blue moon special

Heck, no one comes by on weekends anyway. The choice was to sit around and twiddle my thumbs... OK... one thumb twiddles the other just sits there not doing much of anything... or perhaps do a random post. Random post won out... after which I just may pop in a movie.

Speaking of movies... I re-watched Towering Inferno yesterday. Yes, I'll cop to the fact that I do own several disaster movies from the 70's... that I'll also admit I enjoy quite a bit. It's a guilty pleasure I've had for years. Yeah, most of them are cheezy... but that's half the fun. I think what has stuck in my mind is going to see them in the movie theaters and taking minor bets with the friends I went with on which characters would make it and which would bite a movie death. The bets were always taken out in the lobby as we looked at the cast pictures displayed on the poster. I remember that there was also always a display of production stills. Do they do that anymore? So, disaster movies became sort of a perverse sport. The only thing I do not own yet are the "Airport" movies. (The first one is still the best of the lot.) I still laugh out loud at "Airplane" because it is such a great take-off on those. George Kennedy sure got a lot of work when that genre hit. I think he was in just about every "Airport" ever made as well as "Earthquake" (dang, talk about cheezy).

My other guilty pleasure are horror movies from Hammer Studios... also from the 70's. Yeah, there are a lot of things from the 70's that I like. Can't help it... those were my formative years. Anyway, those movies still tickle my fancy. OK... admittedly the gratuitous and copious cleavage shots did help "up" the appeal quotient... but those guys knew horror. Really... the English have the blood and gore down to an art form from centuries of indiscriminate blood letting in their history. It really shows in these movies... and they are not even really trying... just cranking them out. I suspect that the tale of Sweeney Todd is just a charming bed-time story for the kids over there. Even watching these movies today... the blood seems redder than red. (For us color blind guys... this is big.) Plus, many of the movies actually had plots... bonus! Hmmm.... perhaps a Hammer movie is in order tonight. Vampire Lovers or Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde? Perfect for a blue moon night, don't you think?

I think most of what needs to be set-up for tomorrow has been taken care of. Now, all we can do is hope that a decent audience turns up to the gig. It's not exactly Shakespeare... but it will be a fun show for those who turn up. What happens tomorrow and how it happens will be a major factor in some decisions that I'll be making soon.

Now I think I'll pop a movie in... hmmm... let's see... oooh ... Taste the Blood of Dracula...

EDIT: 10 AM, Sunday
Speaking of Sweeney Todd... did you know a movie version of the Sondheim musical is currently in production directed by Tim Burton with Johnny Depp in the title role? Yeah... cool, huh?

Hmmm...

TIME WASTERS:

1. That's a LOT of Pork!
2. Food Timeline

SUBJECT LINES FROM EMAIL SPAM THIS MORNING
These all appeared in my spam folder in order... and if you read them one after another a strange logic begins to emerge.

• Make your penis strong and tireless
• Our SINGLES are Naughty - please date them this week
• Cleanse your Colon of Excess Weight & Toxins
  
• Make a difference as a nurse
• Fight Back Against 'Tax and Spend' Liberals
• Learn new Creative Painting techniques this summer
• Enroll Today and Walk Away with a Pedometer

• Improve your sexual life and save up to 80% Grow Grass in the Shade or Shady Areas Guaranteed Acceptance Endless opportunities for interior designers Classes start soon!

The annual Terrace block sale.

2 streets south of where I live this annual event was in full swing this morning. I could hear early vultures gather as early as 5 in the AM.

Actually, the Terrace sale marks the end of block sale season in the hood. just about every street here has one. It usually begins in mid-April and runs till Memorial weekend. Terrace Avenue is the grand-daddy of all the block sales here and features over 4 blocks of stuff from nicks to nacks to powerboats.

It's quite the fun excursion on a Saturday morning and if you are a deal-finder you could score quite the bargain. Yeah, the vanishing point in the above picture is about 2 blocks.


Teeming with folk the usually quiet neighborhood gets just that side of wacky once a year. Below is a slide show of my impressions of this morning.

I of course went in search of food and came home to stuff my face with pork tamales and eggrolls with a little chillie garlic sauce on the side.

BURP!

BTW... pics were taken with my latest toy... er... equipment... not bad, huh?

Is that enough of a weekend read? Now go out and burn some meat, eat some watermelon... or something.

I miss not going to...

... the local java joint. Perhaps if I get my chores done early tomorrow I will. The whether is perfect right now and it would be nice to see the gang for a bit.

All the old routines I used to engage in have shifted dramatically. I'm not complaining... this shift was necessitated by circumstance. Actually, I don't miss the old too much... but a break from the present would be refreshing. Just for a change of pace if nothing else.

I wasn't as distracted today and did some needed cleanup around the house. These simple accomplishments made me feel a load better. Yes, there is a lot more to be accomplished and I'll take focused stabs for a couple of hours every day until I feel that the "unnecessaries" have been discarded. Lots of those around here at the moment. How and why do we accumulate all this stuff?

Like... why do I have 6 trench coats? Yes, I am a bit of a fan of noir... and Bogey does cut a fine figure in one... but 6 trench coats? Down the line I'll probably ask the same question about the piths I presently treasure.

Anyway, even after these accomplishments I was still not quite focused... so I popped in The Red Violin and watched it again. I quite enjoyed it again. of late I've once again taken up to watching movies in my DVD collection. Something I haven't done in over 6 months.

Hmmm... perhaps something with Bogart tomorrow.

I felt so distracted today...

... I did the laundry twice. At least I know the clothes are doubly clean now. I really don't like being distracted. Though it could be argued that dealing with any sort of creative activity is actually a form of mega-distraction... at least within the conventional world. When one is in the frenzy of a creative project there actually is purpose to the distraction. Not like today... it was useless distraction all around... except for really clean clothes.

A friend recently commented that I have the patience of Job. I do. It's a trait that I inherited from my father. The common logic shared was that fretting, nagging and stressing over something that is not in one's control didn't make it move any faster. There are exceptions to the rule though... tardiness and flakiness. That's just inconsiderate and plain rude. The irony is that I live in a state where "Dude, I flaked." is actually considered a legitimate excuse.

Mum Update: She's been doing pretty well over the last few days. I think getting breakfast to her earlier in the mornings may have something to do with it. Though in certain quarters I know I'm still being judged with not doing enough for her... but that ain't my problem.

Well, I think that takes care of the randomness for today. Now to catch the season finale of "Heros".

blogger is being a bugger so it's time for mexican beer.

The case of Mexican beer courtesy of my friend, Trashed, who visited on Sunday. Bloody blogger issues... an on going headache that really chapping my hide at the moment.

See, I'm trying to finish off a web design project for a couple of musician friends of mine. (Yeah, a paying gig.) Blogger will be used as the "news & gigs" component that they can easily update themselves. Trouble is that uploading the template has just been a bitch. OK... enough geek talk. (Promise I'll post the site once it's completed.)

So, be assured that this post will take on a somewhat random stride.

Revelation: I'm close to something but it's not there yet. What is it they say? An inch is as good as a mile?

I was chatting with a fellow blogger earlier and the subject of a succubus came up. (Yeah, talk about random.) Anyway, I suddenly began visualizing a succubus having her way with guys on the street in broad daylight. Can you just see the facial contortions and hip grinding spontaneously occurring? Talk about the Ministry of Silly Walks coming alive.

An unrelated but equally bizarre idea was bandied about for a sketch comedy a few weeks ago when the lovely Mia was in town. It involved the Department of Homeland Security hiring meth addicts to reconstruct shredded documents.

I think that's all the randomness for this week... or at least today... or this hour.

Once Was Enough

Or... 10 things I had a wonderful time while I was doing them... but which I wouldn't do again.

Here they are in random order.

1. being born.
2. catching a 10 foot python with my other 11 year old neighborhood pals at an abandoned mining pool.
3. once being married.
   
4. starting an arts festival.
5. engaging in a "liaison" on baggage carousel number 3, terminal 2, SF airport... while that section was under renovation.
   
6. performing at the Kennedy Center.
7. attending and graduating from university.
8. riding the Greyhound cross country from Fresno to Boston in the dead of Winter.
   
9. becoming a King Scout.
10. writing a deeply personal angst ridden play.

EDIT: 9 PM
So, last week for the first time ever I actually watched an episode of Ghost Whisperer. It was one of those "to be continued" episodes and I turned it on tonight as the storyline was somewhat intriguing. My question is... what is with Jennifer Love Hewitt's wardrobe? Look I'm not against flaunting one's assets... but doing so with every costume in every scene is just a little distracting. Do the producers just not trust the material or is there a special "push the tatas" clause in the contract?

i've been a myspace ho...

... of late "friending" all sorts of folk for Jungle Webs (yeah, Jungle Webs has a MySpace page as well. If you have one... go ahead and friend it.) "Networking" is not something I had cared to do not that long ago. But thats the name of the game if you want to push a product... be it a new play or web solution products. I've been actively "friending" anywhere between 120 to 160 myspacers a day and getting about 50 to 70 "adds" from each session... not a bad average.

The cleanup that was planned for yesterday didn't happen... so today will have to be the make up for it. If I can get the office and the yard into shape today... at least that would be something.

Putting THIS LINK on here just because I feel like having a whale on my desktop. Reminds me of a show Kamotion and I caught once at the SF Fringe where (as part to the show... an absurdist musical about the food chain) a whale actually appeared on stage as part of the final scene.

Who knows... there may be more later in the day... or not.

EDIT: BTW... just wrote a new article which is posted HERE.