Or never be as good as this.



I found this fan made fake Green Lantern movie trailer about a week ago and thought it was really well done. Somehow I don't think when Hollywood gets around to making a Green Lantern movie it's going to look anywhere near as exciting as the film this trailer hints at:





Another really well done fan made movie trailer is the Thundercats trailer. I can't say that even having a cast this great would make me want to see it though.

Buster Keaton's The General.


Tonight Jay and I went to see The General at The Paramount Theater. If you have never seen it, it is a timeless comic classic. At some point I downloaded version of it from Archive.org and uploaded it to my iPhone, then showed it to my niece while we were on a trip. Despite the film being in black and white and silent and made over 80 years ago she thoroughly enjoyed it, so much so that I suggested Jay get her an iPod Touch so that I could get my phone back. Since that didn't work I'll probably just give her my phone once a new version comes out, hopefully soon.

The General is one of my favorite films because it's got so many funny scenes that still make you laugh no matter how many times you've seen it. It's also one of those films that most people haven't seen because it's a silent film and people have certain expectations about films from that era but as I was leaving the theater tonight I overheard one man talking about how unexpectedly entertaining the film was.

I think tonight was the second time I've seen The General in a movie theater. Many years ago I saw it at The Byrd Theater in Richmond, Virginia as part of a midnight movie series. The Byrd is a great theater where they still have a wulitzer organ and an organist who plays on Saturday nights (or at least he did when I was there) and sometimes the organist would play along with some of the silent films like Phantom Of The Opera, but I'm pretty sure that when I saw The General there they had a full band, The Ululating Mummies, perform and original accompaniment to The General. I remember enjoying the band but loving the movie even more.

Tonight's showing of The General also had a musical accompaniment performed by Guy Forsyth and his band. Before the movie the band performed a song to get warmed up and then the movie started and the music played and they even had sound effects periodically that matched what was going on on screen. The movie was as great and entertaining as I remember it and Jay, who had only seen tiny bits of the film previously, seemed to really like it as well.

After the movie the band performed one more song, Summertime, in between standing ovations.

The only disappointing part of all this was that my niece Nicole couldn't come because it would have finished well past her bedtime. I would hope next time they show The General they do it as a matinee so kids can enjoy it also.

Perhaps our waiter should use a pen and paper to write this stuff down, just in case...


I saw on Twitter that the a new local restaurant was giving away free beer and/or margaritas until they get their liquor license so I thought I ought to check the place out before they got their liquor license. It turns out a lot of other people had the same idea and the place was pretty busy, although when you announce you are giving away free beer and/or margaritas that shouldn't be a surprise.

The drinks were fine, however free beer or margaritas may get me in the door but poor service will keep me from coming back.

Oh, who am I kidding, as long as the place is giving it away because they don't have their liquor license yet I'll be back. But once I have to pay for alcohol the service better improve.

The burger was fine but I think there are plenty of better burgers in Austin. It's a new place though so I'll probably try them again in a few weeks. Also, I had the cherry pie for desert which was probably a mistake as it was pretty cold. I kept telling myself it wasn't ice I was eating, it was flavor crystals. At least the waiter got the desert order right, on the second attempt.

On the plus side the place was set up pretty well for a sports bar so it might be a place to consider for big games at least until the liquor license arrives.

Perhaps someone needs to intervene at city hall to make sure a certain restaurant's liquor license is delayed a few more weeks...

I'm usually wrong anyway.


If a woman at a bar asks "what is the most shallow thing you have ever done," perhaps the best response is not to say something like, "how about if I demonstrate it for you tomorrow morning?"

Also known as Towel Day.


I had completely forgotten that aside from Memorial Day, May 25 is also Towel Day, a day commemorating the life and works of Douglas Adams who was the author of one of the most hilarious books ever written, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Why a towel? Well early on in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy it was impressed upon Arthur Dent, the protagonist, just how indispensable towels really are:

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough."

It just so happened that today of all days I would have use of a towel and just happened to have one with me.

I was invited by some friends to come out to a Memorial Day cook out/pool party somewhere in the boonies outside of Austin. I'm not much of a pool party person, mainly because I don't want to be known a a pool drowny person but despite my misgivings I decided the go anyway. Since there was going to be a pool and I didn't want to look like even more of a dweeb than I already was I brought a change of clothes including some swimming trunks and a towel just in case I got adventurous.

Once I was there I felt the intense peer pressure to strip down and ump in the pool. It was a particularly clever kind of peer pressure, one in which no one actually asked me to get in the pool, but in the pool I went. Fortunately the pool was only 5 feet deep, which meant I could breathe and wouldn't die as long as I stood upright.

So I through the football around in the pool with some other guys but eventually I had to get out of the pool, and that's where the towel came into the story. I dried off with the towel confirming one of the many uses of the towel. I'm eagerly awaiting trials to determine if the other examples of towel usage are true.

Anyway, I thought it was a pretty interesting coincidence that the first day of the year I have a towel with me outside of my condo just happens to be towel day, and I actually got to use it for an intended purpose.

I need to get it down soon.


I've just about got my plans set to remodel my kitchen. I've picked out the cabinets and now I need to find a granite countertop at a reasonable price in a color I can live with, and then I need to pay for it, which is the real trick. I have plenty of money in savings right now but I am not the most disciplined person when it comes to saving so it would be better to get the kitchen done sooner than later.

I'm pretty excited about it though. I'm going to take photos of the project as it comes along, from the deconstruction through the installation of the cabinets, new sink, new oven and microwave, the countertop, and also the tile, which I haven't decided is going to be replaced yet but I suspect the existing tile will need to go. That's a conversation I'll have with Kurt or whoever I get to install everything.

I think my dream of having everything installed while I am in Cancun is not going to come true, but hopefully by the end of the summer the kitchen will be done and then I'll only have to renovate the bathrooms - which will wait at least a year for my debt to recover.

I guess so...


I never got into myspace after I watched Jay get into it and not like it, but I've kind of given in to the social networking experience mainly because sitting in my room crying hasn't worked as well as I thought it would, at least from a social point of view. It has done wonders for my tear ducts. These pipes are clean!

Anyway, I'm on twitter and facebook now. Jay is telling me not to become one of those people that's always on it 24-7, which is easy for him to say given he's always online chatting or texting 24-7 but not in facebook or twitter.

It actually makes sense for me to push all my social energy online, since I've got no money for social interaction in the real world. Still, I can already see how hard it is to keep up with all the different sites. I've posted images at my mobileme gallery, flickr and twitter and I'll have to post at facebook as well and I'll have to update them periodically just like I update this blog (although fortunately twitter and facebook updates will be more brief), and I'll have to do all this while at the same time maintaining my busy lifestyle, although I cannot for the life of me figure out how I can be so busy when I don't actually do anything, as my tweets and facebook updates will attest to.

Too much discrimination.

Tomorrow will be a better day.


I was going to see Star Trek again tonight with a couple of friends, this time at the IMAX theater, but I neglected to purchase my ticket in advance, so of course the showing was sold out. 9:30 on a Tuesday. The woman behind the counter was helpful though. "There's another showing at 11:55."

Given I have to be up at the crack of dawn (7AM?) I couldn't see myself feeling really good about seeing the movie and then getting up and being in a good mood in the morning.

Also, I had not eaten so it's probably a good thing I didn't see the movie since I would have ended up eating something really bad for me at midnight instead of eating something really bad for me at 9:30, and then having a late night snack much later.

Tomorrow though everything should go really smoothly since just about everything comes in twos, right?

I still missed the tournament.


I missed playing in the Butler Pitch and Putt weekly tournament today because work ran a little long and I wasn't able to get to Butler in time to sign up before the tournament maxxed out at at 40 people. I was going to play a round with some other people that didn't get in but the course was packed with everyone that wasn't able to play this weekend except me so I spent a little while practicing my chipping and putting on the putting green hoping the course would clear up a little but it didn't.

Hopefully I won't run into this problem next week or I'll have to see about switching to a 7-4 schedule or a 6-3 schedule, neither of which actually exist and if they did I'd probably lose a few years off my life due to lack of sleep, but maybe if I complain enough work will change everything to accommodate me. What other choice would they have?

Seven months to wait.


I was going to comment about last week's season finale but then I held off. There was so much to sink in and the creators really did take the storyline to a completely new level with the introduction of both Jacob and his unnamed nemesis, both of which are seemingly immortal.

It seemed a little obvious that the creators were trying to make us think Jacob was the good guy and the man in black was the bad guy but I'm not so sure about it. Unfortunately we won't find out for seven more months.

What else are we waiting to find out about?

Jacob and his nemesis appear to be egyptian gods? Is the unnamed man the smoke monster, and is he also Locke now, and Christian?

Just about all of the people that have appeared in visions have been dead, except Walt. Am I forgetting anyone?

Is Walt going to come back for the final season?

What happened to Claire? Given she was in the cabin with Christian last season does that mean there are two entities at work trying to kill Jacob?

How about Adam and Eve, the two dead bodies in the cave in season one that had bullet holes in them? Are they Bernard and Rose, and if so who shot them?

I could swear there were other Oceanic 815 survivors that survived the flaming arrow attack besides the regulars and Rose and Bernard. Are we to assume they died in the past hiding out from the Dharma group and the Others?

Did Juliette reset the timeline by hitting the bomb, or was the flash at the end just one final time travel for the Oceanic 6? I suspect that Jack, Kate, Sawyer and the rest will end up in the present but that nothing will have changed. It's possible they could all wind up on flight 815 again with the time reset but then I think it would take too long for the creators to get them back to the island to resolve everything.

If the flash at the end was an indication of time travel and not the bomb, will Juliette make it to the present or will she be left behind for dead like Charlotte's body, and will Sayid make it as well? He was about at the end as well?

Is Richard aboard the Black Rock? I imagine the season premiere will feature the Black Rock coming ashore and the pirates meeting Jacob and his nemesis, but will they be the Others or are the Others already on the island when the Black Rock appears?

I had always assumed that the reason the Black Rock appears so far inland is that the island was moved underneath the ship when someone turned the wheel previously. At the time I figured Widmore was the captain of the ship and he was banished from the island over a power struggle, but clearly that's not what happened. Perhaps the smoke monster carried the ship to it's present location?

I was disappointed that in all the hopping through time this season we didn't meet Henry Gale or see his hot air balloon approach the island. Might we get a glimpse of it in the final season? I suspect not...

Finally, when are we going to get the Vincent flashback episode the creators promised during season 1? Might that be the last episode, that reveals all to the viewer through Vincent's experiences on the island, but the cast of characters remains oblivious to it all in the end? Actually, that would be pretty funny.

Nothing of value, in no particular order.


When it rains I really don't have much to do except take a nap.

My niece Nicole doesn't like it when I talk in an english accent because it distracts her from watching Harry Potter.

My attempt at an english accent sounds more australian than english.

You can't make a frozen margarita if the ice machine in the freezer has been off since the last time you cleaned it out (Okay, that one may have some value).

I could ask some questions as to the logic involved in the actions of the characters in the movie Get Smart, but then I realized I would be spending way too much time discussing the movie Get Smart.

I think the high pitched sound my air conditioning unit makes has finally driven the voices in my head out.

I don't think my neighbors would ever intentionally burn the complex down, but I'm glad I have two fire extinguishers handy just in case there's an accident.

Except for the skull fracture.


Had a nice time with my niece Nic tonight while she ate some ice cream at Chick-fil-a, and then we went by her school so she could play on the jungle gym. Nic seemed to have a good time there but I ran into a few issues around the playscape:

Note to self: flip flops are not the best footware for a pebble playground.

Another note to self: remember the equipment is built for kids and your head is a lot closer to the monkey bars than you might think it is.

A third note to self: wear a helmet if you can't remember the previous note to self.

A fourth note to self: don't fall asleep tonight just in case you have a concussion.

A big LOTR fan.


For some reason Jay and Tee let Nicole watch The Lord Of The Rings. They are pretty violent in some parts but Nicole loves the films, maybe as much as she loves the Pirates Of The Caribbean films, which have a slightly gentler form of violence and intensity.

Knowing that Nic liked LOTR I thought she might also like to see The Hunt For Gollum, a fan made film that is extremely well done and really matches the cinematography and visuals of the LOTR films and features what appear to be real actors as opposed to the usual fan filmmaker neighbors who populate these films like modern day Ed Wood creations. They even got an actor that looks sort of like Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn, and another who looks like Ian McKellen's Gandalf, and had some pretty good CGI for Gollum himself, although his close up was very brief.

The film does have some weaknesses though. The script has some errors in it and it is a bit repetitive when talking about Aragorn's ancestry, and one of the fight scenes would have been more interesting if they had used lights so that you could see the action, but overall it's probably the most professional fan film I've seen on line.

I showed it to Jay and Nicole and Nic seemed to really like it, although she questioned why the actors were different from the movie. She understood it when we explained it was made by fans like us and not the movie studio.

After the film ended Nic wanted to see all three LOTR movies in a row, along with The Hobbit and The Hunt For Gollum. She seemed actually disappointed that The Hobbit won't be out for another two years or so, but was totally into the idea of seeing all three LOTR films at the Alamo whenever they have their Hobbit Feast featuring all three movies and a seven course meal.

She claims she will be able to sit through all three films, but I'm a little skeptical. I've done it twice but it's not exactly easy to sit through 11 hours of film no matter how great the film is. I think she would get bored or fall asleep, but just the idea that my niece would like to try it is pretty cool, and if she keeps this up through her teenage years I'm pretty sure it will scare off any possible suitors.

I guess we will find out the next time Alamo hosts the Hobbit Feast. I can't wait!

I could not be more tired,


I'm so beat I can't even think of a good metaphor for how tired I am.

All movies all the time, at least at night.


After not getting enough sleep every day this past week you would think I would be smart enough to not go to the late movie at the Alamo but sometimes I can't help it. I went to see Star Trek last night, and State of Play tonight.

I really liked Star Trek although I'm not going to say it was the best. I'll have to see it again, but Wrath Of Khan had a more engaging villain, and I'm also partial to The Undiscovered Country. It's better than all the other movies by far though. I'd imagine it will be a couple of years though before a sequel which is too bad, because I'd like to see the cast much more frequently. Maybe once a week, say 22-24 weeks out of every year? That's just crazy though. There's no way the powers that be would ever turn Star Trek into a regular TV series.

Tonight Jay and I went to see State Of Play with Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck. Really I went to see Rachel McAdams but the two guys get all the notoriety. It was a pretty good conspiracy drama with a couple of twists and turns, although I had a hard time with the idea that Crowe and Affleck went to college together. Are they the same age? I guess Ben was playing a little older and Crowe was playing a little pudgier to make it work. Anyway, it was enjoyable too.

Of the two I'd recommend Star Trek mainly because you never get tired of watching things blow up in space but on repeat viewings of State Of Play I suspect that I'll eventually pick up on the big surprise twist before they happen.

Los Lonely Boys and Sahara Smith.


I haven't seen Los Lonely Boys in quite some time so it was nice to see them tonight down at Republic Square just a couple of blocks from Jay's place. I had expected a pretty big crowd for the show but it just so happened that Lady Gaga was performing at the Austin Music Hall just a couple of blocks away and I think a lot of the people that would have showed up for LLB went there instead.

I'm sure Lady Gaga put on a good show but so did LLB, and Sahara Smith had a nice set to open as well. I'd heard Sahara Smith's name before and that she was a young up and coming artist, but I'd not seen her perform before tonight so it was nice to put a face to all the critical praise.

Los Lonely Boys were the main attraction and they did not disappoint, other than not playing for another couple of hours in the park, but they had a after party to go to and Austin has some noise regulations for bands performing outside anyway. They played some songs off their first album, their most recent album, and songs that haven't been recorded in studio yet. It's been so long since I've listened to their cds (really, any cds, not just theirs) that I didn't recognize a couple of songs but I liked everything they played. They played for about an hour and a half, perhaps a little longer. Hopefully they will be back in Austin soon for a longer set.

Sold out.


Looks like I missed out on getting tickets for ACL this September. I missed out quite a long time ago when the ticket prices were more reasonable but by the time they were on sale the price had risen from $135 to $185 for the three day festival. After the line up was announced, with Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band, I thought about picking up a ticket even at the higher price but I just didn't get around to it in time.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to take time off from work anyway for all three days. Most likely too many co-workers have already asked off for the same weekend, so I wouldn't have been able to go to all three days anyway.

There are always people selling individual day passes so it looks like I'll go that route instead this year, and in any case, I still have my U2 tickets for October in Houston.

Not a bad round.


I played a little better in the tournament at Butler Pitch and Putt this week, although it would have been hard to play worse than last week's debacle. I didn't hit off the tee very well except for the first hole but my putting was strong. I didn't hit any birdies but I put the ball in position for easy pars on every hole. My partner and I left a few birdies on the green instead of making them, but overall I was pretty happy that we played pretty consistent. The winners finished at -3 and with a couple of breaks we could have finished there as well. My goal has been to improve my score each time I play in the tournament and by finishing at -1 today I finished with the bet score so far since I began playing in the tournaments last year. It also ties my best score at Butler solo.

I still have a lot of work to do however. I am swinging incorrectly on my tee shots and I'm not sure why. I have no issue when I'm taking a swing on a long chip shot but I'm doing something different on the tee and I need to figure it out so that I'm more of a help to my team during the tournament. I was lucky that my partner was hitting the greens or we would not have had all those putts for birdie or par.

This past weekend I played pretty well by myself. I was one over through eight holes and then completely melted down on the last hole, but I still managed to beat the other four guys I was playing with by several strokes, and I hit a next to impossible 60 foot plus putt on the eighth green for a birdie that got me high fives from everyone. It was pure luck but it felt good.

I'll play a few more times this week, I'm sure. I need to fix my swing so that I'm helping my partner next week, who ever it will be.

Squirrelly.


Here's another shot of my visitor earlier this month.