halloweenies

Well, Saturday, we went to Jenn's parents' house to celebrate her dad's birthday. That was fun. lots of family and burgers and things. Norm took this pic, further solidifying that my kid is way cuter than yours. Just accept it.
We thought we might be able to go out that night to some Halloween stuff or maybe go see Larkin, but that didn't work out. We ended up coming home and falling asleep on the couch. Jenn during the new Hellboy cartoon, and me during the credits for The Grudge, a terribly disappointing horror movie, even though Ted Raimi and Clea DuVall were both in it. It was just a bunch of jump-out-of-the-closet crap involving human versions of manga characters.
Sunday was the really fun day. We did a bunch of Halloween stuff. We made cookies, carved pumpkins, and watched a bunch of cheesy horror on TV. Cody "snake"* Dopps came by to chat for a while, and that was awesome. It was nice to have a day to ourselves.

So here is a weird bit about how stupid local politics are: Before Oklahomans passed a measure allowing the lottery here, there were a bunch of opposition from the conservatives. Their point, keeping with their Reaganesque ideals that government should get off our backs**, was that gambling is bad. The pro side said that Oklahoma was behind the times and missing out on a great means of revenue which were previously going to border states. Since each state can decide on their own where that revenue is spent, and the OK public education system was in the shitter, that's where they decided to put the money should it pass. Projected estimates were in the $200 million range BEFORE operating costs, installation of machines, training, and the like. Also on the ballot that year was a new tobacco tax that was projected to draw in $100 million. They liked that one, because smoking is bad too.
So now, after the projected revenue on both were way below expectations ($59 mil from the lottery and $30 mil from the tobacco tax), the Republicans and conservatives are blaming Scott Meacham, the treasurer for the $211 mil "shortfall", and want him out of office for it.
Here is what I think is so stupid:
1) Conservatives think smoking and gambling is bad and that Oklahomans shouldn't do it. The shortfall proves that they aren't. Shouldn't they be happy about that?
2) $59 mil and $30 mill are both more than zero, which is what it was at before.

To my mind, the choice between the two parties comes down to a simple distinction: Republicans want everybody to look out for themselves. Democrats want everybody to look out for each other. In every other way, they can seem totally indistinguishable. I for one want to live in a world where somebody's got my back.







*Cody thinks "cookie" is too effeminate.

**unless you are foreign, gay, unborn, or enjoy having fun.

Zardoz

So, if you were flipping channels, and came across Sean Connery with a giant mustache, wearing what can only be described as underoos with some pirate boots, running through the forest, you'd stop and watch for a bit, right? Well I did. two hours later as Zardoz was ending, I was unsure of what I had just seen. Something that was a mix of Barberella, The Prisoner, Planet Of The Apes, bad '70s soft-core porn, and Farenheight 451. Only really shitty.

Connery stars as Zed, who spends his days galloping around the post-apocolyptic Irish countryside happily raping and murdering "brutals" in the name of Zardoz, a giant floating stone head. All of said brutals are wearing suit jackets for some reason, while Zed has to settle for a loin cloth and a Janus mask, which the writer probably chose for no other reason than that is looks kinda creepy. So one day Zed gets laured into a disused library, and discovers the joys of reading, and by extention, the joys of free thought. He wants to get to the bottom of all this weirdness, so he stowes away in the head, and ends up in "The Vortex", a place where those who were once well-to-do who now call themselves "Eternals" live in a utopian society where they have been for a few hundred years because some crystal robot thing has made them immortal. They live in a perpetual rennaisance festival, blissfully unaware or apathetic to the troubles of their mortal bretheren on the other side of a sort of giant wal-mart bag. While on the giant head, Zed has inadvertantly killes Zardoz, who was really just some guy that got his name from The Wizard of Oz. Zardoz gives Zed and his buddies guns and ammo in return for the crops that the brutals are forced to cultivate. Zed gets trapped in the Vortex with all the hippies, and disrupts the ideallic society therein.

Didn't see that coming. I'm sure that this was supposed to be an allegorical commentary on the.... something. But it sooo does not work that way. Not with Connery in his undies through the whole thing.

Turns out that Zed was genetically engeneered by A few Eternals who are so bored they just want to die already, and need him to do it for some reason. The Eternals decide to impart Zed with all of their wisdom, one at a time, by fucking him. He becomes the new leader, and the societies combine to form a new race, and we see Connery in a full-on wedding dress. and the less said about that the better. Man the '70s were a weird time for science fiction. Until Star Wars in '77, we mainly got things like this and Logan's Run, which was great when I was a kid, but deeply flawed when I watch it now. That happened with The Dark Crystal and The Black Hole as well. Don't do it, kids. Let those movies remain cool in your head. Watch something you haven't seen before.

In other news, page 26 is up. Have a nice day.

Amnesia

So I totally forgot to write about last weekend, because I had to write about the Goth wedding from the weekend before. So I'm a week behind. I'll do a two for one today.
LAST week Jason, Jennifer, and Jackson received a visit from Cody, Kindra, and Cori, who were in Stillwater as part of their world-wide alliteration tour 2006.
As Jenn graciously stayed home with the increasingly cranky and tired boy, the rest of us got Chinese food and bubble tea. The conversation of the evening was some of the best I had had in a long time, and I hadn't made somebody shoot egg drop soup out their nose since I was a little kid. They had all watched almost all of Spaced the night before, so many a reference and/or quote was made about that. There was far too much conversation time devoted to tapioca in my opinion, but Cori just would not shut up about it. We also all agreed that Kindra is terrified of silence, and that the waitress was not very good. The table next to us had a little girl who did not like the obnoxiousness of our little party, and kept making faces at us, but then Cody did that thing he does where that thing comes out of his head and it scared her away. I always have to laugh when he does that, because I mean, what is that thing?
We then went to the coffeeshop, and the poor small town girl behind the counter just could not wrap her head around the meaning of Cody's T-Shirt. She was all like: what's beautiful about suicide, and Cody was like: it's in the eye of the beholder, I guess, and she's all: I guess I don't get it, and he's all: BLARRGHH!! And he does that thing with he head again, and we all laugh. Cori did not get coffee because she still had bubble tea. Then we went home and gave Jenn her Chinese food, and watched her eat it like she just got out of Guantanamo. Then we yapped the night away. Hanging out with them and meeting Cori did make me a bit homesick though. I don't meet really cool people like that any more, much less get to just hang and yap with them into the wee hours of the morning. When I do meet people like that, they end up being from Denver.
So there! On to this last weekend
It was a very collegiate weekend for us. On Friday, after giving Jackson a not that great, trial and error, keep going until it looks okay home haircut, we went to OSU's Walk-Around. It is a sort of reverse parade where the floats are stationary, and you get to walk around and look at them all. They are really intricate, and have moving parts and things. The two best involved a robotic undersea adventure and a robotic version of Chutes and Ladders. There is lots of live music and food and stuff, and Jackson had a great time in the snuggly, for which he is way too big for. We retired to Cousin Ryan's house and drank some beer while watching Jack and the Pug 'play". Saturday morning, we went to the actual homecoming parade for OSU, and Jackson had a great time there as well. He really like marching bands in general, and the drums in paticular. We found this out because every time a band came by, he would start shaking and giggling hysterically. Later, Jenn's parents came up to watch the boy so we could go to the OU homecoming game against the Colorado Buffaloes. This required a drive to Norman, OK with out the boy. It took about an hour and a half, and I kept looking in the back seat, thinking Jack was there but asleep, as I do every time we go anywhere with out him.
The game was fun and cold, but the tix we were given turned out to be really good. We had access to this little lounge where you could sit in the heat and eat without you or your food going cold. The game itself was kind of boring, but being there was great fun. We left a but early, and still hit the horrible traffic. Horrible traffic usually happens when a hundred thousand people all want to go somewhere at the same time. Just so you know.
We ended up at Robin's house. We stopped in because we were "in the city" and she had beer. There were a few people there already, and Jenn's sister and her husband showed up as well. We stayed there until about 1:45, which was dumb, because we still had an hour to get home. But home we got, and Jack actually slept until a little before 8:00, so we got to "sleep in" a little. Sunday we hung out with the fam and ate chili. A whole freakin' pot of chili.
After the coma subsided we just bummed around the house, and I got lost in Wikipedia for several hours, having wanted to find out something mundane about the French Revolution.
That was it. See what boring lives we lead? Why do you keep reading these things?

Goth Wedding

Alright, here you go. ---->
The Goth wedding was a lot of fun. The flickr set is here. Begona made this weird lace-up thing with a bunch of flowey fabric all over, and made the groom wear a top-hat, which I am convinced only Jack White and Slash can really get away with these days.
The affair was held in Begona's back yard, giving it a very bar-b-que feel, only with a bunch of darkly clad ne'er-do-wells instead of hillbillies. You could tell that even though the sun had set, they were a bit uncomfortable being outside. I'm sure they had a hard time deciding when to hold the wedding, as October (the gothiest month) had a full moon, a Friday the 13th, and of course, Halloween. They opted for the full moon. Cooler parties on the other two.
The funny thing about it was that the ones who dress like that every day, just came dressed as if they just happened to drive by, and saw a party, and the ones who don't dress like that every day tried really hard to sift through their wardrobes to find any and all black attire, and just put it all on. All of it. Then they just over-did their eye-make up and called it good. There was a third contingency that rolled in just looking for free food.
The ceremony was Wiccan, and very nice. Basically the same as any other kind of wedding. Actually kind of an amalgam of other types of weddings. They lit candles and jumped a broom. The officiant wore fake horns and was draped in a pentagram flag obviously purchased at Hot Topic. No devil worship, no bloodletting, no sacrifices, which was kind of a disappointment. It was all very nice and tasteful. For a wedding wear people wear horns. My favorite Wiccan participant was the guy with the shaved head, jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt reading: Wanna see my broomstick?
I have been around the punk/emo/goth culture my whole life, but had never been to a wedding that went all out. It was great fun. We ate small sandwiches and drank cheap beer, and chatted and mingled until we decided to go. We had left the boy in the care of his Aunt Grace, and when we returned to collect him, he was still up and at 'em. He slept very soundly on the ride back to Stilly.
In other news, I find that as the election season gets into full swing, I am simultaneously entranced and disgusted. Much like when a deadly car accident throws a dead body through your living room window: You have a personal stake in the outcome of these events, but you can really only watch what happens from the side and hope your house gets fixed eventually.*
We are going to the walk around thingy at OSU this Friday, and then going to the OU football game on Saturday. I not the biggest fan of football, but in my opinion, going to a game is better than TV, and college is better than pro. Jen scored some awesome tix in a boot or something somehow, and they are playing Colorado. So there's that. Her parents are gonna come up to watch the boy, and that means we can go out after the game.
I'm getting excited for Halloween.
Page 25 is up.
This guy is a douchbag.
That is all.

Stupid stupid stupid

So I keep meaning to post pics of the uber-goth wedding we went to over the weekend, but I keep forgetting that the camera is still in my wife's car, and she keeps having to drive really far away for meetings and the like. So I'll post those on Flickr and here when I get a chance. Suffice to say it was a lot of fun, and I haven't had an excuse to break out the goth gear since I moved away from Denver (nobody has a "goth night" in Oklahoma).

Remember back in this post when I said I would vote for McCain if the GOP put him up? Well that's out the window. Yesterday, McCain, playing the Rove card, said it was all Clinton's fault that North Korea detonated a nuclear weapon.

"I would remind Senator (Hillary) Clinton and other Democrats critical of the
Bush administration's policies that the framework agreement her husband's
administration negotiated was a failure,"

This seems to be the new rallying cry of the republicans. Even though it has been 6 years since Bush took office, and four since all three branches of the government were put under GOP control. You would think they could have done something about it during that time. Constantly blaming Clinton is a total cop-out, and they know it. The sad thing is that a vast majority of the populace will believe them,because they are too lazy to look into the situation. Well, I did. Turns out that Clinton'ss policies were working just fine until 2002 (the same year Bush gave them 95 million dollars). The deal was that they would stop making plutoniumm. Bush cut off talks when he found out they were enrichingg uranium instead. A dick move on North Korea's part. But from 1994 to 2002, they did not produce any weapons grade material, never tested a bomb, and allowed IAEA inspectors into their facilities. When Bush walked away in 2002, it allowed them to start up the plutonium production again, kick out the inspectors, and continue the uranium enrichment, and spend the 95 mil on whatever they wanted, not on food for the poor. How is that Clinton's fault? Truth is, just like with 9/11, this happened on your watch, republicans. You should have seen it coming. Here is what Kerry said (the first concise, intelligent thing he has said in a long time):

"The truth is the Clinton administration knew full well they didn't have a
perfect agreement. But at least they were talking. At least we had inspectors
going in and we knew where the (nuclear fuel) rods were. This way, we don't know
where the rods are, the rods are gone. There are no inspectors. Ask any American
which way is better," Kerry said.

So why the paradigm shift, Mr. McCain? Could it be that you don't think the party faithful will put up a centrist? Is that why you gave the commencement speech at Falwell's Liberty University this year, after bashing him and his ilk six years ago? Turning away from your ideals for votes is a quick way to loose the center, the independentss like me. Bad move.

Once again, off the soapbox! Back to work!

My Name Is Michael Caine

The Caine from the '60s is far superior to the one we have now, I think. Don't get me wrong, he's still awesome. But his string of tough-guy movies were some of the best. I kind of wish he'd revisit one of those characters like Terrence Stamp did in The Limey. Now that was a good film. I think that what I like about a lot of British tough-guy movies is how unpretentious they are. From Get Carter on up to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and even L4yer Cake. They just kind of do their thing. Most don't even have a love interest, or if they do, they aren't used as a MacGuffin or some other lame plot device. The best are the independents. Once studios start getting involved, you get James Bond. I love Bond, but there is far less style in those movies. I have high hopes and low expectations for the new Bond. I dig Daniel Craig, and I love that they are thinking outside the box and reinventing the franchise, but I am weary of the studio involvement. Looks like it was shot well.

Also, The new Thom Yorke album: I wouldn't say I am disappointed, because I saw it coming. I don't really like it though. Remember when the Pixies broke up, and then The Breeders started doing their thing, and Frank Black started doing his thing? I could tell who had done what in the Pixies, and could see how "creative differences" came into play after the band members parted ways. I thought Frank and The Breeders did some awesome stuff, but neither did anything close to what they did as the Pixies. Well, the same thing is happening here. Eraser is filled with everything I didn't like about the direction that Radiohead took after OK Computer. Again, a lot of what they did was bloody brilliant, but certain aspects of it I didn't jump on board for. Listening to this album it is easy to see that the rest of the band may have kept reeling him back and insisting there be actual drums and guitars in their songs. I think there are some good parts on the album, but the further Thom gets into the electronic stuff, the further away from OK Computer he gets. It seems like OK Computer is smack dab in the middle of this album, and Pablo Honey, right where it should be. I think that may be where I like them the best.

The Fall Season

I don't think my head works right. Did something big change and I missed it? I feel like I was anticipating something, and then I missed it, and then it turned out to be really anti-climactic anyway. So there is a bunch of residual anticipation that isn't directed anywhere. Maybe it's hockey season. Maybe it's The new fall TV season. I did miss a bunch of premiers when I was in DC, and a lot of those were extremely anti-climactic as well. Maybe that was it. That'd be kinda sad, though. If my mind was subconsciously excited about the fall TV schedule.
Some of the new shows I didn't really get to see except Heroes. That show I really liked. They did a good job of showing what it would be like to suddenly realize you had super powers. Most of us would freak out, but the comic book nerds would be overjoyed.
I never got into CSI or Law and Order or Lost or any or the ten billion stupid reality shows that are on network TV. Some of the more obscure reality shows I like, though. I have a few geeky shows that I watch like Smallvillee and Doctor Who, and now Heroes. Smallville and my secret guilty pleasure Gillmore Girls (a show I have been watching since day one and not telling anyone about it) are both on the new CW station, a merger of the WB and UPN. I'm sure the W is for Warner, but I don't know what the C is for. This was a good idea, as both networks had a heap of crap, and they seem to have done a good job of keeping the good (or at least the most successful) shows. I liked Veronica Mars, but there was always a scheduling conflict, but now I can watch it. OLN has picked a lot more Avalanche games this season, so that's good. Most of the time I don't even really watch TV. I mean like sit and stare at the screen for the whole show. I do that with movies, but with TV, I'm usually doing something else, like drawing comics or surfing the net, or blogging, or making dinner, or playing with my boy. It does always seem to be on though. At least after Jack goes to bed.
I had one awesome weekend. It was just me and the boy, as Jen was in Dallas. We had a good time. He is getting to really enjoy specific people and specific activities, and when you get around the things he likes, he's just as happy as can be. We got haircuts, went to the park, a lot, and generally just played and farted around Stillwater. It was a lot of fun. He's slowly starting to get easier to manage a night, so that's good. He still wakes up at 4:45 ready to start his day, but at least he sometimes sleeps straight through till then. Sometimes. We and a good time.
I rented The Proposition. This is the Australian Western that Nick Cave Wrote. It was very good, and very violent. No the Die Hard cartoony kind of violence that we usually get stuffed down out collective throats, but really mean, brutal violence. Violence that serves the very well written plot. Check it out.
Well, that's all I got for now.