Popping My Poliziotteschi Cherry

There were a few errands to run this afternoon, so I loaded up the recycling before it starts to get out of hand and headed out to hit a couple of stores and dump that stuff at the bins.

I was headed to Best Buy (strictly because I still have a gift card to use up) to grab a copy of The Life And Times Of Tim, one of my little sleeper favs from HBO this past year. The show is about this put-upon guy named Tim who's constantly drawn into ridiculously over the top situations that he's then caught in the middle of by his girlfriend or co-workers, it never fails to make me laugh.

I naturally came up empty-handed on my search for the DVD, and since I was actually in need of some sort of assistance, there wasn't a single person to be found in the entire middle section of the store. Had I been simply browsing, I'd have been tripping over people in blue shirts trying to bug me about whether or not I was finding everything okay...

I did eventually stumble across something I was interested in, the first two Stepfather films, which star Lost's Terry O'Quinn and were something I've never seen, so I figured what the hell, since I had the giftcard anyway, it's not 'real' money, right? I'm looking forward to checking those out, I enjoyed seeing O'Quinn in Pin a few weeks back, so I'm hoping that these will live up to their reputation.

Since I was in the neighborhood I decided to grab a coffee and see if there were any magazines I couldn't live without at Barnes & Noble, coming up empty-handed again on the front. It seems as though any attempt I make at tracking down my handful of monthly periodicals will be met with failure unless it's after the 15th of the month, for whatever reason, as I know at least a couple of these titles publish earlier than that. I suppose it must take them forever to trickle down here to Texas or something.

Target was my next stop, for a couple lightbulbs and an extension cord, and also just because I figured I might give the store a ramble to see if anything jumped out at me for a potential Valentine's Day gift, but I didn't really see any thing that 'spoke' to me. I've already got the larger item for the day itself, but I need some smaller filler items to build up to it, as I try to stretch stuff out over the full week just to try and make it special for the wife. I did happen to run across the Tim DVD set while I was there, and since it was on sale for the same price I'd seen on Amazon, I figured what the hell and picked that up as well.

I called in some Chinese and picked it up on the way back too the house, where I ate and watched the Venture Brothers re-run from this past Sunday. In the late afternoon I popped in a movie that's arrived after some hassle from Barnes & Noble. The original order was missing a DVD, so I bitched, they apologized and sent it out, but at their regular shipping speed, so it finally trickled in a week later, with the disc is floating around inside the case, so I wanted to check it out and make certain none of the minor surface scratching effected the playback.

The Big Racket is a Poliziotteschi film, the first I've watched if memory serves, and it was a fine example of the genre from all indications I find about it on the interweb. Directed by Enzo Castellari (of Inglorious Bastards fame) and starring Fabio Testi, it's the story of a cop pushed too far by the local criminal element, which forces him further and further into the realms of the criminal's own tactics, culminating in a brutal shootout. The action is well shot; Castellari never fails to dress up his shots with some visual zing and Testi really reminded me of Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry days in numerous scenes. This was a lot of fun, I'm glad to have started delving into another untapped genre of film, as if I don't have any entertainment options.

The wife had a couple of odds and ends to be at this evening, so I popped in a flick that I had on hand from Netfux, a late 80's film called The Kiss. The film is about a mystery aunt who turns up in a young girls life and wants to absorb her life force or some such nonsense, and I wasn't exactly blown away at first, but the film really started to grow on me, as it had great 80's hair and a hilarious cat puppet that did the evil woman's bidding, screeching and yowling at the victim while they cowered from what looked suspiciously like a stuffed animal at certain angles.

The wife got home around 9:00, so we gave the new episode of Lost a spin before watching part of an 80's sex comedy called H.O.T.S., but we decided to call it a night rather than finish the film as I knew that she was tired and I wanted to try and catch the live recording of an episode of (Cool) Shite On The Tube.

I'm out kids.

Be seeing you.

Tag, you're it, Baggy Eyes! Shopping, DVD, The Life And Times Of Tim, Movies, Stepfather, Terry Oquinn, Pin, Television, Venture Brothers, The Big Racket, Poliziotteschi, Enzo Castellari, Fabio Testi, Dirty Harry, Clint Eastwood, The Kiss, Lost, HOTS, Cool Shite On The Tube

Comics, Writing, Dinner And Television

I've been getting some more reading done in the wee hours of the morning, basically catching up on the stack of graphic novels that I have accumulated, either as birthday & Christmas gifts, or with my own filthy lucre, utilizing the frequent Barnes & Noble coupons that arrive via e-mail in their continuing attempts to max out my credit cards.

I've recently blown through several of the Ultimate Spider-Man hard covers, then started in on the Neil Gaiman/John Romita Jr. Eternals series, which has been pretty interesting, though elements of it made me think of Gaiman's novel first novel, which (if memory serves) had similar bits of Gods living as human, perhaps not knowing their true nature? Or maybe I'm just blending another novel of his into my recollections of that novel, it's been ages since I read it. Regardless, I've enjoyed the current take on The Eternals, a group I've never been familiar with before.

The wife had errands out of the house around lunch today, so she was already out and about by the time I woke up, later than I had intended. I hopped online and spent the afternoon working on several reviews, just to catch up on the numerous scraps of paper that I've been keeping notes on for reviews. I paused for a bit to visit with the wife when she got in from her meeting, also made myself a sandwich for lunch to tide me over until dinner, which was scheduled early to meet the Mother In Law and the Beau. They leave for their impending nuptials on Wednesday, so the wife wanted to take them to dinner one last time before they head out to tie the knot this coming Valentine's Day.

I got a couple things finished (this could actually be the week I catch up!), then dressed for dinner and the wife and I headed into the wintery night to have a steak and visit a bit with the In-Laws. The food was good, as was the company, and evidently the chilly weather was keeping folks at home, as the restaurant wasn't just overrun with people either, which was nice.

I picked up a coffee on the way home, then the wife and I got into our comfies and relaxed in the den to watch the Heroes season finale. It was as humdrum as the rest of this season, though they didn't kill anyone off, as I was under the impression they'd sworn to do in several news-bits early in the season. Was Nathan's 'death' late last year meant to be them making good on that threat? If so, that's a cheap fucking way to go about it, but whatever, I don't think this show is ever going to hold my interest the way it did in the first season.

We rounded out our evening with some lightweight stuff, the re-runs from Fox' animation block from Sunday night, then called it a night.

I'm out kids.

Be seeing you.

Tag, you're it, Baggy Eyes! Comics, Graphic Novels, Ultimate Spider-Man, The Eternals, Neil Gaiman, John Romita Jr, Movies, Reviews, Writing, Dinner, In-Laws, Television, Heroes

Cinematic Sunday One Hundred Twenty Six

It's about that time, right?

First up we have Heartless, a film from Philip Ridley. It stars Jim Sturgess as a young man with a heart-shaped birthmark on his face who learns that there are demons on the streets of East London. I wish I had more for you, but just about every site I hit up about the film just gives me that same info in one form or another, though there's mention of a Faustian bargain being struck, part of which is seen in the trailer. I like the idea of making deals with a demon, then trying to find a way to weasel out of it though, so this sounds intriguing.



Next we have a Red Band trailer for Cop Out, the Kevin Smith film I'm still trying to get excited about. The film still stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, and this time around there's tons of swearing, which makes it feel like we're at least back in Smith's wheel house, even if there's none of his regular players appearing in the film. As I said, it's Red Band, so don't make with the clicking if you don't wanna hear graphic language about chimps blowing each other.



Finally we have the latest film from director Neil Jordan, a film called Ondine. It stars Colin Farrell (an actor I can truly take or leave) as a fisherman who finds a woman in his nets that he believes to be a mermaid. This young woman is named Ondine, and she's played by Alicja Bachleda, who quickly becomes a positive force in the fisherman's life, though the trailer obviously hints at the complications lurking just around the corner.



I'm out kids.

Be seeing you.

Tag, you're it, Baggy Eyes! Movies, Trailers, Heartless, Philip Ridley, Jim Sturgess, Cop Out, Kevin Smith, Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Ondine, Neil Jordan, Colin Farrell, Alicja Bachleda

The Skunkening

The wife had volunteer stuff this morning (the details of which escape me and I doubt you care about), so I slept in until she got home, then we caught up on her day before I picked up some lunch for myself and killed a bit of time in the den with some generic television before it was time to head out to San Angelo.

The wife and I both showered and dressed, got the house lit up for the evening since we'd be back late, feed the Yorkie so she'd be taken care of, then headed out for the hour and a half to two hour drive.

The drive was quick, but man, was it rank. We encountered no less than 12 dead skunks on the side of the road, I don't know if it's the middle of some strange skunk season or what, but it seemed like we passed one every mile or two, it was quite disgusting and bordering on ridiculous after awhile.

We located the restaurant, which is owned by a friend of Anastasia Beaverhouszen and was to be the site of her hubby Kno1's 40th birthday party. We arrived early, visited with Anastasia's In-law's a bit, then greeted and introduced ourselves to the rest of the guests, mostly co-workers and neighbors of the couple themselves as they arrived. We all found a place at the extended table and visited a bit, then the birthday boy arrived with Anastasia, who directed him into the room ahead of her for his big surprise, which he'd had no clue about. That was cool, as I would've figured that with about 20 people involved, someone would've blurted something out and given him a clue somewhere, but it didn't happen.

The food was good, with one little waitress hustling to serve everyone, and we visited with the handful of people seated nearest us, who were co-workers of both Anastasia and Kno1, so it was interesting to get a peek into their new work life via these people. The little gathering started breaking up around 8:30, so we were back on the road soon enough.

The brisk drive home was interrupted briefly by some bored cop sitting in the dark with a radar gun, so I got a ticket for doing 83 in a 65, but fuck him, he's the one who has to live in Glasscock County. I'll be (presumably) about a couple hundred dollars lighter soon enough, but he's still sitting out there now, the slightly tangy aroma of dead skunks wafting by on the breeze, so I think I can live with that. I would say that I am slightly annoyed that my luck finally ran out with the long-distance driving, as I normally speed pretty much anywhere we go out of town, but I guess it had to happen eventually.

I'm out kids.

Be seeing you.

Tag, you're it, Baggy Eyes! Travel, San Angelo, Birthday, Friends, Speeding Ticket, Annoyance, Dead Skunks

Detour To Nowhere

The Yorkie was scheduled for her bi-weekly visit to the Groomer this morning, so the wife was up and gone with her rather early, leaving me to sleep in a bit. When I finally stirred, the wife was in the process of printing some stuff for a mailing in the Office, so I said good morning and visited with her for a bit, then kinda bumped around the place for awhile before deciding that it was a good day for some Thai food.

I dressed, then the wife and I actually left the house at the same time, as she had a few errands to run and was hoping to be out of the house just long enough to be able to pick up Bella from the Groomer's on the way back. I called in my order for some food, then headed out to pick it up.

The area near our local hospital has been a nightmare of construction recently, so I was pleased to see that all the traffic cones had been cleared away and it appeared that I could breeze past that general area without any issue. Imagine my fucking surprise when you round a corner and realize that the entire street is closed, and that they're basically funneling traffic into the hospital's adjacent parking lot.....which is then completely the fuck FENCED IN WITH CHAINLINK FENCING DUE TO ALL THE GODDAMNED CONSTRUCTION IN THE AREA. The traffic (which you can't see until it's too late, mind you) was simply turning right into a parking area, making a lap around the parked vehicles and then turning back out the way it came, like some kind of zany British comedy sketch. I fully expect to turn up on YouTube eventually, sped up and paired with the Benny Hill music; it was fuggin' ridiculous.

The final straw was the older gentleman ahead of me who turned left, not into the far side of the two way thoroughfare, but into the immediate lane, y'know, the one with the oncoming traffic! I watched a panicked guy in a sedan frantically throwing his car in reverse, lest this guy just plow into him head-on. I turned into the proper lane and punched it slightly, as I wanted to put some distance between the elderly man and I, because who knows if he would recognize my brake lights if he were creeping up behind me at the next stop sign?

I grabbed my food and made it home without becoming trapped in a parking structure or anything equally asinine, so I retired to the den and ate while watching a few TiVo'd eps of South Park. The wife got home with the dog, then she went off to work on a few things while I watched a little something off the 'to-watch' pile.

I decided to give Teeth a re-watch, as I'd noticed that it had a commentary track by writer/director Mitchell Lichtenstein, who was someone I'd seen as an actor in a Robert Altman film called Streamers recently. When I put the name with the face I was curious to re-watch the film, see what he had to say about a tongue-in-cheek horror film about a girl with teeth in her vagina. I have to say that the film was a fun re-watch, though the commentary wasn't as lively as I would have imagined. I mean, for an openly gay director to write and direct a film about a repressed young girl who bites off men's penises with her toothed vagina, you'd think there'd be some good fodder for inspiration chatter, or something along those lines, but I never felt like I got quite what I was looking for. Oh well, the movie is still fun and can now be filed away in the Media Closet.

The wife and I had dinner this evening with another couple, who I think I've mentioned before, if only because I felt it odd that we were hanging out with a minister and his wife. We still haven't scared them off apparently, so they met us at the house, then we headed to a little Mexican food place on the South side. We ate and visited, then retired back to our place, where I popped on a TiVo-suggested episode of Ghost Adventures just because I wanted to share the ridiculousness of it with others. They found the show as sill as the wife and I do, so I'm glad it's not just me, y'know?

Our guests split around 10:30, then the wife and I breezed through The Soup before calling it a night ourselves.

Be seeing you.

Tag, you're it, Baggy Eyes! Yorkie, Groomer, Lunch, Thai Food, Construction, Frustration, TiVo, Television, South Park, Teeth, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Streamers, Robert Altman, Dinner, Ghost Adventures, The Soup

Falling Off The Wagon, Spending-wise

I can happily report that I slept like the dead last night, which was quite a relief after the previous 24 hours. When I finally got up this morning, the wife suggested a trip to Odessa to see El Vox and see if he wanted to grab some lunch.

I gave him a shout and he seemed agreeable to an outing so we headed over there, pausing on the way to hit Starbuck's and get a coffee for the road, just to get the sleep out of my eyes.

We picked up Vox and went to eat at a small Italian place that serves a 'medium' pizza that's the size of a good serving platter, so the wife and I had salads, then split the enormous pizza with Vox and still had leftovers to carry home. We hit up Big Lots afterward, and I'll be damned if I didn't end up with a goodish sized pile of DVD's to add to the 'to-watch' pile, but it's really REALLY hard to pass up a film you're even remotely interested in for $3, y'know?

I ended up with a few things I'd been eyeing for a few visits, like Roger & Me, as well as a few new arrivals like Trog, which stars Joan Crawford alongside what I expect will be a badly costumed missing link. I would've happily paid twice the price if Crawford was playing the troglodyte itself.

We spent a few minutes back at Vox' place, then split for home if only to get the pizza leftovers in the fridge before they began to rot in my back seat. I dropped the wife at the house, then decided to pop into our Big Lots to see if they had anything new as well, but there wasn't anything I couldn't live without.

Once I got home I was feeling a slight amount of 'ro-watch' pile remorse so to speak, so I threw in a little something off that stack to try to even things out. I hadn't watched Gangs Of New York since it was on cable, so I popped that on to give it another look. This was definitely another random eBay assortment purchase, as I don't know that I would've ran out to buy this, not because I didn't enjoy it, but just because I don't know how often I would look at it again. I liked it on the re-watch, and I think I appreciated Daniel Day Lewis' performance a bit more this time around, after how much I loved him in There Will Be Blood.

The wife popped in towards the end of the film, then we breezed through the standard Thursday night fare on NBC, including a hilarious 30 Rock that even worked in a parody of Paranormal Activity, which was cracking me up to no end. Great stuff.

I'm out kids.

Be seeing you.

Tag, you're it, Baggy Eyes! Errands, Lunch, Shopping, Movies, DVD, Roger And Me, Trog, Joan Crawford, Gangs Of New York, Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood, Television, 30 Rock, Paranormal Activity