Thursday, April 27, 2006

I have a cat too...

We got him during hurricane Francis.  He just showed up during the storm and moved in.  he's quite a character and he comes and goes as he pleases, opening the doors himself and surprising us.  Now, if we could just get him to shut the doors as well.  We didn't know him as a kitten, but I guess it could be something like this.

As he is named Francis, people assume he is a girl.  Francis can be a boy's name... right?

Francis Young 

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A rather lousy day....

The little blue rat you've seen earlier in February was based on Sasha. She died tonight just three days shy of her 2nd birthday. She was not feeling so well for the past few months and required hand feeling and a lot of attention. Sasha was pretty, very lady-like, gentile, and sweet natured. Her fur color is called "blue" but it is actaully a shiny silvery gray. Most ratties have very complex fur with layered colors. The "guard hairs" are usually darker and combined with the finer outer hairs produce some very beautiful fur. Prettier than any cats or dogs I've seen. Sasha has passed and she will be missed.

Sasha

I tried playing drums again tonight and couldn't endure more than 5 minutes. My right hand starts to go numb and aches. I can't feel my hand and therefore can't contol the stick. If I could control the stick the pain is too much to keep playing. I might be able to play slow ballads, but I enjoy playing fast songs whether it is punk, swing or country. I spent a long time developing my hand speed by playing along to Ramones records. It's very depressing not being able to play drums after doing it for over 20 years. Maybe in a few years my shoulder and hand will heal enough to be a drummer again.

Other things that suck:

I rented The Rocketeer a film that I remember enjoying when it came out. It was one of the best comic book movies made up until that point and I was a big fan of Dave Steven's comic. Well, the DVD blows. The audio is out of sync, the picture is washed out and not even anamorphic widescreen. This fun, exciting flick deserves better.

Republicans have totally neutered the lobbying reform bill they were "working on". But, you won't hear anything about it. It's like everything in this administration... just say you are doing something, but don't actually do it. Nobody will actually investigate the claims these politician make. They get credit for something they never accomplish. This is known as lip-service and the American people are stupid enough to buy it and the press is impotent enough to ignore it. It makes me sick.

Also, Turbulence 3 sucked, but not enough. Slade Craven.. part Marylon Manson, part Alice Cooper... lands the plane Airplane style and everyone ends up in couples right down to the nerdy FBI agent who turns into a sex kitten in the end.

To add to that, I'm discusted that it cost $45 fill up my gas tank for my work trip to Orlando tomorrow. And no, I don't drive and SUV! And no, work doesn't cover my gas expenses.

So, no good news today.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Bad Movies I Love!

Lance Henriksen

There are some bad movies that I will stumble across on the satellite and get caught up in, and finish the whole thing.  Showgirls is an obvious example of a film so bad you must watch.  Not only was it directed by the same guy who did "RoboCop", but Gina Gershon is in it.  Road House with Patrick Swayze is another stinker that never fails to enetertain.  Mr. Swayze stars along with Keanu Reeves in Point Break, a spiral turd of awfulness that captures my attention throughout.  Only Keanu reeves can convince you his character is stupid enough to jump out of a plane without a 'cute.  Stone Cold is another carp-fest biker film that is saved by Lance Henriksen, who gives another good performance in a bad movie.  This film also features a motorcycle hitting a helicopter and then crashing into a car.  No... I'm serious. 

 Lance Henriksen has been in a lot of movies.  Quite a lot.   Many are bad.  He is usually good despite the work around him and he is mostly cast as a cop or the heavy. He has a number of memeorable charcaters in some mediocre movies: The Quick and the Dead, Hard target, Stone Cold, Near Dark, Johnny Handsome and Aliens.  His intensely lined face makes for some downright terrifying moments in Johnny Handsome.  He is a character actor who ends up in a tons of B-Movies, but unlike some actors, he works a lot.  He has over 100 roles to his credit and where he is often is a rose among thorns.

The reason this topic comes up is I have rented Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal.  I haven't seen a bad rock movie since Rockstar.  A raging shitstorm of a picture that is redeemed by the main character morphing into Eddie Vedder at the end to create "real music".  I laughed so hard I think I broke a rib.  It might even make the top 5 list above.  I will see if it seasons with age. 

The film tonight offers the folowing description: "Slade Craven, rock superstar and reigning king of Death Metal, has planned a concert unlike anything the world has ever seen.  He'll be performing for a cargo load of lucky fans onboard a 747 jumbo jet as it flies from LA to Toronto.  The entire spectacle with be broadcast on the Internet via web music network ZTV.  But, murder and mayhem take over as one sadistic fan hijacks the plane and kills anyone who gets in the way of his ultimate satanic plan!  Starring Rutger Hauer".

 Full review to follow.  And no, I haven't seen Turbulence 1 or 2 so I hope I'm not lost on the intricacies of plot developements that have occured previously.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Man, there is some nasty stuff on the internet!

Garofolo Smile

Google Jeneane and you will find a lot of hatefull, nasty stuff.  Personal attacks just because she was right about the war and was part of the great TV Nation.

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#3 in a Series Beautiful Progressives

Jeneane Garofolo

The lovely Janeane Garofolo.  Beautiful, smart, digs punk rock, outspoken liberal, atheist,... what more can I say?  Well, look at that smile.  Find a more beautiful smile.  I dare you!  She limits her career options by being brave enough to speak her mind.  She appeared on an episode on Seinfeld as the girl so perfect for Jerry that he had to break up with her.  She was on TV Nation, Michael Moore's great show that that was too critical of corporations to be allowed to live.  She also was a character (which is probably much like she is in life) on The Larry sanders show.  I will watch anything with the lovely Janeane.

I also have a thing for girls with glasses.Š

Never again!!!!

Tom Delay

Just because this horrible Howdy-Doody toad creature is out, doesn't mean we should forget.  Never let another piece of walking garbage like this make decisions for our country.  Do not let Delay be forgotten!!!

Lovecraft

Another LovecraftLoveCraft

I think I prefer the top one.  Mmmm.

 

I just saw two different Lovecarft adaptations: Call of Cthulhu and Dreams in the Witch House.  One was a fairly big-budget, modern version done for Showtime by an experienced directior.  The other was a no-budget black and white silent flm.  What?  Yes, to keep with the period of the Lovecraft stories, the film is set in 1926 and shot in black and white and with a non-sync score.  Both are good, but I really enjoyed Call of Cthulhu.  These guys did a great job with almost no money, but keepng the film black and white and silent.  Let this be a lesson to you aspiring low-budget filmakers, if you have no cash... go black and white.  Maybe even 8mm.  It hides all flaws! The extra features that detail how the special effects were accomplished are well worth your time, and the disc is well worth the $20 for any Lovecraft fan.  Please see http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html for more information.  These guys deserve our support and money.  Maybe they will make another film as good as this one.

 The Showtime produced series, Masters of Horror features a number of noteable directors, including John Carpenter, and Takashi Mike.  The first one I saw was by Stuart Gordon, who has adapted Lovecraft before in Re-Animator.  This one wasn't bad.  A little blood a little TnA.  And of course the protagonist ends up in an asylum.  The only problem I had was the rat with a human face.  It didn't work for me.  It looked a bit silly, like a character from Narnia.  The should have just made the rat's face a bit human in expression and had it speak.  It's wrth a rent though and is better than most LoveCraft films.

 

Comics have done a far better job of adapting Lovecraft.  Seek out Skull issues 4 and 5 for more details.

If you are mad at Rumsfeld...

Blame this guy.  He tried to resign once.  This 'tard keeps him there.  If you don't like what Rumsfeld has done, you only have Bush to blame.  He's the "Decider".Serious Tard

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Glad to see you go! Goodbye!

Scotty Boy

An Otter

Tried my hand (so to speak) at drawing a bit after my recent shoulder re-injury at the beginning of the month.  My hand aches and I can't feel the brush in my hand after about 20 minutes.  I had to stop once during this drawing.  It was inked with a brush over a very loose pencil sketch. 

 Sorry there haven't been more drawings lately, but my hand is making things diffiult.

 Otter

Sunday, April 9, 2006

Another old engine

What an insomniac does at 1:oo AM

Thor Motor

Another sign of the end times.

Narnia (the movie) is being advertised as "own it in time for easter".  Good lord!  I actaully enjoyed the movie, but now it is being sold as more religious crapola to cloud rational minds.  Ugh.  I tried to watch it without a religious context, but now all I see is a Jesus/Lion!

O.K. I'm pissed!

Does anyone share my rage at sports delaying 60 Minutes for almost an hour?  I didn't get 60 Minutes until 7:45.  Why?  GOLF!  A "sport" so boring that watching it causes spontaneous narcolepsy.  An activity created so business people can make deals while playing it.  Something guaranteed to prevent adrenaline intake.  To be fair, Football and Basketball also screw this up.

 

I'm going back to my Documentary on Bukowski.  Gotta ice my shoulder so I can build a drum this week.  My kit needs another floor tom.

Messed up my shoulder again

After working a trade show in Orlando, I popped my shoulder.  I don't know exactly what happened, but the soulder made a popping noise and now my hands vary between aching and bnumbness.  This makes is very difficult to play the drums or draw for more than a few minutes.  Below is my first attempt lately.  This is a drawing of an old Cyclone motorcycle engine from the early part of the last century.  T-shirts with a version of this design and many others are available from www.zazzle.com/kimwood  Please see if there is anything you like.  If there is a drawing I've done that you would like on a shirt, just e-mail me and I will post it at zazzle.Cyclone tonedCyclone engine