Random Updates

I havent posted anything in a while, and no updates. This may be a fairly rambling post, as things will be written as I think of them. Think “Stream of Cconsciousness” writing, without the cconsciousness part.

I have had some interesting experiences in my attempts to go out and meet people. I would talk about them here, but I have had another thought. I went to the Comic Convention a month or so ago, and met a web comic artist that I have been following for about a year. She happened to be from the area I live in, and made me a map to her favorite bar. I had been told about this bar already, so I decided to go. Without having any local friends to hang out with, my bar experience has been limited to sitting at the bar and watching other people. Normally, this would be OK, as I normally enjoy watching the foibles of the human race. I listen to the pick-up lines, try to get a bead on the characters in the improv play I am watching, and try to predict the endings. But, without friends to make comments to, and hear comments from, the level of enjoyment is reduced. But I still see things that give a WTF moment. Like I stated earlier, I thought about blogging them, but the influx of artistic influences made me decide to draw them instead. I have drawn a couple of web comic pages on paper, and I have a graphics pad in my Amazon shopping cart. My plan is to scan in the pencil drawings and clean them up in Photoshop, then post them to a new blog page. I hope that I can portray the scenes better in pictures than in words.

I also realize that doing a web comic with any frequency will take away time from typing up the book. I seem to have a lot of free time lately, but horrible management skills. I think it because I feel like I should be doing these things that makes me put them off. I need to make a schedule. Work on the book this day, make a web comic that day, etc. The only thing I have a certain schedule for right now is that Tuesdays are “Buy and Watch new DVD releases” day. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga has been a HUGE time hog since I bought it. When I get that to 100% complete, it may be easier to focus on the other things I want/need to do.

I finally was able to buy my entertainment center last week. I had been putting it off as one of those things I didnt really need, but wanted. But I finally got my back pay that I was owed, and went to Ikea. I had an enjoyable couple of hours last Sunday putting it together and getting all my A/V equipment arranged and connected, then organized the DVD’s on the shelving. I like the way my living room looks now. My place is starting to feel a bit more like home rather than just a place to sleep.

I am having trouble getting worked up for the upcoming election. I was interested, even excited in the beginning, but lately… not so much. I think it could be because there are already so many people all worked up about it. I don’t remember ever seeing an election that was so hyped. I suppose it is a result of our Information Age. It has never been so easy for so many to get and share opinions. And with the anonymity of the Internet, the “tough guy” attitude springs forth. So many angry people, so angry at such little things. There was a story this morning about a woman who claimed that she was mugged at an ATM, and after giving up the cash, the mugger saw her McCain/Palin window sticker (she was a volunteer) he carved a backwards “B” into her cheek. Now she may have lied about the whole thing. Either way this story goes, it is hard for me to get my mind around it. I have been interested in Politics since I became an adult, but never found myself so passionate that either of those scenarios would cross my mind. To me , this election has become the biggest “Popularity vs. Policy” contests. I never thought I would see a presidential election remind me of a Student Body election, but that is exactly what this is. Do we want to elect the Principal, or the Popular Kid? Well, if you remember High School, you know who is going to win. The popular kid wins, not because he promises things to the students that they want, but because he is the popular kid. I don’t remember any Student Body President who actually changed a damn thing at my high school. I think the only responsibility they got out of the deal is now they have to try and track everyone down for class reunions to remind everyone that they used to be class president.

In my opinion, this election is more about making history than anything else. What do we want to be able to tell our grandchildren when we get old? That we were there when the first black president or first female vice president was made into office? I don’t think that is a good credential to use to pick a leader, but I also think that the role of President has been inflated in the minds of the American public to be a much more powerful position than it actually is. We have a system of checks and balances in this country, so no one person can rule absolutely. But the President is the one who gets all the credit or blame, mostly blame, for anything that happens. There are over five hundred other people involved in the process. I think that is why I have such a problem with Bush Bashers. Yeah, the guy made mistakes, but the majority of the other 500 backed him. So he is the only one at fault? Don’t think so. Is he to blame? Sure, just like the rest of our elected officials, as well as ourselves for voting them in.

It appears that the general populace thinks that every issue is black and white, cut and dry. It never is. Ever. Look at it this way. Find some thing that has happened in your life that you have had to explain to an outsider. This could be in the form of a job interview question, or explaining to a significant other why you were late getting home from work. Can it be explained simply? Rarely, at least not to the others satisfaction. If you had to work late, and didn’t call, then the significant other has already had time to think about the possible reasons, and settled on the worst as being the most likely. Now when you start to explain yourself, you arent answering the question as to why, you are now trying to convince the other of something that goes against what they have already decided. An uphill battle, to say the least.

Anyway, I have rambled on long enough, and I am going to go get something to eat. I hope to be showing a link to a new blog soon, filled with the True Tick Tales comic.

The Drive-In Movie

I just read an article on CNN that stated that there have been over a hundred Drive-In theaters either reopened or opened since the 90’s. The article had several quotes from people reminiscing about the good ol days of the Drive-In’s heyday. My nostalgia gland kicked into overdrive, flooding my mind with visions of the past. I have been fortunate enough to have seen movies at five different drive-in theaters in two states. Where I grew up, I was within 50 miles of four operating theaters.

My first movie experience ever was at a Drive-In. My mother made a baby book, writing down events that occurred in my life, as I was the first-born. According to that book, I went to my first movie when I was six weeks old, at the Drive-In. It was The War Wagon, starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas. I don’t remember much of the movie from that showing, but a later love of John Wayne movies leads me to believe it made an impression. My first memories of actually going to the Drive-In came later in life. I saw Star Wars for the third time at the Drive-In. Darth Vader is even MORE terrifying when you are eight years old and he is twenty feet tall. And the mechanical breathing, imaging THAT coming out of the tinny speaker hanging a foot from your head in the window. I saw Superman at the drive in. The Muppet Movie. Iconic movies from my childhood were all seen larger than life on the big, BIG screen. As much as the movies, I remember the concession stand. That drive-in had a long, cafeteria style bar that you lined up along to get your food and drinks. First up, the heating lamps over the buckets of hot, buttered popcorn. Buckets, not bags. The size of the family size Kentucky Fried Chicken buckets, and overflowing. They would cover the top with plastic wrap, the fluorescent yellow kernels heaping in a dome over the rim. Then, the heated container full of hamburgers and hot dogs. These were like the ice cream freezers that you see now, but full of foil bags of hot burgers and dogs. Then there were the frozen treats. Then the soda, called pop in my part of the country, then candy. Giant red licorice ropes, Goobers, Raisenettes, jawbreakers and the Jujubes. Hersey bars and Chocolate stars. Once you paid for it all, there was another counter that had all the fixins for the burgers and dogs, as well as salt and real melted butter for the popcorn. The movie would start at dusk, and the screen faced east. So you started watching the previews on the screen as the sun went down behind it. Then the stars came out, both on screen and in the night sky. Sometimes, a storm would be rolling in, and behind the screen would be flashes of lightning. It lent a surreal reality when I saw Twister. You just cant plan interactivity like that. I had wind, rain, and lighting during that movie.

Later in life, when I had my own car, the drive-in became more stereotypical for me. Yeah, I had a full bench seat in the front of that car, none of this wrestling the gear shift and center console for me, no sir. Cracked windows and the heater on so the windows wouldn’t be too fogged up. Around that time, they got rid of the window hanging speakers, and switched to a low power FM transmitter. WOW! The movie was in stereo! I had just installed a new amp and speakers when I saw Top Gun at the drive-in. I wasn’t that impressed with movie sound until surround sound was introduced. During the summer, this drive in introduced Cram Car NIght. To get more people out during the week, on Thursday you could get as many people as you could fit into your car in for five bucks. My personal record for cram car night was 18 people in a ‘71 Monte Carlo. That was a good night, most of the eighteen was a girls softball team. They also introduced Dusk til Dawn Night. Instead of the usual double feature, they would show four movies, back to back. That was also a good night, and a good first date with a college girl. I almost saw Short Circuit that night, but I had to rent that one later to see how it ended. The next day was horrible, though.

I still try to keep this blog fairly anonymous, not to the people who already know me, but to keep certain people from stumbling across it in an Internet search, so I don’t mention many actual locations and names. My favorite Drive-In of all time doesn’t need my advertising anyway, it is already an icon. The theater is one of the few that didn’t have a period of shut down. It has operated pretty much continuously since it opened, sometimes showing “Closed for Season” for months at a time. The movie isn’t the draw for this theater, its the food. Hot cooked burgers and real fries, cut fresh and served hot. The lady that used to run the place with her husband cooked, and the burger was named after her. They no longer own the theater, but the name remains. Sometimes, if you are very lucky, she comes out of retirement for a night to cook. I have been known to watch a movie I had no interest in seeing just eat one of these burgers at the beginning of the movie, then spend the rest of the movie hoping to get hungry again so I could have another. They also made real milkshakes, using the same fifties mixers that they did in the heyday. Fresh Huckleberry milkshakes. They also make a drink called Ironport, that they make the old fashioned way. Pump syrup into the glass, add soda water and stir. The best is Cherry Ironport, where they add maraschino cherries along with some the of the liquid from the jar. God, it was a mistake to write this before lunch. I am starting to drool a bit.

The Drive-In is iconic America, and I am so happy to see that they are making a comeback. I would rather see a movie at the Drive-In than any other venue. Sure, the picture quality isn’t as good as you get in your fancy theaters, nor is there any surround sound. But the food better, the ambiance better, and the only sticky stuff on the floor is your own damn fault. I saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at the Drive-In. Even though I was disappointed with the movie, I had my family and friends parked all around me, and we all had a great time. And the style of that movie made the Drive-In the most appropriate place to see it, in my mind.

If I lived close enough, I would go see whatever movie is playing tonight.

Rantings of BitterGeek

Last week, I picked up my copy of Heroes, Season 2. I had been re-watching season 1, then followed that up by watching season 2, then got caught up to the current episode the past two couple of nights watching them online. I had high hopes for this series, and the first season delivered on those hopes. There were a few things that I felt the series could have done without, and in a few cases, I thought that there were a few too many characters. After getting caught up, I felt the need to rant and rave, and if I blog about something in my old bitter manner, maybe my friends will stop calling me a pussy and I will get a few more hits on the blog.

What the fuck is up with Peter the Retard, henceforth known as Petard? The future version keeps trying to go into the past to fix things before they go wrong. His latest tactic? Have his past self get Sylars power so he can understand the workings of the space time continuum and figure out how to fix it all. OK, so we saw in the future that there was a friendly relationship between Sylar and Future Petard, but he decides it has to be younger Petard to do it. Why? He had finally figured out that he was an idiot and kept screwing things up, so why didn’t Future Petard get the power and figure it all out BEFORE he went into the past and fucked it all up? I have heard of dumping the workload on someone else, but dumping it on your younger self? “I don’t have to do it because I already did it.” And how come the only abilities he is able to absorb are super abilities? Couldn’t he hang out at MIT and get smarter, so he isn’t always fucking things up? How about football, or basketball? Rock Concerts?

And who the hell is keeping track of the alternate time lines? Have these writers never read any sci-fi? Even Back to the Future did a better job with time line continuity. Scarface Petard was a part of the alternate future where New York was blown up, but here he is again, same old scar. And how the hell did he get the scar with Claire’s healing powers? Did the Haitian sit there for a few weeks keeping his powers in check so everyone would be able to tell the difference between good Petard and Bad Petard? And the Irish girlfriend that he accidentally dumped in an alternate future. Yeah, she’s gone now. He left her there, went back and changed history and that time line vanished, taking her with it. “Sorry, babe. I was totally gonna come back and get you, but I had to shoot my brother and turn him into a Bible thumper. When I thought about it, your time line was gone. Don’t worry, though. Your brother is already dead because of me, so there isn’t anyone to mourn your loss.”

We spent a lot of time in season one showing Hiro’s growth, even to the point of his dad explaining what a waste he had been up until he discovered his powers. Now, Papa is proud and even left him 51% of the company. But we keep seeing Hiro as a idiot, a perpetual comic book man-child that doesn’t have the ability to grow up. And his dad, “I’m gay but I have a kid” Sulu, knew what a idiot his kid was, as shown by the two DVD’s he left. The first one said, basically, “There is something really important in my safe. It’s so dangerous, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. So don’t open it.” When the DVD’s come out, I will slo-mo that to see if I am right and Sulu is suppressing a chuckle. You know that after he stopped recording, he said to him, in Japanese, “That little shit is TOTALLY going to open the safe.” Sure enough, Hiro opens the safe and there is another DVD in there. First thing it says? “I told you not to open the safe!” If you knew he was going to do it, why not give the damn thing to someone you can trust to follow your every order without question, even if they think its wrong. Like your DAUGHTER! You know, the one who proved her worth in Season 1? But no, you have to give it to the kid who is sitting in your office reading comic books and fucking with time because he is bored. Are you even surprised that he got it stolen about fifteen seconds after that?

Now, on to New Orleans. And the new character, re-using a first season actress because she is the one everybody is hot for, goes and looks in a coffin to see herself, amazingly NOT in little bits in spite of being blown up last season. And the only one around in the house? The dead lady’s son. “Hey little Micah, we know this is a tough time for you and all, but we are all heading out to get some chow. You stay here, alone with your dead mom, and we will bring you back something. Kay?”

And lets just go ahead and kill Parkman and Mohinder. Give someone the ability to grow big like Super Chief and step on the bug Mohinder is becoming. Actually, I don’t think its the cockroach that everyone else does. I think its a lizard of some kind. Future MoLizard doesn’t have more than four limbs, and the shit he peels off of his back is more like scales than bug exoskeleton.

And what the hell. Are we going to eventually find out that Mama Patrelli is immortal, has been around for thousands of years and fucking EVERY ONE of the “special” people are her kids? And if they had Adam locked up for thirty years and they fucking KNEW about his miracle heal all snake oil blood, why is ANYONE associated with the compaby even dead. The guy from season 1 that Daddy Bennett blew the brains out of? He should still be alive. Linderman? Alive, not a FUCKING GHOST. All the people that Sylar killed? Find their brain, pop it in, shot of Adam blood, BOOM. We know who Sylar is.

The only thing that really connected with me was the whole Sylar/Daddy Bennet partnership. That was classic buddy cop formula, and it worked. I would really like to see that come back into play. Sylar always trying to find a way to treat the bad guys like a soda bottle and get the powers, Daddy Bennett always trying to figure out a way to knock off Sylar and get away with it. Tons of room there.

OK writers. Here’s the deal. I know what you have to do to get this show back on track. Go to the biggest comic book stores in the area, and find the two guys that are arguing about some stupid aspect of comic book storylines. Watch for the ones that cite references. Hire them. Do this in about four or five different places until you have ten or so. Their job? Sit in a room and watch the episodes over and over until next weeks script is done. Then they read it. I guarantee you that they will point out every continuity issue, every plot hole. These people are your demographic, they will keep you on track. And they work for Cheetos and Mountain Dew.

And in Other News…

Tonight, the melancholy front that has lingered over the area for the last few weeks was interrupted by a sudden thunderstorm of bizarre.

“It just came out of nowhere,” one witness said. “I was just sitting there, watching Heroes when all the sudden my future ex mother-in-law called to tell me about her new car.”

Elaborating on the story, the witness told this reporter about the last time he had spoken with the woman. He was in the process of saying goodbye before moving out of the house. She was leaving for work, and he would be leaving in a short hour or two. He said that he had expected an emotional farewell from her, as they had been living in the same house for several years, and he had the impression that she felt close to him due to the fact that he reminded her of her father, who had passed away a few years prior. According to him, there was no goodbye, she only brought up the matter of some money that was owed to her.

“I told her to take it up with her daughter,” he said, “then I walked away and she walked out the front door. I haven’t seen or spoken with her since. When I saw the caller ID on my phone, my first thought was that something terrible had happened.”

But that was not the case. Apparantly, the woman was so excited about the purchase of a new vehicle, she was calling everyone. She spoke for several minutes describing the car before changing the subject to her malfunctioning computer. Eventually, the man had to fake a yawn mid sentence to get her off the phone.

“It was really weird,” he said.

The Perils of Rose Colored Glasses

I think I have found the cause of my recent malaise and overall melancholy mood. I have been looking at the past through rose colored glasses and with selective memory. I remember my single days, between marriages. I didn’t leave X2B in order to return to that lifestyle, I did it to escape a destructive (to me) relationship. But I figured out that somewhere in the back of my mind, I was looking forward to a return to those carefree days. When the less than enjoyable parts of that past life were the only ones I were the only ones I was experiencing, I got depressed. It took a while to realize why. The last time I found myself separated, I had friends in the area. I literally went out and had a good time with a few friends within hours of my first wife leaving. The weekend would roll around, and the only thing me and my friends had to decide what where to go, not if we were going.

Now, I am in a new area, so I don’t have those established friends. So I have no one to hang out with. I am making friends where I work, and get along with them, but I have found that I don’t have single friends, so if they want to go hang out, I would become the third wheel, which is my least favorite way to hang out. I was spending my “party nights,” Friday and Saturday, deciding if I even wanted to go out. Usually, the answer was no, not worth the effort. So, I am in another catch 22, I won’t meet people to hang out with if I don’t go out, and I don’t want to go hang out alone, because it is so damn boring. Plus, I am constantly trying to see myself as others see me when I am hanging out, which usually amounts to “creepy guy in the corner watching everybody while nursing a beer.” I am sure that it doesn’t help that I look like an extra from the biker bar scene in any TV show or movie. I would be the bald guy in a leather jacket in the background, snarling at the protagonist during the confrontation with the hero. I would probably be the one that gets knocked out with a beer bottle to the back of the head by the hero’s love interest about fifteen seconds into the obligatory fight scene, probably followed by her shaking her hands cutely while saying “Sorry! Sorry!” Biker Thug #3 would be my role in the credits.

I have been told by two separate people now about a couple of good bars in the area, so I am thinking that I may go check them out this weekend. They say that one is a good hanging out bar, good music that isn’t too loud, good atmosphere. The other is where the younger set hangs out and has the attitude of a mini-rave. Loud techno pop and college girls who go home with anyone who buys them a couple of Zima’s. I think I will check out the relaxed bar this weekend, and if I get bored, go next door and start giving away lots and lots of Zima. My pickup line will be “Are you drunk enough that I look good, or do you need another?”

This could be very expensive.