Movie Monday 2nd installment

28 Weeks Later

Hey sports fans! I must admit, I am a fan of the zombie movie, and a fan of the post-apocalyptic world movie (Yes, I did like Waterworld.)…. hmmm, maybe I should be a fan of the Seattle Supersonics. And, to celebrate a brother in law living with us, and because a friend of mine reviewed the movie…I took the time away from hanging out with my wife to go see 28 Weeks Later.

Zombies…maybe they can be a metaphor. Or, I like to think of them as a worst-case scenario. Pop-quiz hotshot…a deadly disease, human vector, 100% contagious, very fast incubation, causes victim to spread the disease to uninfected…. what do you do? On a be very afraid note, do we really trust the Russians with smallpox? What if AIDS mutates? I wonder if China has a bio-weapons program? What if bird-flu mutates?

Apocalyptic world…can you survive without civilization. What might you do, unmentionable, so that you could live for another few minutes? We in western civilization have built up our house of cards pretty well, and it looks real nice, and we have wealth unimaginable to previous generations. But all it takes is a little wind & rain, and a city is destroyed. What would we do if it hit the fan for real, on a society level? Could humanity survive? Could we rebuild? (Please cue Sting’s “Walking In Your Footsteps”.)

There was plenty of gore. Although not as much as PlanetTerror.

Acting, photography, music, flow, affects all good.
I give the movie an A-.

Spoilers may follow.

Movie Monday 1st installment

I saw “Walk the Line” it was decent and entertaining. I’ll give it a C+.

Here’s the thing, when you make an autobiography, you don’t have to be truthful as a storyteller to the audience. The audience already knows that Johnny Cash ends up with June Carter. So you really don’t have to explain why a successful performer, who evidently had her head on straight, would want to settle down with her best friend, who, was an unfaithful husband, absentee father, alcoholic, self centered drug addict.

Johnny Cash’s story is the story of redemption. Of making a lot of mistakes, and being forgiven for them by himself, God, and family, the public, and those around him. That could be an interesting story. But for me the movie seemed to be a collection of interesting highlights from Cash’s life. And the audience can’t argue “unbelievable” because each of the incidents happened, and it ends the way the movie shows. But, as for story telling, well, I guess when you do a biography you don’t have to be believable.

Mr. Cash was a schmuck the first part of his life. Somehow he charmed people into giving him another chance. Somehow, he repented and changed his ways. Things I wonder about. How did his first wife (mother of Rosanne Cash) feel, did she forgive him too? How did his daddy end up forgiving him? How about the children from the first marriage? Another thing that was annoying is we would see little scenes in his life, allegedly where he got inspiration for songs. As if the best songs have to be autobiographical. (Hint to moviemakers, the best songs don’t have to be autobiographical …for instance, Mr. Cash was not an inmate at Folsom Prison.)

Good things about the movie…the concert scenes. The early days of rock-n-roll with all the greats sharing a stage at country fairs, those were fun to watch.

Favorite part, a quote by Sam Phillips when Johnny is unsuccessfully first auditioning for a record deal, “If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing *one* song. Huh? One song that people would remember before you’re dirt. One song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on Earth. One song that would sum you up. … would you sing somethin’ different. Somethin’ real. Somethin’ *you* felt. Cause I’m telling you right now, that’s the kind of song people want to hear. That’s the kind of song that truly saves people. It ain’t got nothin to do with believin’ in God, Mr. Cash. It has to do with believin’ in yourself.” Yes, to be authentic in rock-n-roll, that is what makes one great.

Ah what the heck, that quote, as a piece of advice to young artists, is worth upgrading the movie to a B-.

Short Story Sunday – installment #1

Hey there Sportsfans!
Once upon I went crazy and bought a whole big old stack of short story collections.
Well, I’m starting a new series for GBAtT. I will review those that I have read.

From World’s Best Science Fiction 1967

Philip K. Dick “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”
Yup, remember watching the Schwarzenagger classic “Total Recall” based off of this story. Less action chases & violence. A few more memories to be recalled. Best quote “You’re not accepting second-best. The actual memory, with all its vagueness, omissions and ellipses, not to say distortions – that’s second best.” Would you pay for a memory of something you haven’t done? Is going to the movies kinda like that, we have the memory of D-Day, but we don’t have to risk storming the beach. I think I would like the memory of being an NBA point-guard…except after, I would be able to go to NBA.com and see that I did not in fact play for the NBA. I guess they would have to limit memories to those that can not be verified by a third party. Decent read.

Bob Shaw “Light of Other Days”
Very sad and very pretty. Good read.

Roger Zelanzy “The Keys To December”
What do you do, when the world you were designed to live in is destroyed? Why you make a new world of course. How do you feel about the native lives you are changing while your new world is being terra-formed? Decent read.

R.A. Lafferty “Nine Hundred Grandmothers”
A little tongue in check. A little bit at the look of a civilization that has one very key difference than ours. Interesting read.

A.A. Walde “Bircher”
Sci-fi murder mystery. Alright read.

Michael Moorcock “Behold the Man”
Alright, I don’t know if I’m gonna finish this one, it is like 40 pages long. That ain’t no short story. And, it’s a time travel story. And I really don’t like the time travel story. Looks to be the basic premise, Jesus was a historian from the future who happened to be misquoted.

I don’t want to talk about it

Never ask “how stupid do you think I am?”
You might not like the answer.

from Sunday 5-13

The other day I spoke with someone who I really respect about her child that was born pre-term. She said it was hell, and leaving the baby at the hospital was the hardest thing she had ever done. She recommended that if that does happen with Unter & Uber for us to get counciling / therapy to help deal with it. She advised that infant in the neo-natal unit is a marathon condition, and is constant stress punctuated with waiting. I am glad I asked her about it, it decreases the chance that I will try to be all macho and stuff and just deal with the stress on my own. To bad I don’t have much faith in shrinks.

Today, while in the kitchen, watching Sophie eat – one of her favorite things- my brother in law left. Sophie stopped eating and trotted to the door. Hoping that her female-human was home. When she saw it wasn’t my wife, Sophie went back to eating. Yes, the kitties miss my wife, and miss me with the time I’m spending at the hospital.

I miss my wife. She forced me to spend the night at home this weekend. It did help me get a full nights sleep, which I suppose is good, especially if I need to be coherent and stuff while driving up to the hospital. And she wants to assure the kitties that their humans haven’t abandoned them.

Some favorite memories of the pregnancy….

One night, when wife was asleep, putting my hand on her belly and having one of our children “wave” at me. We were playing for a few minutes while mommy slept. (Usually they stop moving when I’m near-by.)

Whenever I can feel one of the bump or kick or move, it just makes me giggle with joy.

When we got the call from the doctor saying “you’re pregnant”. We were driving home, we parked in a McDonald’s parking lot, and there was light rain, sitting in the car. The phone rang, my better half answered, and after a moment said, “are you serious!?!” while laughing and crying.

Last night I actually got to see one of them moving around. It’s kinda weird watching a bump appear in the belly.

Antepartum

…we went to a routine ultrasound Wednesday. We’re at 30 weeks. The babies look good. Uber he’s ~4lbs 10oz, ranking in at the 97%. Unter, she’s smaller, ~3 lbs 15 oz, ranking in the 63%. They look normal, their heart rates are normal, and they are breathing the amniotic fluid (I hear that’s good). We saw our daughter (Unter) doing a cute little booty-dance, rubbing her little bottom on her mother’s cervix. While her brother (Uber) was kicking his mother’s ribs.

My wife’s cervix had gotten a lot thinner, the ultra-sound doctor dude sent us
right away to our OB, who sent us right away to the hospital. Do not pass Go, do not collect your toothbrush. Mywife even got a wheel chair ride. They didn’t let me drive / push the wheel chair, but said I was very helpful by opening the automatic doors and pushing the elevator button.
Woo-hoo I helped!

Well, she is confined to the hospital for the next 4 weeks.

They think her cervix is shrinking because the babies are pushing on it. They
are watching her closely, and are treating the threat of pre-mature delivery very aggressively. Yup, aggressively telling her body to slow down.

It’s kinda surreal right now. I’m thinking “wow, this will make a great story on
prom night” or “hmm…I wonder how this will get worse.”

Please remember us in your thoughts and/or prayers.

new favorite song

my favoritest song of the now is

“I’m No Good” by Amy Winehouse

First heard it, thought, hmmm…pretty good hip-hop drum beat, then a sort of sillyish-funky bass line. And I thought, could it be a new Gorillaz tune? Then the vocals, and I thought, what decade is she singing from? Did they take some old tapes from the 50s and redo the music? The rest of the band is kinda loungey.

Nope, evidently she’s alive and well, and young and new and English.
I really like that song.

there’s a few samples on her myspace page