zaterdag 31 oktober 2009

zaterdag 31 oktober 2009 Up at 1:45 am. Max joins me to watch Mad Max - Beyond Thunderdome.
Max stumbles upon the only nearby human outpost in the wasteland that remains—the seedy community of Bartertown, founded and nominally run by the ruthless Aunty Entity (Tina Turner).

"Master Blaster" hold an uneasy power-truce with Entity for control of Bartertown; however, Master is beginning to exploit his position with energy "embargoes," challenging Auntie's leadership.
Max moves out to the "Gulag." He is cast out of Bartertown and exiled to the desert wastes. Max is saved by a group of children led by Savannah Nix (Helen Buday). The children, hardened to the desert environment, are survivors (or the children of survivors) of a nearby QANTAS Boeing 747 plane crash, and have formed a sort of tribal community in the sheltered desert oasis in which they live.

Some of the children decide to leave, determined to find "Tomorrow-morrow land," the mythic place they believe their parents left them to find. Max goes after them. He threatens them with his rifle.

There's quite a chase scene through the desert. At the end, we see the much older children living in the ruins of a destroyed Sydney, lit up by thousands of fires and lights. Savannah, the leader of the children, recites a nightly "tell" of their journey. Next movie - 2046.

It's a night for Dystopia. Set in the far future, a huge rail network connects the planet. The world is a vast dystopia, and lonely souls all try to reach a mysterious place called 2046 in order to recapture lost loves. I conk out and wake up again at 8:00. Turn on KUOW. Listen to NPR News. Pad Thai and fried eggs for breakfast. Back to my place. I have a frustrating time trying to copy Mad Max. Walk down to the King County Admin. Blng. to deliver my ballot. Walk down to Uwajimaya. Get some fried shrimp and rice noodles for lunch. Train to Univerisity Station. Get some Geikkeikan sake at the 2nd Ave WSLCB. #106 bus tunnel up to Convention Place. Walk up to #404. Watch movie - Bush's War. FRONTLINE draws on more than 40 reports on Iraq and the war for this series. A rather modest documentary... The human cost of Bush's War: 1 million dead. 4.5 million displaced. 1 million to 2 million widows. 5 million orphans. Frontline focuses on the politics, not much else.

Something a little more light-hearted - movie Auntie Mame. What a fun and crazy aunt!

The words Patrick doesn't understand - Libido, inferiority complex, stinko, blotto, free love, bathtub gin, monkey glands, Karl Marx... is he one of the Marx Brothers?

vrijdag 30 oktober 2009

vrijdag 30 oktober 2009 Up at 1:55 with Comedy Central playing. Manage to doze back to sleep after Futurama. Awake again at 4:55. Turn on CNN - Secretary Of State - Hillary Clinton - Is In Islamabad, Pakistan. Pizza and 2 fried eggs for breakfast. Down to my place to take a bath. Watch Tommy.
The film is full of interesting characters. The Acid Queen (Tina Turner), a prostitute dealing in LSD who sends Tommy on a wild trip that ultimately fails to awaken him. Meanwhile, his parents are somewhat negligent of Tommy, and leave him in the hands of his sadistic cousin Kevin (Paul Nicholas), who beats him, and his uncle Ernie (Keith Moon), who molests him.
Tommy's only stimulus seems to come from a long mirror that he stands and stares into.

A pinball machine among the scattered scrap metal junk yard allows Tommy to rise to national prominence and fame. Tommy's pinball prowess and defeat of the local champ (Elton John) transforms him into a folk hero.

"I'm free!"

Walk up to Whole Foods to get some dip. Streetcar to South Lake Union. Get some Panang Beef with Thai Phad at the Kaosamai food truck. Pack stuff and head up to #404. Do the litter. Watch Krypto The Superdog.

Then, it's Hardball with Chris Matthews. Doze off during MSNBC News. Wake up again in time for Smallville. Then it's Stargate SG-U.
Stargate Universe follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational, exploration team unable to return to Earth after an evacuation to the Ancient spaceship Destiny, which is traveling in a distant corner of the universe. Also watch Sanctuary Episode: Hero. Then I conk out again.

donderdag 29 oktober 2009

donderdag 29 oktober 2009 Up at 1:55. Turn on BBC News. Report - Kenya To Launch Homosexual Census. And... Believe it or not... Recovery Ends US Recession. Play movie - Holding Trevor.
Trevor's old friend - Darrell - is a self-destructive heroin addict
C'mon, Darrell. Get with it.
Jake is shirtless and ready to sing a song for us. Isn't he cute?
The best conversations take place in the car. Andie, reeling from her frightening revelation that she has HIV, seeks comfort in Trevor and pleads with him to not leave. Trevor is torn between pursuing the love of his life or staying to assist a dear friend in need.

Omelet with ham, goat cheese and red onions on spaghetti for breakfast. Turn on Stephanie Miller. Christine Romans, host of “Your $$$$$” on CNN, calls in at 7:50am Pacific to update us on the economic recovery. Bath. Chat with Nana. She is a little frustrated with her phone. I call back. All is well. Do a load of laundry. Take stuff over to #404. Takes effort to open the back door with the key. Pet the cats, then they seem to disappear.


I find pizza from Pagliacci in the frig. It's a Vampire Slayer pizza with roasted garlic. Yum! Watch Ellen. She interviews Taylor Swift about her and Taylor Lautner. Oooooooh! Try out some new t-shirts. Back to my place to watch a movie.


Back to #404. Watch MSNBC News. Thai noodle salad for dinner. Watch Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report. Try to stay up to watch End Of Days, but I conk out on the couch.

woensdag 28 oktober 2009

woensdag 28 oktober 2009 Up at 2:10... 50 minutes before the alarm. Make some iced coffee. Shower and shave. Have time to watch some MSNBC News. There's Rachel Maddow from last night. Nothing for breakfast. Dan is very prompt - 4 o'clock on the dot. It's really rainy. We drive along Route 18 for quite a while.

We have the road to ourselves. At this hour, there's the occasional truck or car. We listen to the BBC News. Dan has that in common with me... BBC News rocks! They interview Tony Curtis about Some Like It Hot. 1 Hour and 5 Minutes drive to CAK airport. Thanks Dan... "Thank you for the sevice, good fellow." Ticketing takes only 10 minutes. TSA - 10 minutes. Short walk to Gate 11. There's my flight: Denver - FRONTIER Airlines - Flight 496 - Gate 11 - Time 6:15.

I need to write, but I lost my pen. A nice lady lends me her pen. Frontier has really cushy seats. Take-off at 6:15 - on time. The airplane is going 490 mph at 31158 feet at 6:40 near Bowling Green, OH. When we cross the Indiana border, we're at 36574 feet. Order a Mild Wasabi Chicken sandwich - $6 - made by Udi's Food. I rather like it. Yummy. I like Frontier. Good service. Sense of humor. Live TV for $6, but I don't buy TV. We're all equal - no First Class nor Business Class sections to segregate us from one another. Food service starts from the front and the back. After almost 2 hours of flying - according to the GPS - we're crossing into Nebraska. I see the light of the sun. We've been running away from it until now. Denver is coming up. Lo and behold! I can see something white out of the window. Snow!

Denver International is covered with it. Some flights are delayed... including mine.

8:45 Mountain Time - We taxi down the runway at 7 mph @ 5329 ft. Denver - The Mile High City. Then we stop to be de-iced. When we're in the air, and drinks are being served, the guy next to me says, "I need coffee! Because I'm nervous! This is my anniversary. I'm nervous!" I tell him that coffee isn't going to calm anyone down, and he laughs out loud. I discover after talking with him that he's not used to flying. It's his first flight to Seattle. We fly over the Cascades, and I ask him, "Isn't that beautiful? Below the clouds, it's lush green like Ireland with so many rivers and lakes..." After we disembark, I dash to a restroom. Down to the bus stop, I catch a connector to the train station.

I catch the 11:30 train to d'town.

Two teams of security go through the trains asking for tickets. They find two people who are free riding.

So, do you know what happens to these people who try to ride for free?

I arrive at Westlake Station at 12:05. Walk up to my place. Make a Bloody Mary. Whew! I upload my pics and movies. Review Mike Looks Back. This is a trip full of memories. Visit Michael. Get the keys. Say "hi" to Phoenix and Max. Loans me a briefcase full of movies. Watch Get Smart and Godspell. What a flashback to the past. "Day By Day." for example.

Thai noodles and curry chicken for dinner. I conk out!

dinsdag 27 oktober 2009

dinsdag 27 oktober 2009 Wake up to The Graham Norton Show. There's Alice Cooper and others trying to understand "Sploshing." Rollicking good fun! I manage to fall back to sleep. Up again at 7:55. Watch BBC News America. Ham salad on toast with tomato for breakfast. Watch Wake Up With Al. Report - Winter Storm Hits Northern N. M. It's another pretty Fall day in Ohio. Shower and shave. Take a walk around the town. See lots of Vote For Hans posters as well as Yes For Schools.

When I get home, I hear on the TV about an earthquake in Seattle. WAH THE HELL? Mom and dad ignore the news. This is it.


Seattle, that is scary! Is this for Halloween? This simulation was released by state transportation officials just over a week before the Seattle mayoral elections, in which the viaduct replacement has become the issue, is sure to have political ramifications. Dan and Lisa drop by to drive us to The Fort for lunch.

The server is nice enough to take our picture. Thanks! We eat and talk and laugh. Back at the house, I need another walk to help digest my liver and onions. At home, I turn on Planet Green and watch Wa$ted and Living With Ed. Dad and I watch Atlantis - The Lost Empire together. Dad seems caught up with it. I get caught up with the Cavlier vs Celtics game during dinner. I watch up to 9, and I switch to Comedy Central to see South Park - Pinkeye. An outbreak of pinkeye interrupts Halloween in South Park.

maandag 26 oktober 2009

maandag 26 oktober 2009 Fall asleep while watching Hunt For Red October. Wake up to the sunrise at 8:00. Heat up some coffee. Turn on BBC News. Report - Ski Slope In Ghana. (?) Ghana of all places, but it seems to be true. Left-over Taco Pizza with hard-boiled egg for breakfast. Shower and shave. Turn on The Weather Channel. Check out Wake Up With Al. He interviews Bryan Clay - "The World's Greatest Athlete." Take a wall around town. Beautiful blue skies. Flocks of Canada geese honk their way south for the Winter.

A house on Main Street is decorated for Halloween... with real human bones.

Lisa picks me up at 12. We drive up to Kendall to visit Nana. We chat for a couple of hours. I give her a big hug. She gives me a pretty strong hug, too. Good for a 105-year-old woman.

Afterwards, we visit the Oberlin Bookstore and Ben Franklin. We drive to The Fort for some Gin & Tonics and sauerkraut balls. Lisa drops me of at the house. Dad and I watch Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? Dad gets some right. I get some right. Dad's smarter. Watch Trainspotting on IFC. I forgot how hellish the story could get. One of the scariest on non-honor movies as it is billed. Simple dinner - bean soup and salad for dinner. Settle down to watch It's Alive with Tommy Kirk.

Switch to BBC America and doze off.

zondag 25 oktober 2009

zondag 25 oktober 2009 I conk out on the couch at 2 o'clock or something like that... wake up at 8:00. The sun is rising. I anticipate a busy day. Need coffee. Check e-mail while sipping coffee. There's mom. She eats breakfast first. I take a shower and shave... My beard is a little tough. Ouch. My breakfast is a garlic hard boiled egg, some ham salad on toast and some cold baked beans on the side. I try to make friends with Misti, but she hisses at me.

Take a walk around Wellington. Love the fresh fall air. Hey, Wellington has liquor.

Wellington is quite a historic town - established in 1818. Stroll through the downtown park.

I get myself a little lost of the way back to the house. Dan mocks me, "Mike got lost." Neder, neder, neder. Relatives arrive. There's lot of chat, stories and laughing. Someone refers to the Balloon Boy as the Jiffy Pop Boy.

Fun! It's a belated birthday party for mom. My nephews and nieces are growing up so fast.

Mary Beth is expecting... I'm going to be a grand-uncle!

We seem to have a great time together. I love it! Sometimes, I just had to stand back to watch the group. It's not often that I see them. Some of us leave... Not me. Some of us hang out in the Florida Room and talk about The Life Of Teachers and the soon-to-come Election Day. Alex is 17, but he sounds very politically aware. He's chomping at the bit to vote. When everyone is gone. We watch football... Well, I sit and stare at it. It's not my cup of tea. I'm ready to watch The Blob at 8:00 on TCM.

Stay awake for Die, Monster, Die, too. Mom watches with me from the kitchen. What a fun, scary movie. Good ol' 60's schlock.

zaterdag 24 oktober 2009

zaterdag 24 oktober 2009 I change time zones, and I'm in a new day. On the plane, I'm surrounded by some neat people. I especially like the granola couple with the laptop. I get to enjoy some shows from my seat (one row across and one down - Russell Brand and BBC Top Gear. Get a vodka-soda - $6.00 on my debit. I can't sleep. There's turbulence while I try to pee. Why? We arrive in Atlanta at 5:40... earlier than expected. I thank the granola couple for the nice view of their shows. They seem like nice people. Long walk to "D" Concourse. I get a #1 - Croissandwich, taters and coffee at a Burger King. No wait. Then they get slammed at 6:30. The Starbucks next door gets no action. Walk down to Gate D1A. It's really quiet here... No CNN noise either. Flight takes off for Akron-Canton Airport. Everything is on time. What a blessing! Heading out the front door, I phone Dan. He says that he's is just driving into the airport. How easy! I love this airport. He picks me up, and we head to Wellington, Ohio. It is a 45-minute drive. Dan and I catch up about family stuff... also chat about politics - the deficit, Afghanistan, equal rights and more. We arrive at my folk's place... Hugs, hugs, hugs! I see that the house is decorated for Holloween.

I get some sweet treats from mom to boost this poor sleep-deprived traveller - a donut, a cookie and some orange juice. I unpack a few things. I try to get reacquainted with the cat Misti, but she's hesitant. Mom and dad watch the Ohio State vs Minnesota.

I watch a little while we chat and catch up on things. I call Nana and tell her that I'm home - safe and sound. The rest of the day is a blur. I turn on the TV to watch some BBC America programs... and doze in and out of sleep on the couch in the Florida Room. Dad orders stuff from The Fort. I get some fried chicken which is a little dry. I finally get a shower after dinner. They have HBO. Yay! Watch The Abyss.

THAT MOVIE DOESN'T MAKE ME VERY SLEEPY!