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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Captain's Log...Reboot

"Captain's Log, 11,26,2008: Crashed landed the space pod on a rock in the third vortex from the fire ball.  It's an inhabitable planet with strange customs and stranger local citizens.  They have more than they could want and yet through a confounding misuse of a fraction of available cranium voltage, they steadfastly march toward an impending doom of self produced proportions.  On top of that, I have contracted a virus from these life forms that has caused my machinery to become corrupted and I will have to degauss the atom chips before I am operational again.  Will send more reports once repairs complete.  Captain Out."

Ahem.  Well, that little bit of prose basically is to say I am down sick of the locals and sick with the flu and have been off work for the last couple days as well.  Lucky I have sick days.  As it is, I'm starting to feel better today and will get back around to normal in the next few days.  For now, I'm just sleeping and chilling and watching episodes of Miami Vice and enjoying what I can of this brief respite from the normal grind even though I feel like 40 miles of bad road.  Oh well, I'm on the way back up and I got to miss work for a couple days, so that's not bad.

So till I'm back around, I've got the orange juice handy and the music of the month, Dwight Yoakam on repeat...

The only time I feel the pain,
Is in the sunshine or the rain,
I don't feel no hurt at all,
Unless you count when teardrops fall,
I tell the truth 'cept when I lie,
It only hurts me when I cry

You couldn't tell it by this smile
But my recovery took a while
I worked for days and nights on end
Just to walk and talk again
You can't believe the time it takes
To heal a heart once it breaks

Oh maybe every now and then
I have a small heartache again
You wouldn't know to look at me
Those tiny scars that you can't see
It was a struggle to survive
I'm probably lucky I'm alive

The only time I feel the pain,
Is in the sunshine or the rain,
I don't feel no hurt at all,
Unless you count when teardrops fall,
I tell the truth 'cept when I lie,
It only hurts me when I cry

by Dwight Yoakam

Friday, November 21, 2008

Trailer For The Wrestler Is Online

Not much time these next couple days for the 'net, but just had to post this up. The trailer for the upcoming movie The Wrestler has finally hit the web. Been waiting to see a trailer for this all year, and can't wait to see the movie. Much like when the movie Brick came out, I knew I just had to go to a theatre to see it right away, and I'll go see this if it comes to this area. It's been getting rave reviews - could be movie of the year for me.

And if Mickey Rourke's return to glory wasn't enough (actually that was Sin City as far as I'm concerned), catch that killer Bruce Springsteen song in the trailer he wrote specifically for the movie. Rourke, Springsteen, and Marisa Tomei all in one trailer = epic Win.

If your computer can handle it (and if not, get a Mac ;-) you can download the trailer in glorious 1080P HD here.

Synopsis:Back in the late ’80s, Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) was a headlining professional wrestler. Now, twenty years later, he ekes out a living performing for handfuls of diehard wrestling fans in high school gyms and community centers around New Jersey. Estranged from his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and unable to sustain any real relationships, Randy lives for the thrill of the show and the adoration of his fans. However, a heart attack forces him into retirement. As his sense of identity starts to slip away, he begins to evaluate the state of his life — trying to reconnect with his daughter, and striking up a blossoming romance with an exotic dancer (Marisa Tomei) who is ready to start a new life. Yet all this cannot compare to the allure of the ring and passion for his art, which threatens to pull Randy “The Ram” back into his world of wrestling. Director Darren Aronofsky presents a powerful portrait of a battered dreamer, who despite himself and the odds stacked against him, lives to be a hero once again in the only place he considers home – inside the ring. THE WRESTLER had its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and won the Golden Lion at the 2008 Venice Film Festival.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Short Story - 50 Feet

Nothing major, just something I wrote in my notepad at work over a night or two...

50 Feet
by Eaglewing

It was fifty feet between heaven and hell. And he would know, because he had counted.

Many times.

And the ease of the trip one way was alarmingly acute when trying to do it the other.

An afterthought of a town with barely enough to warrant a stop sign was his home. It was that main street at the top of the hill that divided a church on one side and the bar on the other. Folks seemed to fall into one or the other on a steady basis with a thirst for something more. He had been around long enough to have noticed too that both had their regulars that always came back week after week, so he figured neither side was doing the job of quenching that thirst. On this night however, he wasn't concerned about future return trips to the well, he was only thinking of the here and now. Too much was too much and enough was enough.

So with a habit he couldn't seem to break, he staggered out of that bar at closing time, planning to cross the street like he had before and confess his sins to anyone who'd listen. But tonight the windows were dark and the lights were off and the doors were closed, so he wound up making it only halfway to somewhere in the middle. Straddling that asphalt's hard yellow line, he stopped and looked up and wondered if those on either side of the street had it right. Somewhere up there he thought there was something that was more than a church could market or a bar could drown. Something, or perhaps if a millennia old book was right, Someone, was up there and looking down. Maybe somewhere beyond the stars was the Answer. Taking a deep breath, he reconsidered. Maybe it wasn't that far away. His lips moved then and mouthed words he only hoped wouldn't go unheard.

Then the moment was shattered as that eighteen wheel tanker crested the hill with the hammer down and it wouldn't have mattered how good the brakes were for a man standing drunk in the middle of the road.

In a heartbeat he finally beat the habit and found out the distance between heaven and hell was a lot shorter than fifty feet.

The End.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

I'm Down To Saltines and Jello

Now it's lettuce. (link)

This just keeps getting worse. After a massive listeriosis outbreak and recall a couple months ago, it was just starting to calm down when E.Coli broke out around here, thanks to a Harvey's Restaurant and now further testing of other outbreaks have confirmed a separate strain of it linked to Romain lettuce. On top of that, the Harvey's outbreak is a unique strain that may never be traced back to where it came from.

Pretty much all cold cut and prepared meats are off my menu, and now when I'm thinking fruits and veggies are a good thing to eat, they're cropping up with E.Coli. What the?! Going out to eat at a restaurant is really becoming unappealing, I tell ya...

Now I'm wondering, should I boil bread before I eat too?

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Lest We Forget...

etaples2.jpg


Edit: Not my photo, sorry. Wanted a photo of Flanders Fields, and forgot the link in my insomnia state, but the thought remains the same.

Monday, November 10, 2008

"Nothin's Wrong, 'cept Nothin's Wrong"

Well, that was another week gone, sans blogging. Oh well, 'nuff said.

Laid around today mostly, just resting. Watched some football and a couple movies. Started with King Arthur on Bravo network, which is one I like but I don't think they showed the Director's Cut. There was some segment missing that I seem to remember, so if you're going to watch it, get the director's cut.

WeWereSoldiers_2002_poster.jpgThen later tonight I tuned into Mel Gibson in We Were Soldiers. That is one very good movie. It shows a battle in the Vietnam War and focused on the men, their wives, and the battle on the ground and what it did to them instead of trying for any of the usual preaching or politics about the war. They simply showed it, very graphically in a long harrowing battle sequence. These were soldiers, surrounded and cut off and dying (thanks to the usual top brass incompetence) and yet they would Drive On. And yet those at home, the women, the children, and even confused cab drivers had to deal with the fallout. Never knowing when that doorbell would ring and what it would mean. Death is truly hardest on the living. The Captain at the end would say he would never forgive himself for not dying with his men. In the end, it's always about the man beside you - not politics, not race, not even religion. Just those human beings on both sides following orders and leaving those behind that are only left with the missing space.

I've always been fascinated by war stories and war history ever since I was a kid. It isn't right how those in positions of power, those suits at the top get to decide how and when wars are started and fought while those in uniform on the ground pay the price. I firmly believe there'd be a lot fewer wars if those who decided to start them had to be on the front line leading the charge at the time they gave the green light.