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.

Fright Night

On a whim, I caught the remake of "Fright Night," since that was a movie I enjoyed as a teen. I didn't expect to enjoy the remake as much as I did, but it was fun. Not the same movie as the original, but it was entertaining in its wry, self-referential way. Colin Farrell was amusing as the vampire. It was clear he was having a good time during it. There was even a cameo by Chris Sarandon, the original Jerry from "Fright Night." I don't like how Hollywood is eating its own tail with the remakes, but this one was a decent effort that managed to pay homage to its predecessor with a number of wry winks to it. I was surprised the movie was 2 hours long -- it felt rushed in places, despite the length, and it jumped right into the plot without wasting too much of that time with the whole "coming to believe" in vampires kind of expository build-up. In fact, the role of tech in the "outing" of the vampire is a nice addition. Cell phones, phonecams, camcorders, closed-circuit televisions -- all play parts in it, hearkening to the Surveillance State we live in these days, with everybody watching everybody else.

Anyway, the movie amused and entertained me, and had me laughing a lot throughout it. The theater was packed, too. I didn't see the 3D version, because I find the whole 3D thing irksome, and, of course, this was shot with a 3D version, naturally, and you can see the parts where they'd indulge that. I am really hoping 3D mania subsides.

I also saw that they're doing a remake of the Carpenter remake of "The Thing." WTF? It looked good, inasmuch as they were bringing CGI effects to zazz up the alien in it, but still, I cannot imagine the remake would displace the original remake, which remains a classic.

The Air & Water Show is this weekend, as mentioned before. Should be loud as ever. After living in Chicago for so long, I'm pretty used to it, although it's still impossible to ignore.

Bubbly

Yesterday was an idyllic summer day. For mid-August, it was really great weather. Not used to such mild August weather in Chicago, for sure. One of the boys' friends had her birthday, so the boys went to her party up on our deck, and I picked them up there. There were nice, summery breezes blowing, and the party hosts had brought bubbles for the kids to play with, so I joined in and the winds were strong enough that you just had to hold the wand and bubbles would blow, so I did that for a few minutes, filling the air with bubbles, which the boys enjoyed, watching the wind take them far.

B1's school still mandates cursive writing, so I've been working with him on that. He's (gradually) getting better. I was telling him about that super-dark planet (has an albedo ranking of 1 or something like that), and just how dark that was. He thought that was cool.

I got a new case for my iPhone. Very exciting. Hah! My older one was starting to crack a bit, so I got a new one.

The Air & Water Show is on this weekend, so the jets and planes are practicing through the city. Looks like it's the Thunderbirds this year, as I saw their F-16s blasting between the skyscrapers yesterday during my lunchtime ramble. Some tourists from Japan were horrified at the noise the jets made -- they gazed skyward in dismay. I felt like saying "Welcome to America, where War is Peace -- All War, All the Time." Honestly, they looked truly put out by it.

Yeargh

So, I'm still trying to suss out what the problem is with the computer. I think it's Comcast that's the problem, since I got a new cable modem and hooked that up and it was still having problems. The old modem is still configured to the system, so it works, somewhat. Frickin' Comcast. This has been about three weeks' worth of annoyance. I haven't been able to devote as much attention to it as I'd like, because of work schedules and what-not. Yeargh.

Fall is creeping closer. Amazing how quickly the summer evaporated. The days are getting shorter, and a bit of autumn chill is creeping in. Before I know it, the boys'll be in school again. Lordy.

Work has been good, although I don't really talk to anybody so much, just do my thing. That's the thing about editorial work and writing -- you just do that. I don't complain about it; it's part of the discipline. All the same, it's very quiet.

Saturdave

Busy day yesterday -- groceries, then taking the boys to swimming, then a quick jaunt to Target. I had rented a BMW for the errands, which was fun. That thing could run! B2 loves Beemers, so he was thrilled to ride around in one. We also got rained on by one of the umpteen storms coming through.

Frickin' computer is still fucked.

Noisy

Man, amazing weather for August! Perfect biking weather, a welcome relief from the crazy-ass heat we've been having.

The city's Streets & Sanitation department have gotten to work early today. They've got some super-loud truck going outside today. Damned loud, damned early. The thing runs from about 80 dB to over 90 dB at its loudest.

Technotrauma

Argh! Telecom woes continue, cranked up a notch. For some reason, my iPhone was locked up last night -- the phone stuff worked, but the Net stuff didn't. Not sure if it was solar flares, the labor issues, bad juju, or what, but between my computer being screwy, my cable being screwy, and my phone being screwy, it was like the technotrauma trifecta. Good lord. The phone's back on track, the television's still screwy (some channels no sound, some okay -- I had called Comcast and their robots told me service calls had already been made to the area, but clearly the problems they fixed weren't the problems I was having with my television). At this point, I'm thinking of just axing Comcast and finding another provider, maybe just for Internet. Just because there aren't that many shows I watch on television, anymore, anyway. The boys would miss PBS, of course, but most of those shows are reruns, anyway, and we've got a lot of DVDs that they tend to watch more. Screw it. I'm just tired of Comcast boning things up the way they seem to do so routinely. The only reason I'm on at the moment is because I got my computer running for the moment, using every bit of tech tactics I know. Sheesh.

So, Melanie should win SYTYCD. I think she's a shoe-in. If she doesn't win, I'll be very surprised. We'll see.

Cackle

Alright, this is amusing me. My newer computer (circa September 2010) has been on the fritz lately, plagued by some frickin' malware from Hell and/or virus that causes my browser to crash. No idea what the deal is. Anyway, I have done everything I could with that computer, still can't get it fixed, yet. Meantime, it occurred to me that I have my old computer laying around, which I'd kept because I hadn't migrated files to it. On a whim, I decided to hook it back up to the Net (the thing has been mothballed for years, as Exene and I had used an iMac, which she got when we split -- I let her have the fucking thing). Anyway, I'd not gotten rid of the old computer, as it still had all of my music on it, and I'd not gotten around to migrating my iTunes from the old machine to the new one. Anyway. voila -- back online for the moment, using the old machine. I can't even remember the last time I actually logged on with this sucker.

Looks like the last time this was used online was 8/26/2009. Bahah! I wonder if I have a blog entry back then. I should. I'll go check. Damned funny.

(moment later)

Alas, no. November and December 2009 are the earliest entries with this blog. Such dark times those were, I can hardly remember all of that. Lordy. Still, it is amusing to me to unearth this relic and run it again.

But I'm pleased that, even thought the thing is slow, it's not crashing on me like the other one. Funny thing -- after getting used to the wider screens that are common on the thinner monitors, the old, boxy monitor feels almost claustrophobic to me.

Cash and burn

Wow, the market's taken a bath for, what, 10 days in a row? I have always been fortunate in my timing on stocks, although it is mostly luck. I imagine plenty of people are taking baths on this. How curious to see the US at the level of New Zealand and Belgium by S&P.

I think the political denial and dipshittery has only just begun. They say $950 billion in revenues must be raised, and that comes from axing the Bush tax cuts. And that is something the GOPeons won't do, or at least the ever-rational Tea Baggers won't. Ha!

The country needs demand-side stimulus, but the reactionary faction will fight that. Because they are douches intent on destabilizing the country for political ends.

Wanks.

It is raining yet again.

Yawn

I saw "The Guard" today, which I enjoyed well enough, but which was marketed as a kind of comedy, but which was really more of a cop buddy movie. Except that the leads aren't really buddies so much -- they come to respect each other, but there wasn't proper chemistry or characterization to make it fully gel. Similarly, the villains were underdeveloped. The movie ate up too much time following the lead, to the detriment of the other characters. The Irish setting was nice enough, but I think they could have worked the script a few more times, to sharpen the story better.

Sleepy. Need sleep!!!

Crashing

My frickin' computer is FUBAR. The computer is fine, in truth, but there is something screwing with the Net, causing those damned browser crashes. I have done a suite of things to try to fix it, but no dice. I am going to call Comcast next, just to rule
that out.

Tried to watch SYTYCD last night, but had no
sound. Melanie rocked as usual. She so should win. I am thinking Caitlynn and Ricky will go home.

So far, so good

Wow. No crash on the Chrome, yet. I've got Browser Crash Stress Disorder, I think. Hah. Another annoyance -- for some reason, a few channels on my cable are mute. The picture is fine, but there's no sound. Comcast needs to get their heads out of their asses, and/or take a break from all the money they rake in to actually look after the service they're supposedly providing.

Gruh

Still not 100% sure what's afflicting my system; I ran lots of antivirusware, but am unsure if that's what's fragging my browsers, or whether it's some Malware. Gotta beware of Malware, to be sure. Hah.

Chrome appears more amenable to non-crashitude, versus Firefox, which just melted down on me. Still sleuthing it out. I'm actually surprised this post has gotten as long as it has without crashing.

I was pleased with B1 today -- he helped out some kids who were being picked on by a bully. The bully was annoying kids by shooting them with a super-soaker, and he shot B1 with it, and B1 said he shouldn't be shooting the kids because it was upsetting them, and the kid tried to shoot B1 again, and B1 actually grabbed the gun and turned it on the kid and shot him with his own gun, which apparently made the kid swear at B1, which then got the kid in trouble with his and some of the other moms who were around. B1 said he felt bad for the little kids, getting sprayed by the kid. I know the kid who did it, and he's a creepy, nasty kinda kid, so I told B1 that he did the right thing by standing up to the kid. You can't let bullies have their way, or they'll walk all over you. But I was especially pleased by B1's empathy and compassion toward the little kids being picked on by the bully -- his sense of justice is strong, and his gentle nobility is integral to that.