ICU

Rapture Ready?

All you tinfoil cap-wearing folks, here's your soundtrack (near-perfect, really)...

Villainous Villainess

I figured out the perfect movie move for Gwyneth Paltrow -- villainess! I doubt she's got the moxie to ever make that move, but she should, because her icily patrician, "rich girl next door" bearing, and those dead eyes would make her a perfect (and classic) villain. It's a far cooler move than her whole "country music starlet" thing she's doing these days...

Yeah, so...

...Comcast came Monday, but I had missed their confirmation call when the tech had gotten to my place, so I missed them, had to reschedule. Tonight, I made sure that things went well.

Some of my family is in town, and it was nice seeing them. The city is all foggy, so it was kind of nice. The boys enjoyed seeing some relatives on my side of the family -- they hadn't seen them since the road trip last year (or was it the year before? Lordy, I lost track) to the mountains down south.

Things are going pretty well, all around. I've been having some odd dreams of late -- various people I know have had walk-on parts in my dreams, to the extent that I kind of jolt in my dream, like my subconscious kinda goes "Whhhha -- ?"

Once the weather gets reliably good, I'm going to bike to work again. I like working in my fitness routine into my commute that way.

FINALLY

Comcast finally came through, replaced their faulty modem, so my computer at home is, again, Net-compatible. I know you've all been worried, wondering when my sparkly self would return. Bahah!

I have to mentally backtrack, since I'm many days behind, obviously!

DSOL

Thanks to some hi-tech glitchery, my DSL connection at home is screwed. So, I decided to make an entry using my iPhone, just out of spite. Love how a problem occurs on a Friday and they cannot get to it until Monday. Woo hoo.

C'est Magnifique!

This is a stitch...

Religious Cleansing

Oh, my. "Yes, a Rolex watch will take away the demons...."

3 accused in Fla. with evil spirit cleansing scam
By Associated Press

Three women are accused in Florida with scamming people out of thousands of dollars by promising to cleanse them of evil spirits.

Federal prosecutors in Fort Lauderdale say 36-year-old Polly Evans, 32-year-old Bridgette Evans, and 22-year-old Olivia Evans are facing federal fraud charges. Court records Monday did not list lawyers for them.

Prosecutors say they promised people they could get rid of evil spirits through religious cleansing. One person was told a Rolex watch was needed to remove demons. Prosecutors say at least $59,000 was scammed from victims in the U.S. and the Caribbean nation of Anguilla.

Bridgette Evans, who is Polly's sister, is being held without bail in South Florida. Polly and Olivia Evans, who are mother and daughter, were arrested in Texas and will be extradited to Florida.

And speaking of evil spirits, the Kardashians are influencing baby names.

iKnow, Right?

I picked up an iPhone today; it's been about three years since I got my first cell phone (I held off for the longest time), decided that I should treat myself, get an iPhone. Like all Apple stuff, it's slick, cool, and incredibly obtuse -- it somehow manages to be easy to use while also stonewalling you. Maybe I'm just so used to PC-based computer tech that I run into a bit of culture shock with Apple products. It's like having a semi-helpful acquaintance who insists "No, really, it's so much better if you go THIS way." and you tell'em "But I want to go THAT way." and the "helper" is like "Well, you COULD do that, but why would you? THIS way is so much better." Seems like all Apple products are like that. I already miss my lil' old phone, although it had been dropped enough times that, while faithfully serving its purpose, it was showing wear and tear. Maybe I'll get used to it, or maybe not. I'm glad I gave the iMac we had to Exene, honestly. So much behind-the-curtain stuff with PCs is more accessible than the cryptic, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtains" mumbo-jumbo of Apple stuff. We'll see how it goes.

Predatory

Happy Birthday to Kevin Peter Hall!! (he played the Predator)...



His first screen role was the monster bear in "Prophecy" (which scared the hell out of me as a kid -- seriously, I resolved to NEVER be in a sleeping bag like that because of this movie)...



Of course, I can laugh about it, now. But as a 9-year-old, it was scary as hell!

Viva La France

Here's a great shot of the tiny, beautiful, late Marie-France Pisier...

Splinter, Triangle, Pix, Batteries

Just a quiet Sunday night for me -- trucked the boys to Exene's, where they were, as always, reluctant to be. I watched "Splinter" -- an indie horror/monster movie. A nice effort, I have to say, and a nasty monster. Not a perfect story, but it managed to hold onto its tension nicely, despite this. I liked the quiet implications of the monster, without it being made implicit. I think that was a nice move on the part of the filmmakers, and the movie overall was a good effort, although very indie, so small-scale, although well-shot, so you didn't feel it so much. I also watched "Triangle" the day before, which was a UK horror (?) thriller (?) that was perhaps a more intriguing/disturbing movie with a curious plot twist in it that was rife with possibilities. I won't go into it, as it would spoil the movie, but it went into a very odd place, and kept getting more tangled, which compelled me to watch it to get a sense of where it was going. The writer(s) surely had fun with it.

Speaking of having fun, I've mentioned how much I am enjoying my new camera, right? I bought a couple of quads of rechargeable AA batteries, so I can always have the sucker ready to go. The thing uses four AA's at a time, so I went with the rechargeable batteries to keep the batteries out of landfills!

"Herr Schiller! Sie haben eine Möwe auf den Kopf!!"

HMD

Happy Mother's Day to all the good mothers out there, doing their thing. I know our patriarchal culture devalues the hard work you do, but as a hard-working single dad, I get it, I understand. Stay strong!

I bought a new dining room table and chairs for the boys and me. Looks sharp! I also bought a new vase for my clementine sapling, giving it room to grow further.