Roundup

Darth Vader has a little fun with Luke Skywalker.

I’m Asian?  Why didn’t anyone tell me????

A sad moment in Canadian naval history.

Organlegger update.

Thoughtful silverback is thoughtful.

New giraffe in Abbotsford. Cute!

New police brutality in Abbotsford.  Not so cute!

Oh, how nice.  The VPD will move into a building made for the Olympics.

Ashton Kutcher’s recent tweet: Barbra streisand is at my house. I have to admit I’m a little nervous.  Ashton is aplusk on twitter.  Yes, his spelling and capitalization suck; he’s an ecktor, not a friggin English teacher.

Also from twitter, William Gibson’s wife (whose name I should know but has not turned up in my research) recommends this video of an angry dude at a roadside pull over request.  I’m sorry, even though I knew it was coming I still laughed.  She also recommends this one too. I looked it up, Cullman Liquidation really exists.  Also from Ser Gibson, the following link.  Tibetan time lapse mandala.  William Gibson is GreatDismal on Twitter.

I have written in homilies and other places about how the disappearance of a language is a marker for genocide.  Here’s some good news internationally.


Another Homicide: Life on the Street fest

We’re blasting through Season 7… Keith is watching with us when we can.  Ten reasons I love the show:

  1. The writing.  It’s true that the Season 7 stories get more and more oddball, but the writing all the way through is top notch; each character is differentiated and given ample scope.
  2. The location work.  Baltimore is a character in the show; its history, people, architecture and skyline are unspeaking presences throughout the series.  The show that broke my heart was the one where Meldrick (Clark Johnson) shows another cop the Underground Railway museum.
  3. The actors.  I am trying to think of a bad actor in the show.  With the exception of some minor casting issues on a show by show basis, all is good.  And the actors were able to direct if they wanted to in later episodes.  You can’t tell.  You can’t tell who directed which show.  It’s all really, really good.
  4. Lynn F. Kowal’s theme music.  She’s in a band called Starfish Lily now, I just listened and she sounds like a filker.  I know, weird.
  5. STELLAR/amazing/properly cast guests: Joan Chen, Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Stoltz, James Earl Jones, Moses Gunn, Robin Williams, Steve Buscemi, Alfre Woodard, Marcia Gay Harden, Lily Tomlin, Peter Gallagher, Chris Rock, Pat Hingle, Wilford Brimley, Steve Allen, Joe Perry, Bruno Kirby, Charles S. Dutton, Kate Walsh, Edie Falco, Vincent D’Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Christopher Meloni, Luis Guzmán, Steve Burns, Elijah Wood, Fisher Stevens, Jake Gyllenhaal, Lewis Black, Bruce Campbell, Paul Giamatti, Terry O’Quinn, David Morse, John Glover, Terry Kinney, Tony Todd, Charles Durning, Isaiah Washington, Jeffrey Donovan, Jena Malone, and Jerry Stiller.  Not to mention John Waters, twice.  And Austin Pendleton became a semi regular as a Medical Examiner.
  6. The set decoration.
  7. Yaphet Kotto as Giardello. Yes Andre Braugher was the breakout actor, but Kotto demonstrates such breadth and subtlety that he deserves a special mention.  Jeff says, “Everything I know about managing people I stole from Gee.” You could do much worse, even if he is fictional.
  8. The subject matters covered.  In its construction and deconstruction of – and wilful assaults on – American concepts of identity, race, class, gender and sexuality, the show is, ten years after its death, still able to kick cultural doors in.  A bisexual male character with some nuance?  Mixed race and white characters debating race issues without going for the cheap shot?  How many women were involved at senior levels of the show? zow.
  9. The use of and references to drugs and alcohol in the show.  From the Waterfront – the bar across the street owned by three characters – to Munch (as played by Richard Belzer) continually raving about the war on drugs, it’s all unsentimental and accurate.
  10. Special mention must be made of the use of music in the show.  I saw this series after I saw Buffy, and I have to say that Homicide did a better job of integrating both new and old pop tunes into the fabric of the series.  The background music is also great.

Another day without beer

I haven’t had any beer in three days.  I think this is the longest I’ve gone without drinking beer for at least three years.  Somehow going to Ontario made me less susceptible to its bubbly siren song.  I certainly have noticed now that I am drinking coffee as an occasional stimulant and  much less beer that my digestion is better than it has been in years.

Last night I cooked roast beef and home made gravy, side of horseradish, potatoes and onions done around the roast, peas and carrots, broccoli and spinach and brussels sprouts, yorkshire pudding (one recipe yields 12 pudding-lets) and others had ice cream for dessert but I skipped that part.  I had a wonderful time preparing it and eating it, and watching Paul, Jeff, Katie and Keith demolish it.  Frankly I think Katie enjoyed it most.  She’s trying to cut sugar out of her diet and her eyes lit up when she saw all the vegetables.  As Catherine said, at this time of year the produce in Canada is quite astonishing.

Today I have many ugly tedious chores to perform, a list of which would likely be more detail than any sane reader could bear.  I hope to squeeze writing down one song in there… I am also hoping to listen to the two albums Dave gave me all the way through.  And more Homicide… we’re close to the end now.  The show ran 7 seasons and it’s been my constant companion for months now.

He should be glad he didn’t find it in France.

And now for something completely different.

Ten reasons I love Val Kilmer.

1.  He once punched out Tom Cruise.  (On the set of Top Gun).

2. Madmartigan in Willow.

3. Jim Morrison in the Doors.

4. Ray Levoi in Thunderheart.

5. Doc Holliday in Tombstone.

6. Heart heart heart Chris Knight in Real Genius.

7. He named his kids something reasonable.  Jack and Mercedes are sane names, in my view.

8. He THOUGHT about running for Governor of New Mexico and decided against it.

9. He helps with wildlife rehabilitation.

10. He’s slept with Joanne Whalley, the lucky dog.

Stockholm Lisboa Project

Here’s the link.

I just cleared the door from the concert… I have only one word.  Go.  If you ever have a chance to see them, go.  Their musicianship; their cameraderie; their joy in performing; their choice of material; their glorious singing voices…..  When Lianna first opened her mouth to sing she was standing in the audience not five metres from me and I thought an angel had dropped out of heaven to sing.

Kopper, mil beijos for thinking of me, it was frikkin great.

Back home

I made waffles and strawberries for breakfast.

I have a very long list of things to do and zero desire to do any of it.

Kopper and I are off to a show in North Van tonight.  She has a clothing swap at her place today as well, which is very good of her and her housemate… it’s a community building thing.  I need to get rid of some clothes myself now that I’ve brought more into the house, but once again that would involve working.

At some point Jeff and I will step out into this dreadful rain and get some carpet and some computer stuff.  Possibly also some food.

Take a Nap (the last choon).  I put percussion in (basic 2-3 rumba rhythm).

Margot is in her teenaged years now.  She’s being very naughty and a hog for the wrong kind of attention. I’ve been playing with her as much as I can.