*Here's an interesting question: What happens if a mosquito bites a
zombie, and then bites another non-zombie right afterwards? To me, the
question sounded rather odd, but it rather quickly changed into one of
those facepalm 'why didn't I think of that??' moments. Regardless,
that's the basic premise of a movie called, appropriately enough, "A
Little Bit Zombie". After watching enough episodes of "Todd and the Book
of Pure Evil", I don't know why I would be surprised that the Canadians
are capable of such entertaining horcomgore. Anyway, besides the
interesting premise, the movie is notable for liberal and near excessive
use of drool, some of the worst brain puns ever, a complete and total
anatomic disregard for the actual scale of various brains, one of the
best puking scenes since Monty Python, and the greatest product
placement for something you thought couldn't be real but is: Tactical
Bacon (available online!!). So, if you're in the mood for a bit of over
the top horcomgore, check out both "A Little Bit Zombie" and "Todd and
the Book of Pure Evil". Both are available as Netflix instant view
selections.
*Not having to use any sort of snow removal
equipment until December 29th makes for a pretty good start to winter in
Illinois, in my book. On the other hand, not realizing just how badly
iced over your car is when you're already running late for work is not
so good in my book.
*How was I supposed to know the name of the dragon was Steve when I haven't seen the commercial??
*A
movie we had first thought was going to be a copy of "I Sell the Dead"
proved to have a little more going for it than we first thought. While
both movies deal with the same topic, and are set in the same time
period, one has zombies, and the other is based on a true story. "Burke
& Hare" tells an abbreviated version of how two 19th century Irish
laborers in Scotland turn to lives of crime when they find out just how
much local medical colleges are willing to pay for fresh cadavers to
dissect. Simon Pegg stars in the just gruesome enough telling of this
true story, and Tim Curry also puts in a good performance as one of the
doctors competing for the supply of cadavers. It might be worth you
while to watch "Burke & Hare" and then "I Sell the Dead" just to get
differing perspectives on this rather....interesting....period of
medical history. Plus, there are numerous non-fiction books on the
exploits of these two 'businessmen'.
*I need to get on
the horn in the next couple of days and get some overdue phone calls
made. Plus, I should give the Texans a holler and see what they're up to
on New Year's Day.
*For me, Will Ferrell movies are
pretty much the same (with "Stranger Than Fiction" being a notable
standout). Not that I don't enjoy them, but the caricature of a
stereotype that tends to define his characters is fairly constant. "The
Campaign" with Zach Galafianakis is no exception. It's not satire, it's
not a thoughtful send-up, it's a comedy that uses politics as a setting.
It's not bad. I got some good laughs, and that's about all I expected
out of it.
*OK, so I went to Menard's and bought a
replacement fixture for the closet when all I actually needed to do was
screw in the light bulb all the way. And I bought a cord for a light
socket that could not be disassembled to have a cord added to it. And I
didn't realize that the other closet light was a two prong CFL instead
of a standard bulb. Geez. What am I supposed to do, check all that stuff
BEFORE I go to the store??
*Seems like there's a whole lot more truncated MP3 files in my music library than I had previously thought. Kinda annoying.
*This
is the time of year when everyone on the planet is doing their "best of
2012" lists. I just happened to grab the entertainment section of the
local paper, and there were three columnists, each giving their own list
of the top ten albums of the year. Now, I freely admit to not having
any knowledge of, nor interest in, pop music, but I was a bit surprised
when I glanced over this article and realized that I only had heard of
two of the artists listed. Given, there was some degree of overlap in
the choices made, so you could easily say that there were 25 different
artists represented on the list. But still, 2 out of 25 isn't a very
good ratio, as far as common knowledge goes. That line of thought lead
me to another. If I were to pick up a current album by Weird Al, without
any previous knowledge of his career, I would have to conclude that he
was just a writer of comedy songs, since I would have no insight as to
what current music he was parodying. I'm not sure if that would make me
like him more, or less.
*Alcohol was a wonderful
discovery for me. I'd have a couple of drinks, and I could step out of
my shell and be the life of the party. Until I almost invariably wound
up passed out on the floor. Which was not really the freedom I thought
it was. There was never any real reason that I couldn't have been the
life of the party without booze. It was a lot of conditioning that lead
me to believe, and fear, that. It was just easier to use the booze route
than to go through all the stress and work of tearing apart all those
negative things I had let myself believe, and fear. A lot of those
things are still present, and in need of demolition. But the task is
monumental, success isn't guaranteed, and the thought of being free of
those restrictive, yet familiar, things is scary. Why not just continue
crafting this tiny bubble of perfected control? Well, to start with,
it's tiny. There isn't really room for other people in that bubble.
"King Nothing" by Metallica springs to mind when I think about that. So,
I don't want to be limited that way, but at the same time, I'm afraid
of what might happen if I'm not in control. But, of course, the whole
idea that I am in control is ridiculous when you put it into any sort of
realistic perspective. So what do I do? Guess that's the part I'm still
trying to figure out.
*****
Sunday, December 30, 2012
The In-Between Time
(This was originally published 12.27.12)
*The best way to start your Christmas morning? Beats me. I can tell you that it ISN'T having two dogs puking in the living room while you're trying to get shit together and get out of the house.
*Finally starting to feel like winter out there. I really don't like that. At least the first couple of real winter storms this season either missed us or just kinda side-swiped us.
*Watched most of my free time on Friday just evaporate right before my eyes today. The only good thing that might come of it is some tasty goat korma.
*Thank goodness I don't rely on Santa to keep me stocked with new games. Jackass stiffed me again this year. Luckily, the folks over at New Game in Town had a very conveniently timed 20% off sale that encouraged me to grab a quartet of new games. Now, I just need for Ikea to have a conveniently timed 20% off sale so that I can get more cabinets for all my new games.
*Crap. I still need to get the November meeting minutes posted before tonite.
*This is the only time of the year when I can get sick of cookies. Still have candy around the house, but that doesn't really interest me. I'm pretty sure there's still stuff around from Halloween, which shows how much candy I eat. The mere thought of cookies right now makes my stomach do a slow roll and my pancreas go into spasms. That being the case, I'm thinking there will be a lot of stuff going into the freezer in the next few days.
*I am still of the mind that holidays, much like vacations, should not leave you feeling sleep deprived, strung out, and ready to inflict mayhem. Yet, here I am again. Why are there such ridiculous expectations of endlessly repeated perfection on this particular holiday? All it takes is one teeny tiny miscalculation, and the whole thing goes off the rails. Guess I can't operate at that level when it comes to this particular event. The latitude for fun has been weaned out in favor of the mindset that things. Must. Go. As. Planned. Don't like it. Ghosts of Bill? Probably. Or at least shades of them. Starting to realize there's a lot of them out there in places I hadn't realized. Lots of slightly bent and fragmented things that have drifted into all sorts of places. Which is not enough in and of itself to banish them. And some of them are getting stronger, which is doubly problematic. Need to try and understand what I can control and what I can't. And just why there are things I feel the need to control.
***
*The best way to start your Christmas morning? Beats me. I can tell you that it ISN'T having two dogs puking in the living room while you're trying to get shit together and get out of the house.
*Finally starting to feel like winter out there. I really don't like that. At least the first couple of real winter storms this season either missed us or just kinda side-swiped us.
*Watched most of my free time on Friday just evaporate right before my eyes today. The only good thing that might come of it is some tasty goat korma.
*Thank goodness I don't rely on Santa to keep me stocked with new games. Jackass stiffed me again this year. Luckily, the folks over at New Game in Town had a very conveniently timed 20% off sale that encouraged me to grab a quartet of new games. Now, I just need for Ikea to have a conveniently timed 20% off sale so that I can get more cabinets for all my new games.
*Crap. I still need to get the November meeting minutes posted before tonite.
*This is the only time of the year when I can get sick of cookies. Still have candy around the house, but that doesn't really interest me. I'm pretty sure there's still stuff around from Halloween, which shows how much candy I eat. The mere thought of cookies right now makes my stomach do a slow roll and my pancreas go into spasms. That being the case, I'm thinking there will be a lot of stuff going into the freezer in the next few days.
*I am still of the mind that holidays, much like vacations, should not leave you feeling sleep deprived, strung out, and ready to inflict mayhem. Yet, here I am again. Why are there such ridiculous expectations of endlessly repeated perfection on this particular holiday? All it takes is one teeny tiny miscalculation, and the whole thing goes off the rails. Guess I can't operate at that level when it comes to this particular event. The latitude for fun has been weaned out in favor of the mindset that things. Must. Go. As. Planned. Don't like it. Ghosts of Bill? Probably. Or at least shades of them. Starting to realize there's a lot of them out there in places I hadn't realized. Lots of slightly bent and fragmented things that have drifted into all sorts of places. Which is not enough in and of itself to banish them. And some of them are getting stronger, which is doubly problematic. Need to try and understand what I can control and what I can't. And just why there are things I feel the need to control.
***
Sprouting Shrimp Slippers
(Originally published 12-20-12)
*Well, they're still calling for nasty nasty weather tomorrow. Yippee. The possibility of 7" of snow right out of the gate could really screw things up. Not to mention the rain we're supposed to have in the morning before the snow starts. But the shovels and the snowblower are out, accessible, and ready to go. Here's the question I have, though: Just how damn miserable will it be outside if there actually are 60 MPH winds tomorrow?
*The dishwasher is still dead(ish), with a projected repair date of sometime early next year. That news has made someone in the house very, very crabby. The other person in the house really couldn't care less.
*What would my top ten ZZ Top songs be? That was the interesting question I was recently asked. I am currently formulating an answer.
*Thus far, I am not thrilled with the seemingly tiny selection of widgets that are available on Wordpress, and the small number that can be used per page layout. I actually enjoyed the widgets that I had on my Blogger page, silly as they may have been. Maybe I just have to work my way over the learning curve before I get used to this new site. Did manage to figure out how to embed YouTube videos today, though.
*Why in the world would I even be considering moving anywhere other than somewhere warm right now??
*In response to the many complaints about the high school students speeding through the neighborhood, the city put up a bunch of stop signs and posted a 25 MPH neighborhood speed limit. In my opinion, that should work better than the speed bumps that a lot of people were wanting. Guess I'll have to wait until I'm home on a school day to see if all that has had any noticeable effect on the traffic, though.
*Here's hoping that Steph makes it safely down to TX before the weather closes in.
*The garage has now been sufficiently cleaned, cleared, and rearranged to admit Sheri's car. Yay for small victories. In the process of doing that, I did toss out a bunch of stuff that I had been saving, which always annoys me. I was annoyed to throw out the cardboard boxes because it means that the purple room is as cluttered and messy as it's ever been. I was annoyed to throw out the huge styrofoam coolers because it was an indication of just how little art I am producing. I was annoyed to move one of the piles of maple to the back patio for the same reason (as well as the fact that it had checked beyond belief). Don't really care for that much confirmation that I'm to not getting a lot of things done.
*"Cowboys and Aliens": a movie that somehow managed to be duller than a melted stick of butter. And considerably less interesting.
*Ebay is a bad bad bad evil naughty place. Just way too many things that I'm interested in there. From Heroscape stuff to pinball machines to old medical texts, they have it all......Dammit.
*
*Well, they're still calling for nasty nasty weather tomorrow. Yippee. The possibility of 7" of snow right out of the gate could really screw things up. Not to mention the rain we're supposed to have in the morning before the snow starts. But the shovels and the snowblower are out, accessible, and ready to go. Here's the question I have, though: Just how damn miserable will it be outside if there actually are 60 MPH winds tomorrow?
*The dishwasher is still dead(ish), with a projected repair date of sometime early next year. That news has made someone in the house very, very crabby. The other person in the house really couldn't care less.
*What would my top ten ZZ Top songs be? That was the interesting question I was recently asked. I am currently formulating an answer.
*Thus far, I am not thrilled with the seemingly tiny selection of widgets that are available on Wordpress, and the small number that can be used per page layout. I actually enjoyed the widgets that I had on my Blogger page, silly as they may have been. Maybe I just have to work my way over the learning curve before I get used to this new site. Did manage to figure out how to embed YouTube videos today, though.
*Why in the world would I even be considering moving anywhere other than somewhere warm right now??
*In response to the many complaints about the high school students speeding through the neighborhood, the city put up a bunch of stop signs and posted a 25 MPH neighborhood speed limit. In my opinion, that should work better than the speed bumps that a lot of people were wanting. Guess I'll have to wait until I'm home on a school day to see if all that has had any noticeable effect on the traffic, though.
*Here's hoping that Steph makes it safely down to TX before the weather closes in.
*The garage has now been sufficiently cleaned, cleared, and rearranged to admit Sheri's car. Yay for small victories. In the process of doing that, I did toss out a bunch of stuff that I had been saving, which always annoys me. I was annoyed to throw out the cardboard boxes because it means that the purple room is as cluttered and messy as it's ever been. I was annoyed to throw out the huge styrofoam coolers because it was an indication of just how little art I am producing. I was annoyed to move one of the piles of maple to the back patio for the same reason (as well as the fact that it had checked beyond belief). Don't really care for that much confirmation that I'm to not getting a lot of things done.
*"Cowboys and Aliens": a movie that somehow managed to be duller than a melted stick of butter. And considerably less interesting.
*Ebay is a bad bad bad evil naughty place. Just way too many things that I'm interested in there. From Heroscape stuff to pinball machines to old medical texts, they have it all......Dammit.
*
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