I have watched an awful lot of this stuff. I now actually look forward to new episodes of these productions. A year ago I was skeptical, now I am a fan and caught up ... and looking forward the next adventure on The Helena and others ...
A few foreign films from the library.
Solaris, Offside, The Lives of Others, Aberdeen, and Walkabout
Recently I have mostly been watching TV series' on DVD from the library that I missed over the years like Firefly and Dark Angel, so I haven't kept up with my usual movie watching. I realized that the handful of films I have watched lately have all been foreign films of some note and were all quite good in defferent ways.
Offside is an example of how less is so often more. The film was basically the director bringing in real people and giving them a scenario and then filing it in one day. In Iran. There is an honesty to this film that is very, very special, even if obvious. I cannot rave enough about this film. Soccer in Asia is huge. The stadium in Tehran is one of the world's largest and they managed to film a feature while a World Cup Qualifier was actually being played in the stadium. A remarkable work.
The Lives of Others is interesting in that our main characters basically don't spend the movie in each others presence, yet are totally connected by circumstance. I joke about how driving through Lynnwood is like being in East Germany and sort of mean it. The criticism of this film is that it turns our villain into a hero and that no one could be as naive as our hero, but I disagree. Our villain makes a simple error that pulls him down a path that requires him to help our main character in order to save himself as much as the hero. Our hero is naive to the point of exasperation because he believes his friendships make him bullet proof. Long story short is that the motives of these characters are never clearly black and white. It is a subtle and slow film that really kept me rapt because I was uncertain where it was going.
Aberdeen is a film with the estranged parent and independent grown up child motif that has been beaten to death in films. Very good films like Big Fish have explored this territory. What saves this otherwise pedestrian film are the performances. Anything with Stellan Skarsgard is worth watching in general, and his performance in this film is yet another example. Where many actors would make his drunken behavior likable, Skarsgard does not bother and it really pushed my interest in the film. I had overheard a few teachers talking about this one and got it from the library and it was worth the time.
Solaris is a movie I do not entirely understand or understand exactly why I liked it. I could just call it a Soviet attempt at 2001, but that would not do it justice. It is an extremely long and subtle film. After watching I took the time to read up on it in order to get some of the plot points and that has helped me understand what exactly happened, but the real issue for me was why I liked it. I still don't know why. I just know that I am not going to bother with the remake and let it be that I must have been touched on some level by it. There is no need to always understand why I like something.
Walkabout came on rec from my friend Jorge. After a brief snafu at the library I finally get to see it tonight. Oh, and when I looked it up online it turns out that it is not about a group of teenage church group kids lost in California. That is another film by the same name and I am glad I did more digging or I would have wondered why the #*(% Jorge would have recommended that to me.
Recently I have mostly been watching TV series' on DVD from the library that I missed over the years like Firefly and Dark Angel, so I haven't kept up with my usual movie watching. I realized that the handful of films I have watched lately have all been foreign films of some note and were all quite good in defferent ways.
Offside is an example of how less is so often more. The film was basically the director bringing in real people and giving them a scenario and then filing it in one day. In Iran. There is an honesty to this film that is very, very special, even if obvious. I cannot rave enough about this film. Soccer in Asia is huge. The stadium in Tehran is one of the world's largest and they managed to film a feature while a World Cup Qualifier was actually being played in the stadium. A remarkable work.
The Lives of Others is interesting in that our main characters basically don't spend the movie in each others presence, yet are totally connected by circumstance. I joke about how driving through Lynnwood is like being in East Germany and sort of mean it. The criticism of this film is that it turns our villain into a hero and that no one could be as naive as our hero, but I disagree. Our villain makes a simple error that pulls him down a path that requires him to help our main character in order to save himself as much as the hero. Our hero is naive to the point of exasperation because he believes his friendships make him bullet proof. Long story short is that the motives of these characters are never clearly black and white. It is a subtle and slow film that really kept me rapt because I was uncertain where it was going.
Aberdeen is a film with the estranged parent and independent grown up child motif that has been beaten to death in films. Very good films like Big Fish have explored this territory. What saves this otherwise pedestrian film are the performances. Anything with Stellan Skarsgard is worth watching in general, and his performance in this film is yet another example. Where many actors would make his drunken behavior likable, Skarsgard does not bother and it really pushed my interest in the film. I had overheard a few teachers talking about this one and got it from the library and it was worth the time.
Solaris is a movie I do not entirely understand or understand exactly why I liked it. I could just call it a Soviet attempt at 2001, but that would not do it justice. It is an extremely long and subtle film. After watching I took the time to read up on it in order to get some of the plot points and that has helped me understand what exactly happened, but the real issue for me was why I liked it. I still don't know why. I just know that I am not going to bother with the remake and let it be that I must have been touched on some level by it. There is no need to always understand why I like something.
Walkabout came on rec from my friend Jorge. After a brief snafu at the library I finally get to see it tonight. Oh, and when I looked it up online it turns out that it is not about a group of teenage church group kids lost in California. That is another film by the same name and I am glad I did more digging or I would have wondered why the #*(% Jorge would have recommended that to me.
Various Subbing Anectodes
... from the nearly concluded current school year. (Names and circumstances altered to protect and deflect the privacy concerns that might otherwise come forth ...)
Students had to do an "Earliest Memory" assignment.
I told the students of the following ...
I can remember the actual 2nd birthday when I got my dog Raffles. I remember looking out the door of my aunts house.
I can also remember some table scenes growing up that my parents confirm, that I really would go around to everyone and eat their leftovers or sometimes just steal whet they were eating. And, I can remember getting out of bed and dealing with a door gate to my room and ending up with the frig open trying to get to food in the middle of the night.
These memories were not prompted. I asked my parents to confirm them.
***********************
Kindergarten class. This boy would not stop kissing this girl and she just looked exasperated, but informed me that he cannot resist her with a disgusted expression.
A kid was carrying around a Mountain Dew bottle one day, which in and of itself was hardly a big deal ... it was a 2 liter bottle though ...
I still get this question virtually every day, even when wearing a tag that says that I am a sub, "are you subbing today?"
Angry 7th grade girl on the way out to class to a boy, "I will pay someone to pee in your lunch."
A 4th grader was reading a book about MLK and told me the following, "It evens tells you everything that they did on their wedding night."
Sign outside a door, "If you say you can't do something what you are really saying is that you don't know how to use Google".
Students ask, "Do you have change for a $20?" I try not to laugh but some of these kids have more money than me.
During a tag game I actually had to institute a specif "no noogies rule" since I had told them no poking, etc ... and had not spelled it out. Apparently, knocking someone on the head is not obvious enough to be not allowed.
The Bobby Rule - Some students were working on creative writing and apparently because one of them had "has a really big imagination" there was a rule about bodily functions.
I was starting an in class group reading and picking up name cards to choose who would go first. "Do I read the first part?" the student asked. "Yes, since yours was the first name called."
With great power. It is funny how just walking around the room or the library suddenly shuts down the volume of a group. They are chatting and glancing, so I get up and walk over and it gets silent. It is an awesome power. It works to sit in a different spot in the room too.
A female teacher tells me she is tired because, "he always wants to stay up and TALK." She said it like a guy about a girl. Then, "I'm the guy in our relationship," followed when I had not yet said anything in response.
There was a Spanish assn to learn to ask certain questions, like asking for a phone number. I tell the kids to write it out as a full conversation. "What if a girl says no?" a student asks. I tell him to pretend and play out the scene. Disgusted, he mutters, "It happened yesterday." I had nothing for him.
I wear this really nice old leather jacket that gets a lot of comments. One middle school aged boy stood up and yelled, "Wild Hogs!" when I put it on. I have not worn it as much lately.
A girl walked in and asked what smelled like pickles. At first I was afraid I had been gassy, but it turns out it usually smelled like that.
"We're going to try and get strippers for prom."
"When I was in 4th grade I had to have a parent conference because I was farting all the time." - Apparently a teacher had a really strict bathroom policy but was paranoid about a kick doing number 2 in the class so every time a kid would fart he would send him to the bathroom so this kid farted all the time to get out of class.
"You are the f'ing worst speller I have ever seen. It is like every other word."
"He'll watch the tape." There was a camera in class mounted on the wall. For real.
I gave Pre-K kids an important discussion about staying on their feet to avoid being a speed bump in the gym, a boy raised his hand, "My mother has allergies," he said. Non Sequiturs like that happen all the time. Also, a fifth grader during a nutrition guest speaker raised her hand and started describing her favorite Subway sub. Every time the guest speaker tried to shy away the girl would add another comment, "Then I have them put on tomatoes," and she just kept going, "because I like mustard." It would not end.
My right front tire. It wobbled. It was scraping. I thought it was my brakes again. I went to check and was missing a lug nut and the other 4 were loose. I could have been killed or killed others. I tightened them. Was this sabotage? I do not want to be paranoid, but given my livelihood it is plausible and possible that someone did this to me. I know teachers that have had car damages. The plausibility is scary.
At various schools we have some dramatic kids, and you get to sense their patterns if you are there enough. I've had kids that would melt down more than once a day. You kind of stop responding if nothing is on fire. Therefore, to these kids I am the Devil. Well, I went in to give a sample lesson at a school recently and there was one of those drama queens, with my professional life in her hands. Imagine having to kiss up to a kid like that. That was my day.
I had an afternoon where my class merged with the class next door for a video. We got them in and mostly settled in and the teacher looks at me and says, "Do you have the video?"
I love little kids. You can be talking about just about anything and you get a hand raised. He's patient. You finally call on him and he says, "My mom has allergies."
Or you go to a parent night and you can see which parents are the enablers ... and from there you can tell which teachers are paying attention to try and make sure that they know the name of the parent so they can try and keep from getting that kid to deal with them.
Students had to do an "Earliest Memory" assignment.
I told the students of the following ...
I can remember the actual 2nd birthday when I got my dog Raffles. I remember looking out the door of my aunts house.
I can also remember some table scenes growing up that my parents confirm, that I really would go around to everyone and eat their leftovers or sometimes just steal whet they were eating. And, I can remember getting out of bed and dealing with a door gate to my room and ending up with the frig open trying to get to food in the middle of the night.
These memories were not prompted. I asked my parents to confirm them.
***********************
Kindergarten class. This boy would not stop kissing this girl and she just looked exasperated, but informed me that he cannot resist her with a disgusted expression.
A kid was carrying around a Mountain Dew bottle one day, which in and of itself was hardly a big deal ... it was a 2 liter bottle though ...
I still get this question virtually every day, even when wearing a tag that says that I am a sub, "are you subbing today?"
Angry 7th grade girl on the way out to class to a boy, "I will pay someone to pee in your lunch."
A 4th grader was reading a book about MLK and told me the following, "It evens tells you everything that they did on their wedding night."
Sign outside a door, "If you say you can't do something what you are really saying is that you don't know how to use Google".
Students ask, "Do you have change for a $20?" I try not to laugh but some of these kids have more money than me.
During a tag game I actually had to institute a specif "no noogies rule" since I had told them no poking, etc ... and had not spelled it out. Apparently, knocking someone on the head is not obvious enough to be not allowed.
The Bobby Rule - Some students were working on creative writing and apparently because one of them had "has a really big imagination" there was a rule about bodily functions.
I was starting an in class group reading and picking up name cards to choose who would go first. "Do I read the first part?" the student asked. "Yes, since yours was the first name called."
With great power. It is funny how just walking around the room or the library suddenly shuts down the volume of a group. They are chatting and glancing, so I get up and walk over and it gets silent. It is an awesome power. It works to sit in a different spot in the room too.
A female teacher tells me she is tired because, "he always wants to stay up and TALK." She said it like a guy about a girl. Then, "I'm the guy in our relationship," followed when I had not yet said anything in response.
There was a Spanish assn to learn to ask certain questions, like asking for a phone number. I tell the kids to write it out as a full conversation. "What if a girl says no?" a student asks. I tell him to pretend and play out the scene. Disgusted, he mutters, "It happened yesterday." I had nothing for him.
I wear this really nice old leather jacket that gets a lot of comments. One middle school aged boy stood up and yelled, "Wild Hogs!" when I put it on. I have not worn it as much lately.
A girl walked in and asked what smelled like pickles. At first I was afraid I had been gassy, but it turns out it usually smelled like that.
"We're going to try and get strippers for prom."
"When I was in 4th grade I had to have a parent conference because I was farting all the time." - Apparently a teacher had a really strict bathroom policy but was paranoid about a kick doing number 2 in the class so every time a kid would fart he would send him to the bathroom so this kid farted all the time to get out of class.
"You are the f'ing worst speller I have ever seen. It is like every other word."
"He'll watch the tape." There was a camera in class mounted on the wall. For real.
I gave Pre-K kids an important discussion about staying on their feet to avoid being a speed bump in the gym, a boy raised his hand, "My mother has allergies," he said. Non Sequiturs like that happen all the time. Also, a fifth grader during a nutrition guest speaker raised her hand and started describing her favorite Subway sub. Every time the guest speaker tried to shy away the girl would add another comment, "Then I have them put on tomatoes," and she just kept going, "because I like mustard." It would not end.
My right front tire. It wobbled. It was scraping. I thought it was my brakes again. I went to check and was missing a lug nut and the other 4 were loose. I could have been killed or killed others. I tightened them. Was this sabotage? I do not want to be paranoid, but given my livelihood it is plausible and possible that someone did this to me. I know teachers that have had car damages. The plausibility is scary.
At various schools we have some dramatic kids, and you get to sense their patterns if you are there enough. I've had kids that would melt down more than once a day. You kind of stop responding if nothing is on fire. Therefore, to these kids I am the Devil. Well, I went in to give a sample lesson at a school recently and there was one of those drama queens, with my professional life in her hands. Imagine having to kiss up to a kid like that. That was my day.
I had an afternoon where my class merged with the class next door for a video. We got them in and mostly settled in and the teacher looks at me and says, "Do you have the video?"
I love little kids. You can be talking about just about anything and you get a hand raised. He's patient. You finally call on him and he says, "My mom has allergies."
Or you go to a parent night and you can see which parents are the enablers ... and from there you can tell which teachers are paying attention to try and make sure that they know the name of the parent so they can try and keep from getting that kid to deal with them.
To clarify for my friends
I often make comments and jokes about how I do not want to get married again.
The perception is that I am somehow anti-marriage or do not respect it. This is not so.
In fact, the main reason why I do not see me ever getting married again is because I do have respect for marriage. See, I think that when married, life alters. Your relationships with friends and family alter. The changes one must make in order to make a marriage work are pretty big and require compromises in order to really be committed to that one person and make the two people one entity. At one time it was me, but that situation did not work out and I am way past it now. The various reasons for getting married again simply do not add up for me. For instance, I won't be having more kids. Over the past 4+ years I have dated and had some false starts and made some mistakes and tried to have relationships. Right now I am single and comfortable with it. Getting married again does not make sense to me based upon how I know myself and where I see my life going.
I wish my married and to be married friends the best of luck and feel badly for them when things do not work out. Divorce is hard.
Just because people are talking it does not mean a real conversation is taking place. I make light of the situation in order to mostly steer away from the subject; sort of like how I try not to talk about other subjects where people simply need to agree to disagree.
The perception is that I am somehow anti-marriage or do not respect it. This is not so.
In fact, the main reason why I do not see me ever getting married again is because I do have respect for marriage. See, I think that when married, life alters. Your relationships with friends and family alter. The changes one must make in order to make a marriage work are pretty big and require compromises in order to really be committed to that one person and make the two people one entity. At one time it was me, but that situation did not work out and I am way past it now. The various reasons for getting married again simply do not add up for me. For instance, I won't be having more kids. Over the past 4+ years I have dated and had some false starts and made some mistakes and tried to have relationships. Right now I am single and comfortable with it. Getting married again does not make sense to me based upon how I know myself and where I see my life going.
I wish my married and to be married friends the best of luck and feel badly for them when things do not work out. Divorce is hard.
Just because people are talking it does not mean a real conversation is taking place. I make light of the situation in order to mostly steer away from the subject; sort of like how I try not to talk about other subjects where people simply need to agree to disagree.
Monday, April 06, 2009
The Scarecrow Effect
This is one of the many reasons Shotgun Prose will be updated less and less in the future.
My newest novel is titled The Scarecrow Effect and needs my attention.
Yes, I still pretty much write out everything long hand. Eventually I get to the point of typing it up somewhere (Although I still have not done that for Searching For Mojo and I finished that one circa Winter 95-96). The long hand is just a comfort thing. I cannot get into composing at the keyboard (which is another strike against the blog at this point). A teacher friend was in shocked disbelief the other day and did not even want to look at the handwritten page since it is so easy to "curl up with a lap top".
Basically, this is my story about a middle aged guy who starts a band and things go well for that band ... which messes everything else in his life up for him.
More soon.
10 Random Things I am Liking Right Now ...
1 - Bear Claw Honey Butt Spice (TM) - I am putting this stuff on everything.
2 - "Spellbound" by Lacuna Coil - Full album out later this month.
3 - Seattle Sounders FC games and rave green stuff - People are asking me about my tickets. This is very cool. I have had to get over my aversion to the rave green color and even have the rave green jersey and not the blue one. See my older post about "Mary Lou Green" as a reference.
4 - The Taqwacores by Michael M Knight
5 - Dollhouse
6 - Pulled Pork - including sandwiches from Smokin' BJ's BBQ on 99
7 - Not having broken anything in 2009 yet ... (my knee being soreand maybe sprained does not count)
8 - KIRO weather - (include news blackout comment with Rebecca Stevenson) I am trying not to watch the news, not because I don't want to know or think it is important, but because it keeps getting less and less like news - its commercial and dumbed down and cable news not much better. I like more and more that I do not have cable and am not sick of something called the "octopus mom" or whatever other people claim they are sick of. I don't watch enough to get sick of it. It's awesome really. But, I will watch KIRO weather. The dueling weather blonds on the various local channels is pretty funny given that it is 2009 and Seattle is supposed to be so "progressive" and all, but Rebecca Stevenson is worth watching. When she talks about the "convergence zone" the arrow basically goes right over where my apartment is on the map.
9 - board games - chess, scrabble night, etc ... I especially like the Scrabble trash talk emails between me and my friends. Yes, Scrabble trash talk emails. You read that correctly.
10 - Henry's Donut cinnaman twist (note Donut without an S, not Donuts) - This is a place on the way to some of the schools I work at. I have stopped there enough that the guy does not even really ask
11 - Picnic Point Park in the rain
12 - Hulu - I finally saw the final episodes of The Tick.
2 - "Spellbound" by Lacuna Coil - Full album out later this month.
3 - Seattle Sounders FC games and rave green stuff - People are asking me about my tickets. This is very cool. I have had to get over my aversion to the rave green color and even have the rave green jersey and not the blue one. See my older post about "Mary Lou Green" as a reference.
4 - The Taqwacores by Michael M Knight
5 - Dollhouse
6 - Pulled Pork - including sandwiches from Smokin' BJ's BBQ on 99
7 - Not having broken anything in 2009 yet ... (my knee being soreand maybe sprained does not count)
8 - KIRO weather - (include news blackout comment with Rebecca Stevenson) I am trying not to watch the news, not because I don't want to know or think it is important, but because it keeps getting less and less like news - its commercial and dumbed down and cable news not much better. I like more and more that I do not have cable and am not sick of something called the "octopus mom" or whatever other people claim they are sick of. I don't watch enough to get sick of it. It's awesome really. But, I will watch KIRO weather. The dueling weather blonds on the various local channels is pretty funny given that it is 2009 and Seattle is supposed to be so "progressive" and all, but Rebecca Stevenson is worth watching. When she talks about the "convergence zone" the arrow basically goes right over where my apartment is on the map.
9 - board games - chess, scrabble night, etc ... I especially like the Scrabble trash talk emails between me and my friends. Yes, Scrabble trash talk emails. You read that correctly.
10 - Henry's Donut cinnaman twist (note Donut without an S, not Donuts) - This is a place on the way to some of the schools I work at. I have stopped there enough that the guy does not even really ask
11 - Picnic Point Park in the rain
12 - Hulu - I finally saw the final episodes of The Tick.
The flying car
You know those old car games like Slug Bug? Popeye? Out of state license plate? Or, find a color? Well, my kids - mostly my daughter because my son will point out random things like a dump truck just to be sarcastic - are into those games.
Our current variation? We took Slug Bug and and made it a counting game since the kids are in different seats and the slugging part would escalate to bloodshed. But, just looking for Bugs is boring. We added Pt Cruisers, not Chevy ones just the PT ones mind you, and Mini Coopers (Are they Mini Coopers or Cooper Minis?), along with Popeyes ... in and of itself it is not that exciting for a blog post.
However, now I find myself finding these cars everywhere. I had NO IDEA there were so many of those PTs and Coopers around. I am keeping count to myself when the kids are not even in the car. The other night I pointed one out on TV.
To make matters worse ... I saw one floating in the air recently while I was driving. Yes, flying. A PT Cruiser was flying in the lane in front of me on I5. Turns out there was actually one of those semis with the new car racks transporting vehicles to a dealership in the lane next to me that night.
For a moment I thought there really was a flying car next to me. I hate to think what could have happened from how distracted that made me at 60 miles per hour ...
Our current variation? We took Slug Bug and and made it a counting game since the kids are in different seats and the slugging part would escalate to bloodshed. But, just looking for Bugs is boring. We added Pt Cruisers, not Chevy ones just the PT ones mind you, and Mini Coopers (Are they Mini Coopers or Cooper Minis?), along with Popeyes ... in and of itself it is not that exciting for a blog post.
However, now I find myself finding these cars everywhere. I had NO IDEA there were so many of those PTs and Coopers around. I am keeping count to myself when the kids are not even in the car. The other night I pointed one out on TV.
To make matters worse ... I saw one floating in the air recently while I was driving. Yes, flying. A PT Cruiser was flying in the lane in front of me on I5. Turns out there was actually one of those semis with the new car racks transporting vehicles to a dealership in the lane next to me that night.
For a moment I thought there really was a flying car next to me. I hate to think what could have happened from how distracted that made me at 60 miles per hour ...
glamourpuss #6
Yesterday at the Emerald City Comicon I found myself wishing Dave Sim still did conventions.
I digress ...
glamourpuss # 6 is out and our comic art history lesson continues. The ad parodies are quite biting, but the one with the two lovers both thinking the same narcissistic thought is his best one so far ...
Looking forward to issue #7 in May; the Glamourpuss is in rehab issue with the character Dave sent me the original drawing of.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Getting my geek on
Emerald City Comicon
WSC&TC
April 5, 2009
Overall a very fun day of meeting and going all fanboy for autographs from comic writers and artists I like.
I got to meet the man who killed Captain America, although that also brought to my attention that I had forgotten the books for about a half dozen creators I really like ... meaning no issues of certain comics getting signed. Jefferson was unhappy when he realized this.
But ... not nearly as unhappy as when he realized that people had attended a panel about web comics in order to camp out for the BSG panel, leaving A LOT of those in line just for the BSG panel out in the hall. That SUCKED. Clear out the hall next time, that was simply not fair. I did take some pics of the BSG people in their booths and got to briefly meet Tigh, but without $$$ for autograph fees for the big stars (I get it that it is a business day for them and do not begrudge them the money at all) it was my real chance to enjoy seeing them. I mostly watched them sign autographs for and talk to other people.
Wil Wheaton is funny. The reading and Q & A he did really took the sting off the whole BSG thing. When I got out of the panel I went to his line and got a chance to have a photo with him and chat a moment. He's a really good guy.
Also, I managed to score a good pic of Bendis, Brubaker, and Busiek together ... which in comics terms means something. Howard Chaykin was very cool. Erik Larson remembered bringing his drawings into the Lynnwood comic shop we both frequented in the early 80s. Stand Sakai gave me a poster and did a little drawing on it. I stopped myself from yelling at Mark Waid for ruining the LOSH. The artists I forgot stuff for I still stopped by and chatted with and that was cool too ...
Hadn't done this in a while. It was fun ...
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