Category Archives: Uncategorized

home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Newt met me at the door tonight, as usual. Lovey cat, so I picked his kitty-self up, and trotted him around the house, and then we plopped down here. He’s currently batting at my necklace, and stanging on my lap. We’re going to play paper-wad fetch, so I can write more effectively here. *lob* Newt heads for the ball, on the bed. he returns, drops the wad at my feet, and bolts off for another catch. *lob* repeat as needed. Saw Space cowboys with Robby tonight. I was pleasantly surprised, as I could lose myself to the film rather easily. (only a couple of bits I didn’t like… I didn’t even mind the old-man-tushie scene)

We went to the 50s diner, and all I had was a big-ol’ cherry fountain coke and an english muffin. Peckish now though… probably going to have some total and yogurt. 🙂 yum. No, strike that. I’m going to put magic shell on a frozen banana. yum+5. Robb’s head was more there today, we hung out for a few hours at starbucks and los olas in general before catching the flick… nice and fun.

smoking greatly reduces your chances of jogging.

viewing/reading for the weekend.

Something to match my mood. I’m thinking of something paranormal, creepy to help with the 1930s weirdness game (not all reviews mine… culled from my database of ‘to be watched’)

The Exorcist
One honest-to-God-with-a-capital-G scary movie, and not just because you’ve got grue and gore. It’s scary because it violates your sense of what’s natural. Plus, I respect the ending.

Reservoir Dogs
A movie spilling over with character and dialogue.

Jacob’s Ladder
I said The Exorcist was a scary movie, but even that didn’t freak me out like Jacob’s Ladder. It’s a movie that makes you afraid to be alive.

Dead Ringers
Jeremy Irons plays psychotic twin gynecologists. This movie has no paranormal elements, and it’s gobs weirder than most horror movies. Based on a true story. (Not a date movie.)

Dead Again
– just great.

Angel Heart
Good paranormal detective story, and DeNiro was spot on.

Lord of Illusions
Wow, did they ever misuse Scott Bakula in this one! Still, in its basic precept it’s very close to what’s going on in Unknown Armies. got to be sure to get the director’s cut–not so much for the “aorta-cam” scene but for about thirty seconds when the reactivated cultists butcher their families before going off to see the wizard.

The Killer
John Woo’s masterpiece of violence and melodrama. Again, no paranormal elements, except for Chow Yun-Fat’s unearthly coolness.

Fargo
A brilliant portrait of the kind of stumbling, directionless, short-sighted folks who make up at least 80% of the criminal class (and probably a large section of most other classes as well).

Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart & Lost Highway

The Element of Crime
Director Lars von Trier’s debut feature, this is a beautifully filmed look at madness and murder set within a vaguely post-apocalypse Europe where it is always night and usually raining. An exiled cop is recalled from Egypt — where the desert is devouring Cairo — to Germany, where a psychopath is murdering young girls selling lottery tickets. Following in the footsteps of his mentor, the cop seeks to adopt the mindset of the murderer in order to catch him. Stunning visuals that recall Blade Runner in their power and uniqueness, only using mud and crumbling buildings instead of cyclopic skyscrapers.

The Exorcist III
Having seen the first, you should skip the second and go straight to the third, written and directed by original Exorcist novelist William Peter Blatty from his own novel (Legion). It’s a beautiful piece of work with some amazing imagery and chilling scenes, despite a few letdowns in the climax.

Heat
Writer/director Michael Mann presents a textbook example of solid plotting in this three-hour L.A. crime drama. He moves masterfully between amazing shootouts, tech-talky plans for elaborate heists, credible police procedurals, and harrowing family dramas in a way that every GM should study. It’s like half a season of Hill Street Blues or Homicide in one movie. I’ve watched this flick maybe a half-dozen times now and it’s still an education in effective storytelling.

The Kingdom I & II
Lars von Trier returns with a nine-hour Danish television mini-series released as two feature films abroad. At a prestigous hospital in Copenhagen, a door to the spirit world is opening and all hell is breaking loose. Brilliantly melds a traditional ghost story with Twin Peaks-style bizarro humor and jaw-droppingly scary revelations into a work like nothing else on this globe of earth.

Stalker
From the late Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky comes this curious mix of science fiction and philosophy. A restricted Zone within the Soviet Union — where a meteor hit years before — contains, at the heart of its abandoned industrial wasteland, a room where your deepest wish comes true. A writer and a professor hire a Stalker to guide them through the Zone to the room at its heart. The Zone proves dangerous, with its own set of rules and traps that function on metaphysical principles rather than physical ones. A dreamlike, haunting film. (sphere tried this, and failed.)

after work…

ugh. today at work was a bummer. was there later than I wanted to, because a client needed stuff done immediately.

We’ll see if it even gets processed before monday night. Bah.

Went to hops with buddy dan, who waited patiently grading papers while I finished up. we waited for a table to open up, and Dan went ot the bar, and I lost him. He assumed I’d found a friend and was chatting them up, I assumed he’d flag me down when he found a place to sit. so, although we were together, the first 20 or so min were spent apart. When we finally got a table, the meal was pretty good, and we both got a little less tense. I had a couple alligator ales, a loaded potato & salad, and some poppers. (which were ok… the potato ruled, though) . He got a 12 ounce steak, that was quite pink. I was expecting to see suzy tonight, but it turns out she was bushed, and was going to hit the sack early, so we’re hooking up tomorrow. Also getitng together with Robby tomorrow sometime, too…maybe the three of us will catch a movie or something.

Sunday is everway.

Deciding if I want to game with either group, now.

everway group is full of nice folks, but it goes all day. 2p to end. might be too much for me. (kills 1/2 the weekend.)

supers group has advantage of folks I really enjoy, and is every other week… but the GM is an egotistical boor.

Hell, I might drop both.

Or Neither.

I dunno. I just have to be social more, I think. Go to mor ezoos, museums, etc.

net lies.

I think it’s kind of funny that some folks take what they hear without researching it, and automatically assign truth to it. (I’m not pointing fingers, as I have fallen victim to a few hoaxes in my own time… only after looking it up to prove I was right, did I realise… well… no, that email someone sent me was not true, and Abe Vigoda isn’t dead…. or whatever.)

Here’s one that I’ve gotten probably 50 times, and it is patently untrue. It’s so ridiculous, that well, it almost sounds like it would be legit.

***snip***

This is Very Disturbing – This was sent to me so I’m just sharing the information.

KFC has been a part of our American traditions for many years. Many people, day in and day out, eat at KFC religiously. Do they really know what they are eating? During a recent study of KFC done at the University of New Hampshire, they found some very upsetting facts.

First of all, has anybody noticed that just recently, the company has changed their name? Kentucky Fried Chicken has become KFC. Does anybody know why? We thought the real reason was because of the “FRIED” food issue. It’s not. The reason why they call it KFC is because they can not use the word chicken anymore. Why? KFC does not use real chickens.

They actually use genetically manipulated organisms. These so called “chickens” are kept alive by tubes inserted into their bodies to pump blood and nutrients throughout their structure. They have no beaks, no feathers, and no feet. Their bone structure is dramatically shrunk to get more meat out of them. This is great for KFC because they do not have to pay so much for their production costs. There is no more plucking of the feathers or the removal of the beaks and feet.

The government has told them to change all of their menus so they do not say chicken anywhere. If you look closely you will notice this. Listen to their commercials, I guarantee you will not see or hear the word chicken. I find this matter to be very disturbing. I hope people will start to realize this and let other people know.

Please forward this message to as many people as you can. Together we make KFC start using real chicken again.

** end snip.

It has all the hallmarks of a hoax… the evil corporate conspiracy, the authoritative sounding reference to a university study and, of course, the plea for grassroots action by forwarding “this message to as many people as you can.” It plays on the concerns that have been raised over genetically altered produce and from a theoretical standpoint is almost plausible. However, that is a very big “almost.” Two things about this hoax jumped out at me immediately as I read it for the first time. The first was that if the University of New Hampshire had really done a study such as this I wouldn’t be hearing about it for the first time in a forwarded e-mail… it would have made the front page of the newspaper and CNN’s Headline News. This is true of many hoaxes, if they were real the media would jump all over them. That alone convinced me this was a hoax, but then when it went on to say “I guarantee you will not see or hear the word chicken” in KFC’s advertising I thought “then what’s that stuff they keep saying they do right?” One thing is for sure, the person who wrote this doesn’t do rumors right… it fell apart from the start. However, as far as rumors go, it was amusing. Had the author implicated McDonalds’ burgers I may have been inclined to believe it. *g*

ABC’s of Television. (thanks Kiersten for the help!)

A is for The A-Team
B is for BJ and the Bear
C is for “CHiPs”
D is for Dukes of Hazzard
E is for Electric Company
F is for Fall Guy
G is for Galactica 1980
H is for the Honeymooners
I is for the Incredible Hulk
J is for Jeffersons
K is for Knight Rider
L is for the Love Boat (original)
M is for M*A*S*H
N is for Night Court
O is for Outer Limits
P is for Planet Of The Apes
Q is for Quantum Leap
R is for Remington Steele
S is for Star Trek (original)
T is for Tales Of The Gold Monkey
U is for Unsolved Mysteries
V is for V
W is for Wild Wild West
X is for the X-Files
Y is for Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
Z is for Zorro

fall guy. I blame lique for this.

This is the story of one of America’s great unsung heroes. I mean you’ve seen him, but you never knew who he was, you’ve cheered for him and cried for him, women have wanted to die for him, did he ever get any credit? Or the girl? No! He was what we call a Stuntman. And the reason I’m talking so fondly about him is, well because it’s me. Colt Seavers. Anyway Picture work isn’t wall to wall employment, so maybe you wonder how a guy keeps his head together? Well one way is to wait by the phone. And wait and wait. The other is to take an occasional job for the court system of the United States of America, where a man is considered innocent until proving guilty. Unfortunately sometimes a lot of these people get out of jail on what we call bail, and run like hell. That’s where I come in. I sometimes pick up rent money trying to find them and bring them back to justice.

*sing it with me, people!*

Well I’m Not The Kind To Kiss And Tell,
But I’ve Been Seen With Farrah,
I’ve Never Been With Anything Less Than A Nine,
So Fine,
I’ve Been On Fire With Sally Field,
Gone Fast With A Girl Name Bo,
But Somehow They Just Don’t End Up As Mine,
It’s A Death Defying Live I Lead,
I Take My Chances,
I Die For Living In The Movies And TV,
But The Hardest Thing I Ever Do Is Watch My Leading Ladies,
Kiss Some other Guy While I’m Bandaging My Knee,
I Might Fall From A Tall Building,
I Might Roll A Brand New Car,
Cause I’m The Unknown Stuntman That Made Redford Such A Star

…I’ve Never Spent Much Time In School,
But I’ve Taught Ladies Plenty,
It’s True I Hire My Body Out For Pay,
Hey Hey,
I’ve Gotten Burned Over Cheryl Tiegs,
Blown Up For Raquel Welch,
But When I Wind Up In The Hay,
It’s Only Hay,
Hey Hey,
I Might Jump An Open Drawbridge,
Or Tarzan From A Vine,
Cause I’m The Unknown Stuntman That Makes Eastwood Look So Fine

Back from a walk to the beach.

I’d like to be under the sea
In an octopus’ garden in the shade
He’d let us in, knows where we’ve been
In his octopus’ garden in the shade

I’d ask my friends to come and see
An octopus’ garden with me
I’d like to be under the sea
In an octopus’ garden in the shade

We would be warm below the storm
In our little hideaway beneath the waves
Resting our head on the sea bed
In an octopus’ garden near a cave

We would sing and dance around
Because we know we can’t be found
I’d like to be under the sea
In an octopus’ garden in the shade

We would shout and swim about
The coral that lies beneath the waves
Lies beneath the ocean waves
Oh what joy for every girl and boy
Knowing they’re happy and they’re safe
Happy and they’re safe

We would be so happy you and me
No one there to tell us what to do
I’d like to be under the sea
In an octopus’ garden with you
In an octopus’ garden with you
In an octopus’ garden with you