The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

YaYa has been bugging me for months to take her to the Hunger Games movie (opening March 23rd) and to see what all the fuss is about I read the book by Suzanne Collins. The verdict? To my chagrin it's a pretty damn good read, with a good mix of action, character and chaste romance. I'm actually kind of looking forward to the movie now. Huh. Whodathunkit? Grade: B

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Patriot Acts

Today I finished reading another Greg Rucka novel in the Atticus Kodiak series, "Patriot Acts". For the +/-'s of the book see my review of his last one, as there's little difference in the flaws and triumphs of the book. I will say that I'm consistently annoyed by authors who paint gov't's, business, etc as evil and act disgusted by their violent acts, while ignoring the fact that the protagonists - and by proxy the author's wallet - thrive on acts just as violent, and often more unconscionable. The 'bad guys' in this one crushed a Communist revolution in Latin America (egads!) while the 'good guys' once burned a reporter alive and cut strips of flesh off a man just to make him scream. Hypocrisy anyone? Grade: C (tho' the writing deserves a solid B)

Hey if no list for Smiley's birthday comes by early this week...UNDERWEAR is in his future '! And we remember what happened that one Christmas! !! Also tell me yours .... you might just end up with underwear - Aunt Katie

Smiley and the Prism

Smiley's been begging for a coin-counting bank for weeks, and we finally gave up on waiting 'til his bday and agreed to get it today. So how does he wake me up this morning?

By asking for a prism instead.

"Dada, if you buy it I can play with light, and bounce it and divide it and make colors on the wall." He was more detailed than that, explaining the whosit and whatsit involved. It was enough of a presentation that we agreed (plus it was 7 am, and I wanted to get back to sleep). Come ten o'clock we were at American Science and Surplus buying him a prism.

This, on the heels of him spending two weeks poring over YaYa's books on space, watching Nat Geo docs on the cosmos and drawing both constellations and galaxies on scratch paper

The Walking Dead by Greg Rucka

 On Thursday I finished reading "The Walking Dead" by Greg Rucka. Yes, the title is confusing and out to be changed, because it's not a zombie book. It's a thriller, the 7th of the Attitcus Kodiak series. I've been a fan of the series for over a decade, but I can't say I'm in love with the abrupt change in direction it's taken. Atticus started out as a professional bodyguard/bouncer with a foster child in his care. Now, he's a globe trotting fugitive trained as an elite assassin. Uh . . . ok. Still, Rucka has a great style that makes up for many flaws - such as having a plot that could double as the movie "Taken". Grade: B/B-

Elmo and Me

 Last night we watched "Elmo and Me" a documentary about the life of Elmo's puppeteer Kevin Clash. It's a great story, w/ Clash creating his first Muppet at age ten while living in a distressed Maryland neighborhood referred to as "Chocolate City". By 18 he was a star of a local TV show, and soon caught the eyes of the legendary Jim Henson and Kermit Love. The part that got me the most were the scenes of Clash training the French cast of Sesame Street, where his talent and passion were on full display. That, and a scene of a dying child meeting Elmo as her last wish; that part choked me up. Grade: A

 Ryan Braun won his appeal and won't be suspended!

 Today is the 17th anniversary of the day Lisa and I met

Business Closings

 soref's carpet city just went out of business, acc. To jsonline

the Rosebud and Times theaters are also closing their doors . . As Appliance World did a few wks back

 

A Short Update

The new job is going fine, but I've never made a habit of talking about it online and I probably won't change now :) (but feel free to ask me privately). So far though it's just training and book learnin' in a classroom setting, so there's not a whole lot to discuss anyhow. 

In other fronts, tonight was my Tiger Cut den meeting. The thrust of the meeting was communication & manners, which was fortuitous: I failed to communicate well & they were shy on manners ;) Actually, by the midway point I found my groove and the meeting picked up steam. (and the kids were actually pretty good). Still below par tho', but maybe the kids learned a thing or two.

2 Pics

 

3 Movies

 Sunday night our friend Chris came over for a mini-movie marathon. We watched "Wake Wood" an Irish film about parents who broker a deal with a local villager to resurrect their daughter from the grave. Shockingly, this proves to be ill advised. It's nothing you haven't seen before, but it is well made and the actors do a convincing job of expressing the pain of their loss. B.

Also on the agenda: "In Time" a sci-fi thriler starring Justin Timberlake. In a future where lifespan is the currency of the age, Timberlake plays a poor working stiff who exists by scraping by, always hours away from literally running out of time and falling dead in the street. It's a silly premise, and really just an allegory for a perceived inequity in our own economic system. Still, I've seen worse thriller/Robin Hood tales. B

Our last flick: "The Ward", a 2011 John Carpenter film set in a psychiatric institution in 1966. There are some glowing reviews out there, and Carpenter fans seem willing to disembowel you at the merest criticism of the movie. What the hell - my stomach is too big as it is; the movie SUCKED. It's a cookie cutter plot with bits of Shutter Island, Identity, and The Ring tossed in like a poor man's 'Scary Movie', and other than the shrink I thought the acting was right up there with the best of off-off-off-off Broadway. Yeck. The only thing saving this one was that the hospital itself defied cliche, with male orderlies acting professional and refusing sexual advances, and a psychiatrist who seemed to care. That earns the film a reluctant C+.

Zone One by Colson Whitehead

 Today I finished reading "Zone One", a novel by Colson Whitehead. It is, on the surface, a zombie book, tracing the life of a single soldier assigned to Zone One, an area of Manhattan being cleared for reoccupation. What the book really is is a beautiful examination of our selves, our fears, and what it means to be human. It's a powerful literary work, and Whitehead can dance with the English language like he's one of the few to hear the music. I loved it. A+

2 Films

 2 films tonight.

First up: 'The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane', a 1976 suspense film staring a 13 yr old Jodie Foster. The 'shock' was plain to see from the start and honestly, the danger that powers the whole film could have been avoided if the girl had just locked the front door (not once, but many times people just walk right in). I also strongly objected to a full T & A shot of Foster. Not only was she a middle school aged minor, it was unnecessary to the plot. Grade: C

2nd billing: "These Amazing Shadows" a documentary that I streamed because I was told that it was about the preservation and conservation of our movie heritage. That's something I strongly believe in, and long ago in the pre-Lisa days I would occasionally donate some of my pay to restoration efforts at the Library of Congress. Anyhow, about 10% of the film was about that, with the rest being the standard self-serving documentary Hollywood loves to make about itself. Of great interest, however, was the shocking side by side clips of the censored & uncensored versions of "Baby Face" (Barbara Stanwyck, 1933). The censors changed the whole philosophy and drive of the film simply by tinkering with a few key moments. Revolting. Grade: C+

Hamburger Mary's

 I took three of the kids (LK was at Grandma's) plus one of YaYa's friends to Hamburger Mary's for dinner. Nice place, friendly staff, decent (but not mind-blowing food), but the price . . . yowsas. (and remember I usually dine with 6 people, not 5).

FYI

For those of you in Milwaukee, at 3:30 this morning Channel 58 (the CBS affiliate) will be airing Timothy Dolan's elevation to Cardinal. Other local stations will stream it online, but this is your chance to view it live on television. I've been getting up for work at around 5:30 this week, so it'll be a stretch, but I'm going to set my alarm and hope for the best.

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas

We watched "A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas" last night. It isn't as funny as the original, but c'mon, who could match that? Anyhow it's a fair approximation and way better than the gawd awful 2nd film. I LOL'd several times and found the plot pretty decent, given it was just an excuse to get the guys in awkward situations. They all but abandoned the adoration of weed, which is sad, but in exchange the film did have a baby try cocaine and Ecstasy. B+

Gary Carter

Gary Carter, the ever-smiling Hall of Fame catcher that was synonymous with the Montreal Expos, died today of brain cancer. He was 57. 

RIP

My Kiddos

 

Naturally

When it rains it pours - years struggling to find a decent job, and now that I've got one, what happens? I get a voicemail from a hotel asking me to come in and speak about an unnamed position that 'just opened'. Could be a management gig, could be a $7/hr desk clerk. We'll see, but it's worth a call.

Lisa with her friend Jessica's new baby 

 

The Grammy's

Damn good Grammy's show, no? Beach Boys (w/ a shaky Brian Wilson), Paul McCartney, Adele, Taylor, Glen Campbell, Foo Fighters, Katy Perry - sweet.

Congrats, so far, to Adele, Fergie, Taylor Swift and the Foo Fighters

Damn I love Paul McCartney.

Bam! Just rename the statue the "Adele" already :) Congrats yet again!

Ok Facebook. Grammy's are over, Danny-boo is freshly washed and my clothes are laid out. In 9.5 hours I start my new job, and hopefully begin my rise back to the middle of the bottom third of the middle's bottom third.;) Cya later.

Blue and Gold

Today was the Cub Scout's Blue and Gold luncheon. It went much better than I expected, even despite the fact that my kids were [redacted] grouches from the minute they woke up. They especially liked the Order of the Arrow Native American dancers, joining them for one of the dances. Of course the pics I sent from my phone never posted to FB and I deleted them assuming they had . . .

X-Men First Class

Just finished watching "X-Men First Class". Wonderful, action packed movie with a solid script. I wasn't expecting to like it at all - Marvel's obsession with mutants bores the hell out me - but there ya go. Well done. A.

Quote

 Don't go wobbly

Whitney Houston

 OMG!!!!

BREAKING NEWS Whitney Houston is dead at 48. RIP

This Queen Won't Fit

I spent a good part of the afternoon moving a queen mattress/box spring across town only to discover the box spring can't be moved upstairs because it fails to clear my stairway by about a third of an inch. Debating what to do - and generally disgusted with life.

watching Martha Stewart on Baking with Julia (Child). Great to see two legends together.

Stormhouse

We just watched a Brit horror film called 'Stormhouse' about a ghost captured and housed by the Brit gov't. How was it? Let's say this: when a character yelled "Is it over?" I prayed the answer would be 'yes'. A turd of a film. Grade: D.

 i have spent waaay too much time driving kids here and there in this snow. Ugh.

Lump's Drawings

 

Wild Thing by Josh Bazell

I just finished reading Josh Bazell's "Wild Thing". It's a sequel to "Beat the Reaper", a book I reviewed in '09 (you'll find the link in the first comment below). Our resident MD/former mafia assassin is sent into the wilds of Minnesota to verify the existence of a mythical creature that's allegedly chomping up folks in a lake. Along the way there's meth dealers, gunfights, and, naturally, a sword wielding Sarah Palin. It's a very enjoyable novel, and I continue to be a fan of Bazell's style of annotating the text. On the down side the character is more than a little bit of an as*hole - and judging by the afterword, that goes for the author too. But if you can put aside his ludicrous political, religious and social opinions, you've got a heck of a read. Grade: minus the author's paranoid rants, an A. As is, with nuttiness embedded, a B/B+

Doctor Who Season Six

 I stayed up waaaay too late last night to finish watching season six of Doctor Who. 1st half of Volume 2: "Let's Kill Hitler" was a hoot, "Night Terrors" was ho-hum, been there/done that, and "The Girl Who Waited" was pretty ho-hum itself until the last third, when it really gave your heart a wallop. I literally cursed at the Doctor when he closed the door on 'Old' Amy, the heartless bugger.

2nd half, volume 2 of series six: "The God Complex" was smart and creepy and continues an important theme of Moffat's tenure; dumping the demi-god status granted the Doctor by Rusell Davies. "Closing Time" was grand, a LOL romp marred only by the presence of the Cyberman. It was far too bit of a part for them, and should have been pawned off on another species. Finally, the "Wedding of River Song". CLASSIC Who, just perfect. There's not a wasted line of dialogue in this show; everything comes back to haunt you at some point. Grade: Grade? It's the greatest sci-fi show EVER. There isn't a grade high enough to rank it.

Top Gun

Watching the end of Top Gun on THIS. Just as much fun as when my Dad took me to see it back in the day. Still, not much in the mood for TV or films tonight, so I may just read before bed. How very 1934.

At the Park

 @park with the kids, seeing as my 'on call' shift at work was cxl'd.

An Election by John Scalzi

long day. Settling in to watch season 6/vol 2 of Doctor Who 

Meanwhile, I finished reading John Scalzi's "An Election", a 46 page story about a human running for a vacant City Council seat in a ward that is alien-majority. Quick, funny, and simply told. Go ahead and read it. I think it's only a buck or two on the Nook.

Metropolis

Once Lis hit the sack I finished watching Fritz Lang's 1927 restored masterpiece "Metropolis", now including 25 min of footage thought lost for most of a century. Marvelous film, although I'm not blind to the fact that Lang ignores a choppy story in favor of using emotion and strong visuals to convey his theme. BTW, the look of the film - my word! It's beautiful. 85 years later and I think Hollywood would have a hard time replicating some of the sets. It must have cost a fortune; I've heard upwards of $4 million *IN 1927 MONEY.* Just gorgeous. Grade: A (duh)

Charles Dickens Turns 200, GNR Rocks, and Arrested Development Returns

Today is the bicentennial of Charles Dickens' birth. RIP Chuck, and thanks.

Oh, and the live version of GNR's 'Knockin' on Heavens Door' rocks.

Tonight after work we finished watching the last of "Arrested Development". What can I say? It's a great, intelligent show, with fine acting/writing/laughs, and it deserves its stellar reputation. We loved it. *spoiler* I did find the finale, while a perfect bookend to the pilot, to be rather depressing. It invalidates everything Michael did in the three years prior, no? It was a waste of three years of his life, and it was a bit of a buzzkill.

GAB

 The GAB has announced they will not accept third party challenges to the recall petitions - meaning even if a third party finds my name scribbled on seven different pages, right next to Minnie Mouse and JFK, too bad so sad. Justice - as defined by a 'accountability' board loyal to Dems, means "to disenfranchise honest WI voters by ignoring fraud". Seriously, this state makes me ill. If things don't improve on the personal financial front, I'm leaning towards "Adios!".

A Great Tiger Meeting!

Great Tiger Cub meeting today (IMO at least).

Lisa and Lu designed a really cool poster of the food pyramid for me, and I made a bingo game of "good for you food/not so good" using pictures of various food items I clipped out of a grocery store flyer. 

It was surprising how many kids picked ice cream, pizza, or cheeseburgers as "good for you". Then we made candy airplanes for Valentines and ended w/ a snack of watermelon.

Firefly

I finished watching the last of "Firefly", Josh Wheldon's beloved but short lived sci-fi series. I enjoyed it, esp. since I like my mysteries dark and grim and my sci-fi light and fun. But the whole old west-meets the future bit was done 20 years ago on Galaxy Rangers, thank you, and (ducks in advance) overall the series gets more accolades than it deserves just by virtue of its quick cancellation.

Midnight in Peking by Paul French

I've stayed up late to finish reading an advance copy of "Midnight in Peking" a true crime book by Paul French. It's the story of the gruesome murder of Pamela Werner, a 20 year old British woman living in Peking on the cusp of WWII.

Despite taking place in a city literally surrounded by invading Japanese, the murder of a white woman still makes headline news around the world and spawns an intense manhunt, but one that may have been rigged to fail from the beginning.

It's a fascinating tale and French tells it well, although I think he runs out of story 4/5ths of the way through. Grade: B+ On sale April 24th.

No Bueno

Man, I hate when Smiley comes home from a weekend at Grandma's (and that's no knock on Grandma). So far he's argued with the other kids, said he hated me, screamed because I won't take him to the park, and whined because I won't read a packet about ducks to him right now (yeah, no; I'm making supper, I have 3 other kids to worry about too). Grandma's is vacation land; this here is the real world. 

LuLu behind the wheel

LuLu is ecstatic that I let her 'drive' the van home from the park.

Not quite. She rode shotgun with her hand on the wheel w/ mine, and yes, when it came to our alley I let her complete the turn and guide it onto our property.

Doesn't matter; the first thing she did when she got into the house was taunt YaYa with "I got to drive before you-oo-ou".

Is Dis Summa?

 @ the park w/ lk and lu, having finally given into their pleas on a day so nice lk asked "is dis summa? Cuz winter not warm and it warm." then, off to work til close . .

53 Years Gone

53 years ago today The Music Died. RIP Buddy. The world has been a lousier place without you.

Paranormal Activity 3

We watched "Paranormal Activity 3" after dinner tonight. Given that it was the 3rd film in the series to pull the 'found footage' scenario I was expecting the law of diminishing returns to render this a dud. To our surprise, I thought it was darn good. There's an interesting plot twist and some genuine scares; we even jumped in our seats at one point. I'd rate it as a solid B/B+

The Last Great Game by Gene Wojiechowski

During a veeeerrry long wait at the Dr's office today I finished reading " The Last Great Game by Gene Wojciechowski. It's the story of the monumental Duke/Kentucky match-up in the 1992 Elite Eight. It's a joy to read, very similar in scope and style to "Game Six" (one of my favorite books of the last few yrs). 

I'll forever remember watching that game live on TV in '92. I was crushed when Duke went down w/ 2.1 seconds left in overtime - and screaming with joy when Laettner sank "The Shot" to win it for the Blue Devils. I loved that team. Hurley, Hill, Laettner, Coach K. It was good to revisit them in their prime, and to learn the background of that ferocious KY team. 

Recommended for sports fans. Grade: A.

Shark Night

Last night we Redboxed "Shark Night", a horror film starring American Idol runner-up Katherine McPhee and the daughter from "Gilmore Girls". It's a film about a bunch of college kids terrorized by sharks while they visit a saltwater lake in LA.  It's not the worst shark movie ever made, and they do make the commendable effort to weave in a revenge/thriller aspect; they fail miserably, as it was a ludicrous plot twist,  but again, commendable that they tried.  Grade: C

Don Cornelius

 RIP Don Cornelius (of Soul Train) age 75, of apparent suicide

A Scary Restroom Visit

Oh man, was I worried for a second. But then I remembered: "Oh, that's right. I had cherry soda last night".

On Drug Tests and Human Poo

Passed my pre-employment drug test today. I still object philosophically to the practice; if I don't operate heavy machinery or work in a profession where safety is an issue, then it's none of your business whether I choose to spend my free time in church or snorting lines off a stripper's belly.

Anywho, the test put me less than a mile from an Olive Garden, so Lisa & I headed there for lunch. The food was good, but the memorable bit was finding a human turd sitting on the lobby floor, right outside the men's room. You won't see that on Top Chef, now willya?