Pop culture potpourri

Discovered on the Despair.com website: www.despair.com (The real punch line is the hit counter... )

Why is this woman so popular?

Anyone seen "Shot at love 2 with Tila Tequila" on MTV? Come on, it's ok to admit it... let's assume you have; maybe you can answer a question for me. Why is Ms. Tequila so popular -- apart from being an "out" bisexual 20-something woman with her own reality show? (And I probably just answered my own question there).

Watch for me soon on the next "Celebrity Rehab"!

What has she done to make 16 guys -- and 16 lesbian women -- want to jump through all kinds of stupid hoops, kissing her skinny ass to earn their "shot at love" with her? From what I've seen on the show (and yes, I admit it, I've watched a few episodes), she's bringing very little to the table in terms of personality, talent, or looks. Sorry, honey... those fake hooters only get you half a point in my book, and most of the other girls on the show are hotter than you.

MTV is setting a dangerous standard in bestowing "hero" status on bisexual women. I mean, the contest to see who would attend Madonna's slumber party was one thing... Madonna actually has some talent. But haven't things gone a little too far when we're supposed to worship F-list celebrities simply because they're "bi"? America, don't come crying to me in 10 years when all of today's teenage guys are frustrated men in their late 20s, and all of today's teenage girls are "confused".

Fancy footwear

Further proof that my daughter is more "hip" than I am (which has been the case for a few years now)... she knew about these before I did...

I've been an Iron Maiden fan for more than 20 years. I even saw them in concert once in Dallas. My only questions are -- 1) what took someone so long to come up with these shoes? and 2) are they available in size 10 1/2?

When Photoshop goes bad

Warning: this cereal may cause loss of skin pigmentation in abdominal region.

Someone on the ObsCar list posted a link to a blog called "Photoshop Disasters", where you'll find digital graphics-editing train wrecks such as the cereal box above. Check it out! http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

WSC

np: Todd Snider - "Vinyl records"

movie review, moniker spotlight

No Country for Old Men - Whiskey's review

I caught a showing of "No Country for Old Men" a couple nights ago. This is the first Coen Brothers film that I've actually seen in a theater. I had just finished reading the book (by Cormac McCarthy) a couple days earlier, so I wanted to catch the movie while the book was still fresh in my mind.

I'll watch anything that the Coen Brothers direct, but I was especially interested in "No Country" because the story is set in west Texas. If the landscapes featured in Texas-themed movies like "Giant", "Fandango", "Dancer Texas, Pop. 81", "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" or "Streets of Laredo" turn you on, you'll enjoy "No Country" simply for its spectacular panoramic views of west Texas (filmed near Marfa) early in the film.

Imagine if the movie "Fargo" were set in west Texas, and the briefcase contained drug money instead of a kidnapping ransom. In a nutshell, that's "No Country for Old Men".

While hunting antelope near Sanderson, Llewelyn Moss stumbles across the shootout scene of a drug deal gone bad ("a colossal goatf*ck", in the words of one cast member). He discovers the errant briefcase full of hundred dollar bills, and decides to take the money and run. Throughout the remainder of the film, Moss and his wife Carla Jean are pursued by Anton Chigurh, an associate of the drug runners who seek to reclaim their money. Moss compels Carla Jean to flee to Odessa and then El Paso, while he attempts to elude Chigurh in Del Rio, Eagle Pass, and later Piedras Negras.

Along the way, we learn more about the botched drug deal and some of its participants. We also discover just how vicious, ruthless, and resourceful Moss's primary pursuer really is. The film's body count is high, with plenty of blood and gore (not really any great surprise considering these are the same directors who brought us the "wood chipper scene" in "Fargo".) All the while, Sheriff Bell is on the killer's trail, but he's plagued by self-doubt regarding his own capabilities as an aging peacekeeper, and is always a couple of moves behind.



The film stays fairly true to the book, with some minor alterations to allow for a smoother-flowing screenplay. The one change I'd like to have seen would have been for the film to include more narrative personal accounts from Sheriff Bell, like maybe one before every scene that featured him or someone from his department. Each chapter of the book begins with a
Bell narrative, but the movie only featured one, during the opening title sequence. This would have aided greatly in character development, which some critics (among the reviews I've read) felt was lacking.

I did have some issues with the casting. First, the good news -- Woody Harrelson was great as a Carson Wells, a sleazeball quasi-businessman and former associate of Anton Chigurh. Tommy Lee Jones was outstanding as Sheriff Bell. As I read the book, it seemed to me that McCarthy had written Bell's dialogue specifically with Tommy Lee Jones in mind. You just gotta have a Texan actor to play a Texas sheriff. Barry Corbin gave a brilliant performance as Sheriff Bell's Uncle Ellis (even though he only appears in one scene). Javier Bardem was very good as Anton Chigurh -- stoic, cold, unemotional, and unstoppable -- like the Terminator... not somebody you'd want to have trying to hunt you down.


Beyond that, I wasn't quite as impressed. The actors who played Bell's deputies did not strike me as gen-u-wine west Texans. They reminded me more of east Texans or Oklahomans. Ditto for the driver of the chicken truck from Alpine. (Aside: who the hell raises chickens in Alpine?) I didn't care a whole lot for Kelly MacDonald as Carla Jean -- too hick-ish. I thought they could have done better. Beth Grant's performance as Carla Jean's mom (her grandmother, actually) was really just a bit too much... WAY too hillbilly. I was thankful for her small amount of screen time; she would have been more at home on the set of "Hee Haw". This brings me to an interesting question: would someone other than a west Texan even realize how some of the Coens' sterotypes of "typical" west Texans kind of miss the mark? Moreover, do they miss the mark more than the Coens' stereotypes of typical Minnesotans in "Fargo", i.e., the Brainerd girls? (I must confess that the performances in "Fargo" matched MY preconceived notions of Minnesotans perfectly! But then, I ain't from Minnesota...)



Also, I had a minor complaint about some of the filming locations. Although much of the story was set in Sanderson, almost none of the scenes that supposedly took place there looked much like Sanderson; most of them appeared to be filmed about a hundred miles to the west, near Marfa. Not that I mind the scenery around Marfa -- it's one of the most beautiful areas of Texas -- but if you're gonna say it's Sanderson, then film it in Sanderson. Sanderson sits in the bottom of a canyon surrounded by steep limestone hillsides; it has a very unique look that you just can't duplicate anywhere else. Oh yeah, they must have filmed the Odessa scenes somewhere other than Odessa. HAD to have been. That town wasn't nearly ugly enough in the film.

I did enjoy the film, especially those west Texas scenes (regardless of where they were filmed). The screenplay was well-written, and I was certainly never bored. Even though I was disappointed with certain parts, I'll still give it a "Four shot glasses" rating out of a possible five. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys Coen Brothers films, Tommy Lee Jones, or west Texas.


Spotlight: freight car monikers

Look what turned up in the January 2008 issue of Texas Highways magazine, part of a feature entitled "Maverick Mystery Tour", featuring a few of the more unusual and eccentric personalities our state has known during the past 170 years or so.

Bozo Texino drawings from a new generation (an obvious tribute to McKinley) can still be seen on the occasional freight car.


I'd be just as interested in hearing the story behind the freight car artist known as "the Rambler", whose monikers (featuring a glass of bubbly champagne) graced the sides of thousands of freight cars (mostly Santa Fe grain hoppers) during the late 1980s and early '90s. Rumor has it that he worked for a switching contractor at the port of Beaumont, but I've never seen or heard anything to substantiate that. Maybe someone at Texas Highways can track him down...


BEK's top 10 of 2007

I had considered posting a small group of my favorite photos from 2007. Looks like my friend BEK beat me to it by posting his... http://undertheweatherblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/2007-ten-favorite-photos.html


Nice work, BEK... I like the B&W Transcon shot and the U-haul trailers shot the best.

I still might post a few of my own faves from 2007, but readers have already seen most of them here. And they're not as AF as BEK's... not that there's anything wrong with AF...


WSC


np: "The Last Picture Show" dvd
nr: J.D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye

hither and yon - December edition

(almost) live from Fort Worth...

It was foggy and frosty this morning as I walked with M to school...

Keeping the world safe from Michael Vick and the Olsen Twins

Now that Michael Vick is safely behind bars, the PETA folks have moved on to the next easiest target -- the Olsen Twins. Yesterday on KHYI, morning DJ "Chance" reported that PETA had recently taken "Hairy Kate and Trashley Trollsen" (PETA's names for them, not mine) to task for making fur part of their new line of fashion merchandise, adding the following tip / insult: "Fur is worn by beautiful animals and ugly people." Sure, these young ladies aren't exactly the Barbi twins, but does PETA have to be so gosh-danged vicious?


There's even a website on PETA2.com... Meet the Trollsens. Check out the Dress-Up game where you can help Hairy Kate and Trashley accessorize with a "dead doggie shoulder bag", "butchered beaver boots", and "bloody bunny trim mittens". Classic!

Now, fur coats do about as much for me as the Troll... er, Olsen twins ... butI think one could argue that furs actually do have a practical use for humans who aren't ugly. If I was stranded above the Arctic Circle, I'd sure as hell rather have a polar bear fur in my possession than a couple of "Full House" dvd's.

Say, that reminds me... if I haven't given you my Christmas list yet,I'd love a PETA shirt. That's PETA as in "People Eating Tasty Animals." I see there's still a nice selection of them on ebay; I wear a size XL...

Stop the email insanity

I get them all the time and you probably do, too... videos in your email, several megabytes in size, featuring some stupid pet trick or amildly amusing tv commercial from overseas. The trouble is, they take about 5 minutes to download (and this with a supposed "high speed" connection) and then they're not even worth the time it takes to watch them, let alone the time they take to download. For God's sake, do me a tiny favor and quit sending me this trash. In a good year, I get maybe one or two of those that actually makes me laugh.

If you want to me to watch something, do your friggin' homework and find it on youtube (most of the stuff people email me is already viewable on that great internet repository of video entertainment). Then send me the links to the stuff you want me to watch. I'm not promising I'll watch it (especially if you've established a track record of sending me stupid CRAP), but at least you'll help me suppress the urge to respond by sending you a nasty virus. I'll even offer a gesture of good faith by showing you how it's done (youtube links, not emailing viruses...)

Star Wars fans will probably enjoy these...

"Troops" -- a Star Wars parody of "Cops" (now we know the real gruesome story about what happened to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru)

"Star Wars help desk" -- behind the scenes in the Death Star

And K recently sent me a link to something I found fairly hilarious (and it even has a tie-in with an activity we have planned for the near future)... if NASCAR's were snails, you'd have... NASCARGOT. I congratulated her for sharing one of the funniest things I've ever seen on youtube (no sh*&!) Dig that audio from real NASCAR tv broadcasts!

See, now wasn't that a lot better than waiting 10 minutes for some worthless Tim Wilson video to download?

WSC

np: Ray Wylie Hubbard - "Rabbit"

Cowboys, Itunes, freeway philosophy

The road to the Super Bowl goes through Dallas

NOC Thursday night cheering section.

Some of us had to work Thursday night and didn't get to enjoy the Cowboys' victory over Green Bay. That's ok; if things work out like most of the analysts are predicting, I'll be enjoying Cowboys football well into January, and possibly even a Super Bowl showdown with the hated Patriots. I still don't think Dallas is good enough to beat New England, but I think I'll like the Cowboys' chances against them in February better than I did in October.

Hopefully, the Dallas coaching staff was paying attention during the New England - Philly game a couple Sundays ago, because Philly had actually figured out how to move the ball against them. I don't think the Dallas "D" can stop the Patriots' Brady and Moss and Welker, but the Cowboys might be able to keep pace if they throw a lot of passes up the middle to Jason Witten.


instant gratification

Do you like itunes as much as I do? Ive really been impressed with how easy it is to organize my music with Itunes -- and I'm working with a catalog of thousands of songs. I can set up no end of playlists, not only to install on my ipod but to burn to cd's. And then there's the itunes store, where I can purchase and download music for around 99 cents per song. Beats the hell out of plunking down 18 bucks for the new Foo Fighters cd just to get the one or two decent songs I really want to listen to. And their music selection is nothing short of amazing. I've found songs there that I couldn't find anywhere else. Think of a song -- any song -- and chances are, you can find and download it from itunes.

On Wednesday something prompted me to recall some songs I heard on KTCU, our local college station, a few years ago. One was a cover of the Beastie Boys' "Fight for your right (to party)" performed in a "jazz / lounge music" style... the other was a version of the Oasis song "Wonderwall", covered in similar fashion. (Yes, I'm a big fan of the cheesy cover, whether it's the Dead Kennedys taking on Johnny Paycheck's "Take this job and shove it" or Siouxsie and the Banshees handling "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles. The more overdone and outrageous, the better. ) The thing was, I didn't know who performed them. No problem... a quick search, first on Google, then in the itunes catalog, turned up exactly what I was looking for: "Fight for your right" by lounge-cover guru (ahem) "Richard Cheese", and "Wonderwall" by the Mike Flowers Pops. Ironically, I hated the Oasis version of "Wonderwall" (along with everything else Oasis ever did), but the Mike Flowers cover is kind of catchy and hip -- they make it sound as if it was written to be played in "lounge" style. I just wish I could get their video to this song out of my head... I never should have watched this on youtube, and you shouldn't either.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P0xa0e7M3w


As far as the Richard Cheese stuff, how in the world did this guy escape my attention all these years? His name is certainly reflective of his work; it's hard to get more "cheesy" (or ridiculous) than his cover of, say... "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot. Check out a few samples on itunes and you'll see what I mean -- if you don't laugh yourself silly. His lounge covers run the gamut from "Like a Virgin" (Madonna) to "Creep" (Radiohead) to "Enter Sandman" (originally by Metallica, with the background harmony from the 1950s classic "Mr. Sandman" added as a twist) -- all of which I'm proud to say are now installed on my itunes.

Anyway, even though it took me a few years to get around to trying to find these songs, when I finally got the ball rolling, the actual process -- from initial search to sound samples to downloads to listening to the complete songs on my own computer -- took no more than about five minutes. If only everything in life were that simple.


Still, and somewhat inexplicably, Itunes doesn't always have everything I'm looking for. But if I can't find a song on itunes, I'm usually lucky enough to find it on ebay. I've been trying to bulk up my collection of early-1990's college / alternative tunes, the stuff I remember hearing during my freshman year of college on KDGE when they actually played stuff more "cutting edge" than Blink 182 . A couple of songs, "Number One Dominator" by Top, and "Here at the home" by Tribe, were unavailable on itunes, but I found both of them on ebay (conveniently with "buy it now" options). A couple of clicks, a payment to Paypal, and three or four days later the cd's were in my mailbox. Not exactly instant gratification, but easier than driving to a half a dozen specialty music stores trying to find the right cd's. How did we ever get by without the internet?

philosophy at 75 mph

Heading back to Massachussetts? Northbound on I-35W...

How do others perceive north Texas? I was pondering that one day a couple weeks ago when a van with Massachussetts plates passed me heading north on I-35W. I was on my way home from lunch; they might have been on their way home, too -- a dozen states away. And I wondered -- does north Texas (its landscape, its people, its roadside scenery) seem as different and strange and wonderful to them as Boston or Wyoming or southern California seemed to me?

WSC

np: Reel Big Fish - cover of Duran Duran's "Hungry like the wolf"

nr: John Steinbeck - East of Eden

Catching up

When I let 8 or 10 days pass without a report, stuff tends to pile up and I'm forced to post "mega" blog entries like the one you're about to delve in to. Enjoy!

Catching up with the kids

Well, it's the 3rd of June and the kids have already been out of school for close to 2 weeks. May 24 was the last day (Jeers to the Keller Independent School District for turning them loose on me even before Memorial Day!) We celebrated M's graduation from Kindergarten on May 23.

M's kindergarten graduation

An expression of joy at Babe's in Roanoke

Doing the Hokey Pokey at Babe's

Meanwhile, we celebrated L's eleventh birthday at Joe's Crab Shack on the 27th and a week later at Texas Roadhouse. The staff of both restaurants had her doing "stupid human tricks" to provide the appropriate level of embarassment for an 11-year-old.

L impersonates a rooster at Joe's Crab Shack

Will it ever quit raining?

Don't get me wrong, I love the rain -- it could rain everyday through the end of August and I wouldn't complain, as long as it keeps the temperatures down. But it has been cutting into some of my bike riding time, and it has prevented the kids from getting out of the house as much as they probably should. One evening last week, they broke out and ran wild in the front yard during a downpour...

Enjoying a nice spring rain


Another day of liquid sunshine...

On the road

The rain hasn't kept me from shifting my bicycling into high gear... I racked up 453 miles for the month of May -- my highest recorded total ever for a single month. I did get caught in a heavy downpour during a ride last Sunday... had to ride through heavy rain with no available shelter (fortunately there was no lightning) for about four miles before it let up and by then I was completely soaked! But I've been having some good rides, and am hoping to increase my weekly mileage to as much as 150... I'll need the stamina if I'm going to ride the Century at the Hotter'n Hell Hundred in August...

This switch engine put itself in an Auto-Max sandwich.
Seen during a bike ride near Haslet, TX. May 31, 2007.

Still funny after all these years

FOX aired the 400th episode of the Simpsons a couple weeks ago -- this one was a takeoff on the popular action / suspense series "24". It's hard to believe the Simpsons have been around for close to 20 years. During the past few years, I haven't watched the new episodes as faithfully as I once did, but it's good to see that Matt Groening & co. are still churning out episodes worth tuning in for. I need to remember to program our DVR to record those.

The Simspons parody of "24" even included a Jack Bauer appearance...

Pop culture rap sheet

I could really give a flying turd whether Michael Vick is sanctioning dog fights, Britney Spears is in rehab, Paris Hilton is in the hoosegow, or Lindsay Lohan is passed out drunk in her car. I'm only interested in what Michael Vick is doing on the football field, and as for the others... well, I'm not interested in much of what they do at all.

But it IS interesting to see that fame and fortune doesn't seem to contribute much to the judgment skills of people who lack self control or who are easily influenced by those around them. And it's just as interesting to draw a few parallels between their problems and some of my own experiences at a similar age (albeit without the fame and fortune).

Passed out in a car at age 20? Oh, hell YEAH! Considering how much I used to drink, imagining myself in rehab or even in jail isn't that much of a stretch. ( Is anyone reading this who knew me during my sophomore year of college?) I suppose I'd be least likely to be involved in something like Vick's alleged dog-fighting ring; I just have no interest in that kind of crap. But fast cars? Maybe a little... Alcohol? You bet!

I'm fortunate, though, that I had the self control to prevent my bad habits from becoming too big of a problem in my life. For this, I credit the influence and values of my parents and some of my closer friends. And in that regard, I consider myself a HELL of a lot more fortunate than Vick and Britney, Paris and Lindsay, even with all of their millions.

Clusterf*ck, Texas

Take a look at the photo below... look familiar?

Northbound I-35W at Heritage Trace Parkway

If not, you must not be from north Texas... it's a photo of the traffic congestion we are enduring in the D-FW area on an increasingly frequent basis, on roads which should have been expanded YEARS AGO when our region's population first began to skyrocket. Even two-lane roads which once allowed hassle-free travel through sparse traffic are now virtual parking lots during rush hours, especially where they provide access between huge, new neighborhoods and the amenities which support them (grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants). In our part of town, alternate routes are often just as crowded, or sometimes don't exist at all. The freeways don't have enough lanes; they haven't for years. There's no margin for error; a lane closure due to an accident or construction can back up traffic for miles. The state spends millions to redesign and re-construct freeway interchanges, only to have the traffic pile up a few miles down the road at the next bottleneck. There is no mass transit to speak of... Trinity Railway Express has five stations here in Tarrant County on one line that goes to Dallas. City buses don't run within 3 miles of our house!

And it's not just the roads and highways... you should have seen the line at the post office the last time I went to buy stamps. This was at the large, Jack D. Watson post office intended to serve all of north Fort Worth. I was there between 11 am and noon on a Friday morning and they had ONE WINDOW open. The line of customers stretched nearly all the way out of the building. And the only self-service stamp machine that accepted credit cards was out of order.

Want more? Our kids attend crowded schools... the school districts literally can't build them fast enough to keep up with the growing population. Wal-Mart is always packed with customers, and there are never enough checkout lanes open. Every summer, we are told to ration our water for lawn use... even when the lake levels are up, the water infrastructure can't meet the demand, and the water mains start to break. The air quality is terrible and gets worse every summer.

It's a simple fact that our quality of life here in north Texas is declining. And it's due in large part to the failure of our elected officials to plan and properly prepare for the increasing population. I think I can tough it out until the kids are out of school, and I might even finish my career with the railroad here. But I have no intention of sticking around here for the long haul. As soon as my obligations to my kids and my employer have been met, I'm GONE, baby!

In the meantime, here's a proposal -- everyone who has relocated to the D-FW "Metro-mess" during the past 6 years has to leave. We'll handle it on a "last in, first out" basis. If you just moved here, beat it... call up Atlas or Mayflower and tell 'em to take you and your stuff back where it came from. For my friends who are recent arrivals... sorry, dudes... it's not that we don't want you here... north Texas just isn't ready for you yet. Here's the deal -- as soon as our local and state governments have installed the infrastructure to accomodate you (roads, transit, water lines, amenities) without inconveniencing the rest of us, you can come back. If nothing else, I'll sell you my house when I leave.

WSC

np: Rangers at Mariners