Epicurean!

I love it...

http://www.salon.com/books/what_to_read/index.html?story=/books/laura_miller/2011/09/11/swerve

As an admitted Epicurean, I love seeing Epicureanism get a tip of the hat!

Saturday

Beautiful weather this weekend, although very fall-like, the light fading quicker. Exene dropped the boys off earlier today, because she was getting her hair done. She hadn't called ahead on this, just showed up with the boys, which put me in a bad spot, since I'd planned on getting errands run when she turned up. She said she'd mind them earlier some other time, but I have to be sure to make a note of that, so I don't get screwed over.

Saw some Halloween stuff turning up in stores. Amazing to see that stuff so early, nearly two months before Halloween. I hate to see Christmas stuff waiting in the wings too early, too. That bugs me. Each holiday should have a fair amount of "breathing space" for it to be its own thing, rather than a blur.

I'm tired tonight.

Rise and Fall

Man, those lakefront winds keep coming. Definitely no Indian Summer this September, it would seem. We went full-bore into Fall! I'm tired, kinda brain-fried at the moment (work was busy), but all is mostly well, I think.

Spittin' Mad

I'm a bit sore. The autumn winds are picking up at the lake shore, as they always do, which makes biking along that route tougher. My cruising speed with my bike is about 12 mph, and when you've got an 11-mph headwind blasting you in the face, it makes for a helluva slog.

Had some crazy asshole spit at me yesterday. He was this little goblin of a man. I was at an intersection, checking the time on my iPhone (the wind was making me mindful of my pacing for the ride, as I had a meeting to go to), and I hear *PTOOEY* at me, and turned, and the guy made this nonchalant look, hastily, like he'd just realized he'd bitten off more than he could chew. Nasty lil' guy, looked like late 40s, maybe (?), baseball cap jammed on his head, grimy, one of those paranoid schizophrenic-looking types. Anyway, when I realized what he'd done, I rode after him on my bike. He'd ducked by one of the CTA bus kiosks to dodge me, but I wheeled around and gave him a retributive spit on his back, then rode for my meeting. He spat back at me one more time as I rode off. Not a word was spoken, didn't have to be. The fucker knew what he'd done. He probably couldn't believe somebody would retaliate in kind, but that's how it goes. Spit for spat, Fucko. He's just lucky I had to go to a meeting, or I'd have really gone Celtic on him and pummeled him into the ground for that kinda shit (although, if I'd done that, bystanders would've just seen me beating the shit out of this goblin-man, wouldn't have seen the precipitating event, so I'd have likely been the one to get in trouble, had I gone that route; I was a model of restraint in that I only spat on him). Anyway, after 18 years in the city, I guess something nuts like that was bound to happen. It was a first for me, though. *PTOOEY* Spitfight with a vagabond! Can mark that off my list of life experiences.

The meeting went well, btw. I was inwardly amused by that, as I gave my presentation. Little did anyone know that I'd had that nonsense on the front end of my day.

Pigeons, Man

I hate pigeons, but this is a great shot of the wretched things, I must admit...

But I still hate pigeons.

September

Hope your September is a smooth one...

Yawn

I'm kinda brain-fried at the moment. The locals were loud last night, which woke me up, making it hard to get back to sleep. When the bars close, the suburbanites get restless! It always kills me, hearing the drunkards bellowing and hopping in their cars to drive home. *choke*

My mom got an iPhone, which is like an existential nightmare -- the last thing one needs is one's parent to have a smartphone, to then call and inquire about its functions and what-not. Lordy!

Labor Dazed

Wow, it feels like it's going to be a hot one today. It's already warmish. I've got the a/c on, of course, but I turn it off in the wee hours of the morning, and I can feel that it's warm.

I underslept, but am awake for the moment. Labor Day Weekend. Good lord. I'm still only barely accepting that it's September, now. WTF? Amazing.

I've got to clean up the apartment, especially the boys' room. That's one of my to-do things on my list for this long weekend. Fun, right? Woo hoo! Still, needs to be done, and it feels kind of right, getting the boys' room all squared away before school starts.

I'm watching the "Battlestar Galactica" remake. I'd watched some of the first season, but had never followed the show when it was on. I'm enjoying it, although the Starbuck annoys the shit out of me -- she's got dead eyes, which creeps the hell out of me. Kudos to Edward James Olmos -- his Adama is badass. Cool customer, conveyed perfectly. I always enjoyed Olmos when he'd turn up in a movie, but his Adama is sharp. Cool old guy.

There are a few rough edges here and there in the plotting and characterization, but overall, it's a smooth effort, better than most stuff I've scene. My boys love the ships. Makes me wish I still had my original Colonial Viper and Cylon Raider from long, long ago (I had those things for a very long time, too, until losing track of them at some point).

Anyway, the weekend will be me cleaning, writing, and watching "Galactica" and taking the boys to the park to enjoy a last summery hurrah before they're back in school.

Liked this SLATE piece on bitters, btw. Everything's better with bitters!

1100 posts on this blog. Woo hoo!

Woof!

I was pleased to find Newcastle Werewolf on the shelves again. That's their limited edition beer that's on sale from August until October. I had to get it, to try it. Good stuff.

I love Newcastle, and this brew of theirs was mighty tasty. Still amazed that fall is nearly here, can't believe that September starts tomorrow. WTF? The boys will be in school this time next week.

Rocketeers

I took the boys to a slammin' playground this weekend, which was this great, big rocket/spaceship-themed playground...

There are at least five slides on this sucker, varying speeds.

That's the boys in silhouette, plotting on the "flight deck."

The boys loved it. B1 said it was the most fun playground he'd ever seen, so I was full of glee at that. I had only happened upon it by chance, as the fun discoveries so often are. I had rented a car and we cruised out to see it.

Afterward, we stopped by a Super Target to get a few things, which the boys also enjoyed. The loved going on a mini road trip. It's fun, because a simple trip to the 'burbs can seem like a grand adventure to a kid. B2 was fond of all the trees, and all the graveyards (!!) -- he was fascinated by those. B1 was more fond of studying the El train lines and radio towers, and being able to see the city from a distance.

They had a blast. I let them play for a couple of hours, with a big group of other kids in the rocket(s). B1 was kind and noble again -- some kid who was roughly his age (maybe even a year older?) was afraid to go up high in the rocket (you can't necessarily tell, but the thing is tall, at least 20 feet, maybe more?) and I overheard B1 talking to the kid, reassuring him -- "It's alright. Just climb up, and you'll see that it's safe." He spoke calmly, gently to the kid, and actually talked the kid up into the tower, said "See? Nothing to worry about." I thought that was so sweetly benevolent of him -- his character in action again, that sense of empathy and compassion. He mentioned it later, said something about that kid being afraid, but he showed him it was nothing to be afraid of, and I said he did a good and kind thing by helping that kid overcome his fear, and that I was proud of him.

The boys had such a good time, I was pleased that the playground didn't disappoint. Just a playground, sure, but those moments are precious with little kids, and with B1 turning 10 next year, I have to cherish them while I can! He's fast becoming a big boy! I wanted to give the boys a little special summer fun, since this summer was kind of disjointed.

Saw

I watched "Jacob's Ladder" the other day; a movie I haven't seen since the early 90s. It's a harrowing, strange kind of movie, very of its time. The McCauley Culkin role in it was something I'd forgotten, and, these days, made the movie more traumatizing for me, whereas back before being a parent, when I saw it, it was merely sad. Needless to say, not a movie I need to see again, although the head-whipping effect in it was inspired, since it was done at production, by altering the film speed and having the actors whip their heads around while keeping their shoulders still -- the net effect being when they ran it normal speed, it turns their heads into these blurs of motion, which is disarming. Neat of the director to have thought of it.

I also saw (get it?) "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (original one, naturally), which I also hadn't seen in a very long time. Still packs a punch. Given that they shot that on a shoestring budget, it went well for them, in terms of final product. What's amazing is how much terror they get with barely any blood. For all the legions of imitators that followed, how much gore came in its wake, TCSM manages to horrify with barely any blood and gore -- the horror and terror comes from implication and insinuation, which is a sign of good filmmaking. I was watching the production notes on it, and during the infamous meathook scene, Tobe Hooper wanted the hook to go all the way through Pam's back, with blood and what-not. But his designer said "No, if you do that, everybody's gonna be focused on the effect, on how you did it. Don't show it, and they'll be focused on the scene." And it's true. They really hit the nail on the head (so to speak) with the less is more approach -- the audience's imagination becomes the canvas, and you feel it more keenly because of it.

Nowadays, 'more is less' is the dominant aesthetic -- with lightning-quick cuts and rapid-fire editing in place of story content or setting up of scenes. Even a little thing like a frickin' clucking chicken, in the context of the movie, is horrifying. I always loved Leatherface's "chainsaw dance" at the end...



The lighting of it is beautiful, the golden glow of a new day, and it manages to convey complete insanity without a word spoken. Well done!

"Apollo 18" comes out September 2. I'm hoping it's good. The trailers seemed promising. I shall see, will let you know, Gentle Readers.

Up in the Air

Summer is usually my revision time for writing projects, since Fall/Winter are my prime new material-writing time, just because as the weather gets worse, the prime "writing weather" begins. Although, with this being such a stormy summer, I had more opportunities to get some new stuff done, except for the computer woes causing troubles. Anyway, taking stock, I have 10 book projects lined up, which is a ton. That'll likely keep me busy for the next couple of years, given my schedule. I also have 8 screenplay ideas, although, as ever, screenplays are elusive beasts for me, so I can't necessarily bank on those. I may turn them into short stories, so at least they'll be done in some form, versus just ideas. I'm a firm believer in writing, versus "idea-having" as so many people are about creating. People who are like "I have a great idea for X" are a dime-a-dozen; the vast majority never do squat with their "Great Ideas." Me, I never think my ideas are all that great, but I at least follow through on them and get the fuckers written. So, anyway, realistically, with the above slate of writing projects lined up, I'm good for a couple of years, at least. I try to stay disciplined and work my way through them -- two of the ideas are sequels for books I've already written, so those will likely be at the end of the line, as I really want to work on the new ideas, first.

Thunderbirds at the Air & Water Show.

Anyway, that's all that's going on with that.

Summer's End

Can't believe school's just around the corner for the boys; this summer has flown by. Everybody says that about time, but lordy, I felt it. This has been a strange year for me; good in so many ways, but strange, all the same. Somehow, conceptually, being 41 has had more of an impact on me than being 40. At least 40 had the luxury of being equidistant between 30 and 50; 41 is one step (heh, stagger) closer to 50. Gen X isn't supposed to be middle-aged; it's just wrong. Was talking with some coworkers today, and it was clear that I was older than they were -- like we were talking about 4th grade, and I had said I was in 4th grade in 1980, and they were like "Whoa." Hah. Of course, 1980 was a long time ago, now. It's just weird -- much of the 00s were kind of lost to me because of the boys, just Baby Boot Camp and that kind of thing, and navigating the many shoals in my life at that time -- I remember 1980 and 1990 more clearly than I remember 2000, in many ways. And now we're heading toward the end of 2011. Lordy. Even my "young" buds trend 30, now. That's surreal. I remember a point in my past when I knew people who were 20-somethings (this would've been when I was in my mid-20s), and I was thinking "Wow, my friends aren't kids, now; they're actual, legal adults." And now it's the equivalent, just older. Ah, well. I feel middle-aged, whatever that means, anymore. Still in my prime, but no longer a kid, and aware of that, and yet, not hobbled by it. I remember folks who were old codgers at 18 years of age; lord knows what they are now. Undead? Ha.

The boys are growing up so quickly, and growing tall. Trippy.

I saw the remake of "The Crazies." They did a good job with it, actually. Weird to think that a movie that was neck-deep in Nixonian paranoia is so topical nowadays. But it is. They did a good job with a much-bigger budget. Not a classic movie, but a good, disarming remake.