Traveling with a 2 year old..

Is not as difficult as you'd think. I had him on a little tether, so that helped.

Anyway, I went to Denver for the Thanksgiving holiday. I had a good time. I didn't get to see nearly anybody that I wanted to see, but I had a boy in tow, which meant that the family hogged me a bit.
The trip out was nerve wracking, just because it was the first time me and the boy had to deal with travelling on our own. Security went smoothly, though I don't know why I was forced to take his shoes off as well. It went so smoothly, in fact, that we were left with a long time to wait, and yes, the plain got delayed by about 45 min. Jackson was excited to get on the plane, but once we were on it, he didn't realize that we had to stay on it, and after about 5 minutes, he started saying: All done. Wanna go now! When the plane finally took off, he conked right out. whew! We stayed at my mom's new condo downtown, which had an awesome view. We settled in with the fam. Thursday we ate turkey. I chased Jackson around all day while Tim's kids talked about home theaters and motorcycles. Jack heard them talking and said: "Motorcycle go Vroom! Vroom! Crash!" which is surprisingly accurate. I went out that night and saw Jeremy, Cain, Kindra and a few other random people and had a really good time. We even saw a fight that spilled out og the bar across the street. Fun.
Friday was spent primarily at my Dad's house, and was also very pleasant. We ate at Carmine's and played with my Dad's model train set. Jackson took a giant sploogy dump and we had to wash all of his clothes. Fatherhood is awesome. I had dinner that night with Aaron and Amy, and they are wonderful people, I tell you.
Saturday I went to Pablo's and hung out all morning.




We ate Lunch, and were on our way. This time, the plane was delayed 2 hours, and Jackson was so friggin' bored by the end of it, he was happy to crash out in the canned air. Now, I ask you this: Why in the hell do airports not have a children's play area like the mall does? Do you know how many marriages that would save? Airports suck.
We made it home, and I spent two whole days sick in bed. I don't know if I caught it on the trip or when I got back but it was a doozy. Hence the late holiday posting. Sorry about that.

-JP

I watched a lot of movies this weekend

And I don't know why.

Jackson stayed at PaPa B's house Saturday night, but I'm not sure that made any difference. What was weird was the scope of movies I watched this weekend. First off was Pan's Labyrinth,
a movie about a young girl who is immersed in a world of faeries, sprites, and other woodland creatures, and should definitely not, under any circumstances, be viewed by children. NOT a kid's movie. That being said, it is a wonderful, dark, disturbing movie and I loved it. I like that the whole thing could very well be a construct of the little girl's mind, and just a coping mechanism. Or it could be real. What I didn't get was the title, though. The 'Pan' character is actually called The Faun, and the Spanish title translates to The Labyrinth of The Faun, and there is no character anywhere called Pan. So why Pan? Are Americans just more familiar with Pan? Is Greek mythology more widely read than Shakespeare? Does it just sound better? That last one is my guess, because it does. Trailer here.
Next was The Misfits starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Eli Wallach. An oldie but a goodie. More interesting because of what was going on off screen. Monroe was in the middle of both a mental break down, and a divorce from the movie's writer, Arthur Miller, and was spiraling down her path of drink and pills. She had to attend the premiere on a day-pass from a psychiatric center. She was dead within a year. Clark Gable had a heart attack three days after filming ended, and died 11 days later. It was the last movie for both. John Houston spent most nights drinking and gambling in Reno, where the film was shot. Montgomery Clift was his usual pill popping self. It seems the title could refer to the characters or the cast & crew.

Next up was The Black Hole, a movie I haven't seen since I was a little kid, but I remember loving it back then. If you forget that this was put into production solely because of the success of Star Wars, and the obvious scientific shortcomings, then the movie still holds up. It is slightly fragmented, as the writers were obviously unsure of how to merge the epic, sweeping, slow pacing of standard sci-fi up to that time, ie 2001 and the like, with the obvious appeal of fast paced action ala Star wars. The mix is clunky, but the movie is still interesting on many levels. My most vivid memories from seeing it many times in my youth, are the scenes where Anthony Perkins gets killed, which is way less disturbing than I remembered, and battle in the greenhouse, which was actually cooler that I remember. I still love the double barrel guns they use.

While doing chores and whatnot, we watched (on cable) The Devil's Advocate, one of the more stomachable of Keanu's pre-Matrix roles, and Pretty Woman, (wife's choice, natch.) a movie I realized would never work if made today. Or if they did make it today, it would have to be Julia Robert's first day as a prostitute rather than having been one for some time. You can't have a hooker as a likable character any more. Actually, now that I think about it, it didn't really work then either.

Then I finally watched Transformers. Way better than I thought it was going to be. This is due to a number of things. First, Shia LaBeouf is a much better actor than anybody, especially Michael Bay, realized. Second, Optimus Prime having the same voice was brilliant. Third, the way the bots transformed was just friggin' awesome. Also, the show-stealing cameos made the movie. John Turturro and Bernie Mack were both awesome. And before you say or think it: Plot, Schmot! These are Transformers, fer cryin' out loud. Now where's my Go-Bots movie?

I also watched Dawn of the Dead again. Crap-ola I love that movie. Snyder is a genious in his own little way. He will do great things with Watchmen.

In other news, this guy ---->

and I are going to Denver this week. He is very excited to go on a plane, even though he has done so twice already in his short life. And a cruise ship. He keeps telling anyone who will listen that he's going on an airplane on Wednesday.

I am... anxious to say the least. Jen can't come because she's too pregnant, so it will just be the two of us in the thick of holiday travel season. Wish me luck.

-JP

Holee Molee it's windy.

This must be how Chicago feels when it's really windy. Or anywhere else where it is really windy. It doesn't have to be Chicago, I guess.
Is Thanksgiving really next week? How did that happen? For all you Denverites, I will be in the bid D Wednesday night until Saturday afternoon of said Thanksgiving week.
We should hang. Maybe Friday night, we could get some Chinese because I'll be sick to death of American food by then. Then the drinking. A trip to Denver is not complete until you enter a plane or car to go home, and you are completely hung-over, sleep deprived, and cranky.
Anything fun going on these days? I am anxiously awaiting the Winter season. I realize that it has been winter for some time for a lot of you, but dammit, I haven't seen hide nor hair of Mr. Frost. It was 73° yesterday and sunny and I had to take my hoodie off during my walk with Jackson around our new neighborhood. This is not winter.
We are all moved in, and warm and happy in the new house. Jack loves it and the dogs don't give a shit unless you have food.
Unfortunately, being moved in means I will soon have to turn my attention to a bunch of projects that I have been putting off due to either my homelessness or my using my homelessness as an excuse to procrastinate.
These include:
-The Boxing poster of Eloi vs Morlocks I've had in my head forever
-The caricature of of a famous news pundit and his daughter I said I would do months ago
-The DVD cover and inserts for The Evildoers press packet that is way over due
-Updates to NGV5, six months late (and zombies are out of style now)
-A painting/assemblage for my in-laws foyer
-Framing a bunch of original art I've collected over the years
-Finishing the design of the tattoo I want, and then actually going to get it (maybe I'll do that in Denver hmmm...)

There is probably a lot more that I have forgotten about, or cannot recall at the moment. Work work work. I need to start using my down time at work to advance some of these causes.

Any help would be appreciated.

-JP