We saw Birdemic 2 in Austin (and it was awesome!)

This evening Jamie and I drove up to the Alamo LakeCreek to catch the second installment in your favorite franchise and mine, Birdemic II: The Resurrection.

Two feet inside the door of the theater I spied my favorite director, and...

you people have no idea how excited I was here

James Nguyen does not pass up the chance to get his picture taken with a good looking dame:

Jamie and The Master of the Romantic Thriller

The movie stars...  well, an absolutely startling amount of the cast from the first Birdemic film.  Kudos to Nguyen for getting the band back together.

I've seen Birdemic: Shock and Terror somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 times, I own the BluRay, and I bought Damien Carter's single "Hangin' Out With My Family" on iTunes.  I'm a fan.

It's Like Seeing a Fever Dream Come True: Axe Cop TV Trailer

@#$% just got real.

Happy Birthday, Johnny Cash

Today would have been the 81st birthday of Johnny Cash.

Let Us Break Out the Ketel One and Christian Bros. Brandy and Ponder an "Achewood" TV Show

No lie, one of my favorite things of recent western history has been the web comic/ experience, Achewood.

Achewood is almost impossible to explain, fits a specific comedy and writing niche that is most certainly not for everyone, and is the most quotable text of the 21st Century.

Of late, Achewood has been halted, out of print, or whatever you want to call it when a web comic ceases publication.

It was clear something went down with strip owner and operator Chris Onstead, and that's his issue or issues to share or keep to himself.  But, suddenly, after months of silence, Onstead appeared today announcing that he's trying to sell an animated version of Achewood in LA this week.

Frankly, I don't know how a writer's room and the sort of collaborative environment mixed with the needs of  TV networks can possibly bring the strip to life and retain the creative singular vision of a comic about cats named "Roast Beef" and "Ray".  But you never know.  Axe Cop is headed for television, so anything can happen these days, I guess.

Here's Onstead's announcement.

And here's the video demo of what a televised Achewood might look like.


Achewood Television Trailer One "Hello, world" from therussians on Vimeo.

I know, I'm sort of sweating, too.

Animated Teodor, y'all. Animated Teodor could happen.

Anyway, it's an outside shot, but I would love to see this happen and the name "Ray Smuckles" become a household word.

CarlaBeth brings you holiday hula-hooping, musical joy

my former college roommate, Ms. CarlaBeth, brings you holiday joy.

Behold!

Signal Watch Watches: Killer School Girls From Outer Space (2011)

So, life is funny how it surprised you sometimes.

Not that long ago I was sitting in my office at work making digital libraries happen when a guy from my building who I talk to now and again, mostly "howdy" and "hello" as we pass, asked me about some posters from Mondo I have hanging up in my office.

"You like sci-fi?"
"Yeah!  It's kind of my thing.  Not so much the modern stuff, but I kind of dig mid-century stuff and maybe up to the 80's the best."
"Cool!"
And we parted ways.
A few days later Bill appeared in my doorway with a DVD in his hand.
"A while back, my son and I made this movie."
My stomach dropped.  I like a good Birdemic trainwreck, but I like it from a casual distance.  I do not like to have to nod and smile and say "that was super!" when it was not super at all.  Then I looked down at the cover.

"...is that Ron Jeremy?"
Bill nodded.  "Yeah, we hired him for a day.  All green screen.  He was really nice."
"This is...  like, everything awesome about movies."

Felix Baumgartner Space Jumps into the History Books

I had tried to watch this guy, Felix Baumgartner, jump several times, and he kept getting delayed.  So I was quite pleased when PalMatt posted to Facebook that Felix was about to jump yesterday.  I tuned in just as he was about to exit the capsule.

Holy @#$%

In case you missed it, Austrian Felix Baumgartner attached a capsule to some balloons, went up 24 miles above Roswell, New Mexico, and then tossed himself out and over the side of the capsule with naught but a parachute between himself and the record for largest crater formed by a human body.

It was AMAZING.

Ann Miller, what are you doing?

The more you stumble upon images of Ann Miller, the less any of the pictures make sense. She wasn't the sort of woman Hollywood glamour photographers liked to pose in recline upon a divan.

Sometimes I think they just didn't know what to do with her.  Like the time they put her on a scooter with a fishing rod and reel.

What are you doing, Ann Miller?

The Man from Metropolis - a visit with a Super Collector

A week or so back I mentioned a show called The Toy Hunter which had visited a local Superman fan and collector.  I had found the show a bit frustrating, but from the episode I could tell that the Superman collector had a stellar collection many times the size of my own.  

Prior to the episode, I knew this guy existed.  We both live in Central Texas, we're both into Superman.  You hear things.  But afterward, I found his website (www.planetsuperhero.com) and saw he had prints of a famous Superman image, but not one I'd ever seen for sale.  

this one

And as I reconfigure some space in my living room, this seemed like the ideal print to fill that corner.  

Anyway, it's a semi-famous image at this point, thanks in no small part to the original going lost and only recently turning up.  

In my order, I mentioned "hey, I live in South Austin.  You don't need to ship.  I'm happy to come by and pick it up."  I got an email from Tim, and he invited me over.  I expected to grab the posters, shake his hand and go on my way, but Tim invited us in for a full tour and to chat for a while.

Neil DeGrasse-Tyson Helps Confirm What I Already Knew

That the original USS Enterprise is an amazing starship.



thanks to Jordan for the video and link.

Apparently this was a fun panel at SDCC 2012 in which a bunch of folks have a sort of spirited but mock debate over whether this or that geek item is better. Tyson was attending the Con, but he was simply attending in the audience for this panel. However, one does not simply just have Neil Tyson in the room and not have him weigh in on matters of import such as "which spaceship is the coolest?".

Signal Watch Watches: Best Worst Movie (2009)

After a steady diet of terrible flicks over the past two decades, something I had somehow come to enjoy in my teen years, seeking out bad movies is something I'm now limiting in my intake as I realized a man can only watch R.O.T.O.R. so many times, and there's actually stuff you can enjoy because its actually worth watching.  But for a long, long time I felt like I was fairly well in tune with what we all considered the worst of the worst.

And yet, somehow, I'd missed the phenomenon of Troll 2.

Of course, I was also living in Phoenix when The Alamo figured out how to turn genre-film and midnight screening material into part of their bread and butter, getting people excited about movies that they had never seen, or getting them to pay good money to see movies they'd seen for a far more modest cost on late-night HBO a decade before.

The first time I ever heard the words "Troll 2" was, curiously, at an improv show performance where one of the actresses mistakenly believed that repeatedly making callbacks to a movie few people have not seen nor remember was comedic gold.  I swear she dropped the movie's name four times, hoping for a laugh.  She was greeted with stony silence, but the fact that she kept going back to the well made me realize "oh, this is one of those things today's hipster kids are into.  I get it.  But, seriously, naming something funny when you aren't doesn't draw a laugh.  STOP IT NOW.".

Best Worst Movie (2009) tracks the circa 2006 fad (I'll go ahead and call it that) of being really into Troll 2 from the perspective of the folks who participated in the creation of the movie, including the stars, writer, director, extras and, of course, some of the folks making midnight screenings happen.

The film's former wanna-be child star, Michael Stephenson, actually does an amazing job directing the documentary, collecting all the folks from the film together, getting them to talk honestly both about the film, where they are now, and how they related to the film then and now.  A lot of the questions I had left over at the end of Rock-afire Explosion are nowhere to be found in this film.  I mean, sure, you can still have some questions, but those might be of a nature that you can sort out for yourself.  Basically, the film doesn't raise more questions than it answers, and its pretty honest about what's going on.

The Great American Songbook Through the Lens of the 1970's.

Today I received two emails that I think told me that you people are finally beginning to understand me.

The first was from our own Horus Kemwer, who sent me an image of an album cover for Swing Disco.

It really raises more questions than it answers, but who wouldn't want to hear "In the Mood" set to a disco beat?

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a copy of the songs online, but Horus also provided a track list.

But just look at that couple?  You just know there's a fondu pot bubbling somewhere and a couple of glasses of chilled Riunite waiting for them.  Maybe a shag carpet in front of that new gigantic fireplace, and a Camaro in the driveway.

And then this evening, I received a link to a video from our own JuanD.  A video that absolutely blew my mind.

Not only is it also of the late 1970's.  Not only is it also trying to hep up a popular song from a bygone era (I'm a big fan of Cole Porter's "Night and Day").  But somehow this video has managed to find a surprisingly large area on the Venn Diagram of a mind map or a checklist of my personal likes.  It's almost eerie.

I don't know who Raffaella Carra is, but I'm already a fan.  I guess an Italian 1970's music star?

And, seriously, if you were to say "Hey, The League.  We're going to make a music video just for you.  Your budget is totally unlimited.  What do you want?"  This is pretty much exactly what I would have ordered up.  Just astonishing.

So, special thanks to Horus and JuanD.  You guys made my day.

Rude George Returns!

CarlaB was good enough to share some pics of the aforementioned Rude George!

Rude George is just going to stand really close in your personal space, if that's okay

Rude George does not care for your attitude

Rude George does not care to make amends, but he's willing to stare at you while you talk

Wise Ben is here to set things straight

Brought to you by CarlaB, David and, of course, Xander!

Rude George

No real post tonight.  We were out late visiting with CarlaB, David and Xander.

Xander is a truly remarkable kid.  Apparently he spent his allowance money on a couple of rubber masks of historical figures: George Washington, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.  All of the masks are sort of cut out at the jowls so you can see the wearer's lower lip and jaw.

Anyway, Xander has different characters he portrays with each mask, including a version of George Washington known as "Rude George", and it is seriously one of the funniest things I've ever seen.  At 5, I'm not sure Xander knows that he's created a bit of oddness fit for David Lynch at his Twin Peaksiest, but its an impressive transformation.

Got a lot of his mother in him, that kid.

artists' rendition of how Real George would react to Rude George

I'm posting this in high hopes we can get some photos of Rude George soon from CarlaB and Xander.

The League: Purveyor of Better Marriages Since 2012

On Saturday longtime pal JuliaP and her beau (and newer pal for The League) BillB asked yours truly to officiate at their nuptials come this December.

I KNOW.

I have no mixed feelings about this and am happy to fill the role.  Indeed, I am humbled and honored by the invitation, and because it is the request made of me by good friends on their wedding day, I will put on my suit and a tie, pitch my voice to my most convincing baritone and partner with the loving couple in the coming months to find the proper readings and ensure that their day goes off without a hitch.  Standing up in front of others isn't an issue for me personally.  In fact, I speak in public regularly for work, and this is really just me talking to Julia and Bill in front of other people.

We can pull this off.

In no way am I a man of the cloth, but in Texas we have pretty simple laws managing this stuff.  Basically, once you get the certificate, pretty much that's it.  Me signing the thing is a formality at best.  The part of me that wishes it were a notary is oddly jealous to not be involved.

Nothing daffy will happen.  I will not be wearing a goofy outfit.  I will probably even wear my blue suit rather than the gray with pin stripes.  I will smile, and I will get to be up close when two great friends make it official.  I may ask Bill to draw a sword from a stone and Julia to prove her worth by sticking her hand in the Dune agony box to prove her worth to Bill, but aside from that...

Mostly I'm just happy for Julia and Bill.  It has been pleasant to see two people find each other in this crazy world who are such obvious complements to one another.  Really, and I'm not making this up, they seemed like an longstanding couple with one another and their ease with each other within a rather short time of beginning their relationship.  I take that as a good sign.

So, you know, if you're planning to get married, I work cheap...

Is this possibly the best book cover ever?

Not enough of you will see this if I bury it as a reblog on tumblr.  And I could not bear the thought that you would not see this, as it's the most amazing book cover we've seen since Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three.  Because it is absolutely the one time we shall judge a book by its cover.

From tumblr.

Signal Watch Watches: The Room (again - but in a theater)

It had been a while since I'd seen Tommy Wiseau's opus The Room (2003!). While I am no longer quite as charmed by spending my time seeking out truly awful movies after the realization struck me that I was doing so at the expense of seeing good movies, the opportunity to see The Room on the silver screen with a room full of people seemed too inviting.

So, with PaulT and his ladyfriend, Val, we hit a midnight-ish screening of the notorious drama at The Alamo Ritz downtown.  Neither Val nor PaulT had seen the movie before, and, frankly, I was more than a bit unsure about how this was going to go down.  (1) I've never been 100% sober while watching the movie before, (2) sharing in the experience of The Room is not to everyone's taste and (3) I'll forewarn you that the movie features a whole lot of "adult moments", which translates into a whole lot more of Tommy Wiseau and his co-stars than you thought you were signing up for.

this deeply Photoshopped Wiseau gives us an idea of what he thinks he 's doing

This sounds like a case for The League, P.I.

This dame has real trouble.  Sandwich trouble.

I have no idea what this is about, but its the kind of mystery I can get behind.

Go ahead and read the title of the story there at the bottom of the cover

That, people, is how you promise just about everything in a single title.

Signal Watch Watches: Queen of Outer Space

Sometimes I just record things off Turner Classic because the name intrigues me.  And that's how I wound up recording Queen of Outer Space (1958).

If you like your gender roles defined by the fevered visions of a clumsy 7th grade boy from 1957, have I got a movie for you!  

Possibly the most cheerfully sexist movie I've ever seen, Queen of Outer Space follows the misadventures daring exploits of three dimbulb brave astronauts in the far future of 1985. Whilst transporting a "professor" to a space station, things go awry and the spaceship lands on Venus.  Venus, wouldn't you know it, turns out to have a population of nothing but dames in high heels and mini-skirts toting ray guns.  Yes yes, its the kind of movie where space vixens all speak English, wear make-up and their hair is done up in the fashions of the day.  And they'd all be a lot better off if they had some men around.  Sure, they're ruled by a despotic queen (of outerspace), but they also have Zsa Zsa Gabor completely half-assing her way through the movie.

There's a cautionary tale in here both about the ravages of war and the victims left behind AND about what every little lady just wants a little smooching and she'll be fine.

No doubt, this is exactly the late night movie Amazon Women on the Moon was spoofing, and its easy to see why.  MST3K must never have secured the rights to this one, but it feels like the sort of thing they would have quite enjoyed working on.

SPOILER

I also like how the movie ends with the promise of sex, sex and more sex for our brave astronauts.  Well done, 1958.

END SPOILER

Yes, I heartily recommend this movie for all the right reasons and to see a just-past-her-prime Zsa Zsa doing her best to at least show up in this movie.


this trailer actually gets a few plot points wrong, but... whatever.

Here's the whole movie.