Since I can't don't have two minutes to rub together right now, I'm lobbing this softball in RC's direction.
The Roger Ebert page at the Chicago Sun Times has a post today in its commentary section summarizing Ebert's reviews of various Michael Mann films.
I'm wondering which of these films RC has seen and what he thinks about them. If I had time, I'd write my answer to those questions, but like I said, I don't.
2006-07-31
bring 'em the heater, ricky*
This important news update, just reported to us by my wife in the next room:
"Now tomorrow's high is down to 98 (from 102) with a heat index of 102 (from 105)."
We're hoping the mail comes light tomorrow, aren't we my precious.
*Pop quiz: Identify the movie from whence this qoute. For bonus props, name the actor who spaketh.
"Now tomorrow's high is down to 98 (from 102) with a heat index of 102 (from 105)."
We're hoping the mail comes light tomorrow, aren't we my precious.
*Pop quiz: Identify the movie from whence this qoute. For bonus props, name the actor who spaketh.
2006-07-29
blogathon link love
Hey! It's Saturday afternoon, what you doing outside enjoying yourself, git yer butt back inside 'n sit in front of your computer. It's blogathon!
Here are four people from the blogroll that are blogging throughout the day and all night too. Go ahead and read them, make a pledge or two while you're at it.
Julie (omigosh... you've GOT to see this)
Eric (he's even funnier when he's tired)
JimmyP (wearing his Yankees shirt and posting pictures of Shea Stadium, a true easterner... even if he is from Texas).
Beth (redoing her bathroom live and in color... no kidding).
Ciao.
Here are four people from the blogroll that are blogging throughout the day and all night too. Go ahead and read them, make a pledge or two while you're at it.
Julie (omigosh... you've GOT to see this)
Eric (he's even funnier when he's tired)
JimmyP (wearing his Yankees shirt and posting pictures of Shea Stadium, a true easterner... even if he is from Texas).
Beth (redoing her bathroom live and in color... no kidding).
Ciao.
2006-07-28
unwelcome words of weather
I was out getting gas in the Passat (my LLV) today and WHYY's Dave Heller gave the weather report.
These are not his exact words, but close enough: "Saturday, partly sunny with a high of 90, Sunday's high reaches 93. Then on Monday it gets hot..."
Monday forecast high: 95
Tuesday: 98 (!!!)
These are not his exact words, but close enough: "Saturday, partly sunny with a high of 90, Sunday's high reaches 93. Then on Monday it gets hot..."
Monday forecast high: 95
Tuesday: 98 (!!!)
2006-07-25
2006-07-24
meet the new boss
Our old boss went to another post office and her replacement came and told me today that due to my regular carrier's extended absence, I will be working 4 straight six day weeks.
Yippee.
See ya when I see ya.
Yippee.
See ya when I see ya.
2006-07-22
i thought this job was part time
Upon returning from delivering my new primary route today (I switched from R5 to R7) I learned that because of factors which I won't go into here, I will be delivering this route every day for the next three to four weeks, perhaps longer.
I'm really gonna need a vacation when this is over.
So if this blog gets even more boring than usual, you'll know why.
I'm really gonna need a vacation when this is over.
So if this blog gets even more boring than usual, you'll know why.
2006-07-21
not the sharpest tool in the shed
I just read this piece by Kerry Madden, a writer I've never heard of. Apparently she's blue and her parents are red.
She wrote a nice little piece about surviving a visit to your conservative folks' place (funny, I can't find a link to that story. How 'bout that? She does have a blog though), and her mother Googled her and found it.
Her mom was a tad put out. Imagine that? To her credit, Ms. Madden says "I wouldn't be speaking to me either."
This thing resonates a bit with me as I imagine myself to be a writer and I have a decidedly unimaginary parent who has a prominently placed, autographed photo of our current president in their living room. Our politics diverge. But this isn't the first time Kerry Madden has unintentionally(?) mocked/outed/embarrassed her parents.
I don't know, maybe I'll never be any kind of writer, 'cause I can't imagine doing things like this to my parents. Guess I'll just stick to the mail.
She wrote a nice little piece about surviving a visit to your conservative folks' place (funny, I can't find a link to that story. How 'bout that? She does have a blog though), and her mother Googled her and found it.
Her mom was a tad put out. Imagine that? To her credit, Ms. Madden says "I wouldn't be speaking to me either."
This thing resonates a bit with me as I imagine myself to be a writer and I have a decidedly unimaginary parent who has a prominently placed, autographed photo of our current president in their living room. Our politics diverge. But this isn't the first time Kerry Madden has unintentionally(?) mocked/outed/embarrassed her parents.
.
"The very first time my mother found something egregious I'd written was in 1987, and dark days ensued. I was living with my brand-new husband in my parents' basement. During that time, I finished a terrible play that featured a domineering mother who ropes her daughter into moving in with the grandparents, who are in failing health, while she flees to live the good life.
And I had the gall/lack of imagination to set it in my grandparents' home in Leavenworth, Kan. My mother found the play, read it and recognized every insidious detail, from the Reader's Digest Condensed Books to the frozen OJ cans stuffed with fast-food condiments and A&W's two-for-one Chili-Dog Tuesdays." (Judging by this quote, Ms. Madden has yet to learn her lesson)
I don't know, maybe I'll never be any kind of writer, 'cause I can't imagine doing things like this to my parents. Guess I'll just stick to the mail.
2006-07-20
new template and all that
Well, I couldn't figure out how to get that old template to work right after blogger templates migrated it.
So now we have a new one. Did you notice? It's from Noipo.org. I've modified it some, and probably ruined it's elegant code... but at least it works.
I'm still tweaking it (or perhaps the better word is destroying).
So now we have a new one. Did you notice? It's from Noipo.org. I've modified it some, and probably ruined it's elegant code... but at least it works.
I'm still tweaking it (or perhaps the better word is destroying).
especially when the neighbors get involved and everybody comes out of their house
Color Consultants who help you pick out a house hue.
They say things like:
I don't know about her unafraid colors, but Gretchen Schauffler herself is not hard to look at.
Woah, did I just type that?
They say things like:
"We're color nerds. I mean, that's what we talk about. It's how we live in the world."
"We take our colorants with us and tweak right there on site and put it up on the house until we get it."
--Yo and Lo of YOLO Colorhouse
"Until I came along paint was just paint. It was a chemical in a can. When I came along I said 'this is 40 yards of liquid fabric'."
"If you've got the wrong white, baby, you got the wrong white. And it will not feel right."
--Gretchen Schauffler of Devine Color
I don't know about her unafraid colors, but Gretchen Schauffler herself is not hard to look at.
Woah, did I just type that?
2006-07-19
rezalm
I was fervently hoping for a return to regular blogging from Zalm... and now the signs are good that this is happening. Judging by the comments, I'm not the only one who was hoping.
2006-07-18
2006-07-17
kindness of strangers
The Postal Service tried to make up for pounding us with tub after tub of flats on the hottest day in three summers by providing us with some ice water. So I had extra water with me all day, but still I think this double helping of awesomeness deserves mention.
I shouldn't have, but I did. It was cold, and even though I really don't like caffeiene free diet anything, I liked this. After finishing it, I drank about half of the ice cold water.
I suffered no ill effects from either the heat or the coke, but I did have to pee wicked bad when I got back to the post office.
First helping: A guy walks out to his mailbox and stands there waiting for me (this is at about 2:45pm, the hottest part of the day and not a tree in sight). When I get to his box and hand him his mail, thinking that he's a bit impatient to get his 5 pieces of junk mail, he hands me a big bottle of Deer Park. It's so cold it makes my fingertips go numb.
"I kept it in the freezer until about an hour ago. Thought you might need it."
"You, sir, are the best!" I said.
"No. You da man!" he replied.
=================================================
Second helping: A few houses later, a woman is waiting at her box. I hand her the mail and she hands me a Caffeiene Free Diet Coke. Okay, let's leave aside the fact that soda is the last thing you want to drink in this heat. It's the thought that counts.
"I saw you come up the other side of the street. It's just so hot out here! Have a good day."
I shouldn't have, but I did. It was cold, and even though I really don't like caffeiene free diet anything, I liked this. After finishing it, I drank about half of the ice cold water.
I suffered no ill effects from either the heat or the coke, but I did have to pee wicked bad when I got back to the post office.
2006-07-16
how great is this? ...for me, that is
Most of you gentle readers don't live anywhere near here, which is unfortunate.
Why? You ask. Because a new store opened about a month ago in the neighboring town of Douglassville. It's called "A Taste of Italy" and it's awesome!
The family that opened up the store hails from Staten Island, NY where they owned a whole bunch of stuff... restaurants, bakeries, you name it. Now they're here.
They make their own Canoli... and not the fake kind with pastry creme in the center, but the real thing with Ricotta Cheese.
Prosciutto, Sopressata and all those other Italian deli meats.
They have prepared foods too, like roasted peppers, Eggplant Parmigiana, even Pulled Pork (and before you westerners start scoffing, you ought to come out here and taste it).
Plus they have that italian cookie extraordinaire: the seven layer cookie.
Oh my goodness! You've got to help me! I can't stay away from the place. Good thing I've been working almost every day because, 1. It keeps me from going there all the time, and 2. It's a workout to deliver mail, so I burn the extra calories and 3. I'm making the money that is funding my newfound habit.
Too bad they're closed right now. I'm getting hungry.
Why? You ask. Because a new store opened about a month ago in the neighboring town of Douglassville. It's called "A Taste of Italy" and it's awesome!
The family that opened up the store hails from Staten Island, NY where they owned a whole bunch of stuff... restaurants, bakeries, you name it. Now they're here.
They make their own Canoli... and not the fake kind with pastry creme in the center, but the real thing with Ricotta Cheese.
Prosciutto, Sopressata and all those other Italian deli meats.
They have prepared foods too, like roasted peppers, Eggplant Parmigiana, even Pulled Pork (and before you westerners start scoffing, you ought to come out here and taste it).
Plus they have that italian cookie extraordinaire: the seven layer cookie.
Oh my goodness! You've got to help me! I can't stay away from the place. Good thing I've been working almost every day because, 1. It keeps me from going there all the time, and 2. It's a workout to deliver mail, so I burn the extra calories and 3. I'm making the money that is funding my newfound habit.
Too bad they're closed right now. I'm getting hungry.
2006-07-15
these are the good old days
Who said things aren't like they used to be?
Just look at this chart*, and you'll see that they are.
*I have no idea if the chart is accurate. Who has time to fact check anymore?
Just look at this chart*, and you'll see that they are.
*I have no idea if the chart is accurate. Who has time to fact check anymore?
2006-07-13
still the right mann for the job
It's getting harder and harder to scoop RC. He's developed a habit of beating everybody and their brother to the punch when it comes to pop culture.
But I got the drop on him this time! While he was off contemplating Meryl Streep's chances for winning another Oscar before she's a senior citizen, I was pursuing the following, much more substantial story in Slate about the tumultuous Miami Vice shoot, in which director Michael Mann intimidated and alienated almost everyone. Things got so bad that there was even a shooting, the bang-bang, bullets flying variety, during filming. That incident prompted the following event:
Did you see that? Foxx and his entourage. Apparently Foxx is now an acteur (or something silly like that). Says the article,
and also, quoting a crew memeber,
Despite that, Foxx is still signed to make The Kingdom with Mann as producer.
I never knew Michael Mann was so hard to work with. He does make great movies though. And, hey, at least he doesn't throw phones at people.
But I got the drop on him this time! While he was off contemplating Meryl Streep's chances for winning another Oscar before she's a senior citizen, I was pursuing the following, much more substantial story in Slate about the tumultuous Miami Vice shoot, in which director Michael Mann intimidated and alienated almost everyone. Things got so bad that there was even a shooting, the bang-bang, bullets flying variety, during filming. That incident prompted the following event:
Foxx(as in Jamie, the big Oscar Winning star dude) and his entourage packed up and left for good. "Jamie basically changed the whole movie in one stroke," a crew member says—and not, in his opinion, for the better. The ending that was supposed to be shot in Paraguay would have been "much more dramatic."
Did you see that? Foxx and his entourage. Apparently Foxx is now an acteur (or something silly like that). Says the article,
he showed up with an entourage and something of an attitude. Foxx balked at flying commercial to Miami (Universal finally gave him the jet). And there was an early problem because Foxx was getting paid less than Farrell even though he was now an Academy Award winner. Foxx got a big raise while Farrell took a bit of a cut.
and also, quoting a crew memeber,
he was afraid of boats, afraid of planes—there were a lot of things where he was afraid for himself.
Despite that, Foxx is still signed to make The Kingdom with Mann as producer.
I never knew Michael Mann was so hard to work with. He does make great movies though. And, hey, at least he doesn't throw phones at people.
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