The Bionic Woman (Pilot) : B-
It's a darker and more action-oriented take on the 70's drama from the same folks who brought you the new Battlestar Galactica. I don't think it's as good as the BG remake, but I've only just seen the pilot. What's bad? It suffers from a slight case of network-itis: meaning it has a lazy script with simplifications for the masses and those kind of dumb lines no one would actually say if they were fighting. It rips off other movies, notably X-Men, Superman, and The Matrix. The actors are only giving so-so performances. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that Katee Sackhoff, who I think does a pretty good job as Starbuck, is giving a remarkably poor (almost Calculon-worthy^*) performance here. It has enough tension/action going for it that I think I'll give it a few more tries before calling it a pass.

Our New Cable Box with DVR : A-
For what I need in a cable box, it's great. Recording quality is way better than VHS, and it's pretty easy to program. The only concern I have is that the disk is pretty much always churning. This is probably no biggie. In my experience the mean time between failures on drives is way better than it used to be. I mean, heck -- at work we've got machines that have been on more or less constantly since 2003 (minus the occasional restart or power failure), and they're okay *knocks wood*. All the same, I will be turning the unit OFF when I'm not watching it.

* Thanks Joel!

Montana Conservative Dave Rye said he doubts a dead soldier was smart enough to write an editorial against the war. God's Own Party strikes another blow for liberty!

I even wish those Righties would stop fitting foot in mouth, if only because I know a few and I don't think they're (totally) stupid. I mean, could get drunk with a conservative and trade sexual fetishes but I'll be goddamned if I ever let my sister marry one.

Well, yesterday was a little bit crazy. I think I'm doing better now. I didn't take a constitutional this morning like I wanted to, but I walked to meet Joel for lunch.

Today has that funny "back to school" feeling in the air that you can never really shake as an adult. Another cool semi-cloudy morning, little bit of smoke in the air (as the farmers burn off the used crops.) I like this little pre-taste of Fall, but I have to keep reminding myself that summer's not over yet and we will sweat a couple of more times before the weather gets really nice.

I'm holding back on the coffee if I can handle it. I had only one of my small pots this morning, and I waited until after lunch to have the second one. (This is as opposed to my 3-4 pots [= 6-8 cups] a day.) I hope this doesn't make me cranky tonight.

Saw a community theatre version of "Reefer Madness" last night. The troupe did a worthy job of presenting the uber-camp musical rendition of an already camp cinema slab of yellow-journalism. Overall it was audible, although a few of the vocals were hard to hear. Even though the leads were mic'ed there it did seem like some needed new batteries or projection lessons. (A constant curse of theater, especially community theater!) I'm looking forward to seeing this company (the Chico Cabaret) do "Rocky Horror" this fall -- that's assuming we get tickets before they sell out.

Today is the first "cool" day we've had since June - meaning it won't get over 80. Clouds drift past the sun, and there is a lazy, sleep-inducing breeze.

Feeling dull and bored, too bored to be evil, or to be malicious, or erotic, or happy. Really should cut back on the caffeine. Tempted to start drinking again. It would be easy, so easy, to just get lost--but then it would get difficult to maintain. I'd get sick, do something stupid or injurious, risk losing Joel over something so trivial. When it's medicine, it's trouble.

Trying to work. Chewing gum incessantly to keep myself occupied. I brought some blue silly-putty to work and I break off a piece and chew on it. It snaps satisfyingly. After a few minutes, it has absorbed enough saliva that it starts to get mushy so I spit it out into a napkin. Back to the gum to clean out my mouth.

I have my fullest beard in years and I have let my fingernails grow. I'm not yet Howard Hughes, but it sounds like fun.

The office phone just rang. I don't answer, I just listen. The guy on the other end sounds like a telemarketer. He says "Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?" in rapid succession. I hang up.

I'm beginning to really dislike apartment living, but I wonder if I'll ever be able to get past it without going into criminal levels of personal debt. In my kinder moments, I feel bad for families of four who have to live in apartments. It seems wrong, somehow. My family wasn't loaded, and we often worried about money but we managed to avoid having to move out. But then, the ratio of earnings to rent was narrower in the mid 1970's.

( If you've lived in apartments for any length of time, I'm sure you know the Stompers. )

Well, it's six years after 9/11. Thanks to this administration I feel like I've aged twenty. There are grey hairs in my beard. Sure, I'm not above blaming the Republicans for that.

It's enough to make a guy want to stop reading his favorite liberal blogs -- not because I disagree, but that I'm just so very tired of hearing about the outrage du jour. Nothing in the way the Bush administration fucks up the world or in how ineffectual the opposition is really surprises me anymore. I have a life, a relationship, and other stuff that I have to get on with and all this is just a depressing enterprise.

I mean, I don't spend more than an hour a day reading the blogs, but even that feels like I'm wasting time. WHAT?! You mean Petraeus's report was just a chance for the Bushies to re-affirm and extend their illegal occupation? WHAT?! Dianne Feinstein let Bush elect another toadie as Attorney General? Fuck -- what else is new? Wake me for the elections. (I mean the real ones, not the primaries.)

I like Led Zeppelin quite a bit. I like the idea of hearing other bands covering music I like quite a bit.

A bunch of floppy, energy-less covers by artists who don't really seem to care doesn't help either of these notions. I had to force myself to listen to all of Encomium: A Tribute To Led Zeppelin, despite my innate tendency to skip away from a track I don't like.

( Oh, please make a click right here for my review! )

The biggest problem is that most of these tracks fall short the urgent energy present in the originals, or add strange and unnecessary energies where they shouldn't be. Zeppelin often tread a very fine line between good and flaky, and it's too easy to fall off onto the bad side.

Many newspapers decided not to run it:
http://www.salon.com/comics/opus/2007/09/02/opus/
(might have to watch a commercial to see it here)

While it isn't very offensive to me, it isn't very funny either - and any political points diluted by the dumb Burqini gag. It would have been better to end it earlier.

Looking back I can see how Breathed started his slide into soft mediocrity before the original Bloom County ended (although I have to admit to very fond, maybe rose-colored memories of reading it.) Was he ever great? I mean for your average strip comic he was pretty good, but maybe that was just me being thirteen years old and sick of Garfield.

My mother called me late last week to tell me that she had heard from my sister that Dad had died. David Sr. was 61.
( More... )

Wow. Has it really been thirty-plus weeks since I've posted?

Here's the Bad News(tm): my car is probably totaled.

I was in an auto accident last Monday -- some doofus ran a red and plowed into my right front fender. According to the body shop it's $10,000 in damage, mostly thanks to a ruined suspension and body damage. No one's hurt, although I don't think the other driver had any insurance. I say "probably totaled" because it's still up to the insurance company to decide what it wants to do, but the repairs are over the bluebook value of the car.

The first thing to go through my head after the accident? "Aw, shit! This fucks up my week."

The second thing was, "Where are my GLASSES?!"

The third thing was, "Huh... the airbags didn't go off."