I can’t say that I was as enthused by the latest LOST episode as the Onion AV review; it seemed a bit aimless to me, and there was yet another “new thing on the island for Jack to smash”. The flashback was fine but didn’t really go anywhere. I’m still waiting for something to happen.
This is pretty cool.
LOST is on tonight at 8PM. We won’t be answering the phone.
I think I’ve written about one of my favorite movies before, so I apologize now for the redundancy. I saw Fandago in high school on cable at my parents’ house, and something about the movie clicked with me. I saw they’d finally transferred it to DVD and I was able to buy a new copy for $3.99 from Amazon (don’t let the price fool you) with free shipping when I ordered the Flip. Doing a little research online, I found a few websites that offer some more information, including shooting locations, modern-day video from some of the sites, and apparently there was some kind of a fan site centered around the movie, but that’s since gone cold. I recommend it highly, if not just for the movie, but also for the soundtrack.
Here’s something I’ve noticed after three weeks’ sleepless sampling of basic cable TV fare:
- The 3-6AM lineup is sponsored by infomercials for stock trading, investment scams, and exercise machines.
- The morning news hour is sponsored by erectile dysfunction, male enhancement, and the automotive industry.
- Game shows are propped up by personal injury lawyers and the diet/fitness industry.
- Noon news hour and the early afternoon lineup are paid for by personal injury lawyers and weight loss pills.
- 3PM is owned, of course, by Oprah.
- 4PM through the news hour is sponsored by asbestos lawyers and junk food.
- The 7PM news is leased back to America by Big Pharma and the automotive industry.
- Primetime is anybody’s ballgame.
- The 11PM-3PM syndicated police-procedural is brought to you by phone chat lines, local car dealerships, and lousy sold-on-TV products.
It’s a good thing you’re cute, Finn, ’cause you’re kicking Papa’s ass.
I stopped into Zeke’s Coffee in Lauraville this afternoon to say hi to the Toddfather and pick up some beans. While I was there, he gave me an impromptu primer in small-batch coffee roasting and let me shoot a few pictures.
Zeke’s takes pride in buying beans from single plantation growers, insuring the beans are of the highest quality, and roasts them in small batches using hot fluid air, much like a popcorn popper, for a consistent and even roast.
They’ve been in business since 2005, and their coffee is featured in restaurants and cafes across Baltimore. The selection has grown by leaps and bounds since I’d been there last, and they have a huge selection of organic and fair trade varieties. I can’t wait for tomorrow morning’s cup!
On the subject of food and friends, I should also mention the excellent meal we shared with Mr. and Mrs. Scout the other evening at the Salsa Grille, a Spanish/Latin American restaurant hidden in an otherwise unassuming strip mall just inside the Beltway. While the bench seating was a little uncomfortable, the atmosphere was friendly, the wait staff was attentive, and the food was delicious. I had the Caribbean Paella (I know, I know, but I wanted chicken and seafood) which was large enough for two people but good enough to make me try to eat the whole thing. I left impressed enough to move this to the top of our local restaurant choices.
After dinner, I tempted our company with the promise of cake, and we stopped into the Catonsville Gourmet to see what they had left. Even though the wait staff was closing up for the night, they carved us four slices of cake, offered us milk and coffee, plied us with water, and made us feel at home, something I doubt we’d find at most other restaurants where the chairs were already up on the tables. (Their service has always been nothing but impeccable). We were finally able to get Mrs. Scout the carrot cake she wanted for her birthday, while Jen and I were able to satisfy the craving for chocolate cake we’ve had for a week. And, because we were commenting on it but did not order it, they gave us a slice of Smith Island cake on the house. Their desserts are all from Sugarbakers, and they did not disappoint. It felt great to get out and enjoy good company on a random Tuesday given the rapidly approaching Life Event. Especially with cake.
Jen has gotten the baby’s room as close to done as possible; this weekend I will be moving the office downstairs and clearing out space for a third bedroom so that we might finally be able to clean something. Mr. Scout will be by on Saturday to install the final door while I try to tie up a bunch of unfinished projects before the weekend evaporates. (The lawn? I mowed it this evening, for the first time in a month.)
I originally put this in the sidebar, but it’s too large to read well over there: The Secret History of Star Wars, an unauthorized origin of the series, told through interviews, articles, and other sources. The Behind the Scenes article on the set of The Empire Strikes Back is the kind of stuff I love the most: What is the creative process behind the movie? How do the people interact? For example, this exchange:
Irvin Kershner: (Turns to Carrie) Now you see what a problem it creates if you slap him.
Billy Dee Williams: Well, let’s just try it that way.
(Suddenly, Carrie gives Billy quite a powerful whack.)
BDW: Don’t hit me like that!
Carrie Fisher: Did it hurt?
BDW: Of course it hurt.
CF: I’m sorry. How do you hit someone?
IK: You telegraph it to him.
BDW: If you want to hit me, fake it.
Based on the final product, Lucas should have let Kershner direct the remaining four movies too, or, at least, the prequels.
What the hell happened on Project Runway last night? How did the asshat with the third-grade craft project not get kicked off instead of the blonde? Her work consistently kicked ass, and he put a fucking basket on his model’s head.
Napoleon Dynamite
We finally saw this, and it made us uncomfortable and we laughed our asses off.
Jay won the whole thing last night, which made Jen and I very happy. I think he’s the only one who didn’t make an ass of himself during the lead-up to the finale, and his work was consistent. Kara’s stuff was beautiful but the shoe thing was uncool, and her ‘handling’ of the situation was unprofessional.
Continuing on the camera thread from yesterday, I was thinking this morning that I need to unpack the 620 cameras and purchase some more film to play with. I’d like to use it to shoot portraits of people, if possible.
It appears the goddamn spammers have found a way to circumvent Mozilla’s ability to suppress annoying popup windows.