Sadly, I've no pearls of wisdom to bestow upon you.
Just... nothing really going on. Did some reading. Watched more of the North America documentary. Exercised. And, of course, watched the news.
Let's all wish the best for those in the Oklahoma City area, particularly Moore. I'm heartbroken to hear of the deaths reported from the scene.
Film. Comics. Sci-Fi. Superheroes. Pulp. Noir. History. Superman. 20th Century Archaeology.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Some weekend catch-up - movies, TV and comics
If you follow me on social media that is not this blog, you might have heard I had a touch of the food poisoning over the weekend. A bad salad or pizza, I think. Worst greek salad I've ever eaten, but it seemed fresh, so what do I know?
Well, I know what it feels like to get kicked in the stomach from my karate days, and this felt sort of like that, going on and on for quite a while. So, I want to thank Jamie for the 2:30 AM run to Walgreen's to grab me some OTC meds and being a great help to me over the course of the weekend. For a dialysis patient, it seems like the last year she's been taking care of me more than me of her.
I was sidelined from a planned viewing of Star Trek: Into Darkness, but I did catch a few movies over the weekend on cable and DVD.
Manhattan Melodrama with Myrna Loy, Clark Gable and William Powell was actually very, very good. Thanks to Paul, who handed me that DVD on Friday. Some 30's-era moral-minded civics lessons wrapped up with gangsterism and Myrna Loy in some great hats and dresses. The title is dated, so don't expect organ music and fainting. It's a bit more of a personal drama sort of movie.
The Campaign with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis was probably released at the wrong time, when we were in the middle of election season and everyone was so deadly serious about politics. It's a lightweight movie in the Semi-Pro or Step Brothers model. But it's pretty funny stuff, if pretty blue. Speaking of, though it's two GOP candidates, I think you could have done this with any two candidates, aside from a few points.
Well, I know what it feels like to get kicked in the stomach from my karate days, and this felt sort of like that, going on and on for quite a while. So, I want to thank Jamie for the 2:30 AM run to Walgreen's to grab me some OTC meds and being a great help to me over the course of the weekend. For a dialysis patient, it seems like the last year she's been taking care of me more than me of her.
I was sidelined from a planned viewing of Star Trek: Into Darkness, but I did catch a few movies over the weekend on cable and DVD.
Manhattan Melodrama with Myrna Loy, Clark Gable and William Powell was actually very, very good. Thanks to Paul, who handed me that DVD on Friday. Some 30's-era moral-minded civics lessons wrapped up with gangsterism and Myrna Loy in some great hats and dresses. The title is dated, so don't expect organ music and fainting. It's a bit more of a personal drama sort of movie.
The Campaign with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis was probably released at the wrong time, when we were in the middle of election season and everyone was so deadly serious about politics. It's a lightweight movie in the Semi-Pro or Step Brothers model. But it's pretty funny stuff, if pretty blue. Speaking of, though it's two GOP candidates, I think you could have done this with any two candidates, aside from a few points.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
It's Summer Film Series Time
It is true that in about a month we're going on hiatus from blogging. But that doesn't mean we're heading into cryogenic storage for the summer (although, given the spiking temps here this week, that might be preferable).
Of course, there's one little picture coming out which might have us a bit distracted.
Of course, there's one little picture coming out which might have us a bit distracted.
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| this movie also features bonus reasons for viewing |
Paramount Summer Schedule
I spent the morning going over the Paramount Summer Film Series schedule, and it's really terrific. I'm kind of bummed that I'm out of town for work for many good films, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
If you're in Austin, we can't recommend enough the Paramount Summer Series as a great way to beat the heat. Really, the Paramount, the Alamo Ritz and Barton Springs are the Holy Trifecta of avoiding boredom and sweat during the long summer months for me here in Austin.
If you're in Austin, and you want to join me for a movie, check out our calendar up there in the horizontal menu bar.
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| Stanwyck is incognito in Double Indemnity |
I'm very excited that the new programmer has included a series throughout the summer called Film Noir 101. While it's mostly showing movies I've seen more than once, it's a start, and fills a gap that's been in the summer line-up the past few years.
Oddly, there's no sci-fi line-up, and I expect there'll be a remedy to that next year when the stalwarts complain.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
20 years since Donna Martin Graduates
I really have nothing to post about. So, here's a rarely seen picture me at work
My 20th high school reunion is in August, and I didn't want to go, but through a series of Rube Goldberg-like events, I am now attached to the facebook page for the reunion. And, man, my classmates are kind of selfish dicks.
The committee has been working for months to put together the event and make it easy to attend and not too stuffy. They announced the date this week officially I guess, and it was met with people complaining that "that's the night of my child's 'meet the teacher' night at school!" and "our family always goes to the cabin that week!". Well, (a) how or why would the committee know that? and (b) shut up. It's been twenty years. Don't let the first thing we see from you in two decades wind up being some kind of whining that we didn't know it was the same night as Kaylie's ballet recital.
I'm still not convinced I'm going because I see no evidence in the invitation of an open bar, which is the only thing that would make the evening tolerable on some levels. Well, that and maybe sitting in a corner with Marshall and getting his take.
But, yeah. Mostly - 20 years. More time than I was alive when I exited high school.
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| TCB |
My 20th high school reunion is in August, and I didn't want to go, but through a series of Rube Goldberg-like events, I am now attached to the facebook page for the reunion. And, man, my classmates are kind of selfish dicks.
The committee has been working for months to put together the event and make it easy to attend and not too stuffy. They announced the date this week officially I guess, and it was met with people complaining that "that's the night of my child's 'meet the teacher' night at school!" and "our family always goes to the cabin that week!". Well, (a) how or why would the committee know that? and (b) shut up. It's been twenty years. Don't let the first thing we see from you in two decades wind up being some kind of whining that we didn't know it was the same night as Kaylie's ballet recital.
I'm still not convinced I'm going because I see no evidence in the invitation of an open bar, which is the only thing that would make the evening tolerable on some levels. Well, that and maybe sitting in a corner with Marshall and getting his take.
But, yeah. Mostly - 20 years. More time than I was alive when I exited high school.
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Supermarathon! Adventures of Superman: Superman on Earth! and The Haunted Lighthouse!
Few shows change tonally over a few seasons so much as The Adventures of Superman. And I kind of love all the takes. Really, I can't think of anything I don't like about The Adventures of Superman.
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| in the old days, Superman didn't need a scaly outfit and proudly wore his pants really high |
My Plan for America
As political discourse embraces its state as a shouting match between competing conspiracy theories and theorists, when faced with political chatter, linkbait headlines, paranoid articles, cable "news" shows and propaganda - I will now mentally replace all of them in my mind's narrative with The Dead Milkmen's "Stuart".
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
SuperMOOC Week 6 - wrapping it up with Gender Through Comics
Fortunately for me, my class extended it's timeline by a few days without adding any additional content, and so I was able to finish last night despite the fact that I'd basically missed a week thanks to work and other factors.
This is what I think about when I consider returning to grad school, by the way. I travel for work. Really, an online program would be ideal for me to get a masters at long last, as I can't match the attendance that comes with being a 23 year old with nothing else going on but growing facial hair and caring about what sort of beer I'm drinking. I'm seriously considering the need for an MA, but, man, the idea of walking into a classroom again at age 38 or 39 sounds like a nightmare.
Yes, I agree that the education system and how we deal with college degrees in the US is broken, but the trend to want to turn colleges into trade schools also isn't really an option (they have something for that. It's called Trade School). MOOCs are seen as a possible way to share courses across universities, and it sounds good on paper. But I was sitting through a presentation at my conference last week and one of the presenters pointed out that most parents paying for someone's degree really don't want to hear that their kid was in a class with 40,000 other students, only 10% of which completed the course. It's really opening the door for private schools and any university to stroke parents on college tours to promise a generation of helicopter parents that their kids will get special attention by sitting in a class with just 50-100 kids.
But I digress.
This is what I think about when I consider returning to grad school, by the way. I travel for work. Really, an online program would be ideal for me to get a masters at long last, as I can't match the attendance that comes with being a 23 year old with nothing else going on but growing facial hair and caring about what sort of beer I'm drinking. I'm seriously considering the need for an MA, but, man, the idea of walking into a classroom again at age 38 or 39 sounds like a nightmare.
Yes, I agree that the education system and how we deal with college degrees in the US is broken, but the trend to want to turn colleges into trade schools also isn't really an option (they have something for that. It's called Trade School). MOOCs are seen as a possible way to share courses across universities, and it sounds good on paper. But I was sitting through a presentation at my conference last week and one of the presenters pointed out that most parents paying for someone's degree really don't want to hear that their kid was in a class with 40,000 other students, only 10% of which completed the course. It's really opening the door for private schools and any university to stroke parents on college tours to promise a generation of helicopter parents that their kids will get special attention by sitting in a class with just 50-100 kids.
But I digress.
Ouch. A Little DC Comics Schadenfreude for your evening.
Immature? Yes.
Unnecessary? Yes.
Hilarious? Absolutely.
A functioning sign for keeping track of how often DC Comics has done something publicly very stupid.
All this as they cancel another slate of books, alienate another round of readers, and the publishing side erodes into a nu-metal album cover and licensing flails around, still making money but relying mostly on movie materials and pre-1986 images.
Thanks to CanadianSimon for the link.
Unnecessary? Yes.
Hilarious? Absolutely.
Read more about DC's PR goofs at The Outhouse.
A functioning sign for keeping track of how often DC Comics has done something publicly very stupid.
All this as they cancel another slate of books, alienate another round of readers, and the publishing side erodes into a nu-metal album cover and licensing flails around, still making money but relying mostly on movie materials and pre-1986 images.
Thanks to CanadianSimon for the link.
Happy Birthday, David Byrne
Happy Birthday to David Byrne. Writer, musician and artist.
Today, David Byrne is 61.
Byrne is best known for his tenure with The Talking Heads, the art-punk band that was part of the late-70's, early-80's scene out of CBGB's. He has written a few books, from The Bicycle Diaries to Strange Ritual. His lyrics are rarely about the usual topics of newfound love, love gone wrong or partying all night. Even in his most recent collaboration with St. Vincent, he's still singing about his relationship with television and mass media.
Today, David Byrne is 61.
Byrne is best known for his tenure with The Talking Heads, the art-punk band that was part of the late-70's, early-80's scene out of CBGB's. He has written a few books, from The Bicycle Diaries to Strange Ritual. His lyrics are rarely about the usual topics of newfound love, love gone wrong or partying all night. Even in his most recent collaboration with St. Vincent, he's still singing about his relationship with television and mass media.
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